Contest Short Story of the Week - SOW by Arkbear at All poetry

Welcome Poets!

Short Story of the Week

- Hosted by Arkbear -

founded - 7/18/08

SO' Contest # 3

The SO' Contests are NEW!

If you pull or delete your entry after a thorough critique,

or not come back to finish your write after reserving a spot,

you will be banned from the SO' contest in the future...no exceptions ~

If you Reserve, you must have your SS entered 12 hours after you take a spot...

...you will have plenty of time to come back and edit and fine-tune your work,

before, a Judge touches your entry ~

If you want to win the SOM contest,

bring the most Original & Creative Theme, and pen it wisely,

in Short Story Format ONLY ~

We do NOT provide Phrase or Graphic Prompts,

and we do NOT allow Fancy Backgrounds, or Borders to enhance your write...

....we expect you to work with your Imagination,

White Background, and ONLY Black Font ~

* Place Theme or Topic in Authors' Notes ~

* Place *SOW Contest* in your Authors' Notes ~

* No Editing After A Judge Has Touched Your Work ~

* CAPPING every line is NOT allowed, unless required ~

* Do NOT use the Filler Words, *the, and, is, of, that, to*, in excess ~

Plagiarism and/or copy & paste from

your old stories will not be tolerated ~

Your Imagination is your strongest tool

....use it wisely!

6 spots available ~

55 hour contest ~

If you have entered the SO' Contests in the last week,

...you must wait two weeks before you may enter again.....thank you!

Judging will commence at 12 pm, Sunday 10th only!

This will give you plenty of time to re-check

your work and edit if needed ~

Once a Judge has CRITIQUED your work,

.....DO NOT TOUCH IT UNTIL AFTER CONTEST CLOSES ~

This SOW Contest is Sponsored by:

trista

Opens 12 pm, Friday, August 8, 2008 -

United States Pacific time ~

Closes at 7 pm, Sunday, August 10, 2008 -

United States Pacific time ~

Your #1 Judge is, Arkbear

Your #2 Judge is, trista

Your #3 Judge is, Starz of Heaven - pending -

Your #4 Judge is,

Your #5 Judge is,

Your #6 Judge is,

Your #7 Judge is,

Needing ( 4 ) more Judges who are familiar

with this sequence of contests!

Link to the POW..>>

http://allpoetry.com/contest/show/2417129

RULES!

* Creativity ~

* Black Font ~

* Fresh Fiction ~

* Nothing Cliche' ~

* 100 Lines or Less ~

* White Background ~

* Uncommon Themes ~

* Challenge Your Quill ~

* Use Your Imagination ~

* Use Short Story Format ~

* Epic Stories not allowed ~

* We Reserve the Right To DQ ~

* Watch For Proper Punctuation ~

* Graphics/Borders Are Not Allowed ~

* No Hardcore Cursing or Hard Erotica ~

* Place Theme or Topic in Authors' Notes ~

* Place *SOW Contest* in your Authors' Notes ~

* 1st, 2nd & 3rd person.....or more, is fine as well ~

* No Editing After A Judge Has Touched Your Work ~

* CAPPING every line, is NOT allowed, unless required ~

* Do NOT use these Filler Words in excess....>>

* the, and, is, of, that, to* ~

* Blank spaces are not considered lines, only text ~

* SS format is proper use of:

Introduction, Topic, Body, Summary, Conclusion ~
.....however, without, the Epic run-on Storyline ~

* Have Fun!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Points for this sequence of SO' contest ~

*SOD* is 400 points for Gold, plus ( 3 ) HM's ~

*SOW* is 1000 points for Gold, plus ( 3 ) HM's ~

*SOM* is 1250 points for Gold, plus ( 3 ) HM's ~

*SOY* is 90% of all left-over points from the year ~

We will be looking for FRESH Fictional writes,

...."specifically" for these contests!

ALSO...>>>>>

Your entry may NOT be in another contest

at the same time as the SO' Contests ~

Show us Creativity, Originality, Imagery, Power, Emotion, Impact, Thought and Focus in the SO' Contests ~

New Sponsors Welcomed!

