Hello, Alchemists and Magicians!

How do you plan to do it? Are you even sure it’s safe? Tell me you at least took precautions to make sure you’ll be okay. If you have, then it’s time to see what this little experiment can do, because…

This week’s Writing Group prompt is:

Scientific Magic and Magical Science

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!

At first mention, science and magic always seem to be polar opposites, don’t they? Science has to do with understanding the world around us, and magic is rabbits from hats and vanishing in puffs of smoke.

But look closer at both of these. There’s traces of both within each other. Think of any one attempting a potion. Combining enchanted and magic ingredients to make something that grants strength, or invisibility, or even a cure for some otherwise deadly bite. Or how about a teacher in a college of magic, showing their students that there is a specific process to enhancing the spells they wish to cast. What would happen if they get it wrong? Does it simply fizzle out, or does some strange mishap occur? Perhaps the class isn’t magic at all, but just a typical non-magic class studying chemistry. Maybe this is the students’ first time seeing what happens when you combine Mentos candy with Coke, wonder lighting their faces as it fizzles and suddenly geysers up to the ceiling.

Perhaps a class is visiting the science center. The flow of water, the wonders of electricity, even seeing how the planets and stars in the planetarium move. It truly is mesmerizing, isn’t it? The science center can ignite a passion in a child that sparks their entire career plan. Perhaps that child will be the one to discover something new, something that seems even more magical than everything before it. Perhaps the method they use seems more magic than science, baffling and impressing their peers. Or maybe there’s that one person who decides to combine the two worlds, creating a simple medicine, and finding that using crystals energized with positivity enhances how effective the medicine is.

The world of science and the world of magic are at your fingertips. It is up to you which ingredients you pluck from each and weave into a tapestry of words. If you will, think of this as your own form of alchemy.

We look forward to what you can concoct. Just remember to always wear safety glasses.

—Shawna

—

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 3:00pm 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! Get ready not just to share what you’ve got, but to give back to the other writers here as well.

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!

1. Text and Formatting

   1. English only.
   2. Prose only, no poetry or lyrics.
   3. Use proper spelling, grammar, and syntax.
   4. Your piece must be between 250-350 words (you can use this website to see your wordcount).
   5. Use two paragraph breaks between each paragraph so that they have a proper space between them (press “enter” or “return” twice).
   6. 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.
   7. 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.

2. What to Submit

   1. Keep submissions “safe-for-work”; be sparing with sexuality, violence, and profanity.
   2. Try to focus on making your submission a single meaningful moment rather than an entire story.
   3. Write something brand new; no re-submitting past entries or pieces written for other purposes
   4. 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.
   5. 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).

3. Submission Rules

   1. One submission per participant.
   2. Submit your entry in a comment on this post.
   3. Submissions close at 12:00pm CST each Friday.
   4. 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.
   5. Be constructive and uplifting. These submissions are not for a professional market, and shouldn’t be treated as such. We do this, first and foremost, for the joy of the craft. Help other writers to feel like their work is valuable, and be considerate and gentle with critique when you offer it. Authors who leave particularly abrasive or disheartening remarks on this post will be disqualified from selection for readings.
   6. 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).
   7. 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.
   8. 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.