EA - Rational Animations' Script Writing Contest by Writer

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Rational Animations' Script Writing Contest, published by Writer on September 15, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Introduction I'm announcing a script writing contest for the Rational Animations YouTube channel. Write scripts of 2500 words maximum about a topic of longtermist relevance, and win: 5000 USD. We will make an animated video based on your script to be published on the YouTube channel with due credits. It will be animated by a team of 9 animators or an animation studio and will be of much higher quality than anything we've done so far. A potential job offer as a scriptwriter for the channel. Bonus: you may suggest other people's already written work. If we bring your suggestion to the channel as it is (without having to adapt it), you will get $500, but nothing if I am already considering the work. Soft deadline: October 15th. Topics The topic of your script should be of longtermist relevance. Examples: existential risks of any kind, the future of humanity, philosophy related to longtermism, technologies of longtermist relevance. I don't mean to be too strict, I'll accept scripts about a broad range of topics, and I might even make exceptions and offer a prize to scripts not relevant to longtermism if I find them a lot better than the competition. As a reference, the videos already on the channel that I would classify as longtermism-relevant are: Can we make the future a million years from now go better? Everything might change forever this century (or we’ll go extinct) Will we grab the universe? Grabby aliens predictions. Humanity was born way ahead of its time. The reason is grabby aliens. We are failing to see how much better off humanity could be Longtermism: an idea that could save 100 billion trillion lives Length and number of scripts The maximum length of the script should be 2500 words. Of course, you may split a longer script into two or more parts. You may send an unlimited number of scripts. Are there any more restrictions? Not really. So far, we've only published explainers on the YT channel, but you don't have to limit yourself to explainers. Do you want to write a Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant style short story? OK. Do you want to write an anime episode? OK. You can do whatever you want. You may also adapt or send older work you've written that you think would make a good video for the YouTube channel if narrated as it is or with some tweaks. Assorted things that make a good script, in order of importance: For any claim, you should include sources. The script should be as epistemically legible as possible for the audience. Focus on what really matters. If you write about complex topic X, there will be a few core points that are necessary and sufficient to build a solid understanding of topic X. Focus on those points. Yes, I understand this is a bit vague as a suggestion. Don't simplify, but explain. Write for a really smart audience that is ignorant about the topic. Some background explanations can be skipped, and some others are required. Recognizing the difference is a bit of an art. Be concise, and avoid useless words and filler phrases. Telling stories and using concrete details helps with engagement and works better for teaching. How you start matters: if the beginning of the script is boring, that's especially bad for engagement on YouTube. Challenge the preconceived assumptions a viewer might have about a topic, if the topic lends itself to it. See old topics from new surprising angles, but as with point 7, don't force it. How to send scripts Send your scripts to [email protected] (beware of the spelling, it's "rationalanimations", not "rationalanimation"). In addition to sending the script to the YouTube channel's e-mail, you may also publish it as a comment under this post or as a top-level post in the EA Forum or Less ...