May’s Fanfiction Challenge
(Credit goes to Bigfoot AUS for the banner!)
Hello, PokéBeach writers, and welcome to the renewed Fanfiction Challenge!
Creative writing takes more than just a few good ideas, an interesting character, or a plot twist. You have to be able to put these concepts together to make an original story that conveys your goals and pleases your audience.
Have you been told you’re a good storyteller? Are you looking to improve your writing or bring your original character to life? If so, this competition is perfect for you! The goal of this contest is to create the best Pokemon-related short story for a given theme. You will be competing against other authors in terms of creativity, plot, and characterization. Which author will emerge victorious and have their story posted on the front page?!
In this particular round, the theme is “A new Pokémon Trainer starting out on their journey.” Your story should be self-contained and approximately 1,000 words long.
Registration
- To sign up you must reply to the thread below.
We have a total of 12 15 spaces available for entries. UPDATE: Due to overwhelming popularity, we have updated our number of sign-ups to 15! If you’d like to enter, get in quick before the spots are all gone!UPDATE 2: All spots are currently full. Please check back next month for your next chance to compete!
- Registration will be open until the last day of submissions or until all spots are filled.
Contest Format
Creativity Within the Theme
We’re all familiar with the typical Pokémon story of a generic trainer defeating the evil team and collecting the gym badges to take down the Pokémon League. Don’t just repeat the plot of the games, but shake it up a bit, make a story that brings new and exciting additions to the existing Pokémon formula. However, you also need to make sure that your story follows the given theme of the round. To ace this category, your goal should be to make a creative, unique story that still firmly represents the guidelines of the theme. Feel free to use existing concepts from the games and anime, but make the story your own.
Total: 20 points
Plot and Characterization
Story and characters are the major foundations of a story; you need to have both, or the whole thing crumbles. Your characters might be humans or Pokémon (or even something else!) but they should have personalities and goals that make them stand out. Additionally, you should have an established plot to your story, a narrative that leads the characters and your readers along that goes above and beyond descriptions and dialogue. Just because a story is short doesn’t mean it can’t have any action! A story that aims to get high marks in this category should have well-made characters and defined plot progression.
Total: 20 points
Writing Conventions
Spelling and grammar, while sometimes tedious, are very important in writing to make sure that your work is understood and respected by your audience. You doesn’t have to be perfect–a very minor mistake won’t count off any points–but mistakes can add up and you will be penalized if you repeatedly make spelling errors or choppy sentences. Check and double-check your work to make sure that everything is proper before submitting.
Total: 10 points
Max Points: 50
Contest Timetable
- Monday, May 8th: Sign-ups begin.
- Monday, June 1st: Entries are due and judging begins.
- Friday, June 5th: Winners are announced!
General Rules
- Post your story as a post in the forum thread below. It should be in a new post separate from your entry post.
- Any edits made to your post will cause an immediate deduction of 2 points from your overall score, as does reporting your story a second time. Please do all of your proofreading before posting! Participants who fail to submit their stories in on time will be disqualified.
- All regular forum rules apply. Specifically, if any count of plagiarism is evident in a given story, it will be taken down and the appropriate punishment will take place.
- Additionally, if you sign up to this tournament and do not participate, you will be banned from all PokeBeach Activities for 60 days. Only register if you intend to deliver.
- Members can also weigh-in on their favorite stories! Members are free to vote for ONE entry of their choice. A poll will be linked in-thread shortly after the deadline has passed, or votes can be PMed to Athena.
- Feedback between participants will not sway the judge’s voting. However, you are free to do so if you feel like it will help the individual in the next round or in further writing endeavors.
Contest Prizes
PokéBeach members earn badges next to their usernames that are visible on all parts of the website. These badges denote your accomplishments to other members and viewers. If you place high enough in this contest, you are eligible to win the following:
- 3rd Place: Bronze Writing Medal
- 2nd Place: Silver Writing Medal
- 1st Place: Golden Writing Medal
Useful Links
Happy writing, authors! If you have a tale you’re just dying to tell, type away and allow creativity to flow. We’re looking forward to your submissions!