The Earth Day 2011 Contest Support Thread

[MatthewVett]

I have my entry written for the contest. I started it a bit ago and halfway through realized I might as well wait a few weeks for Earth Day before submitting it. It splits into different paths after about a page or so in MS Word, which may be a bit offputting, so we'll see how it goes. Usually my attempts at experimentation don't go so well.

But I had fun writing it, even if the characters were a bit tricky, and I think I was getting burnt out by the end. (Although I wrote the sections in reverse order, so it'll go from most burnt out to least) Just hope people stay to the finish.

 

[bashfullyshameless]

Advice re: Story Length?

Any advice about how long a story should be for a contest? Do shorter entries tend to accrue more attention/readership?

I totally missed the last couple of contests. I don't know if I can work this one into my schedule, but I'd love to get with the spirit of the seasonal/holiday contests on this site...

Also, regarding the "stand-alone" requirement: Does that mean that stories related to a series, but apart from it, are exempt?

I guess what I'm asking is if I'd be disqualified for something like "Angels, Demons and Greenpeace" or something.

(I really, really wanted to do "Angels, Demons and Turkey" in time for the holiday contest, but I just couldn't get the damn series itself done in time...)

 

[Darkniciad]

Regardless of what our resident delusional troll will certainly be here screaming a.s.a.p, there is nothing that precludes writing stories about characters/settings you've written before.

So long as the story is self-contained -- meaning that you don't have to read anything else to understand the story by itself -- it's eligible. I've been following a family and a setting for four years running in this contest, and I'm working on #5 ( 6, actually, as I wrote one for Summer last year )

As to length... *shrug* Both long and short stories have won in the past. Just write what you want to write

Any advice about how long a story should be for a contest? Do shorter entries tend to accrue more attention/readership?

I totally missed the last couple of contests. I don't know if I can work this one into my schedule, but I'd love to get with the spirit of the seasonal/holiday contests on this site...

Also, regarding the "stand-alone" requirement: Does that mean that stories related to a series, but apart from it, are exempt?

I guess what I'm asking is if I'd be disqualified for something like "Angels, Demons and Greenpeace" or something.

(I really, really wanted to do "Angels, Demons and Turkey" in time for the holiday contest, but I just couldn't get the damn series itself done in time...)

 

[Toqueme]

.....

 

[TxRad]

Just for a quick clarification, can a story already posted on lit be submitted? Or must it be "new"?

New stories only.

 

[PennLady]

Working on my Earth Day story. If you're talking about a park ranger, as in, "My friend is a ranger," would ranger be capitalized? I'm never sure about these things.

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

Working on my Earth Day story. If you're talking about a park ranger, as in, "My friend is a ranger," would ranger be capitalized? I'm never sure about these things.

I would think if the person is a random ranger at a random low-level park, then no, it wouldn't be capitalized, ever.

But if the person is employed by, say, the National Parks Service, and holds the position of Park Ranger, then it might be capitalized, depending on the context.

So... are you referring to a general occupation? Or to a specific position or rank?

Using the example of the friend being employed by the NPS, is your character saying, this is my friend the ranger (thereby recognizing the man as part of a general occupational category)? Or is your character saying, this is my friend the Park Ranger (thereby recognizing the man as an individual who holds a specific position or has status within a defined and recognized organization)?

It's similar to talking about a person being a professor (or doctor), vs saying that a person is a Professor (or Doctor) of Such and Such.

 

[PennLady]

I would think if the person is a random ranger at a random low-level park, then no, it wouldn't be capitalized, ever.

But if the person is employed by, say, the National Parks Service, and holds the position of Park Ranger, then it might be capitalized, depending on the context.

So... are you referring to a general occupation? Or to a specific position or rank?

Using the example of the friend being employed by the NPS, is your character saying, this is my friend the ranger (thereby recognizing the man as part of a general occupational category)? Or is your character saying, this is my friend the Park Ranger (thereby recognizing the man as an individual who holds a specific position or has status within a defined and recognized organization)?

It's similar to talking about a person being a professor (or doctor), vs saying that a person is a Professor (or Doctor) of Such and Such.

I think I'll be referring to both, just in a general way but then a specific position. Thanks. I'll have to just check it before I post.

