The ATS Thread Short Story Contest (ATSSC)

This contest will end on May 31, 2007

There will be 3 prizes;

First = 50,000 points
Second = 35,000 points
Third = 25,000 points

-between 15,000 and 20,000 characters (approx)

-all accepted entrants will receive Writer status

-No more than 3 submissions per member

-This contest is open to all members and staff and will be judged by a panel of Writer volunteers (who may also submit stories)

-All titles must include (ATSSC) to be eligible

-The short story must be linked to and based upon ANY single thread within ATS, no matter how new or old.

-There must be at least 3 main characters involved, with one or more who are antagonistic to the other(s). I'd like to see how we handle conflict situations by building solid personalities and setting them against one another.


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Since we are raising the prize packages, I'm hoping to see well-formed stories with dialogue and action sequences building to a climactic ending.

Remember that the ATS Terms and Conditions apply completely. Stories which do not reflect those rules will be edited before they are included as submissions.



[edit on 15/3/07 by masqua]

WOOHOO...New contest for the writers. Action and dialogue as the story builds to it's crescendo....I'll have to think on this one....here goes....(BOOM)....

It's been awhile since I've participated in a Writing contest. I may pull the pen out and give this one a go.

So much room to maneuver. Excited to see what the brilliant minds of our community come up with on this one.

[edit on 14-3-2007 by chissler]

Question. Length. The last was 10,000 characters. What's the deal for this one?

Good question.

Since we have over 2 months to work on our stories, I'm looking for the length to grow to between 15,000 and 20,000 characters.

When starting your story, try to make a short overview of how you'd like to frame it and then build upon those bare bones to flesh it out.

I also suggest using Notepad to write your submission on before actually posting them. It'll save you great grief and give you the opportunity to change things as much as you like before actually posting.

Hi All,

Yaay! I havent written a story in a while, and what is ironic is I have just finished reading a thread that gives me much inspiration for a story. I have a quick question, I know the ATS terms and conditions apply, but I cant remember if cussing is allowed if it is part of a story?

I can certainly work around that if it is not allowed, but it would make certain characters more believable. Of course it could just challange my creativity more if it were not allowed, but the characters begging to be a part of my story are also begging to be allowed colorful language.


[edit on 3/15/2007 by sylvrshadow]

Sylvrshadow, there is no swearing on ATS. As a professional author, I can tell yout that there are certain...tricks of the trade...that you can use to make point. You can make it clear just what you mean by key word choices. Just remember one thing. Characters that are crude, course, or even vulgar tend to be less sympathetic. They can make good villains, but there is such a thing as over-doing a good thing.

[edit on 15-3-2007 by Justin Oldham]

Hi All,

Thanks for the info Justin. I finally stopped being lazy and dug around until I found and re-read the terms & conditions. I am sure I will have just as much fun, creating a character who comes off vile without having to resort to vulgar language.


You are so very right about overdoing a good thing... I have so many movies which come to mind!

Once youve found a thread to link to are you able to take your story of on a completely different tangent to what the topic of the thread originally intended.
Does that make sense?

cheers mojo.

Okay, it's time. My jet is warmed up and my advanced teams are on the ground at my destination. Time for me to head off to my undisclosed location to work on this new story.

Originally posted by mojo4sale
Once youve found a thread to link to are you able to take your story of on a completely different tangent to what the topic of the thread originally intended.
Does that make sense?

cheers mojo.

Makes sense to me mojo,I`m glad you asked because thats what I wanted to know as well.

I was going to wait for some submissions to come in to get a handle on whats required.

Pick any thread... maybe read the opening post and first page to get an idea of the topic... and then use that to take your story on any tangent you'd like.

You can make it complete fantasy or whatever, but still have it based on topic.

For instance, you pick a thread about pyramids in China and decide you are going to create a team of achaeologists to visit the place. As you land in China with your team, not only is the government unfriendly, but there are bad guys wanting to kill your team off because they don't want you there since they'd rather plunder the site themselves and sell the antiquities to the black marketeers.

Get the drift?

Thanks for clearing that up masqua

Searching....searching....thinking....thinking.....

I`m glad we have about 6 weeks!

Okay, folks. I did what some of you asked for. My story for this contest is up now. Enjoy.Remember that quality counts.

I encourage members to read both of these fine stories.

The Helix Hex by mojo4sale

and

The First Rule Of Conspiracy by Justin Oldham


They are an indication of the level of professionalism which these contests have attracted.

Knowing the army of individuals with creative talents and obvious literary skill which our membership has within it, I'm wondering if there are any among you who would throw down the gauntlet in a brave attempt to eclipse these early submissions.

(Or are y'all scairty cats?)

Remember... the judging will be left to a dedicated group of writers and not only staff (although ww, spiderj and myself will cast votes as forum mods, of course).

Those 'dedicated' judges are:


nikelbee
whatukno
mojo4sale
DCFusion
gps777
SEIGE
dirty_underground
mrwupy
spiderj
worldwatcher
DeusEx
masqua

Any writer interested in reviewing all the stories and helping in the judging, say so in this thread and your username will be added.








[edit on 22/3/07 by masqua]

[edit on 26/4/07 by masqua]

I have professional issues with writing and judging in the same contest. I'll write, or I'll judge but I don't think I should NOT do both in the same contest.

Originally posted by Justin Oldham
I have professional issues with writing and judging in the same contest. I'll write, or I'll judge but I don't think I should NOTdo both in the same contest.

Entirely understandable, Justin... as long as the double negative was unintentional.



It's all about volunteering anyways and will continue to be open to anyone who wishes to participate right up to the end of the contest.

I certainly can see why some would feel as you do.

There's also the work reading them all, so I would caution anyone to not leave it til the last few days when it's bound to get busier. The only way I know how to keep on top is to read them as they are submitted and make notes.

Sorry for any miscommunications. I judges, or I writes. I won't do both. Perhaps I might take a break from writing in the next contest to help with the judging. We'll see what happens.

Just a quick note about judging this contest.

The membership on this board has never failed to impress me and I doubt that this panel of judges will be any different.

In fact, I suspect the end result will show a large consensus through the choices made by the volunteers.

I hope more members will come forward to add their names.

am i allowed to use copyrighted characters from items such as games, books, and movies? (note i would not be rewriting a plot with those characters, i would be merely using their names, appearances, and personalities.)

and does proper capitalization matter in any way? i am assuming that proper puntuation and spelling does.

and as well, i dont quite understand this. are we to make our story a new thread with the title "ATSSC (story name)"? i have not done a contest like this before, and i dont know where to go to find the answers. i apologize if you have previously answered these questions.