:::Character Matters::: WINNERS ANNOUNCED

We have a new deadline...

Announcement is on the front page	10.7%	[ 3 ]
The new deadline is February 29th	32.1%	[ 9 ]
There will be no more extensions	21.4%	[ 6 ]
So get those entries in!	7.1%	[ 2 ]
Thanks everyone! <3 Wishing	28.6%	[ 8 ]
Total Votes:			[ 28 ]

[WishingTreeCreation]

Hello everyone and welcome to my very first writing contest!

You can call me Wishing, and I am here because I love writing and reading other people's stories. I've won/placed in a few contests here over the last few months and I decided it's time to hold my own contest.

Instead of just giving prizes to those who place, I am going to be giving detailed critique to everyone who enters. I know some of you may be wondering, "Who are you to judge my work?" Honestly, I'm not anything special. I'm not a published author or a professional editor or even a college English major. But I have been doing this for a long time and I've learned a lot thanks to the advice of others. What I'm going to be offering you is just that: advice. You can take it or leave it as you see fit. I just don't think it's fair to give out prizes to some and not to others without ever explaining why one person won and another didn't.

If you don't want critique, just say so when you send me your entry. I never try to be mean or put other people's work down without cause, but I am honest. If you can't handle that, let me know up front so we can avoid the confrontation. I hate it when people ask me for my oppinion on their writing and then get mad at me for suggesting things they need to work on. I don't mind discussing it further, but please don't be hostile. Remember, I am trying to help you become a better writer.

Alright, enough of that. Let's get on to the good stuff!

[WishingTreeCreation]

Theme

The theme for this contest is the same as the title: Character Matters. Basically, I want you to give me a story with well-developed characters. I want to be able to relate to and feel for all of your characters, even the villains. I want to understand their motives and goals. I want to see them driving the plot forward and interacting with each other in interesting and believable ways. I want characters with dimension.

Criteria

Here are some things that will help your writing stand out to me and give you a better chance of winning.

-This should be obvious considering the theme, but I'll say it again. Strong characterization. Make your characters feel real. And by that I do not mean you sit there and tell me how beautiful they are or what their favorite color is. Show me who they are as the story progresses.

-Solid dialogue. There's nothing I love more than great dialogue in a story. In fact, I almost made this a dialogue contest. I know it's a struggle for many people, but that's part of the challenge. Show me your best.

-An interesting plot. Just because we're focusing on characters here doesn't mean I want a big character study and no story. Give me a great story too!

-I'm not going to be too harsh on tiny grammar details but please don't write like a 5 year old who never learned proper English. Also, if you are not a native English speaker, you can tell me that when you submit your entry (but you don't have to if you don't want to).

- Short stories, plays, chapters/scenes from novels are all acceptable as long as they are over 500 words and no more than 10,000 words. No poetry. I like it, but I don't know enough about it to judge it fairly.

-Anything goes. Any genre, any style, any rating. I'm not offended by anything. The only thing I have a problem with is unnecessary sex or violent or random scenes that are in no way relevant to the plot. No one needs to read about it when it isn't important to the story.

-The deadline to submit entries is February 13th February 29th (leap year). See announcement below.

Quote:

ANNOUNCEMENT
Thanks to our lovely poll, I can see that a good portion of you would like the deadline to be extended. Others don't care either way, so I have decided to extend the deadline until February 29th. There will be no more extensions after this no matter how much you beg me so use your time wisely and get your entries in. Thank you so much and I look forward to reading more great entries soon!

[WishingTreeCreation]

Rules

Please pay attention to this part! Breaking the rules may get you disqualified.
1. Follow the ToS. Simple enough.

2. No plagiarizing. I will be checking entries. If I find out you stole it from someone else, automatic disqualification.

3. Again, please use proper spelling and grammar as best as you can. I also don't want to read 5000 words in one big wall of text. Paragraphs, please.

4. Please PM me your entry and put something in the subject so that I know this is a contest entry. You may post it here as well if you would like, but I want everything PMed to me so I can keep track of it. If your story has a rating higher than PG-13, you can still enter but need to PM it to me only, not post it here.

5. Don't criticize other people's work. If they ask for feedback, fine, but that needs to be worked out through PM. I don't want any fights started here.

6. Follow the criteria I posted above, but don't be afraid to push the limits of your writing.

7. You may submit up to three entries, but you can only win once so it might be best to just put all your time and effort into one great story.

8. Chat, bump, and have fun! That's what writing is all about. I look forward to reading your stories.

[WishingTreeCreation]

Prizes

First: 100k
Second: 50k
Third: 25k

I may also give out a few honorable mentions and/or other prizes as I see fit.

Entrants

Judging progress: If there is a green pie next to your name, your entry has been read and critiqued. I will send them all out once I have read and critiqued everyone's entry and announce the winners after that. This is mostly just to help me keep track of what I've done and what I haven't. I am not reading in any particular order.

Please be patient. I am busy IRL and this may take a week or two. I apologize for the delay but I am moving through these as fast as I can.

Heroes_Twilight_Lover yum_wasabipie
Da Fuji Apple yum_wasabipie
Pollyur (x2) yum_wasabipie
Naexiac-one yum_wasabipie
Eruden Ki yum_wasabipie
xxSkittlesRainbowxx yum_wasabipie
xx______mistarr f u z z yum_wasabipie
Gopacksand yum_wasabipie
piggg yum_wasabipie
AngelHanten1 yum_wasabipie
LoperDoper yum_wasabipie
Eripsa yum_wasabipie
Nefas Fatum yum_wasabipie

Winner's Circle

First: xx______mistarr f u z z
Second: piggg
Third:Eruden Ki
Honorable Mentions: Da Fuji Apple, Eripsa

Congratulations, guys!

[WishingTreeCreation]

Reserved

[WishingTreeCreation]

Reserved

[WishingTreeCreation]

~OPEN~

[Blue Ele]

WishingTreeCreation

Looks fab!

[II Ele II]

[II Ele II]

[WishingTreeCreation]

teabellybooks

WishingTreeCreation

Looks fab!

Thanks!

[mista sheep]

SPAM
emotion_awesome

[II Ele II]

forever a sheep

SPAM
emotion_awesome

eek How rude!

[mista sheep]

elementalWITHIN

eek How rude!

that is me

[II Ele II]

forever a sheep

As long as you're not a 'fake' person then, I'll let you off. xp