Welp, it's getting near the end of the year, and what better way to get people ready for the next than a spanking new edition of The Ultimate Writer's Challenge!

Now, for those still interested in finishing last year's set, me posting this one doesn't mean that one's abandoned. Rather, I wanted this one up early enough to give people time to get challenges done ahead of time, if they wanted to.

Now, with that comes a few notes.

The 2012 edition of my Ultimate Writer's Challenge is going to change the rules a bit. For one, I'm completely abandoning the idea of having the weekly challenges be done in order. Instead, this year the challenge is simply to try and make it through them all. Do any of them in any order. Wanna tackle the serial challenges from end to beginning? Be my guest, it's all up to you! The monthly challenges are still to be done by month, if possible, but other than that simply making it through the weekly challenges is enough to qualify.

As for the second note, I'm changing my requirements for meeting "prize" status, since to date nobody has qualified for last year's as far as I know. This time around, the goal is simple: if someone manages to complete all 64 core challenges before January 1, 2013 (or the world ends, whichever comes first,) then I will purchase them a one year BigCloset Premium subscription. The prize only goes to the first person to do it, so if anyone's interested in getting it get cracking! Otherwise, just enjoy trying to complete as many challenges as possible! The year-long challenge is the only one not required, though there's a special bonus if they get it as well!

Also, our fantastic Lady Erin was kind enough to give me a list of suggestions for possible challenges. I have made use of a couple of these in compiling my list, all of which are noted. An apology to the others who sent me challenge ideas -- I looked through my PM's, but I couldn't find them! I know there were more there, though! *sigh*

So, without further adieu, here is Melanie Ezell's Ultimate Writer's Challenge 2012!

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***Weekly Challenges:***

NOTE: These challenges officially start on January 1, 2012. Entries provided before then will still be accepted, however, and entries into the 2011 challenge will continue to be accepted through March 1, 2012.

1. Hereditary Traits
Idea: Write a story about a character whose resemblance to a relative is a centerpoint of their gender transformation.
Length: 1000 words or more
Limitations: Have fun with the idea. Perhaps your character is the third cousin twice removed of a famous actress? Or the sibling of a popular musician? Maybe they are simply confused for their relative by their friends. The possibilities are numerous.

2. Mute
Idea: Write an entire story without dialogue or internal monologue.
Length: 1500 words or less.
Limitations: Due to the goal of the challenge, viewpoint should be limited to third-person. This is meant to be an exercise in setting a scene or mood without relying on a character's input into their surroundings, as well as developing your own writing voice, so try to keep even comments concerning the character's interpretation of what is around them to a minimum.

3. This Space Intentionally Left Blank Again
Idea: Any
Length: Any
Limitations: None

4. A Switch In Time
Idea: Write a story that involves time travel.
Length: Any
Limitations: Explore what it means to be a TG individual from one time facing the prejudices or views of another. Your character's gender status does not necessarily have to be linked directly with their time travelling ability, but it should affect their interactions and perceptions of any time they visit.

5. The Lady And The Tiger
Idea: Write a compelling story where the ending is left up to the reader's imagination.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: Those who are familiar with the short story "The Lady And The Tiger" should have no problems with understanding the goal of this exercise. For those who have not read it, focus on the main character's internal struggle as to what choices to make concerning the issue at hand, but leave the end result of their decision open for interpretation. One point of stories such as this is to gauge the personalities of readers, to try and drive them to think about the story from different viewpoints. Angela Rasch's original version of "My Cherie Amour" is an excellent example of this.

6. Bad Boy To Good Girl
Idea: Write a story along the lines of the typical "bad boy to good girl" transformation.
Length: Any
Limitations: If you have never read a "Bad Boy to Good Girl" transformation story, there are plenty of them available. Look through a few and get a grasp of what the general concept is -- usually a boy with less than stellar attitudes becoming a well-adjusted girl.

7. The Long And Lonely Road
Idea: Write a story with only one character.
Length: 1500 words or less.
Limitations: There can only be one person present in your entire narrative. No random strangers they bump into, nobody to talk to, not even any reference to another person alive in the world more detailed than inclusion in a crowd. Think about your character's emotions and what reasons they are alone, and try to convey these without direct reference to another character.

