AUTHOR TOOLS | MASH-UP |HOW-TO

How to Write a Monday Mash-Up Response (Updated Oct ‘23)

The Kicker and Subtitle are great places to highlight your story details and Mash-up!

Want to participate in all the madness and glory of a Kraken Lore Mash-up Challenge? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

Below is a step-by-step process to guide you!

1. Plan out then write your story using one of the main prompts. Using the prompt nabs you your first 2 points!
2. Include as many of the constraints as possible! There are usually 6 of them and you may select 4. They can vary widely, but each is worth a point! Include up to four for the next 4 points!
3. Work in the Hardcore Constraint for another 2 points.
4. Include the mentioned Literary Device for a massive 5 bonus points!
5. Include the Medium regulars, including a kicker, title, subtitle, and a picture (Example below)! Bored of Unsplash? Feel free to play around with AI-generated art like Nightcafé or Midjourney! Don’t forget to add a caption to your image (Unsplash does this automatically) and add Alt Text to the image (For readers with visual impairment to describe the image with words)
6. Sometimes, we must do as the mighty Kraken demands and add an additional challenge (like the Seedling Challenge, or writing a sea shanty), but we always make sure it’s worth a juicy 10 points!
7. When it’s all done, use a Code Block (from the side menu) to tally your points. Doing so is worth +1 bonus point!
8. Keep your epic story between 100–2000 words (A little over is fine)

This is a code block! Remember to select your language preferences to None 
or Plain Text to avoid any weirdness! Also, text will no longer wrap so 
keep your lines short and press Enter to move to the next line.
Tally up your points earned in here for an extra bonus point! 
(ANY tally will count if the code block seems daunting; use bullet points
instead!)

• Here’s a guide to the suggested layout of your story for TKL:

Kicker (Small ‘T’)

Title (Big ‘T’)

Subtitle (Small ‘T)

Image (With a caption and ALT text)

Your Story (With the promise of points and cookies!)

Code Block/Points Tally

There! You can now compete with the best of them! Don’t forget to challenge your friends and tag me Jonathon Sawyer so I get a notification. Also, remember that one of your tags MUST be Mashups as this is what we search to find your submissions!

Good luck!

Get Kraken and see you in the next Monday Mash-Up!