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Summer 2006 Contest.
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ScottyDM
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you, Mike.

Anthrofiction Network's Short Story Contest for Summer 2006

I finally got around to kicking off the summer season a few days ago. The theme is: My Sister

There cannot be a sister unless there is someone she is a sister to. In other words, the summer contest theme is about a relationship. To embrace the theme, I would expect your story to have at least one scene that shows us that relationship--between the point-of-view character and his or her sister. There are an infinite number of possible variations. See the website for the official theme page. And also the rules page.

Scotty

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ScottyDM
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reminder

The Anthrofiction Network's Short Story Contest for Summer 2006 is underway and there are about 28 1/2 days left to finish writing and enter your story. The contest theme is My Sister.

I finally have my sample story posted. It's a sequel to last fall's contest entry Family Matters. The new story is Family Christmas. Okay, it may be odd to have a story set at Christmas time for a summer contest, but the timing of the story has everything to do with the vulpine reproductive cycle and almost nothing to do with religious holidays. As an illustration of the use of the contest theme, the sample story is saturated from front to back with "my sisterness".

So, how's it coming? Have you got a first draft yet?

Scotty

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No_Idea_What_I'm_Doing
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Honestly, I wait for the 14 day mark and then start writing. The rest of my time is spent in meditation on what in the world I'll write about.
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Tygon
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm finding it annoyingly difficult to get a good story idea to this theme... I don't have a sister.
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ScottyDM
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tygon:

Even if you limit yourself to the biological definition there are still rich possibilities for an author who doesn't have a sister. How about twins separated at birth? You could write of a cautious first-time meeting... "Who is this female who is supposed to be a part of me?" You might also try the Luke Skywalker/Princess Leia twist where there is the beginnings of sexual attraction, but they later learn they are brother and sister. You don't need a happy relationship. What if some supercriminal has a sister who is even nastier and more competitive than he/she? Or what if the sister is a superhero (or simply in law enforcement)? If you're not comfortable with writing a face-to-face relationship, how about a soldier on some distant battlefield who's one connection with home are the letters to/from the sister? **

"My sister" could simply be a young girl whom your parents have brought to live with you because her family died. I remember reading a Japanese tale of a family on the mountain-side and a family on the beach who were best friends. A Tsunami kills the beach family with the exception of their little girl, who ends up living with the mountain-side family. I forget if the protag is male or female, but years later the protag's brother marries the girl--which shocks the protag because he/she "forgot" the girl wasn't blood relation. "You want to marry our sister?"

I just thought of a possibility I missed: In Family Matters I have a hint of a backstory where the 9-year old human girl Penny finds and cares for a deathly ill natural vixen. The little girl thinks of this young fox as "my sister" and when the little fox recovers they spend the end of summer hanging out by the river that runs by the farm. Penny pretends to be a fox and that is how she learns so much of fox behavior and custom. It's not anthrofiction as the little vixen is a natural fox, but the basic story idea is that of the foundling. Two examples with male human foundlings raised by wolves are the legend of the founding Rome and The Jungle Book by Kipling. Of course you'd need a female human if the foundling is the "sister". You could also make the founding be an anthro raised by humans (or another species of anthros). I have a friend who claims that when he was little the wild animals used to talk to him. He feels he's lost the ability to understand what they say now that he's an adult. What if a young human has a four-legged "sister" who can talk and reason like a human, but never when the adults are around?

Religion gives us possibilities for non-biological sisters. Some sects (Jew, Christian, and Muslim) will refer to fellow members as "brother" and "sister" because the faith bond is as strong as that of family. If humans can have "brothers" and "sisters" who are of any race, then an anthro society can have "brothers" and "sisters" who are of any species. This is formalized in Catholicism with "professional" brothers and sisters. Could a Catholic (male or female, young or old) feel that one of the sisters is "mine"? (either in a creepy way or a beautiful way)

The key is to write of a relationship between the POV character and a female. Probably a non-romantic relationship unless you want to get kinky, in which case work at keeping it PG-13. (but some readers won't like it an blast you)

This wasn't supposed to be easy.

Scotty

** I have formatting tags that will allow you to insert nice looking block-quoted correspondence: extra vertical space before and after, no indent on the salutation, and a centered "signature". See Proper Markup for an example.

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ScottyDM
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No_Idea:

Everyone has a different technique. What works for you is what you should use. The thing that counts is the result.

Scotty

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Tygon
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 3:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay, story is written and in my editor's able paws.
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Nadan
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ugh, I need to start writing...
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Nadan
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Tygon
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just entered the story (I found the process a bit tricky) and a copy should go up on the Bookshelf later tonight.
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Nadan
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hurray! I started writing today! I decided to throw away planning and just start writing. The first paragraph helped me finalize my writing style, plot, and use of theme. Now to try and get it finished in 10 days, while working Sad
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Nadan
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Nadan
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok. It's decided. I love the new story I'm writing! Yes, I know I'm only on my 5th paragraph, but still! I'm not planning this one out too tightly, and it's unfolding before my eyes. I think the excessive detailing and planning I've been doing for stories for the last year has helped my spontanious writing too Smile I don't think I'll win, but I think I'll be proud of my story.
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Nadan
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No_Idea_What_I'm_Doing
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's a funny thing. I've done stories on the internet before in segaments, and all they were was me sitting down and writing what hit me at the moment. Works pretty good for what I can tell.
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Tygon
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 1:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That doesn't work when you're working on an actual novel, or at least something that should look like one. You have to have at least some sort of plan there. Otherwise the book ends up a mess like Lord of the Rings.
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Nadan
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tygon wrote:
That doesn't work when you're working on an actual novel, or at least something that should look like one. You have to have at least some sort of plan there. Otherwise the book ends up a mess like Lord of the Rings.


Heh. Yeah.

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Nadan
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No_Idea_What_I'm_Doing
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What can I say? To each his own opinion. Whether I agree with it or not matters very little.
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