Welcome to the Writer of the Month (WOTM) introduction and rules thread! Above you can see the current status of the contest, which will be updated regularly to stay up to date on the current goings on of the contest. Below this segment you can see the rules of the contest. So what is this for? This is the part where the contest managers (Brovo, Kaga, and Jorick) welcome you to the contest and explain the basics for anyone who's new to WOTM.
The Writer of the Month is a contest that started years ago on a previous version of Roleplayer Guild and has been carried over and revived to this newest iteration of the site. It is a contest where anyone can submit their writings and then hope for the voting public to like it enough to get the most votes. However, this is a very friendly contest, with people often offering constructive criticism to help each other become better writers. The writers are anonymous unless they win, because winners are announced in the thread, or choose to reveal their identity after voting ends, so it's entirely reasonable to enter the contest, get feedback, and then never say it was your entry if you don't feel like stepping forward. People of all skill levels are welcome.
The contest runs on a monthly cycle. First, a guidelines thread goes up that tells what the theme and components for the month are. The theme is some overarching element that all the entries have to incorporate or be about. Some examples of this are: Fire, Apocalypse, Mythical Creatures, Historical, and Despair. The components are a list of elements that have to be used in your entry, though you don't need to use every single one and they have quite a bit of variety: the components can range from character and plot mandates (such as 'no characters die') to setting and style restrictions (such as 'the story takes place in a sci-fi or fantasy world'), and more. Each entry must use the theme and also use the minimum required number of components (1 for Flash Fiction, 2 for Short Story) to be accepted.
Then, after the submission period closes, voting threads go up. Entries are listed without telling who the authors are, and anyone on the forum can come and read them and vote for whichever one they think is the best. Some choose to also post reviews for the entries, and while this is encouraged it is not required for voters to do so. Once the voting window closes, the winners are announced and authors can come forward and respond to reviews, and general discussion happens. After that, a new guidelines thread will go up shortly afterwards and the cycle begins anew every month.
If you have any further questions, feel free to send a PM to one of the WOTM managers or to post the question in one of the active WOTM threads.
General Rules
● All site-wide rules (no trolling, no flaming, no spamming, etc.) apply to WOTM threads as well, and any transgressors will be reported to the moderation staff and dealt with accordingly.
● Questions about the contest, current theme, rules, and so on may be asked in WOTM threads or directed to the managers of the contest. If your question might ruin the anonymity of your contest entry, ask it in a PM rather than in a thread. Please do not send questions to the WOTM account, because that clutters up its inbox and we do not check it regularly outside of submission periods.
Submission Rules
● All entries must adhere to all the usual Guild rules, especially those regarding mature content. If you can't RP about it in public without getting a ban, you can't do it in your WOTM entry either.
● This contest makes use of monthly themes and required components. See the above explanation of the contest for details on how they work. Entries that do not follow the theme and use the components will be rejected.
● Entries must be submitted to the WOTM account.
- The title should be in the format of WOTM #(current contest number) Entry: Flash Fiction/Short Story (whichever is appropriate for your entry)
- The PM should contain your entry (in the body of the message, not as a link or attachment), the entry's title (if it has one), and the component(s) you used.
- The PM should contain your entry (in the body of the message, not as a link or attachment), the entry's title (if it has one), and the component(s) you used.
● Multiple submissions per contest month are not allowed, one per person per month only.
● Entries cannot be resubmitted after they are accepted, so please do all your spellchecking and so forth before sending it in.
● Entries that are rejected for failure to follow the theme/components guidelines will be given a chance to fix the issues or submit a different entry entirely should the author so choose.
● Your entry must be something made specifically for this contest, not something you've written in the past that happens to fit the components.
● Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If plagiarism is proven, you will be publicly disqualified and banned from all future WOTM contests. Fan fiction is not necessarily plagiarism and is allowed, but you must note in your entry PM that it is fan fiction and what existing piece of fiction it is based on.
● Feel free to use the limited text formatting options available to you on the forum in your entry.
Voting Rules
● All entries will be displayed anonymously. Entrants are not allowed to tell others which entry is theirs.
● Soliciting votes will get you disqualified and banned from the contest altogether. You may tell your friends about the contest and ask them to go vote, but do not tell them which entry is yours and ask them to vote for it.
● You may not vote for your own entry, and doing so will cause you to be disqualified from that month of the contest, but you are encouraged to vote for one of the other entries if you're feeling generous. Similarly, do not use alternate accounts to vote for your own entry, as such activity being discovered will lead to your disqualification and permanent banning from the contest.
● Voting will be done by stating publicly in the thread which single entry you feel deserves to win. Do not PM votes to the managers or WOTM account, because they will not count.
● Discussion, reviews, and critiques of the entries is highly encouraged. However, please keep it civil and in line with the site rules. "Your characters were flat and boring" is a valid critique, "Your character suck and you shouldn't have bothered entering" is flaming. Instances of flaming and so forth will be handled in accordance with the first general rule of WOTM.
Post-Voting Rules
● After the winner is announced, authors of the other entries may reveal themselves in the thread and respond to comments and reviews on their entry if they wish. Please do not reveal yourself as the author of an entry until after the WOTM account has announced the winner of the current contest.
● In the unlikely event of a tie, the tied entries will both be declared winners in a tied victory.