Summer 2016 Nationstates Short Story Contest

[Equestria and Griffon]

It's been over 365 days since the last one began...

Welcome to the 2016 iliteration of the Nationstates Short Story Contest. Here are the rules:

Rule 1: Keep it PG-13.
Rule 2:A minimum of 250 words,a limit of a whopping 4650.
Rule 3:Have fun!
Rule 4:Deadline is July 31st at 8:00 PM EST.
Rule 5:No fanfic, but public domain characters are fine
Rule 6:Mind the site rules
Rule 7:The story must be original (not published or previously posted on the internet)

Good luck for everything!

FOR JUDGING:

Judging starts four days after writing ends,which is when all judges are picked at Noon EST on July 31st.

RUBRIC:

From last contest:

The scoring is going to work a little differently than in past contests. After adjusting the rubric a few times, we couldn't come up with one that everyone was satisfied with, so we're trying a less structured approach to see if it works any better.

Each judge will assign a score on a scale of 1 to 100 and provide an explanation of their reasoning. Judges, please go into some detail discussing different elements of the story, explaining what worked and what didn't. You can use the following rubric as a guide.

Characters:
Plot:
Setting:
Creativity:
Style and Mechanics:

Score: /100

Remember,in this situation swastikas (the Buddist ones,not Hitler-turned) are still good luck!卍卍卍!

ATTENTION:WE ARE NOW RECRUITING JUDGES

[USS Monitor]

It's been over 365 days since the last one began...

Welcome to the 2016 iliteration of the Nationstates Short Story Contest. Here are the rules:

Rule 1: Keep it PG-13.
Rule 2:A minimum of 250 words,a limit of 750.
Rule 3:Have fun!

Good luck for everything!

You should probably have a deadline and a system to determine the winner.

[Anollasia]

Do we just post here?

[Gynocracy]

Good question; how and where do we post?

[Respubliko de Libereco]

For reference, in case you want to update the OP to be a bit more comprehensive, here are the traditional rules (modified slightly):

Rules:

Writing deadline is INSERT DEADLINE. (Your post containing your entry can not be edited after the deadline.)
750 word maximum, 250 word minimum
No fanfic, but public domain characters are fine
Mind the site rules
The story must be original (not published or previously posted on the internet)

And here's the scoring system used last time (though you could also go with the more rigid rubric from older contests).

The scoring is going to work a little differently than in past contests. After adjusting the rubric a few times, we couldn't come up with one that everyone was satisfied with, so we're trying a less structured approach to see if it works any better.

Each judge will assign a score on a scale of 1 to 100 and provide an explanation of their reasoning. Judges, please go into some detail discussing different elements of the story, explaining what worked and what didn't. You can use the following rubric as a guide.

Code: Select all

[b]Characters:[/b]
[b]Plot:[/b]
[b]Setting:[/b]
[b]Creativity:[/b]
[b]Style and Mechanics[/b]:

[b]Score:[/b] /100

And links to past contests:

Winter 2015

Autumn/Fall 2014

Summer 2014

Winter 2013

Summer 2013

Winter 2012

Autumn/Fall/Halloween 2012

Summer 2012

Spring 2012

The Short Story Contest (Winter 2011)

All copied more-or-less verbatim from NFP's OP for the previous contest.


As an aside, while I'd be willing to give the 750-word limit a shot, it strikes me as unusually short. When I suggested a 2000 word limit people thought that was too short.

Also, you're gonna want to put a lot of effort into recruiting judges so that we don't end up with a repeat of the last contest's prolonged death.

Finally, while I do intend to enter the contest, you can count on me as a back-up judge if necessary.

EDIT: Also, the "iliteration" typo really doesn't bode well...

[The New Greek Republic]

Think it's time for the very unanticipated Jericho sequel

[Equestria and Griffon]

Good question; how and where do we post?

For this one,simple!

You write the things on Google Docs.

Put the docks on this thread.

We will read them and give scores!

[Respubliko de Libereco]

Good question; how and where do we post?

For this one,simple!

You write the things on Google Docs.

Put the docks on this thread.

We will read them and give scores!

"We" being who?

[Adytus]

Do we post the stories here or do we send them to someone?

