Not Quite Right features discussions that are unfiltered and uncensored,
and may include themes that are inappropriate for younger listeners.
Also, I swear a lot something doesn't seem
quite right.
Welcome to not quite right.
My name's Ed and I'm Amanda and we have a massive announcement to make.
I am so excited for this one.
So as you all know, the October round is the final round of
the anti prompt Yeah, it's a bit sad.
So we've hinted about things to come.
I think you've shared a few little clues there on social media myself.
But this is the point where we get to announce it and reveal it to all of you.
Yes.
And I think there's some people keen to find out what's next in 2026 for the Not
Quite Right prize.
So we're excited to tell you.
But first, let's have a little bit of a moment of
silence for the anti prompt.
Alright, that's long enough.
Yeah, that's totally long enough.
So I guess the first question that we want to address is like, why?
Why are we getting rid of the anti prompt?
So it's been around now for 2 1/2 years for the whole duration of the not quite
right prize.
And I guess like for both of us, we never intended to get rid of the anti
prompt.
It was intended to be like the cornerstone,
I guess of the prize for a while.
Yeah.
And you know, people have questioned, oh, would you run out of ideas?
Hell no.
We've still got a list in arm long of future anti prompt ideas.
So it certainly wasn't about that.
Yeah.
So I guess it comes from a few points of reflection, one of them being,
I guess some of the feedback that we get.
We do read your general feedback on the submission forms.
And look, it's mostly people saying I love the anti
prompt, I love the challenge, but there's also the undercurrent of this
is quite hard.
It's a lot.
Yeah, we understand it's a lot, especially for new people,
especially for people who are new to writing.
And, you know, we publish a lot of articles,
but it's a fair amount of homework for someone as well to come into the comp and
have to read a bunch of articles and understand the rule and then be
proficient enough to to break the rule and also still feel motivated.
Yeah, at that point as well to do it because
it's a lot of homework.
And we're very conscious of that.
Yeah.
I think especially for those who are learning the rule for the first time,
like this isn't just a refresher.
It's like, oh, I've never heard this or I've never
delved into it enough to understand it.
So you're presenting me the rule and then telling me to immediately to break it.
And it's pretty counter intuitive, really.
And for us, you know, you know, that always felt like a creative
challenge.
And I think for most people, that's exactly what it was.
And a lot of people report, like, even if it was giving them a headache
initially, that they were pretty happy with what
they came up with and that it was fun to break the rule.
But ultimately, we're left with that huge chunk of people,
I suppose, for whom the challenge was just too much
of an ask.
Yeah.
And look, we do love that people love the challenge
as well.
And we want to maintain a competition that does also have a challenge aspect to
it.
So that's what we'll do as well going forward.
But the other reason, I guess, for ditching the anti prompt is we really
want to focus on people telling the best story that they can.
And what we found is that sometimes with the anti prompt, you know,
the rules are there for a reason, and by breaking them,
it can affect your story.
So we want to showcase like the absolute best stories that people can write.
And we don't want to force people to break rules in in a way that makes their
story worse, which does happen.
Yeah, it definitely does look having said that,
I have loved the fact that the anti prompt has inspired some of these really
creative takes that probably never would have otherwise happened.
And I think one of my favourites of all time was probably Chad frames unsafe
anything.
And and that felt like such a direct response to the anti prompt that created
something that may not have otherwise existed.
And and for that I'm really, really grateful.
But I think there are other ways of being creative too.
It's not all about breaking the rules.
Yeah, and it is, look, it is bit of suite in that aspect.
We love what it has brought out in people, but we also acknowledge the issues that
it has.
So that's why we're moving to a new format and it is finally time where we
can tell you about it.
Yeah, I think we need a little bit of a drum
roll.
It's a write off.
So that's what we're calling it, a write off.
But it's still the not quite right price.
Yeah.
And a lot of the things that you know and love will stay the same.
But one big thing is changing.
So we were, I guess, feeling a bit jealous because of course,
as you guys know, with all the reading and the work that
goes into running the comp and and putting on the podcast,
we don't have much time to write ourselves anymore.
And we miss that competitive aspect.
We miss competing against each other and so we thought, well,
how can we engineer this so that it's a competition for us as well?
So there's two teams, there's Team Amanda and there's Team Ed,
and one of them is evidently better than the other, of course,
and that's up to the comp to find out.
