Oh The Endless Possibility,
Let Your Imagination Run Free
And Win Some 5 SBD!
Welcome to Tell A Story To Me. We are back with another prompt, and the apologetically delayed results of the last round. This was easily the hardest to judge yet, the most rereads and the hardest narrowing down. Such a high standard, and yet again, wonderful curie votes to prove it! Thank you all so much for sharing your wonderful tales!
I have had days of escaping into your fantastic worlds, portals of all descriptions, complete worlds, enthralling stories, but, there has to be a winner!
The Winners #9
First Place
@gaby-crb with A Portal Opens
Second Place
We had enough entries for an official second place, but it was so hard to chose first place, let alone a second, so we have a draw. Getting 1SBD and 1 @steembasicincome
@ediblecthulhu and @dirge
As if we didn't have enough amazing stories, some came in the form of poems, the poetry award of 1 steem goes to:
Then, on my word, as if this round hadn't been amazing enough, we had a chose your own adventure story!! Winning 1 steem for this outstanding experience:
I wrote loads of notes while reading your stories so hope to be back in the morning with comments, I really loved reading these entries, thank you to everyone who took part <3
Author's Choice
Thank you to everyone who came back to vote for the authors choice award, the very wide spread of votes really reflected the amount of fantastic stories here, getting a 1 @steembasicincome share and 1SBD
Winning Voter
Normally we only have one winning voter, but this time, five authors, and our one public voter - 1 @steembasicincome share for voting goes to:
@theironfelix
@sarez
@blockurator
@cyemela
@ediblecthulhu
Anyone can win 1 @steembasicincome just by voting so even if you don't have chance to enter, you can head back for another chance to win!
The Prizes
First Place - win 5SBD in every round - Thank you so so much to @girlbeforemirror for sponsoring this prize <3
Second Place - this is triggered once we hit ten entries, and 1SBD and 1 @steembasicincome share
Third Place - this is triggered once we hit twenty entries and is either 1SBD or 1 @steembasicincome share
Author's Choice & Voters Prize - I have a prize for Authors Choice so I am asking everyone who enters to vote for their favourite from the other entries - I will release a list of entries when the contest closes and will be asking for the votes there. One lucky voter will also win!
Round Ten
Rules
1. One Entry Per Person
2. Prose, poetry, any form of fiction is accepted, as long as you tell me a story based on the prompt
3. Your entry must be written for this contest, and inspired by the prompt
4. Entries must be submitted by Midnight (BST) on Monday October 1st (That gives you just over two weeks to enter)
5. Use #tellastorytome, you don't have to, but your stories are so good I feel like they deserve their own tag
6. One picture only please, additional images of text are fine, but I want you to tell me a story with words, so only one actual picture
7. First Place wins 5 SBD more prizes up for grabs if we get enough entries - very happy to have this back at
8. Link back to this contest somewhere in your post. I would be really grateful if you also resteemed this contest (not doing so won't get your entry disqualified, but it is very much appreciated to help get the word out there, and more entries means more prizes)
9.I don’t really want to specify how long it should be, so no min length, and aim for under 4,000 but if it goes a little over, don't worry, I normally find myself wishing your entries never ended
10. Post a link to your tale in the comments below
The Prompt
Your entry must be inspired by this prompt, I am looking to hear the story where
When you die, you wake...
I want to hear the story of someone who wakes up after they die, how/why they die, how much of their life you tell, what they wake up to, yours to decide. They must live a life in this world, our version of reality, with no idea of what will come, then when they die, they find themselves somewhere else. Not reborn or reincarnated, but returned to another life of some description. This doesn't have to be the main focus of the story, and can be the setting in which your story plays out, or it can be the driving force. The story can start at any point in this series of events, but a person in the story must live in this reality, believing it wholehearted, die, and wake up to find out the life they lived wasn't real, the rest is up to you!
If you are looking for more ideas, some of the questions you could think about, but by no means have to answer, include:
- Were there any clues missed that could have warned that the person would 'wake up' when they died?
- What do they wake up to?
- What does that mean for our version of reality?
- Why did they live the life they woke up from, did they chose it, or was it as a result of something else?
This is one of those ideas that expands in possibility the more it's dwelt upon, hopefully it isn't too tight a prompt, and you will all find ways (and time) to be creative and see what you can come up with, and I can't wait to see your entries.
