Take Away my Agony - Take Away the Pain
The Above Picture Will Bring You to the Original Thread
Introduction
Self Injury and Self Harm, two names for a widely misunderstood and criticized subject. When most people think about self injury/self harm, they think cutting, almost automatically. What people don't realise is that self-harm doesn't stop at just cutting, there's stabbing, picking at scabs, pulling out hair, repeatedly throwing their body or a body part against a hard object, and eating disorders. Not only do some people not know that cutting is only one of the several ways to self harm or self injure, but they don't understand why someone does what they do. A cut on the wrist means a fail suicide attempt, open wounds means mental disorder, pulling hair means crazed states of mind..... At least that's what some think. What is your outlook on self harm or self injury? Do you understand how it feel? Can you convey these feelings or this knowledge into words? In this contest we'll see how much you really know and how you feel about self harm.
As you compose your works, try to be un-biased about self harm and self injury. It will effect your writing. Be it you decide to write a really long entry or a really short one, the main concept is to convey how relations of or self injurers deal with their addiction, their disease, their way of life. If you fail to express how this is, your story will most probably not win the contest. This contest is not for people who think self harm represents or is secluded to a single clique or lifestyle. For all you know, your next door neighbor could be a self injurer.
This contest is held in recognition of SIAD - Self Injury Awareness Day which is on March 1st. Show your support on that day by wearing:
White Ribbon - Is there to help and support those who self injure
Orange Ribbon - Someone who self injures
Black and Red Ribbon - Someone who cuts themselves
Orange Bracelet with a Few White Beads - A self harmer who wants to stop
A Bracelet with a Mix of Orange and White Beads - Someone who has successfully overcome self harm
Anyone! From the guild or not can win this contest!
Introduction
Self Injury and Self Harm, two names for a widely misunderstood and criticized subject. When most people think about self injury/self harm, they think cutting, almost automatically. What people don't realise is that self-harm doesn't stop at just cutting, there's stabbing, picking at scabs, pulling out hair, repeatedly throwing their body or a body part against a hard object, and eating disorders. Not only do some people not know that cutting is only one of the several ways to self harm or self injure, but they don't understand why someone does what they do. A cut on the wrist means a fail suicide attempt, open wounds means mental disorder, pulling hair means crazed states of mind..... At least that's what some think. What is your outlook on self harm or self injury? Do you understand how it feel? Can you convey these feelings or this knowledge into words? In this contest we'll see how much you really know and how you feel about self harm.
As you compose your works, try to be un-biased about self harm and self injury. It will effect your writing. Be it you decide to write a really long entry or a really short one, the main concept is to convey how relations of or self injurers deal with their addiction, their disease, their way of life. If you fail to express how this is, your story will most probably not win the contest. This contest is not for people who think self harm represents or is secluded to a single clique or lifestyle. For all you know, your next door neighbor could be a self injurer.
This contest is held in recognition of SIAD - Self Injury Awareness Day which is on March 1st. Show your support on that day by wearing:
White Ribbon - Is there to help and support those who self injure
Orange Ribbon - Someone who self injures
Black and Red Ribbon - Someone who cuts themselves
Orange Bracelet with a Few White Beads - A self harmer who wants to stop
A Bracelet with a Mix of Orange and White Beads - Someone who has successfully overcome self harm
Anyone! From the guild or not can win this contest!
Rules
Thread Rules
~ My word is law, if you don't like here, leave. No one's focing you to stay. Whan I'm gone, please listen to x.Demonic Vampire.x as if she were me and the other judges also.
~ Follow all standard Gaia rules
~ Please keep it PG-13
~ No cybering what so ever - this a writing contest for goodness sake
~ Follow Gaia ToS
~ NO spamming
~ No page-stretching
~ Do not insult any other Gaians on the thread.
~ Do not be rude to anyone.
~ No begging for donations, people who want to donate will do so on their own accord.
~ Plagiarism is Not Tolerated at all. I do not put up with it and if I find that you are committing plagiarism you will be black listed and I will tell as many people I can that you practice plagiarism. If it is not you work do not claim it to be your own, it is not right. Believe me there are many ways to test a piece and I promise you we will be checking.
~ It is not your place to brutally criticize anyone’s work. You do however have say in wether or not you enjoyed another’s work. If you are just being facetious, obnoxious, or simply put an a**, you will be black listed.
~ Obnoxious commenting is another thing that is not accepted here.
Ex: (OMG OMG OMG, I LOVE THIS POEM!!!!!!!!!)
That is obnoxious and you will be asked to leave. “Text Talk” is also something that gets on my nerves… don’t do it here.
