Welcome to the "Brave New World" Two Week Challenge.

Do you ever wonder what would happen if major world events never happened, how the world would've changed right along with it? Well, you're about to. In this One Week Challenge, your job is to research and alter a historical event and make it so that a particular event didn't happen. But, that's not the script you have to write.

Instead, your story takes place inside this alternate reality. Did the United States lose the Revolutionary War? Did Hitler not invade Russia? Did Chernobyl not melt down? Now, you have to find the right story to tell inside the new world that you've created. It could be as little as five minutes or hundreds of years later. Of course, the later it takes place, the greater the changes are, so take this into account.

Of course, depending on the amount of work you put into creating this new world, you may need the whole two weeks or just a couple of hours, so long as you interpret a realistic world where a certain major world event never happened. At the same time, the altered event is not your story, your story simply takes place in the altered world.

T-minus 336 hours until your OWC script is due.

Topic: Brave New World.
Genre: Open.

You have fourteen days to write a screenplay of between 10 and 15 pages. The screenplay must be properly formatted and in PDF format. The scripts are due on Friday, January 26th at 11:59PM EST and must be submitted to: SimplyScripts.com/owc.

There will be a Review Page E-mailed to you for you to score the scripts you read. Please only give scores to scripts that you have read.

Timeline:

January 12th at 11:59PM EST - Theme and Genre announced.

January 26th at 11:59PM EST - Scripts are due.

February 2nd at 5:00PM EST - Names and results revealed.

The Rules:

Your script must feature a story which takes place in an alternate reality where a major world event never happened. The story does not have to be related directly to the event but the world should be reflective of a new world inspired by the reality you've created.

Please do not give a score inside the actual script review. Instead, wait until the scorecard is given out. Thank you.

Jargon:

10-15 pages.

Properly formatted & saved as a PDF file.

This isn't a contest. There are no prizes.

Free to submit.

One entry per person.

No pissers, please.

You can revise your script as many times as you wish up until 11:59PM EST on January 26th.

Participants are strongly encouraged to read and comment/review on the scripts submitted.

Do not put your real name on your script. However, please use your real name when submitting your script. (After the challenge closes you can either have your script removed or resubmit with your script with your name on it.

Please put © on the bottom left corner of your title page.

Best of luck and I hope you guys have a lot of fun with this contest.

Now, this contest may cause a lot of confusion, so hopefully I can help out a bit. I'm going to stay on for half an hour to answer questions you guys are probably going to have.

Seems pretty straight forward to me!

Where's the peeps on skype?

My only question is this. It says "One" Week Challenge, but we have fourteen days?

It's probably just the title, but I just wanted to make sure, we do have fourteen days to write it.

There's always that one guy asking dumb questions  

Ooh sounds awesome! I'm away being pampered and spoiled on a weekend break at the moment but I'll start thinking about possible ideas.

Argh... questions, questions...

So... we’re in the real world, populated by real historical events. Except in this world, one event turned out differently.

So, for readers to understand that a historical event turned out differently, it would have to be a reasonably well known event, right? I can’t write a story where my favourite cat didn’t get kidnapped when I was a kid because no-one knows or cares that my cat actually DID get kidnapped. (It was heartbreaking. Thanks for caring, like, now.)

That’s right, right? It would have to be a fairly major, well known event. There has to be a reference to something that confounds the reader’s common knowledge expectations. Like, “wait, I thought Hitler DID invade Poland”.

And that’s not the subject of the story, or at least doesn’t have to be. This should be a story set in that world, where that alternative event may or may not affect the story. So long as it plays a relevant role somehow, we’re good. Right?

Just thinking it through... (do I even have time to do this... I’m flying in a week and a bit...)

Exciting.

How do you know your cat was kidnapped and not run over, scooped up and cremated? Maybe it died through misadventure... hunting a rat, or bird and got trapped somewhere, starved to death, or eaten by foxes.

My cat went awol last year. My secret hope is that she was kidnapped by a lonely old lady and turned into a full-time house cat... but I know there are a lot of other - perhaps more probable - scenarios.

Anyway, great challenge. I think a lot of the time will be used finding the perfect moment in history to change.