8. The Witching Hour
Idea: Many cultures have held that there is something magical about the hour of midnight. Write a magical transformation story based around this concept.
Length: 500 words or more.
Limitations: The catalyst for the transformation must be magical, and have some connection to "the witching hour." Perhaps the main character made a wish at the right time, or wandered through a crossroads, or helped an old lady, or any other reason.

9. Set Phasers To Stunning
Idea: Experimental weaponry can be a pain to work with, especially when their functions are poorly documented. Write a story wherein a new form of nonlethal military technology has some unexpected side effects.
Length: 1500 words or less.
Limitations: The transformation must somehow be based on the effect of military technology. Maybe they have developed a new form of armor that automatically forms to fit its wearer, but there is a malfunction in the suit? Or a group of soldiers lacking morals take advantage of a new type of riot control gas grenade that makes the affected persons susceptible to suggestion? Or take it the way it is described, with the "stunning" setting of a new weapon making its subject exactly that.

10. Five, Seven, Five
Idea: Write a story entirely in haiku.
Length: No more than twenty stanzas.
Limitations: A Haiku is a poem made up of three lines, the first and last being five syllables long, the middle being seven. Look not only at the limitations of the format when writing your story, but also consider the elements of lyrical flow as you write.

11. Wrong Turn
Idea: Write a story in which the main character's loss of direction serves as the catalyst for the story.
Length: 2500 words or less.
Limitations: The character can be any element of the TG spectrum, and their loss of direction does not have to be directly connected to their gender status. The outcome, however, is that they end up in a situation where their gender presentation drastically affects their ability to handle the events unfolding around them. Does their presentation as male or female make things harder on them, or easier? How do they feel?

12. The Serial: Part One
Idea: Write a multipart story. This is the first part of five.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: Story subject and genre can be any that you may choose. Keep in mind that the story will be five separate parts when you work out your idea, and plan ahead for future installments. Do you end on a cliffhanger, or a sigh? Think about how to keep your readers interested.

13. Help!
Idea: A friend is in desperate need! Write a story where the main character's transformation is for the purposes of helping another.
Length: 500 words or more.
Limitations: The character is doing this to help someone, of their own volition. As such, no forced femme. How are people's reactions different toward the character depending on whether they know the reasons for the character's transformation? What are the character's feelings about doing what they are?

14. Instant Legend
Idea: Fifteen minutes of fame, or a brief lapse of judgement? Regardless, thanks to your character's actions they are now resigned to a gender transformation, and the entire world is watching.
Length: Any
Limitations: The character has agreed to the change, and everything is above board. On the other hand, given the situation, it is likely that there are circumstances surrounding the character's gender status that the common follower of the story will be unaware of. Are they doing it for money? Fame? Desire? Love? How do these reasons, as well as the publicity surrounding their change, affect their transformation?

15. 1001 More Arabian Nights
Idea: Take any of the classic tales from Arabian Nights and rewrite it as a TG story.
Length: Based on the chosen story.
Limitations: This can either be a straight-forward rewrite, featuring the same time period and all, but with a TG twist, or a modern retelling of the story. While such stories as Aladdin and the Magic Lamp might be the most popular of the tales, some of the less often used ones might make for the most interesting and customizable stories. The tale of the seven brothers, for instance, or the journeys of Sinbad?

16. Fright Night
Idea: A night of terror can leave anyone questioning who they are. Write a story in which the main character must deal with a terrifying or dangerous situation.
Length: 2500 words or less.
Limitations: The story takes place over one night, and can have any kind of sub-theme you might want -- supernatural, thriller, slasher, etcetera. Rather than concentrating on typical horror, however, try and aim for a story that specifically targets those fears and paranoia common or even unique to TG individuals, and how the main character copes with them... or doesn't.

