Voices: Chapter I  August 31, 2008 - September 6, 2008

Okay everyone, you voted for it and now it�s time to put that vote to work for you. With Cyanskye�s winning plot outline as the basis for the story, the Vicious Circle�s first group-wide collaborative novel is well on its way to becoming a masterpiece. Now, it�s time to begin the novel itself with chapter one.

If you have yet to do so, please go to the following link and CAREFULLY read the plot outline. Once you�ve finished, you can begin to write the first chapter of Voices. As you write your chapter submission, you may need to refer back to Cyan�s outline fairly often. So, don�t forget to bookmark the page.

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/taffetadoll/296400/

Remember, however, that Voices IS a novel. This means that you don�t want to lock it all up within the first chapter. Take your time with the chapter, and attempt to give a basic idea as to WHAT is happening, rather than WHY it�s happening. We'll get to the whys later on. For now, concentrate on giving some depth to the characters, so that you can draw the reader into their lives (� such as they are for ghosts), as well as the story itself.

I realize that writing a novel can seem somewhat daunting to those of us who are more accustomed to writing short, flash fiction pieces that wrap up the story within a couple thousand words. Take into consideration that the average novel, once edited, is comprised of roughly 100,000 words. That�s a lot of time and a lot of words to build the characters, the environment and the story. Take your time.

I would suggest that you keep your chapter submissions somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 - 2,000 words. If you feel that you must go above 2,000 words then you certainly may do so, but bear in mind that you don't want to bog the reader down with long-winded descriptions in the first chapter. Instead, the object of this game is to grab the reader's attention early in the novel, so they will not be able to put it down later. And, the object of this kind of collaboration is to leave the chapter open-ended enough so the next writer can build from your ending.

Aside from the following, I�m not going to set rules on this contest (big sigh of relief!). The ONLY rule for this contest, as well as every subsequent Voices chapter contest, is that if you�ve already won one of the Voices contests you cannot submit for another. The reason for this is to give ALL the Vicious members a chance to be a part of the novel.

You will have just over two weeks to complete your submission for Voices: Chapter I. Vicious Circle members (as will always happen with the Voices novel contests) will vote for their favorite chapter submission (it�s YOUR novel, after all). This vote will take place on August 30th.

Remember also that, although the Vicious Circle commonly offers physical awards for our contests, prizes will not be provided for the Voices novel contests. But, the winner will have HUGE bragging rights by being able to say, �LOOK AT ME! I WON! YOU LIKE ME! YOU REALLY LIKE ME!� The winner may then feel free to commence a happy dance at his or her leisure � Oh, and you�ll get one of those nifty little badges for your profile page. Really, who doesn�t like those dumb things?

You have just over two weeks. Grab your pens, sharpen your quills, and write something Vicious!

$0.00, HUGE Bragging Rights

Damian Alan Gray

Spring Hill, FL

1 Contestant
1 Submissions
407 Views
Created Aug 12, 2008