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Writer's competition

nicholson

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I know there's a forum specifically for this topic, but it's a ghost town.

I had to be out of town during the con for business (didn't learn about Spocon until just a few weeks before it started--definitely coming next year!), so I'm wondering if anyone can give me some details about the writer's competition. Who won, what was the quality of the entries, how did they announce things, were the stories put on display, have the top three or five been put together in a digital version and sent out to con-goers, etc. I'd just like to congratulate whoever did well, and everyone else who entered.

I haven't been able to get ahold of any official type people on the matter, so I'm hoping for fan feedback. Also I think it would be great if the top entries could be shared with the fans; I love me some good stories!

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Submitted by nicholson on Sun, 08/09/2009 - 7:39am
in

Tim Martin

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I will see if we can get permission to post the winning entries from 2009 and have them available in PDF for. I know that the 2010 competition is in the planning stages and that the ConCom really is still alive ... Smiling We're just all over the place taking care of things that need taken care of since we pretty much put our personal lives on hold for a couple weeks.

Thank you for the prodding Smiling



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Submitted by Tim Martin on Sun, 08/09/2009 - 8:03am.

Alex_Wildstar

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Put in my request for all the info above as well as the critiques of our stories sent to the respective writers. We cannot improve if we don't know how we were judged!



"Do not search for us, we will find you. Do not wait for us, we are here ... all ready. Do not whisper your name, we know it well.
We have loved you forever, time will tell... We are your Guardian Angels." -Creed of The 16th "Guardian Angel" Combat Flight Squadron

Submitted by Alex_Wildstar on Sun, 08/09/2009 - 10:03pm.

nicholson

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Alex_Wildstar--

I've edited a couple of journals, and I can attest to the fact that sending out individual critiques/responses to each story would probably be an incredible hardship on the reviewers. Generally (and I don't know if the SpoCon contest ran this way) entries to writing contests get an initial review by one or two people, then the top so many are selected and reviewed in much more detail by several readers before selecting winners. Sometimes there's an intermediary step or a final selection by a guest author/critic.

Depending on the number of entries, of course, sending out critiques would be nearly impossible to do in any kind of timely/orderly fashion.

Not saying it wouldn't be helpful, but since most contests have entry fees and take forever to respond, I'd say the SpoCon contest is relatively fantastic!

Now, it would definitely be helpful to join a writing/workshop group, and if you'd like to organize one I say more power to you, and put me on the list for sure!

Somecallmetim-

I didn't mean to be intrusive with my prodding. (That doesn't sound right.) I know y'all worked your appendages off for a long time to put on the convention, so don't stress over my request. Take care of family first!

Submitted by nicholson on Tue, 08/11/2009 - 3:16pm.

Alex_Wildstar

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Well this was my first writing competition and I just assumed that the judges read the stories and judged them equally by a specific list of standards. I hoped there was a judging sheet that we could see. I also hoped that the judges would justify their scores with comments/reasons. Knowing who the judges are, what their background/expertise is and why they think what they do about your work is essential. Kinda like American idol where you get at least a little feedback about your performance.

Anyway, this is what I imagined/hoped for from the judges and judging. Let me know if I am absolutely off base in hoping for any of this.



"Do not search for us, we will find you. Do not wait for us, we are here ... all ready. Do not whisper your name, we know it well.
We have loved you forever, time will tell... We are your Guardian Angels." -Creed of The 16th "Guardian Angel" Combat Flight Squadron

Submitted by Alex_Wildstar on Sat, 08/22/2009 - 2:55pm.

stargypsyd

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Alex,
What was the title of your story? A fellow writer from my writer's group was one of the judges, if he judged yours I'll ask him to send his comments to you.

Submitted by stargypsyd on Sun, 08/23/2009 - 7:57am.