Best Contest
Welcome to the
SHOW DON'T
TELL Contest!
Show, don't tell! How many times have you heard that? We all know it's one of the toughest things to do. Some editors and agents will decide whether or not to read your submission based
only on how well your
first sentence does this. Our contest is all about showcasing and practicing this important skill.
The most basic rule for our contest is that
you must show all the facets of your story as opposed to telling them. This contest is all about
showing and not
telling.
March 2021 prompt
This month, we're returning to a conventional prompt. Any genre is acceptable.
March Prompt
Ruby is sitting on a park bench.
A man sits next to Ruby on the bench.
A small head sticks out of the man's coat pocket.
The head might or might not have winked at her.
In addition to showing the above elements, your story should give Ruby a
goal, establish the
stakes, and place
obstacles in her path. In particular, every story should
GIve the each character a
goal.
Establish why the goal
matters--these are the
stakes.
Establish
obstacles to achieving the goal.
Use the goals, stakes, and obstacles to
establish,
increase, and
resolve tension.
Goals, stakes, and obstacles are the basic building blocks of
tension. The characters care about the outcome of the
conflict between the goals and obstacles because of the
stakes. You can
increase tension by raising the stakes, increasing the obstacles, or refining the goals.
Obstacles could be
internal or
external. They could arise from other
characters, from the
physical world, the
political or
social world, the
spiritual world, or a
supernatural world. You don't have to choose from this list, but be sure that there are tangible obstacles to the goals.
This month's contest lets you establish your characters' goals, stakes, and obstacles. Maybe Ruby's goals have something to do with why she's in the park. For example, maybe she's there to meet someone, or to avoid someone or something. Whatever the reason and whatever happens, events should, by the end of the story, resolve the tension that arises from the interaction between goals, stakes, and obstacles. .
In order to be sure all entries receive a fair reading, we will
limit the number of entries in each round of the contest round to ten. Entries are first-come-first served, so enter early! You may enter only once in each round, but you may enter every contest round if you wish
What are the rules? ▼
The basic rules are simple.
Write a story that includes the information in the prompt
Show the information in the prompt through the words and deeds of your characters. In the case of your point-of-view character, you may use sensations and thoughts as well.
Your story should have one character provide the point-of-view--
do not use an omniscient narrator.
Edit your story so it is
no longer than 3000 words but
at least 1000 words. Word count excludes title and author byline.
Include your
word count at the top of your story.
There are some other technical
rules listed below, but that's pretty much it.
Our goal is to accept and review all entries. We have only three exceptions to this goal. First, we will disqualify entries that are substantially over the limit of 3000 words. Second, we will only review entries that have enabled reviews in the item options. If "email comments only" is enabled, your story will not receive a review. Finally, the content of the story must include the information in the prompt--random stories with no relation to the prompt will be disqualified.
Of course, not all entries are equal. After all, this is a contest. There will be consequences in scoring for not following contest rules.
Similarly, submissions that exceed our limit of 3000 words won't automatically be disqualified. Exceeding the word limit falls under failing to follow the contest rules. That will result in a reduced score in the contest evaluation, but it won't generally result in disqualification.
However, we have a hard and fast rule that submissions longer than 4000 words will not be eligible for an award and probably will not be reviewed, either. Remember, we are volunteers. Reading and critiquing is time-consuming, challenging work. Please respect the time and effort of our judges by complying with our word limits.
What are the prizes? ▼
Everyone who enters will receive 1000 GPS.
The best stories, as determined by the judges, will earn additional awards.
Best Story: 20,000 GPS, an awardicon for your story, and a Max Excellence merit badge.
First Runner Up: 10000 GPS, an awardicon for your story, and a Max Excellence merit badge.
Second Runner Up: 5,000 GPS, an awardicon for your story, and a Max Excellence merit badge
Unless they have been previously reviewed by one of the judges, these three entries each will receive an in-depth, review from one of the judges. At the discretion of the judge, the review may be public.
If we have
three or fewer contestants, we will defer the competition and will roll the entries over to the next contest.
Every contestant earns the 1000 GPS for entering whether we run the competition or not, but you don't get a second 1000 GPS if your entry rolls over to the next contest. A story can only earn the 1000 GPS once.
If we have four, five or six contestants, we will award only the "Best Story" and "First Runner Up" prizes.
We reserve the right to reduce the number of prizes if we do not have at least six entries that are substantially shown as opposed to told. If, at judging, we discover that no entries make substantial showing there will be no prizes.
Judges will endeavor to provide every entry with an in-depth review, but these are not guaranteed. Remember, our judges are volunteers with their own busy work and writing schedules. We will only critique entries that have enabled reviews in the item options. If "email comments only" is enabled, your story will not receive a review.
