Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

General
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Hey everybody, Babybutt and I have been working on the rules and such of the contest and we have hammered everything out so i guess all that is left to do is tell you guys about it.
Firts off you will haveto post an outline to a story, ill be giving you the details later in this post. Then after all the outlines are in , you will be assigned a random outline. Everyone who wishes to enter must post an outline.
We are going to use a mix of voting and judges for this. So we are going to have two judges who will remain nameless through out the competition, one writes stories for the board the other on doesnt. Then we will also put it to a public vote aswell.
you guys are going to have about a month to write your story after you get your outline, and the story has to be between 3,00 and 10,000 words long.
Ok so if i have forgotten anything Babybutt let us know but i think i have said everything. so with out further adew here are the rules for the outlines.
The Deadline For The Outlines Is Midnight Of April 7th 2009

Outline Submission Rules

  1. All submissions need to be sent by private message to the user UCSS by no later than Midnight of April 7th, 2009 EST. Anyone can submit an outline, and may submit more than one.

2.All entries are to be kept anonymous. If the identity of an author of a submission is revealed, then the outline will be disqualified.

3.All outlines must meet the following criteria:

A)It may not include the main character’s gender, or any physical feature (ie… height).

B)It must include their occupation, with one specific characteristic (ie… an uptight twenty five year old mechanic that works on motorcycles). The occupation has to be a mainstream occupation (Doctor, lawyer, clerk, etc…).

C)It must give a general idea of why they’re there, what they’re trying to accomplish, and any limiting circumstances.

D)It must include a place, but not a particular location. (an amusement park is OK, but Disney’s Magic Kingdom is not.)

E)The purpose of the outline is not to provide the story, but to provide specific elements that constrain the direction of the story.

F)Options can be included, that would give the author the ability to take the story in one of several directions limited by the choices.

G)Along with the premise, the description of the main character, and the location, the submission may include no more than eight limiting circumstances.

H)The outline submission needs to be submitted using the format of the example below.

Premise: The character decides they need to relax so it’s time for a vacation and books a cruise. During the cruise, they meet a person that really interests them. In the process of getting to know each other, the person is determined to get the character to relax.

Main Character: a high strung, thirty year old air traffic controller.

Location: Cruise ship.

  1. Character makes their way to the ship and finds their cabin.
  2. Meets person at dinner the first night.
  3. They agree to spend the next day on an excursion off ship
  4. They find they’re really attracted to each other, and end up spending the night together.
  5. The next day, the person takes the plunge and explains that they’re an AB.
  6. OPTION. Either the person convinces the Character to try this, or the Character enjoys caring for the person.
  7. Resolution

Good luck everyone, the contest has now officially begun

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

Hmm… are you and Babybutt the judges perchance?

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

nope we are not going to judge it, we will reveal the judges after voting and all. dont worry tho the judges wont know who has submitted stories either. were trying to keep any and all politics out of this

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

That was one of the things that took so long to set this up. Getting two folks to agree to judge the entries.

Niether I or Someguy will know who wrote what. This has been set up so that we could compete without a conflict of interest.

I have every intention of competing in this contest, and I HOPE Someguy does too.

For all you folks out there, this is an opportunity to get a story written with a plot you specifically wanted to see done, so take the time to submit an outline!

Thanks,

BabyButt

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

A few things…

It might have been a good idea to have the member UCSS post this, or at least post somewhere in this thread, so that people can just click on the PM button to submit, rather than having to hunt that user down in our Member List.

Also, unless submissions are going to be going on for a very long time, it would make more sense to call this the Spring Story Bash Contest, especially since our regular short story contest takes place in Summer. And on a similar note, you don’t make any mention of a deadline.

Oh, and I assume you meant 3,000 to 10,000 words, not 300 to 10,000.

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

Actually, why not you just give everyone a theme and then get them to write upon it? Sounds a lot simpler than doing all those outlines, plus there’s a basic standard to judge them on.

Otherwise, I could submit a hard-to-write outline and sabotage whoever gets it.

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

Or Casper, you could not be a dick. Presumably if an outline is ridiculous then the judges/UCSS account will PM and ask for a new one.

Also, prior to judging/voting the stories should be presented along with the outline so that we can judge not necessarily just which is best, but who did the best given what they were given.

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

You could make an account with the password public (or at least available to contest entrants, who could be determined from the people who send in outlines as it doesn’t matter whether or not people know who wrote them) and then have people post their stories using that account.

You’d have to trust people, though. And how you would assign the outlines….

The judges would have to know.

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

You said you aren’t including any characteristics in these stories but you have put an age in both of the examples.

Would it be acceptable to say “Mid twenties” or something similar. I am just thinking because an outline which included a teacher for example. If the main character were a 23 year old teacher then the story will be nearly completely different to having a 53 year old teacher.

