Winter Writing Contest 2012!

The time has come again for the annual Winter Writing contest. Here you can discuss and find the rules and guidelines to this most esteemed contest. It's my honor to have the privilege of hosting and bringing in talented writers and editors from mainly other sections to be judges. Please participate and have fun in this most exciting and activity-filled time of the year!

Rules

1. 2000 word limit (More room than previous years, so no excuses this time that there wasn't enough! This is DOUBLE the size of the first contest).

2. The theme this year will be: The Little Things. We're welcoming stories about the special connection people share with the things that matter. These can be things that are available around the Winter and holiday time, the magical effect of some special holiday items, a spirited friendship, a touching relationship, or even the companionship of an animal. Have fun with this theme, the sky's the limit!

3. It must contain something related to Fakku in some way (like a character cameo, or a closet Fakku obsessive). If you want to get user specific; you'll have to ask people first, and anything grossly offensive/libelous will be ruled out.

4. It can be any kind of creative writing - stories and poetry are welcome.

5. It must be your own work. We will be looking very closely at your words for anything that has been plagiarized.

6. Please avoid having someone else edit/improve/fix grammatical errors in your entry. It goes against the spirit of the contest in questioning whether your submission is truly your original work.

7. Keep posts in this topic relevant. Comments are allowed, and submissions should be posted here as links to separate Writing and Fanfiction forum threads. Details can be found in the post below.

8. Please try to include the following tag [Winter Contest Entry 2012] at the front of your entry's thread title. An example would be "[Winter Contest Entry 2012] Fakku's Wonderful Christmas".

9. Each contestant is allowed to submit a maximum of one (1) entry.

Deadline

Assuming the world doesn't end before then, the deadline for entries is 00:00 of New Year's Day, the 1st of January, 2013 (EST, GMT-5). Entries after this time will have to be disregarded.

Judging

A panel of three judges - Circe, SamRavster, and myself - will analyze the submissions very carefully, select the ones we find the most exemplary, explain the reasoning behind them, and declare the winner of the Judge's Choice award. There will be a runner-up selected for this award who will be commended for their close placement.

There will also be a public poll on the selection of top picks come January so that everyone gets their say. The winner of the public opinion on Fakku will receive the Reader's Choice award. The user receiving second in the polls will be a runner-up for this award who will also be commended for their close placement.

So please give it a shot and get your ideas out there; we wish you the best of luck. And of course, happy holidays!

Credits go to Circe for the topic picture of this thread.

The Prizes

The winner of the Judge's Choice award will win a translation of a piece of Hentai manga or doujinshi of their choice by FUKE translations. Please try to keep it about 30 pages or less, color will probably have that number reduced. Acceptance of particular works will be between the winner and FUKE.

The winner of the Reader's Choice award, a gift donated by the most charitable and noble Livided, will receive a single doujin of their choice from a wide variety of artists. A more specific list of the doujins available are spoiled here:


The lovely judge and good-natured Circe has decided to provide each winner with their very own forum signature if they would like it. Details of what will/will not be accepted will be between the winners and her. For a preview, she did a wonderful job in providing the banner to this thread!

The beneficent Nekohime has agreed to provide signatures to the runners-up to both Judge's and Reader's Choice awards. Details of what will/will not be accepted will be between the runners-up and her. For a preview, she did all of my signatures you see on me! Refresh the page to see more!

Additionally, the winners will gain the praise of the Writing and Fanfiction members and receive the ability to judge in next year's competition if they so choose.

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Ask any questions you may have in this thread. You may PM one of the judges instead if you would like.

Also, please try to leave some comments on the entries of the participants, whether constructive or supportive. It doesn't matter whether you're a fellow writer, a participant yourself, or someone who barely writes and just reads; writers enjoy comments and feedback from almost anyone.

F.A.Q.s
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How do I submit my Entry?

Make a new thread for your entry in the Writing and Fanfiction Section. Then, copy the link of your entry and post it in this thread.

You MUST post the link of your entry in this thread or else, we will NOT count it.

--Can I submit multiple entries?

For every users' entries, there will be a limit of ONE (1). It is not yet known how many will be participating. However, each judge has to read every entry. In order to avoid potential eye strain, please limit your entries to one piece please.

--Does it absolutely have to be under 2000 words?

Yes. If people could make do with 1000 words in the first contest, then 2000 words should be more than enough.


--Can I change or edit my entry?

Sure, but please announce and let us judges know. You can change or edit your entry up until the deadline - 00:00 of the 1st of January, 2013 (EST, GMT-5).

--Can I take ideas, or have a parody from an already-existing work?

