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Darkest Secrets—Story Contest

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Cozmic

Cozmic

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(¸.•´ (¸.• Official Story Competition - Darkest Secrets
Everyone has secrets. People hide their treasures, their fears, and their vices. Governments classify thousands of documents, sealing them from public view. Conspirators conceal their plans, fearing discovery. It is your job in this contest to expose the secrets around you, like a tiny candle in the midst of a field of darkness.
Welcome to the fifth in a series of official story competitions. We've celebrated holidays, seen the destruction of massive civilizations, and watched as kings have fallen. Now, secrets will be exposed, and the truth will finally be revealed.
Recent Competitions:
- Darkest Secrets
- The King is Dead
- End of Days
- Wintumber 2011
- Halloween 2011
Good luck!
~Cozmic, Competition Host
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05-Jun-2012 03:16:41 - Last edited on 22-Jun-2012 04:41:42 by Cozmic

Cozmic

Cozmic

Forum Moderator Posts: 16,435 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
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(¸.•´ (¸.• Competition Rules
The Rules
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1. All entries must follow the official RuneScape rules and code of conduct.
2. All entries must meet the requirements of the contest prompt.
3. Entries may not be edited or submitted after the given deadline.
4. Stories must be written exclusively for this competition, although you can draw on basic ideas which you've used in the past. You are free to use your works elsewhere AFTER submitting them here.
5. Entries can be written in prose, poetry, or script.
6. Entries should follow the style guidelines for best results (see a few posts below) but do not have to.
7. You MAY NOT mention your RuneScape username in the body of your story. This is for anonymity reasons.
8. Entries must be written in the English language exclusively. Both the American and British variants are acceptable.
9. Do not post entries after the deadline. If you have a good excuse, then you may post an entry up to three days after the deadline. Such late entries are subject to rejection. Special exemptions may also be granted on request prior to the deadline if you explain any issues before hand. For example, if you are going on a week-long vacation during the contest's last week, if you let us know then we might allow you to post a few days after the deadline. These requests are also subject to denial.
Enforcement
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> Minor violations: point deduction.
> Major violations: disqualification.
> Forum rule violations: no leniency.
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05-Jun-2012 03:17:03 - Last edited on 22-Jun-2012 03:55:55 by Cozmic

Cozmic

Cozmic

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(¸.•´ (¸.• Participation Instructions
DEADLINE: June 30th, 11:59 pm, GMT (forum) time.
1. Write a story, maximum of 10,000 characters (approx. 5 forum posts), which centers around the unveiling of a secret and the consequences to its discoverer. The secret can be held by a country, person, organization, society, or any other identifiable entity. This secret must mean something to someone. Do not write about a secret valley unless there is someone or something which is hiding it. You are free to write about a conspiracy. You can also write a narrative about someone hiding away a secret, as well as discovering it.
>>> Important elements: What is the secret? Whose is it? Why is it hidden?
>>> Setting: The setting may be past, present, or entirely fictional. Science fiction is accepted, and so is medieval fantasy and any other genre of creative fiction.
>>> Characters: You may NOT write about any person who was alive in the last 50 years. You can, however, change all of the names and create a parallel. Please do not be overly political.
>>> Theme: The secret and its hiding or unveiling must be a central theme of your story.
2. Check your story carefully using a spell-checker. Microsoft Office is recommended, but if you cannot afford this then I recommend using Open Office. Proofread carefully.
3. Post your story on this thread before the deadline. Make sure not to include any other text inside the body of your story which interrupts the narrative, such as comments or notes. You may edit your piece until the deadline has been reached.
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05-Jun-2012 03:17:49 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2012 03:40:38 by Cozmic

Cozmic

Cozmic

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(¸.•´ (¸.• Rewards and Prizes
----- 1st Place / Contest Winner -----
> A thread stickied in the Stories forum until the end of the next contest.
> A position in the Hall of Fame
> A rank in "The Word" clan chat (subject to Dreamweaver's approval)
> A rank in "The Novelists' Guild" (subject to Snowbuster's approval)
> Signature.
----- 2nd Place / Runner-up -----
> NOTE: This is only awarded if there's a clear runner-up.
> A position in the Hall of Fame
> A rank in "The Word" clan chat (subject to Dreamweaver's approval)
> A rank in "The Novelists' Guild" (subject to Snowbuster's approval)
> Signature.
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05-Jun-2012 03:18:01

