The Terry Pratchett Prize, Round Two...
- Thread starter Quatermass
- Start date
εὕρηκα!!!
Objective achieved!!!
Loyhargil!!!
...Oops. Sorry, I suddenly channeled the Rani's Big Brain from Doctor Who: Time and the Rani (which, by the way, I only recommend watching if you go in with a mindset suited to watching Mystery Science Theatre 3000 :shifty: ).
Okay, I'll calm down, and then tell y'all why I am so excited.
I've found an alternative story to the one I was writing. Instead of taking my cue from the Quatermass serials of the 1950s and the Andromeda serials of the 1960s, I'm taking my cue from Bioshock, as well as other biopunk sources, not to mention (to a small degree) the Girl Genius comic series. The main theme will be on the ethics of human medical and genetic experimentation. Beyond that, I cannot say, though it will be a distinct work (with very different characters from my previous attempt for the TP Prize), I have the divergence point already thought out, and I hope that it will be a thought-provoking (as well as entertaining) read.
What's more, I could probably make it last to 80,000 words.
BTW, JVQ, I try to do more than 500-1000 words per day. I try to write 2500 words (my equivalent of a chapter) a day. Whether I succeed or not is another matter entirely.
And thanks for the vindication, raisindot. But even if I don't win, the rules state that I may still get considered for publication for other works. And even then, I have two avenues for publishing that I am yet to try with my first completed novel (though I actually want to revise part of it. Not a big bit, just a plot detail that will bring it into better focus and make better sense of the main character's backstory).
Anyway, off to watch The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn this afternoon. Thanks for the encouragement anyway. The idea for the new TP Prize novel came to me just before I went to bed last night.
Objective achieved!!!
Loyhargil!!!
...Oops. Sorry, I suddenly channeled the Rani's Big Brain from Doctor Who: Time and the Rani (which, by the way, I only recommend watching if you go in with a mindset suited to watching Mystery Science Theatre 3000 :shifty: ).
Okay, I'll calm down, and then tell y'all why I am so excited.
I've found an alternative story to the one I was writing. Instead of taking my cue from the Quatermass serials of the 1950s and the Andromeda serials of the 1960s, I'm taking my cue from Bioshock, as well as other biopunk sources, not to mention (to a small degree) the Girl Genius comic series. The main theme will be on the ethics of human medical and genetic experimentation. Beyond that, I cannot say, though it will be a distinct work (with very different characters from my previous attempt for the TP Prize), I have the divergence point already thought out, and I hope that it will be a thought-provoking (as well as entertaining) read.
What's more, I could probably make it last to 80,000 words.
BTW, JVQ, I try to do more than 500-1000 words per day. I try to write 2500 words (my equivalent of a chapter) a day. Whether I succeed or not is another matter entirely.
And thanks for the vindication, raisindot.
But even if I don't win, the rules state that I may still get considered for publication for other works. And even then, I have two avenues for publishing that I am yet to try with my first completed novel (though I actually want to revise part of it. Not a big bit, just a plot detail that will bring it into better focus and make better sense of the main character's backstory).Anyway, off to watch The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn this afternoon.
Thanks for the encouragement anyway. The idea for the new TP Prize novel came to me just before I went to bed last night.
Quatermass said:
Jan Van Quirm said:
I knew you could do 500 words per day easy - you must write around that just on here!
Especially if it has to have a plot to it, which my gibberings here don't.
Well, the story has a title. I've named the two main protagonists and the two main antagonists (although given the complex morality of this tale, it's not as simple as those designations), and I have started work on the first proper chapter.
I've also obtained some reading material that will be research material for the book, in terms of style. What is it? It's a secret. :naughty: :shhh: Let's just say that I am taking a very cliched story trope and injecting new life into it.
I've also obtained some reading material that will be research material for the book, in terms of style. What is it? It's a secret. :naughty: :shhh: Let's just say that I am taking a very cliched story trope and injecting new life into it.
Welp, my optimism has floundered. Part of the reason why is that I haven't made it clearly a parallel Earth. It should be something with wide-reaching changes to the world, but as it was, it wasn't much. I've considered ways to turn the story into a far-reaching ones, but the problem is, this is meant to be relatively hard science fiction, and I can't do it without it seeming implausible.
Back to the f***ing drawing board. Or else, f*** the TP Prize.