Sure you can. However, you need to explain it to us that you did and have permission from the owner of that work if it's a work located on these forums. We may suspect plagiarism otherwise. Just leave a footnote regarding it in your thread.

--Do I have to include adult/sexual contents in my entry?

This is purely your choice. We don't mind if sexual contents are present. We don't encourage or discourage it.

--What is this poll and how is it going to work?

There are 14 final entries. It was decided that we will have 2 polls of 7 authors plus the Final. The top three users in each poll will move on to the finals. The winner of the Final (aka the third) poll will receive the Reader's Choice award. The second highest will receive the Runner-up award.

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--Polls

[color=#9D0A0A]Closed:[/color] You can view the first poll here.

[color=#9D0A0A]Closed:[/color] You can view the second poll here.

[color=#9D0A0A]Closed:[/color] You can view the final poll here.

Each poll will be open for 3 days, except for the Finals which will be open for 5 days.

[color=#9D0A0A]If you do not see your name or the name of someone you wish to vote for on a particular poll in the near future when a poll is ongoing, it is because they are either going to be on a future poll or have already been on a previous one.[/color]

--Winners:

You can view the [color=#9D0A0A]Winners[/color] declared in the thread here.

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List of entrants and their submissions:


If your name is not on this list, it means:

- You did not post a link to your submission as instructed by the rules above.

- Your entry did not follow the rules: Under 2000 words or not somehow related to the theme.

- Your entry was not posted before the deadline.

- You were just BSing us with your entry.

- The list is yet to be updated.

If you've made an error from any of the infractions described above, then your entry may not be included.

[color=#f660ab]I wish good luck to everyone! I very much enjoy reading stories and poetry, and I can't wait to see the creativity that I know the members of this forum possess.

As John Keats once wrote:[/color]



[color=#f660ab]A perfect description for the power of words. For just like his writing, a well-crafted poem or story lives on in the minds of its fans forever.

Or you know, 'til they die.

Have fun guys! : D[/color]

Ah it's that time of the year again =D

Anyway, good luck for the participants, I'm looking forward to see the best entries from you all =)

It feels refreshing to not be a judge this year and be a participant instead! I feel that I'll gain different experiences this time around. I look forward to competing with everyone. May the best writer win!

Good luck to all those planning to enter the contest!

Hmm... wonder how the judges this year came to be. Kinda surprised to see Tsuyo or Jerry not around. :S

Either way, I think I can work with this topic now. GAME ON, BITCHES!

Well, Tsuyo and Rise definitely needed a break after judging two consecutive contests. Sam has always impressed me with his never-faulting comprehension of the English language and all its laws. Circe's skill was only revealed to me recently with a little piece of erotic literature she put on Fakku, plus she essentially volunteered in our lounge thread. It's honestly an honor to be judging with the two of them.

Unfortunately, Jerry hasn't been on Fakku for a while. I sent him a PM to no avail quite yet, but I'm more than willing to give him my position as a judge if he gets on here and desires it.

However, I'm very excited to see what you will produce here, art. Your submission over the Summer was one of my favorites, I'll have you know.

This time, I won't do a last second submission. It's time to get the gears going again! Good luck to everyone else as well~

Oh sweet another writing contest, here's hoping I get at least 3rd place. Also it's interesting about the no asking others to edit for you.

So even you've become a brony.

Oh right, uh, I'll enter. Good luck to all.

[color=#FFFFFF]Where does the madness end?[/color]

Does it ever?

Glad you're joining, Neo. I missed your humor. I'll look forward to your entry. Love the new ABC selection story, by the way. I should start participating now that I've caught up with it.

Looks like the thread has already been stickied, even without my assistance. ^_^;;

How fast time flies. We are in December again, and heading towards the next edition of the Winter Writing Contest! :)

Should I join again for another yandere love story like last year? XD

If that's what you want to write about, then I'd encourage it.

And great to see you, Gambler! Hopefully we will receive some excellent submissions.

I should be writing a paper so this is totally not an excuse to procrastinate because my entries are always so short even if it gets some thought behind it and this is in no way an excuse or anything because I never win so have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

You're still one of my favorite submitters because of that fact alone. Plus, your haikus are always a pleasure to read and analyze. Thank you for taking the time to submit an entry while you were busy, and hey, you just may win if no one else submits an entry. Will rep on reload.

Question. Are fanfics and stories set in a fictional media that's already established allowed? Like say, a Harry Potter or MLP setting.

Yes, that's fine. Just give standard copyright claims beforehand, like Harry Potter is (c) J.K. Rowling, or MLP is (c) Hasbro, Inc.

Its about to get really Gundam in here.

Almost forgot about this. Any chance of Fakku Writer title?