 

[PennLady]

New stories only.

What if you take a story down, revise it,and then submit it? Is that allowed? I couldn't find anything that said it wasn't.

 

[Bebeslut]

So why do we have an Earth Day contest and no Day the Earth Stood Still contest?

 

[Darkniciad]

What if you take a story down, revise it,and then submit it? Is that allowed? I couldn't find anything that said it wasn't.

At the very least, it wouldn't be conductive to positive feedback. Reposted stories ( not immediately identified as such in the first couple of lines ) are frequently subject to nasty commentery and 1-bombs. Put it in a contest...

Yeah, it would be ugly.

It's not anywhere in the written rules, but it's more or less inferred from longstanding tradition. The simplest way to get final confirmation would be to PM Laurel.

Of course, if the story has been changed so much as to be almost unrecognizeable, that may be a different story. If I'd ever posted the first version of Harvest of Blood ( written eons ago ) it's unlikely that many people would have recognized it as the same core story.

The same sort of applies to both of my versions of Home by the Sea. They share a core storyline drawn from my imaginings of the song, but they're set in completely different worlds, with completely different characters.

When I entered that one, I included this in the Author's Notes:

I've already tackled this one once under my other pen name ( also in horror ) but I felt like visiting it again in a different world setting.

Not really a revision, but when you base two stories off the exact same source material, there are going to be a lot of similarities.

 

[HeyAll]

Any advice about how long a story should be for a contest? Do shorter entries tend to accrue more attention/readership?

I totally missed the last couple of contests. I don't know if I can work this one into my schedule, but I'd love to get with the spirit of the seasonal/holiday contests on this site...

Also, regarding the "stand-alone" requirement: Does that mean that stories related to a series, but apart from it, are exempt?

I guess what I'm asking is if I'd be disqualified for something like "Angels, Demons and Greenpeace" or something.

(I really, really wanted to do "Angels, Demons and Turkey" in time for the holiday contest, but I just couldn't get the damn series itself done in time...)

I submitted a contest story which was a spin-off to another one of my previous (non-contest) stories.

I've also submitted a contest story, and later added a part 2 to it (the one in my sig).

For both of these, I've asked Laurel (who runs the site) and she said it was okay.

As long as the contest story is a complete story, it's no problem.

 

[MatthewVett]

Regardless of what our resident delusional troll will certainly be here screaming a.s.a.p, there is nothing that precludes writing stories about characters/settings you've written before.

So long as the story is self-contained -- meaning that you don't have to read anything else to understand the story by itself -- it's eligible. I've been following a family and a setting for four years running in this contest, and I'm working on #5 ( 6, actually, as I wrote one for Summer last year )

As to length... *shrug* Both long and short stories have won in the past. Just write what you want to write

That's great to know, because that's what I'm doing for the Nude Day Contest. Thanks for the info!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Okay, I've got two stories for Earth Day completed and four complete for Summertime with another in progress. I think that's plenty for this year . . . at least until Halloween comes along. I just can't help coming up with tentacle sex stories for Halloween.

 

[Guest]

[size=+2]Earth Day Network

Earth Day 2011: A Billion Acts of Green®
Description[/size]
In recognition of the power of millions of individual actions, Earth Day 2011 will be organized around A Billion Acts of Green®: Personal, organizational and corporate pledges to live and act sustainably. At over 45 million actions to date, A Billion Acts of Green® campaign – the largest environmental service campaign in the world – is steadily building commitments by individuals, corporations, and governments in honor of Earth Day. A Billion Acts of Green® inspires and rewards both simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that further the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability. The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the Earth Summit in Rio in 2012. A Billion Acts of Green® website quantifies acts of green through an easy-to-use online registration tool. A Billion Acts of Green® demonstrates the kind of environmental impact that can be made when millions of people, corporations and organizations make commitments, both small and large, to better their environment.

