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Exciting news! I wrote some Christmas cards this weekend! I'm either a little behind or a lot ahead.  |
| Of course, you are ahead, right? |
1 • 
| Unless you celebrate Christmas in July, you are in good time. |
Rima ~ Irregular in WDC is our latest finisher on
How about some MBs from those in awe of her persistence? It takes a year, but it's worth it! Congratulations, Rima ~ Irregular in WDC!   |
| Want to run a contest? To be deemed a contest instead of an activity, but be sure you mention that you are judging on skill and not just picking your favorite entry. Here are the rules for something to be a contest: - The typical entrant creates a piece of writing in an item in their own port. - The entering process must happen here on the Writing.Com site. - There must be competitive judging of the writing based on the skill of the entrant. Here is part of what it says about being an activity: Use the Activities page for events where any prizes are awarded by any means except competitive judging; for example: by Virtual Dice, by order of entering, by popular vote, for the host's favorite (ie., a popular vote of one), for participation, or for achievement. (Note: I added the bold here) The above quotes are taken from https://www.writing.com/main/books/action/view/entry_id/794829 Be sure to check out the link if you are creating a contest! In reality, I think most contests involve the judge picking their favorite, based on certain criteria, whether the criteria are specifically stated or not. In many cases, the criteria may not even be fully understood by the judge. I have picked a winner based on the fact that it touched me. Why did it touch me? I have no idea. I just liked it better than any other. Even with specific judging criteria described, this why contests with multiple judges often don't have unanimous results. Each person picks their favorite. Otherwise, only the most highly trained members of WdC could judge a contest. Here's what I think often happens in a typical WdC writing contest. There are 2 (or more) entries. One appeals to the judge's emotions and the other doesn't. The one that appeals to the judge's emotions has a couple of minor grammatical errors and the other doesn't. They pick the one that appeals to their emotions. They picked their favorite. I don't think it's wrong. I think it's a fact of life and being able to appeal to the judge, even if neither the writer nor the judge can't specifically explain why, is what I think makes a winner and makes the judge (rightfully) pick it as their 'favorite.' |
| Oh, I thought this was another thread. lol I'm okay with this inconsistency, though it's inconvenient. But it can be worked around.  This was honestly intended to be an educational post so people don't get their contest put in the Activities section based on 1 wrong word ("favorite"). The one I think could stand a little reviewing is when it's not a contest if it involves book entries or direct forum posts, especially for short contest entries. I don't think people should have to create a whole item just to enter "Twenty-Five Words or Less"  or "Tweet Me a Story" or similar contests. Yes, I know I'm exhausting. Try being me.  |
| Particulars like how contest entries are submitted (e.g., as static items, book entries, etc.), judging criteria, and things of that nature are the purview of the contest organizer. Unless there's something that's in clear violation of the site's terms and conditions, the staff and moderators don't tend to step in and dictate how members should run their events. If there's a particular situation you're concerned about, please feel free to email me with the details (including the item in question and what, if anything, was communicated to you about it) and I'll be happy to look into the matter... because I'm fairly certain that "submissions in the form of book entries or forum posts mean it's not a contest" is not an official position that the site enforces.  |
Next month in
I'll be featuring mostly a bunch of super short contests. I will also be featuring
because it's an anniversary contest, so it's not like I can just feature it another month. Anyway, I've decided to give away one of these next month. ![Merit Badge in The Contest Challenge
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on your new merit badge! Thank you for supporting the Writing.Com community with your inspirations, participation and activities. We sincerely appreciate it! -SMs](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-The_Contest_Challenge-2169637_15.gif) Anyone can qualify--Even first time participants! I don't want to tell the rules yet, but have decided not to do my usual featuring of just 3-5 contests. I'm going to feature every quick and/or easy contest I can find (that I get permission to highlight). That's where you guys come in. Help me find (and get permission to feature) each contest you think qualifies as fast and easy. I'm thinking anything that requires 300 words or less for a short story or 10 lines or less for a poem. This post is already almost 150 words, so I think 300 or less makes for fast and/or easy. So far I have...
And assuming he creates the appropriate poetry form requirements...
