I.D. Please: A Short Story Contest [ RESULTS POSTED!]

Do you know who you are?

yes	30.2%	[ 32 ]
no	10.4%	[ 11 ]
sort of	29.2%	[ 31 ]
don't care	7.5%	[ 8 ]
"invest in gold, my boy."	22.6%	[ 24 ]
Total Votes:			[ 106 ]

[sora wonk]

I am Wonk and
This is a short story contest!
(Where you will maybe give your character
a mirror and a song.)
...
Keep scrolling.

[sora wonk]

General:
1. Plagiarism bad
2. ToS
3. Respect
4. I am King! But I will warn twice before blocking. Be good. cat_biggrin
5. Otherwise, chat, chill, bump, whatever in this thread.

Submission:
6. Entries must, without exception, be:
-Between 1,000 - 8,000 words
-A short story with all original characters (No Poetry or Fan-fiction Please)
-Submitted in the thread using the proper form
-Submitted before August 7, 2012, 12:01 A.M. Eastern Time August 20, 2012, 12:01 AM Eastern Time.
7. Each individual may submit only one entry.
8. Once submitted, contestants may edit their entries up until the deadline.
All changes must be made to the originally submitted posts.
DO NOT REPOST.
9. I'm lenient about content. Very little fazes me, so you just have to make sure you follow ToS and
10. The prompt. (See Below)

[sora wonk]

In your short story, you must address both:

1. The most classic quest, the quest that begins all quests, DUN DUN DUN:
The Quest For Identity.

Your story must develop at least one character's attempts at understanding who he, she or it is.
You do not have to resolve this issue, but you must express it effectively.

AND

2. A source text (poem, novel, comic), artwork, video, video-game, or song.
Artists build off of each other. I want you to base your story primarily off of one example
of the media forms underlined. This "foundation piece's" influence should be
significant and clear in your story, but you should not be
writing fan-fiction for this piece.

[sora wonk]

1st Place (1 Winner): 120k
2nd Place (2 Winners): 50k each
3rd Place (3 Winners): 25k each
Honorable Mention (5 Winners): 10k each

People's Choice 1st Place: 50k
People's Choice 2nd Place: 25k

How to unlock "People's Choice" explained under "Judging."
If 15 or more submissions, prizes double in value. yum_puddi

[sora wonk]

Judging begins immediately after the deadline!

I will be looking for the following
in your entries:
Plot
Characterization
Imagery & Description
Writing Style
Spelling & Grammar
Concision

There will be no point system to these criteria,
because the importance of many of these criteria vary
depending on the kind of story you are trying to tell.

Or something.

There are also two "People's Choice" awards.
They will only be given out (aka UNLOCKED):
-if I get at least 11 submissions, AND
-if I get at least 10 ballots

The ballots should list your top ten favorite submissions, in order.
You may not vote for your own work.
Please consider each story as carefully as if it were your own.
Three days after voting begins, you may PM your ballot to me.

To allow for maximum distribution of gold, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
winners are not eligible for People's Choice awards.

[sora wonk]

1. Black Thorns -- OriginalSooshi
2. Divide By Zero -- Cabracan
3. No Man -- Hurbadachurba
4. Perfection -- Sullen ForeverAngel
5. My Angel, My Light -- VoirRouge
6. Who I Am -- kirstinthedrummer
7. Which Face? -- Coconutto
8. How You Define Something -- Hikaru Seishin
9. The Princes of Vayda -- roadiesbaby
10. One of Us -- phantomkitsune
11. Total Eclipse -- emmapeelwannabe
12. Repentance -- Yutora
13. House of Falling Stars -- TomTom4Life

[sora wonk]

All entries must be submitted in this thread with this form:

[size=9][b]Username:[/b]
[b]Title:[/b]
[b]Would you like a critique?***[/b]
[b]Text of the story:[/b]
[b]Link to Foundation Piece:[/b]
[b]Author’s Notes (Optional):[/b][/size]

All critiques will be PMed, unless otherwise requested, so make sure your inboxes are open!