So you can choose to be either on Team Ed or Team Amanda.
Each team has a separate set of prompts.
So what it boils down to is a choice between two sets of prompts.
But of course we wouldn't keep it quite that simple.
There's still a little bit more to it, but that's the headline.
So you'll be choosing between team meds prompts or Team Amanda's prompts.
And each team has three different prompts.
So there'll be a word prompt, different word for each team,
an action prompt, different action for each team.
And the third prompt is going to be what we call the kicker.
And that allows us to be a little bit creative each round and do something a
little bit different each time.
So it could be anything.
And look, it might be a more classic prompt that
you're used to seeing, like it might be a choice of settings,
for example.
But I'm hoping that, and it's usually something a little bit
different and we've got some fun ideas for the first few rounds of the
competition and what those kicker prompts might be.
The instructions for the kicker prompt will come with each round.
So I don't want to like give too much away,
but an example might be that you need to include a song lyric.
So something just a little bit different like that usually.
But we shall see what the kicker prompt will be each time.
That's the, that's the kind of little Easter egg,
I guess, to keep it fun and different.
So it's not just two completely unrelated sets of prompts.
No, that's right.
Each round will have a theme.
And we're not going to use this theme, but picture this as an example.
The theme is heaven and hell.
2 diametrically opposed perspectives.
That's right.
So say Amanda would be heaven because you're a goody 2 shoes and that's a very
devilish thing of you to say.
And so yeah, my prompts might be the the devilish
demonic prompts, the fun prompts.
So I would want to choose the prompts that would appeal to that side of people
wouldn't like break people's spirits.
Is that what you say?
No, but the fun stuff, you know, the fun stuff that God doesn't like you
to do.
That's the kind of stuff that I would put in my prompts.
I guess you could think of it as like two sides of the same coin and each team will
have its own vibe, right?
Two very different vibes tied to the same central theme.
So like when it comes to the prompts and choosing which prompts you go for,
like you can choose who your favourite one of us is, or you can choose it's me,
or you can choose which set of prompts inspires you from a thematic perspective.
In that example of heaven and hell, maybe you know,
the goodness appeals to you or the OR the evilness appeals to you.
And maybe if you just skip that whole theme thing, like maybe it's just a word,
hmm, in that selection that stands out to you
and triggers something in your mind and takes you down a path that has little to
do with the heaven and hell concept altogether.
That's right.
And it's about inspiration.
Which set of prompts inspires you?
Because it's all about the prompts.
It's how you use them.
We're really open to creative interpretations of the prompts.
So you can take them in whatever direction.
Once you've got them in your pocket, that's it.
It's on you.
So any genre, any style, you can play with the word,
change it into a different word, take the action in an unexpected
direction and you can turn the prompts on their head.
You can turn this whole theme on its head if you want.
We think of this as, you know, when you go to the supermarket and you
buy like a can of beans and there's a picture on it and it says serving
suggestion and the beans are in like a salad.
That doesn't mean you have to put them in the salad, right?
You've got options.
You've got the beans.
The beans are the prompt and you can put them in the salad as the serving
suggestion says, or you can whip them up into a cake.
And that might be a bean cake that might be more challenging,
but if you can pull it off, I think that would go a lot further than
just the bean salad.
And yes, I hope that theme idea is clear, but it will all make sense and it will
click and it will feel amazing when you get the prompts in January.
That was kind of hot, but the price structure is more or less
going to stay the same, right?
We're still going to have the shortlist, still going to have wild cards,
although the wild card selections for Amanda and I will be from our own teams.
Obviously, we want to represent someone from our
team to represent, but the shortlist and the winner could
come from either team.
That's right.
So basically, regardless of which team you choose to
compete for, you will be competing in the same pool of
entries for the same winner, shortlist, longlist.
The entries will be judged together regardless of the prompts chosen,
although of course you're going to have to make sure you've ticked off all three
for your team to be considered eligible.
So what that means is we could have a long list that, let's just say,
hypothetically speaking, is all Team Amanda entrance, right?
It's unlikely.
It's much more likely to be a mix, but it's not going to be an even
representation necessarily.
And the winner will be from one or other of the teams.
So at the moment the prize values are the same.
It's the same winner prize, the same shortlist.
You will still get published in our anthology at the end of the year,
you still get a shiny trophy, pointy trophy,
and at the moment the long list will still be 40 entries.
