#WEP winners - UTOPIAN DREAMS and 2017 Challenges!

Hello Everyone! Sorry for being late with the WEP round up, but let me use Christmas celebrations as an excuse. My goal was to get this post up before the New Year. As I type this, it's New Year's Eve. Only 7 hours to go...

So, here I am with the wrap up for 2016 and after consultation with Yolanda, the winners' announcement.

Thanks to all who participated during the 2016 December UTOPIAN DREAMS WEP challenge. 

And once again, we thank Olga Godim for her excellent badge for the challenge and the creativity she has shown in making the winners' badges!

The entries were wonderful and varied. This time, poetry gave flash fiction a run for its money. It was inspiring to see so many of you putting your words into verse form which contained a very powerful message. Obviously we loved writing about the idea of Utopian Dreams. There were many subliminal and explicit messages on the current state of our troubled world. I enjoyed reading more than once and I enjoyed reading the comments, too. Desk49 managed to comment in poetic form on most entries. That takes talent.

If you haven't read all the entries, and would like to, please use the DL links on the previous post.

We value each and every entry submitted to WEP, but there is the excruciating choice of choosing just one winner amongst the many of winning quality. It's always hard as you're all winners to Yolanda and myself. Nevertheless, decisions have to be made, and after much emailing between the judges, we have chosen:

  

THE WINNER OF THE

2016 WEP December UTOPIAN DREAMS CHALLENGE:

Pat Garcia

for her flash fiction, The Woman and her Dream, one woman's terrible awakening.If you haven't read it already, pop by the link in Pat's name above.

Congratulations Pat!

Pat, please accept the winner's badge and display on your blog with a link to your excellent story. 

An Amazon Gift Card of $10 will be winging your way shortly.

THE RUNNER UP OF THE

2016 WEP – December UTOPIAN DREAMS

CHALLENGE IS:

Far Away Eyes

with her extract from her memoir, which she entitled Silent Night. Her story of her childhood Christmas was interspersed with verses from the much-loved Christmas carol.

Congratulations Far Away Eyes!

Please accept the Runner Up badge and display on your blog with a link to your excellent story. 

THE ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD FOR THE

2016 WEP CHALLENGE

GOES TO Sheena-kay Graham

with her wonderful poem The Don, where the rhythm of gunshots added drama to the piece where The Don is no one man or woman, But the Utopian ideal.  

Congratulations, Sheena-kay. Please accept the badge and display it on your blog with a link to your story!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!

Those who made the short list were:
Christopher Scott
Guilie Castillo
Roland Yeomans
LuAnn Bradley
desk49
Nancy Williams

so, you see our dilemma... 

Thanks everyone, for an exciting December at WEP!
If you didn't get a direct mention, just remember, you're all winners in our eyes!

Thank you for taking on the challenge and delighting us with your creativity! 

And special thanks to Nilanjana Bose and Olga Godim for their stellar assistance with this challenge!

Thank you to all who have participated in WEP challenges during the year. It'd be nothing without each of you.

Here is the list for 2017 Challenges. Of course, there may be slight changes...

February - Back of the Drawer
June - Bridges
August - Reunions
October - Dark Places
December - The End is the Beginning

 Meanwhile, keep writing, drawing, painting and taking those photographs!

Help the Winners Celebrate!

We'd love if you'd Tweet one of these:

The #WEPFF UTOPIAN DREAMS December Challenge winners announced. @DeniseCCovey & @YolandaRenee http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2016/12/wep-winners-utopian-dreams-and-2017.html

Celebrate with Pat Garcia first place in the #WEPFF UTOPIAN DREAMS December Challenge @DeniseCCovey & @YolandaRenee http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2016/12/wep-winners-utopian-dreams-and-2017.html

The #WEPFF entries at times had us horrified and at other's joy filled! @DeniseCCovey & @YolandaRenee http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2016/12/wep-winners-utopian-dreams-and-2017.html

Please click the social media buttons to share this post! 

Happy New Year!!

