♫ Song Tales - Short Story Contest - 400k+ In Prizes! ♫

Do you intend to enter the contest?

No; I don't care in the slightest about the copious amounts of gold you're offering.	3.4%	[ 2 ]
No; I don't think you're offering enough gold.	0.0%	[ 0 ]
I'd like to; this sounds pretty fun!	30.5%	[ 18 ]
I'd like to; I have a few questions I need to ask first.	15.3%	[ 9 ]
Absolutely! This sounds amazing.	16.9%	[ 10 ]
Absolutely! Or, at least I'll try my darnedest.	18.6%	[ 11 ]
Nah - I'm a poll whore, and I suck. I'm the worst kind of person on Gaia.	15.3%	[ 9 ]
Total Votes:			[ 59 ]

[sarafurter]

Welcome To My Contest!

Hello, and welcome to the first contest I've hosted on Gaia! I hope that it's as enjoyable for all of you as I'm certain it's going to be for me!

Long have I lurked in the contest forums here, posting (and placing / winning) in several. I thought, though, that it was time to give from my good fortune, and have the opportunity to read many a wonderful piece. The abundance of superb writing readily available for the reading on Gaia is truly inspiring. As a writer (playwright, predominately) and an avid reader (of anything I can lay my hands on), it seemed logical that I should eventually, once having accrued an acceptable amount of gold, want to host one of these things. Well, fellow Gaians, that day has come - and I'm ready and super-excited to be your judge for the competition!

This is a short story competition, but with a somewhat specific angle: The stories are to be based off of story songs. You can read more about precisely what this is in the following sections.

I am a reader and writer of words, but I've also a certain adoration for all things musical (I'm a folk musician on weekends) which I absolutely wanted to combine with my glee at reading a really solid short story. I've also noticed on numerous occasions that many songwriters can tell one heck of a story. The unfortunate part about this is that the stories are often broken up in neat little packages of five minutes or less. The potential for character development, back stories, and other elements coming into play is somewhat hard to come by. Not to demean the efficacy of the songwriters by any means - but sometimes I'm extremely interested in knowing more about the stories they're telling.

Are you also interested in the stories within the songs which remain untold? Did this contest idea really pique your interest? Or are you just interested in earning some gold? No matter which applies to you (if any at all!), I'd love you to enter. It should be a rip-roarin' good time for all.

Also, if you're so inclined, you may donate GOLD or ITEMS to this contest. I really don't have any desire to spend any gold myself, and would only use it to increase the prize if a lot of people joined, or to host future contests. Also, I will credit you, link you, or whatever you want me to do. So, donations are encouraged.

DEADLINE: November 1st.

[sarafurter]

"So, just what in the heck is all of this?"

You may be asking. I don't blame you. Asking questions is good, and is, in fact, part of what this contest is about: Wanting to know more. If you're hungry for knowledge, or just hungry for answers, then this is a wonderful fit for you. I promise.

Basically, this is a contest focused around songs which tell a story. We've all heard them, and many of them have even touched us quite a lot. We've felt for Johnny Cash's Boy Named Sue, even though we've never really met him - We've been devastated by Major Tom's demise in space from David Bowie's Space Oddity - We've even shed tears for the John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidts. But how did they get there? What were they really thinking? And what happened when the song ended? These are questions I'd like you to answer, in the most creative ways possible.

What I want from you is a story. A solid story, using the song of your choice as inspiration. Length isn't much of an issue, but I will say that I think a 2,000 word minimum is justified, considering the content I'm asking for. There is no maximum.

What I'm Looking For

• A story of no fewer than 2,000 words. There is no maximum.
  
• Spelling and grammar that doesn't make me cringe. In fact, please use spell check. If you're in doubt about your ability to use proper spelling and grammar, have a friend proofread for you.
  
• A story based off of a song that tells a story. This can be from the point of view of a minor character in the song, the main character in the song, it can be events before the story occurred, events after the story occurred...use your imagination.
  
• Something that took a little bit of time and effort. If you churned it out in 15 minutes using text lingo, I'm not going to be thrilled when I read it.
  
• Writing which wows me. I'm not going to say that you need it to be something stylistic and profound; you can wow me with simplicity if it's well done. I appreciate writing in pretty much all forms.
  
• Strong characters and point of view. If you feel for the characters, I'd like to see it come through in your writing. Really, I just want to see what's going on. If your characters are strong and believable, then you've got this covered.
  
• Something interesting. Really, just make your story interesting. That's all I ask in this respect.

What I'm Not Looking For

• Songfics. You know what I'm talking about; basing a story off of a song loosely, and using the lyrics to tie it all together in between sections. I want stories BASED OFF OF THE ACTUAL SONGS. I don't want stories inspired by songs. I want the story in the song itself to be the launching pad. Example: If you were to write about "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, I wouldn't want a story about a random person lost in space. I'd want a story about Major Tom preparing to go up into space, or what happened to him when he lost contact with ground control, or even how his wife (whom he loved very much) back at home felt about him going into space. But it would be about the actual characters in the song. Not something loosely inspired by the song.
  
