Yesterday I came across FieldReport.com:
FieldReport lets you record and share the true stories of your life, as publicly or anonymously as you like. Our blind community review process highlights our members’ most intriguing stories, without regard to popularity or clicks. The highest-ranked stories in each of FieldReport’s 20 subject categories win prizes in regular qualifying rounds, and go on to compete for grand prizes–including the world’s largest prize for a single piece of writing and a $25,000 TeenReport scholarship. Membership and entry are free.
That grand prize is a quarter of a million dollars. And, yes, they’re for real.
I’m not sure what to make of this. I think it’s amazing. It also pisses me off. It’s amazing that a group of people are trying to build a site where personal truth counts. It pisses me off that only reality counts as truth. There’s such a bias in this world against fiction. We need fiction, we need story (I’ve written about this before). Reality isn’t enough.
It’s also interesting to ponder whether or not I could/should/would enter something like this.
The most pressing disincentive is that I can’t think of a single Life Lesson (which is what seems to be popular) that I’m burning to impart. Then there’s the faint suspicion that it might be, well, tacky. Most of the entrants are amateurs. I’m not. It would feel a little odd. And then, huh, I probably wouldn’t win. Which would *really* piss me off…
But I know many of you have stories to tell. You might want to consider telling them at FieldReport. You could win some money.
Nicola Griffith 
This is very interesting but alas something I could never do. It took me quite a while to get up the courage to actually comment on your blog. I only did so after reading the comments and seeing that the people who post here are intelligent and thoughtful in their remarks.The sense of community and dialogue is comforting, I know I will probably never meet any of these people but I enjoy the kindness and compassion they display.The idea of a contest to reveal yourself to the world is to me a little sad, it feels similar in tone to reality T.V., a trend I have never understood. It is unfortunate that they are excluding fiction, they are missing out on a lot of possibility and undiscovered talent.
We need fiction. We need storytellers whose POV is inclusive and far more expansive than ‘once upon a time this happened to M-E.’And y’know with that amount of $$ up for grabs writers will be falling all over themselves to render the most extreme experience possible. I’m beginning to feel a little pissed-off myself.
I did a quick scan of the site. It looks pretty interesting to me. Not all the pieces are confessional and exhibitionist. You could write about writing or dogs in the 7th century. It seems easy to win the first level of prizes, which is at $1,000. Posts are pushed up the ranks by reviewers. If twelve of us joined in and reviewed your essay, that would give you $1,000 and put you well on your way towards the next $4,000. I’ll have to get an account and explore the site, but I also have to write and exam in two hours and I still need to shower, make coffee, drink coffee and do the one-hour commute. So more later. Hey, think of it as getting money for a Mac. Don’t shoot for the big prize, just play for curiosity’s sake plus $1,000. You write every day anyway, you may as well cash in. Tacky + Mac = Fun
rory, I’m glad you found the courage to comment. I think community is a blessing wherever we find it.jan, yep, we need story. And I wish this site was open to fiction; perhaps they’ll build a companion site. Wouldn’t that be cool?karina, I wonder how many people already do that? Still, I wouldn’t mind some $$…
Well, as someone who has no moral objection to winning $250,000 for an essay, I took a good look at the rules (grin). You don’t get to choose what essays you review, it’s a random process. The only thing you can do to influence the vote for a particular essay is to do enough random reviews to get enough credit to “nudge” the essay — which only means that it will be given to more people to review (in other words, the review process becomes a little less random).Actually not a bad system. And if I think there’s a chance I can write something awesome by Nov 15, which is basically the deadline in order to get something in the running for the Big Money, I will. Why not? If I can say something genuine and wide-reaching enough to touch a bunch of people, why is that okay to do in fiction but suddenly objectionable in nonfiction form? I don’t get why it’s bad just because the story one tells is one’s own.People like to share stories. People like to see some of their own truths reflected back to them. Whether that is truth in fact, or truth in fiction, seems to me only a degree of difference.
Yeah, I looked at the site more closely when I came back from school that day. So I guess we just have to go crazy on random reviews for now and see how it goes. I’ll save all my nudge points for both of you. Let me know as soon as/if you post something. Cheers!
I don’t think the idea of the contest is objectionable (hope I didn’t imply that). The whole issue for me is trust. For me articulating my feelings and sharing them with others is difficult. Then there is the whole aspect of misinterpretation.I admire people who trust so easily and can convey their thoughts and words so eloquently.
Hey Rory, how are you doing?My comment wasn’t directed at you specifically. And I do understand about the trust issue. There are truths of my own that I would never share in a Field Report context even if I was <>guaranteed<> the $250K. For me, some things are not to be shared in that particular context, under that particular lens of observation…But if I can find one that it, well (grin). But the deadline is looming, and I expect nothing will actually come of it.
Kelley, I/We are doing much better, thank you for asking. Hope you find the time to put something together, prize money would be fun!
I have no moral objections to a quarter of a million dollars, it’s just it would be easier to win it if I didn’t have to Tell My Story–if I could just Tell A Story, y’know? I have personal exposure for its own sake. Writing the memoir was a very careful highwire walk (I left out far more than I put in) and it was very tightly focused, and I didn’t do it for money.But, yeah, if I got overwhelmed by a nifty idea tomorrow, I’d write it down and send it in. Maybe. I think.Rory, glad you’re doing better.
Thank you.