Two Roads Contest 2014

Wow, alright, to avoid derailing this thread into drama central, I'm going to PM you about this matter and your toxic and disgusting prejudicial attitude because there's clearly a lot to talk through. There's a lot of shit I let fly if I see it on these forums, but when I see it here in a section I consider proper and respectful to everyone regardless of their differences, I feel obligated to address it.

Please everyone stick to posts on-topic in this thread regarding the contest from this point onward. Thank you.

I need want some clarity here. Were you arguing because you didn't see Shiki's post where the issue was already addressed? If not, why attempt to argue on something that you have no power over? The ultimate decision was up to me and I made it.

If you were arguing for the sake of starting something, this is neither the time nor place to do so.

I considered my post the final word on the subject. That's why I posted.



You're the only one here continuing.

The final word on what exactly? I don't quite get what you mean by that.

Note: If you have questions about this contest, PM me as I'd add relevant data to the front page.

Where do I start? Oh, I know:



And then you continue to say he has a toxic and prejudicial attitude, only inciting more drama?



Because giving Shiki what he wants and getting worked up over meaningless insults isn't harmful to both the quality of this thread and the people around you who have now have to deal with the further derailment through your aggressive accusations, which are founded on your own insecurity?



Proper and respectful to everyone? Oh, you must mean all the self-confirmation bias and intellectual validation that goes on at the expense of others.

Get off your high horse, Xenon, you're not any better than Shiki is right now.

Welcome to our humble corner of the forums, interesting for you to drop by just for this. I'm honored, Pyre, and that isn't sarcasm.

I will PM you a more thorough response because I don't want to derail it any further.

Suffice to say that Shiki and I talked a lot through PM and followed up just like I claimed I would do. I may have thought his statement was disgusting, but I never claimed he was as a person. I feel like I understand him more from it and he understands why I reacted to his post in the way that I chose to. I'm not going to say it's no business of your's, because I personally believe that we all should look out for one-another, so I thank you for defending him.

The fact of the matter is that he is my friend and friends let each other know when they make a wrong move. I give everyone I know the same respect, even you, even though I know next to nothing about you besides from the posts in IB and Computers that I notice while lurking.

I hope you will consider entering the contest since the thread has garnered your attention.

OKAY

[color=red]STOP RIGHT THERE[/color]

This topic is all about if you have questions in regards to the theme or submissions. If you have anything to argue/talk about, please use PMs. If you have questions regarding prizes, grading, etc. Also use PMs. If it is important, I'll put it in the original post.

THANKS

Link to my entry:

https://www.fakku.net/forums/writing-and-fanfiction/2roads-2014-are-you-innocent

So, I am posting in this thread to gather a consensus of who is working on an entry in order to get an idea of who is participating so we can assess the status of entries. Only d has submitted something, so I'm curious.

There are currently 20 days left, so if you're a procrastinator like I am, this might be the time to get started so you don't overly push yourself when there are just a couple days left.

I am currently conceptualizing. I have not written anything, but the outline of my story is basically finished in my mind and I just need to write it.

Don't forget about the 2000 word limit, and good luck for everyone else participating.

Just saw this now, so I might be a bit late~ Of course I'll do my best to reach the deadline if not I won't enter. Though I'm a bit worried about my grammar and English since I'm not native and well it has been some years since I last wrote something serious not just 'chit chatting'. but I like the idea of romance in an alternative world. I'll do my best and hope I'll be able to write anything interesting~

Boy am I late to this party, Thanks a bunch Xenon for letting me know about this.

Honestly, I'm not too concerned about prizes, I'd be happy if anyone could read a story I crafted and enjoyed reading it, that's good enough. (Of course winning would be nice too, haha)

about 19 days to go, eh? Hopefully I can get started among these busy days, but I'd rather not rush. (Then again, If I don't I may not make the cut)


Still, I have kind of a question? Just wanted to clarify...*

So looking at the key themes you are requesting...

I'm not sure if you want the Romance to be overt, or implied, or it can be either?

When you say "Interesting world", it doesn't have to be anything fantasy-ish and can be taking place in modern society like ours, right? (Or will that be worse in your grading criteria)

*
- If any questions I'm asking will, um, possibly disqualify me, could you let me know instead of answering the questions? thanks -

Trying to make time for it. I want dat cash... but I just got FF14 gifted in my birthday... so yeah.

Let's just say 50% chance for me to enter it, I have a story idea in mind.

I will be entering. You can hold me to it.

I'm working on mine. Just letting y'know. I'm hoping to get it done in the next few days. Cheers.

EDIT: Question. If I have notes, do those count to the 2000 word limit?

Hey guys, I'm not a stickler for 2000 words on the dot, but that's more or less what I want in terms of length. I'm not going to suddenly cut off at 2001 or anything. Just be reasonable.

Romance just has to be an element- its up to you to determine what impact the romance has, but when I say romance, it means that the main story should be the interaction between people as opposed to just the world.

For interesting world, I want to see something thought out. Something imaginative. That COULD be something fantasy-ish or COULD be depression era US. What I mean by that is don't just say the world is "today" or "future" without giving some context that allows the reader to suspect there are greater things happening that can't completely grasped within a few pages.

I see...Normally such a world (IMO) would take quite a lot of pages/words to establish and within 2000 feels like it'd be pretty hard to pull off.

Not impossible though. Thanks for the clarification, I think I have a better idea to what you expect from a piece.

I don't think so. I'm not asking you to show the world of the story if that makes sense.

An example of this sort is Grapes of Wrath. Without understanding the world as a whole, we still see something of a past and present given the context of everything.

Or- on an anime-stance, Fate/Stay Night has a lot hidden in the world of the story without actually explaining why. Things just exist and seem to make sense.

One example would be Neuromancer. There is so much messed up in that world- impossible to explain easily with the cast of characters to world events. It's more like as a narrative moves on, we kind of understand how the world works. What I'm hoping to see is a world of the story that isn't as vague as, "present day" but more about what's going on present day?

An example of character-based world would be a character who, even though not explained, lives alone in a house. The character instinctively sleeps on one side and lays his hand out. Or there's two of everything. Maybe he needs to get rid of a car. Either way, you can easily assume there was a tragic event that caused the character to be alone.

A charred out town could explain a great cataclysm that people just refer to. If you go fantasy-dragons, then there could be some attempt at defense v dragons that the town built (take Lord of the Rings for example. Dale has a black bow at the top as a precaution to a future attack that may or may not ever happen. Even though it is a plot device, it makes perfect sense.)

Since you have the time, I'd actually suggest trying to work the notes into the narrative. It's a really useful skill for short stuff like this and notes can break immersion if they're in the form of foot-notes or some such. If it's a foreword/afterword, then I suppose the content would determine whether it should be worked in or not.

It is, of course, Coffee's call on whether it's ok and yours as to what you do. Either way, looking forward to your entry and everyone else's.

My entry is just about finished and the tally comes up to 2,092 words. If this is too much, I will chop it down, but thought I'd ask you before-hand. Although you said you won't be absolutely strict, I also don't want to be unfair to others, so I'll ask for your approval before submitting it. What is your ideal grace-range around 2,000?

I have another question on behalf of someone considering story ideas: Does it have to be a single stand alone story or would the first chapter of a bigger story be allowed?