{"id":22953,"date":"2006-09-19T01:10:34","date_gmt":"2006-09-19T05:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?page_id=22953"},"modified":"2024-12-23T18:35:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T23:35:27","slug":"writing-challenges","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?page_id=22953","title":{"rendered":"VCLS Writing Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

MA-Rated \/R-Rated Stories<\/strong> – Some of the challenge stories in the Library contain explicit language and adult themes; and are not intended for readers under the age of 18. Please heed our rating guidelines.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Virginia City Literary Society Challenges are hosted by Cheaux, unless otherwise noted.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

VCLS Writing Challenges:<\/strong><\/p>\n

20\/20 Hindsight Challenge<\/a><\/strong> – 2020<\/p>\n

Regrets.\u00a0\u00a0What would the any of the Cartwrights (or supporting players) have done differently if they knew then what they know now.<\/p>\n

Advent Calendars <\/strong>– (hosted by faust)<\/p>\n

An invitation to the members of the BonanzaBrand Forums to select a day and create a contribution based on a prompt provided by faust.<\/span><\/p>\n

2016 Advent Calendar<\/strong><\/a>
\n2017 Advent Calendar<\/a><\/strong>
\n2018 Advent Calendar<\/strong><\/a>
\n2019 Advent Calendar<\/strong><\/a>
\n2020 Advent Calendar<\/a><\/strong>
\n2021 Advent Calendar<\/a>
\n2022 Advent Calendar<\/a>
\n2023 Advent Calendar<\/a>
\n2024 Advent Calendar<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ancestry Challenge <\/strong><\/a>– 2018<\/p>\n

Several relatives of the Cartwrights have turned up from time to time. Are there more and what affect do they have on the Cartwrights?<\/p>\n

Back to the Future<\/a><\/strong> – 2020<\/p>\n

So many episodes allude to people, places, events, and things from another time that affect the present and future actions of the Cartwrights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Better Late than Never Challenge<\/a><\/strong> – 2018, 2019, 2020<\/p>\n

The ‘best laid plans of writers’ don’t always match with the deadline to earn a badge for that challenge. This challenge gives the writers a chance to finish their story and still earn a badge, only not the one originally intended.<\/p>\n

BoNaNo Challenge<\/strong><\/a> – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020,<\/p>\n

Bonanza Brand’s answer to NaNoWriMo.<\/p>\n

Bonanza Brand Anniversary “R” Literary Challenge <\/a><\/strong>— 2016, 2017, 2019<\/p>\n

Celebrating Bonanza Brand’s Anniversary in the “R-rated” Forums<\/p>\n

2016<\/strong> – This challenge is also known as the Dirty Word Challenge<\/em>. Authors were given 25 words that had to be incorporated into their stories. \u00a0Most stories submitted were sexually explicit.<\/p>\n

2017<\/strong> – Authors were encouraged to pen an R-rated story regarding the Cartwrights (any or all) reaction to an ad appearing in the Territorial Enterprise. (The ad is the featured image for these stories.)<\/p>\n

2019<\/b>\u00a0– Authors were encouraged to pen an R-rated story that included the words: lacy lingerie.<\/p>\n

Camp in the Pines<\/strong><\/a> – 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023<\/p>\n

A summer past-time, full of fun and shenanigans, especially Hoss’ Go-Fish Tournament.<\/p>\n

Chaps and Spurs\u00a0Challenges<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>– 2009, 2010,2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019<\/p>\n

Stories submitted to word\/phrase or photo prompts or story titles, opening or closing lines.<\/p>\n

Christmas Challenge<\/a> <\/strong>(Hosted by Rider) – 2013<\/p>\n

Favorite Christmas carols inspiring Bonanza stories.<\/p>\n

Cross-Over Challenge<\/a> – <\/strong>2018<\/p>\n

Mix the Cartwrights with another fandom.<\/p>\n

Dan Blocker Literary Challenge<\/a><\/strong> – 2012 & 2014<\/p>\n

Celebrating Dan Blocker’s birthday.<\/p>\n

Death of a Cartwright Challenge<\/a> <\/strong>(Hosted by Inca) – 2013<\/p>\n

Reader Advisory<\/strong>: For this challenge, the authors were tasked with ‘killing a Cartwright’ within their story. There could be no hope of revival or turning up months later with amnesia for the character selected. The Cartwright had to be Dead and Gone<\/em><\/strong>. Selecting Jamie Hunter-Cartwright, or Cousins Will, Muley, or Clarissa were not an option.<\/p>\n

Devonshire Birthday Challenge<\/strong><\/a> – 2010 & 2011<\/p>\n

Celebrating the birthday of the Queen of SJS – Devonshire.<\/p>\n

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Challenge<\/strong><\/a> – 2013<\/p>\n

Celebrating Lorne Greene’s birthday.<\/p>\n

Halloween aka Bonanza Spooktacular! Challenge<\/a> <\/strong>– 2018, 2019<\/p>\n

Write an other-worldly story involving one or all of the Cartwrights.<\/p>\n

Hop Sing’s Fortune Cookie Challenge<\/a><\/strong> – 2019<\/p>\n

<\/b>A story based on the wisdom found in a fortune cookie.\u00a0 Announcement in January.\u00a0 Chinese New Year runs from February 5-19.\u00a0 A different fortune posted each day.<\/p>\n

Little Bit Challenge<\/a><\/strong> (Hosted by freyakendra – 2015 & BluewindFarm – 2020)<\/p>\n

To write a vignette for as many of the 431 episodes as possible using exactly<\/em> <\/strong>100 or 200 words.<\/p>\n

Ma Hoad\u2019s Valentine’s Day R Challenge!<\/a> –<\/strong> 2011<\/p>\n

In response Ma Hoad in The Spitfire, authors were challenged to write an R-Rated story for Valentine’s Day.<\/p>\n

