SUMMER 2014 SHORT STORY CONTEST

[Nazi Flower Power]

So any genre is okay?

Yes.

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

Mods? In Arts and Fiction?

And yes. Jenrak hosted the last short story contest, and some mod dropped in the Writing Discussion Thread a year or two back to remind us about the PG-13 rule. I am not sure if it was in response to an excerpt I posted (which was fairly graphic) or the story idea that someone else posted directly after it (which went into less graphic detail, but their whole story was basically going to be violence and torture for the sake of violence and torture).

[Nazi Flower Power]

Bumpity bumpity boop! Don't want this thread to get buried.

I wouldn't have voted Nazi if I knew they were going to take all the writers away.

[Volmachtia]

Bumpity bumpity boop! Don't want this thread to get buried.

I wouldn't have voted Nazi if I knew they were going to take all the writers away.

Fear not, mine is well underway. Takes me a while to find my inspiration.

[Forsher]

Bumpity bumpity boop! Don't want this thread to get buried.

I wouldn't have voted Nazi if I knew they were going to take all the writers away.

Fear not, mine is well underway. Takes me a while to find my inspiration.

I have also started writing something. I've decided to run with an older idea of mine (relative to me it's ancient) and see if I get anywhere. I may well end up with something quite radically different.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Fear not, mine is well underway. Takes me a while to find my inspiration.

I have also started writing something.

Good to hear.

I've decided to run with an older idea of mine (relative to me it's ancient) and see if I get anywhere. I may well end up with something quite radically different.

Always interesting to see how things evolve when you dig up old projects...

[Forsher]

I've decided to run with an older idea of mine (relative to me it's ancient) and see if I get anywhere. I may well end up with something quite radically different.

Always interesting to see how things evolve when you dig up old projects...

I've tried this numerous times in the past; usually I like what I've written but it just goes no-where (this is my problem I find).

[Nazi Flower Power]

Always interesting to see how things evolve when you dig up old projects...

I've tried this numerous times in the past; usually I like what I've written but it just goes no-where (this is my problem I find).

Sometimes it's easier to just start something new from scratch, even if it sucks the amount of work you end up throwing out by abandoning your old projects.

I've finally gotten unstuck on my story for this contest. Up to 2500 words now.

[Shaggai]

Finishing up a bit of a story. Hopefully it'll be considered original enough.

[The Emerald Dragon]

I write fanfiction, but i think that i'll just watch this contest.

[Respubliko de Libereco]

Blank verse isn't really working out for me; it just doesn't feel the way I expected it too, and seems like less of a stylistic choice and more of a gimmick. I guess it's back to prose.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Blank verse isn't really working out for me; it just doesn't feel the way I expected it too, and seems like less of a stylistic choice and more of a gimmick. I guess it's back to prose.

I can relate to that. I am following through with my 1st person 19th century thing, but I don't think I will ever do it again after this story. It just feels weird.

[Laerod]

Is there a minimum word count?

[Forsher]

Is there a minimum word count?

I do not think so. There have been some very short stories in the past.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Is there a minimum word count?

No.

But if you decide to write a one-letter story it can't be "F," because someone already did that. The title was something like "God's Grade for the Human Race."

Is there a minimum word count?

I do not think so. There have been some very short stories in the past.

And that entry got one of the lowest scores in the history of these contests. The scoring rubric is biased toward longer stories because they have room for more plot, character, and setting development.

[Forsher]

Is there a minimum word count?

No.

But if you decide to write a one-letter story it can't be "F," because someone already did that. The title was something like "God's Grade for the Human Race."

I do not think so. There have been some very short stories in the past.

And that entry got one of the lowest scores in the history of these contests. The scoring rubric is biased toward longer stories because they have room for more plot, character, and setting development.

Well, yes, it's probably better to use longer stories but those were tough judges.

[The New World Oceania]

The scoring rubric is biased toward longer stories because they have room for more plot, character, and setting development.

Not necessarily true. The skill of the writer determines what they can do with a given number of words.

[Respubliko de Libereco]

The scoring rubric is biased toward longer stories because they have room for more plot, character, and setting development.

Not necessarily true. The skill of the writer determines what they can do with a given number of words.

No matter how skilled you are, it's much harder to write well-developed characters and a decent plot in 200 words than 2,000. The fact that the rubric looks at these things specifically, rather than just how entertaining or thought provoking or well-written it is, definitely biases it away from flash fiction. I doubt a 2,000 word story has much of an advantage over a 1,000 word one, but both are virtually guaranteed to win against something two paragraphs long.

