Contest Rules

[Balmafula]

Heyo all. I am going to be taking over from Tara as general admin, so I'll be in charge of judging and posting announcements and all that good stuff. Because I can. Although help with judging may very well be appreciated.

Anyway, let's get down to business, shall we?



The Premise

For those not in the know, this is a Redwall Survivor Contest. This doesn't mean Redwall has to be involved specifically, just that it uses the same species and occurs in the same general time period of the books. If you'd like to take part, there are 3 different character categories you can apply for, starting from right now up until May 31st. I will go over the categories in just a little bit. After the 31st, the judges will pick 6 characters from each category who we think are the best. We put those applications up for the audience to read and mull over and it's up to them to vote for who they would like to see most in the story. The 3 most popular characters from each category will then officially become writers in the story. They will receive their own email address and character account on the forum and then the fun truly begins!

Every week, the top nine will work together to continue the story from where it leaves off after the prologue. At the end of the week, the audience then votes for their least favorite character and the character with the most votes by the end of this period must off themselves from the story. Traditionally, this offing is through the good old fashioned method of death, but sometimes that just seems contrived, so you may also have your character leave the story some other way (if you can come up with a good reason for it!)
There IS a third option, but I'll go over that later.

This goes on every week until we reach a top 3. Then, after a final week, the audience votes one last time, but this time for who they think should win. Thereafter, everybody has a grand old party while the top 3 finish off the story together and walk off arm-in-arm (paw-in-paw?) into the sunset. Or something.



The Categories!
Okay, so if you are interested in applying, these are the characters you can apply for.  I'll explain how to go about writing and submitting an application afterward.

Yew Guards
Woodlanders who keep the peace in the town of Yew, as well as escort merchants and travelers over the mountain pass and to neighboring towns and villages in Mossflower.  This may sound somewhat limiting, but there are other options besides a patrolling or escort guard. You could be a jail-keeper, or a Captain, or a hired sword, just to name a few. Woodlander species only, unless you think you can sell us a vermin guard.

The Dewhurst Players
The small and shifty vermin acting troupe led by Pyracantha Dewhurst. Made up generally of ruffians and unsavory types, who often perform more underhanded deeds than mere performances. Vermin species only, unless you think you can sell us a woodlander performer.

Merchants
The wildcard category. Can be either vermin or woodlander. Someone peddling their wares around Mossflower, or even just accompanying someone who is. You could be a bodyguard, or a friend or sibling or spouse who got roped into coming along, or a slave/servant, or a guide, or just a normal everyday townsbeast looking for adventure.



Rules for Applying

• You must write a little blurb about your character. Maybe it's a day in the life, or a defining moment in their life. Regardless, write a scene involving your character. Do not make an RP introduction style post, wherein you describe the character's appearance and then tell us his personality, strengths and weaknesses, and favorite flavor of ice cream. Show it to us through his thoughts, actions, and/or interactions.



• There is a 750 word limit. Before you panic, there's still plenty you can do with it.  It might help to not even think about the limit at first; just write up the application and then when it's finished you can start trimming. What's necessary to understand what your character is (or isn't) and what's just decorative icing? Granted a little decorative icing is okay, but that will probably just come through with your own personal writing style. If possible, try to strike a balance between inflection, dialogue, and action. Don't worry, once you make it in you can write all the fancy descriptions and embellishments that you like!


• Actually, Tara wrote a pretty comprehensive guide for app-writing already. Check it out here: http://redwallsurvivor.com/forums/index.php?topic=420.0


• Try not to apply with a character you've already used to RP with on another established site or forum. Also, when registering for the forums, don't give yourself the same name as the character you're applying with.


• You can tie your character in with the prologue - and even the characters in the prologue - if you like, but try to be reasonable about it. If you make your character Pyracantha's twin sister or Lord Aster's personal aide or something like that, you may be building yourself up to unreasonable standards. Also, it instantly puts you above the other characters in terms of importance, which isn't really all that fair. Likewise, you don't have to feel obligated to mention any of the events of the prologue or the upcoming journey if you'd rather not.