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

Hi Folks,

Elizabeth,

It might have been a good idea to have the member UCSS post this, or at least post somewhere in this thread, so that people can just click on the PM button to submit, rather than having to hunt that user down in our Member List.

I’ll have the persont that is manning this account do just that. Thanks for pointing that out.

Also, unless submissions are going to be going on for a very long time, it would make more sense to call this the Spring Story Bash Contest, especially since our regular short story contest takes place in Summer. And on a similar note, you don’t make any mention of a deadline.

I’ve already PM’d Someguy and asked him to change this to Spring instead of Summer. Also, Item one of the rules shows April 7th as the deadline for submissions of the outlines.

We definitely didn’t want overlap of the two contests, and neither did Vickie when I verified that there would be another short story contest this summer.

Oh, and I assume you meant 3,000 to 10,000 words, not 300 to 10,000.

Yes, that’s a typo. Thanks for pointing it out.

Vickie,

Yes and I also add - this is an unofficial contest.

[quote]I am wondering this: Quote:
Niether I or Someguy will know who wrote what.

How does that work, exactly? Did the person who opened the account UCSS turn it over to the judges or something? [/quote]

I have asked Someguy to add the word “Unofficial” to the thread subject. That was an oversight. I personally turned the UCSS account over to someone that is active on the forums. They have agreed to take the outlines and assign numbers to them, so they are the only ones that know who submitted them.

[quote]Quote:
2.All entries are to be kept anonymous. If the identity of an author of a submission is revealed, then the outline will be disqualified.

You mean people can’t post and say, “Oh, that one is mine,” right? Not that they have to anonymously submit their work. I don’t want a bunch of people with multiple accounts on this forum. That kind of thing, if we catch you, will get you in trouble.[/quote]

You have it exactly right. We don’t want to see “That’s my outline” out on the boards.

No, I wasn’t suggesting that they create a new account. That would be a nightmare for us and you. Sorry for the confusion.

I’m still confused as to how neither the judges, Someguy, or BB are going to know who wrote what.

I no longer have the password for the UCSS account. The person that is handling this will assign numbers to them. I have specifically asked them not to reveal this info to anyone, not even me or Someguy.

Casper88,

Actually, why not you just give everyone a theme and then get them to write upon it? Sounds a lot simpler than doing all those outlines, plus there’s a basic standard to judge them on.

The goal here was to get more folks involved, and end up with some good, unique stories. If everyone is covering the same theme, it might get a bit repetitious.

The standards they will be judged on are mechanics, creativity, and did they stay within the outline.

Nemo,

Presumably if an outline is ridiculous then the judges/UCSS account will PM and ask for a new one.

Yes, this is exactly right. If there are more outlines than the number of contestants, than that one would just be put aside.

Also, prior to judging/voting the stories should be presented along with the outline so that we can judge not necessarily just which is best, but who did the best given what they were given.

Exactly, the two will be posted together.

Falz,

You said you aren’t including any characteristics in these stories but you have put an age in both of the examples.

Would it be acceptable to say “Mid twenties” or something similar. I am just thinking because an outline which included a teacher for example. If the main character were a 23 year old teacher then the story will be nearly completely different to having a 53 year old teacher.

That was a bit of an oversight. I meant physical characteristics. Giving the age is fine.

I hope this answers your questions. I apologize for all of the confusion.

Thanks,

BabyButt

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

Very detailed. Now you just have to perhaps name a specific date for outline entries to end.

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

It’s in the number 1 of the rules, Nemo.

April 7th. Midnight EDT.

I appreciate all of your patience with this. There’s a bit of a learning curve, as I’ve never done this before. :slight_smile:

Thanks,

BB

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Send Outlines Here

Hello everyone,

Please send the outlines you want to enter into the contest to this account via PM

Thank you,

UCSS

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

That was edited in, right?

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

Argh. Losing my mind. Thank God I’m off on holiday in 5 hours.

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

If it makes you feel any better, I did the exact same thing, Nemo.

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

This tells me that I should probably ask Someguy to split that onto the first line by itself.

If you two missed it, then others will also.

I’m starting to wonder if I suck at this. :slight_smile:

Thanks,

BabyButt

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

Hey sorry about all the confusion, i think it is all sorted now, I really need to log on more. And thanks BabyButt for answering all the questions, i think you handled that way better then i would have

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DEADLINE EXTENDED!

Spring Story Bash Un-Official Contest DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED

Outline submissions are now being accepted through April 14, 2009 at 11:59pm

Thank you,

UCSS

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Spring Story Bash Un Official Contest

Sweet - I was about to ask for an extension.