Cheers.

Woah, very nice Sean! Really good one - sent goosebumps down my spine. I'm thinking...

Color me intrigued. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

Dustin, somewhere in continental Europe, a rich old lady bought a beautiful pair of gloves made of my cat. Sad but true. Possibly.

Quoted from Shakey Argh... questions, questions... So... we’re in the real world, populated by real historical events. Except in this world, one event turned out differently. So, for readers to understand that a historical event turned out differently, it would have to be a reasonably well known event, right? I can’t write a story where my favourite cat didn’t get kidnapped when I was a kid because no-one knows or cares that my cat actually DID get kidnapped. (It was heartbreaking. Thanks for caring, like, now.) That’s right, right? It would have to be a fairly major, well known event. There has to be a reference to something that confounds the reader’s common knowledge expectations. Like, “wait, I thought Hitler DID invade Poland”. And that’s not the subject of the story, or at least doesn’t have to be. This should be a story set in that world, where that alternative event may or may not affect the story. So long as it plays a relevant role somehow, we’re good. Right?

Exactly. One event turned out differently and it has to be a major world event.

However, you don't have to make a direct reference to the event being changed in the script. This is not a time travel OWC. Instead, for your characters, this is reality as they've always experienced it.

Yes, exactly. The changed event isn't your story. Your story can come anytime after, in some form of logical progression from that event.

Quoted from DustinBowcot I think a lot of the time will be used finding the perfect moment in history to change.

Which is why I gave you guys the extra week. In a perfect world, one week would be spent with world building and the other week would be for actually writing the script.

So, is part of the challenge making the historical event which hadn’t taken place known to the reader without referencing it? Because if we don’t directly acknowledge what didn’t happen in the script, how do our readers know which alternate reality we are in? I mean, unless we just make our title “Hitler Doesn’t Lose the War.”

I will say, I’m all over this like white on rice.

I've got one... imagine how much better America would be if they hadn't won the revolution.

Ouch. Or England if America didn't participate in WW I or II Europe?

There are a lot of ways to do this, some more visually interesting than others. Just as an easy example, had Germany win WW2, you can believe there'd be more Swastikas, propaganda posters an a larger concentration of people with blonde hair and blue eyes. On the reverse side, you'd be much less likely to see minorities, the elderly or people with handicaps. Somewhere in there is your story. That's just an example. Also, you can take any of these ideas into the future, too. Don't feel like you have to relegate yourself to present day.

Out of interest, what does "No pissers, please" mean?

I've been thinking one of the big challenges of this...err...challenge..is how to convey the reader what event hasn't happened?

I mean if it's set now and there's Nazi symbols everywhere then it's obvious, but the German's winning WWII is cliche, it's been done to death.

But then if you don't do something obvious you'll be faced with some pretty painful exposition to explain it. Like:

"So, how are you enjoying your second trip on the Titanic? Let's hope we don't have any close shaves with an iceberg this time eh!"

There are a few ways. Start with a text block to introduce the setting: if it's good enough for Shakespeare, it's good enough for us. Second possibility: honestly think about what the effects of an event not happening are. Before I posted this challenge, I thought about events and how things Might be changed.

A few examples I thought of are as follows:

Brown v. Board of Education. Without it, we'd still have "separate but equal". Increase in segregation, rise of sundown towns, etc.
Magna Carta never being written. What would the rule of law look like without it?
September 11th. No PATRIOT Act, no War in Iraq or Afghanistan, no Snowden, no WikiLeaks, etc.

My point is, pick an event that you can craft something out of and try being specific. Don't just say the Nazis win WWII. Say the U.S. were never hit at Pearl Harbor or Hitler never invaded Russia or the D-Day landing failed. Those three events would result in very different outcomes.

Hopefully, this was helpful. If not, I can understand that. I've always been terrible at explain ing things.

It's obvious what to do, the difficulty is in alerting the reader what hasn't happened. If the Germans had won the war, for example, we would probably have populated other planets by now, so we'd simply write a sci-fi story with clues to the fact that Germany won a war that isn't important to the actual story.

Upon saying that, I've just got an idea.

