The BrikWars Forums

BrikFiction Festival 2015
First Annual BrikWars BrikFic Contest

Welcome to the coming end of another Rekonstruktion, BrikWarriors, as we prepare to dive into a two month long celebration honoring the Stories of the BrikVerse. We stand upon the precipice of time as our minifigs and sigfigs, creatures and creations, castles and kingdoms, and starships and space empires are cast into an ever evolving community Kanon. The deadly perils of countless battlefields, the twisted and labyrinthine halls of power and politiks, the epic struggles of Heroes and Villains. They fight and dance and collide together at the heart of our interest, the Stories of their sheer Ossumness demanding to be told. Told and, in the age old tradition, passed on to the next generation, shooting like brilliant stars through the bright imaginations of those yet to arrive. And in the telling, reigniting the old creative flame and giving rise to new Stories for the Rekons to come.

Participants

Those wishing to participate in the contest should submit an original short story via a new thread in the BrikFic Subforum between November 8, 2015 and December 31, 2015, including the identifier tag [BF15] in the title.

The entry should fall anywhere between 500 and 2500 words.

So long as the piece is set within the BrikVerse, the story may include any subject, theme, or style. Please keep in mind that the community approach to the BrikVerse is diverse and you should in no way feel pressured to base the story on existing canon, though you are still more than welcome to if you are so inclined.

Once the entry is submitted, the original post should not be edited. Exceptions to this rule may occur if the Judges unanimously agree.

Writers may submit more than one entry. Writers can only win one Reward, however, and only their highest scoring piece will count in this regard.

Participants should keep in mind that Presentation (a scoring category covering grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and usage) is not used in this contest as a regular scoring category, but rather as a tiebreaker category. The goal of this contest is to increase interest and celebrate storytelling within the BrikVerse, as well as hopefully inspire an uptake of BrikFics posted to the forum. Amateur authors are as welcome as veterans.

Judges

Judging of the entries will commence immediately following the contest, beginning January 1, 2016, and will end no later than January 9, 2016. The final scores will be announced and formalized in this thread on January 10, 2016.

For the 2015 Contest, the following are Judges:

• runnybabbit223
• The Shadowscythe
• Quantumsurfer

The following are Secondary Judges:

Judges will read each entry and score it based on the following categories:

• Concept and Theme -- The idea behind the story and its underlying meaning, what the story is about, and why it deserves to be told.
• Form -- The flow of the story, the framework that keeps it cohesive and the structure that drives the story forward. This includes the use of actions and events, as well as the pacing of the plot.
• Voice -- The clarity of characters and narration as they interact with the established plot, how compelling and unique they are, and how well they are revealed throughout the story.
• Style -- Overall quality of the writing, consistency of appropriate tone, use of clever ideas and general level of originality, and accessibility of emotional or cerebral engagement.
• Presentation -- Proper grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and usage.

Each Judging Category is rated on a scale from 1-10, except Style, which is rated on a scale from 1-20. The scores from each category will be added together, with the exception of Presentation, for a Final Score of between 4 and 50. The Presentation Score will only be used in the event of a tie between entries. Judges are encouraged to keep an open, diverse mindset when judging entries as they are not inherently required to adhere to any particular interpretation of Kanon or individually preferred tone. In short, we all have a good general idea of what constitutes as Brikwarsy but a great many of us have some pretty different ideas about the specifics.

Judges may enter the contest as Participants (see above) but may not judge their own entries. Instead, the Secondary Judge will take their place in the scoring of those particular pieces.

Rewards

The 1st Place Winner will become our first BrikWars LoreMaster, begin the ranks of the LoreMasters, and gain full on bragging rights. They will also earn a unique custom badge, which will be pinned to the winning post and generally used however the winner sees fit (such as its inclusion into their forum signature).

The remaining participants may earn a LoreWeaver participation badge and can only aspire to increase their narrative skill for next year.


Enjoy the Festival! Happy Writing and, as always, Have Fun.



Go To: 2015 Entries, Final Scores, and Winner

Now, we gauge real interest. We need a few judges still, any volunteers?

Oh I suppose I'll judge.

But i reserve the right to skullfuck anyone who doesn't meet my low, low standards.

I can take the third judges spot if absolutely necessary. But if anyone else wants in as a judge, I'll move myself to secondary.

Is this thing still happening?

Yes?

I'm submitting Tournament.

Solid.

http://brikwars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph ... 23#p313914
First completed brikfic.

Look at that. And you were worried you couldn't submit this because of the word count. Seems like you come in safely under with 2150.

I'm going to join the fun, then.
How much of a problem is it that I'm shy of 500 words?

Can perpictipants please make sure that they give a clear ending to their writings (so w/me judge/s can tell if there is more coming) something small like «Finish» at the end. Thanks.

mgb519 wrote:How much of a problem is it that I'm shy of 500 words?

I feel like 458 is

Mostly, I wanted to avoid entries that didn't have any substance to them (by being, like, a handful of sentences) and fanfiction novels (because I wanted judges to have time to read each entry and give it the consideration it deserves). Running a tiny bit short or long isn't really a problem, unless the length somehow directly impacts a judging category.

I understand maximum length requirements for that reason. But I'm always wondering about minimum length requirements, since if someone can somehow write a six word story that is BETTER than literally every other entry, they shouldn't be punished for it by being disqualified. I rather feel minimum length should be something defined by the author, lest they write something too short for anything to happen and don't win. My personal opinion on the matter.