[USS Monitor]

Do we post the stories here or do we send them to someone?

Good question; how and where do we post?

For this one,simple!

You write the things on Google Docs.

Put the docks on this thread.

We will read them and give scores!

[The Arabian Knights]

Once upon a time, the end.

[The Blaatschapen]

Stickied, since the last one was as well.

Inform Moderation to unsticky when this is over

[Equestria and Griffon]

For this one,simple!

You write the things on Google Docs.

Put the docks on this thread.

We will read them and give scores!

"We" being who?

The Judges,of course!

[USS Monitor]

"We" being who?

The Judges,of course!

Who are the judges? You need to recruit some.

[Foledonia]

Only 750 words?

[The Grene Knyght]

I'll probably post something if I have the time.

[Foledonia]

I would love to participate, but the 750 limit word count is too restrictive.

I doubt anybody can write a compelling or truly entertaining short story in only 750 words. That's hardly enough to even fill in context or character development, never mind the plot.

I'm sorry, but I must humbly request the limit extended to 2000 words. Preferably 3000.

Thank you for your time.

[The Grene Knyght]

I would love to participate, but the 750 limit word count is too restrictive.

I doubt anybody can write a compelling or truly entertaining short story in only 750 words. That's hardly enough to even fill in context or character development, never mind the plot.

I'm sorry, but I must humbly request the limit extended to 2000 words. Preferably 3000.

Thank you for your time.

I think the problem with that would be that it'd take too long to judge. If 15 or 20 people submit, it'd comprise overall the length of a short novel.
Besides, all a restrictive word count does is forces you to challenge yourself as a writer.

[Foledonia]

I would love to participate, but the 750 limit word count is too restrictive.

I doubt anybody can write a compelling or truly entertaining short story in only 750 words. That's hardly enough to even fill in context or character development, never mind the plot.

I'm sorry, but I must humbly request the limit extended to 2000 words. Preferably 3000.

Thank you for your time.

[Respubliko de Libereco]

I doubt anybody can write a compelling or truly entertaining short story in only 750 words. That's hardly enough to even fill in context or character development, never mind the plot.

I agree that 750 is unusually short, but it's not impossible. I think that many people grossly overestimate the importance of plot and characters. A short work that depicts a single scene, with an emphasis more on description and atmosphere, can work. Here's one by Lovecraft (that I originally learned about from Shaggai, I think), and another by Kafka.

It would still probably be a good idea to extend the limit, though. Maybe also the deadline.

[USS Monitor]

I would love to participate, but the 750 limit word count is too restrictive.

I doubt anybody can write a compelling or truly entertaining short story in only 750 words. That's hardly enough to even fill in context or character development, never mind the plot.

I'm sorry, but I must humbly request the limit extended to 2000 words. Preferably 3000.

Thank you for your time.

I think the problem with that would be that it'd take too long to judge. If 15 or 20 people submit, it'd comprise overall the length of a short novel.
Besides, all a restrictive word count does is forces you to challenge yourself as a writer.

Judging was an issue we had in the past, but that was with a limit of 6000 words, not 2000. That was also with a much longer deadline that made it easier to get a lot of entries.

When I hosted these, I made long deadlines, because when Jenrak hosted it we had to extend the deadline due to lack of entries.

[The Federation of Kendor]

What no fanfic means?

[USS Monitor]

What no fanfic means?

No borrowing copyrighted material. If you aren't sure if something is copyrighted, either look it up or just don't use it. So no Jedi or Harry Potter or starship Enterprise or whatever.

[The Federation of Kendor]

What no fanfic means?

No borrowing copyrighted material. If you aren't sure if something is copyrighted, either look it up or just don't use it. So no Jedi or Harry Potter or starship Enterprise or whatever.

So i can't join because i wanted to write fanfic but i can't post it to Fanfiction net, AO3, Wattpad, or other fanfics website because i don't have an account there and i don't want to reveal to you why because it's secret

[Unitaristic Regions]

Not to be a dick, but isn't that deadline a little harsh? It gives you 15 days to post since the OP, which is not a lot of time... and I'm only noticing this contest now, although that's probably my fault.