Hello, Oath Takers and Deal Breakers.
Do you know what you’re doing? This isn’t something to be taken lightly. Once you say those words, you can’t take them back. And words can be light as thread or heavy as chains. If you’re absolutely sure, then place one hand over your heart, because…
This week’s Writing Group prompt is:
I Swore an Oath
RULES AND GUIDELINES BELOW!
Make sure you scroll down and read them if you haven’t! You may not be eligible if you don’t!
A lot of people will tell you that an oath is just a really strong, really important promise. They’re not wrong, but… they’re not entirely correct either. An oath is something much more binding, spoken word pertaining to something sacred, or at least thought highly important.
Whether that thing is sacred to everyone, a group, or even an individual is up to you. It can be a knight swearing an oath to protect an entire kingdom, or swearing to protect the next in line for the kingdom’s throne. It can be a guardian who’s sworn to protect some child with magic that no one knows about. Perhaps a newly appointed Druid has just fulfilled the vows she was required to see through in order to join a higher council. Or even just two children who don’t entirely know what the word “oath” means, but swearing nonetheless to be friends forever.
And what happens when oaths are broken? Well, it depends on what was promised. After all, not all oaths are good ones. Your life was saved, and so you’ve sworn to this savior that you’re forever in their debt, but you didn’t realize just what that meant this savior would make you do. Or maybe some witch has sworn to dark forces to do their dirty work in ways they can’t, but she fails to carry out an order for whatever reason. What happens to her power? Her mind? Maybe even her very existence? Consequences can be anything from being banned from the tree house for ten minutes to having one’s soul collected.
It really all depends on who made what oath, to whom the oath is sworn to, and the intentions behind it, whether known to the oath taker or not.
So get your sacred artifacts and make your deals, but do be careful. Breaking an oath can have… unpredictable consequences.
—Shawna
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Remember, this is part of our weekly Writing Group stream! Submit a little piece following the rules and guidelines below, and there’s a chance your entry will be read live on stream! In addition, we’ll discuss it for a minute and give you some feedback.
Tune into the stream this Saturday at 7:00pm CST to see if you made the cut!
The whole purpose of this is to show off the creativity of the community, while also helping each other to become better writers. Lean into that spirit, and get ready to help each other improve their confidence in their writing, as well as their skill with their craft!
Rules and Guidelines
We read at least four stories during each stream, two of which come from the public post, and two of which come from the much smaller private post. Submissions are randomly selected by a bot, but likes on your post will improve your chances of selection, so be sure to share your submission on social media!
Text and Formatting
- English only.
- Prose only, no poetry or lyrics.
- Use proper spelling, grammar, and syntax.
- Your piece must be between 250-350 words (you can use this website to see your wordcount).
- Include a submission title and an author name (doesn’t have to be your real name). Do not include any additional symbols or flourishes in this part of your submission. Format them exactly as you see in this example, or your submission may not be eligible: Example Submission.
- No additional text styling (such as italics or bold text). Do not use asterisks, hyphens, or any other symbol to indicate whether text should be bold, italic, or styled in any other way. CAPS are okay, though.
What to Submit
- Keep submissions “safe-for-work”; be sparing with sexuality, violence, and profanity.
- Try to focus on making your submission a single meaningful moment rather than an entire story.
- Write something brand new (no re-submitting past entries or pieces written for other purposes
- No fan fiction whatsoever. Take inspiration from whatever you’d like, but be transformative and creative with it. By submitting, you also agree that your piece does not infringe on any existing copyrights or trademarks, and you have full license to use it.
- Submissions must be self-contained (everything essential to understanding the piece is contained within the context of the piece itself—no mandatory reading outside the piece required. e.g., if you want to write two different pieces in the same setting or larger narrative, you cannot rely on information from one piece to fill in for the other—they must both give that context independently).
Submission Rules
- One submission per participant.
- Submit your entry in a comment on this post.
- Submissions close at 12:00pm CST each Friday.
- You must like and leave a review on two other submissions to be eligible. Your reviews must be at least 50 words long, and must be left directly on the submission you are reviewing, not on another comment. If you’re submitting to the private post, feel free to leave these reviews on either the private or the public post. The two submissions you like need not be the same as the submissions you review.
- Use the same e-mail for your posts, reviews, and likes, or you may be rendered ineligible (you may change your username or author name between posts without problem, however).
- You may submit to either or both the public/private groups if you have access, but if you decide to submit to both, only the private group submission will be eligible.
- Understand that by submitting here, you are giving us permission to read your submission aloud live on stream and upload public, archived recordings of said stream to our social media platforms. You will always be credited, but only by the author name you supply as per these rules. No other links or attributions are guaranteed.
Comments on this post that aren’t submissions will be deleted, except for replies/reviews left on existing submissions.
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