I think the next contest should be a wide-topic of "Fiction". Simply due to the fact of the need of participants. Here's a few Pros I can think of:

• Topic will not be restrictive on ideas, inviting users.

• Topic will allow users to write in their best subgenre of fiction, producing more interesting stories.

• Reading the Anthology V2 won't have you stuck in one theme or frame of mind. It will be various aspects, and more exotic ideas.

• More users (point 1) would give the option of more potential feedback-writers.

Hopefully this idea helps.

For the record: I'm handling the main planning on my own, and adjust things according to what I thought worked last time and what didn't. I'll still read advice and suggestions, and may take them into consideration, if they appear valuable to me. However, this does NOT mean that I'll necessarily give a shit about it. So don't waste your breath, unless you have something good to add~

I am fine with the topic discussion, however, as that is where you people come in. That is not to say that there will be a formal voting (there won't be.), but I'd like to see trends and hear arguments for and against certain genres or topics.

@--Jack-- In all honesty I can't decide whether I like this idea or not.
I'm leaning towards not and here's why:

• Having such a broad topic would be kind of crazy. Yes there may be more stories (though I don't think there will be), but those stories will be all across the board.
• More people may join in with being able to pick their own topic but there's no guarantee that this will cause their stories to be more creative.
• There's a slight chance that having so many options may overwhelm the reader.
• Having such a broad range of stories may make them difficult to read in succession as you may go from one extreme to another.

Truly I don't think a broader topic range will attract more participants. There are people who like to write and there are people who don't. Granted some people like specific categories but all writing is good practice. Last time the participant issue wasn't with the topic but rather people actually writing the stories.

I think it'd be better if the stories had a common theme. But wait. Here's an idea. (Before people get in a was about not wanting to write sci fi or crime.) Instead of choosing a genre you could choose an idea, item, event, season or etc. This would give the stories a common theme and yet would not limit the genre.

I kind of think this would be a cool idea, if not this contest maybe another, but the stories could all focus around an item that somehow at the end of the story gets passed on to the next story.

No, broad topic wouldn't be good for a simple reason of us already having a volume 1 of this and it having a very clear topic. So for the second one we also need a clear topic. Also, with stories having different topic, it would be harder to compare them against each other.
Now, seeing how we had the last one go, topic should be easy... Honestly, I would propose some fantasy/medieval theme because it's easy enough and seeing how many people are fans of Titan anime now, so they might get interested in the genre and inspired enough to write something of their own.

Well, those are my thoughts for now. I am not prepared to thing about something like this properly on Monday.

Also, who won in the previous one? )

You can't really judge things not of the same genre or general thing which means its not really a good idea to give people the freedom to pick whatever genre they like.

Cenica might be on to something with having common themes and events as the topic to use rather than a genre as a whole as that could still be judged while giving us some unique stories. That is similar to giving two people the same problem to overcome and watching to see how each person deals with it differently.

I wouldn't mind a fantasy themed one.
My favorite genre's would probably be scifi, crime, supernatural, or fantasy.
I think supernatural would be easy to write but someone pointed out in chat that a lot of the stories would probably be similar to the previous horror/ thriller genre.
Crime might be more difficult to write and again it'd probably lean toward the darker side of things, skimming along horror/ thriller. Plus I'm not sure there'd be enough space to make any good plot twists.
So I think the genre's I'd like to see most are sci-fi or fantasy.
Also we could do a common theme instead of a genre but if we do that we need some suggestions and ideas.

I really like the idea of a running theme/thread rather than a genre but @Kirn is right about us starting out with a genre so maybe being consistent in that way.

Anything not horror would be good in my opinion. Aside from it already having been done it is also the most tricky to do.

Err, prompts would be interesting. You know, see what different stories can happen with that one scenario.

What's your take on good old Sword & Sorcery Fantasy as a topic/genre?

