World of Warcraft®

CC has always had a very rich history of wonderfully rich stories here. In view of that, Pia is hosting a story teller contest.

Story must be 2,500 words or less.

PG-13. No erotic, excessive violence, or offensive stories.

Subject matter is open. You don't necessarily have to write about a WoW subject.

Contest will be judged by professional writers or editors if I can find them. Otherwise, I have some very talented writers on hand.

Prizes for first, second and third place.

Deadline is January 15.

Post entries here, but, once again, if you post a short story online, most publishers consider that publication and will not accept it for publication. If you plan to sell it or publish it, please do not post online, anywhere.

I've been thinking about offering a line edit as the grand prize in this contest.

This means someone very experienced, probably a professional editor, would go through your story line by line and note corrections, make suggestions on how to improve and note strong points in the story.

With this much lead time, I can have the judges in place ahead of time and hopefully find an editor willing to invest their time in this.

I could do the editing prize or say 5,000 gold or some rare item like we did for the anniversary party.

My only hesitation is if people choose the line edit they cannot complain about someone offering constructive criticism. They cannot contact the editor to explain to them what a loser they are or otherwise harass them.

Let me know if you are interested. Also, get cracking on those stories.

I think the line edit idea is fantastic, and is something I would choose should my story be considered worthy of such a fantastic prize!

I am still formulating a basic plot line for my entry, so hopefully January does not come too fast! ;o)

I am with Kyndree on the line edit idea.

I am not worthy of writing the grade of stories you have had in the past, but would find the opportunity of someone to go over the strengths and weakness of my writing would only improve my writing skills.

Really nice idea, Gentyl!

I am not worthy of writing the grade of stories you have had in the past, but would find the opportunity of someone to go over the strengths and weakness of my writing would only improve my writing skills.

You do quite well. I wanted to do these contests to honor Dhaymon who encouraged me to write seriously. He wanted everyone who loved to write to share their stories. He loved CC and role play. Stories are a tremendous gift to the server. You should never be hesitant to share.

Kyndree and Cyaer, line edits are invaluable if a person really wants to improve their writing. I belong to a writing group with several published authors and we still pass around our works in progress to get feedback. It can sometimes be very discouraging, but the opinions are always honest and not meant to be hurtful, but rather to improve our writing.

One of my partners told me I really needed to lose two subplots in my current work. I was really in a funk about that because it meant a complete revision of 175,000 words. However, once I let it stew, I came up with a really strong opening, 45,000 less words and a much more cohesive work.

The trick is to find people who are really professional about the edits and not someone who simply wants to feel important by butchering someone's work.

At a Denver writer's conference I attended a master class where people received ten pages of all the other students' work. She absolutely, ruthlessly, destroyed everyone's work. Oddly enough, the Del Rey editor who was the moderator requested three manuscripts based on the submissions the woman had just slashed to bits.

I would never allow someone like that to judge or do line edits. People need to know what their strong points are so they know what they are doing right as well as their weak spots they need to improve. Getting butchered just sucks the soul out of you.

Regardless, I would be happy to offer a cash reward or a rare item as a prize in lieu of the line edit.