Cozmic

Cozmic

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(¸.•´ (¸.• Style Guidelines
1. Proofread stories carefully.
>>> Make sure that you use a spell checker and address every underlined word.
>>> Do not repeat a word too many times at close intervals unless you have to. For example, if you use the word "king" twice in two sentences, use "monarch" in one of the spots.
>>> If you create a fictional place or name, be sure that it is spelled exactly the same each time it is used.
2. Different forms are accepted.
>>> Stories may be written in any modern form of English. This includes, but is not limited to, United States and UK English.
>>> Contractions, ("it's", instead of "it is" ) are allowed, but not required.
3. Poetry and script
>>> Poetry is allowed, and it doesn't have to rhyme. However, poets should make their entries as emotionally powerful as possible.
>>> Scripts are allowed, but they will need to have excellent dialogue. These should resemble real plays or movies, rather than noob stories.
4. Paragraphs should not be broken between posts. When pasting a story, cut each post off to the latest paragraph.
5. Each post should not have any less than 2 paragraphs unless there is a strong stylistic reason. This is often referred to informally as a "text wall."
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05-Jun-2012 03:18:17

Cozmic

Cozmic

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(¸.•´ (¸.• Feedback
Each story receives feedback from each judge and a score out of 5. The scores are defined below:
1 - Off-putting. Either it has unreadable grammar or it does not make sense.
2 - Nothing special. Decent grammar, decent plot. It just isn't anything unique.
3 - Good. The grammar works, and the piece puts a smile on the reader's face.
4 - Awesome! These pieces produce a strong emotional response.
5 - WOAH! Incredible story which knocks the breath out of the reader.
As you can see, the scale is far from pessimistic, as there's only one point devoting to below-average stories and the rest give judges room for defining their very favorites.
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05-Jun-2012 03:18:38

Cozmic

Cozmic

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(¸.•´ (¸.• Formatting
Our online judging system supports special formatting which you can use in your entries.
1. Italicized text.
>>> Italicized text is surrounded with the * characters. For example: *text*
2. Bold text.
>>> Bolded text is surrounded with the ** characters. For example: **text**
3. Paragraphs.
>>> Paragraphs MUST be separated by two linebreaks (press enter twice).
4. Headers
>>> If you want text to display as a header, place a # at the beginning of the line. Example: #text
5. Blockquotes
>>> If you want text to be indented, start a paragraph or line with the > character.
6. Horizontal lines
>>> Horizontal lines (useful for time skips) can be created with several "-" characters. Example: -----
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05-Jun-2012 03:18:46 - Last edited on 10-Jun-2012 05:00:18 by Cozmic

Cozmic

Cozmic

Forum Moderator Posts: 16,435 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
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(¸.•´ (¸.• Contest Judges
----- Cozmic -----
Cozmic is a Software Engineer who spends a much of his spare time writing and reviewing stories. He has been involved in the stories forum community for a few years and currently hosts a series of story competitions.
----- Yam42 -----
Yam is a multi-lingual writer who currently attends a college or university, at which he will earn a degree in English.
----- Snowbuster -----
Snowbuster has shown incredible community involvement by leading one of the forum's largest organizations, at which he writes long, high-quality reviews on a regular basis.
----- Lady Railly -----
Page 10. Description coming soon.
----- Lebbeh -----
Description coming soon.
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05-Jun-2012 03:18:55 - Last edited on 01-Jul-2012 16:02:23 by Cozmic

Cozmic

Cozmic

Forum Moderator Posts: 16,435 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
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(¸.•´ (¸.• Copyright Information
All entries must be submitted by their copyright holder.
By submitting entries to this competition, you, the author, grant JaGeX Ltd. a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive, license to display your entry on these forums as outlined in the RuneScape terms of service. This also includes the right to modify, delete, and move your entry.
You also grant the judges of this contest the right to:
- Display your entry publicly, unless you request otherwise.
- Comment on your entry publicly, unless you request such comment to be removed.
- Rate your entry publicly, unless you request your rating to be removed.
- Enter your entry into our anonymous judging system, unless or until you withdraw your entry.
Entries may be withdrawn at any time, before and after the deadline.
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05-Jun-2012 03:19:04 - Last edited on 22-Jun-2012 04:03:12 by Cozmic

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