Third annual writing contest organisational thread

[Ludens]

Greetings, fellow Org members. The third annual .Org writing contest is about to begin!

The challenge: to write a story, fiction, of max 2.500 words. No set theme, no set opening line, just fiction.

The prize: in addition to a badge under your avatar as a reminder of your victory, the winner will also receive custom-made artwork by our artist Dimoleas. You can view samples of his work at Dimeolas’ site: www.dimeolas.com.


The rules

1) One submission per person, and it must be original work

2) The story must be fiction, and must be 2.500 words or less (hint: word processors like MS Word have a word-count feature).

3) The standard Org rules regarding language (and not the more lenient Mead-Hall ones) apply for the contest.

4) The submission period will run from Tuesday the 1th, twelve o’clock GMT (that is Tuesday afternoon, London time) to the same time at Tuesday the 8th. To submit, PM your story to myself, and I will post into the submissions thread. This is to prevent editing after submission.

5) Everyone may participate, from junior members to Org staff, with the exception of the judges of course.


The judging

The winner will be decided by a jury of two and a poll. Each of the jury members will have one-third of the vote. The remaining third is decided by the poll of Org voters. The jury is made up by frogbeastegg and myself. In case of a tie, froggy and I will negotiate until a winner is decided. The poll will be opened after the submission period has been closed and will run until Monday the 14th, five AM, GMT (that is seven hours before the time that was announced earlier). The poll has been posted here.

The submission will be judged on:
a) Originality
b) Presentation
c) Entertainment value


On behalf of the jury, good luck!

[Aenarion]

Please delete this if it is not necessary. But how will the public, that is going to vote in the poll, know what the story of each members is about? if we are going to send it to you by pm?

Thanks,
Aenarion

[Ludens]

Please delete this if it is not necessary. But how will the public, that is going to vote in the poll, know what the story of each members is about? if we are going to send it to you by pm?

The stories will be posted by myself in a submission thread.

[Ludens]

Since there seems to be some confusion about the submission procedure, I have changed the text above to clarify it..

[King Henry V]

Hang on, this Tuesday is the 1st of August isn't it?

[Ludens]

Hang on, this Tuesday is the 1st of August isn't it?

Indeed. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Ludens]

The submission period is closed. The poll will hopefully be up in eight hours. Thanks everyone for submitting!

[Banquo's Ghost]

Can you tell me the etiquette for participants commenting on the stories (positively, obviously ). I'm not sure if we're allowed to contribute to the general discussions, so my default is to stay silent until the vote is over.

What's the traditional or expected form?

[Franconicus]

This will be an interesting competition! This is my first writing competition ever, so I have no idea whether I'm doing well or not... I'd appreciate any feedback from the readers

Legio,

I think your subject is maybe the best in the contest: a man on a mine. I wished mine would have been half as good.

In my opinion you have a very good way to narrate. However, you did not always find the ideal line, if you permit me to add that.

- the situation of your actor is far too desperate. As if it wasn't bad enough to lay on a mine, the Germans and the Russians would kill him if they could. Then, there is no way out, even if he gets off the mine alive. Therefore the end is clear, he has to die in the minefield, and that is exactly what he is doing. No surprise in the end.

- he is far too rational. Hell, he is in the middle of nowhere standing on a mine. What is he doing: "Slowly I weighed my alternatives." No fear, no desperation? He does not think of commrades, his wife or his Mom? I think the psychological aspect is what makes the situation so interesting. You should have worked on that a bit more.

- Nothing is actually happening while he is on the mine. No cramp. No nervous break down. No sleeping legs?

- The end is the weakest part. Absolutly no surprising element; the complains about the communists at home is unmotivated and unnecessary.

Altogether, a good story, but with a few changes it will be a great story (esp. much better than mine )

[Rodion Romanovich]

Thanks, I think your criticism is both fair and correct and helpful

[Beirut]

I thought I had until the 14th. Bummer.

[Ludens]

The poll is up!

I thought I had until the 14th. Bummer.

Was the deadline unclear? I thought I was quite specific.

[Beirut]

The poll is up!


Was the deadline unclear? I thought I was quite specific.

I'm sure you were. But I could have sworn I saw the 14th somewhere. Must be RL edging into my Orgsterisms again.

[The Stranger]

Who of you who will vote have actually read all stories, please read them all before you vote because this will give everybody the same chance.

[Ludens]

Important announcement: the poll will be closed around five AM and not twelve AM as was announced earlier. My apologies for the late notification; I find myself rather short of time monday evening.

[Ludens]

And the winner is...

[The Stranger]

could people feedback my story? thanx

[sapi]

I liked it, but alas, my vote didn't win it for you :P

[Franconicus]

The contest is over, but there are still some things to do:

1) Thanks to Ludens and the jury. Thanks to all the writers. I really enjoyed the stories and I have some new ideas.
2) Congratulations to the winners, Eclectic and Don. Well done!!
3) We have to discuss if Consercatives are better writers. Or Americans. (Or is it just the fact that they have the guns? )
4) I know that my story was not very good. I think it is a bit overrated. Nevertheless thanks to those who voted for it!
5) When do we get a chance for revenge??

[Andres]

Congratulations to both winners.

And thanks to Ludens for the efforts.

I'm glad to see three people actually voted for my story

Feel free to give me some feedback. One thing I know for sure: I'll have to do something on 1) my grammar, 2) my spelling, 3) my vocabulary.

I participated for fun. Hope you had fun with my participation too.