I feel that might give you enough flexibility to pick your scenario, characters and events. It would also provide thematic consistency, and there's a lot of material out there to help you. Heck, if you need ideas, flip through a D&D rulebook pdf on the interwebz and you should be able to come up with something interesting.

I like fantasy idea.

We would probably need a definition of what the sub genre is along with something like,

What it includes
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What it discounts
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Just to ensure we don't accidentally write (wander) outside of what we're meant to be writing.

Why would you need a subgenre with fantasy? I don't think we should limit things too much.

@Cenica
Fantasy is a VERY broad genre. There are countless sub-genres to it in general. If we actually want project-consistency, we should find a "subgenre" or theme to use, rather than leave "fantasy" up to each and every user's interpretation

That's why I asked about more classic "Sword & Sorcery" fantasy. Not urban fantasy, not science fantasy, not historic fantasy etc.

Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus mainly on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters.

Wikipedia, yo.

For completeness, here's a short snippet on Heroic Fantasy from Wikipedia, as it was also mentioned above:

Frequently, the protagonist is reluctant to be a champion, is of low or humble origin, and has royal ancestors or parents but does not know it. Though events are usually beyond their control, they are thrust into positions of great responsibility where their mettle is tested in a number of spiritual and physical challenges. Although it shares many of the basic themes of Sword and Sorcery the term 'Heroic fantasy' is often used to avoid the garish overtones of the former.

Now, does that like something people would like to experiment with?

So no modern twists on the classic fantasy style then.

So things like boy/girl and friend/s go to fight evil sorcerer (Or similar magic branded villain) or (Evil random generic monster) out of personal attachment to needing to fight these things counts as this sub genre?

Well, damn. I have been playing DnD since 1999. Sword and Sorcery? I am fine with that )

Actually, I do write fantasy from time to time, though I rarely have a usual take on heroic fantasy is most people know it. Anyhow, the theme is broad enough, I would think, to have some nice things.

I think the more character focused type of story coming with the above is a good thing for a project like this. You don't have to dream up a whole huge world with its own mythology or whatever, but can concentrate on a character or two, and tell their story, or an episode of their lives and adventures. Heck, you could tell the story of a freakin' innkeeper whose bar is getting trashed by sell-swords, or that of a pissed-off dwarf seeking his own doom in glorious combat.

There's a lot of room with that theme, and everybody could find a niche to feel comfortable in.

DC. I was actually thinking about writing something like that... so much for surprises.

Well, I have a short story series I started, don't suppose if we go with fantasy I could just use one of the parts could I? It was going to be similar to what Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes, publish each individually.

@Toku don't you think it would not be fair to people who would actually have deadline and would create something original during the time given? The whole thing would have to show not only that you can write but that you can create something in a limited amount of time (plenty of limited time, I have to add), which is much closer to actual writing than shuffling though your archives and just posting something you could have written in any amount of time.
Don't you yourself want to create something for this, or is that the attitude you have towards the project?

@Kirn Well I certainly didn't mean it that way. I'm just no good at deadlines. Never have been. Takes a lot for me to write something I'm proud of, I'm just extremely picky.

@Kirn @Toku If you enter an old piece my opinion of you will plummet entirely. (Not that you care.) C'mon man. No one is good with deadlines. But it's good practice to do timed writings and such.
That said I doubt we'd be able to tell if you enter an old piece or not. It's not going to help you if you do though and you won't get as much out of this contest as the people who actually started from scratch and gave it their all. Plus it will only serve to prove that you're a wuss. Though most don't feel secure about their work they're at least brave enough to turn it in.
Besides you could start planning stuff out already. Lay down the framework and when everything if finalized you can get started.

Sorry for replying like, well, an ass. Just not good waking up an reading things like that. I'll see if I can pull something together, but I am a stickler for how I write so I may or may not be able to get a piece done. 50/50 at this point.

Well..it hasn't started yet has it? Wait until we have a confirmed go before writing maybe?

Well I wasn't going too O.o

So are we going to go with the fantasy genre then? Classic wizards and swords?