Greetings!

This week, we’ll be focusing on beginnings. What I want from entrants is to submit the first section of what could be a novel.

Why?

Well, now’s as good a time as any to actually start that novel that you’ve always wanted to write! Lord knows we have more time than usual to do so. So, start it! Or, you know, just start any novel. And hey, it's a week one!

Stories will be evaluated by how they answer a largely subjective question:

Do I want to read more of this?

If you’re gonna do nothing but world-building, we better feel like we’re totally in the world and are curious to learn more about its inner workings.

Introducing a character? We better have a great sense of what their deal is and a reason to care about/root for/maybe even despise them.

Setting up some terms? Make ‘em compelling, so compelling that nothing else even matters.

Whatever you do, do it well and build intrigue.

It can be a whole chapter or just a first scene. Also, the title of your entry can be the title for the rest of the novel, if you were to write one, or it can just be a title of the thing you wrote. Also, this should generally be new content. It's OK if you've been mulling over an idea for a while or if you even jotted stuff down, but most of what you submit this week should come from this week.

But hey, it wouldn’t be a chili week without at least some random gimmickry.

Toxx in, if you’d like, and we’ll RNG you a bonus word bounty. Between 150-350 words are up for grabs! How many will you get? Spin to win! Oh, what fun! Your bonus word amount will be displayed next to your name below.


Flashes available upon request. Flashes will not be consistent and will be largely based on the capricious whims of the judge who happens to see. You may request up to three, one from each judge. But, you can’t request specifically from which if you only ask for one or two. I don’t care too much about how well you incorporate a flash.