Don't forget to include a link in the comments!
All done and posted:
https://steemit.com/tellastorytome/@bashadow/prisoner-4378
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Hello @calluna, you can remove me from the list of those that will be eligible for the prize. My little story I wrote for your contest got a curie vote, I am totally blown away by that. It would not have happened if I did not enter your contest, but with that award, I feel that my name should be withdrawn for contention. Thank you for the prompt that led to the curie vote.
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If you win, any prizes will be passed on to the next person, thank you!
Thank you very much for the entry! And super chuffed for you! It makes me so happy when i can give ideas away, and people can turn them into something wonderful!
The round up to vote for your favorite is out! So head over and let me know which entry you liked most for an extra chance to win!
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Hola estoy preparando mi historia para subirla es la primera espero que guste
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Congratulations to all. This was fun.
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Great contest.
Liked Voted and Resteemed
My entry later.
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Hola muy bueno tu concurso
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congrats to all entries and the winner @gaby-crb
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Thanks!
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Thanks as always for the awesome event, and congrats to everyone on the fantastic stories! <3
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Hmm. I was interested until I read the full prompt. I was expecting a few sentences, but got a paragraph with bullet points, and even a subset of genres. While I think I might still be able to write a story within the parameters, I don't think my heart would be in it. I'm not against setting up predetermined requirements to encourage novel ideas and good writing within that framework, but it feels like you already know the story you want to read, and I don't think I can provide it. I'll leave that task to those who are up to it.
I have written a story before where someone realized the world(which basically matched modern day reality) they were living in was not what it seemed, but it doesn't quite match the prompt as they don't actually die within that reality to leave it. I also had some plans where someone dies and goes on a kind of short, supernatural journey related to one of my other stories, but that was going to be set in a fantasy world, so it again doesn't fit.
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I'm so grateful you felt like you could say this, and sincerely appreciate you taking the time to give me your thoughts.
I am really sorry to have made you feel, even for a single moment, like you 'aren't up to the task', I do this to encourage people, not to make them feel like they can't do things. It's easy to underestimate ourselves, I am always reading prompts thinking
and the very last thing I want is to cause someone to feel even a fraction of that. So thank you very much for telling me, I will really rethink how I phrase the next round, which has a more space scifi prompt coming, but will be back to the standard level of open and vague.
I format the contest like this for a variety of reasons, i'll just give you an idea of why I have added these bits:
I added the genres, as in the first few rounds - despite stating a few times it must be fiction, I got biographical entries, and this is a fiction contest. The genres are not limited, just suggestions, they are really broad genres anyway.
The further explanation of the prompt is something I started doing as I was getting unrelated entries, stories people had written already, and just added a line to that really didn't fit with the rest of the story. This is the same reason I switched from having a line to include in the story.
The bullet points were just suggestions to think about, if someone was struggling to work out how to approach the prompt, not things you need to include, I thought they may be useful for people who were struggling to get started, or to understand the prompt, although now, I can see how they may seem over whelming. I equally love things being left unanswered, unexplained, and do normally put something in about that, but having thought about it more, I will probably cut these going forwards or maybe think about wording so it's more clear, i'm not sure what you think would work better?
The main point of the prompt, is when you die you wake, I don't have a set story in mind, the prompts are designed to reflect part of the author, and part of their perception of society and the world, thus I often ask for things rooted in our reality. I am more interested to see how different people approach it, it could be an entirely background element to another story, I have said it can start at any point, so the story could be written in a fantasy world, but there must be an aspect of a person experiencing a life in our reality, and when they do, believing it. I tried to phrase it so someone could start the story in the fantasy world, have someone then live their life in our reality, and return to the fantasy world they started in, how much you focus on each aspect is up to you, the story could be mainly fantasy, or mainly reality.
I totally get you wanting to tie in to another story/series you are writing, but part of the reason for prompts are to encourage the pursuit of a new idea, a story that someone wouldn't have written otherwise, as opposed to people just giving me a story they had already written. It can be any kind of story you want, I would really love it if you managed to enter, there is a suitably long deadline to give you plenty of time to think about it, if you do manage to tie it in to something you are working on, that is more than ok, but there's nothing wrong with saving your own ideas, and writing something totally different. If you have any more feedback or suggestions on ways I could make this more accessible, I would really love it if you found the time to tell me.
