Themes + Length

[Gimpy]

I didn't see any other threads on this, so I thought I would start a new one. I will be writing along with the contestants for my own enjoyment even if I do not get into the top 10, but I was wondering...

Has there been any talk of what the themes will be? Are you taking suggestions? Have you already decided on the themes?

Cheesy Romance Novel night: Bonus points if the writing is laughably cheesy.

Magical Realism: Really good style of writing. It is pretty much modern fairy tales where magic is taken as real and no one in the stories question the strange things that happen. It could be called Fantasy, but Fantasy seems to only be tied to elves and dragons in today's literature.

Horror: This is a must. Horror is such fun to write.

Anyone else?

[DeadlyAccurate]

A how-to of something silly (like, "how to tie a shoe," or "how to eat a cheesecake.")

spaghetti western

from an odd POV (a dog, an egg, a rubber band)

a coming-of-age

a fake "true confessions"

a tabloid article

Ooh, I'd love to see improv. Impossible, I know, unless it was later in the competition, when it was easier to get a few people to show up at the same time. Jenna posts a word/phrase/whatever, and the competitors have a time limit to write about it.

[BlakeOvard]

Though I'm sure she wouldn't mind a few ideas being thrown into the mix, I'd bet that she already has some fun doozies up her sleave for this.

That being said, I'd like to add some sort of fake interview with someone from history told in a very non-judgmental newspaper journalistic style. The more extreme the prospective interviewee the better. (ie. how could you interview Hitler, Stalin, Ghengis Khan, or any of the major religions central figure objectively?)

Along those same threads, perhaps a bit of alternate history. (ie. what if the South had won the Civil War, or what if the French Revolution hadn't quite gone off as it did, and the Aristocrats routed the peasant population, or what if someone famous had never been born?)

One last one...
A day in your life.

I think any of those could be fun.

[firehorse]

Along those same threads, perhaps a bit of alternate history. (ie. what if the South had won the Civil War, or what if the French Revolution hadn't quite gone off as it did, and the Aristocrats routed the peasant population, or what if someone famous had never been born?)
Did somebody just take the SAT essay? :D

[BlakeOvard]

Did somebody just take the SAT essay? :D

LOL. No, but I can see where you might think of that.

SAT ... that was one of those things I did oh so many years ago when in High School, I think. If I remember correctly, (and it is a hazy, polluted film that I must remember through, as it seems to cover things so far in the past) I was hung over that Saturday morning, being that I had something to celebrate Friday night. (Probably something decidedly un-monumental) Did they actually have something cool like that on the SAT?! :confused: Boy, do I wish I had paid more attention!

[JennaGlatzer]

I had chicken pox and had to take the SAT late in another school district.

In fact, I'm one of those lucky people who got chicken pox twice-- once when I was 2, once when I was 16.

(Boy, that was random trivia.)

Yes, I'm quite open to suggestions for themes. :)

[Gimpy]

You have to have one week be a comedy theme of some sort. :)

[BlakeOvard]

You have to have one week be a comedy theme of some sort. :)

I think I could turn every week into a comedy theme, not matter what the subject was... :D

[maestrowork]

How about naked co-ed mud wrestling instead?

Ooops, wrong thread....

[mommie4a]

Anyone ever read "Happenstance"? From one side, the book opens and it's a wife's take on three days. Open the book from the other side, and its the husband's take on the same three days. I'd see a theme that forced men to write about what they've complained women write about too much (chic lit, woes of housewives), and women write about whatever it is men write about too much (conspiracy plots, murder, killing their wives - actually, I'm not sure what that would be - men, any suggestions of what you'd like to see women try to get into that you think we otherwise avoid or criticize you for focusing on too often?)

[ShadowGuide]

A how-to of something silly (like, "how to tie a shoe," or "how to eat a cheesecake.")

spaghetti western

from an odd POV (a dog, an egg, a rubber band)

a coming-of-age

a fake "true confessions"

a tabloid article

Ooh, I'd love to see improv. Impossible, I know, unless it was later in the competition, when it was easier to get a few people to show up at the same time. Jenna posts a word/phrase/whatever, and the competitors have a time limit to write about it.

:Smack: With a list like that, I'd be happy to NOT make the finals! (Not that I think I have a change in Hades' homeland...just voicing how hard it would be to do some of these well.)

[brokenfingers]

men, any suggestions of what you'd like to see women try to get into that you think we otherwise avoid or criticize you for focusing on too often?)

Hmmmm.....

Beer, sports and naked coed mud-wrestling. (Thanks maestro!)

[brokenfingers]

Oh, and fast cars and fast women....

[SRHowen]

How about a job interview for an absurd job? Like blanket lint picker, or nose hair trimmer, or . . .

Shawn

[robeiae]

How about 17th Century Florentine woodworking?

Rob

[ShadowGuide]

How about 17th Century Florentine woodworking?

