So - this particular entry I'm going to update this as I come across ambassador clarifications for the prompts, but if anybody finds one that isn't listed here, please tell me. But, my reason for posting this particular entry is because every year, there are some clarifications that do go on, and this way, writers who happen across my journal don't have to scroll through all the comments on a given prompt.
Also, major thanks to the ambassadors who've answered people's questions on the prompts with any direct quotes being accredited to the ambassador who answered the person's question, the direct quotes being here under fair use for the educational purpose of helping others get as much out of the prompts as possible.
Prompt 2 - "One night, you woke from the dead. For you, you were gone mere seconds; for the world, you were gone almost a century." (2/1)
For this particular prompt, the question came up whether the timelapse needed to be a century or if it could be different. And here is the ambassador's answer for this question.
"Hi! The goal for this prompt is a huge shift between the world they knew and the world they came back to. For example, a world without technology is what they left and they came back to a world with it and they have to navigate it. So please try not to bring the years any lower than 50 just to keep the theme of things! Hope this helps!" ~ Ambassador chai-ya
Prompt 3 - "A group of high school students discovers they have the ability to enter and manipulate their own dreams, but as they use their powers for personal gain, they soon realize that their actions in the dream world have real-life consequences and must learn to control their powers before it's too late." (2/1)
The question for this prompt was whether or not it has to be high school students, but effectively the answer goes back to "like for like", but by this, I mean changing who has the powers doesn't actually change the theme of the prompt. It's still a story about someone gaining the power to change things in real life through the dream world.
(2/3) Another question asked regarding this prompt was whether it had to be their own dreams or the dreams of other people. And an ambassador had this to say.
"As long as the main theme of manipulating is maintained, you can go for it!" ~ Ambassador akimarvelous
Prompt 18 - "You step through a magic portal thinking it's the way back home, but what you find isn't what you expected." (2/1)
So, this clarification I came across I honestly believe will help those who might have passed this prompt up when they read the words "way back home" and thought to themselves it needed to be a "way back home" because an ambassador clarified what the "like for like" is in this situation.
"Hi! The goal for this prompt is for the MC was striving to go back to familiarity via the portal but walks into something that is the total opposite. It doesn't have to be "back home" that's familiar because familiarity exists in many places or people but the MC could be actively trying to go back to that!= as opposed to away from it. Hope it helps!" ~ Ambassador chai-ya
Prompt 26 - "As a tourist in a foreign country, you were just snapping pictures. Later that night you go through your camera roll and was shocked to your core when you saw what you caught on camera." (2/1)
One participant this year asked a question I never thought to ask, about whether it has to be a foreign country and one of the ambassadors said what matters is they're a tourist.
Prompt 30 - "You purchase a new home and, during renovations and discover a human skeleton buried in your walls." (2/1)
So, originally I wasn't going to add clarification on this one because the initial question was whether a new apartment counted. To me, a new apartment is synonymous with a new home. But then someone asked if a boarding school or a summer cabin would work and here is the ambassador's response.
"A summer cabin would work since the goal is to purchase a place your protagonist can call a home." ~ Ambassador Miss_whts_her_name
I went ahead and posted this one because the part about purchasing a new place to live is important. If the person didn't purchase the place, such as a student attending a boarding school, it's not going to count for this prompt. Now, this isn't to say someone decides to purchase a boarding school as a new place to live and a business to run, but you get the drift.
Prompt 39 - "On a blind date with a complete mismatch, you're increasingly uncomfortable but too polite to leave. Then an attractive stranger comes over and gives you an out." (2/1)
Clarification I wasn't expecting for this one was that it doesn't have to be a blind date - the date simply has to be a mismatch, although when the question was asked, the assumption was that a blind date is always with someone you don't know - this actually isn't the case. But yeah, doesn't have to be a blind date on this one, just someone you're a complete mismatch for.
Which, a non-blind date setting - I'm watching Extraordinary Attorney Woo at the moment, and there was a scene in the show where one of the characters had a stranger come in and rescue them from a guy who was a con artist and was upfront with the guy that he was a con-artist.
Prompt 42 - "The hero finally gets an opportunity for revenge but it comes at the cost of something meaningful to them." (2/3)
While the ambassadors answer was given to another question - that of whether the hero can be a normal person who doesn't consider themselves a hero, it also is an answer to the question of whether the hero can think they're a hero (in other words an anti-hero) for this prompt.
"So long as the protagonist is considered the story's hero (which it usually is), then that would be fine." ~ Ambassador chai-ya
Also, to the question of whether losing someone they love counts, "As if it's a person that's being loss, then that's really going to depend on what kind of meaningful as we're not really looking for someone losing someone they love, but more someTHING important to them. If you write it as a person, then it would have to be written in a way where it's not just love being lost! Hope this helps!" ~ Ambassador chai-ya
Prompt 54 - "As townspeople are overcome with a deadly sickness, it's up to you, the only one not afflicted, to find the cause and cure." (2/1)
So, in this particular case, I'm using this as a holder place as I know there have been a couple of questions asked that haven't yet been answered by the ambassadors. There's nothing I can respond to so I can get the answer to said questions as well, such as me also pondering the answer to the question and/or giving what I hope can help the ambassadors answer the question in a way that helps the other writer.
(2/3) So, the two questions asked were the following.
- Can the place be larger than a town?
- Can one do a werewolf pack instead of a town?
The answer to both was yes.
Prompt 72 - "On the twilight of their sixteenth birthday, a shy bookworm escapes their surprise party to find refuge in their favorite library. While walking through the shelves in search of a good read, they stumble onto a peculiar book that changes their life."
Even I have to ask sometimes, and sometimes it is because I am being OCD about what the prompt is asking for and in this case it has to do with a sh bookworm not being a shy bookworm because Hermione Granger is the last thing I would describe as shy, and yes - I can use her as is.