I am exceptionally lenient, I think only one entry has ever been disqualified, I want people to push the boundaries of the prompt, think of things I never would have. You are very welcome to push the limits of the prompt as far as you can, and maybe only just fit them, I would love to read your entry!
Something about reading this struck a chord with me, so I'm going to say some things that are maybe the things i should be telling myself, I hope this isn't inappropriate, and if it is just totally ignore the rest of this <3
It's easy to doubt yourself, to be afraid to have confidence in your own ability, to think things beyond you. Some mountains are hard to climb, self acceptance has the highest peaks, with the most false summits, but slowly but surely, as we learn to let go of what weighs us down, the climb gets easier. The hike may be long, but we are not alone.
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Yeah, I certainly agree with several of those rules(such as no prewritten stories, no non-fiction, must be on topic, etc...)
I hope I didn't discourage you by writing all that. I'm flattered you felt strongly enough about my comment to respond at length the way you did. It reflects very well on how much you care about your community, which is one of the most important aspects of any creator in my opinion.
The only suggestion I would have is one you have already come up with, and that's differentiate clearly between requirements and suggestions within the prompt. Other than that, my main gripe was I didn't think I could come up with anything good for the contest(which is a reflection on my own abilities as opposed to yours). However, since you took the time to address my concerns, I'll take another look at the contest details, and see if I can come up with something to enter.
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I think I understand what you mean by your feedback here. I like this idea and topic. I imagine the suggestions / parameters are intended to open up possibilities rather than restrict them.
You definitely have the writing talent to take advantage of the criteria.
I'm glad you commented too as it promoted me to check out your posts. I haven't been very active on steemit lately, but I do enjoy a contest and I love discovering talented people (and I hate spammy comments, relevant intelligent comments even critiques are better than generic transparent "complimentary" one liners. @calluna I hope you don't mind me crashing your post with my own response.). Steemit is like mining for gems, sometimes you just stumble upon treasures. I'm happy to discover both of you @rhethypo and @calluna. I look forward to reading your story, (hopefully for this contest, it looks like a cool idea).
Take the suggestions as a challenge, push the boundaries of them and turn them on themselves to suit your purpose.
I too am thinking of entering a piece. I have done a little bit of poetry and free writing on steemit, but am not experienced in story writing, but I thought I might give it a go. The topic interests me, and I would like to develop my writing.
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@calluna,
Steemit contests have been of great enjoyment to me over the past couple of years, and surprisingly have helped me a great deal during a protracted period of illness.
For this reason I like to support great initiatives that show obvious commitment, consistency and effort.
I may not have the chance to enter this round, but have given my little up vote and resteem. I have also transfered 10 SBD to you to use as prizes for the contest. Steemit contests require a lot of effort, more than people imagine until they try. It is even harder with the current market and a less than bulging wallet.
I look forward to reading the entries. If I do write one it will be for fun and not to contend for a prize (sponsoring perhaps presents a conflict of interest).
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Thank you so so much <3 you're generosity and thoughtful words have really struck me this morning.
It's easy to forget, when you're hosting them, trying to find time to read all the entries, give people very well deserved feedback, how much they can mean to people. Thank you so much for reminding me of that. Your sponsorship couldn't be more appreciated! I am starting to see a rise in poetic entries, and always want to give away as many prizes as possible, oh dear, i may cry, thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me.
Anyone is welcome to enter, and pass on the prize, you can still win, as all entries are judged independent of who wrote them, but it just means if you do, the prize gets passed on and even more people win.
i honestly can't thank you enough
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Wow thank you so much. It feels so long ago since I wrote that entry, but I think that’s only because I’m still quite new on here. I look forward to reading your comments. :D
Ooh that’s an interesting prompt, if it was the reverse, someone waking up in this reality, I have an idea already. But I think that’s the fun of someone else’s prompt, expands the mind.
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Congratulations to the winners!