~ Bumping is not forbidden but keeps it to a minimum please. I don’t like a bunch of junk with in the posting grounds. Don’t bump this page unless it’s not on the first page.
~ Stay and chat for a while, it helps the waiting time pass faster.
~ Don’t complain about not winning… it's juvenile, don’t do it. You will irritate me and I will black list you.
~ Don’t advertise here. It’s rude.
~ Have loads and loads of fun. Be nice to each other and I’ll be nice to you.
~ Follow all the rules.
~ More rules will be added if needed.
Contest Rules
~ Must post entries in thread
~ State if there is explicit content
~ You may have up to 3 entries
~ You must use the given profile.
~ All entry must be on one of the following websites: Fiction Press l Geocities l Freewebs l Quizilla
~ OR you can post it in your journal.
~ You must enter your entry [ies] before the deadline.
~ I do NOT want fanfiction. This is an original story/poem contest.
~ I reserve the right to remove and add rules as the situation arises.
Judges
To apply to be a judge, please use the following form:
[b]/./Gaian Name.:[/b] [Your Gaian Username]
[b]/./Time on Gaia.:[/b] [How Long You've Been on Gaia]
[b]/./Experience.:[/b] [Have You Judged in a Writing Contest Before]
[b]/./Back Ground.:[/b] [Writing Contest's You've Been In?]
[b]/./Familiar.:[/b] [What is Your Experience with Self Harm or how Familiar are You with the Topic]
[b]/./Dislikes.:[/b] [What You Don't like in Writing]
[b]/./Preferences.: [/b] [What you Do Like]
There will be at least 5 judges.
[Judge One]
/./Gaian Name.: The Onigiri and Nezumi
/./Time on Gaia.: 7 months [feels longer though]
/./Experience.: This is my first time hosting a judging a contest [plus hosting!]
/./Back Ground.: I have been in several contests, here is one of them: Sariel's Character Making Contest
/./Familiar.: I am fairly familiar with self harm/self injury.
/./Dislikes.: Over used ideas, in-accurate information [do your research!], lack of description, run on sentences, no plot-lines
/./Preferences.: Long paragraphs as long as they make sense, angsty - romance, rhyming poems, longer stories, twists and turns, being able to see that the writers really do comprehend or understand something about the topic
[Judge Two]
/./Gaian Name.: x.Demonic Vampire.x
/./Time on Gaia.: About a year I think . . .
/./Experience.: I've been a fair judge for many things, but none of which were writing contests. Think of me as one of those cool judges who lets you get away with lots of stuff. 3nodding
/./Back Ground.: You mean with writing? Let's see . . . . . I RP a little bit, but not much.
/./Familiar.: I have inflicted harm upon myself before, but have stopped for various reasons.
/./Dislikes.: LONG paragraphs and BIG words. They hurt Kurry's brain! gonk I wont judge you harshly if you have big words and long paragraphs. They just make my head spin.
/./Preferences.: Suspence, romance, and drama! Yay!!! Oh! And description. Kurry likey the description. mrgreen
[Judge Three]
/./Gaian Name.: Harpielady2060
/./Time on Gaia.: 1year 5 months
/./Experience.: I've judged them for things like school and such
/./Back Ground.: I've written in writing contests for school and have one a few of them
/./Familiar.: I have had lots of personal experience with the topic as well as witnessing it in others and helping thm through it
/./Dislikes.: spelling and grammar mistakes (they bug me), boring plots or under-developed stories or characters
/./Preferences.: I like lots of detailed things like descrptions and such and I like a character that I can connect to.
[Judge Four]
/./Gaian Name.: Sariel L`vara
/./Time on Gaia.: Since July 2003
/./Experience.: I've been holding contests for around two years, this one would be my first time judging in someone else's one.
/./Back Ground.: I've never entered a contest, I'm more interested in holding them. As far as writing experience goes, I've been writing stories for about six years and role-playing (online or in a pen and paper group) for seven.
/./Familiar.: Well I used to be suicidal for about two years, that ended about four years ago. Mentally, I'm always beating myself up and physically I tend to bite myself quite often... seemingly for no reason but I'm sure there's some psychological cause for it.
/./Dislikes.: Misuse of words. A terrible lack of meaning. Lots of symbols, mainly exclamation marks. Frequent misuse of the apostrophe. Numbers that are not spelt out. Long paragraphs where they are not needed and provide no benefit to the rest of the writing.
/./Preferences.: Well thought-out plots. Good use of imagination. Descriptions of the surroundings. Science-fiction and modern fiction. I won't go into grammar because it's pointless saying that when it varies with different countries, counties and states.
