SUMMER 2014 SHORT STORY CONTEST

[Kannap]

Bumping this so it doesn't get lost...

Also, we still need a 3rd judge.

Since I like reading a ton more than writing, I can judge.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Bumping this so it doesn't get lost...

Also, we still need a 3rd judge.

Since I like reading a ton more than writing, I can judge.

Cool.

[Occupied Deutschland]

I would offer to judge, but it seems there are enough volunteers without me throwing my crooked and moth-eaten hat into the ring.

In which case, I guess it falls upon me to perhaps try and come up with an entry before the deadline.

And it also falls upon me to loudly declare my intentions in this format so that the thread comes back to the first page of the A&F forum. But this is entirely different from a *bump* in that it is me simply declaring my intention/hope to have something prepared by June 30th. Usually I'm early, but this contest might be different since I have to contend with all kinds of stuff I previously didn't have to (now I know why all you NS-denizens complain about school finals and such. This stuff sucks.)

In any case, I shall try to have some kind of writing in to judge, and if such is required I could even serve as a judging pinch-hitter.

[Nazi Flower Power]

I would offer to judge, but it seems there are enough volunteers without me throwing my crooked and moth-eaten hat into the ring.

In which case, I guess it falls upon me to perhaps try and come up with an entry before the deadline.

And it also falls upon me to loudly declare my intentions in this format so that the thread comes back to the first page of the A&F forum. But this is entirely different from a *bump* in that it is me simply declaring my intention/hope to have something prepared by June 30th. Usually I'm early, but this contest might be different since I have to contend with all kinds of stuff I previously didn't have to (now I know why all you NS-denizens complain about school finals and such. This stuff sucks.)

In any case, I shall try to have some kind of writing in to judge, and if such is required I could even serve as a judging pinch-hitter.

Sometimes we do need back up judges. We'll see how things go and if you get an entry in by the deadline. Good luck with the finals and whatnot.

[Vedria]

I could try. Maybe. Or not. It depends on my schedule and such.

[Respubliko de Libereco]

I'm about 30% done my entry. Nine stanzas (of approximately twelve lines) so far, making it the longest poem I've ever written (though still fewer words than my entry in the winter contest, so far).

I'm wondering, though: When it's actually time for me to post it, should I also post a version with the line breaks taken out, so that people who don't care much for poetry can pretend it's just really archaic prose?

[Nazi Flower Power]

I'm about 30% done my entry. Nine stanzas (of approximately twelve lines) so far, making it the longest poem I've ever written (though still fewer words than my entry in the winter contest, so far).

I'm wondering, though: When it's actually time for me to post it, should I also post a version with the line breaks taken out, so that people who don't care much for poetry can pretend it's just really archaic prose?

I would say only post one version, but it's your choice what you do with the line breaks.

[The New World Oceania]

I'm about 30% done my entry. Nine stanzas (of approximately twelve lines) so far, making it the longest poem I've ever written (though still fewer words than my entry in the winter contest, so far).

I'm wondering, though: When it's actually time for me to post it, should I also post a version with the line breaks taken out, so that people who don't care much for poetry can pretend it's just really archaic prose?

If the line breaks have no effect, you know what revision you need to do!

[Respubliko de Libereco]

I'm about 30% done my entry. Nine stanzas (of approximately twelve lines) so far, making it the longest poem I've ever written (though still fewer words than my entry in the winter contest, so far).

I'm wondering, though: When it's actually time for me to post it, should I also post a version with the line breaks taken out, so that people who don't care much for poetry can pretend it's just really archaic prose?

If the line breaks have no effect, you know what revision you need to do!

It's not necessarily a problem if the line breaks have little to no effect; many, if not most works in blank verse could be rewritten without the line breaks (without really making much of a difference), but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. The only reason I'm considering it is because all of the other entries are going to be prose, and it might make sense to format mine to match the others a bit better.

[The New World Oceania]

If the line breaks have no effect, you know what revision you need to do!

It's not necessarily a problem if the line breaks have little to no effect; many, if not most works in blank verse could be rewritten without the line breaks (without really making much of a difference), but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

It's almost never a good idea. Every choice exists for a reason, and line breaks are no exception. I'm inclined to disagree that it could be done in most poetry without making much of a difference; what's Gwendolyn Brooks' We Real Cool, Craig Arnold's Bird Understander, or William Carlos Williams' Red Wheelbarrow without line breaks?

