This week: The Interview of the Century Edited by: 🐕GeminiGem🎁  
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Hi there! I'm 🐕GeminiGem🎁 , also known as Leah. Let's talk about THE contests on WdC, the Official Site Contests. I got the interview of the century! |
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The Interview of the Century
Let's pretend that I had my act together (I know, I know, it's a big stretch) and actually interviewed Jeff  about the history of the WdC Official Contests and his role in running them. We need to pretend because the reality is I'm a pantser (and a slacker). I basically just shot off a few questions about the above subject and Jeff ran with it.
So, if you have ever entered one of the six Official WdC Contests or had looked at them and wondered, here is some information that may not be general knowledge.
Leah: When WdC members enter one of the Official Contests, they may not have a sense that there is actually one guy who is in charge of them. Tell us about your role as that one guy in charge.
Jeff: Basically, my role is to oversee and run the official contests on behalf of the site every month. I took over the job from Diane  , who ran the site contests for years before stepping down in 2015. Overseeing the contest includes scheduling the judges for each round, as well as deciding which contest to run and what the prompt will be.
Leah: Tell about the history of how the contest prompts were chosen.
Jeff: One of the most interesting facts about the official contests is that, anyone who's been around for a long time will remember that the contest prompts used to be pretty mundane (Short Shots had a lot of pastoral imagery, Quotation Inspiration has common, familiar quotations, etc.), and that was partially by design. The site wanted the contest to have as much mass appeal as possible, so easy, innocuous prompts were the norm. A few years ago, I made the decision to start using edgier prompts with a higher degree of difficulty, even if it came at the cost of participation. The numbers bear that out; we do have fewer entrants than we used to (although I think that's also somewhat attributable to a general decline in participation across the site as a whole), but I also think the contests are more challenging and has resulted in some truly exceptional, unique stories being written.
Leah: What other changes have you made since you took over?
Jeff: I also somewhat recently made the decision not to announce who the judges of each round are until the end of the contest round. We have a somewhat limited judging pool (only Moderators and Senior Moderators can be judges, and there are fewer than 40 who regularly volunteer to judge) and many of the judges are regulars with their own specific tastes and preferences; not announcing the judging in advance was a choice designed to create more fairness in judging, where contestants can't write to the tastes of a particular judge they're familiar with.
Leah: Do you have any upcoming changes planned?
Jeff: Next year, I'll have been running the official site contests for ten years, and I'm contemplating whether it's time for an overhaul (maybe some new contests/challenges, new incentives to enter, etc.). I haven't decided on anything yet, but I'm always looking for ways to improve everyone's experience with the site contests.
Thank you, Jeff! It was a pleasure to "interview" you, and I appreciate that you took your time in the middle of the "Game of Thrones" insanity that is going on this month.
Here's more information about the Official Site Contests
There are two places you can find all of the WdC Official contest listed:
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Some things to remember!
 Paid membership is required to enter.
Each round of each contest has three judges. The input of those three judges determines who places in the contest. That also means all entries receive three reviews.
The prizes are very generous!
The prizes are:
 First Prize: $100.00 in Writing.Com Gift Points and an exclusive Journey Through Genres Merit Badge, both virtual and physical!
 Second Prize: $50.00 in Writing.Com Gift Points and an exclusive Journey Through Genres Merit Badge, both virtual and physical!
 Third Prize: $25.00 in Writing.Com Gift Points and an exclusive Journey Through Genres Merit Badge, both virtual and physical!
Links to all of the Official contests are below 
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Officicial Site Contest
CURRENTLY RUNNING
APRIL 2024
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Feedback from my last Contest & Activities Newsletter "Three Time's A Charm"
Schnujo's NOT Doing NaNoWriMo 
 There's an automatic code button for dropnotes?!?  I had no idea! Though in my (terrible) defense, I mostly write on the Newsfeed, which doesn't have that button. Obviously, I need to create more static items, forums, and other things.  Thank you for that tidbit! Normally, I just open an edit page on "The Contest Challenge" when I need a refresh on how to create a dropnote.  Thanks, again! 
That way certainly works, but why not make it easy on yourself?
Merry_Mikey 
"See that little button right above the text box that says "drop"?" Really? There are preformatted buttons for dropnotes AND popnotes? You mean I don't have to click on Writing.Com Tools > WritingML: Docs & Help every time I need to remind myself how to set them up? Thanks for the tip!
Well, if it's any consolation, you aren't the only one who "forgot" about those buttons.
Elfycia Lee ☮ 
I've only ran a contest once on WDC. I was going to let the mechanics of the contest unveil week by week as a surprise. I got trashed for that. That's when I learn that people really like to know things in advance and they don't really like surprises. However, as the contest began to unfold, the responses were much better and people liked it. Someone did ask me when I'm gonna host it again. I admit the contest is a little messy, but the participants put up with it. Really grateful for that. Maybe... just maybe one day I will get it to come back although I can never decide which month. And when I do, I know I'm gonna need to order an exclusive badge and make a couple of trinkets. I finally figured out how things work around here. Took a long time, didn't it?
I understand both sides, but here's the thing. It isn't easy to make a unique contest. I would make sure it is clear what they will be up against. People who don't want to deal with the surprises can opt out. Not every contest is for everybody.
The newsfeed question from "Three Time's A Charm" was: If you enter contests and activities here on WdC, what is the number one thing you think a lot of them could improve upon?
Joey's Feeling the season! 
I like the contests pages where there is one page, with other needed pages linked from the opening page. I only need to save the link to that starting page and then click on the menu for the needed parts.
Fair enough. Simple is better.
D. Reed Whittaker
More visual prompts. One of the reasons I miss "Weird Tales" was the old pulp magazine covers. They were fun. Some of the current prompts are too obtuse for me to get my imagination around. I have to let them go by.
That's an interesting point. As a contest owner, I never use image prompts. I do sometimes enter contests with image prompts, but it isn't my favorite. I may have to consider trying some in my contests.
Blessed Christmouse 
less restrictions..... more open prompts....
I have to agree, open prompts are a nice option.
deemac 
Keep rules to a minimum and instructions clear and concise.
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Contests & Activities: April 17, 2024 Issue [#12512]
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