And BTW, how come I can't find any synopses of the winners of last years competition on Amazon or the publisher's websites? I can't find anything to do with Apocalypse Cow or Half Sick of Shadows. They may be advertised as coming out later, but if it's on Amazon already, I expect to see a blurb!
Back to the f***ing drawing board. Or else, f*** the TP Prize.
And BTW, how come I can't find any synopses of the winners of last years competition on Amazon or the publisher's websites? I can't find anything to do with Apocalypse Cow or Half Sick of Shadows. They may be advertised as coming out later, but if it's on Amazon already, I expect to see a blurb!
Q - you're over-thinking this (hard for you to avoid this I know ).
Look at the rules again and interpret them to suit your scenario. There's a lot of leeway built into it if you don't let the criteria get to you. The difference can be something very slight
as in Taking JFK as your model instead of the Bay of Pigs incident you could change what happened in Berlin where he doesn't say he's a doughnut or what would have happened if he survived the assassination attempt in Dallas (very good Red Dwarf episode dealing with that particular one heavily utilising the grassy knoll conspiracy theory).
Having decided what your twist is for the alternate Earth the actual event/evolution of that version needn't be too major.
I'll give you another example in a book I read written in the '60s that was an historical romance not even fantasy and used a viewpoint character to tell the story of the Norman Conquest (it was called Guildenford and the main thrust centred on the murder of Edward the Confessor's brother Alfred at Guildford by the hands of Harold Godwinson's family). The minor character had his fortune told - that one day he would change the course of history. He was a merchant and he set about making all kinds of canny deals that took him to Dover Castle. The way he changed history was to be the catalyst to starting the riot that took place there in 1051 and led indirectly to the whole scenario where the Godwinsons were sent into exile, thereby laying the grounds for them to scheme to take the throne on Edward's death and for the Normans to invade Britain rather than inheriting it legally (as William the Bastard had a legitimate claim to succeed childless Edward as his mother's great nephew). What was the catalyst? Far from winning fame and fortune the merchant provoked an argument with one of the Normans in Dover and got himself killed, so the actions that led to his death changed history and England was invaded by the most powerful military force in the known world in 1066...
So it needn't be a huge thing, just a wrong trouser leg moment rather than some ground-shaking catastrophe - although it can be that as well. It just has to 'start' somewhere...
).Look at the rules again and interpret them to suit your scenario. There's a lot of leeway built into it if you don't let the criteria get to you. The difference can be something very slight
as in Taking JFK as your model instead of the Bay of Pigs incident you could change what happened in Berlin where he doesn't say he's a doughnut or what would have happened if he survived the assassination attempt in Dallas (very good Red Dwarf episode dealing with that particular one heavily utilising the grassy knoll conspiracy theory).
Having decided what your twist is for the alternate Earth the actual event/evolution of that version needn't be too major.
I'll give you another example in a book I read written in the '60s that was an historical romance not even fantasy and used a viewpoint character to tell the story of the Norman Conquest (it was called Guildenford and the main thrust centred on the murder of Edward the Confessor's brother Alfred at Guildford by the hands of Harold Godwinson's family). The minor character had his fortune told - that one day he would change the course of history. He was a merchant and he set about making all kinds of canny deals that took him to Dover Castle. The way he changed history was to be the catalyst to starting the riot that took place there in 1051 and led indirectly to the whole scenario where the Godwinsons were sent into exile, thereby laying the grounds for them to scheme to take the throne on Edward's death and for the Normans to invade Britain rather than inheriting it legally (as William the Bastard had a legitimate claim to succeed childless Edward as his mother's great nephew). What was the catalyst? Far from winning fame and fortune the merchant provoked an argument with one of the Normans in Dover and got himself killed, so the actions that led to his death changed history and England was invaded by the most powerful military force in the known world in 1066...
So it needn't be a huge thing, just a wrong trouser leg moment rather than some ground-shaking catastrophe - although it can be that as well. It just has to 'start' somewhere...
JVQ, I have to over-think it, or else I write a crap story. I don't plan things out on paper, my writing is very much an intuitive improvisational process, but I still want it to be a good story. If I write enough of it to be able to tell that it's not good enough, then I abandon it in favour of something else. Either a new draft, a new revision of the story, or another story entirely.
