2024 Journey Into Journey: Illustrated Edition Writing Contest - Title and Picture Assignment

Several people have opted in for this new Writing Contest and so I will now reveal to them their assigned story titles based on a Journey song and their AI-generated image which they must use as inspiration for their story. The images are shown below, but will also be emailed to each participant. See detailed Submission Guidelines at the bottom.

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Assigned Images:

Sweet and Simple

Where Were You

Dead or Alive

Keep On Runnin'

Lay It Down

Open Arms

Faithfully

Precious Time

Opened the Door

Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

Daydream

I'm Cryin'

2024 JOURNEY INTO JOURNEY: ILLUSTRATED EDITION WRITING CONTEST SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

CONTEST TIMELINE:

• You will be assigned a story title and AI-generated image based upon a song title from the band Journey. This will be the basis and inspiration for your story. You will receive this assignment via email, and on a podcast episode on August 9th.
• You must submit your new original story by 12:00:00 AM Mountain Time on December 1, 2024
• Winners will be announced on the show and by email before January 1, 2025
• The 1st place story will be produced for audio publication on the podcast in 2025.

WORD COUNT: No word limit, but judges may tire while reading an overlong story.

STORY REQUIREMENTS AND PREFERENCES:

• The story must be titled as assigned and be based on the AI-generated image you are given.
• Please write an original story based on inspiration from the assigned title and image. There is no way for me to enforce this, but the spirit of this contest is to provide a prompt for a new story.
• Preference for speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and various combinations and sub-genre.
• Remember the 1st place winning story (possibly more) will be produced for the podcast, so we will be looking for stories that "work well in audio."

CONTEST RESTRICTIONS: Please no splatter horror, grimdark, or explicit sexual content. Also please avoid coarse profanity.

WHO WILL DECIDE THE WINNERS: A panel of volunteer judges.

PRIZES: 1st Prize: $20, 2nd Prize: $15, 3rd Prize: $5.  1st place story will be produced as a full cast audio production for the podcast.

WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS: Email submissions to journeyintopodcast@gmail.com

SUBMISSION FORMAT:  The subject line must contain the prefix of "2024 CONTEST:" followed by the title of your story.  The body of the email should be the text of your story.