Quoted from DustinBowcot Upon saying that, I've just got an idea.

Neptune Nazis?

What do you talking about Eldave? Nazis are from Pluto.

Quoted from eldave1 Neptune Nazis?

Now everybody is going to know which one is mine! Oh well, I'm 10 pages in now. Too late to go back.

John doesn't meet Paul.

Interesting...

I'm not suggesting this is all robots and other planets, but isn't this, one way or another, science fiction? It's about a world that might have been (or might be).

Hugo Gernsback, publisher of the first Science Fiction magazine, 1926, trying to define that genre: "By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe type of story—a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision... Not only do these amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading—they are always instructive."

Once you choose your topic, it will be easier to figure out how to make it clear. It's like any other script you write. You show without telling. People shouldn't get bogged down in "How do I do this?" when they have not chosen what they're writing about.

Quoted from Shakey I'm not suggesting this is all robots and other planets, but isn't this, one way or another, science fiction? It's about a world that might have been (or might be). Hugo Gernsback, publisher of the first Science Fiction magazine, 1926, trying to define that genre: "By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe type of story—a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision... Not only do these amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading—they are always instructive."

Not sure that I'm entering so may not have a dog in the hunt, but the logic seems stretched. If I understand it the concept is the consequences of something that did not happen. So, if you're Syfy world is a rational consequence of something not happening, then yeah, guess you could write a Sci-Fi. But I think you will need to make a strong connection between the event not happening and the ultimate new world. For example, if JFK was not assassinated, I think you would be hard-pressed to say that somehow resulted in an alien invasion.

There is currently one series on Amazon: "The Man in the High Castle" where Germany and Japan basically have split the United States in half: The Nazis control the East and Japan controls the Western half.  I think the way the show opened, it was pretty obvious that the allies lost World War II.  Germans everywhere in NYC, swastikas, etc. They never came right out and said what had happened.

There are a couple of shows in development or production on either HBO or one of the other major premium networks where slavery is still in effect in modern day America, presumably because the US lost the civil war.


I think there are other things you could do where you don't have to be blatent about what happened; e.g., showing Kennedy in a second term presiding over the Vietnam War. It naturally follows that Kennedy wasn't assassinated in that setup.  Or Lincoln being elected to a third term.  There's all sorts of ways to reflect a change in history without coming right out and saying it.

Of course, you can always use the Star Wars opening scroll to spoon feed it to us if you're worried we still won't get it.

Gary

I follow my stereotypical, well established, OWC theme critique, enjoy:

When you think it can't get worse…

prepare for the twisted reality major world event challenge…

set-pieces, cast, costumes… who cares, (wo)man, just go the exposition feeding dialogue route to fix that problem, since it used to work so well with audience when you shout at them, 'I'm on a high-concept theme that I originally cannot handle'… ahhhhhhh

Really, if I have to read one more smart Beatles script, with ridiculous Beatles-look-a-like characters who debate something fancy that did or did not happen, any bs Nazi alternate stories… oh my god Kennedy wasn't shot that way plots… Middle East conspiracy and so on… I'm going to see my IQ drop in front of my eyes while reading.

The choices of OWC themes just disappointed one too many times for me.

I preach for years; let's just have some scenarios about characters, people: NOOOOO…

Timetravel, superheroes, sharks or scripts located in almost card boxes, over and over with few exceptions… and now alternate reality bound to major world events, right, MAJOR WORLD EVENTS

Have some fun wading through those "constructed to fit scripts" for 15 pages. There sure will be two entries which find a creative way while the rest will sink as, in fact, the Titanic did.

Since I played my part, I wait for the creativity debate---

:-) Still, I honestly thank you for your general engagement. It's just nothing I find interesting to write about or read from other writers here. I believe we all can handle some opposing opinion: So, that is all... for this time.

Quoted from Talldave So, is part of the challenge making the historical event which hadn’t taken place known to the reader without referencing it? Because if we don’t directly acknowledge what didn’t happen in the script, how do our readers know which alternate reality we are in? I mean, unless we just make our title “Hitler Doesn’t Lose the War.”