Rob:Wha:

Odd as you are, I mean, this suggestion is, I think I might be able to come up with something on this topic. Guess that shows how odd I am. C'est la vie! (Translation for non-French speakers: Such is life/That's life. <- And for those of you who are just getting to know me, the hidden text is: I feel so at home with you guys! Thanks!) :tongue

[WhisperingBard]

Do the finalists have to be able to cook and tap dance, too? Oy. :Smack:

[BlakeOvard]

Do the finalists have to be able to cook and tap dance, too? Oy. :Smack:

I would say that SHOULD be a requirement... as well as being able to completely sing and dance all scenes of West Side Story, all while being able to write their piece for the week, doing the laundry, making several phone calls, curing cancer, and fixing any errant broken down tractor trailer rigs that come their way! :D

[WhisperingBard]

I would say that SHOULD be a requirement... as well as being able to completely sing and dance all scenes of West Side Story, all while being able to write their piece for the week, doing the laundry, making several phone calls, curing cancer, and fixing any errant broken down tractor trailer rigs that come their way!

Ooh, wait, wait! We forgot brain surgery! Every good writer should be able to pull that one off! :ROFL:

[BlakeOvard]

Ooh, wait, wait! We forgot brain surgery! Every good writer should be able to pull that one off! :ROFL:

:banana: Well, I was going to include that, but I just thought that went without saying. I guess I need to ALSO include such simple things as creating world peace, and eliminating all debts both public and private. Geeez, I just have to get so simple sometimes...

[WhisperingBard]

I guess I need to ALSO include such simple things as creating world peace, and eliminating all debts both public and private.

Well, okay, now you've done it. You just eliminated me. See, I could handle the public debt side of things, but my private debt is kind of iffy... :cry:

blakeovard, you'll have to carry on alone. Do us proud. :Trophy:

[Sonya]

covered right here on the board. LOL at these posts!

How about a theme on seeing a spaceship or the Elvis...oh..wait..someone covered that in tabloid. : 0 )

Sonya

[SRHowen]

Yes, a tabloid article would be fun. Something really whacky.

Nose picking man removes own brain: Doctors replace brain in amazing surgery. Photos inside.

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_2_20.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxdm41442US) http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_17_1.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxdm41442US)

[Sonya]

Saw one at a checkout line some months ago "Aliens are here for our Krispy Kremes!" So that's why those donut stores have been disappearing.............

Sonya

[wurdwise]

http://www.mentaljokes.com/images/doctor_guy.gifBrain surgery,anyone?

[MarkPettus]

I would recommend your elimination rounds focus on real skills. Focus one round on POV (third person limited), another on tense (past perfect). One round should include an assignment for a feature article, 1500 to 2000 words, and maybe another should focus on blurbs of less than 250 words.

I also believe your finalists will be better served if you take a cue from the television show and have experts evaluate the writing before the votes.

One flaw from the Idol voting system is that a person can be sustained by a large fan base, and that fan base can be composed only of ex-lovers who are also family members, which gives any finalist from Arkansas an unfair advantage. Have your members vote for who they think should be eliminated, not who should be retained, and you will get a truer vision of each writer's saleability.

[maestrowork]

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of voting for "the one to be eliminated" (of course, only the judges can see the final scores). It helps minimize the need/possibility of cheating. It also makes it easier to vote, especially as we get down to the final few -- they must all be VERY good. It might be easier to pick the weakest link than the best of the best.

Of course, the votes should most certainly contain the word: ELIMINATE to make sure there is no confusion, that someone doesn't vote for someone thinking he's voting FOR (instead of against) the contestant.

[Gimpy]

I have to agree. If there are a few that really stand out, those might end up getting all the votes and the lesser ones could all end up in a tie... A tie could happen, seeing as how this is such a smaller scale.

[FreeSlave786]

I read some of the theme suggestions and while each sounds interesting - in its own way - I'm wondering if there is a need to keep the foreigners in mind?

Okay, so I'm being purely selfish - but I've never sat an SAT in my life, don't even know what it looks like and I had no idea what American Idol was, only learnt about it through this competition! :) That could be because I'm from Kenya :cool:

I'm probably also being extremely egoistical assuming I might actually need to worry about themes, but one can dream...

How about throwing in a theme about safari's and Maasai warriors? That would make me :banana:


*Sigh* It's so great being here. I know that's not the most original statement, especially in the past few weeks when everyone's been discovering this fantastic place to hang out, but it's true!

oh and one more thing - i love these icons! :Cheer:
(even though I don't know the appropriate place to use half of them!)

[PixelFish]

While I think it would be fun to write in multiple genres, I think it might be good to consider more open ended exercises that would be appropriate across a range of genres.

For example: we could have one week where the piece is primarily dialogue driven. Or another week where we show either a death scene, a love/sex scene, or a birth. Or a scene written in first person, depicting a coming-of-age ritual.

(Or Jenna could alternate: Week one being a specific genre week, and then the next week being more open ended, week three being another genre, and so on.)