TCS Writing Contest October 2017! Post-Apocalypse Dystopia

Have fun. Win stuff. Do things.

TCS Writing Contest October 2017! Post-Apocalypse Dystopia

Postby Kate » Fri Oct 13, 2017 8:20 pm

Welcome one and all to the TCS Write-Off October 2017!

That's right, we're back! And we've got some slight tweaks that we're going to highlight in bold for you just in case you're a veteran and want to get right to the changes.

This is the place for TCSers to flex their literary muscles, and compete with each other for the most interesting and compelling stories we can come up with.

Let’s go over the rules and how things work:

- Story length is up to 4000 words total (including any asides or additional notes).
- Please include a title for your piece. If you do not choose a title, you are implicitly giving us permission to title your piece whatever we want; "Moldy Bread" "Baby's Feet" "I, {Username}, Love Donald Trump" (Oh yes we would).
- Stories can include images, but are limited to a maximum of three per story.
- All stories must follow the usual TCS rules.
- Instances of plagiarism will not be tolerated, please make sure all works are entirely original.
- The contest will run from October 13th 2017 to November 13th 2017. That's an entire month to write, folks!
- All story submissions must be PM’d to Kate before the end of November 13th (that is, you should have it in by 23:59 PST). Voting won't go live until I wake up the next morning, but will absolutely go live on November 14th...unless.
Here is a big change, guys! The voting will not start until we have a minimum of 5 submissions.
Fake FAQ About This Change
1. Why?
Because in the past, some contests have gone forward with as few as two entries, and that's not as fun. We understand that time crunches happen, or interest may be low. If we absolutely must eventually run with fewer than the minimum entries, we will - but we'd rather not.

2. What if I got mine in on time but now it's not running yet and I'd like to make edits?
You can absolutely make edits right up until the last entry is received. It wouldn't be fair to penalize people for getting their stories in on time.

3. Does this mean I have as long as I want?
Not really. You can take a chance that no one else will get stories in before you, but the cutoff after the deadline has passed is the minimum and no more. This means that if November 14th comes around and number 5 comes in at 13:24 PST, and number 6 comes in at 13:25 PST, number 6 is out of luck even if it is amazing.

4. But what if it's been days and we still haven't hit the minimum?
If that happens, we'll run short after five days. But I'd very much like to avoid that. I mean, I'd like to avoid this entire section, so please, write folks!


To be very clear, this does technically mean you can submit after the deadline if not enough entries have come in yet, but first of all, that's a pretty big gamble, and secondly, doing that on purpose isn't very nice or considerate of the people who run the contest or the other people who have entered.

- All submissions will be posted by Kate, anonymously, in random order, in a locked thread created for that purpose. All stories will be posted under the TCS Writebot account.
- Stories will be judged by poll created when the thread of stories is posted. Voting will continue for one week, ending exactly one week after it is posted. The story with the highest vote wins.
- The winning story will be featured on the front page of the site under the name of the winning author. Every story will be kept in the Fridge, and the posters changed to the authors of the story, and the thread unlocked for comment.
- Questions, confusion and disputes will be handled by Kate, please PM her for clarification or to report any problems.

Theme - The theme of this contest will be: Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopic

In the words of the person who suggested this theme in the first place,
Marcuse wrote:The world has ended, long live the world. It is the future, somewhere in it anyway, and the world is different. How is up to you. The heart of this theme is that human society has collapsed, is collapsing, or has been rebuilt in an unrecognisable form from the one we have today. Basically this is an opportunity to build a world that has different parameters from the one we inhabit, maybe corporations have forgotten pesky things like human rights exist? Maybe we nuke each other until the survivors don't even know what the hell happened? Maybe we augment ourselves to the point where we become a completely different species? The (crapsack) world is your oyster. Just...don't eat it. Probably off or something.


A note on critique - it is often preferable to seek the critique of other people before posting something to a contest, this is true here. However, for those critiquing, please remember to keep your points constructive and designed to help the author improve their piece. This is advice for private criticism, and strongly advised for post-contest comment. We’re meant to be building up here, not tearing down.

The contest will officially begin on the 13th of October, submissions will be due by the end of the day on the 13th of November, and the voting will one week after all entries are received. So what are you waiting for? Get writing!
  • 6

JT's Art Thread - JamesT's awesome stuff.
User avatar
Kate
Gul DuKate
Gul DuKate
 
Posts: 2961
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:08 am
Location: Assembling Future Kate
Show rep
Title: Sheepwoman

Re: TCS Writing Contest October 2017! Post-Apocalypse Dystop

Postby Kate » Fri Oct 13, 2017 8:44 pm

Just a quick note - this can be any genre you want it to be, as long as it fits within the parameters described above. The world needs to come down, something is coming out of the ashes. People will be asked to judge how well your story fits with the post-apocalyptic dystopia theme when voting, though, so keep that in mind! If your story technically fits but people don't think it really captures the spirit, they might not vote for it even if it's great.
  • 5

JT's Art Thread - JamesT's awesome stuff.
User avatar
Kate
Gul DuKate
Gul DuKate
 
Posts: 2961
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:08 am
Location: Assembling Future Kate
Show rep
Title: Sheepwoman

Re: TCS Writing Contest October 2017! Post-Apocalypse Dystop

Postby Kate » Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:38 pm

Just a reminder! Today is the last day to get your contest entry in! You've got a little under 1112 and a half hours to write, write, write!

ETA: Sooooooooo I messed that up slightly and cut you guys short by an hour from the stated deadline. Don't worry, you've still got until midnight PST to get things in.

I have no idea if this will work.
Countdown To

Oh good, it kind of does!
  • 8

JT's Art Thread - JamesT's awesome stuff.
User avatar
Kate
Gul DuKate
Gul DuKate
 
Posts: 2961
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:08 am
Location: Assembling Future Kate
Show rep
Title: Sheepwoman


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

cron