This week: K.I.S.S. Edited by: Legerdemain  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to highlight some of the current contests and activities on the site, help educate members on how to host contests and activities, and provide clues to submit quality entries to contests. Write to me if you'd like something in particular covered.
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K.I.S.S.
Keep it simple...silly.  This newsletter is about complicated steps in your contest or activity. I've seen some awesome contests but failed to enter because I couldn't get through all the steps required. Yes, some of it has to do with failing to pay attention to all the details. Some of it is due to time constraints, I've had a few years where other things in my life took precedence.
I'm not saying create a page geared toward a small child, but try to remember that there are tons of other options to choose from, and if you make your instructions easy to read, that member can get to writing or doing what is required to participate.
Sometimes there's too much explanation. Or too many examples. You can certainly use a dropnote feature to hide detailed instructions until someone needs them. Dropnotes are great for hiding previous rounds' donors and winner's pages. Many donors enjoy getting a merit badge and recognition for large donations. Seeing the previous winners can help an entrant see what the judge/s are looking for and how to format their entry. They also like to know who is judging the entry. If I know a particular judge enjoys fantasy, I try to gear my story to something they might enjoy reading. The more time they spend on my page, the more memorable it is.
When it comes to contest entries, the prompt is important but you're entering to win, not just craft a story to park in your portfolio. Use all the word count allowed. Make the best character you can. If the word count is limiting, don't waste time describing every detail of the forest floor, let the reader form that image in their head. Keep it simple.
And as always, Write On!
This month's question: What rules do you find difficult to follow? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback! |
May Site Contest
The task is simple: Write a short story using the image prompt as inspiration!
Excerpt: Newbies only. You must have been a member of Writing.Com for less than one year as of the deadline shown below. Short Stories only. 2500 word limit.
Excerpt: Come on in and enter your funny poem! Write about a humorous situation and exaggerate. Try a rhyming poem, a Limerick, Lyrics, or even pen something absurd.
Excerpt: Send me a prompt. I pick the winners each week and send them GPS. I pick the best prompt of the month from the four top weekly winners. The monthly winner will be awarded this contest's exclusive MB!!!
Excerpt: Your story can fall under Erotica, Romance, or Love, wherever your muse takes you!
Excerpt: Flash fiction is fun to read and a challenge to write. It must contain all the elements of a larger work of fiction, but in a much shorter space. Your story must be 300 words or fewer
Excerpt: Linericks should be witty, with plenty of euphemisms and innuendo.
Excerpt: So, adventurer, if you stumble upon this message, know this: finding this place isn't mere luck. It's destiny whispering, inviting you to be part of something extraordinary. A chance to rewrite history, to mend a broken lineage, and to witness the flames of legend take flight once more. Are you ready to answer the call, Dragon Tamer?
Something for everyone, send a note to a friend!
Try a Madlib!
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https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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This month's question: What rules do you find difficult to follow? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Contests & Activities Newsletter (April 10, 2024)" question: How do you handle low participation in your contests?
🐦GeminiGem🌷  : In every one of my contests, I have an area that explains what the prizes are. In that area, I have this information:
There must be at least five entries to have first place awarded. There must be at least seven entries to have first, second, and third place awarded.
Low participation can be multifactorial, of course, but the number one problem is not getting the word out to potential entrants. If people don't know your contest is open, they won't be putting together an entry for it.
So far, this has covered every situation I've run into.
Dawn Embers  : Honestly, this is something I face on a regular basis. Since I don't like picking one winner out of just 2 or 3 entries, when the contest does get entries it rarely is enough for prizes to be handed out. However, I do appreciate people taking the time to send the entries. I give out gift points to those who put in the effort to enter the contest as a thank you.
Louis Williams  : I don't usually hold contests.
I'm not sure what it would be about if I did
I'm not even sure what the prizes would be.
Happy to write  : matters not I get the same results either way
s : I post on newsfeed. A lot. Spammy? Sorry... but maybe.
But otherwise I realise the prompt may not be working. I make a note to avoid that sort in future.
Bonnie8910 : I have never held a contest.
JACE  :
I agree with s . I post reminders two or three times a month on the Newsfeed about my contest,
I really like this "two birds" thing--slipped in my contest advertisement AND checked off that daily Newsfeed moment.
MagicIan  : I don't hold contests at all. For I've found out the hard way that "nothing ventured/nothing gained" is only half as bad as "something ventured/still nothing gained!" Some people might call that a defeatist attitude. But, those of us who've been consecutively defeated, enough times, more accurately call it realistic.
Thanks to everyone for your responses, it's much appreciated! L~ |
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Contests & Activities: May 08, 2024 Issue [#12544]
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