The problem is with those examples is that I am not actually interested in exploring a strict alternate history where JFK screwed up with the Cuban Missile Crisis, or for that matter where he didn't get his head blown off. I want something with a taste of actual science fiction behind it, something a little more fantastic than mundane history, even if it isn't our own. Otherwise, it's not interesting enough for me to commit to it. If it hadn't already been done to death already, I'd do something about dragons. And one of my earlier ideas came too close to blatantly plagiarising ideas from Doctor Who (which was a pity, as it was an excellent concept, and I might be able to rework it to something good and original if I can find a new angle that works). The one after that, the one that I really wanted to do, based on the Quatermass serials of the 1950s, has now evolved into something that I can do in a futuristic setting, but not an alternate history (or at least not up to 80K words).
My current story attempt, such as it is, is a biopunk story that owes something to the Bioshock games (I recently read a novel prequel to the Bioshock games, and enjoyed it). Problem is, it needs no less than three major trouser leg diversions in order to be remotely possible. And I'm not sure it's going to be of good quality anyway, as I don't have an actual plot per se, just a bunch of concepts and characters. At least one of whom I have pilfered from a fantasy series I intended to write, and which I feel uncomfortable about, as the character was actually better in the fantasy series. Let's just say that the character was based on a mythological creature originally, and that being transferred to a realistic scenario prevents a key aspect of that creature from being used. And no, it's not a dragon.
I think the best thing for me is to leave this current work alone, and consider alternatives for the contest that are within my capabilities as a writer. Not that there will be, realistically, but I want to try. However, I do want to get my other books written and published, and between working on books that I know have potential, and wasting a year again on a book that I won't consider good enough for the competition, well, there's no contest, is there?
And I have seen that Red Dwarf episode. Tikka to Ride. Pretty damn funny. And it's a pity they didn't keep the original ending on that episode, involving the lost curry, a booby trap set by Rimmer, and the rear end of Starbug.
The problem is with those examples is that I am not actually interested in exploring a strict alternate history where JFK screwed up with the Cuban Missile Crisis, or for that matter where he didn't get his head blown off. I want something with a taste of actual science fiction behind it, something a little more fantastic than mundane history, even if it isn't our own. Otherwise, it's not interesting enough for me to commit to it. If it hadn't already been done to death already, I'd do something about dragons. And one of my earlier ideas came too close to blatantly plagiarising ideas from Doctor Who (which was a pity, as it was an excellent concept, and I might be able to rework it to something good and original if I can find a new angle that works). The one after that, the one that I really wanted to do, based on the Quatermass serials of the 1950s, has now evolved into something that I can do in a futuristic setting, but not an alternate history (or at least not up to 80K words).
My current story attempt, such as it is, is a biopunk story that owes something to the Bioshock games (I recently read a novel prequel to the Bioshock games, and enjoyed it). Problem is, it needs no less than three major trouser leg diversions in order to be remotely possible. And I'm not sure it's going to be of good quality anyway, as I don't have an actual plot per se, just a bunch of concepts and characters. At least one of whom I have pilfered from a fantasy series I intended to write, and which I feel uncomfortable about, as the character was actually better in the fantasy series. Let's just say that the character was based on a mythological creature originally, and that being transferred to a realistic scenario prevents a key aspect of that creature from being used. And no, it's not a dragon.
I think the best thing for me is to leave this current work alone, and consider alternatives for the contest that are within my capabilities as a writer. Not that there will be, realistically, but I want to try. However, I do want to get my other books written and published, and between working on books that I know have potential, and wasting a year again on a book that I won't consider good enough for the competition, well, there's no contest, is there?
And I have seen that Red Dwarf episode. Tikka to Ride. Pretty damn funny.
And it's a pity they didn't keep the original ending on that episode, involving the lost curry, a booby trap set by Rimmer, and the rear end of Starbug. 
Q.... most science fiction is a 'what if...' scenario. Hence a lot of scientists and academics write it too.
Good writing is usually about what you are most familiar with.
I have mixed feelings about you writing for the comp. Last year you put so much pressure on yourself we lost the you we know and love.
I have NO doubt you can write... remember... you wrote that summary for the book series for ne... I am being totally selfish... don't want to lose you from here. You need to research other writing comps. The Gold Coast has one every year. There are heaps here in all and all around the world.
Good writing is usually about what you are most familiar with.
I have mixed feelings about you writing for the comp. Last year you put so much pressure on yourself we lost the you we know and love.
I have NO doubt you can write... remember... you wrote that summary for the book series for ne... I am being totally selfish... don't want to lose you from here. You need to research other writing comps. The Gold Coast has one every year. There are heaps here in all and all around the world.
