TheScian Scifi Contest 2008 - Results!

First prize
Aski's Choice by Rinku Dutta

Second prize
21 Minutes by Rahul Jaisheel

Sponsored prize
Noah's Ark by Narendra Desirazu

Selected stories
Live and Exclusive by Aditya Sudarshan (winner of our first scifi contest in 2006)

Touchstone by J Ramanand (winner of the contest in 2007)

Of Resolutions with Capital R's by Shuchikar

The prize winning stories will be published next week. The selected stories will be published one at a time in the following weeks.

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While I and the authors prepare the stories for publication, I invite young writers to visit TheScian Writer's Kit, a compendium of observations I made over the course of three years while reading the contest submissions. It is aimed at writers who have just begun to explore creative writing with scientific themes. Corrections and additional suggestions for the list are welcome. A blurb to tempt you:

Essay, story, poetry, or nothing
To begin at the beginning: ask yourself why write at all. Every writer who aims high will quite early in their pursuit address this all important question. If you are convinced that you must write for whatever reason, then the next important question must be addressed before every story, essay or poem you write: is my choice of the literary form suitable for this task? Essays, stories, novels, poetry - these established structures should be studied. The creative process may soar or sink depending on the choice of the formal structure. Do not write an essay as a story, a poem as an essay or a short story as a novel. Choose wisely.

Resources
Resources for a writer are too vast and too varied to list or even attempt to list. To write is to explore oneself within and without, and to be driven by the overarching desire to tell stories and be remembered for it. You will have to find your own way to do this. However, you can learn how to pursue your creative goals from the masters. Study all the Paris Review Interviews; study great ideas - historical, scientific, political, philosophical and cultural; and study the classics for inspiration . Good luck.