2nd Annual "River of Mnemosyne" Challenge

It's one again time to separate the Spartans from the Helots (and there were far more Helots than Spartans last year, that's for sure)...

RIVER OF MNEMOSYNE, 2011

Welcome to the second annual "River of Mnemosyne" Challenge at The Tenth Daughter of Memory. As with last year, we're going to explain the rules today and tomorrow the challenge begins! There are a few changes this time around, so read carefully if you participated last year (actually, read carefully anyway).

The Challenge

1. For the challenge, you are creating a single overall work (in any format) that will encompass all of the posted Muses this month. Unlike normal Muses, each participant may only submit one (1) entry for the challenge. Basically, your first post is "Muse 0"/"Chapter 1," your second post (Muse 1) is your "Chapter 2," etc. In addition to "Muse 0," there will be nine (9) designated Muses (for a total of ten (10) chapters).

2. The goal is to tell a complete story (be it visual or written) 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 post is NOT the first Muse (unlike last year), so your first entry will simply be the beginning of your story. The subsequent nine 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 an admin with the Muse.
• New Muses will post at 12:01 AM, GMT, the day after an admin receives the submitted Muse (and no more than one Muse will post in a day). If using multiple-part entries for an individual Muse, only the final part will only count in determining who picks the following Muse. In this case, please post a comment letting us know that the final part has been posted and linked.

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

1. Johnny Fresh (Muse 0)
2. Linda Linda (Muse 0)
3. Johnny Fresh (Muse 1)
4. Johnny Fresh (Muse 2)
5. Linda Linda (Muse 1)
6. Robert Radical (Muse 0)
7. and so on.

5. Do not skip Muses or do them out of order. This is a challenge, after all, and should you accept it, you should play along. However, we will not disavow any knowledge of your existence should you skip or jump, but you will be ineligible to win (you can still vote if you participated in the first Muse, however... see Rule #7). Also, do not combine Muses into one post (well, you can if you want to, but you won't receive the bonus votes - see below).

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. "Chapter Ones" can be linked starting tomorrow.

The Vote

7. Voting begins on the 22nd and you'll be voting for the participant's overall body of work. Our usual rule of "don't vote, can't win" still applies. Anyone who posts a "Muse 0" (Chapter 1) AND a "Muse 1" (Chapter 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 the 27th and will receive the "River of Mnemosyne, 2011" trophy to post on their blog.

This is only the second RoM challenge, so things might still be rough around the edges. Feel free to barrage the admins and comment sections with questions and suggestions. No, really... if you aren't sure of something, ask an admin immediately.

Get your river flowing! And have fun!

-10thDoM