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.