Donations are NOT required,

yet Most welcomed and Very much appreciated,

....as these contests eat up points quickly ~

Sponsoring Poets:

Arkbear ( 1 X for SOW, SOM )

islekine ( 1 X for SOW, SOM )

Talloaks ( 1 X for SOW, SOM )

davidwright ( 1 X for SOW, SOM )

Pisces Pieces ( 1 X for SOD, SOW, SOM )

trista ( 2 X for SOD, SOW, SOM )

WWildBill ( 1 X for SOD, SOW, SOM )

Disclaimer:

We are not using any donated points for our own benefit ~

You may at any time ask how many points each Contest has in its' personal Bank ~

Your donated points are used soley to keep the SO' Contests open for your interest and fun ~

The *SOD* = Story of the Day, account name, Sod-1 ~

The *SOW* = Story of the Week, account name, Sow-1 ~

The *SOM* = Story of the Month, account name, Som-1 ~

The *SOY* = Story of the Year, account name, Soy-1 ~

90% of points that roll over, will be added to the *SOY* for an incredible award of points at the end of the Year!

Please re-read these rules if you are still unsure about how this sequence of contests is conducted ~

Notice:

I am proud to say that I am sole holder of the SO' Contests,

yet I could not do this without the help of your Sponsorship, or your other Judges ~

We want great Short Stories that will make us read it and think.....Wow,

....that's grrrreat penning!

Now you know what we want....now go spill some Ink!

......and remember,

May Your Higher Power & the Power of Your Quill,

Always Be Your Strength!

,~<::##########::

~ Bear & trista ~

Contest is Over

Contest was judged on August 11, 2008
Rewards: Gold: 1000, Honorable mention: 3 people
Final notes:

Nice job Writers!

Another great SOW Contest this week.....we sure appreciate all of the time you spent with us this week, and the time you all dedicated to creating, writing & perfecting your work for Julie & me to have the chance to read some great SS's ~

We were short Judges this week, so we only had a possible 200 points for you to earn to win your way to that Gold ~

....and this Writer is not a stranger to the top trophy mantle.....let's congratulate Bunny for earning 179.8 points, to place her into the Gold spot this week....woo hoo!

A lovely write with almost flawless format and structure ~

A creative write which read smoothly and kept both Judges from having too much to suggest or critique ~

If you are still unsure as to how to win the in the SO' Contests, or how to format your entries, please take a look at this Writers entry, Passages*

Congrats Bunny!

Your Silver Winner earned 178.9 points ~

Pania* has shown to be another Writer who can also lay out a well-formatted SS and bring the Readers into their write with minumum efforts....well done Writer!

Your Bronze Winner earned 174.15 points ~

This Writer has shown remarkable skill in formatting, staging and bringing light to any Theme he desires......nice job Bill!

Your two HM's ( ARE ) in order.....yes, we had one Writer pull their work after a lengthy review......this Writer has been banned from the SO'Contests in the future....no exceptions......this is a Rule which we will strictly enforce ~

HM 1...169.7
HM 2...158.7

There you have it!

The Most Creative Theme goes to: Passages
The Best Formatted goes to: Passages
The Most Heartfelt Entry goes to: Hand Up

Ok....if you will wait two weeks before entering the SO'
Contests, we would greatly appreciate your patience, as we are trying to allow other Writers to find and try out the SO' Contests as well .....and with only 6 spots avilable each week, space is very limited ~

Also, if you are a Gold or Silver Winner, as asked that you might think about volunteering on the Judges Panel the next week......this is only a suggestion ~

Thank you to those who Sponsor this Sequence of Contests.....we could not do it without your sponsorship!

Thank you to aboomer, islekine and Neon, and others, for your time spent reading and commenting on each entry.....this is very much appreciated and great sportsman-like conduct

Thank you trista for being beside me this week.....your reviews, comments and suggestions are worthy of Gold.....I am impressed with your desire to bring your knowledge of good sense and desire to help others improve their writing skills....God bless you!

If you wish to keep up with the So' Contests, past & present, you can join us over at..>>>>

http://allpoetry.com/group/show/Contests%20for%20SOD%20SOW%20SOM%20SOY

.....and remember Writers,

...May Your Higher Power & the Power of Your Quill,
Always Be Your Strength!