And what I am familiar with is the fantastic, not the mundane. I've been spoiled by too much science fiction!
I have the Australian Writer's Marketplace, and there are surprisingly few writing comps I can enter. My best bet would be the Vogel Awards held by Allen and Unwin, although I don't know when the next one is being held. Entries are currently closed. However, the work I was working on is good enough for that.
The Gold Coast one is BS. The last one on the website is only open to members. F**k that.
I have the Australian Writer's Marketplace, and there are surprisingly few writing comps I can enter. My best bet would be the Vogel Awards held by Allen and Unwin, although I don't know when the next one is being held. Entries are currently closed. However, the work I was working on is good enough for that.
The Gold Coast one is BS. The last one on the website is only open to members. F**k that.
They're only examples as was the Guildenford thing of course - you can put your twist to alternate Earth anyhow you like to suit the overall tone and there must be myriad ways to achieve that, so it's more a question of cutting your garment according to the cloth you have and other tried and trusted cliches...
This point Why can't you work in a plausible evolutionary concept that does allow the key aspect - Jack Cohen (of Science of the Discworld fame) always cites the 'common ancestor' of all land vertebrates as being responsible for our having such awful respiratory probs because our airways are in front of our digestive tract (or is it the other way around?
). His point is that if another creature that didn't have that particular configuration had got out of the primeval oceans and was able to breathe oxygen out of water first, then maybe we wouldn't have such dire ENT problems or get pneumonia and coughs and so on... This is from his famous lecture with Ian Stewart to the effect that life on earth is not the 'norm' and aliens aren't going to be anything like us, even if they come from a similar type of planet circling a sun that's roughly equivalent to ours and about the same distance away from it...
And so on. Maybe Del's right and you shouldn't bother with any competition and just go with what you have a strong idea(s) for and write it without having to adapt it to other people's criteria. That's how Discworld started out after all - it didn't win prizes to start off with and the one thing I do now know about writing is that if you don't feel comfortable with how you shape the story then it's going to come out in the writing so better to just do it the way you know how and not have to worry about fitting it to someone elses brief. In the end you have to write what's appealing to you and not other people because otherwise you won't give enough of a damn about your characters simply because they're not wholly yours anymore. The heart and the gut are really what makes the difference between a competent book and a truly compelling one and competitions that seek to be semi-prescriptive don't necessarily suit everyone's style of writing whether it comes into the same genre group or not.
I'm not going in for this competition because I've written my book (well almost ) the way I want it written and I'm not about to enter it in any description of competition I'm just going to see about getting it published because I think it's original and defies categorisation because of the approach I've taken with it that deals with subject matter and issues that I care a great deal about. Always write for yourself and true to yourself and, if a competition inspires you and you're happy with the result then fine, but don't hang everything on it and certainly don't abandon other projects that may mean much more to you, just on the off-chance that you might get lucky and win. That's defeating the object which is to encourage creativity not cramp it's style, or get it so screwed up it loses it's originality because it doesn't tick all the boxes they're asking for, like a good little clone?
This point Why can't you work in a plausible evolutionary concept that does allow the key aspect - Jack Cohen (of Science of the Discworld fame) always cites the 'common ancestor' of all land vertebrates as being responsible for our having such awful respiratory probs because our airways are in front of our digestive tract (or is it the other way around?
). His point is that if another creature that didn't have that particular configuration had got out of the primeval oceans and was able to breathe oxygen out of water first, then maybe we wouldn't have such dire ENT problems or get pneumonia and coughs and so on... This is from his famous lecture with Ian Stewart to the effect that life on earth is not the 'norm' and aliens aren't going to be anything like us, even if they come from a similar type of planet circling a sun that's roughly equivalent to ours and about the same distance away from it...And so on. Maybe Del's right and you shouldn't bother with any competition and just go with what you have a strong idea(s) for and write it without having to adapt it to other people's criteria. That's how Discworld started out after all - it didn't win prizes to start off with and the one thing I do now know about writing is that if you don't feel comfortable with how you shape the story then it's going to come out in the writing so better to just do it the way you know how and not have to worry about fitting it to someone elses brief. In the end you have to write what's appealing to you and not other people because otherwise you won't give enough of a damn about your characters simply because they're not wholly yours anymore. The heart and the gut are really what makes the difference between a competent book and a truly compelling one and competitions that seek to be semi-prescriptive don't necessarily suit everyone's style of writing whether it comes into the same genre group or not.
