COMPETITION

"The Western world awakes to find bewildered groups of swarthy strangers near all the large cities. They are soon identified as natives of Central Asia. Statements from prominent scientists regarding certain other inexplicable phenomena, solar and otherwise, are ignored in the flood of speculation, and later in the hysteria caused by the announcement that the U.S. Government has accused the U.S.S.R. of planting an invading force in their territory. The Soviet Government in turn accuses the U.S.A. of having caused six atomic explosions in Central Asia. War tension rises, and is relieved only by nightfall. Two moons rise, and a multitude of stars in unfamiliar constellations appear in the strange sky."

There are five ways to write an S-F story.

1. Dream up some apparently impossible situation and concoct a complicated series of events to explain it. If you do this in a really big way your name is probably van Vogt.

2. Dig up some lesser-known scientific principle to get your hero out of a spot. This is the usual ASF pot-boiler.

3. Unearth some explained event, like the Marie Celeste or Martian 'canals' or Fortean phenomena, and invent your own theory.

4. Speculate on the repercussions of some invention or development. This is another ASF type.

5. Take some trustworthy plot, possibly one you have already used in Western, and decorate it. Most bad stories are like this.

Our competition this issue is based on No. 1. Above is a situation we arrived at in developing a fairly simple idea. We thought it would be interesting to see what YOU get, working from the other end. So write a short synopsis of a plot in which the situation develops. (A well-written story would be welcome, of course, but we thought the idea a little too Fearny.) The prize will be 3 prozines, to be chosen from 6 offered by the editor. The closing date is 30th April, 1950. Marks will be given primary for ingenuity and originality. The best entries will of course be printed.

Data entered by Judy Bemis

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