Christmas Pokemon Fanfiction Contest

[Frostweaver]

The art section has been doing holiday contests for a long time already... the game making forums started their first contests just awhile ago as well and they're technically "younger" than the fanfic forum, so it's time where the Pokemon fanfic forum pick up a contest of their own!


Christmas Pokemon Fanfiction Contest

Dates: Starting from Oct 30th to Dec 20th, 2004

Accepted Entry Formats: any (fanfic, oneshots, scriptfics, poems, etc)

Topic: As long as it's related to Christmas and Pokemon (manga, anime, gameboy games, just the Pocket Monsters, etc), it qualifies. No restriction on characters, or settings.

Prizes: A rep point from me? Fame? Exclusive bragging rights? Fun? o.o;

Basic requirements:
-submitted work must be checked by a spellchecker (ask for help if you don't have any spellchecker for your computer, or send it to a friend who can edit it for you). Reduce grammar mistakes to a minimum.

-co-authoring is allowed

-keep in mind that Christmas does NOT equate to just any cold winter days... just look at Australia and check how "cold" is Australia when they're celebrating Christmas... >_>;

-follow all "proper format" depending on the format of your work (refer to later sections)

-be sure to read the sticky with the 2 words "READ FIRST" before you start writing

-submitted entry CAN be something written in the past, or is used for a contest in another forum/elsewhere

-you CAN post your story in advance within PC forums for editting and comments. State so if you're doing this though.

-have fun writing and editing ^_^

Your judge(s):
-Frostweaver (=P)


A rather predictable and broad topic, yes I know, but it allows creativity! Christmas fanfics are quite stereotypical, so using such a common topic will truly seperate the original fanfics from the common predictable christmas fanfics. The fanfic has to be related to christmas, or any practices that are done near Christmas time. Please use common sense regarding "what is Christmas." >>;

I'll be the one giving out and rating your works again, and I'm sure that some of you guys are used to the harsh rating methods already. I'll be rating the exact same way as usual, besides for one new factor. Depending on the format of the submitted entry, a submitted entry can get bonus, because some formats are just naturally harder to write than another.

Hopefully, 2 months of time should be enough for all writers to write their work, and then check them over, or hand it over to a beta reader/friend to read over. And feel free to post any comments here as well.

Later when it's closer to Dec 20, I'll start another thread called Christmas fanfiction contest entries or something. ^^

As for the entry formats, let me explain... Just because this contest accepts all fanfics of all sorts into account, let me clarify some details for every kind of fanfic, and specific requirements for each of them.

Proper Formats

Fan Novel/Chapter Fictions (format bonus point: 3)
-minimum of 3 chapters
-the chapters together should have at least 5000 words (if you can't satisfy this word limit, then perhaps you got a oneshot, not a novel... wrong category)
-By the duedate, all chapters must be completed
-3 bonus point due to the heavy amount of work involved with the huge length requirement

Diary Journal Entries (format bonus point: 1)
-minimum of 3 journal entries per 1 character POV
-total should be at least 1000 words long
-you're allowed to have more than 1 character's POV
-by the duedate, all entries must be completed
-1 bonus point for being very similiar to oneshot, yet it is more difficult to write being much more emotional and personal... not to mention, it requires some very picky diction

Oneshots (format bonus point: 0)
-minimum length of 800 words
-easiest to write
-no bonus point, due to the short length in comparison to the other formats. This allows the writer to use more time to double check their work, so in all sense of fairness, no bonus points.

Scriptfics (format bonus point: 3)
-minimum length of 1500 words
-use all proper format to write a scripts, such as stage directions
-if the scriptfic is also a chaptered work, bonus points become +7
-3 bonus point, due to the increased length from writing stage directions, and the difficulty of writing a scrptfic

Songfics (format bonus point: 1)
-maximum length of 500 words
-if it's based on a real song, post the lyrics as well... I don't want to go hunt down for the original lyrics to compare and etc. That's YOUR job.
-1 bonus point... though it can be hard to manage, it's not as hard as something like a poem because you can choose a real song and just plug in your own words.

