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@cassie-hartfinh Aweome! Thank’s for getting us started. The ending does seem a bit abrupt. I think there needs to be some other conflict like we talked about earlier. That way we’re giving the character something to do as she struggles with the hope thing. That’s going to be hard to do with the word limit, but I think we can pull it off. I once had to write a story with a 500 word limit, so this should be a piece of cake 😛

EVERYONE: before we do any more any more editing/writing, let’s talk about the prose a little bit.

First some ways we can cut down on words:

-Use less adverbs and find stronger verbs. It’s generally advised to use very few adverbs anyways, and really, most of the time there’s some perfectly nice strong verb out there that doesn’t need to be added too, and then you’ve knocked off an extra word.

-Use less “is-ing” verbs, such as ‘is blaring.’ I believe they’re called present participles. Same goes for past participles like ‘was blaring.’ In most cases they can be changed to ‘blares’ or ‘blared.’

-Look for phrases and modifiers that can be combined or omitted while saying the same thing, or information that really doesn’t need to be there at all. Each word is precious. Ask yourself, “why is this word here?” You can cut out a lot just by going through and asking this question.

For example, “Then I glance out the small porthole to my right, and I see an unknown planet filling my field of vision, gradually growing bigger, slowly looming closer.” Could be shortened too, “An unknown planet appears in the small porthole to my right, looming closer with each blare of the alarm.” That cuts the words down from 27 to 19. Do that with every sentence, and you’ve got a good start. Just don’t over cut, obviously. Then you can see how many words you have left and focus on what you can add to it that has more value.

SECOND, we need to think about our prompt a little more. “Write any story you choose with the most original and creative prose that you can.” We’ve talked about the story, but we haven’t talked about how we can make the prose original and creative. The thing is, very few (if any) of us could just write the way we normally do and already write original prose. It takes most writers a long time to develop their own unique style. I might be able to identify the work of a few of you if everyone in the guild wrote something, but most of us have fairly similar styles which are very much like the books we typically read.

So if we want to beat Avensbeck and Meraki, we’re going to have to get really creative.

We need to not only think about how we can write really good prose, but think about how we can make it unique. We need to do what we did for the first guild war—think outside the box. Let’s not take the first ideas that come to mind, because chances are someone else thought of them.

So what do you guys think? How can we make it really creative?

What voice should we use? I know our 1st draft is in first person present tense and would be a bit of a hassle to change, but this might be worth thinking about. First person establishes a very strong connection between character and reader, but every bit of narration is from the character’s mind and is probably going to sound just like they would when they talk. You get a good insight into their thoughts, which is good here, but I don’t know if it’s the best way to sound unique. What do you guys think?

Literary devices. Allusion, hyperbole, irony, ambiguity, repetition, personification, imagery. SO MANY!! How can we use them in a way that’s creative and unique without overdoing it?

Let the fury of brainstorming thunder upon this thread! How do you guys think we can improve it?

@cassie-hartfinh @esjohnson @emily-d @j-a-penrose @evelyn @coggleton @ariella-newheart @writercatherine @julia @sarah-vdh @e-jo3