Elements of the 2011 Earth Day campaign include:

• Athletes for the Earth: Bringing the voices of Olympic and professional athletes to the environmental movement
• Trees for the Earth: Supporting global reforestation
• Green Schools: Greening America’s Schools within a Generation
• Women and Green Economy (WAGE)™: Engaging women leaders in the creation and development of a global green economy
• Creating Climate Wealth: Convening 200 of the world’s entrepreneurs to solve climate change and create a new green economy
• Arts for the Earth: Celebrating the work of environmental artists in all media, and partnering with the American Association of Museums to bring sustainability to museums nationwide

[size=+2]ASSOCIATION of INDEPENDENT READERS (A.I.R.)[/size]

http://nickscipio.com/pod/media/2007/04/worldpussy.jpg


Coming soon… (entries will be accepted from March 27th until April 15th)


[size=+2]

A.I.R. 2011 Earth Day Story Contest

[/size]​

​

[size=+2]Gabrielle L.[/size]
President, A.I.R.
Secretery of the MOST COMMENTED on
and the MOST VOTED on story clubs
Miami Beach, Florida

 

[Darkniciad]

If anybody sees Woodsy Owl, send him this way. Seems someone has been tossing his garbage in the thread again

 

[sirhugs]

Reminder that if you need a start, I have a Story Ideas thread going...

 

[Darkniciad]

As the questions are sure to arise once the contest starts, I finally got around to creating a central link page for all of my contest and pen name tracks. I'll update it with any new tracks in the future so I only have to remember one link when the Qs pop up.

Lit Stat Tracking Home

Considering tracking this one, as it's usually lighter on entries than Winter and Valentines, thus easier on me. I'm actually on vacation during the week where submissions end, so I'll have a lot of free time then, at least.

It will probably boil down to how long it takes me to finish my story. The longer it takes, the less likely I am to track. If I don't finish it, there's pretty much zero chance, because I'll be too pissed at myself to do anything *laugh*

 

[Owlwhisper]

.....

 

[PrincessErin]

.....

 

[Darkniciad]

My score dropped on the contest story by .03 at last track to 4.73, but...

The other three stories in the series ( up to that point ) have broke even, gone up by .03, and gone up by .05 on a total of 105 votes across the series. They've all picked up new comments, favorites, and a ton of emails coinciding with favorite author listings.

The new one in the series released afterwared has a solid score and vote total as well. So, I'm happy

Good thing, because I'll undoubtedly be bombed to hell and back with the upcoming one after placing two years in a row

Now that views data is available for all stories, is that part of the calculating for the upcoming Numbers release? That could certainly provide some interesting data. I'm really curious about days of the week with regards to that. I'm positive that a Sunday release is a death knell for views.

It's a sad state of affairs when such a clever story isn't getting read. I really enjoyed that one. Looking forward to the new one. I'm still contemplating a venture into the sci-fi part of the category.

I've been tracking the 2010 Earth Day entries for the last year (checking them once each week to ten days) to see what happens to them after the contest ends. The results will be part of yet another Lit Nums submission later this spring. In short, the stories have not fared well in the voting since the contest closed. The average vote for the three winners has fallen from 4.72 to 4.67 while the whole field's average has gone from 4.22 to 4.14. Most of the falls took place in the first two months after the contest closed.

I've finally gotten myself in gear and my entry for this year is almost done. There's so much time left I'm going to try to finish all three chapters and submit them together. It'll be in science fiction. This year I hope to attain at least the minimum number of votes. My entry from last year still hasn't made it to 25 votes. The lesson is: If you enter in Letter and Transcripts and want to win, you'd better have a lot going for you.

 

[MarlowBunny]

It's 5:00 AM and I just completed my "Earth Day" entry. I'm sure I'll edit and tweak a few more times before the entry date, but it is all there in the computer.

Is there anyone willing to edit/preview before the contest starts? Is that even allowed?

 

[Darkniciad]

It's 5:00 AM and I just completed my "Earth Day" entry. I'm sure I'll edit and tweak a few more times before the entry date, but it is all there in the computer.

Is there anyone willing to edit/preview before the contest starts? Is that even allowed?

It's not only allowed, it's highly recommended

'Fraid I can't offer, as I'm still fighting to get mine done, but hope somebody bites.

 

[Owlwhisper]

.....

 

[Guest]

Owlwhisper?

You're working on #3?

jim will be so happy. in fact i'm going to wake him up and tell him. i know he' got all sorts of suggestions for you...​

gabby