Comment here with Epistolary Alphabet Soup prompts!

[fignewton]

Alphabet Soup to be served in late February!

This time, the theme is Epistolary, which offers authors the opportunity to choose any era, any character. Anything goes, as long as the story takes place within the context of some kind of text or recorded format - and, of course, is gen. :)

Right now, we're looking for prompts of one or two words: e-mail, letter, diary, hieroglyphics, memo, mission report, briefing minutes, log, records, tablet... you get the idea. Please offer as many prompts as you'd like! There is no commitment involved in prompting; it's just to help inspire Soup authors when sign-up time arrives.

Comments

[magistrate]

Oooh. This one should be fun!

* translation error
* damaged tablet
* lost mail
* found mail
* wrong address
* handwritten
* stationary
* cursive
* form letter
* bureaucracy

[sg1jb]

Uhhh, sorry to seem obtuse, but I don't understand what you mean by "takes place within the context of ..."?

Do the soup stories themselves need to be written / presented wholly or primarily in epistolary form (the story itself formatted as a letter or other similar means of communication)?

Or, can they be written in traditonal story narrative and character pov, but must contain or focus on some form of epistolary communication?

Am asking, because I'd like to get a jump on doing some brainstorming ;-)

.

[fignewton]

All of the above, really. These Soups stretch to please. :)

[gategremlyn]

Soup! *claps hands joyously* I should go and re-read some of Scribe's "Daniel's Diaries."

My quill is sharpened and I'll be ready.

snapchat
facebook
scribe
newspaper
magazine
do smoke signals count?
quill and ink
writing in sand
skywriting
morse code
hand signals
braille
photo journal
weekly, monthly, yearly

[solstice0612]

Yay! The possibilities!

* social media
* bulletin boards
* post-it notes
* mail boxes
* faxes
* emails
* list-serves
* texting

Request for clarification

[solstice0612]

Hi, me again.

Please, Fig, could you clarify this theme? There is a great deal of confusion in out little FB watering hole about the expectations for this soup.

Does the story need to be presented in the form of a letter, report or some kind of written report or correspondence?

At the same time, just about every episode in SG1 has involved some kind document file, digital report, letter, translation, etc. so the prompts can seem quite inclusive. This is giving us some trouble when thinking how to find a perspective that is distinctive from earlier stories involving things like reports, diaries or email exchanges.

Please, can you help us think about how to approach this challenge?

Thank you!

Re: Request for clarification

[fignewton]

The Soups have always been pretty laid-back. It's stories inspired by a theme, with the emphasis on gen because gen fic tends to get shortchanged in most fandoms. :) So really, it's "all of the above" more than anything else.

Stories to fit the Soup would include:

- a fic which is entirely made up of e-mails

- a fic which contrasts the formal report submitted to Hammond with interspersed scenes of what actually happened

- a fic which focuses on Daniel translating a tablet/wall/document, as long as the emphasis is on the text

- a fic which is Cassie's diary, referring to events both canonical and could-be-canonical but weren't actually in the show

- a fic which is the report submitted by a government official of a different planet regarding an encounter with SG-1 (or SG-13, or whatever)


Remember that the prompts serve to inspire only. You can claim a letter with six suggested prompts and ignore them completely!

Hope this helps clarify, and yay for shared enthusiasm. :)

[lokei]

Oh, such fun! I have a well-documented (hah!) fondness for epistolary novels and their kin. I'll have to keep an eye out for sign-ups. :D

In the meantime, prompts:
- 6 words SG1 is no longer allowed to include in reports
- ASCII art
- "RE: Oops"

Re: Request for clarification

[solstice0612]

Thanks for the clarification!

Re: Request for clarification

[annieb]

This would cover normal kinds of letters too, right?

Re: Request for clarification

[fignewton]

Yes, absolutely! As long as you can vaguely shoehorn your story into "epistolary," it's all good.

And yes, please, on the signal boosts! The more the merrier, say I.

OMG YAY ANOTHER SOUP!

[ivorygates]

Alien calligraphy

Clay seal

Message in a Bottle (*snerk*)

Lost Diary

BOOK REVIEW

Re: OMG YAY ANOTHER SOUP!

[fignewton]

::grins:: all awesome ones! I am going to edit them into any unclaimed letters.

You are going to claim a letter, y/y?

Re: OMG YAY ANOTHER SOUP!

[ivorygates]

ABSOLUTELY!!

Re: OMG YAY ANOTHER SOUP!

[fignewton]

There are only nine letters left this morning, so hurry up and pick the one of your choice. :)

Re: OMG YAY ANOTHER SOUP!

[ivorygates]

GAH. Why do I not have the sign-up journal permamarked???

Re: OMG YAY ANOTHER SOUP!

[ivorygates]

Done!

Re: OMG YAY ANOTHER SOUP!

[fignewton]

Whee! :D

Re: OMG YAY ANOTHER SOUP!

[ivorygates]

Your guess is as good as mine what i'm going to write about... :D