Poem: Free style (format bonus point: 1)
-no word limit
-minimum of 4 lines long
-if the poem is shorter than 7 lines, then a theme must be present
-remember that free style has NO certain rhyming scheme or restrictions... you make up your own rules
-1 bonus point, for a poem is just harder to write than a normal fiction...

Structured Poetry (format bonus: 3 for Sonnet, Haiku and Rondel, 2 for Tanka , 1 for Ode and Ballad)
-must follow all official formats for each respective types of poems... such as Sonnets having 14 lines and so on
-bonus points are written in the bracket as mentioned for each specific type of poems

Epic Poetry (format bonus: 6)
-I'll list this anyway, even though I doubt anyone will want to challenge this ridiculously hard format for a contest...
-epic poetry is a long narrative poem that talks of a story... basically, to write a oneshot completely in poetic form (ex: The Odyssey)
-no Pokemon fanfic is ever written in this format anywhere online
-6 points rewarded due to the insane difficulty


So there you go... all the accepted formats and their expectancy. I look forward to reading many brilliant fanfics on the 20th, and hopefully be able to post out the results by Christmas?

Final Tips:

-christmas isn't necessarily all jolly... it doesn't *have* to be. This is by far one of the most problematic thing regarding Christmas fanfics...

-grammar check! grammar check! USE IT!

-always use a thesaurus to help with diction

-another method to help with mood/diction... listen to music to help creating a certain atmosphere and you want your readers to feel when they're reading your story. Say that you're writing a Christmas story with romance as the genre, so listen to a love song/slower song... it does help/affect what your mind can come up with, believe it or not.

Best of luck to all writers, and have fun!

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

Finally! I was wondering when a contest like this was going to take place. I can finally show this forum of my writing skills. Hurrah! XD I'm not sure whether to do a one-shot or an epic poem. I'll probably do the poem, since 2 months is a good amount of time to prepare and whatnot. I prefer writing poems to novels anyways. Ooooh! And I could get a review by frosty. That I'll look forward to. ^_^

 

[Lily]

:O Squee. My head's teeming with one shot ideas again. ;-;

But yay! My first contest I joined, and two months will be plentiful as long as I don't procastinate or anything. MCD, indeed. I look forward to frosty's review as well. X3

 

[Merron]

This looks like more fun than I likely have time to have, er...

*disentagles tongue*

Yeah!

 

[Kylie-chan]

I'm looking forward to it. As Lily's entering, I thus have the chance an ant has to defeat an elephant, but it's fun.

And as the majority of NSW is suffering from a drought, Aussie Christmases are anything but cold!

(Do you live in Australia, Frostweaver? I do.)

May I enter two? An epic and a fic novel...

Erm.. As I am a professional author am I allowed to enter? OK so people like Lily should get published more than I do. Am I allowed? Oh well I guess so.

 

[Lily]

I'm looking forward to it. As Lily's entering, I thus have the chance an ant has to defeat an elephant, but it's fun.

o.o;;;

DP...honestly...As I had said countless times in replying to your posts before, it doesn't matter who's entering because who knows, my fic may turn out really bad. XP (And it's happened when pride betrayed me.)

So like, I'm just another writer as you, no difference.

^_^

Oh btw, Frosty lives in canda. He just happened to be smart enough to know how Aussy's Christmas is like. ;p

 

[Kylie-chan]

It is sweaty, hot, and absolutely delicious. (Mmm... Barbequed sausage... But don't worry. Aussie Christmases are rather stereotyped. Some of us sit down, stuff Maccas in our mouth [OMG. At least I don't do that for Christmas.], get drunk, and go crash their car.)

Personally, I think there should be two categories: Poetry+Oneshots (excluding Epics as there doesn't seem to be a fairness and that) and Novels+Scripts+Epics as they're all pretty **** hard. That way it makes it fairer for people.

I have read part of the English translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey (I'm a Greek mythology NUT!) and it is so darn hard. And it doesn't rhyme. Whew. I gave up rhyming verse in Year Four.