Depending on the cataclysm you want to avoid, it might as easy as referring to JFK’s re-election... or the Chandra Levy case on September 12, 2001... or Madam President in 2017...

There's another aspect I think writers need to be careful of with this challenge -  assuming if one event didn't happen, then it never will.

For example, If someone tried to imply the telephone was never invented because Alexander Graham Bell didn t have the accident which lead to him cracking the problem, well sorry I don't buy it. However, if you came up with an alternate person/way of inventing this or a differenr type of telephone then I'd be more inclined.

Quoted from MarkRenshaw There's another aspect I think writers need to be careful of with this challenge -  assuming if one event didn't happen, then it never will. For example, If someone tried to imply the telephone was never invented because Alexander Graham Bell didn t have the accident which lead to him cracking the problem, well sorry I don't buy it. However, if you came up with an alternate person/way of inventing this or a differenr type of telephone then I'd be more inclined.

Yeah, that's a big issue. In particular with the telephone as so many other scientists were chasing it too. If not Bell then it would certainly have been one of the others. This really narrows the field down to the main plots in these types of stories. If JFK wasn't shot then the world would have stayed exactly the same, they'd have found another way to get rid of him, discredit him in some way, or just kill him on a different day.

If Jesus wasn't born? Then the Romans would have made up a different name instead, maybe even Bryan... but that's already been done, in a way.

Aside from the obvious, the rest are just not interesting enough or world-changing enough to write about.

There will be at least 3 scripts about Bruce Jenner staying... Bruce Jenner, and how that alters the entire Kardashian world - which of course affects us all.  Right?  

Quoted from Jeremiah Johnson There will be at least 3 scripts about Bruce Jenner staying... Bruce Jenner, and how that alters the entire Kardashian world - which of course affects us all.  Right?

I was figuring about seventeen President Hillary Clinton scripts.

So Blondie, the budget is open I'm guessing? And we can do a comedy if we want too which is cool.

Also, does the script have to be a story within a story? Or just a vignette of life in this alternate history?

Quoted from FrankM I was figuring about seventeen President Hillary Clinton scripts.

I did consider a Trump/Hillary idea, but I have finally decided on a (different) major historical event. I don't wanna give too much away. I need breaks from the Trump drama, take it in moderation until he's finally impeached. I decided to stay in the realm of politics, though.

P.S. Neptune Nazis sounds like quite the classic B movie. Let me know if they ever make it.  

Quoted from stevie So Blondie, the budget is open I'm guessing? And we can do a comedy if we want too which is cool. Also, does the script have to be a story within a story? Or just a vignette of life in this alternate history?

Budget and genre are open. And, you're just writing a script like any other script.

Sadly, I foresee lots of very poor scripts this time around.

Parameters are so wide open, once the "world changing event that didn't happen" is revealed.  And, I also foresee lots of very similar themes.

We'll see.  Best of luck to everyone who enters!

Quoted from Shakey Out of interest, what does "No pissers, please" mean?

"no pissers" or "no pisstakes" simply means to take the challenge seriously.  IOW, please don't purposely write a bad script.  

Also, please (and you know who I'm looking at) don't use the terms 'pisstake' in a review.  If someone truly believes I've let a 'pisstake' in, then message me and I'll review it.

- Don

So, just a point of clarity -- can the script be about perhaps what happened to cause the change the course of history?  Or does it have to be AFTER the event occurred (or didn't occur)?  Obviously it's two different stories, one of which might be much more interesting than the other.

Gary

Quoted from Mr. Blonde Exactly. One event turned out differently and it has to be a major world event.

Back to the idea board for me.I was thinking of an "historic" crime/mystery, but it wasn't a world event, Damn.

On the other hand...an idea sparked. But is it a "world event"?
Can't it be something that is an historic event that could "change" the world if changed?

I really. want to roll on my thoughts. I PM you on it Blonde.

Quoted from Gary in Houston So, just a point of clarity -- can the script be about perhaps what happened to cause the change the course of history? Gary

No. Your story must not be about the change, but a different story set after the change has happened.

So I've come up with a lovely fat juicy big event which would have had major consequences that I've researched and come up with an alternate timeline.

