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3rd Anniversary Competition Rules and discussion thread

Started by Ed, October 14, 2007, 08:20:55 AM

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Ed

Quote from: starktheground on October 16, 2007, 09:29:46 AM
Hi. I heard about the contest at the Brian Keene message board. Was wondering how to know if my submission was received? Can't wait to read everyone's stories!!!

Hi Stark - I sent you a PM earlier today, but you mustn't have seen it. I needed to talk to you about your entry. The AOL e-mail snarled some of your punctuation marks, which makes it hard to read the text in places. Could you resend your e-mail and attach the story in either .doc or .rtf format, please? That should solve the problem. Thanks :smiley:

BTW, please check your personal messages as well - I wanted to talk to you about something else, too :afro:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Ed

Eight entries to date. Let's see if we can hit that magical figure of twenty, huh? :dance:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Sallyq

I'm definitely going to enter, Ed. I just can't decide whether to send something I've already got in my files (never published or shown anywhere) or whether to write something new. Now I've just dispensed with another competition entry I was writing for Write Space, it's probably going to be something new. :afro:

Thewobblydickle

Hi Ed,

I'll be having a bash at this, having followed the link from The Write Idea.

Just one concern:

Entries will be posted on 31 Oct and we must vote by the ending of 2 Nov. That's two days to read potentially 20+ 3000 word entries and put them in order of preference. Hell, I don't even get the time to read 60,000 words in a week!!!

Still, nothing like a bit of pressure to sharpen one's wits.

Ed

Kewl - I'll look forward to reading your entry, Sally :afro:

Wob - point taken. So far we've got eight entries that average around 2,000 words a piece, I reckon, so it's conceivable we'll have the full twenty by the 31st. If the concensus is it's too much to read in the time limit, I don't see any problem with extending the reading period a little. Play it by ear. Thing is, though, if I'm reading a story and it doesn't grab me within the first page or so, I'm not going to bother reading the rest. If a story starts badly, it's unlikely to be strong enough to recover and be good by the end, and if I've got twenty stories to read, I'm going to drop it like a bad habit. That's what all the editors do, and I guess that's what we'll all do as well, intentionally or otherwise. :smiley:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Sallyq

It's a better way than a competition I saw the other day, in which the judge reads the entries until s/he finds one that 'knocks his/her socks off' then announces that the winner without reading anymore. It's linked from the Prize Magic site, but I haven't put it on my calendar as I think it's a lousy way to judge a competition.

Unless that judge is being honest about the sort of thing that does go on....

Flirtybee

well ....i tried putting something on writers dock , Ed. I think i've managed to complete a link on their rather sparse comp links section...though trying to find somewhere in that site to put anything to stand out enough that we need is bloomin' hard.

Plus they'll wonder where the heck i got my handle there...i think its been a once in a year visit !

'Maybe I should just put you out of my misery?'

Sallyq

It takes a while for Writers Dock to update. I'm still down as their comps moderator, yet I gave up the post just after last Christmas.  I still get PMs though, telling me about competitions.

Ed

Thanks for doing that, Flirty :afro: Can't say I've ever spent any time at Writer's Dock. Dunno why, but it just doesn't appeal to me. I only mentioned it because it's a big site :smiley:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Thewobblydickle

Quote from: Ed on October 16, 2007, 04:50:35 PM
Thing is, though, if I'm reading a story and it doesn't grab me within the first page or so, I'm not going to bother reading the rest.

Yes, good point and one which I need to take on board.
In the past I have always tried to read every comp entry in its entirety. Of course, I often end up miffed with myself and wondering why the eff I bothered because, as you so rightly say, if a story starts off weakly it rarely if ever improves.

Geoff_N

Quote from: Ed on October 16, 2007, 04:50:35 PM
if I'm reading a story and it doesn't grab me within the first page or so, I'm not going to bother reading the rest. If a story starts badly, it's unlikely to be strong enough to recover and be good by the end,

Point taken, Ed, and that's the main reason why I attempt to write a strong hook in the first para. However, there are great stories out there that DO creep along at the start and accelerate until you are turning blue holding your breath at the end.

I agree with wob that a longer reading period is necessary. Frinstance if Alex :ak: Keegan enters a story we'll have to re re re re re re-read it to realise that it isn't about a fish, but a metaphor for the eleventh dimension.

Geoff

Ed

Well, we're up to eleven entries now, so I'd say we're still on target for twenty stories by the closing date. :afro:

How long do you suggest the reading period should be, folks?
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

PaulH

Sorry, real newbie question. Story about anything as long as it has a horror/dark fiction element, right? I feel a right (insert your favourtie noodle head type expression here) for having to ask.  :/

joneastwood

I think maybe 4/5 days for the reading. Depends entirely on how many submissions there are, i suppose.

Ed

Quote from: PaulH on October 17, 2007, 07:07:02 PM
Sorry, real newbie question. Story about anything as long as it has a horror/dark fiction element, right? I feel a right (insert your favourtie noodle head type expression here) for having to ask.  :/

No, it's not a daft question. At least I don't think it is. There's a very wide section of people going to be reading and judging these stories, which I think makes the writer's job more difficult than if they were writing for purely hard boiled horror readers. My suggestion would be to submit something with a strong dark element, but nothing too extreme and gory. I would guess that would appeal to the widest spectrum of readership, but I could be wrong. :afro:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]