If we get to a stage where we're receiving a lot more entries to the comp,
we might look at maybe increasing the prize value and increasing the long list
numbers.
But for the time being, with numbers being the way they are,
that's the structure.
So if there are two teams, why are there not two winners?
I may be in Millennial, but this is not everyone gets a trophy,
right?
That's it.
There's one trophy.
Yeah.
So there's still 1 winner and one shortlist.
But at the same time, we will also be judging between ourselves,
the winning team, right?
And that's for me and Ed to compete for, I guess who inspired the best stories
this round and how we will determine that is we will use the same scoring system
that we currently use for the leaderboard.
So for those of you who are familiar with the leaderboard,
if you earn a long listing, you get one point, if you're shortlisted,
you get 2 points, and if you win, you get 3 points.
So we will be adding up the points for both teams to determine who is the
overall winning team, which may or may not be the team that
includes the winner, just depending on who else makes the long
list and short list and so on.
But there's also a little bonus for the winning team.
And so everyone in the winning team who doesn't win a cash prize will go into the
drawer to win a little bonus prize.
That's it, which won't be a cash prize.
It might be some merch, it might be free tickets,
something along those lines.
So we'll make sure it's worth it.
But yeah, just a little bonus for the winning team.
So everyone has a little bit of something to play for,
even if they don't make the long list.
And I think that's kind of cool really.
Because, you know, we get a lot of entrants who are maybe
like they're picking up the pen for the first time in 40 years or they're writing
fiction for the first time since school.
And maybe they don't feel like they're a contender for the cash prizes,
but they want to compete anyway.
So this is something to compete for.
And we hope that incentivizes people to get out there and share your creativity,
even if you don't feel like you're at that advanced.
And so you might question then like, because Amanda and I are competing,
are we just going to pick our own stories to win?
No, absolutely not.
Like I hope we've made it very clear up to now that what we really want is great
stories.
And so while I would love for my team to win each time,
what I'm ultimately looking for is the stories that are most impressive,
the stories that handle their prompts in the most compelling ways.
And so we will be impartial in that regard.
Like once we get to the judging process, it's all about the quality of the story
because honestly, like it represents us.
Like if, if they're not quite right, stories that we publish are the best of
the best.
And so that's what we'll be looking for.
But if that so happens to be my team story, I'm going to rub that in your face.
In your dreams, Amanda.
When it comes time for the long list episode as well,
that's probably going to look a little bit different.
Of course, we'll still cover some of those
interesting topics like our favourite titles and favourite lines and so on,
but there might be a little bit more of a competitive edge to it as well.
I will be showcasing the favourites from my team, right?
Like which are the best takes on the words and most creative take on the
kicker from my side?
Well, I'll be showcasing the best of my team,
the winning team.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to going through all
those stats and seeing who won.
And like, it's on us to come up with the best set
of prompts that inspires the best stories each round.
So like, there's that added level of competition
between you and me, and there's also the extra level of
competition for our entrance about which team you're on.
And like, which team you're on doesn't have to be
set in stone.
You can change it between rounds.
Like January you can be Team Ed, April you can be Team Amanda.
Just choose your favourite prompts.
But I think ultimately, like the first point of strategy is which
set of prompts inspires me the most?
Like, I'm going for that.
Like, which one spoke to me?
Which one made me get excited about writing a story?
And probably more often than not, that's the team you're going to choose.
But there might be some other strategizing that goes on in terms of
trying to aim for that other little bonus prize, too.
So I could anticipate, for example, trying to suss out the team that some
past winners are choosing for that round or other writers that you know are doing
a good job in general and maybe just trying to ride their coattails a little
bit.
That could be an option.
It could be you might also choose your teams based on how you want to compete
with your friends or your writing group, right?
Like either you might want to all compete together as a team,
or you might want to compete against each other using different prompts and see how
that plays out for some people who just have bags of time.
You might write 2 stories and then pick the one you like best.
Like, I think ultimately it's up to you how you
choose your team and how you align yourself for the competition.
What you won't be able to do, though, is compete for both teams.
No, I know some people like to be inspired by
all the prompts in a competition.
In ones where you get choices, they might choose them all and try and
cram them all in.
And you could still do that theoretically.
But ultimately in the form you're gonna have to choose which team you're
competing for.
We want you to pick a side.
We totally want you to pick a side.
Yeah, exactly.
