42 Days Submission Rule change

[Admin]

Please vote on the change of contest rules.

Should already existing stories, or chapters of already existing stories be allowed as entry for the 42 Days contest?
Such stories would be written before the contest topic is announced.

Please vote and state your thoughts about the topic. Thanks!

[Terra Fire]

Still even...

Well, I just want to say that using previous existing stories for new contest would be a good idea. Though, perhaps with some editing. I don't think that I would be right to use the exact story that was already used. This contest was originally set up to help authors write better. So, if the author edits their story for the contest, I don't think that there would be a problem.

Though, this is just my opinion.

;}

~VGT~

[cesmith]

For some reason I thought I had voted on this but when I came to post my 2 cents I found I hadn't yet.

I voted no to using old stories for the contests.
As a new author I certainly don't have any old stories I can pull out to use for the contests, and the only reason I didn't post an entry for the last challenge was my idea didn't come together fast enough for the deadline.

As for the worth of the contests, without challenge # 4, I probably would never have written and posted my first story. Did I enjoy writing it? You bet. Do I plan to inflict future stories on unsuspecting victims? Yup. ;D And I'm not the only new author who has entered the contests. At least one other person is new to fanfiction and another is thinking of entering. It may be a small number of responses, but it IS encouraging new writers, and so far, the challenges are serving as my muses. A story for challenge 6 has been written and is awaiting tweaking and polishing.

[hellangel]

I think I may have to agree. I don't write fanfiction, but what if I wanted to participate in the contest? I don't have any stories that I can dig up and post.

[LD STILL too lazy to sign in]

Does it really matter, though, if you're new or not? The challenges are there to help ALL writers, not just the new ones, right? So if you have a piece of work that's old, but fits the criteria, then what's the problem with editing it and submitting it? It's still your work, it still meets the challenge and criteria. Sure, it wasn't written BECAUSE of the challenge, but then, I can spend 42 days re-writing and editing an old piece of work to suit my newer style.

But I'm weird like that...

Either which way it doesn't matter to me. It was only a thought.

Mostly because a lot of people aren't going to enter a challenge that, in some way, doesn't appeal to them to write about. Some people will, of course, and my hat off to them. I guess the extra challenge would be if you've already written about the subject and had to do it again in a totally different way.

*sigh* Again, I'm weird. ;D

[Terra Fire]

I agree LD. It looks like me and you were the only ones to vote yes.

;}

~VGT~

[kanshu]

LD, out of curiousity... what type of topics do you think would 'appeal' to people to make them participate?

As for using old chapters/stories... The idea was to speed up writing, make your writing more efficient. The contest is an excercise for that, even though the time limit is rather genrous.
Plus, the topics chosen are a way to explore new aspects of writing - the contest about a scene driven by dialogue, for example.
I understand that you's like to reuse chapters, but to me, it's the comfy-chair way out - just as you write, you don't have to be bothered to think up new ways to approach a topic, and stand still as a writer.
Just my two cents on the topic.

[narrizan]

i have voted 'no' here as i think it is a good idea especially for newbies like me. but more than anything, i am trying to get a story out for #6, and even if i don't make the deadline i am glad to have tried.

i also agree with optimoose

optimoose said:

... The idea was to speed up writing, make your writing more efficient. The contest is an excercise for that, even ...
Plus, the topics chosen are a way to explore new aspects of writing - the contest about a scene driven by dialogue, for example.

yes it will be a challnege to new and expereineced and sort of gives them even footing because it will be a first for everybody!

i apologise if i have stepped on anyone's toes with this.
it is unintentional i assure.

just my thoughts on the subject.

regards

zan

[LD again]

optimoose said:

LD, out of curiousity... what type of topics do you think would 'appeal' to people to make them participate?

As for using old chapters/stories... The idea was to speed up writing, make your writing more efficient. The contest is an excercise for that, even though the time limit is rather genrous.
Plus, the topics chosen are a way to explore new aspects of writing - the contest about a scene driven by dialogue, for example.
I understand that you's like to reuse chapters, but to me, it's the comfy-chair way out - just as you write, you don't have to be bothered to think up new ways to approach a topic, and stand still as a writer.
Just my two cents on the topic.

Actually, my point was that no matter what the topic is, it won't appeal to everyone. *L* That's all I was trying to say. I'm not the end-all and greatest of writers and if that statement somehow came off that way, I apologize.

And I don't 'like' to re-use chapters.

The entire question stemmed because I had a one-shot that matched Challenge 5 perfectly. It was (in my opinion) a very original idea and despite trying (and yes, I DID try) to think of a new and different approach to the challenge, nothing appealed to me as much as the one-shot that I had already written. If that makes me some kind of stand-still writer than so be it, I did try.

That was the only reason I asked in the first place. Perhaps I could have re-written the one-shot and posted it seperately (as it was originally apart of a series of one-shots) and just hoped no one noticed the difference. But being the stupidly honest person that I am, I decided to ask about the inclusion of pre-existing chapters to the challenge.

My intent was never to undermine the process or the challenge, nor to make anyone think that I was a lazy writer who just could be bothered to think anything up. (And I'm not saying anyone's implied that either). It was a simple question and this poll is my answer. So if you've already written on the topic before and can't think of another way to approach, for whatever reason, you simply wait for the next challenge to come up. That's fine with me.

Due to unique circumstances, I asked a question. It might have been a stupid question, but then I've always believed the only stupid question is an unasked one. ;D

If I come off as snippy or mean, please forgive me. It was not my intent, just my opinion.