• Poems, song lyrics, or anything that's not a short story. Really, this is a short story contest, and that's what I'm looking for at this moment. Maybe another contest in the future would be looking for other formats, but this contest is for short stories only. Also, for the form, my favorite brand of guitar is Benedetto. Just so you know - because I'd really like to be sure that you actually read this.
  
• Stories shorter than 2,000 words. I feel like this is reasonable, considering the nature of the contest. I want to know that people take this contest at least somewhat seriously, and 2,000 words seems a reasonable length. You're welcome to go longer, of course, but I feel like this ensures that people are going to earn the gold. To be fair, I can crank out a solid 2,000 words of well-thought out plot in less than an hour and a half. Therefore, I definitely find this reasonable.
  
• Stories resplendent with grammatical and spelling errors. Spell check is your friend - I promise. It won't bite. Also, please don't change from past to present tense multiple times within the piece with no logical explanation. It ruins the flow, and is a common mistake, I know. But seriously. Please don't.
  

Pretty straightforward, yeah? If you've got any other questions, feel free to ask in this thread and I will answer them.

THE FORM!

[b]Username[/b]:
[b]Story Title[/b]:
[b]Word Count[/b]:
[b]Song Used[/b]:
[b]My Favorite Brand Of Guitar (Read the above if you're confused; it's in there.)[/b]:
[b]Critique From Me? (Yes or No)[/b]:
[b]Critique From Peers? (Yes or No)[/b]:
[b]Anything Else?[/b]
[b]Your story or link[/b]:

[sarafurter]

• Don't be a jerk. To me, to the other contestants - it doesn't matter. Just don't be a jerk. Don't go out of your way to diss others, or to gripe about their work. It doesn't help anyone, so please don't do it. You are, however, urged to critique the work of any others who ask for a critique.
  
• Adhere to the Gaia TOS. This is to keep you out of trouble, and to keep me out of trouble. With that said, if your story contains explicit language or material, linking offsite is fine, or even PMing me your entry. If you choose to PM, though, you're urged to post your form, sans story, in this thread. Just for my records.
  
• You may have up to THREE entries. This is for those who are overcome with too much inspiration and aren't sure what to write about. And, hey, you have the chance to win more than one prize - which is pretty cool, right?
  
• Don't plagiarize. I know that with the nature of the contest, fully plagiarizing doesn't seem probable in the slightest - but please, just don't do it. It's not cool. You will not win if you plagiarize.
  
• Post your form in THIS THREAD. If you want to PM your entry to me, that's cool and all - but still post the form in the thread, so I can find it from the front page. Where it says "Your story or link," write, "Sent in PM".
  
• I reserve the right not to award prizes or alter prizes based on lack of interest. Basically, if there isn't enough interest, I'm not going to give out that much gold. If less than 10 entries are received, the prizes are cut in half. If less than 5 entries are received, the prizes are cut in half and only first prize is awarded.
  
• Have fun! I can't stress this one enough. Just have fun!

[sarafurter]

First Prize: 200,000 Gold
Second Prize: 100,000 Gold
Third Prize: 50,000 Gold

Honorable Mentions (2): 25,000 Gold

I'll also be giving a little something to everyone who participates - assuming they've followed the rules of course.

[sarafurter]

Just some songs to get you interested, and for you to get the idea of what I'm talking about when I say "Story Songs". Feel free to use these if you wish, but you're not required to use any of these at all. So long as it's a song which tells a solid story, you're free to use whatever you wish.

David Bowie - Space Oddity

Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat

Cat Stevens - Sad Lisa

Phish - Fee

Jeremy Messersmith - A Girl, A Boy, and A Graveyard

Bright Eyes - At the Bottom of Everything

[sarafurter]

1. The White Poppy - I Remember {Page 2}
2. votredame - Love and Pain Go Hand in Hand {Page 3}
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[sarafurter]

First Place:
Second Place:
Third Place:

Runner-Up:
Runner-Up:

[sarafurter]

[sarafurter]

[sarafurter]

[sarafurter]

[Tixa Love Heart]

Can we donate clothes if we don't enter the contest anyway? Cause I keep getting Ocean summer tops and 4th Amigo lucky pants. And it's really driving me bonkers.

[wearegliding5683]

I'm really interested in this contest.
I started a story for something like this, but didn't have time to finish it.
So, hopefully I will have time to do it this time around.

[sarafurter]

AkiraCullen1

Can we donate clothes if we don't enter the contest anyway? Cause I keep getting Ocean summer tops and 4th Amigo lucky pants. And it's really driving me bonkers.

I suppose that'd be all right. Any donation is still a donation! heart

[sarafurter]

wearegliding5683

I'm really interested in this contest.
I started a story for something like this, but didn't have time to finish it.
So, hopefully I will have time to do it this time around.

Very cool! I'm thrilled that someone has interest in the competition.