Note that I have not gotten permission to use all of these yet. If your contest is listed, please let me know if I have permission to use it, either here or via e-mail. Some appear closed, but if you want to reopen a contest just for this, feel free. Thank you! So, what contests am I missing (anyone can suggest one) and do I have permission to use yours? |
| Just noting that some of these super-short contests need to be plugged on the Activities page rather than the Contests page. The criteria for deciding which page you need to use is listed in the section titled "I want to promote a member-run event item. How do I decide whether to post it on the Contests or the Activities page?" in Community Activities from Writing.Com 101 . |
| Northernwrites, do you mean because some of these want you to post your entry directly in the forum instead of requiring an actual item in their portfolio? 1. I'm not that picky, so I don't care. It looks contest-y enough for "The Contest Challenge" . 2. I think that rule was created before anyone thought about a contest requiring entries as short as many of these do. Surely it's not realistic to require port items for contests where the entire entry can be 100-200 words and often a lot less. Sure, for Premium members, it's no big deal (minus the annoyance of having to create it), but for Free or Basic members (which includes most newbies), it uses a valuable item space and limits the number of people that are willing to enter. I wouldn't enter a contest with such a short entry that required a new item (and still regret creating a whole book for a contest I entered only a couple of times--I don't want a book to have a bunch of different/random things in it). And Free and Basic members can't even create a book. Sure, folks could create, then erase the item, but I don't think most folks want to do that, either, especially if it won. Thanks for the link to the rules! I didn't know about the fact that it has to require an item to be a contest. I'm going to go post in the Suggestion Box that we change that rule because I don't think it fully encapsulates the spirit of what a contest is. Life changes. Rules change. |
| Upon reviewing the criteria for contests vs. activities, I want to be sure there aren't some misunderstandings. Here is the link again. https://www.writing.com/main/books/action/view/entry_id/794829 Be sure that your contest specifies that you are using the writers' SKILL to choose your winner and you are not just choosing your favorite! This is a specific criteria mentioned as something that qualifies as an activity and NOT as a contest. See below: "Use the Activities page for events where any prizes are awarded by any means except competitive judging; for example: by Virtual Dice, by order of entering, by popular vote, for the host's favorite (ie., a popular vote of one), for participation, or for achievement." (Note: I added the bold.) Yes, in reality, we almost always choose the winner because it's our favorite. Do we always know the criteria that make it our favorite? Nope. But that doesn't mean it's not a better piece, even if we can't always explain why. And what judge picks a winning piece that isn't their favorite? Okay, it's probably happened somewhere, but still...  Even if you don't really know the criteria you are using, I would think things like choosing an item that touches your emotions, choosing an item that doesn't have a large amount of errors unless it is known to be written by a non-English speaker, choosing an item that is creative, choosing an item that flows and makes sense, things like that could be criteria for choosing a winner. With these criteria you don't have to be a writing expert to be choosing something that will still be your favorite, yet also has set criteria that should be met without impeding the writer or the judge in their duties. If no one has said anything about your contest, great, but if they think it needs to be moved to the Activities page, be sure you didn't mention that you are picking your favorite. |
| Hey Schnujo, I like your haiku, Saving Sand Piper Prints. |
| Thank you! I hadn't written a haiku in a while, but really like them so I wrote this. I need to get better at knowing the 'rules' of writing a haiku, but still think they are fun. Thank you for your kind comment about "Saving Sand Piper Prints" ! |
Last day for
There are some pretty awesome packages over there! I should know--I keep trying to bid on some, only to rediscover they were donated by me. |
May's round of
has some pretty awesome contests...as usual. Have you checked out
"Paranormal Romance Short Story Contest" has been a little neglected, for those of you who like to participate in the underdog contests. Enter one of the highlighted contests each month (contests rotate monthly) for 12 months in a row or for 12 out of 13 months. Post proof of entry each month with {post:XXXXXX} and get 2 exclusive MBs in the end! ![Merit Badge in The Contest Challenge 1
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on your new merit badge! Thank you for supporting the Writing.Com community with your inspirations, participation and activities. We sincerely appreciate it! -SMs](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-The_Contest_Challenge_1-2169637_14.gif) |
Remember last May when I was offering free Premiums for folks interested in participating in a year of
Well lots of people took me up on the offer, but not everyone was able to carry through. Sometimes life happens. But for those who were able to endure a whole year of "The Contest Challenge" I decided to reward them with another Premium. This was a reward, not a bribe for another year of effort. And for those who came close (9 or more months), I gave them 6 months of Premium for their hard work. Who are these lucky souls that struggled for the last year? 🌜 Huntersmoon   celticsea  Choconut ~ is 4!  Prosperous Snow Globe  Jayne  PWheeler ~ love, joy and peace  Paul D  sindbad  Sally  Pesky Amanda is away for now.  Hannah ♫♥♫  innerlight is praying  eyestar~  LegendaryMasK❤  just krista  ruwth Angus  Warped Sanity  Dragon is Thesis writing  Rima ~ Irregular in WDC  Congratulations to everyone on all their hard work! While I probably won't be giving out a bunch of free Premiums again, you can see that joining "The Contest Challenge" does have it's rewards! |
| Thanks, everyone. I'm naughty? Did you read the story I reviewed this morning? Is that why you said that? Hahaha! Kidding...well, it was a naughty story, but well written. I recently read that folks who write naughty stories get lots of reads, but almost no reviews, so I thought I'd do a review. And yes, that was the purpose of reading it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. lol |
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