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Short Story Contest #9 - Lore

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Lore
Write a story where you introduce the reader to a completely new concept of lore:
Location, characters, race, faction, something else or all the aforementioned. Form
and direction is open for interpretation, the only limitation is to make and introduce
something conceptually "new" to the reader.





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  • The entry must be at least 2000 words, and may reach a maximum of 10,000 words.
  • Absolutely no plagiarism.
  • All entries must be written in fluent English, illegible entries will be disqualified.
  • The entry must abide by the theme.
  • At least one WIP (Work In Progress) must be presented before the deadline
  • The story may NOT be the same as preexisting works of literature/art by any author, including yourself.
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  • First Place: 50 reputation points and your entry on the award icon
  • Second Place: 35 reputation points and an award icon
  • Third Place: 20 reputation points and an award icon
  • Remaining entries: 5 reputation points for each submission (for users with final entries who made it to the public poll)
  • Judge: 10 reputation for each assigned judge
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  • Let us know if you want to be a judge

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Delivery
How deep the lore goes and how nicely it was brought to the reader.

Characters: Are there any characters involved? If yes, how well were they presented? Were their motives and actions clear and congruent to the events?
Objects/Locations: Are there any objects and/or locations involved? How vividly were they delivered?
/20

Theme
Did the story fit the theme of the contest?/20

Flow & Pacing
Did the story flow along smoothly without any part feeling rushed or empty?/20

Creativity & Originality
How well did the elements of the story blend with each other? Is the combination of elements unique?/15

Eloquence
How efficient was the writing style? Is it enhancing the aesthetical output of the story? Does it have grammatical errors that distract the reader?/15
  • 70 % of the winner shall be determined by the contest's appointed judge(s).
  • 30 % of the winner shall be determined by the results of a public poll.
Criteria and scoring is subject to change

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  • The contest shall begin on Date and conclude on Date, GMT
 
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Level 35
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Looks good, the only notion I've got something of a quarrel with is this:

The story may NOT be derived from preexisting works of literature/art by any author, including yourself.

I get it, it's kind of "cheating" to base it off of something you've spent a good long while
creating, but the thing is: We're a modding and world-building community. If we include
this rule then we're going to have a hard time finding participants, the way I see it.

Also, it doesn't add too much if you use a backdrop you're familiar with, like say, your
own fantasy world. You'll still face the challenge of grooming the reader into
understanding where he is and why he's there, regardless of whether it's part of one's
own created world or a completely new setting. It's meant to be new, anyway, the
idea I had when I introduced this theme was to force creativity, you have to make
something new, and then introduce that something to the reader. So regardless of
whether it's a new location on your own world-map, or new characters or a new race
or whatever, then it doesn't really matter if it's part of a "bigger" picture or not.
Besides, from a personal viewpoint: If I were to do this, I'd like to be able to include
it into my world.

And in that matter I also don't see the problem about writing a fan-fic, either, seeing as
it's the same sentiments to it as with a personal fiction. Plagiarism isn't plagiarism unless
you earn money doing it :p
 
Level 35
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While I think that's a good derivative from your original suggestion,
I think it could be better formulated, as follows:

The story may NOT be the same as preexisting works of literature/art by any author, including yourself.

This doesn't limit anyone from any background, be that self-made or fan-fic, it simply limits the author to make
something, no matter the "backdrop," new. To think up something that hasn't necessarily been written before.

If this is agreeable, I'll be moving this contest over to the official part of this section ASAP, and start looking
for judges, give me some time, though, cause currently I'm pretty busy doing... Other things.
 
Level 35
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What about:

"Write a story where you introduce the reader to a completely new concept of lore:
Location, characters, race, faction, something else or all the aforementioned. Form
and direction is open for interpretation, the only limitation is to make and introduce
something conceptually "new" to the reader."
 
Level 25
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What about:

"Write a story where you introduce the reader to a completely new concept of lore:
Location, characters, race, faction, something else or all the aforementioned. Form
and direction is open for interpretation, the only limitation is to make and introduce
something conceptually "new" to the reader."

That's what I'm waiting for :D
 
Level 24
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Short Story Contests

So whatever happened to the short-story contests, I haven't seen them for a while? Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree but I do miss them and would like to see them return.
 
Level 35
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Well.

They certainly aren't among the most popular contests, so I reckon that in order to get
people enthused about it, you'd need someone to passionately carry the flaming spirit
torch first. I would like to see one myself, but I won't do it, as my life is currently
somewhat busy. (And, there is another contest that is currently occupying my... Eye.)
 
Level 24
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Well.

They certainly aren't among the most popular contests, so I reckon that in order to get
people enthused about it, you'd need someone to passionately carry the flaming spirit
torch first. I would like to see one myself, but I won't do it, as my life is currently
somewhat busy. (And, there is another contest that is currently occupying my... Eye.)

That's a shame, I don't really have the authority to publish an official contest either.
 

