FFR's (not quite) First Literary Contest

[dore]

I'll sign up for the one week division but I have no idea of a plot yet so who knows if I'll actually do anything.

[kmay]

lol at chaz. people post there stories up for critique all the time. asking for help on how to make it better. i made my schools varsity volleyball team sophomore year, does that mean im in shape. No, i happen to be really fat. If someone who submits get offended that they didn't win they should just get over it. Honestly chaz if you feel the need to bash people that are trying to help someone don't do it in a thread about a tourny. comment them or PM them.


and thanks i think i have a chance on a week day, and no cheaters. One day means one day. Is pre-writing allowed?

[blackbuterfly451]

@kmay - if you felt the need to criticize someone in our contest thread you should've commented them or sent them a PM. :P

ps: we're saying no pre-writing, but there's no way we can tell if you wrote it ahead of time.

[kmay]

hmm nice flows a lot better. lol

[rzr]

Kmay, you're now one of my favorite people on this website.

[rzr]

I deleted my post, Chaz. I respect your opinion, please respect me/us.

[pokelda]

he doesnt have to

[rzr]

Nobody said he did. Nobody said I did. Nobody said you had to post.

"Judged for spelling/grammar?" If you can't be bothered to edit your own work, why in blazes are you entering it in a contest?

And why is "length" being judged, when there's already a specific length requirement?

I'm also curious as to why the judges are fit to judge this contest. What are their favorite books? What do they look for in effective writing?

[MooMoo_Cowfreak]

Originally Posted by chardish

"Judged for spelling/grammar?" If you can't be bothered to edit your own work, why in blazes are you entering it in a contest?

Wait, do NOT judge on spelling and grammar. Honestly, that has nothing to do with the quality of a story. Mistakes happen.

[Temote]

Originally Posted by kmay

If someone who submits get offended that they didn't win they should just get over it. Honestly chaz if you feel the need to bash people that are trying to help someone don't do it in a thread about a tourny. comment them or PM them.

I think you skipped over the point Chaz was trying to make about the situation, or just knocked it off as flaming (which he even said he didn't want it to be viewed as). It wasn't about "someone getting mad they didn't win", it was more about someone who's work might not be judged as harshly or as well as it would by, say, Mal or Fojar. While I don't mean any disrespect to the current judges, if either of those two were to look over something I've written and tell me it's bad, I'd be far more inclined to believe them than any of the four who are in charge of this.

That's all I'm saying on this.

EDIT: Also, what moomoo said.

[rzr]

With tools such as Spell check at any writers hand, which also grammar checks, there's no excuse for improper grammar or spelling. This is a literary contest. We're judging you on a combination of several factors, one being your grammar and spelling skills. If you do not trust your skills, don't enter. I know my grammar skills aren't perfect. They're also not trash.

If you don't feel the judges are adequate, don't enter. Are you completely satisfied with your ability to judge another's work? I'm not. However, I'd like to bring light to the Literature Forum and challenge many authors to test themselves in individual fields of writing. I never once said I'm a more suitable judge of another's work than any particular person. The judges I chose were picked for a specifick reason. It may be a talent they have, a skill, or whatever. I chose myself because I would enjoy successfully holding a literary contest on my favorite website, as well as the opportunity to read many stories. I chose Bynary Fission because he's been a friend of mine on this site for a long time. I trust him with my password if I'm unable to update the contest. He is an intelligent individual who should be recognized as such. I chose Blackbutterfly because she was very eager to help me in attaining some information I requested on another literary contest, as well as being very interested in the idea of an FFR literary contest. She is also a smart individual and deserves recognition as such. Finally, I chose Phynx because of his vast experience in holding tournament and their function. He can wrap his brain around the concepts of it to increase productivity. Also, he is very well liked and can speak with many others about the contest. Oh, and length is being judged solely to assure the proper word minimum is reached.

[MooMoo_Cowfreak]

Originally Posted by rzr

Oh, and length is being judged solely to assure the proper word minimum is reached.

Then don't say your judging length when all your doing is looking at the word count.

Again, do NOT, under ANY circumstances judge on grammar. If this truly is a literary contest you will care about content, not how well they spell or use grammar. When I first write a story, it's utter crap grammar and spelling wise, but it's still a good story. It's only through careful editing which takes DAYS is it any good grammar-wise. I'm not gonna edit my story enough in the span of one day that it'll be perfect for your little grammar judging.

[rzr]

Then by all means, drop out. Or, submit your work. If it's as good as you say it is the grammar and spelling will be overcome by its quality. Don't belittle our judging methods. If we are to effectively critique your work it will involve all aspects of writing. Your grammar and spelling is a large factor in this.

[Temote]

While I'm still online for the night, rzr, do you have something specific you use for grammar checks? I've been typing up things for my nanowrimo submission, and I've decided that I absolutely hate the grammar check on Microsoft word, as can be seen in this conversation between me and someone else on another site:


Not to say that it's usually this terrible, but I can recount several instances while working on this when the dang thing was definitely not trying to tell me the proper way to write the sentence (Word has a severe problem with anything that requires -self or -selves).

[dore]

I have nothing against judging with grammar in mind, but I don't think you should count against something for a typo. Using the wrong version of "your" or "there" but small typos that are obviously typos and not stupidity shouldn't count.

[ieatyourlvllol]

I agree (to an extent).

In literature, grammar and spelling shouldn't be used for the primary basis upon which a work will be judged - the quintessential purpose of writing is to deliver concepts, ideas, and themes, not to demonstrate technical proficiency in their conveyance. Nonetheless, literary norm has given way to the perception that the ability to consistently follow conventions like grammar and spelling is highly indicative of an adept writer (and one who is concerned for his/her audience). Furthermore, it's impossible to deny that visual aesthetics and textual coherence have a significant role in deciding the inherent quality of a phrase or sentence. Consequently, even seemingly trivial things, such as a misplaced comma or misspelled word, can have a tremendous impact, and when these errors happen to occur in just the wrong place, they can completely ruin the author's intended message, regardless of its value in terms of syntax and diction. For this reason, grammar and spelling must be considered when critiquing almost any form of writing, but its importance should not be allowed to overshadow that of the actual literature.

[rzr]

Well, I wrote up an entire rubric and my browser crashed. So, I'll get around to re-posting it. In the meantime, I'll answer Temote's question. The only way I will be judging your grammar and spelling is off my head. While I'm reading it. How many errors stand out, how frequently, and how easy of a mistake to not make. Like, text speak is going to get a low grammatical grade from me. However, the plot and content mean a lot more to me than any grammar flaw. As long as you hook me an grasp my attention you don't need to worry.

[MooMoo_Cowfreak]

Originally Posted by rzr

Like, text speak is going to get a low grammatical grade from me.

For the record, this is called dialect, and it can be used to wit. However I can't imagine anyone on ffr using dialect.

[dore]

My story will have some dialect in it, but nothing too heavy.