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WCT - [COMPETITION OVERHAUL - NEED IDEAS] The Writing Competition Thread


HalcyonSpirit
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First order of business:

what the hell is UTC?

(edit: i do know what UTC is, just wasn't aware of this contest using it...)

Well, I still have another contest in March. Hopefully I won't be as busy then.

We weren't using it until I came along. I'm an engineer, what can you expect? :-P

A shame you weren't able to finish your poem, though. Maybe next time, eh? You can still post it in the general Writing Thread in OffTop; if nothing else, I still want to read it!

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Second order of business:

I've largely been cut off from the Internet for the past 9 hours, so I couldn't post my "finished" work until right this moment... I wrote this piece in one sitting, all today, and it probably isn't good at all. I didn't really even edit it and I did really rush it. In any case, here's my entry into the competition (it's a miracle I got anything done at all!):

Waiting by HalcyonSpirit

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Third order of business:

The submission stage is now officially over! (Well, it was over 7.5 hours ago, but like I said above, I got cut off from the Internet for a bit...) In any case, we've got 8 entries for this round! Wonderful!

The Solo by Rophell

Iron Desire by AJiLe

The Stone by Stove_Top

Twins by Jam Stunna

Heaven in a Box by Random Hajile

Girl Stuff by M W

To Be Human by just64helpin

Waiting by HalcyonSpirit

You have two (2) weeks to vote! Remember to review the voting rules if this is your first time voting, and good luck to everyone!

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One week left to vote! I've gotten one person's vote so far.

How many votes of extraterrestrials have you received so far?

I'll print em out tonight, look over them throughout the week on the bus to and from school.

edit: well, instead of doing homework, I read them all. It's interesting how much love and death seemed to have influenced so many of them... (what a surprise, they're of the most popular topics in art... lol)...

...and yet how none of them have a very conclusive ending.

My submission would have included a reference to death, too. I wonder if there's a rational explanation for this phenomenon. I get the love, it could have been caused by my signature, but the death? :/

Anyway, I'll be racking my brains regarding this for a while. EXCELLENT SUBMISSIONS. :nicework:

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So...not entirely. but I'm back gentlemen, it's been a long while, and my freshman debut put me out on top, and I haven't had time to do any submissions since then. I realize it's in vote phase, so I'll wait for the next re-up, but I'm hopping back in, and it's good to see some of the folks that were here when I was last still kicking. See you soon!

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WM: Good to have you back! Just remember that you can vote on the current submissions as well!

How many votes of extraterrestrials have you received so far?

Surprisingly, none. Usually we get at least 5 different votes from them by now. :-P

As for the topics... well, it is the winter months in the northern hemisphere. People tend to get thoughtful on these subjects during this time of apparent death and melancholy... or at least I do.

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Welcome back WM... i'm still reeling from the awesomeness that was your short story.

Surprisingly, none. Usually we get at least 5 different votes from them by now.

Ah, too bad. :/

oh and i will post that poem... soon. I need to get into my mood though. You know, self-hating, world-loathing brilliance doesn't happen when you've got that spring in your step. lol nah it's not that bad.

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hey you're right.... it must have been the "non-sexual" in my signature :/

I don't think it's that. I've read some pretty interest theory on fantasy/scifi. One of the things pitched was that most writers of genre fiction tend to magnetically attract eachother for some strange reason.

... in the case of diehard scifi, there are probably actual magnets involved.

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OK people... I'm disappointed. It's the end of the official voting period, and I've got 5 PMs in my inbox with votes. So I've got 6 votes in total, including mine. One of those votes was from someone who didn't even enter this round, and I know Rophell can't vote because he got ban-hammered. There were 8 entries, so two of you people didn't vote this round.

This... is... UNACCEPTABLE!!! *boots them into the pit of writing oblivion*

Alright, enough with the dramatics. For those of you who haven't voted yet (and I'm including all you people who didn't enter this round, too), you're in luck. It just so happens that I have a test tomorrow that I need to study for and a job hunt to perform on Tuesday, so chances are I won't be able to count the votes until after that. If you submit your votes before I come back with the results, they will be counted. Just keep in mind that I'm only doing this because I want more votes for this round.

Note to self: Next round, send out PMs to all current and former entrants reminding them to vote.

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Note to self: Next round, send out PMs to all current and former entrants reminding them to vote.

Bout time you realized what a great idea that was MR ENGINEER!!

Uses UTC but can't even send out PMs for votes... man.. what a... (mumbles)

just messin. Did you send out PMs to the people who didn't vote already in the compo?

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Well, I'm back, and no more votes have been submitted. Therefore...

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

1st Place: Waiting by HalcyonSpirit

Runner-Up: Iron Desire by AJiLe

Here's the vote spread:

Waiting by HalcyonSpirit: 7

Iron Desire by AJiLe: 6

The Solo by Rophell: 5

Girl Stuff by M W: 4

Heaven in a Box by Random Hajile: 4

Twins by Jam Stunna: 3

To Be Human by just64helpin: 2

The Stone by Stove_Top: 2

Congratulations to everyone who participated in this round! I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the entries. There are definitely some quality writers on this forum. AJiLe, congrats on making Runner-Up; your entry was somewhat unique while retaining a bit of simplicity, and I like that in a story.

As for the winner... well, shit. Color me surprised. Seriously, I was not expecting my entry to do well at all, let alone win a competition here for me for the first time ever. Thank you, it definitely gives me some more confidence in my own writing.

I may actually have time between now and the start of the next competition to do some reviews of these entries. If you would like me to review yours specifically, let me know and I can make it a priority. I can post such reviews in the thread, or you can have me PM you them. Either way, just let me know.

Good job everyone! I'm looking forward to the next round!

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I was hoping I could do a bit better this round, but I guess I didn't exactly... fit in? Science fiction was a dominant force.

Don't think you did bad or that you weren't better. Your story was good, and I liked it better than your poem (more fleshed out, though the poem was very concise).

It's just... everyone was so good. For me, voting was almost all about what I liked most and not what was deserving based on merit because... these were all great submissions with few to no serious issues that would really turn me against a piece.

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It's just... everyone was so good. For me, voting was almost all about what I liked most and not what was deserving based on merit because... these were all great submissions with few to no serious issues that would really turn me against a piece.

This. This right here. Merit still played a majority role in my decision, but personal preference was a big factor too this time due to the sheer quality of all the entries.

I think the vote would've been even closer than it was had more people actually turned up to vote. Personal preference did play a larger role in this round, a role that could've been canceled out with a large number of votes. So for the entrants who didn't get as many votes, know that your piece was right up there with the winners'.

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Don't think you did bad or that you weren't better. Your story was good, and I liked it better than your poem (more fleshed out, though the poem was very concise).

Not to advertise, but if that's the truth, you'd be happy to be informed of where it was excerpted from.

Novelettes are so prejudiced against. It's either short stories or novellas. Seldom anything inbetween.

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Not to advertise, but if that's the truth, you'd be happy to be informed of where it was excerpted from.

Novelettes are so prejudiced against. It's either short stories or novellas. Seldom anything inbetween.

It isn't all that common, no.

The short story makes a little more sense in the larger context, heh.

(just btw, your layout looks very... interesting. Not boring. perhaps just bordering on overly-crowded-insane-madness but taking a step back from being overboard)

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