Man in Black Birthday Challenge<\/strong><\/a> – 2013<\/p>\n

Celebrating Pernell Roberts’ birthday.<\/p>\n

Michael Landon’s Birthday Literary Challenge<\/strong><\/a> – 2012, 2017<\/p>\n

Celebrating Michael Landon’s birthday.<\/p>\n

Missing Man Challenge<\/strong><\/a> – 2017, 2018<\/p>\n

Include Adam in a season 7 – 14 episode, as if he’d never left.<\/p>\n

My Heart Belongs to Daddy –<\/strong><\/a> 2022<\/p>\n

In Memory of Lorne Greene<\/p>\n

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary (Gothic Challenge)<\/a> <\/strong>– 2017<\/p>\n

In honor of Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday, write a dark, moody tale (or poem) in the Gothic style (Poe’s themes generally embraced lost love, death, mourning, etc.)<\/p>\n

Pernell Roberts Special Literary Birthday Challenge<\/a><\/strong> – 2014<\/p>\n

Celebrating Pernell Roberts’ birthday.<\/p>\n

Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament<\/a> <\/strong>– 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023<\/p>\n

The mother of all poker tournaments. Words or phrases were substituted for the face value of the cards in a deck. The authors had to use all five words\/phrases unless they were lucky enough to be dealt a Joker.<\/p>\n

Round Robin Challenges<\/a><\/strong> – 2011, 2019<\/p>\n

A Round Robin is a group of authors who collaborate on a single story, the opening of which is selected by Brand members. \u00a0An author writes part of the story before the story is forwarded to another author, which continues until the story is completed.<\/p>\n

The Mother of All Challenges<\/a> <\/strong>– 2015<\/p>\n

In observance of Mother’s Day. Authors were invited to write a story featuring one or more of the Cartwrights in any time period (prequel, season 1-14, sequel, AU), in which Virginia City<\/strong> is an integral part of their tale.<\/p>\n

Thinking Man Challenge <\/a><\/strong>– 2015<\/p>\n

Celebrating Pernell Roberts’ birthday.<\/p>\n

World Poetry Day Challenge<\/a><\/strong> – 2018, 2019<\/p>\n

Celebrating National Poetry Month<\/p>\n

Writing Challenges<\/a> –\u00a0<\/strong>Stories assigned the Writing Challenges category by their author, these stories may also be found in the links above.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Note<\/strong>: There are many more challenges and their responses located within the Virginia City Literary Society Forums<\/a>. Not all submissions are uploaded to the Library by their respective authors due to Library Guidelines. Readers must be a member to access these pages in the Forums.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MA-Rated \/R-Rated Stories – Some of the challenge stories in the Library contain explicit language and adult themes; and are not intended for readers under the age of 18. Please heed our rating guidelines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":376,"parent":0,"menu_order":12,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-22953","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":false,"total_views":0,"today_views":0},"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26188,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?page_id=26188","url_meta":{"origin":22953,"position":0},"title":"Stories by Author – Writing Woman","author":"VCLS","date":"September 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Hoss, North and South - by Writing Woman Summary:\u00a0 Written for the April Chaps and Spurs Challenge. While on a cattle drive headed east, Hoss becomes involved in the war between the North and South. Rated: K\u00a0 WC\u00a0 625 Nod or a Wink - by Writing Woman Summary:\u00a0 Hoss struggles\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26667,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?page_id=26667","url_meta":{"origin":22953,"position":1},"title":"Library Collections","author":"VCLS","date":"September 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"A listing of the various collections within the Bonanza Brand Library. Categories Celebrations of the Actors Birthday centric stories or maybe a close brush with death Cross-over Stories Episode Inspired Fanfiction Series Holiday Collections Writing Challenges Listing of VCLS Writing Challenges","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26202,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?page_id=26202","url_meta":{"origin":22953,"position":2},"title":"Stories by Author – Virginia City Literary Society","author":"VCLS","date":"September 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Black Wreath (The) - by VCLS Summary: Joe returns to the Ponderosa after a short trip only to find no one home and a black wreath on the door. What could have happened? Read on. Rated: T WC 11,300 Destruction of Joe Cartwright (the) - by VCLS Summary: An\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57535,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?page_id=57535","url_meta":{"origin":22953,"position":3},"title":"Stories by Author – EROS","author":"VCLS","date":"July 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Eros is the Greek god of love and sex.; a primordial deity (the first generation of gods and goddesses).\u00a0 For the most part, primordial deities were not given human characteristics, instead they were personifications of places or abstract concepts.\u00a0 (Imagine, Sex being an abstract concept!) Eros is the type of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/coming-soon-4.jpg?fit=320%2C240&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25639,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?page_id=25639","url_meta":{"origin":22953,"position":4},"title":"Stories by Author – BnzaGal","author":"VCLS","date":"September 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 A Lost Bonanza - by BnzaGal Summary:\u00a0 A response to ML's2012 birthday literary exercise. Rating:\u00a0 K \u00a01,255 words A Taste of Southern Sugar - by BnzaGal Summary:\u00a0 A sweet little ol\u2019 lady arrives on the stage and befriends Hoss and Joe. Who would have guessed that such a sweet\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25794,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?page_id=25794","url_meta":{"origin":22953,"position":5},"title":"Stories by Author – Dogwood","author":"VCLS","date":"September 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 A Brother is Forever - by Dogwood Summary:\u00a0 Ben's reflections as a brother. Rating:\u00a0 K \u00a0550 words Dash (The) - by Dogwood Summary:\u00a0 The Cartwrights have faced many challenges in their lives.\u00a0 Now they face one that will be with them always. Rated: K \u00a01,075 words Each Day #1\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}