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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): 1. Why are you doing this? Ans. Since there is no entry fee, and no cash prize, this is obviously not about money. We are doing this to push our apparent limits as writers and see where it leads us. The possibilities of super-intensive writing are exciting, that's why. 2. How and where do I write the novel or screenplay? Ans. The contest is open worldwide, and is already active in five countries. Ideally, you should do it sitting with other participants in the same city. Hole in at someone's pad for three days. In absence of that you should just work at home/office where you have a internet connection and a computer. In Bombay we are trying to secure a business centre, air conditioned, to provide the local writers a nicer hole, but the details of that arrangement will not be available or confirmed till Wednesday (12 May 2004). 3. But then people will cheat. Some will submit old manuscripts when nobody's watching... Ans: That is, sadly, a real possibility. However, in the absence of a cash prize, even if they cheat, what can they win? The real prize of this contest is your hard work, your own novel that you write in three days. It's the harvest. Anyone who cheats will be as poor as he was before he entered the contest. He will lose a golden opportunity to pit himself against the toughest and the best. I believe that the any writer who writes in this contest fresh, with honesty, will stand a better chance of winning. That's the "zone" I'm hoping that writers will get inside mentally, a sort of trance. This is the way the human spirit works. Cheaters hide and conspire, but honesty burns and shows up as a cosmic force, it explodes in your face. So stop worrying about this shit. The only thing to worry about is what you'll tell your grandchildren - "I once wrote an entire novel in three days. There were these writers all over the globe, see? We all began writing one Friday morning like it was the end of the world......." 4. What if the publishers select that cheating person for publication? Ans: If you think that you cannot write something better ( in three days) than what that idiot wrote ( in twenty years), you should probably not participate in this contest. 5. How will we remain connected? Is it necessary to remain online all the time? Ans. Ideally, you will be informed of an internet chatroom, hopefully on MSN Messenger or Yahoo IM, two days before the contest. It will be fun to have everybody chatting together during the contest. It builds excitement and spirit. However, it is perfectly okay if you can't remain online all the time, as long as you submit in time. 6. Isn't this a rather strange contest? Ans: Yes, that is true. It's hardly a contest. We are asking people to be honest instead of imposing rules on them, which they would have found a way to circumvent. It is a rare confidence we are placing in strangers, and we hope to be rewarded with your friendship and favor. think of this a way of bringing people and cultures together for a common goal. 7. How do I submit my manuscript? Ans. E-mail it here. 8. What happens after that? Ans: You will be informed about a "peer-review" method, by which you will rate other people's work, and they will rate yours. A collective score will show us the better stuff produced. This work will be forwarded to publishers and producers. 9. What time standard are you following? Ans: Yours - start Friday morning at 0900 AM and finish on Sunday evening 0700 AM according to your own time zone. 10. What if I can't finish the damn thing? Ans: Submit it anyway. While it won't qualify for the top ten spots, some publisher may see it want you to finish it. 11. What about editing? Ans. Complete but unedited work is acceptable. We suggest you write like there's no tommorrow and try to keep editing on the fly. We realise that time is short, and editing is a time-consuming but important process that may be left for later. |