The prompt you introduced for this contest is splendid. I'll try and find the time to cook up an entry ^^
Best of luck to everyone! ^^
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Great contest and prompt @calluna. I'm so glad I managed to get an entry in this round as I started one in the last round but lost the thread of my story and couldn't finish it to a point I was happy with. I hope you enjoy this one :-)
Here is my entry called:
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Ooo a poetic entry!! Thank you very much! and i missed you in the last round, so looking forward to this one <3
The round up to vote so head over and let me know which entry you think should win and why!
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(Anyways, @calluna I can’t remember if you’d left a comment on my entry if you’d liked it or not. May I know what you’d thought of my entry? It would be nice to hear your thoughts on it.)
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Not yet ;) I have comments ready to leave in the morning, I am only just realising how handwriting them as I reread it is not the most efficient approach.
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Oh. Well that's good to know at least.
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nice series of contests
here is my entry
https://steemit.com/tellastorytome/@stevescoins/a-hell-of-a-night-s-sleep-sci-fi-tell-a-story-to-me
resteemed and thank you!
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Fitting the rules fully or not, very much appreciate the entry!
I have included you in the round up anyway, so although you do need to meet all the rules for first place, people may still enjoy your story so much they vote for you! you can also win just by voting for your favorite entry, so head over to the round up <3
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thank you @calluna!
I have resteemed your round-up, and I'm enjoying the entries and the comments on them.
If you'd like to compete or share with your readers, I am running a Halloween Contest all month long with 20 shares of SBI as the prize
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it looks like I didn't follow all the rules here...this was a post from last year that came immediately to mind when I read the subject...oops ;)
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Just going to drop a line so I remember to come back to this. Even if I don't do an entry I will want to read a few.
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Wooo! @theironfelix - a man - a myth - a little witch loving maniac, but who could resist her! (and kinda explains the post humus publications)
The Iron Felix always delivers for tellastory to me
True to his roots of leader and revolutionary
No matter the prompt he always comes through,
Even though he died in 1926!
<3
Can't wait to get into this one!
The round up post is out for your chance to vote!
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What a wonderful challenge! I will try to follow its issues as much as I can. It did inspire me today and I wrote all morning until almost 03:00 PM.
Here is my entry:
https://steemit.com/tellastorytome/@manoldonchev/my-script-my-first-story-here
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Thank you very much for your entry!
Part two is out, where you can win by voting for your favorite other entry!
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I'm braving the "freeze" and making a post--my response to your prompt has been ready for days, so I'm posting and wondering what will happen in the post-hardfork universe. This is not a traditional story, but I enjoyed writing it. Wasn't sure if I should try it as a narrative poem, but that seemed a little pompous. So, here it is: https://steemit.com/fantasy/@agmoore/behind-the-door-tell-a-story-to-me-10
Good luck with the contest!
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Thank you very much, I was worried I would have to push the deadline back, but everyone came through <3
Part two is out so head over and let me know which story you liked for another chance at winning! results should be up at the weekend!
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I'm glad I stopped by. I think I have a more mature (that is, much older) perspective than some who participate so my take may be different, but it's good to try out new waters. This was a good swim. I hope your next prompt is one that gives me another push.
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I totally missed this when I logged in last week and I’m sorry! Thanks for this contest and the prize, I had so much fun and I love reading the fantastic entries you get each time.
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Here is my entry: https://steemit.com/tellastorytome/@gaby-crb/everyday-s-a-lifetime-tell-a-story-to-me-contest-10
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Yo yo my little gaby-crb
here's part two of #tellastorytome
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Here's my entry as well:
https://steemit.com/tellastorytome/@cyemela/tell-a-story-to-me-contest-10-when-you-die
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Wooo yeah!!
Thank you very much for the entry!!
The round up post it out if you wana head over and cast your vote!
Results out at the weekend, thank you very much, can't wait to get stuck in!
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https://steemit.com/tellastorytome/@seesladen/broken-glass-the-beginning
With plenty of time, here's a hurried beginning...
Now let's see if I can make a more hurried ending for @tygertyger's electric dreams...
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Yes!! Super glad you made it!
I put this dance to shame, but I am not a gif haha
Voting is out my dear!
And as always, you are just awesome!
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This is my entry: https://steemit.com/tellastorytome/@alisabelsilva/sometimes-when-we-die
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Yeah! super glad to see you back! thank you for the entry!
Check out all the entries and win another prize just by voting for your favorite in the round up post!
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