Basically, we are having a literary contest here at RV to encourage creative writing! The contest will be judged by a number of your peers, and you will write a story/piece based on a theme or prompt, that is yet to be determined. The winner will be mailed a $20 gift certificate or card! There is NO REASON not to go ahead and try this!

NOTE: The word cap has been raised to 3,000 words! Again, do not feel obligated to reach this limit, it is only a guideline so that we (the judges) aren't overwhelmed.

The contest is now underway! As seen in the title and below in the rules, you have until March 7, 2010, to finish and submit your story. Anyone who does not submit their piece by this time will not qualify. There are no exceptions. I'd like to thank everyone who is participating, and best of luck!

The Rules and Other Relevant Information
Please note that by entering the contest, I expect you to do your very best to follow the rules and submit a piece to us to be judged.

Approved prompt/theme: Write a story that centers around an inanimate object. Also, please note that entries must be in short story or essay form. No poems, please.

Prize: A $20 gift card to your store/place of choice! (Granted that I can get it in my town. We're pretty big, we have most major stores and restaurants.)

Timeframe: February 21st-March 7th. You have 2 weeks to get me your piece. Please submit it to me via PM and I will forward it to the other judges.

Length Requirement: 3,000 words will be the cap, anything less is acceptable. Note that if you submit a piece that is over 3,000 words, you will be disqualified.

Your stories will be primarily judged by creativity and originality, as well as adhering to the prompt. For example, if our final prompt is the inanimate object one, and you write a story about a teenage boy that has nothing to do with the prompt, you're probably not going to win. Grammar, punctuation, and general good writing skills and storytelling will play a part as well; though not a super huge part. If you write a great story but use a comma instead of a semicolon in one spot, I don't see it hurting your chances. However, if your story goes something like "Omg lol one tiem there was ths oragne, and it was the rippest oragne ever..." it goes without saying that your chances of winning are going to go down. Knowledge of literary components (plot, theme, setting, character development...) will no doubt help you as well.

Participants:

Penguinguy
Bluecoat
Scar
kikori kid
topsummoner
J Assassin
Riptide
Lochner
Sarah
the123king

Judges:
Landerpurex
Jaron
Thyker
Rocky Martin

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I would be interested, but it would be wrong to put the burden of the prize on you shoulders. Maybe a signature voted on by the participants?

Anyway, I'm all in favor of a flash fiction contest, as long as we put a cap on the word counts. It would be a shame to have newer/inexperienced writers competing against 10 page short stories.

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Interested in playing Dungeons and Dragons playtesting paper and pencil rpgs playing Dungeons and Dragons with your fellow villagers? Drop me Eadwulf me a pm!

Sure.

Also send me some writing exercises. I wouldn't mind trying some.

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Don't worry about the prize, blue. It's nothing at all, if it entices ANYONE to join the fun then it's job is done.

And I'll pm you with some exercises top. Is there anything that you want to work on in particular?

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My writing.

sorry I can't be more specific

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Join us at the RV Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/DgtPWPM

I may be interested in the contest, I mainly write for fun when I think of something cool but it could be fun.

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Consider my interest peaked.

Get out of here, you geezer!



Is anyone who doesn't want to participate who would be interested in helping to judge? (I'll troll Jaron until he agrees but other than that, I'm drawing a blank.)

I'm thinking if we can get *at least* five contestants, I'll go ahead with the competition. I assume we need at least three judges, and a prompt or theme. Start throwing ideas out there, people.

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Write your morning / wake-up schedule in a dramatic manner without using four letter words. Most epic wins.

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Goten is dead!

I was good with that until the no 4 letter words thing lol

Maybe take a normal reallife experience and fictionalize it? Like make your drive to work or school crossed with a fantasy action world?

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No four letter words is a very stressful but effective test of your vocabulary. I think that's quite important. But, for the sake of not being horrible, it's just a paragraph.
Good warm-up, if nothing else?

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Goten is dead!

Fair enough, if it is to long with out those precious words it could easily deter some people from trying. I would be ok with it though.

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Mine as well.

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I'd be interested in seeing what comes of this, although I won't be participating in it myself. I could volunteer to judge some stuff if you want though.

So a dramatized drive to work/school will work, right?

Haven't really come to a concrete decision yet, but feel free to write a piece following the guidelines provided. Best case scenario, we end up doing that and you can submit that, worst case scenario you exercise your skill and have something you could possible turn in/work with later.

Everyone who is interested in the competition 100% for sure, make a post making it clear. Also, include a yay or nay to kikori's prompt. Feel free to include your own. I'll make a list in the OP. Like I said, I'd like *at least* five participants.

Also note that I personally think kik's prompt is a little too tough, but he's right as well. It would test vocabulary, and it would be narrow enough for us to judge it easily. I agree with Scar in that it might deter some people from participating. Nothing is official yet, though. Also, I have no idea why ANYONE would pass this up. As I listed above, best case scenario, you submit it and win twenty bucks, essentially. You lose, you have a cool piece of writing for future use.

Any other ideas are most welcome, feel free to post more than one. It doesn't have to be original, if you find something online or in a textbook that sounds fun, go ahead and post it.

Thyker, consider yourself a judge. I'll shoot Jaron a PM and see if he'd be interested.

Also from now on, this thread will be about the contest, as we've gotten a few people interested.

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I am personally interested and will hopefully try my best to enter.

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It would be my pleasure. =)

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.Legendary themed months are back! Maybe.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not gonna lie, I'm really good at writing.

So good, in fact, that I'll spare you all the misery of defeat and volunteer to judge this spectacular event.

(Too busy to compete, but not too busy to read. Need a fourth?)

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Are you sure you're too busy to compete? It's a free twenty bucks!

We could probably squeeze you in. If anyone else would like to judge, feel free to post, but keep in mind that myself, Jaron, Thyker, and Rocky are the judges. Anyone posting interest after rocky will be considered a replacement, should one of us not be able to judge.

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