PS Writing Room Contest: Where Nightmares Come To Life

Blue Kitteh

With cat-like tread
is a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
Hey everyone, welcome to the Writing Room's second contest! With Halloween coming up on the horizon, the Writing Room has decided to host a contest that aims to showcase creative talents in both poetry and stories. Similarly to the last contest that we hosted with the Art room, there will be prizes involved, one of which will go to the winner of each category.

Deadline: Currently set to November 8th.

The theme is, as you might expect, Halloween. Though this may seem like a rather broad topic to cover, the purpose is to give as much creative liberty as possible. Naturally though, we're going to have a few rules to follow.

Submission Guidelines
  1. All submissions must be set in the Pokemon universe, and though the story does not necessarily have to contain a scary theme, it must include an element generally associated with Halloween. These elements include ghosts (Ghost-type Pokemon), monsters, using Halloween as a reason to cosplay, etc.
  2. All stories must be under 2250 words, and all poems must have a minimum of 24 lines.
  3. Please do not submit more than two stories or poems for judging. You may submit one of each, but if you do so, you cannot win in both categories.
  4. Please keep all content to a PG-13 level, maximum. Do not include excessive gore or inappropriate detail.
  5. Please avoid rewriting a well-known Halloween concept, including Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, etc.
  6. Submissions may be shared in the thread, but entries will not be judged unless they are entered into the form. Entries intended for judging should be submitted here.
Please do not post feedback of entries in this thread. Though feedback is welcome for all writers, this thread is intended for submissions only. Liking posts is welcome, if not encouraged, to show support, but please share feedback elsewhere (such as on the person's profile).

Judging Criteria
Stories:
  • Characters (20) - Development and depth of characters involved, including physical description, characterization, and backstory.
  • Setting/Imagery (35) - The setting is important in establishing the tone. Paint a crisp backdrop for the story by highlighting the environment. Alternatively, you can choose to focus on the details of the actions taken by the characters within the story. Try to include thoughts and feelings of the characters involved if you do not wish to describe a specific environment.
  • Creativity/Originality (35) - Let's face it: we've seen all kinds of Halloween stories. The creativity element is crucial for the success of your piece; plot twists, as well as the overall originality of the story itself are essential points to take into consideration.
  • Spelling/Grammar (10) - Points will not be taken off for minor mistakes. Use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation to the best of your ability. If you feel you that you often misspell words, be sure to use a spell check tool. There are also plenty of members around who may lend a hand. Visit the Writing room on Pokémon Showdown or post in the Writers on Smogon thread. Unfortunately, judges cannot give feedback on works in progress, since they bear the responsibility of judging the finalized submissions.
Poetry:
  • Setting/Imagery (35) - Use of poetic devices and the ability to establish an environment OR elicit emotions through imagery.
  • Mood/Tone (35) - Ability to instill a mood/tone in line with the premise/concept. This includes consistency and how shifts in moods/tones are executed.
  • Creativity/Originality (20) - See above.
  • Flow/Organization (10) - Attention paid to stanza structure and flow. This is not to be confused with devices such as refrain, assonance, consonance, and other poetic devices that may contribute to the way words sound. The formation of lines and stanzas is what adds to this category.
There will be two winners; one for poetry and one for stories. The prizes include a $20 Amazon gift card and a mystery prize of equal value. Details will be given to the winners after the contest is over.

Feel free to contact any of the Writing Room staff if you have further questions. Good luck to all!
 
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Beta.

Ruff Ruff amirite?
Hey everyone! ^-^ Sending a shout out to all of those who participated in our previous First Battle Contest:
>I was highlighted.... alrighty then... I forgot this existed.. well, good luck to the rest of the people anyways.
 
Well , this is the submission thread , so I am uploading my poem (Don't laugh , I am newbie):

What a night
I stand , alone , near a jungle way

The waves creak , and the trees sway

This sandy island is my paradise

One which is never will I publicize


And after dinner with a touch of beauty

I feed the near krabby , for I feel that to be my duty

And then I lay exhausted , longing to rest

Time for this bird to enter his nest


But I wake up to hell

The scene changed to terrible from swell

At first I see the deadly Mr.Hyde,

And then Frankenstein’s monster , with who he was allied

As I turn to run in fear

Instantaneously , the werewolf did appear

With his shrieks and fierce a howl

Attracting all predators on prowl


To my left , is Dracula undead

Showing images of fierce bloodshed

I break-down at once

And I cannot think straight , what a dunce!


I woke up , nothing I did know

A gengar later did itself show

It’s Dream-eater still haunts me today

But no , the memories live with me , dare I say
 
I've sent my story, but I wanted to ask would I also be allowed to sign up to the poetry one too? Since I really love to write and all.
 
TheElegantShadow said the results were delayed until some time this weekend. There's unexpected delays in the contest due to the hard drive hiccup PS suffered this month.

In the mean time get excited with shaq and this cat

 
Hello, everyone! After a bit of a delay, we've finally come to a decision on whom our winners are!

First up are our story entires, that were scored using the criteria below.


