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Welcome to the final round of Yeah Write’s Super Challenge 12, shortlisted writers! This is SC 12 and there are 12 of you – coincidence? Who knows. But over the next 48 hours all 12 of you will be combining tropes from two genres to make a blended-genre story.
I know you’ve heard it before, but really really read the tips this round. And there’s a special rule in the prompts for your title page: don’t miss it (we think you’ll love the genre that made it necessary).
A few tips and pointers about this round:
- Look. Up. Your. Genres.
- 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.
- We’ll give you some pointers in the prompt section about what we think the genre consists of. Don’t skip them: our judges receive a letter that explains what you’ve been told the prompt is, so that their personal definitions of the genre can be consistent with what you know.
- 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.
- Pay attention to what is NOT in the genre, as well as what is. What does that mean?
- There are no character, plot or setting restrictions, beyond what is necessary to demonstrate each genre.
Now that that’s cleared up, let’s get to the prompt:
Final Round
Alternate History / Crime Fiction
Let’s get to the pointers, shall we?
Alternate History
- Your world should be the world we live in, with one important difference: a(n) historical event should be different. Maybe an earthquake didn’t happen. Maybe someone assassinated Hitler. Maybe Columbus didn’t make it. Maybe Mary Queen of Scots supplanted Elizabeth I as Queen of England. Pick an event and change it, then let history take its course.
- IMPORTANT TITLE PAGE RULE: Because it’s not fair to make you tell all the backstory of your world, add a line to your title page saying “Alternate History: [description of change].” This doesn’t count toward your total words, but it should still be brief. Examples: “Alternate History: Hurricane Katrina misses the Gulf Coast.” “Alternate History: Jan III Sobieski does not command troops at Vienna.” “Alternate History: Watergate never happens.” This doesn’t get you off the hook for giving detail about the change in your story; it allows the judges to confirm that their interpretation of what happened matches what you were trying to do.
- Your world should follow naturally from the changed event. That is, if the changed event is a specific invasion of Europe was successful, your story demographics should reflect that, and so forth. Saying “the Challenger never exploded” and then going straight to “and in 2019 we all have flying cars” is less plausible.
- The changed event should be integral to your story. That is, you could write a story set in 2019 about someone Jewish whose family had lived in Warsaw for 15 continuous generations if your changed event was “someone killed Hitler before WWII started,” but you shouldn’t write a story about someone in Turkey eating figs if your changed event is “Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn’t assassinated” unless you can somehow make that relevant to the plot.
- Your story can be set at any time after the altered event.
Crime Fiction
- Crime fiction encompasses noir, detective stories, capers, and mystery. Feel free to incorporate the elements of one or more of these genres.
- Crime fiction revolves around – you guessed it – crime. Main characters are detectives, criminals, police, etc.
- The story may include either the commission or investigation of a crime – it doesn’t have to include both.
- If you’re looking for a definition of “crime fiction” you should feel free to use Wikipedia’s. This is a broad and flexible genre.
- If you plan to include forensic detail in your fiction, you are strongly encouraged to do your research. You don’t have to go get your Masters in Forensic Science this weekend, but you should at least try to be plausible within the bounds of science as we know it.
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 May 29, and we’ll announce the winner on May 31 at 3pm US Eastern Time..
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.