Now I'm completely stumped as to what story to tell in this new reality lol! Luckily there's 'time' yet in this challenge, but if I keep on drawing a blank I may have to come up with the different events until something clicks.

As a history teacher, well let's just say I'm in.

Not in.

But if I was, the event would be my Dad not meeting my Mom and I would just submit a blank page

Quoted from Gary in Houston So, just a point of clarity -- can the script be about perhaps what happened to cause the change the course of history?  Or does it have to be AFTER the event occurred (or didn't occur)?  Obviously it's two different stories, one of which might be much more interesting than the other.

Quoted from DustinBowcot No. Your story must not be about the change, but a different story set after the change has happened.

Dustin is correct. You're not writing a script about the change. You're writing a script that takes place in the aftermath (at some point) of that change.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde Dustin is correct. You're not writing a script about the change. You're writing a script that takes place in the aftermath (at some point) of that change.

Can I write both? The afterlife and the event intervine anyway. Is it a mistake to include the "how" part?

Yeah. Surely it's fair to make the story of what's changed into a feature of interest in the story you're telling. I mean, it literally is the thing people will be looking out for. Right?

I prefer Mr Blonde's idea as it is more original. Simply writing about the change has been done to death. This is an ordinary story only set in a world that has turned out differently somehow. Like a parallel universe.

The change will be a feature of interest, but not to the characters within the story as to them everything is normal.

This one is going to take some good storytelling chops to pull off.

I've come up with the basics of the story. Gonna spend a few days refining the idea before I have a go at the first draft. I must admit I'm loving thinking up this alternate universe. It's really got my creative juices flowing.

Hmm I just had a thought that may be relevant, while I was brainstorming my idea when snoozing:

Loglines may not be a good idea for this challenge. It will spoil the surprise of finding out the event used in any script. I have trouble writing normal logs anyway but doing one for my idea will kill the reveal. And I'm guessing it would for most of, if not all the entries?

Just a thought anyway. But I'm going no log. I don't read the other entries purely based on the log, so it will be nice to crack open a script with only a title and being immersed - hopefully - into an interesting Brave New World.

Quoted from stevie Hmm I just had a thought that may be relevant, while I was brainstorming my idea when snoozing: Loglines may not be a good idea for this challenge. It will spoil the surprise of finding out the event used in any script. I have trouble writing normal logs anyway but doing one for my idea will kill the reveal. And I'm guessing it would for most of, if not all the entries? Just a thought anyway. But I'm going no log. I don't read the other entries purely based on the log, so it will be nice to crack open a script with only a title and being immersed - hopefully - into an interesting Brave New World.

You shouldn't have to reference the event at all in your logline, because the event never happened. For example, you would never say, "After the breakout of World War II is avoided and fascism spreads across the world, one man goes on a sea voyage and encounters an island full of mysterious refugees." If the story is about a man going on a voyage and discovering a strange island, the logline would focus on that. Then the story should drop clues as to what had (or hasn't) happened in this alternate timeline.

Certainly the loglines I'm playing around with in my head at the moment don't mention what hasn't occurred but it does lay a few Easter eggs so that people can start to guess.

Sean, my question remained unanswered.

Could these two intervine - the change and life after the change?
(should I reword the question so that it's clear what I'm asking about?)

Just a thought, but when submitting the script, maybe we could use the notes section to specify what event we've changed. Then when the names are revealed, the events are also and we can see if we guessed the event correctly.

Quoted from MarkRenshaw Just a thought, but when submitting the script, maybe we could use the notes section to specify what event we've changed. Then when the names are revealed, the events are also and we can see if we guessed the event correctly.

While I'm sure most of us would drop nuggets in the script where things have changed, I can see where some of us might wonder what the event may have been. Putting it in notes its sounds good, but I personally would have those events made known after the reads and reviews..

As it is a world-changing event then this should be obvious from the story alone - if not the specific moment in history that it occurred.

As I'm not using this idea, I'll throw it out there... a large asteroid that missed the earth some time ago, simply didn't and instead hit. A past/present/future earth set in the aftermath, with an ordinary story thrown in. Not a single character ever has to mention the asteroid, but creative clues for the reader to pick up on would be nice.