From Denise, Yolanda, Olga and Nilanjana! 

See you in 2017!!

#WEPFF - WRITING SCIENCE FICTION – IT’S NOT REALLY THAT ALIEN!

Introducing the man who needs no introduction:

the founder of the 

Insecure Writer's Support Group,

author of 4 Amazon Best Selling books in Science Fiction, 

and the judge for the WEP - December Sci-fi Challenge

Take it away, Alex!

Writing Science Fiction –

It’s Not Really That Alien!

I’ve been a science fiction fan for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I read superhero comic books, watched television shows like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, went to every science fiction film, and read science fiction books by authors such as Heinlein and Bradbury. That I would choose science fiction as my genre of choice when I began writing was no big surprise.

But what if that’s not your genre of comfort? What if you’re not familiar with science fiction outside of Star Wars? What if the concept really is alien to you?

If you don’t know the difference between a plasma drive and a warp drive, don’t worry. While the setting and technology may be a bit different, the basics of good storytelling still apply. Beyond that, here are some tips for writing science fiction:

Study the genre. Read the books and watch the shows. It will give you a grasp on the elements of science fiction.

Alex's Amazon Page

World building is very important in any speculative fiction story. If your story is set in the future or in another galaxy, you need to consider how that world came about and what sustains it – history, currency, politics, technology, social structure, etc. Most of it won’t end up in the story itself, but it gives you the background and a template for maintaining consistency.

Often you’ll feature technology that doesn’t exist. Sometimes you can take something that is a possibility now and make it real in the future. Or create something completely new. If there aren’t a lot of facts and theories to back up what you’ve created though, just be sure everything is at least plausible.

It’s all right to take ideas you’ve seen elsewhere and use them. Just make them uniquely yours and don’t reuse too many items or concepts. Tossing Star Trek, Star Wars, Avengers, and The Terminator into a blender will probably not make for a great story.

The characters are still just as important! Put just as much effort into character development. They still drive the story. And after all, even a robot has personality.

Does the universe speak English? Doubtful, so find a way to make it possible for races to communicate. Maybe they have all learned to speak the same language or they use a device to translate. Don’t include a lot of alien speak though. It works in the movies, but not so well in books.

Speaking of alien, make sure your names are easily pronounced! And don’t overload your story with so many alien sounding names and items that the reader has a hard time following it.

Now, what are some good science fiction concepts?

• Taking a possibility to the extreme.
• Tackling one of life’s big mysteries.
• A breakthrough or discovery gone horribly wrong.
• Changing the laws of the universe.
• Merging with another genre. (Think Firefly, which is a mashup of Western and science fiction.)
• Time travel.
• Taking something normal and twisting it.

Now, are you ready to write a science fiction story?

*****

Join us for December's challenge and find out!

Questions? Just ask the Ninja Captain.

Meet the Ninja Captain

Alex J. Cavanaugh & his avatar.

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design, graphics, and technical editing. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. He’s the author of Amazon Best-Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, CassaStorm, and Dragon of the Stars. The author lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

You can find Alex J. Cavanaugh via these links

http://alexjcavanaugh.com/

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

http://whatarethekargrandes.com/

http://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh
Amazon

Help us Spread the Word!

We'd love if you'd Tweet one of these:

Alex J Cavanaugh is discussing science fiction  #WEPFF Write…Edit,,,Publish @YolandaRenee & @DeniseCCovey http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2015/11/wepff-writing-science-fiction-its-not.html

Writing science fiction – it’s not really that alien! Says @AlexJCavanaugh #WEPFF @YolandaRenee & @DeniseCCovey http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2015/11/wepff-writing-science-fiction-its-not.html

@AlexJCavanaugh on How to Write Science Fiction #WEPFF Write…Edit…Publish. @YolandaRenee & @DeniseCCovey http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2015/11/wepff-writing-science-fiction-its-not.html

Next Tuesday, look for the InLinkz sign-up list for the
December Challenge

Holiday Celebrations

that are out of this world