New Gaea Writing Contest

[Nate Hunter]

Thanks for positive feedback, and the New Gaea contest is up. I'm going to post the guidelines here for those interested, and the Winter 2003 contest is strictly NO DIGIMON involved.

The Winter 2003 Contest [November and December of 2003] is a Suspense Fanfiction contest. All entries must be fully capable of being read and understood with average understanding of the series they are based on and no references to other works of fanfiction. I am looking for Short Stories (rough guideline, approx. 7000 words or less) as entries, which can be read on their own, and I emphasize ON THEIR OWN, because these are One-Shots.

Following are the rules for this particular contest:

All contest entries must be First Publication stories, meaning they may not be published anywhere Online or Offline (except for the author's personal use, beta readers/editors, and to send it to me, if necessary).

All contest entries must be R or lower -- I am not accepting erotic fanfiction, lemons, or anything which would probably not get into theaters.
All entries must be Fan-Fiction using only characters from the series or minor characters created specifically for the story (ie: people who Han plays Sabacc with in a Star Wars fic, dignitaries from another country/planet who are not actually in the series, etc.). Original characters and creations (animals, machines, alien races) are off-limits.

The Anime series 'DIGIMON' is off-limits in this contest; I've read enough Digimon fics lately to make my head spin. In addition, all other anime involving the Pet Monster genre are off-limits. If you have a question about a specific series, ask me via e-mail.

I would like a dramatic piece involving scenes of tension, and all the elements of a story -- a solid introduction to the events (be it as they happen or in reflection), a building of tension and conflict, a resolution, and the fall in action that results from it. However as a Short Story, this may leave the falling action out.

As a Suspense story, this should leave things uncertain as the story flows, however as a one-shot it must wrap up the important loose ends at or by the end of the story. If you're having trouble writing suspense, check out a site from the Resource section below.

All entries must begin with the Title, Author Name, and rating, each on a separate line. Do not include a note about why you chose a certain series, or a note that "this is for a contest", or any other notes at the top of the story. All author's notes such as these should be placed at the end, and preferably with a marked separation between story and notes; they do not count towards story length.

Stories should be submitted in Microsoft Word .DOC, .RTF, or .TXT format. If you use Appleworks you may send a .CWK file, and if you write in an HTML editor you may submit a .HTM file.

I'd rather not be picky on this contest, but any entries not fitting the above rules will be immediately disqualified.

When sending your submission to me, send via e-mail to kharonalpha [at] hotPOP.com -- Make certain you use the appropriate Subject Line "[NewGaea] Winter 2003 Contest", and the body should contain the first three lines (Title, Author, Rating) of the attached file. The third line is optional, the first two are mandatory.

Entries are preferred in Third-person view, and must have no "script-style" dialogue. These rules are being posted on November 1, 2003; Entries will not be accepted until December 1, 2003, and will be taken until December 20. Entries should have at least 1000 to 1500 words, with a maximum of about 7000.

RESOURCES
MysteryNet.Com - A collection of mystery stories (closely related to suspense), many of which are Suspense stories.
FictionPress.com, FanFiction.net - A very good source for stories. Check "Horror", "Supernatural", "Thriller", and "Mystery" on Fictionpress, or search FFN for those genres on a story.
MediaMiner - Heavily weighted towards Anime fanfiction, MediaMiner has a wide variety of stories.

GRADING SCALE

PLOT - 10 possible points. This is a score concerning the actual plot and plot development in the story. This also involves wrapping up the plot at the end.

CHARACTERS - 10 possible points. This score concerns the believability of the characters as people, both relative to their series and relative to the story itself.

SEMANTICS - 25 possible points. Grammar, paragraphing, punctuation, mis-spellings, and all variety of miscellaneous issues that plague the writing but not the story.

QUALITY - 25 possible points. This is the overall flow of the story, the connections between characters and events, the overall believability of the story, and how well the judge is able to suspend their disbelief when necessary.

EVIDENCE - 5 Points. This is granted based on evidence towards the solution/conclusion being apparent in the story so the judge can solve or predict the outcome.

TWIST - 5 Points. This is based on an unexpected outcome for the readers, that they might not have predicted. The score is based on how likely the judge thought their outcome was. The twist must not defy the evidence, or provide evidence as to why all earlier evidence was misleading.

The 80 possible points are from each judge, and with five judges the perfect target score is a 400. I doubt anyone will receive such a score, though, not even Lord Archive if he were to enter. As this is a non-Digimon contest, you may not all be interested; think about this before you enter. I hope some of you will.

Also, If you want to share the contest with friends send them to New Gaea Entertainment's page for the contest -- http://newgaea.com/contests/winter2003.htm

[MISTER BIG T]

Can you mix several series and your own made charas?

[Chibi Renamon]

Sounds like an interesting idea to me... I'm in once I find some free time to write.

[Thunder]

While I also find the idea appealing, I doubt this is the right place to search for entrants. Most people here are interested in prizes or praise, judging from the type of contests that win the most people over... The fact that this is a hentai message board doesn't help either.

On another note, isn't a one-shot too vague a theme? I mean, I usually take it for granted that a contest entry will be a one-shot, and rarely even regard that as part of the theme...

[urban dream]

Basically I'd be very interested, but it depends on which series or whatever the contests would be based on. But I don't get alot of time to write these days, that's the main problem for me...

[MISTER BIG T]

Okies, I'll enter. Kinda sad that I can't write a lemon, I have to ditch my "Everyone loves Pen-Pen" story idea.

*begins watching Neon Genesis Evangelion for great places to write about*

Wait. What about the blood and gore? Can I make a fic about the fight where Asuka kills the angels in End of Evangelion? Or any of the fights in particular? (I seriously don't get how I can write a Evangelion fic without any fights at all)

I seriously have so many great ideas for a Neon Genesis Evangelion fic already now.

*The wings up in sky singing hallelujah making peoples brain melt

*The whole episode 20. It's just way too legendary.

*End of Evangelion, Asukas fight. It's one of the greatest fights in the show.

*The first angel encounter.


Ahhh, sweet memmories.

[Thunder]

Sounds wonderful... I'm not sure I'll be able to enter, though. Too tight a schedule at the moment. Granted, I'm working on a Digimon story that would fit the requirements, but since the particular series isn't allowed... *shrugs*

[MISTER BIG T]

I sent my entry via pm.