CS Writing Competition Interest Check
Hello everyone! The staff are currently discussing some potential new things we can bring to the site. In doing so, we would like your input. As of right now, this is just a preliminary fact-finding post. We are not promising this will be implemented, we just want to get thoughts on it while we work through the process.
How it would work:
This would be a monthly writing competition. It would run from mid-month to mid-month, as to coincide with the mid-month update.
We would post a prompt and what staff member is judging this month. There will only be one staff member judging a month (although they can consult with fellow staff members). This is to allow for a speedier process/more variety in judges. If something comes up, staff will have a new judge step in and will post that a judging change has been made. Judges can be any member of staff - not just RP mods or those who do writing stuff. Judging would take a month, and the results would be posted on the mid-month update and on the thread itself.
- *For example, the results for an October competition would be posted with the December mid-month update
Each judge would have a prompt for that month that the story must follow. This prompt would be something like this:
- "Reynard is our judge this month! Have you ever noticed that people seem to fall into two parties during the fall? Pumpkin or Apple! Write us a story about one of your CS Pets either picking apples or picking pumpkins!"
Like all CS competitions require, we will have the prize(s) posted on the first page with the prompt and the staff judge. The prizes may vary in value. We hope this can be an opportunity for people to get pets outside of trading and the pound, as this seems to be something that would be welcomed.
The thread with all the details and where all entries would be submitted would be stickied so it is on the top. We would reuse the same thread, just posting a post break when we move on to the next part. The new prompt and judge would be edited onto the first post. The second post on the thread would be an archive post, where we would save old prompts and links to the winning entries/entries for that prompt. The format would go:
- Main Post (edited with prompt, judge, prizes, link to past winner)
Archive Post
Entries Opening
Entries
Entries
Entries
Entries Closed
Post Break - will have link to first post, all new entries after this are for next prompt
Entries
Entries
Your Input Wanted
We are still in the process of discussing some things but will update as we also tweak this proposition more. We would love to hear your thoughts and if there would be any interest in us doing this. As well, any suggestions about the process would be appreciated for us to take into consideration as we are fleshing out this idea more.
Potential Concerns:
We would like to hear any potential concerns people may have, and the answers to them. This will be updated with the FAQ.
What if there is a lack of interest?
Hopefully, with the addition of prizes and having your story linked on the update, this will be an incentive for participation.
What if I don't like writing? Will there be other competitions?
At the moment, the discussion is around a writing competition. However, it is hoped that this format could be extended to competitions for Oekaki and Dressups in the future.
Will there be a word count?
Yes. The exact word count has not yet been decided, but current thought is 500 minimum with a 1000 maximum. This is to make it so (1) the playing field is a bit more level and (2) the staff judging does not Get overwhelmed by very long stories.
How will it be judged? By story or by grammar?
The judging will mostly be done by story. Each judge will vary slightly as is natural, but the main idea is how well you can tell us a story about your chosen pet in the prompt.
Do I have to use a CS Pet?
Yes. Because this is a CS writing competition, we want to see the creativity you have with your chosen CS pet! You do not have to choose the same one each time.
Will prizes be exclusive competition litters?
No. Prizes will be for existing pets and/or items. One of the goals of this is as a way for users to have another way of getting pets other than adoption or the pound. The pipeline for prizes still needs to be discussed. Prizes will be posted on the front page along with the new prompt and the new judge every month, so you will always know what you are competing for.
Will the competition be split into sections (beginning, intermediate, advanced)?
No. At the moment we are not considering doing so. This would add to the judging burden, but would also lead to people needing to make a call where they need to be sorted, or a staff member doing so. Like when the boards were split into these categories, it ended up not being the best method for sorting.
Because we are already planning a word limit, and as well because the focus of this is going to mainly be on the story and not on the grammar and such, we do not see it being an issue. As well, consider even our judges likely differ in writing skills (and languages!), so the shakeup of judges from month to month we think will prevent this from becoming a major issue.
Will there be prizes for second and third place?
This has not yet been decided and will be discussed by staff! Thank you for bringing this up.
Will there be limits to how often someone can win or a cool down between wins?
This likewise has not been decided! With the variation in judges, it also may not be an issue, as each judge will likely have a little bit of a different perspective, so someone winning back-to-back or multiple times may be difficult anyway. It also could depend on what the average amount of entries looks like.
