‘Genius in a Bottle’ Prompted Writing Challenge
Turning Back Time
GiaB writing prompt #18
A man in homespun took a stand to win freedom just by making salt.
We won’t know where we are unless we look back on the journey we have taken.
Our history is critical to our worldly identity. Our journey to this point has shaped us over generations. It has taught us what worked for us and what was a terrible error in judgement.
When we had to scrounge for food in nature, it taught us which berries sustained us and which infused our blood with toxin. When we started forming communities, it taught us that we operate best in concert with people and not in conflict with them. When we started to form political identities, it taught us that when a dictator seeks to dominate, war follows, and that only as nations at the global table do we rise together.
Even if one feels our history is inconsequential to who we are, it still serves as a foil.
Our history heralds a great many heroes who paved the way for us to have a more enlightened and pleasurable life, even if their lives were horrific. It also shines the spotlight on villains who only worked to setback everything we have now and plunge us into misery, even if their lives weren’t particularly miserable.
However history alone won’t deliver us. It is us that have to continue to study and interpret, giving value to the lessons that were learned and re-taught to us.
It’s not enough to have a history book on the shelf. We need to dust it off, and peel back the pages.
Let us start doing that with this prompted writing challenge.
The Challenge
We invite writers to produce a piece of poetry, fiction or non-fiction on the theme of History.
For this prompted writing challenge we may be covering similar ground to a previous challenge which focused on historical buildings. So let us define the theme more specifically. We are looking for stories on historical events in global history and the lessons learned from them. We are looking for stories on our feelings, as contemporary beings, for the historical events of the past. We are even looking for arguments for or against certain historical actions as long as they yield something useful for us in the modern world. The idea is to learn something about our shared past that will demarcate the path we walk today.
This prompt will close on Wednesday 28th April, 2021 at 9:00AM PST/PDT. At which time, the next prompt will be released.
The Guidelines
We cannot publish pieces or reward writers who self publish or publish at another publication, so those pieces have to remain external to the challenge. Only pieces submitted to Genius in a Bottle will be considered for the challenge. If inviting other writers from outside the publication, please ensure they are aware of this.
Poetry is to be limited to 30 lines but can be in any style. Fiction and non-fiction submissions are to be capped at 750 words.
Please refer to the prompt in the subtitle. Feel free to copy this as a template: GiaB prompt # [insert prompt number and theme here].
When submitting, please ensure that one of the 5 tags is GiaBprompt. Please ensure a second tag is Poetry, fiction, or non-fiction, as appropriate.
We would like to become exposed to writers and pieces that you have enjoyed in all of Medium. Please tag up to ten writers whose pieces you have enjoyed recently, or who you feel may enjoy participating in this challenge.
For further information pertaining to the challenge, please refer to the rules and guidelines.
And away we go. We look forward to enjoying the paradise of the written word with you all.
Victor Sarkin
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