Yeah, I like the max of 500, but I think there should be a minimum. Maybe somewhere around like 350 words? I think it would help writers with being more concise and also planning their essays more, so it won't go over the rules. A minimum would make sure that entires weren't like "One day I went to the store. I bought some milk." etc. I like the idea of the short story contest, I would probably try to enter that. As for time limit, I would say three weeks to a month, maybe?
I
Incinermyn
Yeah, entries between a 300/350-word minimum and a 500-word maximum would probably be most reasonable and managable. Also, a series of one-shot contests may be better than trying to do something that requires a continuation like the Round-Robin and Unfinished Page contests did.
That seems a little silly. some of the best stories I've read were extremely short. I think stories should be judged on content, never on length. Neal Stephenson's Anathem is several times the length of, say, Isaac Asimov's Foundation, but Foundation is without a doubt better. that's an extreme example, but I don't think you should just dismiss something based on length for a contest like this. it makes sense for the forum in general because people are less likely to put effort into it, but for a contest, I know that I don't want to write anything terribly long (or, if I was, say, judging, I wouldn't want to read a dozen pages for a tiny little contest like this).Apollo the Incinermyn said:
one of the best stories I've ever read, by Ernest Hemingway:
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Incinermyn
Nice point, Zenith, but I have to say that length limits need to be considered in contests here, otherwise there's no real challenge. Also, most people should have no problem writing something that's about a page or so long and, furthermore, I wasn't planning on allowing more than a few entries per contest (which shouldn't be too hard for anyone to read through).