The Fifth TvTropes Writing Contest

What do you mean?

EDIT: Oh, you want me to pm you my story idea. Nah, my story is completely unrelated to any persons, living or dead. I was just curious about the rules.

edited 20th Aug '11 11:24:11 AM by TheEarthSheep

...

In my capacity as judge, I would say:

• Fan fiction directly borrows characters, locations, objects, and/or ideas from a copyrighted work.

• If it's public domain (pre-1923), you're in the clear. Given the "fairy tale" theme, using fairy tale characters is particularly acceptable.

• I will personally be much more generous with the theme points for stories referencing established fairy tales, rather than stories that just include fairies and magic, since the latter ranges into ordinary fantasy. But I will be most generous with stories that follow a fairy-tale narrative style, nebulous as that is.*
  ^{Obviously all this only applies if fairy tales are one of your chosen themes.}

• All real persons, living or dead, are fair game for "historical" works. Probably-real people count as public domain. Any of these can be used for the alternate history topic, provided something happens other than what happened in real life.

All real persons, living or dead, are fair game for "historical" works. Probably-real people count as public domain. Any of these can be used for the alternate history topic, provided something happens other than what happened in real life.

And this is true only when you're pursuing the 'alternate history' theme?

I mean, can you follow real events if you're using two non-alternate history themes?

Well yeah, nobody's stopping you from writing historical fiction if you like. Argeus wrote one for the second contest; I'd be happy to see more (and more realistic fiction, for that matter). As long as the themes are part of it, everything else is fair game. And I definitely encourage creative use of themes, although other judges' MMV.

Oops...

^ woops

Just curious. If a contestant were to use three themes instead of two, would that improve the score (all else being equal)? Would four be better than three?

I'm not a judge, but I'm guessing that using more themes will only get you further if you did a good job of it.

I don't know, but I just realized that I accidentally hit one of the themes. That's hilarious. I wasn't even going for it; I just looked at the list to see if I was hitting the other two I wanted, and then I saw that and was like, wait... I fit that!

I actually kind of hate these themes, now that I'm trying to write in them. I had a couple good ideas for stories, but they didn't fit the themes. And then I realized I had a good idea for a story a while ago, and it totally fit a couple of those themes, but then it's part of my world building project, which I've already posted extensively about and would give away my anonymity (speaking of, is it really that big of a deal? No one even goes to the World Building forum anyway, it's unlikely the judges would have seen it). And so now I have no good (workable) ideas for a story.

I dunno. I took a certain classic story archetype and turned it upside down and then Up To Eleven without even realizing that I was doing it. Then, add a Twist Ending and boom, done.

I had a brain blast, though. I don't know how you work, but my idea came spontaneously...

edited 22nd Aug '11 2:12:14 PM by USAF713

If it's not too late, I'd like to be pencilled in as a contestant. I've been eagerly awaiting this! Great excuse to get some real writing done.

^ It's never too late, as long as you think you can make it :3

And I'll take this opportunity to ask how you're all doing.

Rough draft is cooling on the windowsill for later consumption editing. Maybe I'll wait a whole solid week, until Thursday?

I'm also sorta hoping some people get back to me about it by then with feedback.

edited 22nd Aug '11 7:56:34 PM by deathjavu

Have my idea, am working.

Damn, I'm so smart, aren't I? I start working right when school starts.

I might start on mine tonight. School prep is rather hectic, however. I hope my friends from school can beta for me, and then if it flies past them I'll submit it...

I'm still thinking about mine—we have to choose at least two themes, right? Because I have one idea, but it only uses one of the themes. I don't want to shoehorn in another.

Does having flashbacks to longer than an hour ago disqualify the 'taking place in an hour'?

I suppose it depends on the nature of the flashback—every story is going to have to say or imply something that happened before that hour—but it can't help.

Anyone else up for judging? A fourth would be nice. It's fun, I promise.

You know what? I think I'm going to drop out. I want to spend time on my World Building project, and write a story from it, which would not be allowed to be submitted. And I'm having trouble working with these themes anyway. So, yeah, I'm out. I'll totally try next time, though.

I'd judge, but I don't know if I'm really qualified.

Assuming the finished story runs about eight pages, I'm trying to write at least a half page a day. Typically I don't spend much time on rewrites. It should be done before the deadline, but not by much.

This particular plot was the third. The first two were workable, just sorta far-fetched. I prefer more-intimate settings so that I can concentrate on the characters.

Good luck to everyone!

Still struggling to find a plot with those themes. It may take a while.

^^ Wait, what? At half a page a day, and eight pages, that would take 16 days, approximately half a month. The deadline is in October. That would leave you another half-month to revise.

@ Chihuahua — Out of curiosity, have you decided whether or not you'll be competing? I think that 3 judges is fine, but they can always use more. OTOH, you judged last round, and if you want to compete, then that's up to you.

I hadn't decided yet. The deadline is October...

I'll go with being a judge for now. If I finish a story for the contest, I'll let you know.