Archive of Our Own

How does it work?

A new challenge/prompt will be posted on Wednesday.

Responses should be self-contained stories (no word minimum or limit unless length was specified as part of the challenge) that take place in one chapter (or art/vid if that’s what strikes your fancy). Works can be shared as soon as they’re ready. Post your work at your archive of choice, website, journal, etc. or behind spoiler tags within the thread. (If you want to hold your submission back until the master post, that’s fine too.)

The challenge closes the following Tuesday at 2200 GMT (that’s 5:00p EST)

Tuesday evenings, links to all works posted here will be shared at Gateworld in the Sam/Jack Ship Appreciation Thread 2.0.

What do you do if you break the “rules”?

So you didn’t quite hit a word count or you didn’t adhere on a structure challenge. Maybe a setting challenge worked better for you if you interpreted it loosely. Don’t worry! It’s all good. Submit your response anyway. (We totally want to see it!)

Have an idea for a WOS prompt?

Let us know and we’ll put it in the rotation.

Rules? We don't need no stinkin' rules!

Okay, maybe some but for now the list is short. Prompts come in several varieties. Here's what you might encounter:

Period Table of Storytelling Challenge: You can read this prompt on two levels – if you’re just interested in a quick, off-the-cuff, read the prompt and go where the muse takes you. But, if you like, explore some of the main cornerstones (and tropes) of storytelling. Visit the Periodic Table of Storytelling http://designthroughstorytelling.net/periodic/

Quote Challenge: Looking for that one line that pulls the story together? Look no further! For this challenge, the quote prompt should appear in your story. Easy, right? (For the art/vid folks, if you can't work in the text and/or the exact line, we'd love to see your interpretation of that quote!)

Setting Challenge: Location, location, location! This week’s challenge is all about setting. You can interpret the setting anyway you like (stretch if to its limits if you must) but your response should include the prompted setting.

Structure Challenge: This week’s challenge is all about structure. It's time to find out what you learned in all those English classes!

Word/Phrase Challenge: This week’s challenge was inspired by a single word or phrase. The word or phrase doesn’t have to appear in your response, but it should inspire it.