17. The Serial: Part Two
Idea: This is the second part of the story started in The Serial: Part One.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: For the most part the same as The Serial: Part One. How do you recapture your reader's attention without breaking story flow for those who continue on directly from the first part? Is each part of the story largely self contained, or are they simply sections of a larger story broken up? Character growth and development are important aspects of this part, so try to make sure your readers can connect to your protagonist.

18. Yet Another Space Intentionally Left Blank
Idea: Any
Length: Any
Limitations: None

19. LAAURAAAA JENKINNNNSSS
Idea: MMOs are incredibly popular games, that allow people to live lives in a fantasy realm as almost any character they can imagine. Sometimes, these characters can even be a reflection of who that person is that they might not let out in their daily life.
Length: Any
Limitations: the story has to concern a character who plays an MMO as a character of the opposite sex. Explore their reasons for doing this, how their actions might differ between the character and how they behave on a daily basis, and how this reflects on who they are.

20. Summer Shorts
Idea: Write a short story with a warm-weather theme.
Length: 500 words or less.
Limitations: None beyond those laid out above. So long as the weather is warm, let the writing begin!

21. Don't Open The Closet!
Idea: The radiation from a strange comet passing through Earth's atmosphere has had a most unusual effect on many of the clothes on the face of the Earth: they hunger... to be worn!
Length: 250 words or more.
Limitations: The strangest thing about the possessed clothes is that regardless of the shape of the person, if they can squeeze on then they can compress that person's body to their desired shape. The person retains their freedom of movement, though, and nothing happens to their face, though there have been limited reports of possessed makeup and hair care products as well...

22. The Serial: Part Three
Idea: Part three of the story started in The Serial: Part One.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: At this point in your story, you should be reaching the middle of the action. Plot development is key, as is laying the foundations for the story's culmination. Try creating tension by giving the story a false climax, or throwing in a new curve the characters might not expect.

23. No More Mr. Nice Guy
Idea: Enough is enough! Tired of being walked on and doing things the way other people tell them to, your character has decided to live their life for nobody else. They will do what they need to be happy, and damn the consequences!
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: Though it is not implicitly stated by the idea, try to keep your character's actions from causing harm to others unless they do face the consequences. The goal here is to write a kind of "coming of age" story without the age restrictions, of a person going on a journey of self discovery and coming out better for it all.

24. Forbidden Romance
Idea: What lengths would you go to to be with the one you loved?
Length: Any
Limitations: The story must have a non-romantic romantic theme, driven by the character's desire to be with another at any cost. Given that, this is also meant to be a darker challenge. Would your character sacrifice the very essence of who they are to be with their desired one? Are their feelings truly love, or are they driven to madness by lust? Are their feelings reciprocated, and if not, is it their desired's cruel intentions that drive their change?

25. Always Read The Instructions
Idea: Instruction manuals are included with objects for a reason! what happens when a character ignores the instructions for a fantastic new gadget?
Length: 1000 words or less.
Limitations: The character's change must be caused by their use of the object. This is a Science Fiction story, so have fun with the science and exactly what the object is. Anything is possible!

26. Action Girl
Idea: Action movies are largely a male-dominated industry in Hollywood. But how does the public react when everyone's favorite action hero comes out as wanting to be a heroine?
Length: Around 10,000 words
Limitations: What trials would a big-time "he-man" action star face coming out as either a transsexual or a crossdresser? Focus on a mixture of presentation in films past and present and how their career and publicity might be affected by their coming out.

27. The Serial: Part Four
Idea: Part four of the continuing Challenge series.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: The characters are established, the story is well under way, and things are beginning to approach their resolution. Start providing a buildup toward the story's final climax, perhaps even end the part on a cliffhanger. Opportunities for character advancement and adding plot points are largely gone, so focus on preparations to wrap up any hanging threads in the next part.

28. Intergalactic
Idea: Write a TG story from the viewpoint of a non-human race on another planet.
Length: Any
Limitations: This challenge can be taken as seriously or as humorously as you wish. Explore the differences that an alien culture would make for such an individual who questions or pushes the boundaries of their cultural definitions of gender and sexuality. Perhaps the culture is largely nongendered, yet the character identifies as a single one? The possibilities are as infinite as the stars themselves.