So look, I mean, ultimately, if if you're new here and you've never
competed in the in the prize before or you haven't listened to the podcast
before and you don't know much about us, like you don't need to.
No, it's not about us.
You, you get to choose, much as I might try to make it about us.
You just need to choose one set of prompts.
That's what it comes down to teammate or Teammanda, whichever prompts inspire you.
And look, I'm hoping that this kicker prompt,
much like the anti prompt inspired some, I guess,
different stuff that you might not otherwise see.
I'm I'm sort of hoping that the kicker does that too.
And we should, we'll see as we go along how that plays
out.
And there's one more thing worth mentioning and that is that we have a new
artist in residence.
That's right.
We're very excited to have Nora Tuck as our artist in residence for 2026.
And Nora will be doing the prompt artwork that accompanies the prompts each round.
And Nora will be taking over from Cam Sinclair,
who was doing our artwork for all of 2025.
And I have to say my favourite was The Karate Kid one.
That was, that was great.
That was so they were all great.
They were all great, and I just really want to take this
opportunity to thank Camsen for doing such a beautiful job of those artworks,
but also to welcome Nora onto the team.
And we've already had a little sneak peek of what January's artwork is going to
look like, and it is gorgeous, so we're really looking forward to
sharing that.
But as usual, I guess it's worth noting that's not a
prompt.
So that's just for funsies.
You do not need to feature the artwork or our sort of overarching theme in your
story.
Yeah.
And you'll pick up on that when you get the prompts.
That's it.
So yeah, welcome to Nora, and we look forward to sharing that
artwork with you.
So yeah, that's it.
We, we think this is going to be so much fun
for all of you and also for us each round.
And we really hope that this is going to let everyone's creativity just run free.
And you're unbounded by the anti prompt essentially,
and you can just write what you want.
You're finally free of the shackles, is what we're saying.
So yeah, we, we really hope this is going to inspire
everyone's creativity and just the best stories that you can write.
That's it for us.
Like, I guess the writing comp world has always
just been about fun, right?
And just having that opportunity to, as adults, like, play,
that's what it feels like, right?
And whether you're still telling that dark story or that deeply emotional story,
it's the act of doing that and the fun that comes with doing that.
And that's what we want to promote.
So we look forward to seeing how you take on our first round's worth of prompts.
I think a lot more will become clear then, too,
because I think maybe there's a few things we're being a little bit cagey
about.
But, yeah, once you receive those initial prompts,
you'll see what we mean.
Yeah, We don't want to spill all the beans.
But yeah, look, if you did love the anti prompt and it's
sad to see it go, we're also a bit sad to see it go.
Yeah, it had a it did have a great run and,
as we said, inspired a lot of stories.
And look, that's not to say it's never again on the
anti prompt either.
I mean, it couldn't weasel its way into the
kicker.
It could, but it certainly won't be a central theme
going forward.
Yeah.
But yeah, it is sad.
But it's been good fun and I'm glad we did it.
You know, I'm really glad we did it.
I'm glad all of you guys really embraced it and took it on.
And I hope it's not the end of the rule breaking.
We will.
It's still as long as it doesn't break your story.
Yeah, yeah.
So the new concept, the new write off concept will be kicking
off in the January round of the Not Quite Right prize,
which kicks off on the 24th of January 2026.
Head over to the website, you'll find all the tickets on sale.
We're still offering daredevils, we're still offering coaching packages.
And until the end of the first round, you can also purchase an annual pass
which will give you entry at a discounted rate to all of the rounds in 2026,
all four rounds.
And because we know that the cost of living is a nightmare,
we've kept the price of that the same.
So you'll still be paying the same price for all of 2026.
So we're really keen to hear what you think.
Hopefully we've explained it well enough.
There will be more information on on the website, so check that out.
The rules will be updated, all that kind of thing.
But if you have any questions, any feedback,
just tears up on social media.
And I'm sure Amanda would love to respond to your questions.
Absolutely.
But yeah, get on board everyone.
I can't wait for it.
It's going to be a really fun year, I think.
And so on that note, until the right off, right on, right on.
Thank you for listening to Not Quite Right.
If you'd like to reach us via email or follow us on social media,
you can find all the links on our website, notquiterightpodcast.com.
That's WRITE.
And if you enjoyed the show, we'd love it if you could leave us a five
star review on your favourite podcast on that.
Something doesn't seem quite right.