Welcome to Gaia! ::

Table of Contents:
1st post: Intro / Rules / Deadline
2nd post: Basics / Entry Fee / Prizes / Signature Banners
3rd post: Themes
4th post: Critiquing and Judging
5th post: Contestants
6th post: Q&A / Blacklist
7th post: Winners and Comments / Past Winners / Past Entries






Length of Pieces
I do not wish to restrict any writer in any way, but one way to prove you are a good writer is to be able to adapt your creativity into any length. So, I have come up with a minimum and maximum word length for contestants to work with.

Your short story must be within 1000 - 7500 words.

I will be checking the word count to see if people have read these rules and also to see if writers can work with a word limit. If the piece is only 800 words, it will not be accepted. You may still submit something of that length, but it will not be judged along with the other entries. It will be critiqued, however, if you want but if you do not ask me for a critique, your entry will go unnoticed. I won't mind if a piece is a little bit over the maximum, but anything past 8000 words will not be judged either, only critiqued upon request. I do not want to have to keep asking contestants to add more to their story, or to take some out. If it isn't within the limits the first time the entry is posted, it will be ignored.





If your computer does not have a word count installed, you can copy and paste your story here to get the word count.

If you have any questions about the length of your piece, feel free to ask me.



Entry Fee & Prizes
Entry fee: 275 gold

Prizes will be given out to 3 entries: Grand prize, 1st runner up, and 2nd runner up, assuming there are more than 4 contestants. If there are 4 or less, only the Grand Prize and the 1st Runner Up amounts will be given out.

Grand Prize: 5000 gold
1st Runner Up: 3000 gold
2nd Runner up: 1000 gold

Honourable Mentions will be given out as we, the judges, see fit in each contest. Contestants/Entries will be given this title if it came extremely close to receiving a prize, or if the story was extremely memorable (in a good way). There is NO prize for this, only a title.

!!NEW!! Once the contest is closed to entries, each contestant will read each of the other stories and vote for their favourite one. Leave the judging to me, though. Each vote must be posted in the thread so there is no suspicion. Whoever gets the most votes will be given 100 gold and their entry will be given the title of "Contestant's Choice".



Signature Banners

2nd post

Table of Contents:
1st post: Intro / Rules / Deadline
2nd post: Basics / Entry Fee / Prizes / Signature Banners
3rd post: Themes
4th post: Critiquing and Judging
5th post: Contestants
6th post: Q&A / Blacklist
7th post: Winners and Comments / Past Winners / Past Entries





What is being judged?
I will not be the only judge. I have gathered one other person here on Gaia to judge this contest. Along with me, Affectionate Rose, the judge will be Dark Dreary Shadow.

We will be looking for the same things. I have created a scoring system which we will be using.

Spelling & Grammar
0 – This is earned if you have completely massacred the English language. If this is the case, I suggest you learn English before you enter another writing contest.
5 – If your spelling and grammar are only average, you will receive this mark automatically.
6 - This is earned if your spelling and grammar are relatively good with only several errors.
7 – Your spelling is pretty good, but grammar needs work/Grammar is pretty good, but spelling needs work.
8 – Both spelling and grammar have very few errors (5 or less)
9 – No one is perfect, but if you’re extremely close, this is what you get.
10 – Perfect. Need I say more?

Creativity
0 – This is earned if you have taken someone else’s plot and have twisted it only slightly.
5 – This is earned automatically if your story is original and if there are a few stories with this type of plot.
6 – I realize that having absolutely no inspiration for a story is almost impossible, so you will earn this if you show that your story was not based off another story’s plot.
9 – If you get this, you have created an extremely original story but there could be more to it.
10 – This will only be awarded if your story is something the world has never seen before.

Use of English
0 – You will receive this mark if you do not know how to use the English language to create a story. If you get this, please, stop writing.
5 – This is earned automatically if your use of the language is average and understandable.
6 – This is earned if the entry is just slightly above average in regards to how it is written.
9 – This is earned if I am impressed with the structure of the story and if it is in a class of its own.
10 – This will only be awarded if the story is perfectly written out (including imagery and verb tenses).

The highest score you may attain is 90 (30 from each judge).

As an important note: your STYLE of writing will NOT be judged, as long as it makes sense in the English language. When Emily Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights, no one exactly appreciated it because of the style and content. Even if I don't enjoy the story, if the entry is well written, and if the story is original, it will have a good chance of winning this contest.

Length of the piece will NOT be judged.

If you wish for your piece to be critiqued by me and not entered into the contest, feel free to PM me.
I have been a test reader for a published book, checking for realism, spelling and grammar as well as consistency. I have taken a writing course as well and received very high marks for my work. I am also the top editor for my school's newspaper (don't let the word school deter you, it still comes with its respectable responsibilities).
I will accept donations for this service.

4th post

Table of Contents:
1st post: Intro / Rules / Deadline
2nd post: Basics / Entry Fee / Prizes / Signature Banners
3rd post: Themes
4th post: Critiquing and Judging
5th post: Contestants
6th post: Q&A / Blacklist
7th post: Winners and Comments / Past Winners / Past Entries






Does "with which you have won" mean first place, or placing period?
Placing period, not including honourable mentions.

Question about the themes... For "Fantasy/Sci-Fi", does the slash mean or-and, or are both elements required? I mean, would we have to have...centaurs in space or something for an entry in that?
Well, I classify both as the same genre, even though they're different. So, yes, if you wished, you could have centaurs in space.

Would you accept items worth the entry fee amount at all if I cannot get the money in?
Unfortunately, no, I will not be accepting items in place of actual gold.

If you only get one or two entries are you likely to cancel the contest and not refund entry fees? Or can I rest assured that if I enter and only a few others enter, we will all be able to happily wait for judging without fear of being scammed?

I'm just wondering because I got caught in a 'I've decided to just cancel this contest' before and it kind of pissed me off. Hopefully you guys won't be like this (based solely on the bias of your abilities to string a few sentences together), but some reassurances that you won't just cancel the contest because of not enough entries or 'quality not up to level' of said entries, would be greatly aprieciated- and will also serve in making up my mind to commitment.
I don't think there will be a problem of not having enough entries. There will be no problem of any of the entries being good enough because the entries will be compared to each other. None of the judges will be judging on whether or not we like the story. Our tastes are all different, people write with different styles. We are not judging that.

So in short:

- You will get no refund because there will be no need to give one.
- The contest will not be cancelled if not enough people enter because there is not a set amount of people I want to enter.

Do you allow fanfiction?

I don't like it....but yes. Be warned that you will automatically receive a 0 in the Creativity category, basically denying you any chance at all place in this contest. You have been warned.





The people listed are NOT allowed to enter this contest:

hdezboy13 - plagiarism
Jay2345 - plagiarism
!ixXYuki twinXx!i - plagiarism
triohazard - contest scamming
ho2234 - contest scamming
My Heart Ur Hands xo - suspected contest scamming
Royallty_ - suspected contest scamming
coolcala - suspected contest scamming.
Samurai C-bomb – bribery (has been warned)
Bugstomper122589 - bribery
jamoaka007 - accused of blackmail


Here is the main page of people who cannot join.

6th post