[Respubliko de Libereco]

It's not necessarily a problem if the line breaks have little to no effect; many, if not most works in blank verse could be rewritten without the line breaks (without really making much of a difference), but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

It's almost never a good idea. Every choice exists for a reason, and line breaks are no exception. I'm inclined to disagree that it could be done in most poetry without making much of a difference; what's Gwendolyn Brooks' We Real Cool, Craig Arnold's Bird Understander, or William Carlos Williams' Red Wheelbarrow without line breaks?

I was only talking about blank verse, and specifically works where the poetic form is not as central. Manfred, for example, or Prometheus Unbound, or parts of Shakespeare's plays. So, mostly verse dramas, I guess, though I suspect that Idylls of the King could also work out. In end-rhymed poems the line breaks matter more, because that's where the rhymes are, and in free verse they matter because they're each placed in a specific spot for a reason. "We Real Cool" has a bit of both.

If you're just writing in iambic pentameter to give it that old-fashioned, dramatic feel, the line breaks are mostly just there because the metre demands it. I'm not saying you can ignore them, but you're also not expected to make sure that each one carries some sort of special significance.

Funnily enough, I actually did recently see "We Real Cool" quoted somewhere without line breaks, and it did bug me.

[Segland]

I'll try to get a story up.

[Xmara]

I would like to enter. Where do I submit my story?

[The New World Oceania]

I would like to enter. Where do I submit my story?

Just post it here and it will be judged at some point after the deadline.

[Kannap]

I would like to enter. Where do I submit my story?

Just post it here and it will be judged at some point after the deadline.

Since they'll be posting them here, it may be a great idea for writers to be required to put [Submitted] at the end of their posts that have their stories. This would, of course, not be counted against them in terms of character count for the story.

This concept would just make it easier for judges to find submitted stories instead of skimming through every page of this thread for submitted stories (assuming that they get drowned in posts of people asking questions regarding the contest or just holding conversations about each others works).

[Nazi Flower Power]

Just post it here and it will be judged at some point after the deadline.

Since they'll be posting them here, it may be a great idea for writers to be required to put [Submitted] at the end of their posts that have their stories. This would, of course, not be counted against them in terms of character count for the story.

This concept would just make it easier for judges to find submitted stories instead of skimming through every page of this thread for submitted stories (assuming that they get drowned in posts of people asking questions regarding the contest or just holding conversations about each others works).

I'll edit the OP to include links to the entries so people can find them.

Usually there aren't that many conversations about the stories until after the judges post their rulings, but we do get a lot of "Ooh! I'll try to write something for this!" and "OMG!! It's the deadline already?!? I don't know if I can finish!"

[Nazi Flower Power]

Bump.

I'm about 1200 words into my story, still working on the set-up, not progressing as quickly as I'd hoped. Don't want this thread to get lost and forgotten.

[Shaggai]

Ah, at last I find out about one of these before it ends.

[Infected Mushroom]

i could participate but I'm not sure... I mean i think the types of stories I write might too violent/dark for the community standard... worried about that part so i dunno...

[Forsher]

i could participate but I'm not sure... I mean i think the types of stories I write might too violent/dark for the community standard... worried about that part so i dunno...

Have a look at the RPs that exist... I imagine what is fine there is fine here because in this respect we use the site rules that also apply there (i.e. PG13).

Or, perhaps, look through some of the older threads to see the sort of things that have been written in the past.

[Nazi Flower Power]

i could participate but I'm not sure... I mean i think the types of stories I write might too violent/dark for the community standard... worried about that part so i dunno...

We've had some very violent/dark stories in past contests, particularly the horror-themed one we had one year around Halloween. As long as you keep it clean enough to keep the mods off your back, it's fine.

Ah, at last I find out about one of these before it ends.

Yay.

[Infected Mushroom]

i could participate but I'm not sure... I mean i think the types of stories I write might too violent/dark for the community standard... worried about that part so i dunno...

Have a look at the RPs that exist... I imagine what is fine there is fine here because in this respect we use the site rules that also apply there (i.e. PG13).

Or, perhaps, look through some of the older threads to see the sort of things that have been written in the past.

i will look into it...

[Infected Mushroom]

i could participate but I'm not sure... I mean i think the types of stories I write might too violent/dark for the community standard... worried about that part so i dunno...

We've had some very violent/dark stories in past contests, particularly the horror-themed one we had one year around Halloween. As long as you keep it clean enough to keep the mods off your back, it's fine.

ah ok

[Lancov]

So any genre is okay?

[The New World Oceania]

As long as you keep it clean enough to keep the mods off your back, it's fine.

Mods? In Arts and Fiction?