Bear & trista
DestinationPoetry ( Coming Soon )

From Messages
trista:
5 hours ago Hi Bear,

My scores, with final notes at the end...

A Breed Apart
by light insight
74

Choices
by Gavin Le Vilar
73.5

Hand Up
by Roaddog Wolf
78.5

Passages
by Cupcrazy
83.5

My Brother's Father
by pania
83.5

Final notes:

I really can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading each of the stories in this week's SOW. I suspect...and hope...that as more people become familiar with this series of contests, the bar will be set higher and higher...making for a truly wonderful experience for the judges, and a huge challenge for you, the writers! AP is filled with talented writers of both poetry and stories...I'm thankful to each of you for sharing those talents with us.

My scoring system is still rather convoluted and lengthy, lol, but if you want a break-down of your scores please don't hesitate to ask...I'm more than happy to send them to you, or list them on the poem page. : )

The areas I look at and the max amounts of points possible are:

Rules: 5
(Story Development)
Opening: 5
Middle: 5
Ending: 5

Theme: 5
Imagery: 5
Dialogue: 5
Setting: 5
Point of View: 5
(Mechanics)
Sentence Structure: 5
Basic Grammar: 5
Punctuation: 5
Style: 5

Show Vs. Tell: 5
Ability to Hold Interest: 10
Character Development: 5
Originality: 5
Lasting Impression: 10
Max Total: 100

As always...congrats to our winners, but a truly great job by all of you! : )

Wishing you all a blessed and beautiful week ahead,
~J.

Peace -

Contest Winners

Passages

Hills beckoned me as a child, calling with such irresistible lure of escape.
But my legs were always too short and the climb too long and

by Cupcrazy 27 lines, 15 comments, on Aug 9 2:56 AM 2008. In Other, Thoughts
Gold trophy winner

• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Error: Unable to find finalist item 4498383, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
Hand Up

He had not made all the best choices in life. Age had begun to catch up with him, as were his shortcomings. It didn't seem fair that such g

by Roaddog Wolf 17 lines, 15 comments, on Aug 9 2:05 AM 2008. In Life, Love, Spiritual, Thoughts
Bronze trophy winner

• Commented on by judge. [remove]
A Breed Apart

Jasmine Ballard was a special girl born in the hills of East Tennessee. She was the youngest of six and the only girl of a close knit blue

by light insight 10 lines, 5 comments, on Aug 8 11:03 PM 2008. In Nature, Personal, Thoughts
Honorable mention

• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Choices.

I am not religious, but it is a facinating subject.

by Black Narcissus 47 lines, 7 comments, on Aug 9 1:13 AM 2008. In Spiritual
Honorable mention

• Commented on by judge. [remove]

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By me, right now

Adding your comment:
Arkbear
August 11, 2008
Edit | Reply

Notice Julie..>>>

Addicted to Dreaming* was pulled....this Poet is banned from any SO' Contests in the future....no exceptions ~

Bear ~
- trista
  August 11, 2008
  Edit | Reply
  
  Thank you Bear...I was wondering why it showed 6 entries, yet there were only 5...I was just about to message and ask you about that before sending in my score.
Cupcrazy
August 11, 2008
Edit | Reply

Thanks so much for the honor of the gold, congrats to all the winners and to all who entered this challenging contest. A special thanks to our judges Bear and Trista for taking the time to host and judge these very time consuming contests. It is a very difficult task to give such lengthy in-depth reviews as well as deal with all the different personalities and writing levels of the entrants and yet they do it for their love of writing and with such tact, diplomacy and most of all great kindness. Hugs, Bunny
- Arkbear
  August 12, 2008
  Edit | Reply
  
  Your comment is much appreciated, Bunny, we look forward to having you on the Judges Panel next week......have a great week ahead!
  
  Bless you,
  
  Bear ~
Roaddog Wolf
August 12, 2008
Edit | Reply

THANK YOU FOR THE BRONZE
and all the time you judges have put into this short story contest. congrats to the other winners.