29. The Purge
Idea: Purging is something that most transgender individuals have done at one time or another. Tell a story from the viewpoint of a character undergoing this event, and how it affects them.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: How does purging affect the character emotionally? Do they see it as a relief, or as more of a burden upon themselves? What are their reasons behind doing it, and can they even go through with it?

30. Working Girl
Idea: A masculine career should be no deterrent to a determined woman.
Length: 1500 words or less
Limitations: What would it be like for a transgendered woman in a career that is not only male-dominated, but often considered an almost man-only affair? Lumberjack, alligator hunting, taxidermy, have fun picking a wild and crazy career, and exploring how such a woman would handle both the social repurcussions of persuing that career and her transition at the same time.

31. So It Begins...
Idea: "What the hell!" Tony screeched as the machine before him erupted in smoke, filling the room with the acrid stench of burnt wiring. "Now what can I do?"
Length: 500 words or more
Limitations: The phrase above is the first paragraph of your story. The rest is up to you! Was it a time machine, a washing machine, or a computer he was playing a game on? Is the machine important to the overall story, or simply part of establishing the character? Be creative!

32. The Serial: The Final Part
Idea: The fifth and final part of the Challenge serial.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: Being the final part, this is the time for the resolution of any plot threads that have not yet been taken care of. Think about your characters and how the events of the story to date have affected them, and consider this when writing the finale of your serial. Try to bring the story to a satisfying climax, or a satisfying closure to the climax begun in the fourth part.

33. Riddle Me This
Idea: Write a TG riddle.
Length: 500 words or less
Limitations: The riddle must have a TG theme in some way, and must be solvable. The TG theme could be present in the wording of the riddle through a play on words or the metaphor used, or in the answer to the riddle itself. The answer must be logical as well.

34. I Heart Karen Kane
Idea: Write a story with the title "I Heart Karen Kane." Take whatever tact you want with the story, so long as the title fits.
Length: 15,000 words or less

35. I Will Make You Hurt
Idea: Write a story from the viewpoint of the family of a transgendered individual who has been hospitalized.
Length: 2500 words or less
Limitations: The hospitalization can be for most any reason related to being TG -- breast augmentation, SRS, or even, for darker stories, being beaten for being who they are. How does their hospitalization affect the family, and their views of the individual involved?

36. In The Army Now
Idea: Your character is a member of (insert country here)'s military forces. How does their TG nature affect their ability to serve?
Length: 5000 words or less

37. Androgeny
Idea: Write a story about a character who is more than happy to straddle the lines between genders, conforming to neither a male nor female outlook or presentation.
Length: 1500 words or less
Limitations: The character's true gender, or sex, are neither important for this story, and reference to either should be avoided if at all possible. What is important is their willingness to forego fitting in to either the male or female molds that society sets, being their own person who is a little of each.

38. Sons Of Toil
Idea: Write a story taking place in a rural setting.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: Explore the particular difficulties that would be associated with a life outside city limits for an individual who does not conform to society's ideas of standard gender presentation. Consider the possibilities of how the rural outlook can differentiate from that of larger cities in both positive and negative ways, and how lack of easy access to certain resources can affect the transgendered individual.

39. A Groundbreaking Discovery
Idea: Archaeologists excavating an ancient city have found something that changes mankind's view of how sexuality and gender were faced in the ancient world. What could this discovery be?
Length: 1000 words or less
Limitations: Keep things grounded in realism as much as possible. Perhaps the discovery is of two men buried together in a ceremonial burial usually reserved for husband and wife? Or the mummified corpse of a great historical figure that turns out to be a woman? Discoveries such as these have been made.

40. Fortune Favors The Bold
Idea: Exploration! Adventure! Action! Sometimes, when something is important to you, you just have to go out and make it happen.
Length: 500 words or more
Limitations: The story needs to be as dynamic as possible. Perhaps you use a magical transformation method based on locating hidden objects around the world, or someone who simply chooses one day to live their life their way, and adventure ensues. However it goes, integrate the TG aspect of the story into an adventure-filled plotline.