Oh, and Haiku deserves more than one bonus point. It is insanely hard to write seventeen syllables - five, seven, five - to capture the essence of something like Christmas. I think it deserves 4. Tried writin' haiku yourself?

Oh, and Lily, at least you can write oneshots. My oneshots turn out nuts. Oh well you write completely differently to me so I can't compare. (If I did I would be seriously depressed. Hang on, I always do, and I am seriously depressed because lunch was disgusting. Lol.)

I'm surprised people actually like mine. They're so - well - you know. I'm the most hopeless person to be stuck in permanent "Plot Block", end quote O revered Dragonfree. *dodges sharp objects thrown from Dragonfree* I did try a oneshot. Turned out like a spin off of Stopping the Impossible.

Anyhow, those two categories make it fair as poetry and one shots are kinda different and give ya more time to check.

Merry Xmas, you people out trick and treating! Ho ho ho and a merry fiction to you!

*disappears with a jingle and a flurry of snow, to be replaced with a whole heap of Aussie Christmas sun*

 

[Frostweaver]

Haiku only gets 1 bonus point, because if you got a haiku in the bag, you pretty much have to have at least a 18/20 for the tone/diction category, while oneshots can sink down to a low of 10/20 (I've given a low mark like that before.) Consider the other aspects of the marking system as well. Haiku and sonnets both score massive dictions easily should you ever work it out.

Also, since Haiku originates from another language, the defining nature of Haiku does vary a little bit at times, and I am more than welcome to accept whatever formats.

Plus hey, it's 2 months of time. Do some thinking ;p

 

[Kylie-chan]

Yes, but haiku is generally classified as describing something natural. Christmas originated as a religious festival and is now considered just a reason to party, basically.

*falls back in shadows* Ah, I'm some worthless newbie who can't judge for nuts. I'll put my trust in you.

 

[Dragonfree]

I'm entering. As soon as I read this, I got inspiration for a chaptered fic... I'll have plenty of time to reach the word limit...

If you write a chaptered fic, is it OK if each chapter is shorter than you would normally make a chapter, but instead have many chapters?

 

[Pok?mon Master Denny]

Uh-oh. How come Frostweaver's a judge? He's, in what he said in his sig, the pickiest and meanest fanfic reviewer and team rater on the Pok?Community. He wants everything to be perfect, which, by the way, is impossible!

But, I guess I'm entering XD.

 

[Dragonfree]

Uh-oh. How come Frostweaver's a judge? He's, in what he said in his sig, the pickiest and meanest fanfic reviewer and team rater on the Pok?Community. He wants everything to be perfect, which, by the way, is impossible!

That's exactly why he's a good judge. Somebody with low standards might give a perfect score, and perhaps to more than one fic.

 

[Pok?mon Master Denny]

I really don't understand what you just said, Dragonfree. He expects us to be perfect, which is never possible. But, I really hope Frostweaver understands what I mean. If he is the only judge, the only people who will get a lot of credibility are Blaine and you, Dragonfree, and a few others that I've never met before.

Listen, I don't feel like mistreating or putting all of you down, but I don't think Frostweaver is a good judge. Too much disrespect to myself, if you ask me. I don't think he even respects everyone else when it comes to reviewing. He takes big leaps in reviews, and doesn't think that my grammar is correct, which is not even true. Humph. Shows how much he doesn't know.

Not to be rude or disrespectful, but every single chapter I wrote was written on the forums, and only copied to MSWord, and he thinks my stories were as bad as some of the authors here, which, also, I'm not making a tease of. It's just that I don't like his reviews. He makes judgments a little too early.

I have doubts for him being a judge.

 

[Dragonfree]

He doesn't expect us to be perfect, he isn't that stupid. He just reviews noting every single mistake he sees, in order to bring us maybe a little bit closer to perfection.

And despite being "the pickiest and meanest fanfic reviewer on Pok?community", Frostweaver is NOT disrespectful. Trust me, I *have* seen disrespectful reviews. Disrespectful, that's sitting in your Live Journal, ripping apart fanfics and making fun of them while the author is somewhere else and has no idea it's happening. And even such disrespectful reviews can be good, provided that the author ever does find them.