[Laerod]

The scoring rubric is biased toward longer stories because they have room for more plot, character, and setting development.

Not necessarily true. The skill of the writer determines what they can do with a given number of words.

There's a genuine limit as to what you can achieve with a few thousand fewer words. The scoring rubric is biased toward longer stories; this is necessarily true. That someone can create fuller characters or paint a more immersive setting with a thousand words than others with six thousand doesn't change that in the least. The odds are stacked against shorter stories.

[Laerod]

Is there a minimum word count?

No.

But if you decide to write a one-letter story it can't be "F," because someone already did that. The title was something like "God's Grade for the Human Race."

Pshaw, I'm not that lazy =P

[Nazi Flower Power]

No matter how skilled you are, it's much harder to write well-developed characters and a decent plot in 200 words than 2,000. The fact that the rubric looks at these things specifically, rather than just how entertaining or thought provoking or well-written it is, definitely biases it away from flash fiction. I doubt a 2,000 word story has much of an advantage over a 1,000 word one, but both are virtually guaranteed to win against something two paragraphs long.

There's a genuine limit as to what you can achieve with a few thousand fewer words. The scoring rubric is biased toward longer stories; this is necessarily true. That someone can create fuller characters or paint a more immersive setting with a thousand words than others with six thousand doesn't change that in the least. The odds are stacked against shorter stories.

Exactly.

[The New World Oceania]

No matter how skilled you are, it's much harder to write well-developed characters and a decent plot in 200 words than 2,000. The fact that the rubric looks at these things specifically, rather than just how entertaining or thought provoking or well-written it is, definitely biases it away from flash fiction. I doubt a 2,000 word story has much of an advantage over a 1,000 word one, but both are virtually guaranteed to win against something two paragraphs long.

There's a genuine limit as to what you can achieve with a few thousand fewer words. The scoring rubric is biased toward longer stories; this is necessarily true. That someone can create fuller characters or paint a more immersive setting with a thousand words than others with six thousand doesn't change that in the least. The odds are stacked against shorter stories.

Exactly.

Regardless of the rubric's precise demands, it is the implications a brief story gives. The point of such short stories is to invoke thought on behalf of the reader, and the wide array of its emotion is conveyed through the insinuations. Besides, what good is any story writing if the audience declines to consider the writing and its implications? If this weren't the design, short genres would have never become popular.

[The Dogma States]

i Shall enter, at least i'll have something to put my mind into and have fun with my imagination. (Summer can be a real bore sometimes )

[Laerod]

Regardless of the rubric's precise demands, it is the implications a brief story gives. The point of such short stories is to invoke thought on behalf of the reader, and the wide array of its emotion is conveyed through the insinuations. Besides, what good is any story writing if the audience declines to consider the writing and its implications? If this weren't the design, short genres would have never become popular.

That's very much why the scoring may not be entirely appropriate for a short story contest. Short stories are primarily about conveying an idea, not fleshing out a setting or characters. And that's precisely why my might-not-even-breach-1000-words story probably won't do well =P

But I'm not really writing it to win, more to revisit a project that I've been leaving dormant for years.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Exactly.

Regardless of the rubric's precise demands, it is the implications a brief story gives. The point of such short stories is to invoke thought on behalf of the reader, and the wide array of its emotion is conveyed through the insinuations. Besides, what good is any story writing if the audience declines to consider the writing and its implications? If this weren't the design, short genres would have never become popular.

That has nothing to do with what I said. I did not say longer stories are better. I said they are more likely to do well on this rubric.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Regardless of the rubric's precise demands, it is the implications a brief story gives. The point of such short stories is to invoke thought on behalf of the reader, and the wide array of its emotion is conveyed through the insinuations. Besides, what good is any story writing if the audience declines to consider the writing and its implications? If this weren't the design, short genres would have never become popular.

That's very much why the scoring may not be entirely appropriate for a short story contest. Short stories are primarily about conveying an idea, not fleshing out a setting or characters. And that's precisely why my might-not-even-breach-1000-words story probably won't do well =P

But I'm not really writing it to win, more to revisit a project that I've been leaving dormant for years.

Which is fine... It's up to you what you want to do with your story.

There was one contest where I entered a story that I knew perfectly well would get points off for the lack of development of the setting, but I didn't feel like changing the story. I didn't win that one, and I was OK with that.