Welcome to Gaia! ::

I am rather sick of the countless character contests. Those of which I have seen hold no real skill of writing. It is time the authors of Gaia are challenged, no?

Welcome, to Yuineko's Characterization Contest, Wisps of Illusion.

Updates:

January 24, 2005
The dead-line... only days away, and we have our first entry. (I noticed it two days late. sweatdrop ) It of course as been posted in the Submitted Entries 1-10 section, the only alterations done to the orignal text is the fact I added size tags. (This will be done to other stories as those of normal size will take just about the entire first page, aye?)

I hope we get more entries so us judges have something to do, aye? In anycase I must be going. sweatdrop Time for this freshman to be off to bed.

I'm 15 now... by the way... ninja

January 3, 2005

Febuary 1st is the due date for the first round. Please understand I will not push back the date again. If no one submits their entries this time around, the contest will end. Refunds will be issued if this occurs. As you can see below I have been keeping tract of how much everyone has paid into the contest. (100g per person entered and those who had donated.)

December 25, 2004

I feel like banging my head against a wall until I knock myself out cold. Our contest, which offers challenges in many different areas, at least I beleive so seems to be failing. We have four entries and looking at another 'character' contest it angers me to see writer's wasting time on profile or 'interview' like contests. It's the reason I have replaced the "Characterization Contest" in the title and I have considered adding "Challenging" just for alliteration and perhaps to attract a little attention to our contest. *Sigh* I dunno. @_@


December 21, 2004.

Well, finales are all over and I was out of school the 16th I'm happy to say. The bad thing was I failed my art finale due to my own stupidity. (I forgot to put a couple projects back in my portfolio.) Got my report card back yesterday... Mom's pissed to say the least. ( One A, Two B's, Two C's and an F. @_@;;;;; Not bad for a procrasonator who pretty much does nothing Aye? )

Okay, as much as I know everyone wants to hear me ramble I should get to the point. I'm planning on extending the contest once more, if no one gets an entry in by that date the gold will all be sent back to those who entered and the contest will be cancled. I won't choose a date on my own so please feel free to suggest one. ^_^

Also if you hadn't noticed I'm fixing this up so it makes a little bit more sense.

As some of you may know I'm planning on quitting Gaia after this contest ends, so I may not be around as much as I am weening myself from the site.


December 3, 2004.

I decided to push the due date back fifteen days. All is due December 20th. I had forgotten about Finals commng up. This date will be easier for me and will give a chance for more contestants to join. It's after finals too. 3nodding (Crap I need to study. crying )


Your Challenge:

Round one:

There is one thing about this contest which remains the same as all other 'Character' Contests. You must create a brand-new character. You will devise and write a story using this new character. You are judged on how this character is used and how characterization is used with this character.

This character does not have to be placed in a major role though it is preferred. Please mention that 'so-and-so' is the character that you are using.

Round two:

This time a character is created for you. They will be different for each contestant and the character's profiles will be private messaged to each one of them. You may still use your own other characters in this round. You are judged on how you use someone else's character in your own writing and how you use characterization on this particular character.

This character must be used in the protagonist or antagonist roles. (Good or bad guy.)

Round three:

I'm going to reconsider the third round's challenge. It's too much like the second round, just more characters to work with.

The Rules:

You must follow the instructions listed above in the round challenges.
You must follow the Gaia TOS (Terms of Service). Any story above the Pg-13 rating won't be accepted into the contest. (This is based on Judge opinion.)
No Fan fiction. Despite this sounding like a fan fiction contest in some ways it is not. The characters given to you are of the judges' own design.
Short stories please; no poems, no novels etc.
Don't quote this post... It's far too long.
Plagiarism is NOT accepted.
Vulgar themes are NOT accepted.

Payout and Profit:

I am a rather poor Gaian, but I try to reward those who deserve it. Sadly there is an entry fee.

The entry fee is 100 gold.

There is a prize for the three top winners of each round. It will vary in size depending on my own funds, donations and other such things.

The main prize; for the top winner will also remain unknown. It will be at-least 2000 gold for sure. The second and third prizes will also remain unknown for this point of time. (Due to the fact I still need to figure this all out.)

Other Judges are each payed for their services. I will receive nothing from this contest.

Due Dates:

Entries will no longer be accepted at midnight GST of Febuary 2nd.

Updated:

I've forgotten to update this section. The due date is once again being set back. =/ Sorry for any inconveniance. (Spelling I know.)


The first rounds due date is: December 5th 2004. Entries will no longer be accepted after midnight December 4th. Judging will begin immediately. There are no refunds. (Midnight Gaia time.)



Contestants:

There are 20 available spots. You will not be given one until your entry fee is payed and you receive the ticket for the spot. (I have too much free time and will design a ticket for each spot.) You may choose which slot you want. First come first serve.
1.
2.
3. Vanadia Gold
4. Jamile
5. LightWhispers
6.
7. Ed Tivrusky the 4th
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Sango-Taijiya
14.
15.
16.
17. Raelis Shai
18.
19.
20.

Banners:

Feel free to make or use your own banners, or you can use the one I whipped up in five minutes. PM me if you wish one of your own up here. Remember to include the image and code so I can just quote ya.






F.A.Q (Updated)

Q: May I write about >insert random time period< with >So and So of my own chracters<?!

A: You may write about what ever you wish as long as it remains within the TOS. The only thing you need to worry about is characterization. (Plotwise)

Q: Will things such as grammar and spelling be judged?

A: Yes. This is a writing contest. Not only does this depend on how well you can use characterization it also depends on how you use grammar, description, word choice and such. The other judges and I need to be able to read what your saying.

Q: How long does the story need to be?

A: The length of the story does not matter. Please just don’t submit a novel. It needs to be at-least 1000 words . I will count if need be.

Q:

A: No not really; the profile I have ready for the judges is over 40 lines without any information in it so I don't really mind. The more descriptive the better. As for a story I would like it to remain in a reasonable length. Try to think 'Short story' for this. Yes; it may be longer than your average short story; but it would be a pain in the judges and my own asses if we had to read and go through 20 novels. xd (Should I have said 'Butts'?)

Q:

A: No it doesn't that is just for fun. 3nodding Only the judges should be concerned with the profile; contestants only need to worry about writing the story.

Q:

A: Ah! Something I forgot. Please post it in thread. That way the judges can see it; but it wasn't like I was going to post 'em up anyway. whee sweatdrop Eh... Post or PM dosen't really matter.

Q:

A: It's Due December 5th... I may extend it. One post/story per round, aye.

Q:

A: Only in the first round, in the second as well as third; characters will be provided for you. In all three rounds you need to write a story; short or long, it doesn't really matter. I recomend short so it is easier on the judges and myself.

Q:

A: Well; as long as it's your own character I don't care. I personally don't care if it's fantasy or realistic. You're not judged on the genre your judged on Characterization as well as some other basic writing 'musts'.

-More to be added, feel free to ask-

Alright dear. I'm glad someone shows interest into the contest I was sure some authors would. I do hope you become inspired. 3nodding

Join when or if you can. ^_^

Hm... *Looks at the clock* I still have about 10 minutes until I need to leave... *Shrugs* Might as well leave early or make sure I'm orginized. *Rambles*

Yes, Jamile. But you are only given a space in the contest when you pay. Just get it in before the 5th. 3nodding

Definitely intriguing. I'll enter. I already have an idea!

Three!