I want a character driven story that focuses primarily on building two unique characters, then having them engage in duel with each other. They can be originally made walkers or pre-existing ones, it's all the same.
The contest will run until the 19th of March, then judging will take place that following week and winners will be posted on March 26th. Judging criteria will be the same as always.
I'm currently working on my story, I hope there's a little more compitetion this time around though (then again, if there's not, more chance of a second trophy for me :D).
Originally posted by King Toasty
Can we have the whole thing in Limerick?
Since these are going to climax in duels, will autocard tags be allowed during the duels themselves? Something like this:
The Bant champion leaped back onto his leotau and drew his greatsword, the knight joined by a blue humanoid with webbed feet. Having never seen such a being before, his kneejerk reaction was to manifest a demonic claw, dragging the sea-dweller into the depths of the earth. "Now to keep Rafiq busy," Dais murmured. He folded his hands in prayer again. "O Scion of Light and Darkness, intercede on my behalf!" The closest thing Josh could relate the divine being to was a solid-black angel wielding a scythe rather than a sword, her wings more demonic than divine. With great courage, Rafiq instructed his leotau to gallop straight for Dais. The avatar simply ignored him, Josh's opponent barely mustering the energy to stand afterward.
Additionally, what about linked background music tracks?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A mere ten days after the Mending, a young knight of Valeron and a young ranger of Eos made a discovery that would change Alara forever.
Sigh, this is happening during my busy period. Again.
And with my luck, I'm not going to remember till the last minute. Again.
(You'd think I'd have learned after the first time.)
My entry appears to be running long. Would 6000 words be too long? That's about the length I'm going to have, looks like.
Something I noticed when judging last time (and times past), it is very, very obvious when writers haven't re-read their stories. If you think you're going long, by all means, go back and try to edit it down (and check your grammar, typos) before the deadline.
Professional writers spend at least as much time revising their stories as they do writing them (and more often much longer).
--
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Listen to my M:tG flavor Podcast: Story Circle! (Newest episode is all about Innistrad previews.)
One more thing...where can the assessment rubric be located? I'd like to know how exactly we are being graded.
We used to go by rubrics but the last few contests have been totally up to judge fiat.
As it looks likely that I'll be one of the judges this time (since I've been too busy on my thesis to even think of a premise) I'll let you know how I look at it:
75% Story. Is there a beginning, middle, and end? Does it hold my interest and make me want to keep reading? Does the plot make any kind of sense? Are the characters well defined and dynamic? Do they have clear goals?
20% Craft. Are there little to no grammar mistakes/typos? Is the tense/POV consistent and are they appropriate to the story? Are the word choices well thought out? Is the dialogue natural? Do any of the words distract from the story?
5% Adherence to prompt. Did it follow the spirit of the prompt?
--
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Listen to my M:tG flavor Podcast: Story Circle! (Newest episode is all about Innistrad previews.)
I haven't subitted a story to the contests in a few years as I was distracted by a few unforeseen events in my life, but now that I have been wanting to write something again for MTGS, I see that there has been a current trend of the prompts being Magic-related. That would have been fine if it were the prompt of one contest, but lately it seems to me that the short story contest has turned into a fan fiction contest, and I just want some reassurance that this is not a permanent change.
I want a character driven story that focuses primarily on building two unique characters, then having them engage in duel with each other. They can be originally made walkers or pre-existing ones, it's all the same.
The contest will run until the 19th of March, then judging will take place that following week and winners will be posted on March 26th. Judging criteria will be the same as always.
Now get to work writers!
Good luck to all the other writers!
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
As a reference to anyone else who wants to submit a joint entry.
Anyone going to simulate the duel with an actual game of Magic? =p
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
I'm sure you can think of something by yourself.
Sure, I guess.
Additionally, what about linked background music tracks?
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
And with my luck, I'm not going to remember till the last minute. Again.
(You'd think I'd have learned after the first time.)
Well, we'll see.
I may refuse to judge any limericks though ;).
--
Winner of the 2nd Design Survivor Contest
Creator of the Vorthos Card Contest
Winner of 12th and the 18th Short Story Contests
Creator of the Vs. Tournament.
--Runner of the Superhero Vs. Tounrament
--Runner of the Villian Vs. Tournament.
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Something I noticed when judging last time (and times past), it is very, very obvious when writers haven't re-read their stories. If you think you're going long, by all means, go back and try to edit it down (and check your grammar, typos) before the deadline.
Professional writers spend at least as much time revising their stories as they do writing them (and more often much longer).
--
Winner of the 2nd Design Survivor Contest
Creator of the Vorthos Card Contest
Winner of 12th and the 18th Short Story Contests
Creator of the Vs. Tournament.
--Runner of the Superhero Vs. Tounrament
--Runner of the Villian Vs. Tournament.
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
We used to go by rubrics but the last few contests have been totally up to judge fiat.
As it looks likely that I'll be one of the judges this time (since I've been too busy on my thesis to even think of a premise) I'll let you know how I look at it:
75% Story. Is there a beginning, middle, and end? Does it hold my interest and make me want to keep reading? Does the plot make any kind of sense? Are the characters well defined and dynamic? Do they have clear goals?
20% Craft. Are there little to no grammar mistakes/typos? Is the tense/POV consistent and are they appropriate to the story? Are the word choices well thought out? Is the dialogue natural? Do any of the words distract from the story?
5% Adherence to prompt. Did it follow the spirit of the prompt?
--
Winner of the 2nd Design Survivor Contest
Creator of the Vorthos Card Contest
Winner of 12th and the 18th Short Story Contests
Creator of the Vs. Tournament.
--Runner of the Superhero Vs. Tounrament
--Runner of the Villian Vs. Tournament.
I'm sure you can think of something by yourself.
Lost Dreams
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya