Mark Teppo ([info]markteppo) wrote,
@ 2007-11-15 14:46:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Art Thunderdome
(via Irene Gallo's blog) Last Man Standing: SF & F illustrators do Thunderdome. They're still gearing up, but from what I remember of previous iterations, there's going to be some excellent work. It's multiple rounds of artistic carnage with artists going head-to-head while making the most fantastic illustrations their brains and tools can manage.

You know what short fiction needs? The writer version of this.

(Post a new comment)


[info]remus_shepherd
2007-11-16 04:19 am UTC (link)
That's what I thought VP was going to *be*. I expected a series of writing challenges, with winners declared in each. But now I see why that's a bad idea.

Writing is a social activity -- you need readers, and editors, and so on. Art doesn't have to be. Artists can improve their skills by comparing their product to real life. Even when they learn from other artists, it's not necessarily cooperative or even with the other's knowledge.

I think writing lends itself to more cooperation than competition. So does art, but writing is even further on that side of the spectrum. Not that there haven't been competitions between writers -- I enjoyed reading the Red Tape War as a teen.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]markteppo
2007-11-16 12:30 pm UTC (link)
Hmmm. You're absolutely right. I can't imagine VP would have been as much a community-building experience if it had been Thunderdome-stylee. I suppose it does take a certain type of personality to not be beaten down by that sort of competition; and I have been thinking about how you would create this sort of word clash that would fairly pair writers of different styles and levels, and I haven't been able to sort out a fair method.

But I think there is something to the all-out shoot for the moon style of writing. Bear's "wipe out more often" maxim applied to a community-driven (albeit a competitive one) style of headlong composition.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Create an Account
Forgot your login?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…