Kyrbi0

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That's a shame, I don't really have the authority to publish an official contest either.
Yeah, rubbish to authority. In fact, you don't even have to be good at the thing the Contest is about; I was the Host for Modeling Contest #25, for crying out loud.

I'd like to say I could burn with enough fiery passion to see this through... But to be honest, with university starting back up, I'll be lucky to even get a thing in, much less Host it.
 
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I'm sure I'll end up joining this; however, I think the theme pretty is weak. First of all, all writers steal. It's influence more than anything. Sure, don't use specific names and specific ideas, but allusions should not be prohibited. Second, building a world, characters and everything in between in 2-10k words? It would be nicer if it was more specific so we didn't have create so much on a small scale. It will most likely mess with the pacing of the plots.
 
Level 35
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I'm sure I'll end up joining this; however, I think the theme pretty is weak. First of all, all writers steal.

I wouldn't say it's so weak, just not so very... Specific.

I get where you're coming from, post-modernism,
that everything is already thought out and that it's
near-impossible to make something new, but I'm
not sure I hate the theme so much as you do.

If memory serve, the point wasn't to force you to
do the impossible, but merely that you're supposed
to present a "new" concept at the same time as you
write a story, ruling out fan-fictions and such.

I don't think I've got any time to participate or handle
this contest, so I still don't think it's going to happen,
but I would gladly hear of any other theme suggestions,
if you have any.
 
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Is this waiting for judges or is it never starting in the first place ?
anybody know ?
Also I think that 10k words seem like a good limit to explain the theme.
 

Kyrbi0

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Yeah, exactly, that was sort of part of the challenge.

Regardless, as I stated: Do tell if you've got suggestions
for different themes.

Regardless, as I stated: Do tell if you've got suggestions for different themes.
I have given it thought, and I am more and more convinced that "Lore" is a poor Theme; not for the reasons stated above, but primarily due to its redundance.

Every story should be creating something 'new'; new story, new characters, new locales, new magicks, new "lore". To me, this Theme is like saying "Short Story Contest: Write a short story using words on a digital medium that convey an idea".

A Theme can be quite simple and can be thrown together quickly; we could have little mini "NaNoWriMo's" of a sort with some frequency here, I think. For the sake of simplicity, we can just borrow from MtG's rich thematic core (the "color pie") for a good 5 Contests.

e.g. Let's just do, say, "Mountain: Write a story in which a mountain plays a prominent role". Right off the top of my head, there's a half-dozen story ideas; a dwarven mountain city during a civil war, a village at the base of an active volcano (~mountain), a touching and intimate story of a family of goats living on a mountain-side, the escapades of a monstrous mountain-sized rock golem, a squad of colorful ponies seeking to oust a mountain-dwelling dragon, a monk seeking enlightenment at the top of a mountain, a farmer literally making a mountain out of a molehill... Etc. Bam, new Contest.

Following that, the concepts of Swamp, Island, Forest, and Plains are all plethorically-rich story-telling veins to tap. This doesn't have to be hard.
 
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I have given it thought, and I am more and more convinced that "Lore" is a poor Theme; not for the reasons stated above, but primarily due to its redundance.

Every story should be creating something 'new'; new story, new characters, new locales, new magicks, new "lore". To me, this Theme is like saying "Short Story Contest: Write a short story using words on a digital medium that convey an idea".

A Theme can be quite simple and can be thrown together quickly; we could have little mini "NaNoWriMo's" of a sort with some frequency here, I think. For the sake of simplicity, we can just borrow from MtG's rich thematic core (the "color pie") for a good 5 Contests.

e.g. Let's just do, say, "Mountain: Write a story in which a mountain plays a prominent role". Right off the top of my head, there's a half-dozen story ideas; a dwarven mountain city during a civil war, a village at the base of an active volcano (~mountain), a touching and intimate story of a family of goats living on a mountain-side, the escapades of a monstrous mountain-sized rock golem, a squad of colorful ponies seeking to oust a mountain-dwelling dragon, a monk seeking enlightenment at the top of a mountain, a farmer literally making a mountain out of a molehill... Etc. Bam, new Contest.

Following that, the concepts of Swamp, Island, Forest, and Plains are all plethorically-rich story-telling veins to tap. This doesn't have to be hard.

Neat. I'm down for it. :ogre_datass:
 
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This "theme" actually, Lore, happens in all stories whatsoever the content is. It's not versatile theme to go with, and it's not quite something that you can actually kinda predict the results from. I agree for the new theme. The "Create a story around the specific center object" seems fun tho.
 
Level 35
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How about "Ancient Architecture"?

Though, personally, I'd love something a little more multi-dimensional, such as a
one word description contest like, say, "Deep": Where some could interpret it as
writing a story set "deep" beneath the crust of the surface, some would write a
"deep story", or maybe even write a story that is continuously descending, be
that physically or mentally. Something that encourages creativity in way of
directing creative thoughts.
 
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