May 01: Let's Go!

If you could hitchhike anyplace in the galaxy, where would you go?

May 02: Planet Sized Brain

Your robot is depressed. How will you cheer him up?

May 03: Abbreviation

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is often abbreviated "HHGTTG" or "H2G2." I abbreviate my Second Life name as Ink. You may have seen the "six word autobiography" challenge on the internet. How would you abbreviate who you are?

May 04: Mother's Day Stories Due

Funny yet poignant. Make your mom laugh and then cry.

(Early deadline so it's ready for mom. This contest is worth 500 linden and you may exceed the 400 word limit, but please keep your lengths reasonable.)

May 05: Vogon Poetry

I know I use this topic about three times a year, but it just doesn't get old. The Vogons are reputed to be the worst poets in the universe. Can you beat them?

May 06: Zaphod Beeblebrox

He's the president of the galaxy. He stole a space ship. If you were president of the galaxy, what would you steal?

May 07: Heart of Gold

Who do you know with a heart of gold? Where do they take you?

May 08: Trillian

Tricia McMillan, better known as Trillian, is the only other survivor of the destruction of Earth when the Vogons clear it out to make room for an intergalactic super highway. If you could pick one other person on this planet as your only survivor, who would it be and why?

May 09: Forty-two

What is your ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything?

May 10: The Question

What is your ultimate question?

May 11: Guidebook Entry

They've called you up to write an entry in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy about a place you know better than anybody else. Write the entry for us.

May 12: My Alien Friend

Arthur Dent didn't know his best friend was an alien. Which one of your friends is most likely to be from another planet?

May 13: Mice

Mice may be calculating the ultimate question even as we speak, but I bet you have a memorable encounter with a mouse in your past. Recount it.

May 14: The Right Number

When first published, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy sold a quarter million copies in the first three months. That's a pretty good indication the author created something valuable. How do you know when your writing (or other artistic endeavors) is having a meaningful impact? How do you gauge success?

May 15: Space Tourism

Virgin Galactic Airlines will make routine sub-orbital flights into space for anybody with the fee. The cost is $200,000 USD. Would you pay that for the chance to go? If you had that amount of cash rolling around in your pockets, what would you love to buy?

May 16: Parallel Universe

Who lives in your alternate universe? What do they do there? What is better and worse in the universe running along side the one you live in?

May 17: Babble Fish

To understand each other in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, people simply put a Babble Fish into their ear. What languages do you know? Which ones would you like to learn? What forms of communication do you use that are better than spoken language?

May 18: Sentient Computers

Do you want technology to play a bigger role in your life? What would you like machines to take care of for you?

May 19: Radio Script

They've just handed you the microphone. Say what you have to say, but say it as if it is being broadcast over AM radio on a Sunday to everybody in your local area. Select a topic you're passionate about in your home town and speak from the heart.

May 20: Mostly Harmless

Are you? What makes you partly harmful?

May 21: Don't Panic

Describe a scene in your life when you out-and-out panicked. What caused it? What was the result?

May 22: Hitching

They've just closed down your town due to an outbreak of something horrible. You need to leave with only the clothing on your back. Where will your thumb take you? Where would you begin again?

May 23: Comic Book

An illustrator from DC Comics is on the phone. He's drawing the cover art to a comic book about your life. He needs to know what imagery you'd like to use. Type out the conversation for us.

May 24: Yum!

You and your current lover have been invited to dinner at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. It's a formal evening and should be the fanciest night of your life. Just as you arrive and are being announced, you see a former lover has also been invited. Then you discover you'll be sitting at the same table. You know what happens next, right?

May 25: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Towel Day

Always bring a towel, especially on the 25th. What do you do to be prepared?

May 26: Unhelpful

You've been invited to offer some unhelpful remarks about something you've written. You'll be presenting your unhelpful remarks to an audience of people who are smarter than you. What will you tell them?

May 27: Sci-Fi Character

For the next five days, I'll challenge you to create an outline of a full-blown science fiction short story (or novel or epic poem). If you're into fantasy, or gaming, or something related to the science fiction genre, it's okay to go in that direction instead. Create a main character for your story. As with most main characters, your leader should be relatable, conflicted, and fascinating.

May 28: Sci-Fi Setting

For day two of the challenge, describe one or more settings where your action will take place. A bar on a remote planet, a mythical forest, a cave with relics from a forgotten civilization, or a space ship with a sexy alien co-pilot all make lovely settings. Be detailed. Consider how your location will affect the story.

May 29: Sci-Fi Plot

Okay, here's the bare bones no frills attached plot outline. You only have 500 words, so picture today's entry on the back cover of your book. What happens in your story?

May 30: Sci-Fi Round-up

You know your main character and where he or she will be located and you even know what they will do. Take time today to describe other characters, other important aspect of the story, your themes, your point of view, or anything else you think will help serve as a reminder of what you want to accomplish for your reader in this story.

May 31: Final Project

Do NOT turn in your completed story. Today's entry should be up to 500 words out of your story. The real story! Do your best job of crafting your sentences and bringing your imagery to life. Maybe it's the first 500 words. Maybe it's the 500 words when we meet your main character in the story, or take a look around your setting for the first time. Just make sure you are happy this is your BEST effort at bringing together your elements you've been working on this week.