At the discretion of the reviewer, critiques provided to contest entries may be
public and
posted to the public reviewing page.
All decisions by the judges are final.
Is there a limit to the number of entries in each contest round? ▼
Yes. To be sure that we are able to give each entry a fair reading, we can accept no more than ten entries in each iteration of the contest. We'll post a "Contest closed to entries" message in the forum after the tenth entry. If you're too late for this contest, you may enter the next one! We expect to offer the contest at least every other month.
How often and for how long does the contest run? ▼
We expect to run the contest at least every other month, starting August 1, 2018.
The contest will close to new entries after receipt of ten submissions or on the fourth Monday of the month.
If we have three or fewer submissions by the fourth Monday of the month, we will extend the deadline for submissions to the fourth Monday of the succeeding month.
If we have three or fewer entries by the the fourth Monday of the second month, we will roll contest entries over to the next iteration of the contest.
What is the deadline for entries? ▼
The
deadline for entries is when the
tenth entry to the contest is posted or
8:00:00 AM Central time (UTC-5 hours) the fourth Monday of the contest month.
whichever happens first. We will use daylight time during the months when it is applicable. .
In Universal Time, that's
1:00:00 PM UCT the fourth Monday of the contest month. To convert the deadline to your local time zone, go to
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
If you're interested in why "Coordinated Universal TIme" is abbreviated "UCT" instead of "CUT," see
http://www.timeanddate.com/time/utc-abbreviation.html
[15%] Showing the
goals
Does the protagonist have a clear goal?
Do we learn of the goals through the characters' words and deeds?
[15%] Showing the
stakes
Are the stakes clear?
Will something bad happen if the protagonist doesn't achieve her goal?
Do we learn of the stakes through the characters' words and deeds?
[15%] Showing the
obstacles
Are the obstacles clear?
Do we learn of the obstacles through the characters' words and deeds?
[15%] Showing
increased tension as the plot advances
Does the tension increase?
Is there rising action?
Does the plot show the characters interacting with each other and the fictional world?
[15%] Showing the
resolution of the tension at the climax
[15%]
Creativity and originality
[10%] T
echnical proficiency. This includes, for example:
grammar
spelling
proof reading
complying with contest rules.
Note that
resolving the tension does not necessarily mean that one side or the other of the conflict between goals and obstacles prevails. The three components of tension--goals, stakes, and obstacles--work together. A change to any of the three, or to how they interact, can resolve the tension.
I'm really pumped! Can I enter more than one story? ▼
Only one entry per contestant per contest, please. Feel free to enter every round of the contest if you like!
What are the other rules? I've got this awesome, unfinished erotic poem in non-rhyming choriambic foots. Can I enter it? I know you'll love it! ▼
Whoa, there, pardner! Here are some other rules.
Prose only.
No poetry.
Finished works only.
Short stories only. .
We will only critique entries that have enabled reviews in the item options. If "email comments only" is enabled, your story will not be disqualified, but it also will not receive a critique from the judges..
Erotic fiction is acceptable, but it
must be properly rated. In addition
no non-consensual sex
no sex involving minors
no scat
(a word of to the wise: if you have to look it up, don't)
no bestiality
(vampires, werewolves, and sentient aliens excepted)
no incest
No gratuitous violence, excessive blood, or gore
There are
scoring consequences if your submission exceeds 3000 words. If your submission
exceeds 4000 words, it will be ineligible for an award and will be unlikely to receive a review.
Yes. However, each contest round we will post a "Contest closed to entries and editing" message to the forum, usually at noon on the fourth Monday of the contest month. That's so we have a week to read and judge the stories. Once we've posted the message, do not edit your story. Doing so can result in disqualification.
Contest Judges ▼
LInks to stuff ▼
Past Winners ▼
Our Generous Contest Sponsors ▼
How do I enter? ▼
It's simple! Just post a
message to the board below, with the
subject,
"MY ENTRY" followed by the
title of your story. In the
body of the message, include a
link to your item in
"bitem" format like so:
{bitem:1894810}
Please do NOT include the story itself. Include a link as described above.
When you post your message, we'll see a link to the item that looks like this:
If you're still not quite sure what to do, check out "
Newbie Hyperlinking 101 - Bitem Format"
for a step-by-step tutorial.
What are you waiting for? Start writing!
This contest had a good run, but it's currently suspended. We have a successor contest at
We'd welcome feedback for this new contest since it's still a work in progress.
January, 2021 Round 
Anyone donating more than 10,000 Gift Points becomes a 
Anyone donating more than 20,000 Gift Points becomes a 
Anyone donating more than 40,000 Gift Points becomes a 
