8 replies to this topic

[Dauth]

Please answer honestly.

[Ion Cannon!]

I've only started looking at this place quite recently, previously I found all the military based writings quite tiresome, I still do. So having a competition where other genres are explored is great, some of the things people have come up with are of an extremely high standard and very original.

[Teron]

If I sometimes find the time to read some of the (longer) writings I (mostly)kinda enjoy them. About the competitions, well, I don't really care about them, all I do here is read ^^

[CommanderJB]

At the moment I'm not really in a position to contribute regularly on any sort of basis, but I do think that they are probably coming a bit fast. Maybe monthly/bi-monthly? They do take a significant amount of time to both write and gain inspiration/plan/edit. I still think they're a great idea, though. By all means they should be continued. They've definitely increased the amount of traffic in here.

[Sgt. Nuker]

Yes, less frequent, yes, and yes.

I do strongly believe that the short story competition should be continued. The talent this forum holds is outstanding and it would be a shame to snub it with the demise of such a competition. However, I feel that it happens too often, as in, when one ends, the next begins. As any writer here knows, monthly deadlines can produce an almost incurable case of writer's block that may only be cleared by miracle or forced hand. When a writer's hand is forced to scrawl on a fresh page or blank screen, the words that flow are generally not of the high standard the writer is known for.

Yes, I believe the poetry competition should be continued, not because I would take part and have taken part in such an event, but because I believe that, like a short story, it is yet another way of expressing one's self through the depiction of words. Though a poem is typically much shorter than a short story, the images within can be just as vibrant and thought provoking, provided the language is carefully chosen and exercised in such a manner so as to envelop the reader with a sense of awe, but also to provoke questions within the reader's mind.

To some extent the SSC has done its part to siphon life back into a lifeless section of the forum. Before, there were the occasional scribblings of fleeting thoughts and perhaps a high school paper that was deemed worthy of forum duty, but there were very few exceptional pieces that were hung in this drab corner. With the advent of the competition, people that didn't write or post something in this part are now more active and squeezing their brain for all it's worth for the precious creative juices it produces.

To think is human, to write, divine.

[Shirou]

I can only add to Nuker here. There were too many competitions in short time which lead to very few entrants per competition, and a statistically inutile quantity of votes. It's also not very encouraging for writers to find that their story, the piece they have put so much time in, doesn't even get one vote, nor gets any review on its contents. I have experienced this myself with the Song story competition. Very few votes on the competition as a whole, and no review on my story which left me disappointed as I was quite eager to hear the echoes of my story from readers.

Getting more entrants and more time for the writers to make up their minds will only benefit the quality of the competitions. As Nuker stated, strict deadlines make for dead ends. To get more readers, reviews and votes, it may be better to open up a forum next to every competition and allow people to bring up ideas for the theme of the next competition. When the voting of the running competition starts, launch a poll made from the best ideas, and let the community vote again. You don't have to do this every time as it may lead to less originality (I for one can't imagine a Love theme to make it this way) but at times when activity could be diminishing it's a good idea to canvass the public.

Edited by Aftershock, 13 October 2008 - 08:11.

[NanSolo]

Mostly echoing what's been said, maybe a less frequent competition would be helpful in getting more people involved. Both the SSC and the poetry competition are great so you could keep those two running simultaneously, but not two story comps at once.

[Wi-Ta]

I did start to write a story but i do not dare to show it to the public jet.
If the day come this will be the right place to do.

So please continue with it.

Best regards
Wi-Ta

[Dauth]

Topic closed an unpinned, thanks for the feedback.