• With the above in mind, also know that the story proper will begin just where the prologue left off.


• Once the app is finished, PM me with the character's name in the subject. Be sure to include in the PM:
  Character's name
  Character's species
  Character's gender
  Character's age
  The category you're applying to


• Anybody can take part in voting, at any time. You can vote for your own character to make it into the top 9 or take part in the "death" vote at the end of the week even if you're one of the writers.


• Along with the weekly "death" vote, there will also be a secondary voting category for each week. These will be things like "Most improved writer" "Funniest post/scene" "Saddest post/scene" "Best line of dialogue" "Best action sequence" just to liven things up.


• Characters who have been voted out may still write if they so desire. They will still be in the running for secondary awards but cannot make it into the top 3 for obvious reasons. To make this fair for the people who do well, there will be something special for the top 3 - Right now I'm thinking maybe having custom character art commissioned, but I am open to suggestion. Just make sure it's reasonable. I can't fly you to Disneyworld or anything... I'm unemployed here, give me a break!

And that should be it! I will put up another topic in the next day or so in regards to reviewing, but other than that, happy writing. I can't wait to start reading these apps!

[Rousseau]

A new contest? I chose a good day to check to see if RV6 had updated. Glad the survivor community hasn't died on us. I'll see if I can crank out a character or two for it soon.

[Balmafula]

:D Sweet!

Alsooo... I've been debating whether or not I should increase the word limit. It depends I think on how much our judges are willing to read. I personally think that 750 is enough to get a look at the core character and having much more than that is pretty much just - as I said before - decorative icing. Then again, I know how tempting it is to have one's icing and enjoy it... too? That made sense in my head, I swear.

[Opal]

But then, I'm in the 500 words or less camp, so of course I'm going to say that. And I don't post obnoxious gifs lightly. XP

250 more words is another half an app's worth, which, to me, is incredibly generous. I think there's plenty of time to embellish on the details in the contest. When I judge (or even when I read and vote on top thirty apps), I know I definitely don't want to read 30+ apps that are close to or over 1000 words each. I'm a slow reader. Have mercy on meeeeee.

I guess if you are set on writing really long apps, every. Single. Word. Had better be gripping, carefully chosen, indispensable, and beautifully written. Otherwise, I promise you I will lose interest after the first 600 words or so and vote accordingly.

[Balmafula]

XD okay, I am holding steady by the 750 rule.

[Kvothe]

750 words is a small country.

[Balmafula]

Small but full of LIFE! And love! And popcorn (or something).

Anyway several additional things I forgot to mention.

You can submit up to 3 apps, just make sure if you do they're all in different categories.

Also, if you don't have Word or something, you can use this for word count: http://www.wordcounter.net/
It shows characters and updates it in real-time, and also shows keyword density.

[carelesswhisper]

Please don't increase the word limit!  The entire challenge is to capture the essence of a character within as small a space as possible, and while I'm not trying to be cruel, if a writer can't do that in 750 words (which is incredibly generous in my book) then I don't particularly care to read more from them.

[Balmafula]

Don't worry, I won't! And haven't.

[Balmafula]

Addition: You can send in 3 different apps per writer, just make sure they're in separate categories.

[Rexim]

Well this is an incredibly unexpected but welcome surprise

[neopraxus]

Nice to see another contest running around here, though unfortunately I did not realize it was happening until yesterday.   :-\

Anyway, I'm trying to put together a last minute application, and I was wondering what exactly the deadline is going to be?  I see that it is the 31st, but does that mean midnight tonight or or midnight tomorrow?  Just looking for a little clarification so I know how much time I have to refine my app.

By the way, thanks to everybody involved in making this happen.  I'm looking forward to at least being able to read the story.  :D

[Balmafula]

I'll say midnight tomorrow.