He takes big leaps in reviews, and doesn't think that my grammar is correct, which is not even true. Humph. Shows how much he doesn't know.

Now, THAT is disrespectful. How can you be so 100% positive that your grammar is teh r0x0rz? Especially since I'm looking at a grammatical error in your signature right now. Now... *looks at Life of a Trainer* Uh, you DO misplace commas and periods. Don't act so perfect.

every single chapter I wrote was written on the forums, and only copied to MSWord, and he thinks my stories were as bad as some of the authors here, which, also, I'm not making a tease of.

Uh... how does being written on the forums and copied to MSWord affect the quality of the fic? o_O;;;

 

[oni flygon]

I wonder who's going to do epic poetry? XD

 

[Pok?mon Master Denny]

You know what? Forget it. I'm not entering. If I have to deal with a :"70/100 is good enough rating and I have a 56" from Frostweaver, then screw it. I'm not going to enter this contest. Why? We have the coldest reviewer as a judge.

 

[Dragonfree]

You know what? Forget it. I'm not entering. If I have to deal with a :"70/100 is good enough rating and I have a 56" from Frostweaver, then screw it. I'm not going to enter this contest. Why? We have the coldest reviewer as a judge.

It's your choice whether you enter or not, but to quote you: "I really don't understand what you just said, Pok?mon Master Denny." What exactly is your point? "Deal with" a 70/100 being a good enough rating? Look, at serebii.net, the standards for the stars are really low - if the ratings were converted to percentages, Frostweaver, who has high standards, would only give a selected few of the five-star hordes a rating of 90+/100 (which is the equivalent of five stars). But that doesn't change the final outcome of the contest, because there isn't some 99/100 fic you're supposed to be competing against. What do you have against 70/100 from a reviewer with high standards? What on earth were you expecting, anyway? Some kind of an "OMG this is the best thing I've ever read and I've got no criticism on it, 1000000000/100"?

 

[Lily]

You know what? Forget it. I'm not entering. If I have to deal with a :"70/100 is good enough rating and I have a 56" from Frostweaver, then screw it. I'm not going to enter this contest. Why? We have the coldest reviewer as a judge.

Even if Dragonfree has already remarked upon, this, I must.

For one thing, you're criticizing one of the best reviewers and friend I have ever seen? Why? Just because of the fact he knows how to give a good review? Rather ironic, don't ya think? Think it over. I don't mind if he gives contructive criticism. Mind you, if it were to be flaming, then I would understand but this...is just pointless in my opinion.

So Denny, you would rather get a '10/10 OMG this is like, so good keep it up!' rather than helpful advice many people have perceived in the mean category? Just admit you're that afraid of getting reviews from him, instead of marking him as a 'cold' reviewer as well as disrespectful. Trust me sweetie, you haven't seen disrespectful yet.

So yeah, bear that in mind. But by all means, if you don't want to enter this contest just because an experienced reviewer is taking part into being judge, then be my guest.

^_^


~LP

 

[Frostweaver]

Well for everyone of my own review, I justify myself with supports and evidences from your own creation already. If you are questioning my criticism about your story, then you should perhaps explain yourself too. Instead of whining how you got a low mark, spend some time to wonder how did some people get a 80+ from this same icy cold fanfic reviewer? (but thanks for calliong me the coldest reviewer ever. I'll take pride in that ^_^)

And everyone's allowed to enter la~ =D

A few minor changes to the marking system...

-Haiku bonus increased to a +3 instead of a +1 to be the same as a sonnet... I really

-Epic fanfiction/Epic poems have no restriction regarding the length of each chapter, as long as you see fit for where a chapter is going to end

I'll list out a rubric for how I mark another day...

 

[Kylie-chan]

Looking forward to it... *shudders* That sounds sinister... cos my teacher tells you how she marks... and she marks harder than Frosty. Frosty marks teeny compared to her... "the Dragon" we call her. no offence Frostweaver but she is one. mean. marker.

All the other teachers tell her that too.