I'm sorry if this belongs in a different forum; I was looking through them, and thought that this annoucement might fit best under this one...if it's not, then I sincerely apologize. Anyway, here's the official announcement, everyone:
The Poetry-Corner group here in MT is sponsoring a poetry contest! Please read all the rules carefully and respond if you have any opinions or questions.
1). Who can participate?
~ Anyone can participate; this is open to all MT members, not just those in the Poetry-Corner group. But please note
that the winner, once all the entries are in, will be voted on and chosen by the group members themselves; the vote will
be as fair as possible, and I trust all the members in the group to make the right decisions with their votes. I'm
sorry if this seems an exclusive way to choose, but it's the best one I could think of.
2). What's the theme and/or subject?
~ The subject issue was voted on in earlier announcements, and once the votes were tallied, the subject/theme
"Winter Thoughts" was the winner. You can take any kind of artistic license with your entry...so long as it
pertains to the subject.
3). What can I write?
~ Since it's a poetry contest, the obvious answer would be a poem. What kind of poem is up to you; it can be free
verse, haiku, metered, concrete, sonnet, etc. Write in the way you feel most comfortable; contrary to popular belief,
not all poems have to rhyme, have a stressed-unstressed meter, contain a certain amount of syllables, etc., but
it's not true. Poetry is simply a way of expressing yourself to other people through words that flow.
4). How do I enter?
~ This may seem a little unorthodox, but this is what I'm asking you to do: I'd like you to send your entry to
me (CLAMPchic) in a PM (please make sure you note that it's your contest
entry; that is very, very important). This will allow me to keep track of the entries without always having to check the
home page for more entries, as well as come in handy when it comes time for the voting (see number 5). If you want to,
you can post it in your own thread or go to the Poetry-Corner home page and post it there, along with a note specifying
that it's your entry to the Winter Thoughts contest. This will allow other people to see it before the voting time
(I discourage this, because it takes away the anonymity when it comes time for the
voting, but I can't forbid you to do so, either).
5). How will the voting work?
~ This is how it's going to work as of now (this may be subject to change if a better idea comes up): the day after
the deadline of the contest I will take all of the entries and put them all into either an announcement thread like this
one or a private message to each group member (to be decided; feel free to voice your opinion). Anyway, I will compile
all the entries, but I will post them without
the names of the authors. This will, I hope, ensure that people do not vote for a certain piece because
they favor the author or his/her works. This is also why I'm asking you to PM me the entries and not requiring you
to post them in the home page guestbook or a thread of it's own (you can still do so, it'll just mean the work
is not anonymous). The voting period will begin the day the contest ends and will extend for a time period of two weeks, no more no less. If you have any questions or suggestions about this,
please either comment in this thread, on the group's guestbook, in my guestbook, or in a PM to me, and I'll
get back to you as soon as possible.
6). What are the dates of the contest?
~ This isn't important at all ~_~ *Ahem* Well, it starts today (26th of November)*, and will run until December
31st (5 weeks). If enough people ask before hand, I might change the due date to some time in January; that is the most important decision I'm looking for input on about this contest from each of
you. Sometimes life changes, and so I'm willing to be flexible for now on
the due date; once it's been set, however, it will not change. *It was the 26th
when the group announcement was posted, though I'm just now posting it for everyone else...I'm sorry, but I
was tyring to hold off so I could figure out which forum to post it under.
Alright, I think that covers everything...if you have any questions or comments, you're more than welcome to leave
a post about it in this thread. And please, please leave me input on the
open-ended areas of the rules (where I mentioned I'd like your opinions). I'll try my best to check it daily
for the next couple weeks, something I'm not always able to achieve because of school. Well, that's a wrap
Good luck to one and all, thanks in advance for your questions/comments, and start writing!
