Hey there, everyone! It's the start of a brand new year, and I know we all have brand new ideas for our lives. That is why I want to open this year up with the first ever Fanpop poetry contest! It's basic and simple, because everyone can write poetry, and it's short which means everyone can read all of the submissions in a brief period of time, whereas stories may take longer. However, if you're a story-writer (I sympathize), never fear! If this contest goes well, I may sponsor a Fanpop Short Story Contest afterwards.
Established Rules
1) Any piece of poetry is accepted, so long as it is not plagiarized. If you wrote a poem ten years ago that you would like to revist and submit for the contest, by all means do so. Or if you would prefer to write a brand new poem, more power to you! So long as it is your own work anything goes! There is a strict plagiarism policy, however. If your submission is found to be plagiarized, you will be immediately disqualified and receive a nasty lecture from me. In fact, I take plagiarism so seriously that if I am your fan, I will de-fan you. That's how seriously I take it.
2) There will be no theme. This contest is open-ended when it comes to subject matter. Literally anything goes, so long as it is PG-13. By PG-13, I mean no erotic poetry, and no excessive violence or horror that would scare or disgust a thirteen-year-old. The swearing rule, in the interest of free expression and social commentary, is lifted. Use every word in your vocabulary, but please do not abuse this liberty! Do keep in mind that children will be reading this, so you may want to save your anarchist "F&%$ Censorship!" poetry for your livejournal (but be sure to link me to it, because I am a sucker for anarchist poetry). Also keep in mind that excessive use of "foul language" may cost you votes when it comes down to the second round of judging, and on your head be it!
3) NEW RULE: Poems must be 60 lines or 400 words. This means that if a poem is 60 lines, but 420 words, that's acceptable, or if it is 70 lines, but 370 words, that's fine too. If you break the limit by five words, or two lines, that's acceptable. We're trying to keep these brief, though. If you submit an excerpt of a longer poem, feel free to include a link to the original poem, for reference purposes only, as only the excerpt will be judged for the contest.
4) NEW RULE: Poems based on television shows, books, video games, etc (in other words, fan fiction) ARE ALLOWED, so long as one attaches a disclaimer to the work paying homage to its original creator. The poem itself must be entirely your own.
) The deadline for submissions is January 13th.
Submission Process
After discussing it with handful of clever fanpoppers (thank you Sarah and Jody) I have come up with a very nice and neat way of going about this in the fairest way possible.
If you wish to submit a poem to the contest, please send me a private message which includes your poem in full, and "Poetry Contest Submission" in the title. On January 13th, I will gather up all of the submissions and post them in a single soapbox where they will be able to be viewed altogether. Instead of your user name residing next to your work, you will be assigned a number (such as "Constestant Number 4") which will be based on the order in which I received the poems.
On January 20th, when everyone has had a chance to review the poems, I will ask a panel of judges to confer amongst themselves and eliminate all but five poems. These five poems will then be put up to a vote by the Fanpopulation in the form of a pick, asking users to vote for contestants based solely on the quality of their work, and not their user names or who they are friends with.
The only person who will know the true authors will be me, and I will not participate in this vote (though I will participate in the contest, burying my submission somewhere in between all the others). When the pick is closed (a week after being posted), I will announce the winner.
Judges List
Spotty_Vision21
Sappp
dredfull7
bRiNnAyCuLlEn
heeeresjoyce
Are we clear? If so, then happy writing, Fanpoppers! The contest is open right... NOW!
LINKS
link
link
link
Established Rules
1) Any piece of poetry is accepted, so long as it is not plagiarized. If you wrote a poem ten years ago that you would like to revist and submit for the contest, by all means do so. Or if you would prefer to write a brand new poem, more power to you! So long as it is your own work anything goes! There is a strict plagiarism policy, however. If your submission is found to be plagiarized, you will be immediately disqualified and receive a nasty lecture from me. In fact, I take plagiarism so seriously that if I am your fan, I will de-fan you. That's how seriously I take it.
2) There will be no theme. This contest is open-ended when it comes to subject matter. Literally anything goes, so long as it is PG-13. By PG-13, I mean no erotic poetry, and no excessive violence or horror that would scare or disgust a thirteen-year-old. The swearing rule, in the interest of free expression and social commentary, is lifted. Use every word in your vocabulary, but please do not abuse this liberty! Do keep in mind that children will be reading this, so you may want to save your anarchist "F&%$ Censorship!" poetry for your livejournal (but be sure to link me to it, because I am a sucker for anarchist poetry). Also keep in mind that excessive use of "foul language" may cost you votes when it comes down to the second round of judging, and on your head be it!
3) NEW RULE: Poems must be 60 lines or 400 words. This means that if a poem is 60 lines, but 420 words, that's acceptable, or if it is 70 lines, but 370 words, that's fine too. If you break the limit by five words, or two lines, that's acceptable. We're trying to keep these brief, though. If you submit an excerpt of a longer poem, feel free to include a link to the original poem, for reference purposes only, as only the excerpt will be judged for the contest.
4) NEW RULE: Poems based on television shows, books, video games, etc (in other words, fan fiction) ARE ALLOWED, so long as one attaches a disclaimer to the work paying homage to its original creator. The poem itself must be entirely your own.
) The deadline for submissions is January 13th.
Submission Process
After discussing it with handful of clever fanpoppers (thank you Sarah and Jody) I have come up with a very nice and neat way of going about this in the fairest way possible.
If you wish to submit a poem to the contest, please send me a private message which includes your poem in full, and "Poetry Contest Submission" in the title. On January 13th, I will gather up all of the submissions and post them in a single soapbox where they will be able to be viewed altogether. Instead of your user name residing next to your work, you will be assigned a number (such as "Constestant Number 4") which will be based on the order in which I received the poems.
On January 20th, when everyone has had a chance to review the poems, I will ask a panel of judges to confer amongst themselves and eliminate all but five poems. These five poems will then be put up to a vote by the Fanpopulation in the form of a pick, asking users to vote for contestants based solely on the quality of their work, and not their user names or who they are friends with.
The only person who will know the true authors will be me, and I will not participate in this vote (though I will participate in the contest, burying my submission somewhere in between all the others). When the pick is closed (a week after being posted), I will announce the winner.
Judges List
Spotty_Vision21
Sappp
dredfull7
bRiNnAyCuLlEn
heeeresjoyce
Are we clear? If so, then happy writing, Fanpoppers! The contest is open right... NOW!
LINKS
link
link
link