Amph SFFBC Writing Contest v.6 - we have a winner!!

Welcome to the 6th SFFBC writing contest.

After a long hiatus, we?re starting this up again. I?m going to be hosting this time. The rules below are pretty much it. Please look them over and PM me or post here if you have any questions. Many thanks to the former hosts, who drew some of these up.

- Entries must be entirely original stories written by the submitting author within the contest period, based on that month's prompt (see below).

- Entries must be either science fiction or fantasy stories. Either genre is acceptable, as well as subgenres.

- Fan fiction (stories based on pre-existing characters or worlds from film, television, or books, including but not limited to Star Wars) is not accepted.

- This contest is open to all registered posters of the Jedi Council Forums. You do not have to be a regular poster in SFFBC in order to enter this contest.

- Entries have to be complete stories, not just a part of a larger story, unless it could be published as a short story on its own (in other words, doesn't mention any other plotlines or conflicts).

- Entries must adhere to the JC Terms of Service and the Fan Fiction FAQ (V. What can I post in story forums?). If you have a question if your story or a story element is within the TOS, PM NYCitygurl to ask. Stories that violate the Terms of Service in any way will be disqualified. Keep it clean!

- From the date of the prompt (April 3, 2008) you have approximately five weeks to write your story (deadline is May 15 at midnight board time). You may submit your story any time, but it is recommended that even if you finish early, you take the remaining time to revise and strengthen your story. If you submit early and wish to make changes or switch entries, you may do so.

- Final entries have a minimum wordcount of 2000 words, and a maximum wordcount of 10000 words.

- Final entries must be PMed to NYCitygurl. You may only submit one entry.

If you would like to judge, please PM me before May 31. If you originally intended to write but never got around to it, you can judge if you let me know on time.

Judges will score each entry out of 10 possible points in several categories:

• Overall Creativity


• Writing Ability


• Grammar/Mechanics


• Use of the prompt


• Entertainment Value

The scores for each story will then be averaged, and the story with the highest score will be deemed the winner. The judging time will depend upon the number of entries. Judges may not submit entries.

Once judging has concluded, the stories will be made available for public viewing, unless the author specifically requests otherwise.


The winning author will receive VIP status, title, and choice of colors for one full week. If a mod wins, then the runner-up gets the colors.



PROMPT:

First sentence:

[insert name here] took a deep breath.

 

I've been waiting for this for a while, and I really hope things work out this time. Long live writing contests!

*goes to catch a few plot bunnies*

 

The prompt is nice and open.

 

Wow! I didn't think it'd be up so soon. But the prompt is nice and vague. Hopefully a bunny'll show up in the trap I set.

 

All right. I will see what my muse does for me for this. Writing to commence soon I hope.

 

Prompt? Check.

Word fired up? Check.

Coca-Cola? Check.

Cigarettes? Check.

Led Zeppelin? Check.

We're showing green across the board.

 

I might give this a go. Not sure if I'll make the deadline though

 

Come on!! You've got 5 weeks (because I've got AP exams at the original four-week deadline ).

 

*rubs hands together in anticipation* Muaha, I am quite excited for this. I shall start plotting.

 

I'll just remind you that I'm nearly Ravenclaw-ish in terms of procrastination (see: when the last time I updated Panic was... )

 

Meh, true

 

Count me in - I've already got a crazy story cooking up in my head already.

 

I'll see if I can come up with something.

 

The nifty Word Count toolbar says 701 words!

 

Good. I've got a few ideas smashing around in the old noggin. Let's see what comes out.

 

Five weeks, eh? I'm sure I can rustle up something in that time. The only question is, what?

 

Hmm....I have an idea...and then I realized that it's another rather depressing storyline, and literally all my non Face of a Warrior writing so far have been depressing

Maybe enough coffee and suger plus an all-nighter over break next week might be enough for some more humorous inspiration...or maybe not.

 

Hm... I may be able to do this.

 

I'll definately be doing this. I haven't written an original piece in years. This is going to be quite a challenge.

What exactly is a subgenre, by the way?

 

^ Genre within a genre. Like, cyberpunk is a subgenre of sci-fi, that sort of thing

The deadline's long enough that I should be able to cook something up. Count me in!

 

Woo hoo! I'm looking forward to writing something like you wouldn't believe...after NANOWRIMO, I haven't done anything creative

 

I too am thinking about entering the contest, although I have a pretty busy schedule. If I don't submit an entry in time, I would be interested in judging.

Question....since you are the host of the game NYCitygurl, can you participate in the contest as well?

 

Wow. This was fast! I have an idea-- unwritten because it's so blastedly vague in my head -- that might start perfectly this way. Five weeks will be enough.

 

*dances* Yes, yes!

When I woke up this morning and checked the trap, there was a bunny inside!

Now my only problem is seeing if I can squelch it into just 10K words, and make it readable as a standalone...

 

Still have a question, though.
10.000 words aren't a lot of words to work with and I'm hoping to squash a decent story into such a small frame. So does the story have to be complete in itself?

I'm guessin yes, since it wouldn't make too much sense otherwise.
It's not so much the ideas, it's the 10K I might have a problem with.