 Contests & Activities: December 28, 2016 Issue [#8052] |
  Contests & Activities
This week: Hey....2017! Edited by: Leger~  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to highlight some of the current contests and activities on the site, help educate members on how to host contests and activities, and provide clues to submit quality entries to contests. Write to me if you'd like something in particular covered.
This week's Contests and Activities Editor
Leger~ |
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Oh no! It's that TIME!
Yep! You know it! It's the new year, right around the corner. And with that comes my annual New Year activity newsletter! Let's take a look back, shall we?
Did you accomplish what you thought you would? Writing goals can often be amorphous. I always have these great ideas about how much I would like to write in the upcoming year and the true reality is, my writing often takes a back burner to other things. Not necessarily things like fun goals, creative goals...but junk in every day life that needs to get done. Sure, I'd be more than happy pecking away at my keyboard all day but it wouldn't be long before I ran out of clean clothes and food to eat. Families aren't too understanding about an empty refrigerator.
Did you finish anything? I know, it's a harsh question, but if you're like me, you start a lot of projects that never find a finale. I start stories and then write myself into a corner, or a sinking black hole sometimes, and just don't have the energy to write my way out. So I dump the work in a WIP folder and leave it alone. It's amazing what I find in there...years later, and see the solution to the problem. And well, sometimes it just sucks and stays in the folder forever. I never give up on a character or a great scene. Some day they might find resurrection.
Did you enter some contests? What did you do with the entries later? Hey! No resting on your laurels. Polish that work up now that you're not limited by word count or entry date. And submit it somewhere! There are plenty of publications looking for short stories and poetry. Spend some time researching where the best place to submit would be and send it in. You might be surprised.
How comes the hard part...what goals are you setting for this year? Try to find a happy medium between realistic and fantastic. How much time do you feel you'll have to research, write and enter contests? How much time do you have to run an activity? Or participate in one? Sure, you might get a little extra time on vacation, or end up home with a broken leg, but simply consider your every day life and how you might fit some time for creativity into it.
Now I have a little suggestion...a moment of encouragement. A gift to yourself. Many of us have cell phones...smart cell phones. Sit down today and jump into your calendar. Set a recurring notify for each month, or each week and have your phone remind you to write. Perhaps even put a little quote in there, something encouraging and uplifting. You'll thank yourself.
This month's question: What are your goals for the upcoming year? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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#2106439 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Do you enjoy the challenges of metered poetry? If so this contest is for you! Each week I will post a different style of metered poetry. Write a poem of any theme using the style posted and you may win a nice prize!!
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Excerpt: This contest will be held monthly with a different Pretty Pesky Prompt! The contest will begin on the tenth of each month and end on the ninth of the following month!
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#2105069 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Contest: To write a story or poem omitting a letter. The best story or poem that actually accomplishes leaving out the given letter will win.
Excerpt: This will be an on-going monthly contest. Every month I will post the 'cover art' from one of those great, old pulp magazines, and you will write a short story, of say, no more than a 1000 words, that best describes that cover. Some of them will already have titles which you can choose to use or just make up your own from the inspiring art work. Write whatever you want in whatever genre you like, as long as it pertains to the monthly cover image.
Excerpt: I have always had a preference toward writings, movies, and art that deviate from the norms of thought, sometimes verging on strange. So for this contest, I challenge you to step outside of conforming to society's rules of correctness. Horror, dark satire, and romance with a dark or demented twist are a plus in this contest.
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Excerpt: Can you take the challenge to write me a story or poem in the equivalent of a tweet - 140 characters or less?
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Excerpt: This is a place where members both young and old can share their stories, give advice, empathize with others, and perhaps heal some old wounds along the way. The lesson here is, although words can hurt and even leave scars for years to come, they will NOT break us!
Excerpt: The judging will be based on how well you followed the prompt and how creative you were with it, not just on how well you write.
Excerpt: A new prompt will be posted every day in the forum at the bottom of this page at approximately 11:00 pm WDC time. (Eastern US time). The prompt will have the date of the next day, the day it is due. After the prompt is posted,you'll have about 24 hours to post your entry.
Excerpt: On Monday, post your goals for the week and I'll send you 1,000 Gift Points. --- Come back on Friday, post your updates on your goals, and I'll send you an additional 1,000 Gift Points!
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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This month's question: What are your goals for the upcoming year?
Last month's question: What are your suggestion for budget contests / activities?
Mary Ann MCPhedran  sent: Hi I didn't know that all these things were available I think I need to have a go at them. This is a very good news letter and not only newbies can benefit from this information. I enjoyed reading and was very interested in the content. Thank you for sharing with me.
Andy~hating university  replied: First off, I wanted to say thank you for highlighting my Christmas contest. It's really appreciated.
I remember running my very first contest when I was still a Newbie, and the trick is find some "cheap" rewards but ones that people will like receiving. For example, if you can only afford to have your first prize as 3,000 GPs, then don't give out 3,000 GPs - buy a gift certificate to an image shop, or buy some raffle tickets in two or three different raffles.
For those looking for a no-cost contest, how about offering to write five reviews for first place, three reviews for second place, and one review for third place - your contest winners get reviews that we all love getting, and your contest doesn't you a single GP to run.
You don't need to hand out shiny Merit Badges and sparkly Awardicons to every single place - this can bankrupt you pretty quickly. You could maybe give a 10K Awardicon or a Merit Badge for first place, and then some raffle tickets or something for second and third place.
If you decide to run a raffle, then instead of giving the raffle winner a percentage of the GPs, you could buy them something from WDC shop to the value of the GPs. Raffles don't actually cost anything to run as the prizes come out of the GPs you get from the tickets that are sold.
Thank you so much for the replies! |
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