Tag Archives: inedia

Cool Things To Write About: Inedia

Posted by Pip Hunn on January 7, 2011 Comments Off

As regular readers know, I’m a big fan of giving you lots of writing prompts and triggers. Today, while I was surfing across the Net, I stumbled across something that is so overwhelmingly cool, I couldn’t just tack it onto the List of Cool Things and be done with it. I’ve decided to give it a little write-up. What have I found for us all?

Inedia.
Inedia is, simply, the ability to live without food.

The idea is that certain individuals, through some special power, don’t need to take in food in order to sustain themselves. They keep going from other resources, ostensibly granted by Gods or their own spiritual power.

Such a simple concept. So many awesome ideas spring from it. I’m going to play with a couple, and then issue a challenge. A competition, in fact!

Gettin’ Religious
Inedia spawned as a religious idea. It’s present in lots of different religious families, from Christianity right through Buddhism and on to Shamanism. Apparently, everyone wants a taste (Heh! Get it? Taste! I’m so funny).

And why not? The idea that there can be beings so pure, so uncorrupted by mortal needs of the flesh that they can survive without eating is an amazingly powerful idea.

Think about it. What are the things we absolutely, fundamentally need to survive as humans? Air, water, and food. That’s it. Now, a saint who could survive without needing to breathe would certainly be impressive.

Breatharianism
One of the religious practices I strongly urge you not to try at home, Breatharianism is an even more hardcore Inediaic practise. Breatharians draw their life energy directly from the Sun and air around them, needing neither food nor water. Apart from chlorophyll-blooded plant-men, what other ways could you story-craft breatharianism into a story?

Expanding Inedia
The idea of being able to survive without eating is cool enough. But what if you were able to, as a measure of your holiness, survive without something else necessary for normal humans? Water? Air? Warmth? Now we start to stray into the realms of not just the mystical, but the super-heroic. There is a definite Asian-Epic-Battle-Manga feel to the way this idea’s heading… I can almost see in my mind’s eye wizened monks meditating, not just under waterfalls, but under entire rivers, gleaning the secrets of the Universe from the intricate playings of pond scum and inquisitive turtles.

What would a world be like where the holiest inhabitants were physically set apart from the others?
Could such piety be faked?
What would the limits be?
What about the consequences?
Would Inedia be in constant effect, or would it require preparation, attention, dedication?

If you can live without eating only when you’re perched on a stool praying, then the potential for adventure and mishap is much less than if you can wander about.

Those without
What about those who don’t believe the claims of the Inediaics?
How would they react to such claims?
What tests would they run?
Or are they heretics, having to hide their disbelief from the religious majority?
Could you fake it?
How would it be tested?

Imagine what trouble you could get into in a religiously-dominated society if you accidentally observed a supposedly Inediaic priest chowing down on something in secret….

Competition!
I’m so inspired by the sheer coolness of Inedia that I’m going to try and get you infected, too. Until the 30th of January, 2011, I’m running a writing competition, where you can show me your Inedia-flavoured writing and win a fabulous prize!

Cheers;
Pip

Write-Thing’s Inedia Writing Competition

Posted by Pip Hunn on January 7, 2011 Comments Off

I’m very pleased to announce a writing competition and give-away, open to everyone!

After a bountiful Christmas, I’ve been left with several duplicates of some rather excellent books. I’ll naturally be passing those on to my awesome readers, but I’ve decided to make this exercise a little more interesting. Don’t worry if you’re not in a creative mood, there will be lots more books given away this year, so make sure you subscribe to Write-Thing or come and check back in often.

The Inspiration
As posted here, I have recently become enamoured with the idea of Inedia. Click on through to the article to read all about it. I find the concept fascinating as a launching board for ideas.

The Idea
Write-Thing has always been imagined as a website devoted to all aspects of the writerly craft. Reviews, articles, inspiration… So why not stories and submissions?

It makes perfect sense to me. I’m not in the financial position to be able to award fabulous monetary prizes – as you can see, I don’t run any advertising on the site – but Write-Thing gets a reasonable amount of traffic. If your story is published on the site, then you can be confident at least a few thousand people will read it. I will also provide some feedback on the story, either privately or publicly, and you’ll probably get some encouragement from other writers visiting the site as well. We’re a friendly lot!

Hence, what I’m going to do is run a small writing competition. The winner, as judged by me, will receive in the mail the fabulous prize I have picked out!

The Prize
The prize for this competition is one copy each of Gail Carriger’s Soulless and Changeless, the first two books in her Parasol Protectorate series. The books are both fantastic and I endorse them heartily to anyone who’s in the mood for a good, light-hearted adventurous read.

The Rules
You must submit a short piece of fiction to Write Thing by no later than 30th January, 2011.

The writing can be in any style, poetry or prose, to a maximum length of 2,000 words.

You must make some use of the theme of Inedia or a variant thereof. The Wikipedia article is here. My recent post where I brainstorm some ideas (feel free to use any or come up with your own!) is here. The story doesn’t have to be centred around it, but the connection or reference needs to be clear to me, the judge.

I will announce a winner and publish their submission on the 7th of February. All rights will remain with the author, so if you want to re-use your story somewhere else later, you are welcome to do so.

The competition is open to everyone, everywhere. If you are under 18, please let me know in you submission so I can take your age into consideration when judging.

Submissions
Submissions can be made by emailing editor at write-thing dot com. You can either attach the story as a document or by including it in the body of your text. Please put the word “INEDIA” in the subject line so it will get through to me properly.

Good Luck!
I hope you draw some inspiration and decide to enter. Good luck!

Cheers;
Pip