July 30, 2010 8:30 PM PDT

the imaginaries challenges

The (generally) quarterly challenge is an exercise in deadlines and ideas. Quite often it is the kick in the butt that many an aspiring writer needs to start writing again. See the FAQ for more details.

Crossed Genres (June) - Invasion
Invasion * (Submissions: June 2010 / Publication: August 2010) Must blend fantasy and/or science fiction (yes, both is good) with the theme of "Invasion". For the challenge, the story must be 1000-2000 words. Four days to vote.
Crossed Genres (May) - Lies
Lies * (Submissions: May 2010 / Publication: July 2010) Must blend fantasy and/or science fiction (yes, both is good) with the theme of "Lies". The lie must be central to the story. For the challenge, the story must be 1000-2000 words. Four days to vote.
Crossed Genres (April) - Gadgets & Artifacts
Gadgets & Artifacts * (Submissions: April 2010 / Publication: June 2010) Must blend fantasy and/or science fiction (yes, both is good) with the theme of "Gadgets & Artifacts". The gadget/artifact must be central to the story. Story must be 1000-2000 words. Two days to vote.
Crossed Genres (March) - Eastern
Eastern* (Submissions: March 2010 / Publication: May 2010) * In contrast to last year's "Western" issue, we'll be looking for stories set in Eastern cultures. Should be sci-fi, fantasy, or a blend of the two, in addition to Eastern.
Bake Me A Story!
Ideas for a good story are like baking a cake. You need all the ingredients, and they need to be mixed up in a certain order for before you toss the cake in the oven. The ingredients for a good story are no different. I'll give you a list of ingredients that have to be in your story. Your job, to mix them up and add your own flavor. Tantalize and fantasize. Creep us out or make us laugh. Your ingredients The theme of this story can contain : dramatic action, comedy, horror, science fiction or a combination of all four. The main characters that have to be in the story: a tired android and a fear-ridden farmer. The start of the story has to involve: a journey. The story needs to end with: a party. Story length: 500 to 3000 words.
The Four Horsemen Challenge
The four themes are "Conquest, War, Famine/Pestilence, and Death." "Most genres, including, but not limited to, supernatural, dark fantasy, horror, suspense, crime, mystery, humor and science fiction, are welcome as long as they fit the theme of one of our four categories (conquest, war, famine/pestilence, death...Stories can be realistic or fantastical. They can take place anywhere - on Earth, under Earth, in Space, etc. They can take place at any time - past, present, future, alternate. We are looking for a good variety of unique stories that fit our four categories! We are looking for short stories 500-5,000 words in length." http://www.pillhillpress.com/open-submissions.html
By the light of the silvery Moon.
The theme is Moon. Which leaves a lot of options open for horror(e.g. were-wolves), romance, fantasy(e.g. magic) , sci-fi (e.g. space travel or space colonization), or combination (e.g. were-wolf, mage newlyweds traveling to a moon to start a new colony). This is a 500 word max challenge, and I'm giving everyone 3 weeks to moon me. Have fun
Assassin's Creed
Silent and deadly with an arsenal of devious, lethal contraptions, bumbling and inane and hopelessly overmatched by his target. Or just someone thrust into a circumstance that leads them to contemplate murder. All types of assassins and all types of assassinations are welcome in the Assassin's Creed anthology. http://www.utilityfogpress.com
The Apocalypse Challenge
Entries must be science fiction, fantasy or horror and incorporate the theme of apocalypse in some way. http://www.furtivelabors.com/contest.htm
Monsters
2000 words or less; on the loose theme of "Monster", though that could be anything from The Economy to Natural Disasters, Politics, or yes, even Halloween.
Weird Tales spam challenge
Write a flash-fiction story--under 500 words--based on a spam you've received. http://weirdtales.net/wordpress/2008/07/26/weird-tales-writing-contest/
Water Micro Challenge
500 words somehow related to "water".
Air Micro Challenge
500 words somehow related to "air".
Woods micro-challenge
500 words somehow related to "woods"
Fire micro-challenge
400 words on "Fire"
2007 2nd quarterly(ish) challenge
Theme is 'Mythical Creatures'. Word Count - less than 6500 words. For those wishing to tie their challenge entry in with a potential market/contest... there's a lycanthrope contest being run by Graveside Tales, see below (but please note they will close early if they get their quota). Lycanthrope -The Beast Within Graveside Tales is now open to submissions for an upcoming lycanthrope anthology. We have four slots available for novelette length works (12,000-20,000 words), seven slots open for short story works (5,000 words), six openings for Flash Fiction (1,000 words or under), and 4 poems. Pay rates are as follows: Novelette length works will pay $50 and a contributors copy. Short stories will pay $25 and a contributors copy. Flash Fiction will pay $15 and a contributors copy. Poems will pay $10 and a contributors copy. All rights of work revert back to the author after one year from the publication date. What we are looking for: We want to see every spectrum of the lycanthrope universe. Werewolves, spiders, tigers, poodles...everything! We don't care about gore or explicit situations, but we don't want to see mindless intestine ripping just for gore's sake. We want stories to be well plotted and character driven. If you can find a way to incorporate intestine ripping in there, which helps further the story's development, well by all means fit it in. Submissions shall be accepted from June 01 thru Sept 01 of 2007 or until filled. Reading time is two weeks for rejections. If we like your story you may not hear back from us right away please be patient. If you have not heard back from us within 3 days acknowledging the receipt of your manuscript please feel free to query us. Release: Winter 2007/2008 Submissions: You