I'm not going in for this competition because I've written my book (well almost
) the way I want it written and I'm not about to enter it in any description of competition I'm just going to see about getting it published because I think it's original and defies categorisation because of the approach I've taken with it that deals with subject matter and issues that I care a great deal about. Always write for yourself and true to yourself and, if a competition inspires you and you're happy with the result then fine, but don't hang everything on it and certainly don't abandon other projects that may mean much more to you, just on the off-chance that you might get lucky and win. That's defeating the object which is to encourage creativity not cramp it's style, or get it so screwed up it loses it's originality because it doesn't tick all the boxes they're asking for, like a good little clone?
Thanks, JVQ. I'm keeping that in mind. So I intend to do final revisions on my first completed novel before I send it to a publisher, as well as complete the Quatermass serials-inspired novel I had in mind for the first TP Prize, as well as working on the fantasy one. All assuming that I don't get an actual job in the meantime...
If I do come across a good idea for the TP Prize, I'll do it, but at the moment, it's not likely.
I'm keeping that in mind. So I intend to do final revisions on my first completed novel before I send it to a publisher, as well as complete the Quatermass serials-inspired novel I had in mind for the first TP Prize, as well as working on the fantasy one. All assuming that I don't get an actual job in the meantime...If I do come across a good idea for the TP Prize, I'll do it, but at the moment, it's not likely.
Who'd want to go to f***ing Tahiti? All there is is sand and surf. I live not far from Surfer's Paradise, one of the most famous beaches in Australia. And I have mild hydrophobia thanks to my dad bringing me out to swim near there every f***ing weekend, whether I wanted to or not...
I'd want a holiday with book shopping. Or else a Waterstone's in Australia! After Angus and Robertson, and Borders, went down the crapper, I badly need more bookshops. I'm suffering withdrawals...
Back on-topic, I had a flash of inspiration last night. I Have An Idea. Am I going to tell y'all what it is? Nope. But I will tell you that it is an extremely overused and cliched subject that nonetheless I think I can bring new life to, given the right research and storyline.
I live not far from Surfer's Paradise, one of the most famous beaches in Australia. And I have mild hydrophobia thanks to my dad bringing me out to swim near there every f***ing weekend, whether I wanted to or not... I'd want a holiday with book shopping.
Or else a Waterstone's in Australia! After Angus and Robertson, and Borders, went down the crapper, I badly need more bookshops. I'm suffering withdrawals... Back on-topic, I had a flash of inspiration last night. I Have An Idea. Am I going to tell y'all what it is? Nope. But I will tell you that it is an extremely overused and cliched subject that nonetheless I think I can bring new life to, given the right research and storyline.
Okay, a bit of an update. Not long after I had my inspiration, I realised rather swiftly that I was entering a genre of fiction that had been overdone to death, and there was no way that I could inject new life into it. Which is ironic, as I will now confess what idea I had, as I don't have any ideas that haven't been done already, and better (as well as worse).
I was going to write about a world where vampires were real and (to a degree) realistic. I was more inspired by a concept I had read about on an article on the Peter Watts novel Blindsight, as well as the original Dracula novel, but whatever plot I could think of, it's been done before me. Many, many times. The vampire genre has been done so often, it's died and risen from the grave, a sort of meta-textual vampirism.
So, rather than go on here and throw a tantrum about my inability to write a decent plot, I set it aside while I worked on the novel I had originally conceived for the TP Prize, the one that was a homage to the Quatermass serials. And suddenly, this afternoon, inspiration struck. I Have Another Idea. What's more, I can poach stories, concepts, and characters from a book series I had already tried to write before, but had left aside for the past few years. I have some serious research to do, though.
I was going to write about a world where vampires were real and (to a degree) realistic. I was more inspired by a concept I had read about on an article on the Peter Watts novel Blindsight, as well as the original Dracula novel, but whatever plot I could think of, it's been done before me. Many, many times. The vampire genre has been done so often, it's died and risen from the grave, a sort of meta-textual vampirism.
So, rather than go on here and throw a tantrum about my inability to write a decent plot, I set it aside while I worked on the novel I had originally conceived for the TP Prize, the one that was a homage to the Quatermass serials. And suddenly, this afternoon, inspiration struck. I Have Another Idea. What's more, I can poach stories, concepts, and characters from a book series I had already tried to write before, but had left aside for the past few years.
I have some serious research to do, though. 