Fan Fiction Competition 2011

[Splat]

It's that time again!

Time to grab your pens, wrestle your minds into gear and prepare to write! It's the Third Annual Oddworld Forums Fan Fiction Competition! *Fanfare sounds, confetti rains*

This year our theme is 'Journey'!
So here's what'cha gotta do!

• You must write an Oddworld-themed short story.
• Your story can be up to 4000 words long; it must be equal to or shorter than this limit! If your story goes over this, any excess words will quite simply be deleted.
• You can use original characters and settings and/or characters and settings from the games, but you may not use any settings or characters that you have used in another fan-story.
• Your story must be totally new; it must not have been posted anywhere on the internet before, but written specifically for this competition! It must not tie into any other stories you have previously posted.
• Finally, your story must be based on a specific theme; the theme for this competition is ‘Journey’, so your story must some how relate to this theme.

So more specifically, here's a list of instructions for applicants...

• Write an original story set in the Oddworld universe and based on the theme of ‘Journey’.
• Give it a title.
• PM it to me. DO NOT POST IT IN THIS OR ANY OTHER THREAD OR IT WILL BE DISQUALIFIED!
• You may say that you have given me your entry, but you must not tell anyone else it’s title or anything about its plot; this is to ensure that our judges do not know who wrote which story, as this may affect their decisions!

The closing date for the competition will be September the first; I must have received your entry by this date!
A select team of judges will read all of the stories anonymously (they will not be told who wrote which story) and will score each story on the following criteria:

• Character and plot – How believable are the characters? How well is the story structured?
• Quality of writing – How easy is it to read?
• Oddness – How well does your story match the atmosphere of Oddworld?
• Use of the ‘Journey’ theme – How well do you incorporate the theme into your story?
• Reader’s enjoyment – How much pleasure did the judges get from reading it?

They will give 10 points for each of these themes, making a potential total of 50 points per judge!

When all the results are in, I will post the results and the entries in Fan Corner, so that the winner may bask in our praise and adoration!

Your task is set! You have until the end of this month!
So get to work!

[enchilado]

Oooh, neat.

Not sure if I can write a story in a month, but I'll certainly be trying.

[MeechMunchie]

Time to grab your pens

I misread that.

I'll think about it. If I do come up with an idea, I'd like to say the chances of my entry being late are lower than they've ever been!

[STM]

I'll get on it when I have some spare hours after work and over the weekend if I got time! I do like these fan fic competitions and I still gotta best the two year winner!

[Oddey]

This'll be fun, I'm sure. I think I'll try to enter again. Provided I get a good plot in my head. Something I think I have.

[Ridg3]

I misread that.

Time to grab your penis, wrestle your minds into gear and prepare to wank! It's the Third Annual Oddworld Forums Fap Competition!

I'd totally join if this was the case.

[STM]

Join in anyway, the winner gets to do the above in full display of everyone else.

[Splat]

Note normal Fan Corner rules still apply (including the one about porn).

[Oddey]

Oh dear, I doubt I will be ready in time. Still if I am not, don't wait for me.

[STM]

Oh crap this reminds me, I'm only about one thousand words in X_X, gonna have to knuckle down to get this in.

[MeechMunchie]

My entry will never be finished, which is why I put off announcing it.

It's about 10 times longer than my other fiction. One problem. I am completely incapable of writing long stories. So I have lots of scenes but no filler. Filler sounds bad, but think of all the scenes you remember out of the Lord of the Rings films. I bet it does not total 9+ hours. You need all the drawn-out bits of filler to give scale, and I'm no good at that.

I might post the bits I've got after the competition's over.

[Splat]

Well so far I've received no entries, so the deadline is gonna be rather stretchy once again, I fear.

Meech, remember the limit is 4000 words.

[Splat]

It's September and I have no entries. Is anyone working on anything?

[STM]

I have about 500 words, I started again. I might be able to squeeze out 1000~...

[AlexFili]

I'm thinking about writing a short story and entering this contest. Since it's been a while since my last one.

Just as another idea. Why not do a short fanfic idea one time? Like 500-1000 words? Just a thought.
Also these competitions always surprise me because I don't check Fan Corner often enough nowadays to notice them. Why not have some mailing lists so that all the regular writers can be notified of a contest? That would be great!

[Splat]

Aw man, there was me thinking I was gonna get away with having to do any more work for this! (Just kidding, don't worry).

4000 words or whatever the limit is, by the grand scheme of things, very short (srsly). However, I guess I use published fiction as a yard stick, rather than fanfiction, so yeah, maybe I will lower the word count significantly next time. It'd made my side of things easier, if other people would be happy with that.

Mailing list sounds nice but would be a lot of effort. I do announce the rough dates of competitions at the end of the previous one, but it generally goes Art Competition in early spring and Fiction Competition around August. Maybe I should specify dates for them. Fanfiction is August 1st. Art, I'll decide closer to the time. I try and run things to avoid known exam seasons and stuff, but it's not easy.


Anyway, if you're working on something for this, please say so here. I have one entry so far. I'd run the competition for three or more. I'll stuff a few more weeks on the deadline if people are working on things.

[Oddey]

I've got a story, 1000 words in, with a pretty good plan for the rest. Just need some time to finish the rest of it.

[GlacierDragon]

Is this still taking place? I haven't been around for a while so I haven't seen the thread until now, but I'd like to give it a try if there's still time c:

[Splat]

I only had 2 entries. If you want to write something and get it in before the end of this month, I'll run the competition.

[Mudokon_Master]

You mean we have until the 1st of October now?

[Splat]

Nope, until 30th of September now.

[Oddey]

My computer sadly crapped out, so I doubt I will be able to finish in time. No three years running winner for me. Unless I get insanely lucky, or happen to be struck with inspiration and motivation. And get my computer back from the repair shop in time to transfer my files off of it.

[gishygleb]

I am thread-necrumanting. Maybe, some Fan Fiction Competition 2012?

[Nepsotic]

Guys, he's 'Necrumanting!'

You could of easily PM'ed Splat about that. No need to 'Necrumant'.

[Splat]

I only got back from holiday 2 hours ago. Someone asked about an art competition a few weeks back so there might be one of those soon.

[Wil]

Time to grab your penis, wrestle your minds into gear and prepare to wank! It's the Third Annual Oddworld Forums Fap Competition!

I'd totally join if this was the case.

We should totally do this.