Memoir Contest, 2021
Jan 29, 2021 12:31:20 GMT -6
Post by RAVENEYE on Jan 29, 2021 12:31:20 GMT -6
SUBMISSIONS CLOSED
Welcome to our first contest of 2021! We intend to host a new contest every other month, and we hope you'll try your hand at each of them.
Welcome to our first contest of 2021! We intend to host a new contest every other month, and we hope you'll try your hand at each of them.
It's time to get reflective!
Form: Memoir/Anecdote
Theme: "Misadventure"
In the words of Scottish poet Robert Burns “the best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.” Or, in English, our plans go often awry.
For our first contest of 2021, we want to hear about your personal woes in a short-form memoir. We have all lived things we hoped had gone differently, whether recent or long ago. These events usually become the memories we love to hate and hate to love. That dream vacay that ended with four flat tires and a night in a Motel 8. The date night, of which all you can remember is the raging swarm of bees. The fishing trip with grandad where you both ended up wetter than the fish.
Make us laugh, make us cry. Inform us of what NOT to do and what to avoid in 2500 words or less.
Important Note: We are NOT asking for your deepest and darkest. In fact, we’d rather you kept it light, but this choice is up to you.
Another Important Note: Because your experiences are personal, real, and valid, you will NOT be judged on the experience itself, but on the technical and artistic aspects of the telling. Our goal is to learn how to tell our stories with greater skill and effectiveness.
Contest Schedule
Submissions close, voting begins: February 15, 11:59 pm, US Central
Voting closes, winners announced: March 1
Contest Basics
One nonfiction piece only Feel free to change names to protect participants' identities and/or your anonymity Word limit: 2,500 (I am using THIS WORD COUNTER to ensure entries do not exceed the limit.) Your memoir/anecdote must be unique, written specifically for this contest. You may not submit a story you have already been working on or wrote in the past. Do not disclose which entry is yours. Template (Required. Copy, paste, fill out, and include with your submission):Title:
Word Count:
Submitting Your Entry
NEW INSTUCTIONS
Once you have completed your entry, send it to me (Raveneye) via Private Message. Each entry will be posted anonymously in the Nonfiction forum. I will not edit mistakes, typos, or for readability.
Format your entry in the PM the way you wish it to appear. To ensure this format remains unchanged, submit the BB Code version of your entry. (To find the BB Code version, it’s as easy as clicking the BB Code tab at the bottom of your PM. Select that coded version as you would normally select any portion of text. Click the “insert code” icon (it's the "C" in a square). If extra help is needed, see the screenshots in this HOW-TO GUIDE.
PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT ME TO REFORMAT YOUR ENTRY – This is time-consuming and a pain in my arse. If I do not receive your entry in BB Code, it will appear in plain text (with all formatting stripped) for the contest.
NOTE: The ProBoards private message system does NOT allow us to edit our PMs. If you see a problem with your entry, you may resend it up to the moment I post it live for judging.
Contest Judging
Voting is open to all Legendfirians! Every contestant is REQUIRED to vote.
Unless excused for serious reasons, you must vote on all entries. You will receive 2 reminders of this requirement 1 week and again 3 days prior to the end of the voting period. If you do not vote on ALL entries, your entry will be disqualified.
Please follow these steps:
1. Judge each entry according to the following questions. Answer them as thoroughly as possible. Two sentences minimum per question. NOTE: voters who leave one-liner critiques to justify their vote will receive warnings according to our warning system. The purpose of commenting is to help writers improve their writing, so be thorough, please.
Technical writing elements: Which elements were technically sound in this entry? What still needs work? Consider things like spelling/punctuation/grammar, coherence, effectiveness of structure, etc. Artistic writing elements: What appealed to me in this entry? What might benefit from revision? Consider things like how engaging the memoir is, effective word choice (prose style), universal appeal (theme), etc. Prompt: How does this entry relate to the prompt?2. After answering these questions, assign each area a numerical value: Rate each entry from 1 to 5, with five being the most favorable.
3. Add your scores and divide by 3 to get an average score. For example: 3.5 + 3 + 4 = 3.5 (The contest host will collect all the average scores for each entry and tally the averages to determine the winners.)
* You may vote for yourself to maintain your anonymity. This vote will not count toward the final score.
* All entries must have the same number of votes for each vote to count. For example, if over half the entries receive 7 votes, we will set the final vote requirement to 7 votes per entry.
Winners!
* 100 Hard Honor Points for all entrants, upon submitting their entry
* An additional 200 Hard Honor Points for 1st Place winners, for a total of 300
* An additional 100 Hard Honor Points for all other place winners, for a total of 200
(Please note that contestants must edit their Honor Points themselves within their profile settings)
Contest Promoting!
[img]https://i.ibb.co/yFzyrPg/misad-nonfic.png[/img]Registration
1. Bird
2. Alatariel
3. Aubrey
4. Raveneye
5. Foxxglove
6. ScintillaMyntan
7.
I mean, big fish stories are still true in that a fish was caught, right?
I think it was rather cathartic.
Why, if I ever get my hands on that man, I'll make Annie Wilkes look like a bad chiropractor 
