Welcome to enter our competition Dawn on Titan Creative Writing Challenge!
Dawn on Titan is a game about exploring and building colonies in space. We want to hear your story about the adventures on the moons around Saturn. The contest is open for writers between the ages of 10-14, and we want the 2 page long essay written in English. (But if your first language is something other than that, maybe write it in that first, and then work out a translation to submit!)
The science should be somewhat accurate. By that we mean you have to stick to plausible scenarios, a unicorn can’t suddenly appear and paint with glittery clouds. (That would have been awesome, now that we think about it, but we’ll keep that for another challenge.)
You can write it together as a class project, or each send in your own individual adventure. We need your story at the latest on May 25th. Send it to info@iongamedesign.com and mark it Creative Writing Challenge. Please enclose information about who you are and where you're from, and contact info where we can find you to send the prize! The winner will be announced on June 10th.
The first prize is a copy of the board game Dawn on Titan and of course, everlasting glory! We will publish your story on our social media alongside a presentation of who these wonderful authors are. We will brag. Big time.
Here or here is a PDF to print to get the word out! Maybe post it on bulletin boards in your school, favorite café or library?
If you don't know how to start, here are some writing tips from us here at Ion Game Design:
A good way to start is to make a character:
The character
Who is the story about? Take a moment to think about the characters in your story. Is it one or many? What do they look like? You can use the characters in the game as inspiration or you can make up your own. A picture and a few words about them is enough.
Are they:
- Brave?
- Short?
- Shy?
- Smart?
- Unhappy?
- Restless?
An interesting character has both strengths and weaknesses. Why are they here and what are they doing?
- A doctor that wants to learn about new ways of curing people?
- An pilot without money that becomes a space pirate?
- An engineer that is blackmailed into spying?
The problem
A hero needs a problem to solve. It can be very practical, the engine fails, the air is about to run out or you are lost in space. The problem can be another character, somebody steals your best ray-gun or doesn't want to be your friend. The problem can also be you, you are afraid of snakes, and a crate full of snakes just broke.
The harder the problem, the more effort it takes to solve, the more interesting the story becomes. Try to come up with ways to solve the problem.
The plot
Now you have a hero and the hero has a problem to solve. Now is the time to make a plot. This is the outline for the story.
- The trader Maria approaches the mining colony on Titan.
- She is relaxing in the driver's seat chewing gum.
- Her ship is hit by something.
- The engine fails and the poisonous frogs she is transporting are loose on the ship.
- The spaceship falls towards the moon and will be crushed in just a few hours.
- Maria needs to go outside and repair the engine.
- Her space suit is full of poisonous frogs.
- She lures the frogs out of the suit with a sandwich.
- When she gets out she needs to block a hole.
- Maria uses her chewing gum and repairs the engine.
- She lands safely and is greeted by her old friend Lucas.
Get started
Writing a story you can follow the outline:
- Describe the hero
- Describe what they need and want
- Describe the problem
- Make the problem worse
- How can the hero solve the problem, try 3 times and solve it the last time!
- How does the story end?
Ask a teacher, a parent or a friend for more tips and feedback!
More info on how the game works can be found here and here, and there is always Wikipedia and the library to find more inspiration and facts! Have fun out there, brave space traveller writers! We are so excited to see what shenanigans and adventures you end up in!
So to summarize:
- 2 pages
- 10-14 years old
- in English
- Science somewhat accurate
- Submit by May 25th
- Winner announced June 10th