can send the story in the body of an email or as an email attachment. Please make sure your use Microsoft Word and saved in .doc or .rtf format. Your manuscript should be formatted in Times New Roman, font size twelve, double spaced, 1" margins all around. Put "Lycanthrope Anthology" in your subject line. If you send your story in the email body you will be asked to resend your story as an email attachment if accepted. Name, address, phone number, word count, and e-mail of author should be on the first page of the manuscript, and a header for subsequent pages should contain the author's name and title. Any other format will automatically deleted unread. Include a brief bio, story publication history, and any other relevant information in the body of the email. Send submissions to: submissions@gravesidetales.com Check the site: www.gravesidetales.com for updates and go ahead and sign up for the forums while you're there!
"History is Dead"
Location: USA Permuted Press and Kim Paffenroth are pleased to announce open submissions for our latest zombie anthology, tentatively entitled History Is Dead. The premise for this collection: We love seeing or reading about zombies taking headshots from the absolute latest in police and military weaponry. We love seeing people fight and survive in familiar settings – the mall, the high school, Pittsburgh, Yonkers, downtown Manhattan. But, it's kind of been overdone. Most all zombie fiction and movies are set in the modern world, and most of those in the U.S.A. So what we're proposing is a collection of zombie short stories, set in some other historical period, especially if they're also set in another geographical locale. What we're looking for: zombie stories set sometime pre-20th century. Use your imagination. Biblical, Roman, Medieval, or the Old West all come to mind, as well as non-Western settings like samurai fighting zombies, or hordes of zombies crashing into the Great Wall. Crossovers with other monsters usually don't thrill Kim, though he'll try to keep an open mind. Though Kim is partial to "Romero" zombies (i.e. slow and caused by plague), he is open to other speeds and other causes of the monstrosity. What else: Character-driven stories. We can't say this enough. If the seed of your idea is how cool it would be to kill zombies with halberds or catapults, or pour boiling oil on them and then set it alight – well, that's a fine place to begin. But, if that's all you got, I think we'll pass. We have to care about the people in the story; mega bonus points if we even care about the zombies as well. Word count: Approximately 3-8k. No flash, nothing over 10k. Reprints considered: Yes RT: As quick as possible for rejections. If we like it and keep it in the running, you'll probably have to wait all the way till the deadline to know for sure. Payment: $25 + contributor's copy. Submissions: By email attachment to kimpaffenroth@msn.com. Please make sure your manuscript is in MSW (.doc), 12 pt. Times Roman, double spaced, 1" margins all around. Put "zombie submission" in your subject line. Deadline: May 25, 2007 Link: http://gotld.blogspot.com http://www.permutedpress.com Email: kimpaffenroth@msn.com
"machine of death" anthology
"In the not-too-distant future, an accident of science creates a machine that uses a blood test to predict how people or animals will die. You give it a drop of blood, it runs an inscrutable test, and it spits out a slip of paper that tells you how you are fated to die. It doesn't tell you WHEN it will happen, or WHERE -- it only tells you HOW. And often even the HOW turns out to be pretty ambiguous." -- http://www.machineofdeath.net/ ((actual deadline, April 30)) No word limit.
2006 4th Quarter Fan Fic Challenge
Fan Fic Challenge: Take a favorite setting "Starwars", "Harry Potter", "Anne Rice's vampire world" and tell a story in that world. Well known characters can only be referenced. The story has to have original characters and such. Make sure the story isn't more than 5,000 words long.
2006 Halloween Mini-Challenge
Craft a short All Hallow's Eve tale, no longer than 1,000 words. This time we'd like the entrants to agree to mail a Halloweenish prize to the winner. See if you can keep us awake reliving your tale over an over again.
3rd Quarter Challenge for 2006
A fortune teller begins with a bizarre prediction. Up to 5000 words!
Invent a Mythology
Invent a Mythology: make a greek/roman god and how they came to be. 5000 word limit.
Insane Challenge
Your insane protag must try to attain a goal despite his/her insanity. Under 3000 words, please.
Western Challenge
This Challenge needs to take place in the Old West when most cowboys, drove cattle on horseback, wore sixshooters, and were more interested in dancehall girls than each other. Feel free to give it your own speculative twist. Keep it under 3,000 words.
Two Realistic Antagonists
Not your father's pulp fiction, this. Give real characters with realistic goals (no megalomaniacal scientists unless you can _really_ make them make sense!) Word limit: minimum 500 words.
Scare Somebody (uChallenge)
The micro-challenge should really scare the crap out of the readers. ...in new ways. No standard solutions at all. I dare you to visit your own strange nightmares and write something innovative, worthy of the imaginaries name. _1000 words maximum_
the Mermaid/Werewolf challenge
Write a story based on the concept of mermaids and/or werewolves. The story must have a length of at least 2001 words (title not included) and be written in the English language. Suggestions: Remain within the limits of the chosen genre. (It will increase the chances of getting your story published elsewhere.) And submit your story well before the deadline (preferably more than two days before). "Shit happens to the best of people, so plan accordingly".
Failed Utopia Mini-Challenge
Write a 500-word story on a failed utopia.
Double Story Challenge
Write a double story that includes two stories being told at the same time. It needs to be less than 3000 words long.
Marooned
Marooned is the theme. No limit on the length.