Matt
Banned via Administration
Welcome back, writers! And it's good to be back. We're on the sixth major writing contest, and this time: No Scav! Yay! The JUDGES for WWYP6 are Virgilijus, Tom, and myself.
Here is your prompt (courtesy Blackadder):
Write a story in which some character, minor or major, is affected by a psychological disorder or trauma. Even if you choose to make the character minor, his/her influence must be a major driving force in the story. This is fairly broad, so your choice disorder could be something from schizophrenia to communication issues caused by shoddy parenting to being a **** vitcim. Psychological nuance is key to this prompt, so thoughtfulness as well as research is important for this exercise.
Adherence to Prompt -5 points
Virgilijus - How interwoven is your story to the guidelines? If the prompt were a genre, could some one read it and instantly know the prompt was fantasy or satire? If they can, you followed it well. If not, you avoided it too much. Also, the prompt should be well utilized: a story that requires a mythical object should use it for all its potential worth, not merely mention it and check it off the list.
Matt - These points should be easy to earn. How well did you engage the guidelines? Did you engage them creatively? Did you engage them with your power? If I ask you to use a gun in your story, will you give me knife? Take risks, but don't disregard our basic expectations.
Tone - 5 pts
Virgilijus - The overall mood of the story; the feeling that you get when you read it. This is made up by the setting, characters, dialogue, and the imagery. Unless it is directed by the prompt, the tone for each story should be different, but they should all impact the reader. A good tone should get the reader immersed in the story, whether or not it is from blissful country sides or horrifying mad men. How real is your story in the readers mind?
Scav - Tone is made up of character (do your characters seem real? do they talk real? are they interesting), setting (Does your story have a sense of place? Of time? Are we always oriented?) and imagery (can we see what's going on?)
Style - 5 pts
Virgilijus - This is what separates your story from others of the same plot. How do you describe people, actions, and places? What rhythm do your words have? How quickly do you move the plot? Style is your paintbrush to show why your painting of little girl is different and more powerful than some one else’s.
Scav - The most technical of the categories. Did you use proper spelling and grammar? Did you try to push the envelope with your sentence structure? Did you construct the plot in a significant manner? This category relies heavily on phrasing and specifics.
Enjoyment - 5 pts
Virgilijus - Enjoyment is the immediate and long lasting appeal of your story. While we were reading it, was it a page turner? After we finished, did we sit and think about the theme or the final scene? Is your story an accomplishment, or just words with a beginning, middle and end?
Matt - An enjoyable story brings plot elements and theme and, frankly, everything listed above together in a way that is both memorable and engaging. We're talking about the WOW factor here, and these types of points aren't easy to earn.
To the judges: using half points is encouraged!
RULES:
* Story must be between 1000-5000 words (penalty for going over or under will be whatever each judge deems fit, taken from Adherence to Prompt)
* Contest begins November 24th and ends one month later (December 24th) at midnight central time.
* No need to sign up! Simply create a new topic with the tagline [WWYP6] in front of it. For example: [WWYP6] - The Story of why Scav Sucks
* You have until the deadline to edit the story as you see fit, but your topic will be locked at midnight on December 24th to prevent last minute changes.
* Profanity is allowed! If you don't know how to censor dodge, pm one of the judges and he'll explain it to you.
* The judges have exactly TWO weeks after the contest ends to pick their favorites! Results will be posted by the January 7th.
* No plagiarizing, of course. If you do, you may be banned as well as disqualified.
* You can only submit stories that have not already been published and even those that are unpublished. The idea is to write something new!
* One entry allowed per person.
* Judges cannot enter the contest.
* Judges absolutely cannot read or discuss any contest topic (whether amongst themselves or with contestants) until August 12th!
* ABSOLUTELY NO FAN FICS
* Write with your power.
