Greetings my fellow writers. The time has come to begin the second Feyfolken short story contest, and, as one of our esteemed judges so kindly reminded me, we shall need to tell everyone that is new to the contest the rules. Please voice your opinions about any suggestions, changes, etc.

General Rules:

The story must be an Elder Scrolls fan fiction
The story must be between 1,000 and 3,000 words. We would appreciate everyone staying under 3,000, but you are allowed to go up to 3,200
The story must be original; that means it can't be a pre-made work
The story must not be posted anywhere else so as to preserve anonymity


The Rating System:

Overall score is the sum of subscores divided by the total number of judges. Each story's final score is then added and divided by number of judges. The resulting over all score determines the overall winner, the subscores determine the "runners up," or winners in each category.

The categories are:

1) Creativity- Originality
2) Story- Development
3) Characters- Believable, with good interaction
4) Feel- Tone and how well it fits in Tamriel
5) General Impressions- Anything else, negative or positive; grammar, really good descriptions, very poetic description, etc.

Each subcategory will have a winner to themselves. The overall winner is decided by who has the best average of each element. The Judges will have their ratings using this system, then the general public will vote using the same categories, but simply choosing their favorite, General Impressions replaced with "Favorite Story". The general public's vote is to be submitted with a decent review (no one line critiques).


The Deadline:

October 15th, 2009


The Judges (currently):

Shades
Burnt Sierra
Evil Pigeon
(We are accepting new judges, but you must be a proven experienced critiquer)


How to apply:

Send your story to me, Darkom. You can reach me via pm, email, or msn; all of which can be found on my account page


Changes since last contest:

The word limit is to be more strictly enforced now
I will no longer be giving you advice on your story before submitting it for voting
The deadline is absolute. Any stories sent at 12:01 on 10/15 will be considered late and put towards next month's contest

Thank you for your participation, we look forward to a long run with this competetion. Good luck :goodjob:

...... Dude, you never asked us to be judges again. I don't WANT to be a judge. I want to participate.

You really, really need to learn to think things through before acting...

Ah, I see. I never really thought about that, I'm sorry. Strike Redsrock from the judging list then. To be fair, it would be nice if you had informed me of this previously.

Are there any other judges who do not wish to judge again? If one of you doesn't post here or pm me, I'll be sure to pm you.

Thanks for your help Redsrock :goodjob:

Don't take this harshly, but give it a discussion at the Feyfolken before you jump into things. Don't be hasty, get some input.

How can I do that if I wasn't ever asked to begin with?

Does it have to be an epic battle story or can it be something simpler (perhaps a simple quest turned lethal or something?)

I think I might participate in this... it's been a while since I've been on these forums, and this could be a great way to get back into things!

If I'm correct, it can be anything as long as it's Elder Scrolls releated.

Out of interest, how much work will need to be put in to be a judge?

I'm on par with Chriso here with the question...

Because I really wouldn't mind being a judge, writing is my strong suit but... I'm writing enough stories as it is... :ahhh:

Yeah. If there's anything we need to do to qualify as judges, please let us know. I've never written any fan-fics, but I have reviewed and roleplayed a lot.

But at the same time, if it takes hours out of the day I'm not sure I can do it.

Erm...Darkom?



Which is it? 15th November, or 15th October? I'm assuming you mean 15th October...

Not much really, you just read the entries and give a score plus some feedback, it took me a couple of hours to do the last five. Another judge'd be great, especially since I was considering entering this one...

Oh, I see. Yes, that sounds fine. I'll just wait for Darkom's confirmation.

Will we need to write a review on each story, by any chance? It's not a problem if we do, I just want to know all the judge's duties.

Yep, about a paragraph on each one, nothing too detailed, if it stays the same as for the last competition

Okay, cool. Thanks for the help.

So if it's okay with Darkom, do you want me to take your place?

Couple of hours altogether?

I spent rather longer than that if I'm honest. More like 3-4 hours per entry...

For the comp just finished, it was a case of deciding on the scores for each category, and then a critique. No length was specified for the critique, so we've all differed a bit. The rules are constantly being tinkered with though, as we find out what works well, and what hasn't worked as well, so there may be changes in the future...

@ Burntsierra: The thing is, your reviews were a lot better than mine

@ Dark: This is just my opinion, so ignore it if you want....

The first contest hasn't ended entirely. There are still scores to settle, the results, etc. If I were you, I'd have a mod close this thread. Gather your judges, plan with them, and then start making the contest. Only after you have all the details hammered out should you start the contest. The biggest problem I had with the first contest is that nothing seemed very organized. Also, you need to think things over before doing stuff. I know it's exciting to do these sorts of things, but still. Take your time.

EDIT: Also, I'd change up the second contest if I were you. Doing the same thing all over again ain't no fun.

@Reds maybe theme the conetests ie for the next one the story has to contain a line or be about a certain topic or something of the sort

Yeah, something like that. Just something to add a little flare. It's like Taco Bell. I love Taco Bell, but I get tired of it after a while. I needz varietiez.

Whilst I like the idea of a theme contest, I'd be tempted to allow it to remain quite broad for now, at least until we get more regular members entering. 5 entries isn't bad for a start, but if we start placing limits on what the stories can be about, we might discourage some people entering, at a time when we probably need to be getting more people to enter.

Just a thought, although I agree it would be a fun idea in the future.

Indeed, anything Elder Scrolls is acceptable for now.



Please do, I'd love to see a new writer



:facepalm: Indeed, I was up late doing these and I got confused. I'll change that now then






It's not too bad; I did it for everyone the first time. Yes, a review is required, as is a full rating. Thanks for your interest, I'd like to see you prove your critiquing worth a bit first though (I can't just let anyone in, you understand)




I agree that the last contest wasn't where I wanted it to be. We were still in deliberations over many things, and lord knows I had little idea of what I was doing. If you are uncomfortable with that then that is fine, please help me learn the ins and outs of managing one of these, or gather everyone and vote to replace me. I don't mind either way, so long as everyone gets to write and get good reviews. I don't think a lock will be necessary just yet, this is just the second idea thread for people to let me know who all is to participate and what's up with the judges. Thanks for your help, and I am once again sorry to see you leave the judges (I look forward to your entry though )






Agreed, I would love to have themes or starters and all that jazz, but for now I think we will leave it open. Maybe next time. Good idea though, thanks guys.


If anyone else has questions or qualms, don't be afraid to ask. We need your opinions now so this can turn into something really good and really organized. Thanks again to everyone: readers, writers, and a big thanks to our judges :goodjob:

PS So, Redsrock and Evil Pigeon are out for judging, that leaves two more spots if we count Chriso as in. If anyone is interested let me know (if you want to be a judge, it would be a good idea to review some of the fan fics lying around here so we know you have what it takes) Thanks again.

Okay, I understand. That works fine. Is it okay if I just post a link to some fan-fics where I've made a review?

http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1034685
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1035010
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1028433
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1025160&st=20

I have done more than that, obviously, but those were the only ones that came to mind; I'll make sure to do more reviews around the forums, though.

In honesty I know I should do more if I'm willing to be a judge, but times have been hard. :shrug: Nonetheless I'll still try my best.

Mayhaps you might take a look at mine Chriso *wink wink*

Of course I get completely ignored... The bane of hardly even being in this Section... :facepalm: Either way, I guess I'll just give up on the idea of being a judge and/or being a participant... Not much point in either really...