Admin Post: May 2020 Challenge: Archetypes

[dawn_felagund]

This month's challenge is a Matryoshka challenge based on the archetypes that pepper myths, legends, and literature found around the world. (Please note that prompts are not specific to mythology. Any genre of fanwork can be created based on these prompts.)

How a Matryoshka challenge works: Matryoshka dolls, also known as Russian nesting dolls, are hollow figurines that contain progressively smaller figurines inside each level. For this challenge, you will be sent several prompts via email. You will start your story using the first prompt. You will open each subsequent prompt when you reach a predetermined milestone in your story. Your challenge is to incorporate each prompt into your story.

If you want to participate, please comment here with whether you would like a beginner (2 prompts), easy (3 prompts), medium (5 prompts), or difficult (7 prompts) challenge. If you want the prompts sent to an email address other than the one you have registered with the SWG site, please let us know that as well. (Comments are screened.) You may also email us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org with whether you would like a beginner, easy, medium, or difficult challenge. Each level has completely different prompts, so you may request more than one level if you want.

For fanworks other than fiction: Although we are a writers' group, we always encourage a variety fanworks in response to our challenges. If you want to make fanart or another type of fanwork for this challenge, you may use the prompts in the Matryoshka format (building on your fanwork with each new prompt) or you may use the prompts individually to create a series of fanworks (flash fanworks are fine for this) or you can open all of the prompts at once and create a fanwork that addresses all of them using either the prompt, the prompt title, or a mixture of both.

In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 10 July 2020. Please note that because the Matryoshka is our most challenging challenge, we've allowed two months to complete your fanwork this year. We will begin our next challenge on June 15 as usual. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.