41. Broken Promises
Idea: Write a story from the viewpoint of a child or lover who feels betrayed by the TG individual in the story.
Length: 1500 words or less
Limitations: While it might be painful, consider how someone who looks up to or loves an individual who admits to being TS/CD/other might feel if presented with this information when they are not ready. How do they cope with these feelings? How do these feelings affect their relationship with the TG individual, and how do they feel about this?

42. Losing My Religion
Idea: Write a monologue from the viewpoint of a TG individual trying to reconcile their religious beliefs and views and their feelings on who they are.
Length: 5000 words or less
Limitations: Think of this more as an essay than a story. Perhaps you will write it from the viewpoint of a Christian, or a Muslim, or Hindu, or Jainist. The religion itself is less important than the goal of the individual to find a happy balance between that religion and their personal goals. Does this mean a changing of what their religion means to them? Or is it less of an issue than they had thought?

43. Queen of the Damned
Idea: Satan is a crossdresser. Discuss. (Idea provided by our own wonderful Erin Halfelven.)
Length: 500 words or more

44. Decathlon
Idea: Big Closet features a number of tags that can be added to stories to help readers know what they're getting into. Write a story that utilizes, and falls into, precisely ten of these.
Length: Any
Limitations: Precisely ten tags are needed on the story. Note that this tag limit does not include the author's name, poster's name, or 'contributed by author' tags. The story should make as much use of the included tags as possible, or they should effect the story's content in some way. For example, simply stating your character's age to make use of the age tag is not enough -- that age should have an effect on the story's proceedings to be relevant.

45. 48 Hours
Idea: The news is grim. Your character has been informed that they only have two days left alive. What actions do they take with what time they have left?
Length: 15000 words or less
Limitations: Forty-eight hours. Two days. That's not a lot of time. How does the character deal with having to break the news to those around them? Do they use that time to make their own life better, or to better the life of another?

46. The Perfect Job
Idea: Tony has been offered the job of his dreams, but a mistake on his application could lead to him losing it before he even begins. Unless he's willing to make a change, that is...
Length: Any
Limitations: Any changes the main character makes should be of their own choosing. How far will he go to have his perfect job? What changes must be made? What mistake was made to begin with? The choices, and ending, are yours to decide.

47. Future Tense
Idea: Set a TG story in a dystopian future. (Idea provided by our own wonderful Erin Halfelven.)
Length: Any
Limitations: Is the future wrecked by nuclear war? Is it a new age of swords and sorcery? Are we all controlled by weird tentacle-covered aliens? Whatever has happened, it is at least 50 years in the future, and things are looking grim for humanity. How does a gender-variant individual deal with such a situation?

48. Me, Android
Idea: A genderless android explores human sexuality. (Idea provided by our own wonderful Erin Halfelven.)
Length: 5000 words or less
Limitations: Rather than a story, explore the idea of a scientific paper or thesis written from the viewpoint of an individual on the outside of the gender and sexuality spectrum. How does this affect their views of human behavior, and what do their observances say about us?

49. The Me You See
Idea: What would you do if your best friend told you they were in love with you? Now, what if they told you there was a catch?
Length: Any
Limitations: Sometimes people have a hard time matching how they view themselves with how the world around them sees them. Explore what happens when this difference is made evident to them by one of the most important people in their world. Do they take it well? Are they offended? How does their reaction reflect on not only themselves, but the other person involved?

50. Bravery
Idea: Write a story about a TG individual who gives up everything for the sake of another.
Length: 5000 words or less
Limitations: "Everything" is a very subjective word. Are they giving up their life to save a person from a burning building? Are they giving up their home to pay another's hospital bills? Or are they, perhaps, simply giving up their preferred gender to ease the life of a loved one? How does their choice reflect on who they are, and are those around them aware of the sacrifice?

51. The Worst Betrayal
Idea: Your secret is out, at the hand of the person you trusted most in the world. Now what do you do?
Length: Any
Limitations: A story of redemption, or a story of pain? Was the betrayal intentional, or a slip of the tongue? Explore how having one's dirty laundry aired in public can be either liberating, or detrimental. The choices are yours.

