Al Norris Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 For those that aren't aware, we have a contest going on, here! There are 6 short stories centered on the 18th century (1700's). Called the "Age of Enlightenment". Each story has a poll that we would like you to take, after reading the story. They are in the sub-forum just underneath this one: Age of Enlightenment Story Contest This isn't the type of "Which story did you like" contest. There are 6 questions that can be answered for each and every story. The winners (3 of them) will be calculated based on overall point values. So I hope you all read the stories and answer the poll questions, after you read the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Alan, when I read the title of this post, I got all excited, grin.... Wow, a new contest: would it be an ancient history themed story next, a 'Dark Ages" story next? How about a "future" story? Then read it was reminding us about the current contest, sigh... grin.... Thanks for all your work on the contest! It really is appreciated, Alan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Schaeffer Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 I would love to see another contest after this one. The stories are amazing! I am so impressed with the talent and creativity. Each of the stories written focused on something completely different from the time period, and the authors created something so unique and interesting to read. Like Mark, I'm looking forward to the next challenge. This was so fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Norris Posted June 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 I opened this new thread, mostly because I didn't think our readers understood how the polls were designed and that they could vote on each story individually, instead of a collective "This One Is Best" type of competition. The questions were designed so that the "best" one would percolate to the top, but more importantly, it would give all of the authors an idea on where to improve their writinfg skills. We had hoped that this contest would also present a challenge to our authors. You guys took that challenge and created some beautiful stories from a tumultuous time period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeikor Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 Thank you, Alan, for the kind words and for the work you do on this and other things for the forum. I have entered both contests and enjoyed them both. Each was a different challenge and have helped me to get better at writing. I look forward to more contests in the future. All the writing was good! As a side fun I think we should get to guess who wrote which story. I think I know at least three besides my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken barber Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Alan, when I read the title of this post, I got all excited, grin.... Wow, a new contest: would it be an ancient history themed story next, a 'Dark Ages" story next? How about a "future" story? Then read it was reminding us about the current contest, sigh... grin.... Thanks for all your work on the contest! It really is appreciated, Alan! I would love to see another contest after this one. The stories are amazing! I am so impressed with the talent and creativity. Each of the stories written focused on something completely different from the time period, and the authors created something so unique and interesting to read. Like Mark, I'm looking forward to the next challenge. This was so fun! Ok so you want another contest. Any input on what you would like to see, What would challenge you as a writer? Readers feel free to jump in and make recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Ken, the things that would challenge us (ok, me... ) would be theme and word length. There is a world out there to pick what the contest is about... It could be date related (ancient history, Renaissance, etc), it could be plot driven ( write a story involving a tiger, a stove and a can of corn), it could be emotion driven (write a story involving a primal emotion), genre driven (sci-fi, mystery, western, etc.) just tons of them. Harder would the word length. A true short story is harder to write as the author has to get the story across with a minimum of words, characterization, plot, etc. The lower the word count, the harder it is, in my opinion. Also, writing takes time and if there starts to be contest after contest, people may get "contest weary", so to speak. I bet none of this really helped you, did it? grin..... Al Norris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken barber Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 We are planning on bringing back our Halloween contest this year. Last year was the first year we did it and it was hugely successful and we are thinking we will make it an annual event. Contest are fun and challenging but we don't want to burn people out on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeikor Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 A writing class I took had an exercise where you took a list of words and had to use so many of them in a story. I agree it is best to not get burn out on contests plus we want the writers to keep adding to their stories too. I think two or three a year, four at most, would be manageable. Glad to hear that the Halloween contest will be done again. Maybe if I begin planning now I won't still be writing at the last minute. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynus Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 While this wouldn't be the same thing as a contest, over at GA they have a forum for writing prompts so that you can prompt other writers. It could be a nice addition to the forums. That way if you want to see what other people can do with a story idea, you can leave it there for the writers to see and work with if they have the initiative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeikor Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Cynus, that could easily be turned into a contest by posting a prompt that everyone who entered the contest would have to use to start their story. It would be interesting to see the different stories from the same prompt. Cynus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken barber Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 So Cynus, Jeikor what your saying is you want to help develop and implement ideas like this?lol Cynus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynus Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 I'm more than happy to supply a forum with prompts. I have a thousand more ideas than I'll ever be able to write. I would be fine offering at least a prompt of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Aarons Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 I would actually like to see others guess on who wrote what story, I think that could be a truly interesting thing to read and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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