Short Story Contest #4

[Dragonson]

3 days to contest start...
am i allowed to start writing sketches?

 

[The World Is Flat]

hehhehehhe

So this has been approved i'd assume?

Gl and HF all!

 

[Pharaoh_]

I didn't see any moderator approving of this. I'm afraid, we'll have to wait a bit more.

 

[The World Is Flat]

Ah. ok... well maybe we'll have to go ask py nicely.

 

[Dragonson]

Godothatpleasepleasepleaserightnowplease.

 

[The World Is Flat]

Ok dragonson... i willl...

 

[Midnighters]

People are really wanting to start this huh?

 

[Dragonson]

Yes. Can i start writing now?
hehehehehehe... plotplotplotplotplotplotplotplot! Plot's for everyone!

 

[Wolfe]

Yes. I demand that this be approved. I am 'itching' to write, in a sense.

 

[Panda]

Changed Theme, it is now "Space Marine War" as in the space marines from "Star Craft"

 

[Dragonson]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Why would you do that?

 

[The World Is Flat]

Lol?

 

[Dragonson]

Like really, if you want to make a Marine War do that.
It says nowhere that this is fantasy. -.-
Just don't force me to write a Sci-Fi story or i will cauterize your nose.

 

[The World Is Flat]

It was a joke, he cant do that. lol. its fine, check the first page...

 

[Ghoulrush]

Apparently, people in this thread are experiencing the opposite of Writer's Block.

Also, Midnighters, you have made no comment about my proposed idea of adding "Theme" to the judging criteria. Are you going to give an official response?

 

[Dragonson]

Oh. Phew.

Sorry, my Fanatical Advanced Nemesis Trasher Anomaly Surge Yx3 activated.

 

[The World Is Flat]

FANTASY? i like. can i get one?

On Topic:

Yes... lets please add theme.

 

[Dragonson]

Off Topic: You totally can.
You just have to RP entirely in the fantasy genre for four years.

 

[The World Is Flat]

OFF TOPIC: That works for me.

 

[Grey Nightmare]

Maybe some restriction would be nice, helps me and probably others focus and makes judging a lot easier, but please don't make it warcraft related and leave us some leeway e.g. where it's set.

 

[Panda]

Apparently no one noes what a joke is? haha.

 

[Grey Nightmare]

We do But I was referring to Ghoulrush/Midnighters, really

IF it were about space marines i'd be screwed already, I know next to nothing about them:

OFF TOPIC - Ish.. :

They work for the imperium that is ruled by a dead, but alive emperor!? Who is really bad ass and corrupt/evil yet also the most pure/benelovent guy on earth :?

That wasn't a piss take either, that is seriously what I have pieced together from various mentions of wh 40k space marines - It's damned confusing.

I prefer the Tau background, they were barbaric, now there not, no one knows why except that the tall people (forget their names) helped them unite and they advanced faster than anyone but we again don't know why due to some wierd space storm obscuring their planet. Simpulse .

EDIT: I did once read the grey knight omnibus, but it didn't really mention the other chapters and I've actually never played wh 40k properly in my entire life :/ only warhammer fantasy and even that was years ago and I never took it seriously (e.g. didn't have a painted army or stick to the precise rules), just a monthly mess around with my friends... was good fun though, while it lasted.

 

[Dragonson]

I'm very bad at jokes messing with my beloved fantasy genre.

 

[Grey Nightmare]

Mega off-topic, but it's really bugging me, does anyone know the precise reason behind books shops now combining sci-fi/fantasy into one 'sci-fi' section?

+ aren't there "more" successful fantasies than sci-fi!? (that isn't to say fantasy is better, merely that there are more authors focussed on that genre?)

Correct me if I'm wrong But I really do want to know why!?

 

[Midnighters]

Mega-ontopic naow! No more offtopic

 

[Grey Nightmare]

Mega-ontopic naow! No more offtopic

Of course, my apologies yet again

This post doesn't count though!

 

[Ghoulrush]

Mega-ontopic naow! No more offtopic

You still haven't made a response to my proposed idea yet Midnighters.

 

[The World Is Flat]

Pyritie! We all worship you and demand aprovezorz!

 

[Dragonson]

All hail teh mighty Pyrite!
Lort of teh l33tz!

Can i write stuff now?

 

[The World Is Flat]

Not until it starts. write your outline.

PY. WE TAKE BACK ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR CINNAMON ROLLS JUST BE A GOOD MOD AND APPROVE!!!!

 

[Dragonson]

Did we say anything about his cinnamon rolls?
Cinnamon rolls are awesome!

 

[The World Is Flat]

Ok lets jsut stop being hysterical and wait.

 

[Dragonson]

Indeed.
But really, i said nothing about his cinnamon rolls. I weren't being sarcastic or trying to be fun.

 

[The World Is Flat]

...well maybe I'll make another 'unnoficial' contest in the challange section...

 

[Levdragon]

Is it too late to join? I would love to see if my story can even stand a chance against the writers of the hive >=D.

 

[Midnighters]

No, it's not too late to join, you can join anytime.

 

[Levdragon]

Cool. In that case I'd like to join please.

 

[Dragonson]

It will though soon be too late for this to be approved. :S

 

[Midnighters]

If it's not approved by the start date, we will change the date.

 

[Dragonson]

mkay.

 

[Levdragon]

Phew.

 

[The World Is Flat]

Yep. i think py is just being a procrastonator, or he doesen't liek the contest

 

[Dragonson]

Why doesn't he post it then? :S
That he doesn't like it i mean.

 

[Avator]

I hope (but I don't know for sure, because the description is a bit vague about it) that 'Structure' includes grammar, and page setup. Last short story contest was not something I'd like to be judging (as either an official judge or in the public poll), because most entries were big chunks of text, crawling with grammar mistakes and lack of comma's and dots. To make this contest a bit more judge-friendly, I hope that the participants will pay very good attention to this.

 

[The World Is Flat]

I agree very solidly with Avator on this. Mayhap this should be a special category.

 

[CaoSong]

2 Problems I see with this contest... firstly you only have 2 judge spots which isnt enough especially with the increase in the judge voting importance... should be at least 3, preferably 4.

second problem, its still only 5,000 words, probably gonna have some problems there again.

Anyway, I wont be joining this one, have no spark for writing lately. However I will be a judge if one is needed.

 

[The World Is Flat]

Acaully yeah. MIDNIGHTERS. INCREASE TO 6000 words and add grammer or somthing as a part of the review. also add 2 more judges.

 

[Traxamillion]

NO, we had a hard enough time with 2 judges last time, keep 2 judges maximum.

 

[Avator]

I think the amount of judges won't be a problem. More judges has both it's up and it's down sides. Besides the up side you mentioned, CaoSong, there's also the problem that we need to wait for more judges to send their review of every story before the results are out. Some contests already have late reviews with just 1 judge, so with more judges you'll only increase the chance that the participants have to wait longer for the final results.
In my opinion 2 or 3 judges is fine, but 1 is too little to get an objective score and 4 is too many for the above mentioned reason.

As for the word limit, I can't say a lot about it, because I simply haven't made any stories lately to imagine how the length influences the difficulty for the participants. However, you have to keep in mind that it's a short story contest, so it should stay short. We don't need any paperwork the size of a Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or The daVinci Code book.

 

[The World Is Flat]

5000 words is ten pages. most short stories are atleast 15-20.