Another competition ?

Postby Ace234 » Wed Jul 12, 2017 2:34 am

Looking around the page as a new person, it seems you guys used to do writing competitions? Would you do another one or no?
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Re: Another competition ?

Postby xtc » Wed Jul 12, 2017 2:58 am

Zanev has always paid for competitions in the past. Perhaps if a few more people respond to his request for funding . . .
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

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Re: Another competition ?

Postby Ace234 » Wed Jul 12, 2017 3:08 am

xtc wrote:Zanev has always paid for competitions in the past. Perhaps if a few more people respond to his request for funding . . .

I was meaning just a competition, like no prize needed just a competition for fun?
PM me for a yarn!!

Re: Another competition ?

Postby drawscore » Wed Jul 12, 2017 4:08 am

I have a feeling that a lot of writers would not want to be bothered, Too many negative factors. Judges' opinions are based on whim and caprice, where, consciously or not, they will apply their own likes and dislikes. If the judge likes MM stories, chances are, that MF, FM, and FF won't get a positive vote, or even a look.

Other experiences say that the readers don't care. If you can the judges and let the readers vote, it will be like feedback. Lots of looks, but they won't "have time" to cast a vote.

You'll have two or three; maybe as many as five, submit a story, but that's about it. My advice? Bag it. It looks and sounds good on paper, but in practice, results will be disappointing. Go back and look at the results of the last story contests.

Just my opinion. I hope I'm wrong.

Drawscore

Re: Another competition ?

Postby Jason Toddman » Sun Jul 30, 2017 11:07 pm

drawscore wrote:Judges' opinions are based on whim and caprice, where, consciously or not, they will apply their own likes and dislikes. If the judge likes MM stories, chances are, that MF, FM, and FF won't get a positive vote, or even a look.

Just my opinion. I hope I'm wrong.

Drawscore

At least as far as the part I quoted, you are! :P I for one never based my opinions on personal likes, but purely on story-telling skill. I am sure xtc at least has done the same.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

Re: Another competition ?

Postby drawscore » Tue Aug 01, 2017 12:05 am

Jason Toddman wrote:At least as far as the part I quoted, you are! :P I for one never based my opinions on personal likes, but purely on story-telling skill. I am sure xtc at least has done the same.


It's hard NOT to let personal feelings and biases into such decisions. If you and xtc can do it, you are among the very few who can.

Drawscore

Re: Another competition ?

Postby xtc » Tue Aug 01, 2017 5:02 am

For me (When I'm not a competitor), the writing has to be of a good standard and any rules (including those concerning the length of an entry) need to be strictly observed. The competion I managed to win was, I think, not judged fairly as I believe that Suestruggles, if I remember rightly, should have won.
If we could get a panel of judges who are a) literate contributors to the site, b) representative of all story strands and c) a good gender mix, any future competitions might be fairer. In the past, the judges were the Admins, the Mods and a small self-selecting group of (male) volunteers. Unusually for someone who believes in democracy, I believe that "the voice of the people" would not be an appropriate way of coming to a decision because it could descend into the sort of decision that one gets on "reality" TV programmes or -God help us- the sort of decisions that get various Presidents elected.
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

More by the same author: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22729

Re: Another competition ?

Postby Jason Toddman » Tue Aug 01, 2017 6:59 am

drawscore wrote: It's hard NOT to let personal feelings and biases into such decisions. If you and xtc can do it, you are among the very few who can.

Drawscore

I used to critique and edit other peoples' stuff for publication for a living for a good number of years, so yes I think I can be quite unbiased. Of course, none of them were about TuGs, but they still often touched on controversial subjects involving science, religion, and or politics - all subjects i myself have some very firm beliefs about! :geek:
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

Re: Another competition ?

Postby drawscore » Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:27 am

We have something in common. I used to write -professionally.

Drawscore

Re: Another competition ?

Postby Jason Toddman » Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:37 am

drawscore wrote:We have something in common. I used to write -professionally.

Drawscore

More than I ever managed to do then. I've published a lot of things in small-time newspapers and magazines and online of course, but never received a dime for any of it.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

Re: Another competition ?

Postby solarbeast34 » Tue Aug 01, 2017 3:07 pm

I think that possibly a good way of doing this/ starting to get back into doing this is for the person, or people, that want to start having writing competitions on here create a backbone for the competition and then bring it to the moderators for them to either approve or disapprove. They would be the ones to create a draft of the rules, find prizes if they want them, propose a budget if need be, find out where that money is coming from, and just about everything the moderators would do to setup the writing competition. Of course, this would be the initial setup for the competition and the moderators have the last say in whether it goes on or not at all. This would hopefully lighten some of the load that you guys, the moderators, have, and also will likely showcase the many things you need to get done before the competition can start.

Re: Another competition ?

Postby Jason Toddman » Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:10 pm

solarbeast34 wrote:I think that possibly a good way of doing this/ starting to get back into doing this is for the person, or people, that want to start having writing competitions on here create a backbone for the competition and then bring it to the moderators for them to either approve or disapprove. They would be the ones to create a draft of the rules, find prizes if they want them, propose a budget if need be, find out where that money is coming from, and just about everything the moderators would do to setup the writing competition. Of course, this would be the initial setup for the competition and the moderators have the last say in whether it goes on or not at all. This would hopefully lighten some of the load that you guys, the moderators, have, and also will likely showcase the many things you need to get done before the competition can start.

Well, not all the judges are moderators. Also, without financial backing from Zanev or someone else, there probably would be no prize and therefore not much of a competition - or much much point of one either.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

Re: Another competition ?

Postby solarbeast34 » Tue Aug 01, 2017 8:14 pm

I completely understand the financial backing situation at the moment,but we should let Ace234 and other people who want to be part of the group that restarts writing competitions figure that out. If they want a writing competition then they should be the ones to create an initial proposal for a prize and how to pay for it, or no a prize at all, depending on the one they want. I also understand that not all judges are moderators, but the moderators run the site and make sure everything works, so they would be the ones to approve or disapprove the proposals for what the writing competition entails. Take it like this, Ace234 and other people who want to be with him, would be the council for the preparation of the writing competition and the moderators would be, and are the overall leaders of the council who would approve or disapprove of the councils decisions and proposals on the writing competitions. If approved by the moderators, then all potential writers would have to follow what the council has decided and what the moderators have approved. But if the moderators do not agree with any or all of what the council is proposing than there may not be a writing competition, or other changes need to be made for the moderators to approve. This would be by no means the start of the competition, but would provide a better understanding of what goes into the writing competition that the moderators have to take care of before the writing competitions are able to begin.

Re: Another competition ?

Postby xtc » Wed Aug 02, 2017 2:38 am

MEMO
From: Xtc (purveyor of cold water)
Re: Interest in proposed competition.

I'm all for competitions but may I point out that, at the time of posting, only four people had expressed an iterest in such an event in the poll.
Says it all, really: six responses!
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

More by the same author: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22729