52. The Last Hurrah
Idea: Pick any one challenge from those presented here, or from last year's list, and write another story from it.
Length: Any

***By Month:***

NOTE: These challenges officially start on January 1, 2012. Unlike the weekly challenges, monthly challenges will not be considered 'valid' for completion of the challenge if they are posted more than a week prior to or after the month they are for. Note that this means the November and December challenges need to be for NEXT year, not this one. Since all this only really matters if you're aiming for the subscriptions, though, write away!

January: The Resolution
Idea: Sometimes keeping a New Year's resolution can lead to bigger changes in one's life than one could ever imagine.
Length: Any
Limitations: The story starts on, shortly before, or shortly after, the celebration of the new year, with the catalyst for the character's change being somehow related to their new year's resolution -- or their resolution somehow related to their change.

February: The Bard's Tale
Idea: Take one of the great works of Shakespeare and write a TG story based upon it.
Length: 20000 words or less.
Limitations: An experienced reader of Shakespeare should be able to see the influence of the chosen work on your story with little to no trouble. The resulting story can be as true to the original or as modified as you wish, so long as the original work is, as stated, recognizable if someone knows what to look for.

March: Not ANOTHER Cheerleading Story!
Idea: The concept is simple: through some strange turn of circumstance, your main character is now a member of their school's cheerleading team as the opposite gender. What adventures await them?
Length: 1000 words or more.
Limitations: This is a crossdressing story at heart, so no magical or sci-fi transformations. Play up the difference between how they represent themselves outside of cheering and who they are when performing. Do they dress as their "cheer gender" full-time, or do they switch back and forth? Perhaps even take the untrodden path, with a female character who has to perform as a male to balance the numbers, or some other explanation. As always, have fun with it!

April: One Perfect Day
Idea: What many of us wouldn't give for that one day, that precious day, when everything goes right. For some, that day can even become a reality.
Length: 5000 words or less.
Limitations: The entire story must take place in the span of 24 hours of time. Aim for a story of the sweet/sentimental or other positive genres -- after all, its the one perfect day! Explore what it means to the main character, and why the day is perfect for them. Do they accomplish some long-term goal that validates them as a person? Do they find true love? What makes this day so special?

May: The Allergy
Idea: Science is a wonderful thing, is it not? Well, the small town of Fountain Springs might not agree with that. When a local scientist's experiments with plant genetics accidentally result in the spread of a new weed, the town's residents soon learn that the plant's pollen has some... unusual side effects, for those allergic to it.
Length: 2000 words or more.
Limitations: What exactly the plant is, how the allergy works, and so on, are up to the writer's imagination. If you truly want to make your story shine, though, consider finding one or two other authors to share origins with, perhaps even exploring the interaction of two characters involved with one another whose allergies result in swapping places, so to speak. Examine the effects on the town of what your particular version of the Allergy does, and how the rest of the country potentially reacts.

June: School's Out!
Idea: Write a story about a elementary/middle/high school/college age student on summer vacation, and what events conspire to give them a summer they are never likely to forget.
Length: Any
Limitations: No limitations other than the requirements already listed. Given the time of year, though, try to keep things fun and lighthearted. After all, it's summer vacation! Students are supposed to have a blast, so make sure that your character does as well.

July: Handsome Stu
Idea: Stu Whittaker is a ladies' man and a player. Over the last five years, he has broken the hearts of countless girls, all without the slightest hint of remorse. Now, those girls want revenge. The player is about to be played.
Length: 5000 words or more
Limitations: This story can play out any number of ways. Do the girls trick Stu into experiencing a taste of his own medicine, or do they set him up with a date specifically chosen to resist his charms? Any number of plots, transformation types, and stories is possible, so explore the range of possibilities. Who knows? Maybe Stu isn't such a bad guy at heart, and just needs a little help? Anything is possible.