So, we should be careful of marking down other writers because we're not sure of the precise historical change. So long as the change is clear, then we've done our job.

Quoted from DustinBowcot As I'm not using this idea, I'll throw it out there... a large asteroid that missed the earth some time ago, simply didn't and instead hit. A past/present/future earth set in the aftermath, with an ordinary story thrown in. .

I had the same idea, lol. But it just ended up  being Jurassic park.

I think in all these cases the pieces won't work as stand alone scripts. That's why I'd want to specify the event as well in mine.

Quoted from khamanna I think in all these cases the pieces won't work as stand alone scripts. That's why I'd want to specify the event as well in mine.

I don't think there's anything wrong in referencing the event if it fits into the story and doesn't feel forced in just to tell us all that this is the event.

For example, if  J.F.K survived the assassination attempt and you decided to do a story about some soldiers being pulled out of Vietnam early (which is one of the things Kennedy was considering), then referencing the assassination attempt seems relevant, but simply mentioning that Kennedy is still the President is enough to inform us that things have changed.

Quoted from MarkRenshaw I don't think there's anything wrong in referencing the event if it fits into the story and doesn't feel forced in just to tell us all that this is the event. For example, if  J.F.K survived the assassination attempt and you decided to do a story about some soldiers being pulled out of Vietnam early (which is one of the things Kennedy was considering), then referencing the assassination attempt seems relevant, but simply mentioning that Kennedy is still the President is enough to inform us that things have changed.

I don't know - in this particular scenario I might misunderstand the whole thing and thing that the events of the script happened before the assasination.
Or, I'd think that it's about the soldiers that were being pulled out of Vietnam and it wouldn't be about JFK surviving the shooting but about Vietnam war that didn't go too far.
But maybe it's only because I'm not well-versed in that particular part of history.

Although I suppose if I write about capitalizm and that Soviet revolution never happened I don't have to do a reference here. So, yes, you're right, thanks.

But in the case of the story that's on my mind referencing in the story what exactly happened and how is important for the story to make sense. Same thing - I'm afraid people will think the described events took place prior to the change.

Quoted from MarkRenshaw I don't think there's anything wrong in referencing the event if it fits into the story and doesn't feel forced in just to tell us all that this is the event. For example, if  J.F.K survived the assassination attempt and you decided to do a story about some soldiers being pulled out of Vietnam early (which is one of the things Kennedy was considering), then referencing the assassination attempt seems relevant, but simply mentioning that Kennedy is still the President is enough to inform us that things have changed.

JFK
Having survived nine assassination attempts - and afterwards disbanding the CIA, the FBI, the Federal Marshalls and the Postal Service - I say unto you Americans, "Ask not what your country can do for you, because no one works here anymore."

Feel free to take this idea since I'm too busy to enter this time (and besides, I'd like to witness at least one OWC before entering one), but the world event I had in mind was an important invention. The story would revolve around the resource scarcity resulting from not having a quantum leap in efficiency.

Maybe I'm just too new of a writer, but I'd have a hard time making wooden sailing ships in 2018 believable without directly referring to the non-event. "Yeah, some fool Scotsman tried to sell an invention once, said it'd replace the waterwheel. No, of course no one took him seriously."

Dustin is right in that it should be obvious what the event was by the story. Even by the date that I'm guessing perps will have as a super early on. Anyone who knows their history will pick up immediately on it - 'aah, Hitler won the war' etc.

My point about the log is a personal thing - I could write a brief one but I'd rather it be blank and readers go in with no idea of the event changer; well, at least till page one lol

Wait, JFK is dead???!!!!

I have absolutely nothing for this one. I hate history...war... so maybe this one isn't for me. Even if I could come up with something... not sure I want to read that many of these type scripts. I'll read a few if I stay out though.

Quoted from FrankM Feel free to take this idea since I'm too busy to enter this time (and besides, I'd like to witness at least one OWC before entering one), but the world event I had in mind was an important invention. The story would revolve around the resource scarcity resulting from not having a quantum leap in efficiency."

where Charles Babbage has "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling is one of my favorite novels. A bit of steampunk, it' deals with Charles Babbage getting around to invent  the Analytical Engine , which causes technology to advance into the computer age a century ahead of time.

