Event Autumn 2023 One-Shot Announcement

[Beth Pavell]

It's that time of year again - the Autumn is rapidly approaching, and so it's time for the Hallowe'en one-shot competition

The brief explanation is that it will last two months, each entrant gets to write a short story under this theme, and everybody gets a bunch of reviews. For more details, see the full rules below. Regular participants will no doubt find these familiar:

Rules

1. The theme is "Not Your UsualHallowe'en" - think of the spooky season as it appears in other cultures. Día de Muertos? Obon? Zhongyuan Festival? Something from your own imagination? Your entry should be appropriate to that theme, although you're welcome to take it in any direction you like. We're looking to receive stories which about unconventional approaches to problems and protagonists in unusual situations, but the context, genre, tone, and so on are up to you.
   
   
2. The wordcount cap is 10,000 words. To hold everyone to the same standard, please check your wordcount using this link.
   
   
3. You have two weeks to register as an entrant, starting immediately and ending 23:59 GMT on 18th September. Use this time to come up with a plan for your story.
   
   
4. You have eight-nine weeks to write your entry, starting now, with the posting deadline being within 48 hours of 23:59 GMT on 30th October.
   
   
5. Do not post your story until the last two days. To afford roughly equal time for reading to the community and judges, please publish your entry within 48 hours of the deadline. Publish your work in its own thread, and post a link here.
   
   
6. Judging/voting will last three weeks. Judging will conclude at midnight GMT 21st November. The panel of judges will read and judge every entry, and pick a winner in each of two categories, these being overall writing quality and use of the competition theme. There will also be a community-wide vote for a third category, best overall story. You don't have to review to vote, but even a few short comments would go well-appreciated!
   
   
7. Please register your interest in judging here. By registering as a judge, you promise to read and judge every entry in the competition in a timely fashion, and not to provide beta-reading services to other entrants.
   
   
8. The winners will be selected using weighted multiple choice voting. In other words, you give 5 points to your first pick, 3 points to your second choice, and 1 to your third. Naturally, you may not vote for yourself.

Naturally, all normal forum and section rules apply, and please conduct yourselves with good sportsmanship.

Remember to register as a participant and/or judge before the deadline, feel free to ask me anything if you have questions, and lastly, good luck to all who get involved! It will be my pleasure to read every single entry.

Authors
Catz
bluesidra
lisianthus
Blanc
Greninjaman
Lightning Topaz
Viridian Beedrill
Orchid
Cresselia92
ThyCheshireCat
Hydrogenium
airmail
beryllium
Ryoma Maser

Judges
Beth Pavell
lisianthus
blanc

 

[Welkamo]

We'll see if I can do a thing. Got a lot of other commitments, but I have an idea, at least.

 

[Catz]

Haven't done this before but giving this a shot might be a good idea. We'll see how much time I have with school starting.

 

[bluesidra]

Hi! What a coincidence, I have a concept flying around for this theme. But I'm notoriously bad at delivering on time, so take my sign-up with caution.

 

[lisianthus]

judging, also writing as well! @Blanc what do you say for this year neechan???

 

[Blanc]

I don’t mind trying my hand at judging this year! I may write as well if I conjure an idea. Either way, seems fun.

 

[Greninjaman]

@Beth Pavell
I would like to sign up as a participant as well, though I would like the theme explained a bit. Not sure what you mean (though I think I know).

 

[Welkamo]

Quick question (totally okay if it can't be answered and the prompt is meant to be ambiguous) but: by "spooky season", does that mean "holidays that take place around Hallowe'en", or "holidays that feature similar themes of ghosts, the afterlife, warding of evil, and/or spooky". I'm guessing it's the latter, since Obon takes place in late summer, and teh Zhongyuan Festival late August-early September.

 

[LightningTopaz]

I might take a crack at this as a writer...

 

[Greninjaman]

I might take a crack at this as a writer...

Why do I have a feeling that you already got ideas going?

 

[LightningTopaz]

I do actually--and I've already started on the research (using real Spain as a jumping off point)

 

[Greninjaman]

I do actually--and I've already started on the research (using real Spain as a jumping off point)

I'm sure there are spooky legends there.

 

[LightningTopaz]

@Greninjaman

Without giving too much away, it's more heartwarming than scary, based on a real tradition around Madrid (which Mesagoza is based on)

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

I think I'd like to enter as a writer, if that's ok? (I've never published any stuff on here before, so I'm not sure if I qualify.) I brainstormed an idea and wrote a chunk to make sure I actually had a chance at getting somewhere. I haven't written under a deadline in a long time, but I'll do my best (again, assuming it's ok for me to enter). I'd be going down the "from your imagination" route in regards to the Halloween analog holiday.

 

[Greninjaman]

I have an idea that I'm not sure fits the theme. Also, am I correct to assume that I can't just rewrite my short story from last year's contest for this one?

 

[Cresselia92]

Quick question (totally okay if it can't be answered and the prompt is meant to be ambiguous) but: by "spooky season", does that mean "holidays that take place around Hallowe'en", or "holidays that feature similar themes of ghosts, the afterlife, warding of evil, and/or spooky". I'm guessing it's the latter, since Obon takes place in late summer, and teh Zhongyuan Festival late August-early September.

I’d say the theme is “spooky / ghost season”. It doesn’t have to be some event that happens strictly during Halloween time. It could even be a Spring Halloween and it would still count.

I have an idea that I'm not sure fits the theme. Also, am I correct to assume that I can't just rewrite my short story from last year's contest for this one?

No. They must be original stories for this event. That doesn’t mean you can’t recycle some unpublished idea you’ve worked on in the past, however.

 

[Okido]

Tentatively signing up as a participant. I've never really shared any of my writing before, but this theme seems like a fun challenge — and I really enjoyed reading everyone's stories last year, so why not?

 

[Greninjaman]

No. They must be original stories for this event. That doesn’t mean you can’t recycle some unpublished idea you’ve worked on in the past, however.

I know the theme is "Not your Usual Halloween". What is meant by that? Does it mean that it happens on Halloween? I just want clarification on that to make sure I understand.

 

[Cresselia92]

I know the theme is "Not your Usual Halloween". What is meant by that? Does it mean that it happens on Halloween? I just want clarification on that to make sure I understand.

Basically, your story needs to feature some Halloween-like festivity (like Dia de Los Muertos from Mexico), but it doesn’t need to happen during Halloween time.

Some cultures celebrate their “Halloween” in August or other months, and stories featuring similar celebrations are allowed.

 

[Greninjaman]

Basically, your story needs to feature some Halloween-like festivity (like Dia de Los Muertos from Mexico), but it doesn’t need to happen during Halloween time.

Some cultures celebrate their “Halloween” in August or other months, and stories featuring similar celebrations are allowed.

It also does not have to involve trick-or treating, right? Just something that is a tradition that is done on Halloween?