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Well, we’ve arrived.
Here’s Round Three, the final round, the big one, the why-did-i-not-throw-round-two-i-have-to-sew-three-costumes-this-weekend round. Congratulations, before we begin, to our top ten writers. You should all be fantastically proud of yourselves for getting this far. I know, everyone always says that and now it feels meaningless, right? But it’s not. You’ve actually gotten through the hardest rounds. Just trust yourself: you know how to do this.
This round you’ll be combining tropes from two genres to make a blended-genre story. I know we’ve given you these tips twice now but look, folks screw this up all the time, use it as a checklist, ok? We’re not trying to hide the ball or make this any harder on you than writing a good story in 48 hours has to be.
- Look. Up. Your. Genres. We’ll give you a head start in the description, but look them up anyway (and then if you find information that conflicts with the description we gave you, use ours; the judges will so you might as well).
- Even if you know one of the genres well, even if your name is actually Ngaio Marsh and we assigned you “mystery,” it’s good to think about not only what you believe is in the genre but what your judges might be expecting to see. Both genres need to be easily identifiable, so think about which elements of the two will work together and which will not.
- Don’t go offroading with your genres. Sure, there are noir stories that don’t incorporate crime, femme fatales, or hardboiled main characters… but this isn’t the time to be trying to write one. Stick to the main tropes for your assigned genres and let the interplay between the two provide the sense of freshness and innovation you’re looking for to show off your creativity.
- There are no character, plot or setting restrictions, beyond what is necessary to demonstrate each genre.
Are you ready for this? Let’s do it.
Special title page rules for the final round:
- You don’t need to include your group number – just put “Final Round” on that line.
- You may include, per the note under Genre 2, informational links. Your story may not depend on these links. Consider them “fun facts” for the judges, rather than supplemental information for your story, and assume that the judges won’t read them.
- As always you may include a content warning if your subject matter merits it, which will not be counted against your word limit.
Genre 1: Magical realism
The first genre you’ll need to include is magical realism. There are quite a few confusing definitions for this one out there, so here’s ours: A mostly-normal story with magical elements. What does that mean?
- Not everyone should have, or even be aware of, magic.
- Themes for magical realism aren’t big heroic themes like putting a piece of jewelry in a volcano. They’re people solving everyday sorts of problems, who just happen to have magic. Or it might be someone who is trying to live an ordinary life despite the magical quests going on around them.
- Magical realism doesn’t take place in a fantasy world; it takes place in a world plausibly like ours… with that one big addition.
- For our purposes this weekend there is little, if any, functional difference between urban fantasy and magical realism, other than the amount of magic: urban fantasy tends to be at the “most permissible magic” end and in a city setting.
- Look for magical, rather than scientific explanations.
Genre 2: Historical fiction
The second genre you’ll need to include in your story is historical fiction. Historical fiction is a fictionalized account of actual historical events. You may make up a character and set them in a specific period in history and let them interact with the real people, or you may fictionalize an account of an actual event using only the real people who were there (for example, pretty much everything Longfellow wrote).
If you want (but you don’t have to) you should feel free to include a link or two on your title page to an article about the events you’re describing, if you feel that judges might enjoy that context. Your story still has to stand alone without the additional information in the article(s), with enough description to figure out what’s going on and when and where it takes place.
Need a few more pointers?
- Historical fiction is usually set around major historical events, partly because they’re interesting and partly because they’re an easy way to anchor a reader in time.
- No alternate universes: outcomes must occur (or at least the major facts around them) the way they do in actual history. Germany loses WWII. The Titanic sinks. And so forth.
- Mythos is not history: there was no definite person who was “Robin Hood” or “King Arthur.”
And two rules:
- Because we are combining this genre with magical realism, no time travel magic that produces alternate timelines. Sorry. Real events stay real, and the Master Timeline needs to remain firmly in place, if you really must use time travel. Magical explanations for historical outcomes are totally fair game, though, so if you need a clairvoyant Napoleon Bonaparte who always knows what his opponents are up to until someone figures out a counterspell in time for Waterloo? Go for it.
- No history after 1980. Yes, it’s an arbitrary cutoff date. Yes, 1980 is ok. No, 1981 is not. So US writers, you can have Reagan’s election but not his inauguration. And since you can’t have alternate timelines, Reagan would have to be elected.
Wait, wait, there’s more!
Don’t post your story anywhere on the Internet until after our judges are done and you get your feedback! But if you want to talk up the competition or live-tweet your writing process, use the hashtag #YWsuper. Just remember not to include identifying details about which story is yours!
Your essays are due Sunday at 10pm US Eastern Time. Remember to check the rules for formatting, including all those fiddly details like title page, font, and filename. Don’t get disqualified on a technicality! We know it seems really useless at times, but all those rules have a purpose, from helping get your file where it needs to be to making sure you’re read anonymously and fairly.
Email your questions to superchallenge@yeahwrite.me—we will not be reviewing other email addresses or social media for your questions over the weekend and we want to make sure you get the answers you need!
You’ll receive your feedback on November 7, and we’ll announce our winner at 3pm US Eastern time on November 9.
We hope you have as much fun with the prompts as we had picking them out. Good luck, and good writing!
About the author:
Rowan submitted exactly one piece of microfiction to YeahWrite before being consumed by the editorial darkside. She spent some time working hard as our Submissions Editor before becoming YeahWrite’s Managing Editor in 2016. She was a BlogHer Voice of the Year in 2017 for her work on intersectional feminism, but she suggests you find and follow WOC instead. In real life she’s been at various times an attorney, aerialist, professional knitter, artist, graphic designer (yes, they’re different things), editor, secretary, tailor, and martial artist. It bothers her vaguely that the preceding list isn’t alphabetized, but the Oxford comma makes up for it. She lives in Portlandia with a menagerie which includes at least one other human. She tells lies at textwall and uncomfortable truths at CrossKnit.
