The 2020 Nominations Post: "Myra responds heatedly to the call of the wild, if you get my drift."

[brightknightie]

We're playing challenge-style! We'll nominate and elect 3 prompts to share. Each story (minimum 500 words) must incorporate at least one elected prompt. Using more is not expected, but is certainly allowed.

About prompts

What is a prompt? For us, a prompt will be a word or words meant to spark an FK story. Readers should be able to recognize the essence of the prompt — not necessarily its words — somewhere in the story (like, in the plot, theme, characterization, setting, metaphor, tone, incidents, props, etc.).

What makes a good prompt? Often, good prompts are both specific and open-ended. We'll likely get the most from prompts that are flexible across different interpretations of FK, while also firm enough to catalyze associations in each writer's imagination.

Are there any limits on the prompts? Our prompts will be 1-10 words. If a prompt is a quotation, please include its citation (this does not factor in the word count). If prompts are too similar, we'll try to merge them. And, of course, please no vulgarity, incivility, that kind of thing.

Who can nominate prompts? Any member of the FKFicFest community on Dreamwidth can share prompts. Anyone can choose to join the community at any time. (I don't intend much "advertising" for our fest until after we have the prompts to mention, but everyone is always welcome!)

Example prompts

Single words:

• "shoulder"
• "resurface"
• "placard"
• "therapist"
• "oscillate"

Sets of words:

• "attic, lock, portrait"
• "book, gun, pool"
• "tower, sword, spaghetti"
• "pillow, lemon, triumph, cold, growing"
• "treasure, dance, comb"

Phrases:

• "abandoned car"
• "traveling nature photographer"
• "recognize in a crowd"
• "step back from the edge"
• "purse-sized dog"

Quotations:

• "Will you stand beside me like you did before" -- from "Hungry Years" by James Peterik, Frank Sullivan, and David Bickler
• "Footfalls echo in the memory" -- from "Burnt Norton" by T.S. Eliot
• "like jewelry from a grave" -- from "The Imaginary Iceberg" by Elizabeth Bishop
• "I shall make the reckless choice" -- from "The Sound of the Trees" by Robert Frost
• "just beyond my reach / There's someone reaching back for me" -- from "Holding Out for a Hero" by Jim Steinman and Dean Pitchford

TV tropes:

• Heroic Second Wind
• Doomed Moral Victor
• First Time in the Sun
• Take Up My Sword
• Forget the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right

Vintage FK challenges from FKFic-L days:

• "What if the asteroid hit in AMPH?"
• "What's written inside the card in MBIAV?"
• "Put down the snake and we'll talk."
• [before 3rd season] "How should FK end someday?"
• [N&N] "sleighride, snowglobe, hot beverage"

How to nominate & vote

Step 1. January 26 - February 7: Nominate:
Reply to this post with up to 3 prompts you wish to nominate. (You can reply once with all of your prompts, or separately per prompt.)

Step 2. February 8 - February 11: Streamline our ballot:
On a poll to be posted by the mod, vote for up to 2 of all the nominated prompts. Every prompt earning at least one vote moves on to the final ballot.

Step 3. February 12 - February 16: Pick our winners: On a poll to be posted by the mod, stack-rank your first, second, and third prompt choices. We'll apply a point system with 5 for first place, 3 for second, and 1 for third, electing the 3 prompts with the most total points. (The mod will break any ties with ranked-choice voting methods and an eye to prompt diversity.)

Our chosen prompts will be announced no later than February 17. Stories will come due on April 19 (9 weeks to write). They'll start releasing on April 20, and continue one per day as long as they last.

Questions? Please ask below! Feel free to chat in comments on this post.

Comments

[dlyt]

Prompts:

Quote: “In the long run we are all dead.” Keynes

Phrase: Constant inconstancy

Word: Flaneur

Any types of prompts

[brightknightie]

Yay! Thank you for nominating prompts!

---
Just in case: only to be 100% clear: We don't need to nominate one of each type, or any of the example types, if we don't want to. We can make up a different type, or have three of the same type, or whatever appeals best! (Including one of each type, of course! ~wry~)

Addendum: Because I'm worried I may have been confusing, I've added "TV tropes" and "Sets of words" examples to the main post. Thank you!

[greerwatson]

"long time passing" - from "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" by Pete Seeger

[argentum_ls]

Do over

[nicholas_lucien]

Wooden spoon
Nick's tarot cards
"Lupus non timet canem latrantem."

[greerwatson]

"Understanding is a three-edged sword." - Kosh Naranek in the Babylon 5 episode "Deathwalker", written by J. Michael Straczynski

[pj1228]

1. Face from the past
2. True self
3. Cold case

[celli]

Tropes:

Woke up married
Fake dating/fake relationship
Friends to lovers

Brightknightie's 2020 nominations

[brightknightie]

[TV trope] First Time in the Sun

[quotation] "the broken hearts stand / As the price you've gotta pay" -- from "Badlands" by Bruce Springsteen

[quotation] "I'm always strong when you're beside me" -- from "The Glory of Love" by Billy Hill

[greerwatson]

"The one thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart." - Miles Vorkosigan in Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold

This Bujold quotation is 13 words long

[brightknightie]

This quotation has 13 words. Our guidelines state that quotations may be up to 10 words.

Could you perhaps trim this one down, perhaps using an ellipsis or two? Or perhaps convert it from a direct quotation to a phrase --- "don't trade your heart for your heart's desire (inspired by Lois McMaster Bujold)" ...?

I regret setting the maximum so low. But all the other submitted quotations do meet that maximum, so it would be unfair to change the guideline now.

Thank you!

P.S. I love this line, and considered submitting it for us here, but was unsuccessful in abbreviating or streamlining it.

Will abbreviate or paraphrase...

[brightknightie]

If I don't hear from you about abbreviating the 13 words before I'm ready to post the poll, I'll go ahead and choose an abbreviation/paraphrase, so that this very potent idea doesn't get left out...?

---

your heart or your heart's desire

trading your heart for your heart's desire

when the cost of your heart's desire is your heart

your heart's desire at the price of your heart

can't trade your heart for your heart's desire

if you trade your heart for your heart's desire

[brightknightie]

I'm posting the poll now. Sorry!

[greerwatson]

My apologies. A friend asked me to go to the opera with her, and then out to dinner. I didn't get back till late.

[sholio]

1. Bodyswap
2. Rock, paper, scissors
3. Snow