[Judge Five]
/./Gaian Name.: Morbid Ranebow
/./Time on Gaia.: 1 year 5 months and 11 days
/./Experience.: Many Times on Quizilla [like FictionPress, except I believe it to be more satisfactory]
/./Back Ground.: I'm Published =] and proud
/./Familiar.: battled trichotillomania; volunteered for the local hotline for anxiety problems, girls with period problems, suicidals, and druggies, so I have an idea...
/./Dislikes.: Atrocious grammar and cliche writings. Ex. I hate life. No one ever cared about me, and I am all I have remaining in the world. Think of something exciting, use metaphors: Ex. The memories of my prior hell were those of embers as they were reminants of the flames.
/./Preferences.: Provoking thoughts stuff and wide vocabulary range!
[Judge Six]
/./Gaian Name.: MackinItToTheBeegees
/./Time on Gaia.: A little over a year now on two different accounts.
/./Experience.: I have not judged writing contests before but i have judged the work of my peers.
/./Back Ground.: Ive been in a few though I have not won one yet. The best I have placed is 4th in a contest.
/./Familiar.: I used to harm myself but I have controlled it when I realized it wasn't just me I was hurting.
/./Dislikes.: Grammatical errors, skipped words!!, and long paragraphs that drift into nowhere.
/./Preferences.: Suspense, extensive descriptions, and a great deal on angst. The faster I read it, the better I think it is. I look for real page-turners.
Judging
The judging system is the same for both poetry and short story/prose.
Use of Prompt/Image: 10
Originality: 15
Creativity: 15
Message: 20
Success: 10
Spelling: 10
Grammar: 10
Requirements: 10
Total: 100
The judging system is the same for both poetry and short story/prose.
Use of Prompt/Image: 10
Originality: 15
Creativity: 15
Message: 20
Success: 10
Spelling: 10
Grammar: 10
Requirements: 10
Total: 100
Deadline
All submissions must be posted in this thread by Febuary 10th. You may start posting your compositions on Oct. 18th. The judging will be done by March 1st at which time the winners will be announced and there will be thread-wide SIAD [Self Injury Awareness Day].
All submissions must be posted in this thread by Febuary 10th. You may start posting your compositions on Oct. 18th. The judging will be done by March 1st at which time the winners will be announced and there will be thread-wide SIAD [Self Injury Awareness Day].
Expectations
Short Stories
~ At least 1000 words, no maximum. We will be checking so don’t think you’ll get away with using 900 words. A little less is fine, but don’t push it.
~ Must use at least 1 prompt and 1 image.
~ Must fill out the form correctly.
~ Must be uploaded at one of the previously mentioned web sites or in your journal.
~ Must have something to do with the given topic.
~ Any number of prompts and images may be used.
Poems
~ Must be at least 4 stanzas long with 4 lines in each stanza
~ May be any poem style
~ Must use at least 1 prompt and 1 image.
~ Must fill out the form correctly.
~ Must be uploaded at one of the previously mentioned web sites or in your journal.
~ Must have something to do with the given topic.
~ Any number of prompts and images may be used.
Prompts
Use these prompts to write your story or poem. You must choose at least one.
[Prompt #1] The pain goes numb as I stare out at the nothingness that mirrors my heart
[Prompt #2] I try to wake up from this painful, yet painless, void.
[Prompt #3] My heart hurts, my body aches, but with one swift movement suddenly I feel better.
[Prompt #4] I'm addicted, addicted to the relief, and this want, this need, urges me to do it again and again.
[Prompt #5] I don't know how I started, but I want to find out.
[Prompt #6] Why did he/she hurt me so?
[Prompt #7] I don't understand why I want this, I don't know why I even started in the first place.
[Prompt #8] Hiding is getting harder and harder, what can I do?
Images
Use these images to write your story or poem. Choose at least one.
[Image #1] A lock of hair drifting to the ground, small tendrils floating in the air like licking flames.
[Image #2] Criss-crossing scars that look like beautiful lace.
[Image #3] Pain reflecting off the flames that lick at scarred skin.
[Image #4] Blood dropping slowly to the ground, splashing up in a beautiful motion.
[Image #5] A wall coming closer and closer, a head, a arm, colliding with force into it
[Image #6] A box filled with bloody tissues, locks of hair, or scratched off scabs.
[Image #7] A blank mirror that reflects feelings and emotions, pain, hatred and anger.
Entry Form
Please post the following form filled out in this thread to enter. Your entry will be accepted in both threads. Also, there is an entry fee of 100g and your entry will be removed from the accepted list if the entry fee is not paid within 5 days of submission.