PRIZES:
1st Place -- Custom Title, Custom Avatar, New Member Group ID (Smash Writer), WWYP Icon below name, Judging/prompt rights in the next contest
2nd Place -- Custom Title, New Member Group ID (Smash Writer), WWYP Icon below name
3rd Place -- New Member Group ID (Smash Writer), WWYP Icon below name
Here is your prompt (courtesy Blackadder):
Write a story in which some character, minor or major, is affected by a psychological disorder or trauma. Even if you choose to make the character minor, his/her influence must be a major driving force in the story. This is fairly broad, so your choice disorder could be something from schizophrenia to communication issues caused by shoddy parenting to being a **** vitcim. Psychological nuance is key to this prompt, so thoughtfulness as well as research is important for this exercise.
Adherence to Prompt -5 points
Virgilijus - How interwoven is your story to the guidelines? If the prompt were a genre, could some one read it and instantly know the prompt was fantasy or satire? If they can, you followed it well. If not, you avoided it too much. Also, the prompt should be well utilized: a story that requires a mythical object should use it for all its potential worth, not merely mention it and check it off the list.
Matt - These points should be easy to earn. How well did you engage the guidelines? Did you engage them creatively? Did you engage them with your power? If I ask you to use a gun in your story, will you give me knife? Take risks, but don't disregard our basic expectations.
Tone - 5 pts
Virgilijus - The overall mood of the story; the feeling that you get when you read it. This is made up by the setting, characters, dialogue, and the imagery. Unless it is directed by the prompt, the tone for each story should be different, but they should all impact the reader. A good tone should get the reader immersed in the story, whether or not it is from blissful country sides or horrifying mad men. How real is your story in the readers mind?
Scav - Tone is made up of character (do your characters seem real? do they talk real? are they interesting), setting (Does your story have a sense of place? Of time? Are we always oriented?) and imagery (can we see what's going on?)
Style - 5 pts
Virgilijus - This is what separates your story from others of the same plot. How do you describe people, actions, and places? What rhythm do your words have? How quickly do you move the plot? Style is your paintbrush to show why your painting of little girl is different and more powerful than some one else’s.
Scav - The most technical of the categories. Did you use proper spelling and grammar? Did you try to push the envelope with your sentence structure? Did you construct the plot in a significant manner? This category relies heavily on phrasing and specifics.
Enjoyment - 5 pts
Virgilijus - Enjoyment is the immediate and long lasting appeal of your story. While we were reading it, was it a page turner? After we finished, did we sit and think about the theme or the final scene? Is your story an accomplishment, or just words with a beginning, middle and end?
Matt - An enjoyable story brings plot elements and theme and, frankly, everything listed above together in a way that is both memorable and engaging. We're talking about the WOW factor here, and these types of points aren't easy to earn.
To the judges: using half points is encouraged!
RULES:
* Story must be between 1000-5000 words (penalty for going over or under will be whatever each judge deems fit, taken from Adherence to Prompt)
* Contest begins November 24th and ends one month later (December 24th) at midnight central time.
* No need to sign up! Simply create a new topic with the tagline [WWYP6] in front of it. For example: [WWYP6] - The Story of why Scav Sucks
* You have until the deadline to edit the story as you see fit, but your topic will be locked at midnight on December 24th to prevent last minute changes.
* Profanity is allowed! If you don't know how to censor dodge, pm one of the judges and he'll explain it to you.
* The judges have exactly TWO weeks after the contest ends to pick their favorites! Results will be posted by the January 7th.
* No plagiarizing, of course. If you do, you may be banned as well as disqualified.
* You can only submit stories that have not already been published and even those that are unpublished. The idea is to write something new!
* One entry allowed per person.
* Judges cannot enter the contest.
* Judges absolutely cannot read or discuss any contest topic (whether amongst themselves or with contestants) until August 12th!
* ABSOLUTELY NO FAN FICS
* Write with your power.
PRIZES:
1st Place -- Custom Title, Custom Avatar, New Member Group ID (Smash Writer), WWYP Icon below name, Judging/prompt rights in the next contest
2nd Place -- Custom Title, New Member Group ID (Smash Writer), WWYP Icon below name
3rd Place -- New Member Group ID (Smash Writer), WWYP Icon below name
