13th Annual "River of Mnemosyne" Challenge

Announcing:

RIVER OF MNEMOSYNE, 2022

Welcome to the THIRTEENTH ANNUAL "RIVER OF MNEMOSYNE" Challenge.  Please read these rules carefully.

The Challenge

1. For the challenge, you are creating a short story that will encompass all of the posted Muses this month.  Each participant may only submit one (1) entry for the challenge. Basically, your first post is "Muse 1," your second post is "Muse 2," etc. There will be nine (9) designated Muses for a total of nine (9) chapters.  You have until February 20th to finish your entry.

2. The goal is to tell a complete story through all nine Muses, but you can end your story at any time; after any Muse. To designate your ending, just write a big "The End" at the end of your final entry.

The Muses

3. The first Muse has been chosen by last year's winner and is:

"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE HOW MUCH YOUR FRIENDS MISS READING YOUR WORDS"

Your first entry will be based on this Muse. The subsequent Muses will be chosen based on the fastest submissions. The first person to link an entry picks the first Muse. The second person to link an entry (any entry) picks the second Muse, and so on. In all likelihood, this means that the people who link in positions 1 through 9 on the link widget will pick the nine (9) Muses.

• To submit a Muse, simply email the admin at IrreScape@gmail.com with the Muse.
• New Muses will post at 12:00 AM, EST, the day after the admin receives the submitted Muse (no more than one Muse will post in a day).

4. Participants will link their blog entries using a link widget.  We will be using one widget for the entire exercise, so participants need to denote the chapter number of their specific entries each time they link.  Example:

1. Aaron Adams (Muse 1)
2. Brenda Billings (Muse 1)
3. Aaron Adams (Muse 2)
4. Aaron Adams (Muse 3)
5. Brenda Billings (Muse 2)
6. Charles Cox (Muse 1)
7. and so on...

5. Do not skip Muses or do them out of order.  Also, do not combine Muses into one post.

6. Other than that, do as much or as little as you'd like.  You can dictate your own pace; approach this at warp speed or just mosey along.  It doesn't matter how far along you are compared to how far along the other challengers are.  Your entries for the first Muse can be linked starting February 2nd.

The Vote

7. Voting begins on February 21st and ends on February 26th.  You'll be voting for the participant's overall body of work. If you don't vote, you can't win.  Anyone who posts a "Muse 1" AND a "Muse 2" is allowed to vote, regardless if they continue on in the challenge.

8. In addition to normal voting, completing Muses 1 through 9 will add bonus points to your final vote tally (the value of the bonus points is based on the number of participants).

9. The winner will be announced on February 28th. Feel free to barrage us with questions and suggestions.