Quoted from khamanna Sean, my question remained unanswered. Could these two intervine - the change and life after the change? (should I reword the question so that it's clear what I'm asking about?)

I apologize, Khamanna. I've been really sick for the better part of a week.

Your story should take place entirely after the event. We don't see the event happen.

I'll try and keep an eye out for more questions, but this hit me on Friday and I've been busy trying to recover since. Still, if you guys have anymore questions, I'll be able to answer them tomorrow. I apologize for not being here more this time around.

No need for apologies, Blondie. You just look after yourself mate

I think with some stories, the event change won't be obvious, but I agree with what was said earlier by someone else, if we can't guess the event then I don't think that should be an automatic point deduction. If Jesus wasn't crucified on the cross and the story was set now for example. Sure, it may be obvious that this story is set in a world where a different religion (or no religion) exists, but how would the reader know this was because of an event didn't happen two thousand years ago?

However, I know you writers and I know myself. I suspect we'll all be working hard to put some obvious and not-so obvious clues in the script as to the event in question!

Interesting challenge, this one. Been waiting a couple days for something to pop into my head, but nothing yet. It’s not the life altering historical event that is the trouble, just the story that goes around it (or because of it). In that respect it shouldn’t be that much different than anything I’ve ever written previously. Thankfully, this is a two week challenge. That said, was this purposely made a 2WC to give us more time to come up with a great story idea, or because of the higher page count?

Extra time for research was the idea I believe.

Could someone remind me - what you use if you need to indicate place and time at the beginning of the script or scene?

For example:

IMPERIAL RUSSIA, 1930s

It's called something, I knew it and everyone does. I just never use it and forgot.

(oh, and this is not going to be my script if you're wondering)

SUPER or TITLE

Oh, thanks!

We can use those by the way to indicate the alternate reality. Although it may go past a reader if he doesn't know the specificity of the challenge. I don't know...

You’re welcome. I actually had the same thought, but there’s other ways to show it, too.

Yes, you can use any methods you want to clarify the story for the reader. As I've learned over the years, sometimes, you are actually better off beating people over the head with information than going the subtle route.

So my original plan of mentioning the non-adoption of the steam engine wasn't just a rookie thing.  Good to know.

Oh, how would the world turn out if Khan Noonien Singh did not seize control of a big chunk of Asia in 1993? Bet that would change history quite a bit

My script is going to start with Mark Wahlberg landing on Earth, only to find it is ruled by Whales. Then everyone will know the event I've changed is that Whales just learned how to breath air and took over the planet instead of apes.

Quoted from MarkRenshaw My script is going to start with Mark Wahlberg landing on Earth, only to find it is ruled by Whales. Then everyone will know the event I've changed is that Whales just learned how to breath air and took over the planet instead of apes.

Whales do breathe air. So do all fish, come to that, they just filter it through their gills by stripping the air molecules from the water.

Also, if we believe evo theory, the earliest ancestor of the whale walked on land. So they went the other way as some animals choose to do.

It's likely that if humans didn't evolve, that every other creature would still be exactly where it is now in terms of intelligence. If anything it would be the other way around - monkey see, monkey do. They learn from us.

See? My script is becoming a reality!

Quoted from MarkRenshaw I think with some stories, the event change won't be obvious, but I agree with what was said earlier by someone else, if we can't guess the event then I don't think that should be an automatic point deduction. If Jesus wasn't crucified on the cross and the story was set now for example. Sure, it may be obvious that this story is set in a world where a different religion (or no religion) exists, but how would the reader know this was because of an event didn't happen two thousand years ago? However, I know you writers and I know myself. I suspect we'll all be working hard to put some obvious and not-so obvious clues in the script as to the event in question!

Can't enter this one - but:

Not sure why this is an issue - why wouldn't peeps just put it in the logline. e.g.,

- In a world where Jesus was never born...
- In a world where no cure for small pox was discovered....
- In the United States, where abortion is still illegal....

etc.

