By Ottavia Paluch
The deadline for BWO’s latest contest, centered around the theme of HIPS, is in April, so there’s still plenty of time to get your submissions in. However, if you’re struggling to think of something to write based off of that theme, have no fear! I’m here to help you get started. Below, I’ve attached a few major ideas that you can choose to expand upon. At the end of each, there’ll be a prompt for both a short story and a poem based around that idea, in case you like the idea but can’t decide between one or the other just yet. Ready to write? Ready to say “hip, hip, hooray!” as you dust off some metaphors? Then let’s get started. 1. As our Editor-In-Chief, Courtney, outlined in the submission guidelines, according to Merriam-Webster, “hip” has multiple connotations, the rest of which we’ll get to later. For starters, it could mean to be “aware or appreciative of something.” But what is that something, exactly? What have you made others aware of? Your weaknesses? Your strengths? Your mistakes? Speak to your family, speak to the world, even, and watch their reaction, if they’ve been appreciative of what you’ve told them. Write a short story about a character’s biggest secret, which they have chosen to make public. It’s difficult to balance both keeping a secret a secret and still appreciating it. What is that secret? What do others think of it? Write a poem about something you’ve been aware and appreciative of. What makes your hips swivel around to look? It doesn’t even have to be something physical. Whatever it is, give us the truth. 2. Shakira once told us that “hips don’t lie.” Or do they? We say a lot of words that we come to regret or don’t mean. Sometimes we don’t know what exactly we’ve said until it’s too late, until our hips have indeed lied. But what have hips got to say? How do they say it? Vulnerability is something we might have a difficult time handling, so it makes a lot of sense to ease the tension and drop the shame via writing. Write a short story about a character who tends to lie abundantly. There’s a lot of feelings you can feel when lying: guilt, disappointment, the list goes on. What makes them afraid to tell the truth? What makes them feel vulnerable? And how does sex, gender, and sexuality have a role in all this? Write a poem about a lie you’ve seen someone tell. How did you feel when it was told? Or, put yourself in the liar’s shoes, and find out why they did what they did. Wiggle your toes in those shoes; is there breathing room for them when they lie? Or is the lie spoken in one breath? 3. Society expects a lot from us teenagers, whilst frowning upon a lot of our activities, such as our stereotypical desire to fit in, to be trendy, to be fashionably current, in the know. Basically, to “be hip.” Meaning, to be informed about the latest ideas, styles, and developments. But just like how something referred to as “cool” can become uncool in the blink of an eye, being hip does not refer to one specific quality. What is considered hip in today’s world is incessantly changing. What’s “hip” now? What’s in between the cool and uncool—between hips? Write a short story based around something mundane that has now become hip. Or better yet, someone. Analyse intensely. Take a look at society, at yourself, at the bigger picture. Write a poem about what you’ve found between hips thus far in your life. What have you experienced relating to what we crave for in your submissions—sex, sexuality, gender, reproduction, reproductive illness, sexual violence? Be persistent. Be truthful. Be frank with yourself, with what’s inside yourself. Submissions for BWO’s Hips Contest are due April 15th. As Courtney stated, don’t lie. Show us what’s really between the waves.
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