Possible Poetry and/or Short Story Contest

[darkangel76]

What do people think of the idea of having a contest for poetry and/or short story (no more than a couple thousand words or so... details can be hashed out later) submissions? Not exactly sure how it would run yet (open to suggestions there) nor am I sure what the 'prize' would be (again, open to suggestions). But, if there's interest, we can all discuss and maybe host something in the fall.

Thoughts? Interest? Feedback?

 

[Chamorus the Cat]

I'm interested in submitting a short story, once more details come to light.

 

[DareToDream]

I love the idea. Don't know if I'd submit anything or not but the idea itself is great.

 

[Karameida]

I really love the idea!....

Iffy on if I'd join in....but it sounds like fun.

 

[Mitsu]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Have a separate category for poetry and for short stories. Contestants may enter one poem and one short story. All entries could be voted on by the public, for a period of three to five days. Voters may only vote for one writing per category. When that period is over, the admins and mods will place their vote, which will be worth a certain percentage of the total vote each, which could tip the scales. This is meant to avoid favoritism, and keep the contest fair for those that may produce something good, but lose out to biased voters. The prize could simply be special inclusion into a group for talented BM writers. Maybe first and second place for both categories will be included (or even just first place of each category). That's four people per contest (or two), with the possibility of repeats over time. The writer with the most votes overall, across the two contests, will get a special reward. What this reward is, I'm not sure of at the moment.

That's how I see it; what do you all think?

 

[As Day Fades]

I like the idea. I'd like to see a fairly steady amount of contests or otherwise community-wide things on the site for users to enjoy together. Being a creative writing website, this sort of contest simply makes sense. Does it have to wait until Fall though? Sooo faaarr awaayyy. Could be it gotten together and done during the month of August?


Thoughts on running it -- Two categories, Short Stories and Poems. One winner for each category. One entry per category, per user. I would suggest doing only one theme for now. If the contest proves popular, perhaps down the line it can be repeated with different themes in mind. Maybe it's just an interesting theme the entry has to be based on, or in addition to the theme there are guidelines that have to also be met: a specific word has to be used, or a specific item has to be implemented, or a specific setting has to be used. This could add some fun challenge to a so-so theme, though if the chosen theme is interesting enough on its own I wouldn't gild the lily.

As for judging it, and trying to keep things as unbiased as possible, the entries could be posted anonymously. A user would private message their entry to a specified mod/admin by a certain date, and that mod/admin can then enter all of the entries in one stickied post once the date has been reached, with the peoples' names omitted. If you want to do public voting, include a poll where people can read everything and then vote for their favorite. This won't really stop dudeguy07 from messaging all his friends telling them to vote for the eighth entry on the list though, which may or may not make a difference depending on the size of the turnout. Another idea on judging is for the mods/admin to judge the entries, as I think the integrity of the people we have in charge here goes without saying. Or in addition to that (or instead of), a few users with good writing skill and who can be trusted to be unbias can be asked to help judge anonymously.


Thoughts on prizes -- Perhaps temporary prizes similar to the Easter Egg Hunt: anyone who enters can be given a badge showing their participation and access to the VIP section, while the winner(s) receives a badge, VIP access and username color. For something more permanent, maybe some of our more talented artists on the site could be asked if they would volunteer their services to create a nice avatar/signature banner for the winner(s), or a piece of artwork; maybe something inspired by the winning entry itself.


Edit: Some additional thoughts. I'm not really feeling Mitsu's suggestion of votes from a mod/admin being worth a different amount than a standard user. I'm also not sure making a group for 'talented BM writers' is a good idea, as that's just asking to be taken the wrong way, good intentions or not. Maybe akin to the Superposters group there can be a 'Contest Winner' group/color if this is to become a repeating theme for the site? *shrugs* I can say that I, personally, was happy with the prize for the Easter Egg Hunt. Something to display permanently would be nice, but either way, I'm more interested in seeing the community inclusion this brings than the prize itself.

 

[Cosmic]

I would totally jump on this wagon! I think community contests would be awesome. Prize wise, I think it might be a bit much to ask the artists here to do something (volunteering is one thing) but perhaps a new title/username color would be cool for winners. I know that if I personally won anything here, I would just be happy with the glory of winning. (Maybe have a 'yay me' dance in my request thread/journal to brag about it.)

In any case, lovely idea. I want it to happen!

P.S.
As far as running it goes, I think As_The_Day_Fades' idea rocked. ^^ Though, I would extend it to two winners per category...

 

[Ruphhausin]

There are many talented people on here in BMR that would really shine by participating. lol

 

[darkangel76]

So glad to see so many supporting this idea and giving feedback.

I had another thought. If artists aren't feeling up to making badges or sigs or what have yous. Perhaps we could have a special thread dedicated to listing out who won what contests and when, etc. That way their name will always be up for people to see as having participated and won something. Could be fun and it'll allow us all to remember. Heck, we could even do that in conjunction with badges, if people want (and assuming someone would be willing to make something). XD

Thoughts on a 'Wall Of Fame'???

 

[As Day Fades]

If community contests are going to be a repeat thing then I think a Wall of Fame could be fun. Maybe a sticky in the General section?

Of course, I don't mean to 'volunteer' the services of any of our artists for them. We have a number who, in the past, have always shown an interest in things like this. Heck, there are a few who offer up their services even when there isn't anything going on simply for the desire of bettering their skills. So it would be nifty if things went that way; if not, there are other ideas for prizes.

A first/second/third place for each category would make sense, yeah.

 

[Cosmic]

I like the wall of fame idea a lot, I think that would be enough of a glorious prize. I'm pretty easy to please. Simply submitting writing makes me giddy. Somebody thinking that my writing is better than a fourth-grader guarantees me a nice day at the very least. ^^

Gahh! I want this bad!

 

[darkangel76]

Well, I think the colorful name can easily be implemented along with VIP access and even a title specific for contest winners. Badges and/or sigs, we'll let people come forward as they wish to submit and we can either put it to a vote or however it best works depending on who steps forward there. The Wall of Fame is extremely easy to do. The biggest thing would be..... where to put it along with any other thread associated with contests such as this. Then, we could always make a separate section in OOC for such literary contests. Or make it a subforum in ConCrit. Thoughts on that???

I also like the idea of making this into a repeat thing, assuming it goes well. We can have themes, prompts, image inspirations for each one. I suggest, to perhaps get things a bit site-wide participatory, to have members submit ideas on such things in a designated thread for such contests. Then, we can work our way through them, etc etc. Would people enjoy that???

The next issue would indeed be the judging. I think anonymous submissions might be the best way to go there. People could submit to staff and then on a designated date, we can post them for people to read and vote upon. Give people, say, a week to read and vote. The top three in each category, namely poetry and short story, will then be our winners. The only issue that always occurs in any voting situation... what if there's a tie? Any thoughts on that? Not to mention, should we let people submit to both categories if they so choose? Or just one... either/or. Thoughts there? Limiting people to one submission for a single category of their choosing will help eliminate the potentials of someone winning 2x. Might be a slim chance, but depending on the number of entries and other such things.... you never know.

 

[darkangel76]

Had a thought on a tie....... if there's a tie, then we just have that many in that place be it for 1st, 2nd or 3rd. If the # in said tie is overly ridiculous (we'll say more than 3 in a single placement), we can re-open voting for those select few that have tied to break it. That way no one person is making a final judgment call. Thoughts on that???