>> You've tuned into Hub Talk, a podcast about teaching, learning, and technology. [ Music ] >> This is Colin Stapp with Hub Talk and I'm with Stephanie Lenox from the Chemeketa Press, and Stephanie is here today to talk to us about the 50/50 Project. Stephanie, can you tell us what the 50/50 Project is? >> The 50/50 Project is a writing contest in honor of the college's 50th anniversary, and Chemeketa Press and the Courier, which is our newspaper here, are partnering to create a printed volume that collects 50 stories that are 50 words long, that's where we get the title "50/50," that capture the essence of what it's like to be here at Chemeketa. So we're reaching out to community members, to students past and present, faculty members past and present, staff members past and present, and we want the most diverse range of stories to represent what it's like to be here at the college. So if you're interested in participating in this project, we are accepting submissions through January 15th, 2020. You can go to the Press's website, which is www.chemeketapress.org, and look for our blog, which is proposal -- the 50/50 Project, and it'll have more information with a link to the entry form, and we're looking for 50-word stories, not 49, not 51, exactly 50 words on the nose, and we know you can do it. It's a good challenge and we want to see how you can make the most out of that word count just like you've made the most of your time here at Chemeketa. >> Well, that sounds really cool. So you're going to collect 50 stories, so the odds have just increased because there's greater chance of having your 50 words produced. How did this come about, this whole project idea come about? >> Well, I was sitting around thinking about what would be a fun thing for the press to do to celebrate the college's 50th anniversary and I happen to have a soft spot for flash fiction and flash non-fiction. Those are stories that are typically under 150 words, 250 words, and I thought: What if we opened a writing contest that is just 50 words? It seems like a really accessible contest that would open the doors to a lot of different people, not just people who consider themselves to be writers, but people who've always wanted to see if they could write a story. Fifty words, I think just about anyone can do it and I hope that we'll get a variety of submissions from people, both who have been here before and who are here right now. >> So is this collection going to be broken up into so many different student, faculty, staff entries, or how are you going to determine that? >> Well, that's an interesting question. We don't know how it's going to be organized and we won't know until we receive the submissions. We do have an editorial staff of students who will be working during winter processing the entries and deciding how they're going to be presented in print form. And another exciting part is that we have visual communications students who are going to be designing the interior and the cover of the book, so it'll be an almost an entirely student-driven project. So it's a fun way to bring together faculty, staff, and students to create a gift, essentially, for the college. >> Sounds pretty exciting. It's kind of got me thinking about: Wonder if I could write 50 words. I've been here 10 years, so I think, you know, I could come up with some anecdotes about my experiences. So this is a student-led project and this is going to be a printed piece when it's all done, so it would be really cool to maybe have some of those authors record their stories so you could do podcasts on your website. >> I like that idea. >> Yeah, since you're listening to a podcast now, as you're writing your 50 words, think about how it might sound on the air. >> And as a writer myself, I know that reading out loud as you're composing a work is one of the best ways to make sure you're finding the best words in the best order, so I definitely recommend maybe even recording the story on your phone to see how it sounds before you send it in. >> Yeah, that's a great idea. Wow, so there's a lot of great creativity that could happen. >> Oh, yeah. >> So you're partnering with the Courier, the school newspaper. You're partnering with visual communications for layout and design and have a student editorial group working on this. >> Yeah. >> This sounds like a really fun, exciting project. So tell us again when the deadline is to get entries in. >> The deadline is January 15th, 2020. The entry form is on Chemeketa Press's website, which is www.chemeketapress.org. Just look for our blog and you'll find the guidelines there. >> As we're thinking about this, Stephanie, can you give us -- give our listeners some pointers or ideas of what would make a good 50-word story? >> Sure, happy to. One of the first things you'll want to do is identify a situation or an experience that represents an important moment of your life at the college. So you want to narrow your focus. You're not going to be able to tell us about your 30 years of working for the college. You're not going to be able to tell us about the two years you spent in classes, so you'll have to find that singular moment that best captures your experience here. So that's number one. Number two, this is a trick that I think a lot of writers may overlook. You can use the title to set the scene to convey some important background. That does not count against your 50-word total, so that's like a freebie. >> Nice. >> Yeah. You can save words by using simple present tense like "I went to class every day" or "I go to class every day." That saves you one word over a more complex verb tense like "I was going to class every day." Every word counts, so you want to think about using specific words that are visual and that are active instead of general. So an example that I have is "I was walking one day on campus." That's seven words. But if you try something like "Last spring I raced across campus," that's six words. It's more active. It's more precise. You can see what's happening right away. My other tip is to start in the middle of things. When you have 50 words, you won't be able to give all the background, and this is an ancient piece of advice by literary critic Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, so just dive right into the middle of a moment and that's where you'll find your story. And then finally, the last piece of advice is: Leave some things unsaid. Don't try to explain everything. Let your reader guess a little bit about what's important about that moment. Sometimes less is more. >> Okay, those are great tips. Thank you for sharing those, and thank you for the insider information about using the title, that freebie. Those are all good ideas. Okay, for more information, check out www.chemeketapress.org and look for the 50/50 Project on their blog, and entries are due by January 15th. Thanks, and tune in for another episode of Hub Talk. >> Hub Talk is produced by the Center for Academic Innovation at Chemeketa Community College. Visit our website, facultyhub.chemeketa.edu, to find helpful resources about teaching, learning, and technology integration along with video tutorials and more podcast episodes just like this one. [ Music ]