[b]/./Gaia Name.:[/b] [Your Gaian Username]
[b]/./Title.:[/b] [Title of Story/Poem]
[b]/./Rating.:[/b] [Rating of Your Story/Poem]
[b]/./Warnings.:[/b] [Any Warning About the Content We Should Know About]
[b]/./ Link to Story.:[/b] [The Link To Your Uplaoded Story/Poem]
[b]/./Summary.:[/b] [Summary of your Poem/Story. Tell Us What's it About]
[b]/./Prompt:[/b] [Which Prompt Did You Use?]
[b]/./Image.:[/b] [What Image Number Did You Use?]
Sample
/./Gaia Name.: The Onigiri and Nezumi
/./Title.: Slipped
/./Rating.: T
/./Warnings.: Character Death, Cutting, Blood
/./ Link to Story.: Coming Soon
/./Summary.: .:The world is going black, but atleast the pain is dissappearing:. A young girl finds that every time she hurts, she needs to take away the pain. And every time, she finds her self getting deeper and deeper. One day, something she never intended to happen does.... But now the pain will never come again.
/./Prompt: 2, 3, and 4
/./Image.: 2, 4, 6
Accepted Entries
All accepted entries will go here for display.
3nodding = Will get critiques/critisism and/or compliments
stare = Will not get C&C with score.
If you would like to get C&C from the judges, please leave a post that says so.
3nodding [Entry #1] /./Gaia Name.: Lordshigeru
/./Title.: .You could have saved me...You could have saved her.
/./Rating.: T
/./Warnings.: Cutting and Death mostly
/./ Link to Story.: http://www.freewebs.com/lordshigeru/storyforwritingcontes.htm
/./Summary.: A teenager cuts. Another sees. But what can HE do to save her? Told from both the girl ( the "cutter" ) and the boy's perspective.
/./Prompt: #6
/./Image.: #2
stare [Entry #2]/./Gaia Name.: Apple Toast
/./Title.: Silver Blade Lullaby
/./Rating.: All
/./Warnings.: None
/./Link to Story.: http://freewebs.com/kitycatgirl
/./Summary.: Losing everything, and regretting it. Waking from a dream, that was not a dream...
/./Prompt.: 3, 4, 7
/./Image.: 4, 5, 7
stare [Entry #3]/./Gaia Name.: gloria_wong_91
/./Title.: Best friends
/./Rating.: All
/./Warnings.: None
/./ Link to Story.: http://www.freewebs.com/glofly/
/./Summary.: This story is written in the point of view of the best friend of a girl who slits her wrists. It doesn't quite explain what exactly happened between the two friends to cause the animosity, but focuses more on the emotions and hurt felt stemming from the helplessness of her best friend, and the link between self-injury and friendship.
/./Prompt: #6
/./Image.: #2 and #4 *The prompt and images were used as inspiration and motivation, and not actual lines in the story.
3nodding [Entry #4]/./Gaia Name.: Eddie_Death
/./Title.: Spindly Limbs Oddly Splayed
/./Rating.: T
/./Warnings.: Nothing explicit. Mostly implied.
/./Link to Story.: http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2453690/1/
/./Summary.: How far can one go when they can't move?
/./Prompt.: #7
/./Image.: #1
3nodding [Entry # 5]/./Gaia Name.: Persephone13
/./Title.: Queen of Carthage
/./Rating.: All
/./Warnings.: None in particular. This abides by the ToS
/./ Link to Story.: http://www.gaiaonline.com/journal/journal.php?mode=view&post_id=16550535&u=4721008
/./Summary.: Dido, famed in history and Vergil's Aeneas fights with herself over the loss of the hero Aeneas. This little piece demonstrates that teens aren't only the ones who inflict harm on themselves and self-injury is nothing new. This is also an interpretation and embellishment of what happened to Dido in Vergil's work. Note that the setting is ancient times.
/./Prompt: # 6
/./Image.: # 1
3nodding [Entry #6]/./Gaia Name.: Mahayr
/./Title.: Cut, Bleed, Scab, Scar
/./Rating.: Pg13
/./Warnings.: None
/./ Link to Story.: Link To Story Thank you days!
/./Summary.: The ups and downs that continue in our lives as a result of on-going self-discovery - alone, and with the support and understanding of others.
/./Prompt: 5
/./Image.: 4
Prizes
1st Place: Oct. 2007 Thank You Letter, Nov. 2007 Thank You Letter, 5k
2nd Place: Nov. 2007 Thank You Letter, 5k
3rd Place: 5k
Honorable Mention: 300g
Winners
1st Place:
2nd Place:
3rd Place:
Honorable Mention:
Announcements
Oct. 18th - The Contest is Officially Open
Oct. 23rd - If you ask for critiques, they will be included with your score from each judge.
Nov. 21st - We've recieved our first two entries!
January 7th - Entries updated! A thread is started in TGCW!