Stories:
  • Characters (20) - Development and depth of characters involved, including physical description, characterization, and backstory.
  • Setting/Imagery (35) - The setting is important in establishing the tone. Paint a crisp backdrop for the story by highlighting the environment. Alternatively, you can choose to focus on the details of the actions taken by the characters within the story. Try to include thoughts and feelings of the characters involved if you do not wish to describe a specific environment.
  • Creativity/Originality (35) - Let's face it: we've seen all kinds of Halloween stories. The creativity element is crucial for the success of your piece; plot twists, as well as the overall originality of the story itself are essential points to take into consideration.
  • Spelling/Grammar (10) - Points will not be taken off for minor mistakes. Use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation to the best of your ability. If you feel you that you often misspell words, be sure to use a spell check tool. There are also plenty of members around who may lend a hand. Visit the Writing room on Pokémon Showdown or post in the Writers on Smogon thread. Unfortunately, judges cannot give feedback on works in progress, since they bear the responsibility of judging the finalized submissions.
Congratulations to our first place winner of the story section CelestialEvolution with his story "Victims."

Our runner ups for this section of the Contest are as follows:

"The Sword and the Smoke" by Pluiee

"Dysfunctional" by Hallowed Thoughts

Next up are the scoring for our poetry submissions!

Poetry:
  • Setting/Imagery (35) - Use of poetic devices and the ability to establish an environment OR elicit emotions through imagery.
  • Mood/Tone (35) - Ability to instill a mood/tone in line with the premise/concept. This includes consistency and how shifts in moods/tones are executed.
  • Creativity/Originality (20) - See above.
  • Flow/Organization (10) - Attention paid to stanza structure and flow. This is not to be confused with devices such as refrain, assonance, consonance, and other poetic devices that may contribute to the way words sound. The formation of lines and stanzas is what adds to this category.
Congratulations to our first place winner of the poetry section of the contest LegendaryMouse with his poem "Mt. Pyre"!

And our runner ups:

"Tricks and Treats" by Otterweasel

"Maroon of the Moon" by Silky Sylphie

Congratulations to our winners and runner ups! CelestialEvolution and LegendaryMouse, please feel free to pick your prizes!

And to our other contestants, thank you for your participation! You're all winners in this!

A special thank you to our judges who took the time to review each piece with careful precision.
 
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Congratulations to our writer champions! I hope everybody enjoyed this as much as I did. Also, are we allowed to discuss everything pertaining to the Writing Room here, or just the contest?
 
Edit: Details will be given after contest is over. smacks forehead Great job everyone!
I (permanently) retired from being staff on Pokémon Showdown! and I've taken a 3-6 month hiatus from the community to focus on my job, so I've been away from Smogon for awhile. I deeply apologize for the delay and confusion. It's been a rocky few weeks, hasn't it? Allow me to use Defog to get rid of the rocks and clear things up!

The mystery prize we had in mind is tied into PS! and because of the hard drive failure that occurred last month we've waited to see if we can still move forward with the prize we have in mind. I've contacted an admin to clarify some details before continuing with the prize announcement. I'm awaiting a reply, but I would estimate that by Monday I'll have an answer and be available to offer the prizes. I will personally contact CelestialEvolution and LegendaryMouse regarding prizes on Monday to wrap this contest up neatly.

Congratulations to the both of you on winning the contest! I personally enjoyed reading the submissions, and I do apologize for the confusion of the way this contest ended as no one expected the unfortunate down time PS! suffered last month. Everything will be tied up neatly in a few days and all writers can look forward to the next Writing contest (whenever that may be).

When I first joined PS! and Smogon earlier this year, I saw several Art contests. Yet, there were no Writing contests! I was a little sad, because I knew some writers in the community and I loved the idea of being able to write together with a theme in mind for a small prize. Though I didn't expect it, I'm very happy to have been a part in making Writing contests available and to supply some neat prizes along the way. Thank you to every single writer who submitted and to all the supporters of the Writing room. I'll never get tired of reading your wonderful works and meeting so many amazing people!

Cheers to another successful Writing contest,
Th!nkPi

Edit: Kingpoleon Talk to one of the ROs and they'll let you know. Though I imagine this thread should stay on topic, and if there's anything you'd like to mention outside of the contest you should ask the ROs about it first.

Edit 2: TheBlueFiretruck I think that for this contest it may not be possible to post scores, and for several reasons that I feel I'm not at liberty to talk about publically due to not being on the staff at this point. In short, I don't think scores will be available this time around, but I don't think Writing room staff intends to make that a habit for contests. If you'd like to suggest having scores available for the next contest I recommend talking to one of the ROs. They'll take note and discuss it together and I'm sure they'll let you know what they can do once they've reached a conclusion. I hope that helps!
 
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Thanks for the info Th!nkPi c: I just might decide to participate in some more of the Writing contests in the future because I actually had a lot of fun with the last one o3o
 
Thank you for informing me of that Th!nkPi ! I will ask a room owner next time I see one on Pokemon Showdown. Until then, keep up the good writing in our Drive, guys. The contests I've read on it are extremely good.
 
I'm recovering from a virus. I apologize for the delay, so I'll make this a quickie.
Mystery Prize Announcement

The Writing room is now ready to announce the prizes for the latest contest! Winners of Writing's second contest ( CelestialEvolution and LegendaryMouse ) will get to choose between a $20 Amazon Gift Card or a customized avatar on Pokémon Showdown! An RO of Writing will reach out to CelestialEvolution and I will contact LM with details. Congratulations again to these talented writers on winning the contest.

-Th!nkPi
 

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