User:Ponytailguy/Author's Author Deathmatch

Basic Flyby
Sure, there are some great writers out there. Some great humorists, some great short fictionists, some great novelists. But you know what makes someone a great author? An Author's Author? When they can do all three: Draw you in with a quick one-liner, bring you along for the short-story ride, then make you sit up all night with their page-turner. Very few can master it. Can you?

First Round: Bulwer-Lyttony
Anyone interested is elegible to enter the first round.

It's simple: Write the first sentence of a story. You can be humourous, you can be dramatic, you can be suspenseful, you can be anything you like as long as you're good. The story can be about anything you like, in any genre you like, as long as it's structurally and gramatically valid. You can use brackets and semicolons and anything else you like to stretch your sentence dollar.

You are also strongly encouraged to attach a "context statement" about the direction in which you intend to take the story as it grows; this should not be longer than a paragraph. It is not mandatory, but it will likely increase your chance of moving onto the next round if you demonstrate a planned direction.

Entries should be e-mailed to (address to-be-determined) with subject "Author's Author Deathmatch". In the body of the e-mail, include your entry, your pirate's name and your ocean. Only one entry per pirate will be accepted, and you cannot change or modify your entry once it has been submitted: Only submit your absolute final entry.

Entries will be added to a YPPedia page in random order, without author names attached. The judges will assess each entry and give it zero to five points. The judges will gather and determine how many, from 15 to 40, should move onto the second round, and the highest-scoring stories within that figure will move on.

Second Round: Short Stories
Those who survive the first round move onto the Short Stories round.

This time, you're writing a 1000-3000 word short story. It must start with your entry from the First Round, but beyond that, you have free rein... you don't even have to hold true to your context statement, you can do whatever you like.

Same deal as last time with the e-mails. They will be added to the YPPedia without names to be assessed, but this time, they will be assessed as follows:
 * 15 points for "story tilt"... Is it a good story? Are there appropiate levels of plot, setting, character development, and other story devices?
 * 5 points for "technical and functional"... Spelling, grammar, use of literary devices such as metaphor and similie, formatting and such.
 * 5 points for "intangibles"... Was it pleasant to read? Does it have that certain "je ne sait quoi" that really makes a story pop?
 * 5 points for "potential as novella"... How well do you see this translating into a Novella down the line, if it moves on?

Total of up to 30 points, per story, per judge.

The top five short story authors will move on.

Final Round: Novellas
Finally, the end. A Novella is 20000 to 40000 words long (yes, five zeroes), so you will have over a month to complete this stage. Your novella must start with your Bulwer-Lyttony sentence, and you should try and include as many elements from your Short Story as possible. You do not need to include the Short Story verbatim, you can mess with the chronology, you can emphasize certain elements and de-emphasize others, but try and get them all in there.

You know the submission deal by now. Only submit your absolute final edition.

If you wish to include chapters or sections, seperate them with ==Chapter Name==.

Judging for this round is similar to the second round, except that "potential as novella" is replaced with "inclusion of short story elements", and the potential value of every section is tripled.

Some notes

 * This event is mandatory-continuation. If your story makes the cut, you must advance. If you drop out of the event at any time, you forfeit all prizes, including the ones you've already "won". Do note that this event will take just over two months to complete, and judging will add another two to three weeks to it; this is not a short-term commitment.
 * Judges' identities and entrants' identities will all be strictly secret... that is to say, people will know who has advanced to the next round, but entrants' names will not be linked to their entries until judging is completed. Entrants sacrifice their confidentiality at their own risk, and Judges who leak their identities will be replaced.