Guidelines
Submissions are NOW CLOSED
Welcome to the guidelines for Geo-writing, where writers take part in a multi-authored story-telling event based on prompts provided by their location.
Do I need to live in Brighton & Hove?
No. About 50% of the prompts are in Brighton & Hove, but this year there are over 100 prompts outside of the area. There's a slightly different slant, but they are still pivotal to the storytelling event. Whereas within Brighton & Hove the prompts are able to be much closer together, there are prompts at the following frequency elsewhere: within England, Scotland and Ireland approximately one per county. I'm starting with ten each in USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and then others scattered throughout the world. Most of the ones outside of Brighton hark back/comment on/illuminate the events within Brighton
Do I need a mobile?
No. In a way this project works in two strands. If you use a mobile, you can access different prompts throughout Brighton. Using a static PC should simply use the nearest prompt to your machine. This makes it potentially a community project; all people in a part of Poets Corner using the same prompt, for instance, a man running with flowers, while a section of Western Road residents might all be describing a car crash. However, my guess/hope is that writers will be intrigued and wanting to be accessing prompts when they're out and about.
Do I need to write the moment I discover the prompt?
No. When you get your prompt, you can choose to have it emailed to you, to brainstorm/refine at leisure. Many people prefer not to write on a mobile. Although, you can work on it at the time...
Is the prompt my only subject matter?
It's up to you. Your prompt might be the central moment of your segment (which can be up to 300 words long), or it might be glimpsed in the background. For instance, say your prompt on Western Road is 'grandfather with a pushchair containing twins'. You might be describing his thoughts as he walks, things that are going on in his life, or perhaps your 300 words describe someone about to get down on one knee to propose in the middle of the street, and the grandfather is simply one bypasser who is described. My hope is that I'll receive both those moments, from different authors, and geo-writing will become a hallucinatory jigsaw of half-matching pieces.
Does my submission need to be a story?
It might be, but doesn't have to be. It would be good if there were some self-contained stories within the final collection, but I'm imagining a lot will be a moment captured. It could well be that what you describe is continued elsewhere by someone else....
What will happen with the contributions?
Those that meet the criteria will be published on the site during September. Last summer, I chose to present these in a changing, random order. There might be further 'curating' of the project once the project is underway. It is possible that further writing will be invited at the end of the project, perhaps to pick up on strands and themes that have arisen.
Will I get credited?
Yes, whenever your particular submission is featured. (E.G on the contributions page). In publicity for the project, it will be hard to mention all the authors, but your name will appear alongside your own words, whenever they appear. I will also try to include your blog or website, if you have one.
Do the prompts change?
Some prompts might change during the course of the project. Do I retain copywright?
By submitting you are allowing Geo-Writing to use this piece of work in any appropriate form, but you will always be credited and are free to use your work elsewhere.
Can I use my writing elsewhere? Can I publish it on my own website/blog?
Yes, feel free to publish your own work on your own website or blog, but I would be grateful if you could include a link to this project.
Can I use a prompt that someone else has told me about?
Yes. If you're lazy, you can send someone out with an iphone, I suppose. Put it down as teamwork. Or sub-contracting. But seriously, I'm happy if you tell your non-writing friends about the project, who can then email you their prompt from the other side of town.
Can I list the prompts online?
If you want to mention one prompt on a blog, website, even in a tweet, that can only help with publicity. Perhaps don't publish a complete list online; I would consider that to be against the spirit of the website.
Does the order matter? How many are there?
There is no definite order of the prompts. There will be approximately 200 prompts live at the beginning of September. Oh, and some of the prompts do link, but I'm imagining the order in which they're written about is out of my control.
How many can I submit? Can i submit something from a prompt someone's already used.
Submit as many as you like, and you can definitely use a prompt that's already been used, that's key to this project. I'm imagining some people will submit one, and some will submit five or more. Wherever you are visiting in the world, you can take part, even just by sending yourself the prompt to work on when you want.
How else can I publicise the project?
Thank you for asking! Mention on twitter or Facebook - perhaps by using #geo-writing or #BDF14 (the official Brighton Digital Festival hashtag). Even simply when you pick up a prompt, why not mention it? Share Facebook posts, write about it on blogs, whisper about it in the ears of strangers. Every little helps.