[sora wonk]

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! yum_puddi

Victorias Doll

For the foundation piece, can it be like a portion of a larger text, like a quote, or does it have to encompass an entire work?

Great question! It can be a portion. Just specify which bit. yum_puddi

AndreaHarper

What exactly do you mean by 'develop' for the search for identity part of the prompt? Because what I've been writing now is more a reflection on a past search for identity, a sort of coming to terms with who and what all the characters involved are, more than actually discovering it. It's also sort of written in second person. (Specifically, it's half of a conversation. You never get to hear the other half.)

Yes, that sounds perfect! And quite wonderful.

Develop just means explain throughout a good chunk of the story (aka. anything that isn't "Bob was searching for his identity. Now proceed back to completely unrelated ninja fight sequence." ).

Tahrillo

How closely do we need to follow the source material?

I found a song told from the perspective of a mythological woman, but I think the story would be much more interesting if it revolved around her (currently non-existent) daughter.

That's fine! You don't have to follow the source material very closely at all--I'd prefer you be more creative about it actually. It's just a source of inspiration--

Maybe you can take on the writing style used, or the major theme(s) explored, or make allusions to the piece in your entry, etc...

I know these prompts are kind of vague and harder to build off of. I did this to make it easier for them to fill! So no worries. :3

Jacklyna

you say artwork, as in in pictures? can that include more than one? or must the story only have 1 origin?

You can use more than one piece! ^w^

blysk

So, do I have to talk about that art piece, or can the story revolve around a plot similar to what's happening in the art piece?
Do I actually have to flat-out mention the piece officially? Rather than just subtly hint towards it?

You don't have to talk about that art piece, the story can revolve around a plot similar to what's happening in the art piece, you do not have to flat-out mention the piece officially, and you can just subtly hint at it.

or tl;dr: the latter x2

[sora wonk]

June 3, 2012: Contest Opened.
June 4, 2012: New content added to "Prizes": "If 15 or more submissions, all prizes double in value. yum_puddi "
June 4, 2012: New content added to "Rules": "Submissions must be between 1,000 and 8,000 words."
June 4, 2012: Friendly reassuring statement: "No other submission rules will be added or removed. ^^
So feel free to begin writing."
June 7, 2012: New Rule # 8 in Rules section.
June 7, 2012: Note added to Submit! section. (All critiques will be PM-ed.)
June 13, 2012: Added "both" to first line of "Prompt" section.
The Prompt has two parts!
July 29, 2012: Deadline extended to August 20, 12:01 AM Eastern Time.
July 29, 2012: If you plan on submitting to the contest I *highly recommend*
you also submit to Wing McCallister's super cool
Anything Goes Writing Contest & League by August 11.
Then revise, according to his audio reviews, which will be posted here.

[sora wonk]

First Place:
One of Us -- phantomkitsune

Second Place:
How You Define Something -- Hikaru Seishin
My Angel, My Light -- VoirRouge

Third Place:
Divide By Zero -- Cabracan
Repentance -- Yutora
Black Thorns -- OriginalSooshi

In addition, five participants received honorable mentions.


PCHOOO First Place:
Which Face? -- Coconutto

PCHOOO Second Place:
No Man -- Hurbadachurba

PCHOOO Third Place:
Perfection -- Sullen ForeverAngel



All participants received 10,000 gold for entering.
Additionally, those who submitted ballots for the People's Choice Awards
(henceforth known as PCHOOO) received 20,000 gold for their efforts!
All prizes were increased in value because I felt like it.

Congratulations to everyone who submitted to this contest! Thank you for participating!
I hope you had fun or learned something or both.

Remember that the real winners are those who don't stop writing!

It was lovely meeting all of you and I wish you all the best! ^u^

[Victorias Doll]

I will be participating in this! emotion_dowant

[sora wonk]

Victorias Doll

I will be participating in this! emotion_dowant

That's great. Can't wait to read your story! yum_puddi

[Shyania]

I'll hopefully be able to figure something out. mrgreen

[Yutora]

/subscribes.

I may be able to whip something up.