I actually think most of the debates are going to focus in two areas:

- Does the event that did not happen really meet the criteria of a major event?
- Does the event not happening really means that it never would. e.g., If Edison was never born would we really never have discovered the light bulb?

I think this challenge is so open that a lot of people are going to discount scripts based on IF THEY MEET THE CHALLENGE or not and everyone is going to have different opinions. Why can't we have a challenge that is simple with given location, genre, maybe an object or a character and a page limit of 5-7???????

Quoted from MarkRenshaw My script is going to start with Mark Wahlberg landing on Earth, only to find it is ruled by Whales. Then everyone will know the event I've changed is that Whales just learned how to breath air and took over the planet instead of apes.

Except - it has to be an event that didn't happen - not one that did. But it would be a whale of a story otherwise.

I've no issue with the challenge itself or working the 'non-event' into the story. I'm struggling with the page length. Be prepared for a lot of fluff.

In regard Dena's comment, I think we all need to be more forgiving and just judge the stories on their own merits. In storyland anything is possible.

I'm with Dena on a page count.
I'm having trouble to come up with a good story that fits the limit. I guess there's not enough story in mine but it would be good for a short short.

Quoted from JEStaats I've no issue with the challenge itself or working the 'non-event' into the story. I'm struggling with the page length. Be prepared for a lot of fluff.

Yeah, I promise chunks in mine.

Quoted from Dave e.g., If Edison was never born would we really never have discovered the light bulb?

Considering it was already invented 10 years before by Joesph Swan I would say yes

Edison stole more patents than any human being more so from his genius sidekick Tesla

I would just like to say, as seems to be a growing consensus, that while the validity of the alternate reality should be looked at in terms of “realism”, it should not be judged in terms of “likeliness”. Every script is essentially a personal opinion of the butterfly effect, how much does history change when certain events are altered?

So, if someone has worked out that no civil war between north and south would lead to a rebellion in the south between races and that would transform America into an ally of the Germans during WWII then it’s like alright I may not agree, but it could happen I GUESS.

If the same situation is looked at, and the script ends up in the year 2200 and jellyfish rule the world it’s like well that doesn’t make a lot of sense contextually. I guess it’s just up to the readers to be more alert at connecting the dots, especially because someone is going to pick a historical event that isn’t common knowledge and everyone is going to get confused and hate the script.

This is pretty crazy and can really be any genre, even fantasy.

In  my crazy world, science was discarded for magic.  So, no physics, science, medicine etc.  Magic is the root of existence.

Dan

Quoted from DanC In  my crazy world, science was discarded for magic.  So, no physics, science, medicine etc.  Magic is the root of existence.

Magic was never in contention with science so would not count as a historical change. Try harder.

Science grew out of magic.

The likes of Einstein (odten called the first scientist) were Alchemists, attempting to create the Philosophers Stone. Their research on transmuting matter lead to what we know call Chemistry.

They don't teach you it in school, but Einstein's two major preoccupations were creating the Philosophers Stone to achieve immortality and his belief he'd been chosen by God to properly translate the Bible.

It is conceivable that the transformation from magic/occultism to science never happened and everyone remained an Alchemist/magician.

Quoted from Talldave If the same situation is looked at, and the script ends up in the year 2200 and jellyfish rule the world it’s like well that doesn’t make a lot of sense contextually. I guess it’s just up to the readers to be more alert at connecting the dots, especially because someone is going to pick a historical event that isn’t common knowledge and everyone is going to get confused and hate the script.

I for one, welcome our new Jellyfish overlords!

As to Dan's comment, I'm with Dustin on this one. Although this is an alternate timeline you can't just change into fantasy. The reason real magic, Harry Potter style, doesn't exist isn't because of an event in history, magic just doesn't (sadly) exist.

Unless of course, you say that clever Illusionists and the belief in magic become more popular than science? That would be a very interesting alternate universe indeed. Imagine if David Blaine was president lol!

On a personal note, I've gone from having most of this weekend gloriously free for writing to having hardly any free time at all and I'm gutted. I've got a feeling that, as per usual, I'll end up pushing a vomit draft through at the last moment. No excuses, if it's rubbish it's rubbish, I just can't believe how life sneaks up on you and steals personal free time.