When In Rome #ONC 2020 [COMPLETED]

Acta est Fabula, Plaudite!

The play is over, applaud!

It is done! I must say 20.000 words is quite short when you're like me and get way too invested in the little details of your story. 

In that regard, the Open Novella Contest is a great way to take a step back and look at what the essence of your story is. In my case, that was 'ancient mentality' vs 'modern mentality'.

You see, technically you can live in ancient times if you are willing to give up our 21st Century luxuries, like plumbing, electricity, internet, etc.

After talking with some of my colleagues, we concluded that the problems will start to arise when you start to copy the morals and mentality of a bygone era.

To put it simply, take the public opinion of the 1950s for example on things like gender roles, sexuality, and compare that to today.

Our morals and mentality are ever-changing, and if you compare it to 70 years ago a lot has changed since then. Now, imagine how much must have changed in 2000 years.

While researching for this story I read a lot about the roles of men and women in Ancient Rome, which made me realize that even though we portray Rome as a democratic republic, in reality, the evidence seems to point much more to a society with very strict moral codes, and expectations of its citizens. Men had to be strong both physically and mentally, while women had to stand by their men, and uphold their chastity in everything that they did.

So, what is more interesting than creating two characters who don't fit those moral codes one bit, and see how they turn out. 

Overall, I had a blast with Liv and Zach, this story and the contest, and with that, I thank you all for reading and supporting me throughout this journey.