August: Journey To Etmeria
Idea: Throughout literature there are countless works that reference magical lands, accessible from our own yet distinctly different. What if these tales were based on reality?
Length: Any
Limitations: Etmeria is a world of wonder, where the thoughts and imagination of all those present within help to shape reality. What happens when your character happens upon an access to this land? Try to avoid forced femme elements for this tale, instead exploring how the individual's change might be related to the world around them, and affect their view of it. References to other stories with similar locations -- Wonderland, Oz, Narnia -- are encouraged, all the better if they can be seamlessly combined.

September: A Rose By Any Other Name
Idea: Rose Dawson has a secret that's about to come out, and when it does, it could change her world forever.
Length: 5000 words or more.
Limitations: The story can be written any way you choose, with the requirements that the main TG character's female name be Rose Dawson, and through some means in the story she is outed. Is she still living as a man, and outed due to a facebook page for her female self? Or has she been transitioned for many years, and a stroke of bad luck brings the knowledge out?

October: Inception
Idea: The only ones who know the name of the organization are those who are already members. The only ones who know the organization exists are those who are trusted not to tell. The only way to get in is to be a woman. No exceptions. Write a story from the viewpoint of an individual being considered for induction into a powerful secret organization, so long as they are willing to make one change to do so.
Length: Any
Limitations: The organization can be nearly anything -- a secret sorority of great doctors, a league of assassins, a cult of witches, the choices are endless. The main character of the story is, for whatever reasons, not only considered trustworthy enough to be allowed to know of the organization, but be considered for membership despite not meeting all requirements. Is joining worth changing to meet those requirements? Or are their plans for meeting those requirements already under way?

November: Cornucopia
Idea: Sometimes one person's story is not enough to tell the whole tale. Write a collection of five stories with a TG theme that are connected in some way. Are the characters siblings? Friends? Have they just met on the subway and are telling their stories?
Length: Each story should be no more than 5000 words
Limitations: Try to keep the stories as varied as possible. Perhaps one person was forced into changing gender/sex, while another wished their entire life to change, and another is doing it out of a desire to simply be different. Each person is an individual, and that should be expressed through their stories.

December: Christmas Stockings
Idea: Stocking stuffers are a long-standing tradition of the Christmas holiday. How does our story's protagonist respond when what their stocking is stuffed with tells more about them than they have ever admitted to anyone?
Length: 10000 words or less
Limitations: A Christmas story should always have a feel-good ending, and this story is no exception. Whatever reasons for their stocking stuffers being what they are -- makeup, actual stockings, or for a FtM character, perhaps even baseball cards -- the end result should be positive for them. 'Tis the season for good tidings, after all!

***Year Long Challenge:***

It Takes Two!
Idea: Collaborate with another author on the site and write a novel-length story.
Length: 40000 words or more.
Limitations: Any subject, any genre, any time, anywhere. The point of this particular exercise is to bring the author community together, sharing ideas and knowledge. Pick someone who likes what you like, and bounce work off one another for the best story possible in your chosen genre. Or, for a real challenge, pick someone whose style and tastes are different than your own, and work with them to meld both your preferences into a story that bridges and defies the genres and conventions of the site!

BONUS! If the person who manages to complete all 64 challenges ALSO completes the year long challenge, then I will also buy their partner in crime a three month premium membership of their own!

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Welp, that's it for the next Ultimate Writer's Challenge!

Now, for the REAL fun part. If I'm gonna have a list like this ready for 2013, I really need to start on it like NOW. So, here's what I need. Anyone with an interesting challenge idea, or who just wants to leave comments on the ideas already out there, can send me a PM. For ideas for the next challenge, title them "UWC 2013," or for comments/criticisms on the challenges offered for either 2011 or 2012 title them "UWC Q+A."

This makes 130 story ideas I've put up now (well, being generous considering the blank dates and such...) plus all the stories I'm writing myself. I'm running a bit low on additional ideas at the moment, to say the least. So, lemme know what you want! Even if it's just a challenge repeat request (I'm considering running another Henry Harrelson challenge in '13, for instance) it's sure to help me make the next set of challenges the best one yet!

Melanie E.