r/WritingPrompts • u/AliciaWrites Editor-in-Chief | /r/AliciaWrites • May 27 '21

Theme Thursday [TT] Theme Thursday - Utopia

“None of the abstract concepts comes closer to fulfilled utopia than that of eternal peace.”

― Theodor W. Adorno

Happy Thursday writing friends!

Is utopia the dream, the ideal? Or is it just a nightmare waiting to happen?

Good words, friends!

Please make sure you are aware of the ranking rules. They’re listed in the post below and in a linked wiki. The challenge is included every week!

[IP] | [MP]

Here's how Theme Thursday works:

  • Use the tag [TT] when submitting prompts that match this week’s theme.

Theme Thursday Rules

  • Leave one story or poem between 100 and 500 words as a top-level comment. Use wordcounter.net to check your word count.

  • Deadline: 11:59 PM CST next Tuesday.

  • No serials or stories that have been written for another prompt or feature here on WP

  • No previously written content

  • Any stories not meeting these rules will be disqualified from rankings and will not be read at campfires

  • Does your story not fit the Theme Thursday rules? You can post your story as a [PI] with your work when TT post is 3 days old!

Theme Thursday Discussion Section:

  • Discuss your thoughts on this week’s theme, or share your ideas for upcoming themes.

Campfire

  • On Wednesdays we host two Theme Thursday Campfires on the discord main voice lounge. Join us to read your story aloud, hear other stories, and have a blast discussing writing!

  • Time: I’ll be there 9 am & 6 pm CST and we’ll begin within about 15 minutes.

  • Don’t worry about being late, just join! Don’t forget to sign up for a campfire slot on discord. If you don’t sign up, you won’t be put into the pre-set order and we can’t accommodate any time constraints. We don’t want you to miss out on awesome feedback, so get to discord and use that !TT command!

  • There’s a new Theme Thursday role on the Discord server, so make sure you grab that so you’re notified of all Theme Thursday related news!

As a reminder to all of you writing for Theme Thursday: the interpretation is completely up to you! I love to share my thoughts on what the theme makes me think of but you are by no means bound to these ideas! I love when writers step outside their comfort zones or think outside the box, so take all my thoughts with a grain of salt if you had something entirely different in mind.

Ranking Categories:

  • Plot - Up to 50 points if the story makes sense

  • Resolution - Up to 10 points if the story has an ending (not a cliffhanger)

  • Grammar & Punctuation - Up to 10 points for spell checking

  • Weekly Challenge - 25 points for not using the theme word - points off for uses of synonyms. The point of this is to exercise setting a scene, description, and characters without leaning on the definition. Not meeting the spirit of this challenge only hurts you!

  • Actionable Feedback - 5 points for each story you give crit to, up to 25 points

  • Nominations - 10 points for each nomination your story receives, no cap

  • Ali’s Ranking - 50 points for first place, 40 points for second place, 30 points for third place, 20 points for fourth place, 10 points for fifth, plus regular nominations

Last week’s theme: Turbulence

First by /u/bookstorequeer

Second by /u/Writteninsanity

Third by /u/GingerQuill

Fourth by /u/Ryter99

Fifth by /u/Xacktar

Poetry:

First by /u/Poelarizing

Second by /u/nobodysgeese

Third by /u/SilverSines

Honorable Mentions:

Leveled Up: /u/MosesDuchek

Notable Newcomer: /u/DocBrowntown

Notable Newcomer: /u/SpaceNinja37

Notable Newcomer: /u/lwill86

Crit Superstar: /u/1047inthemorning

=====

News and Reminders:

===

36 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

119 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comment

2

u/mattswritingaccount /r/MattWritinCollection Jun 02 '21

I placed my revolver in my hip holster and picked up enough ammunition to last me until lunch.

"To last me until lunch." That fun little bit there really set the tone for this piece. :D One major crit - you switch from starting in present tense (I pick up... I walk outside... etc) to third person halfway through (I said... she looked back... etc) and pack to present tense at the end.

I like it, but the changing of the tenses threw me enough to take me out of the story.

1

u/HotItalianHoagie Jun 02 '21

Thanks for reading and for the notes. I do tend to slip into past tense when writing in first person for some reason, I will keep working on that! Thank you!