Would anyone here be interested in starting up a poetry contest? I figure that since there are quite a few people here who do write poetry (as seen in Dookie’s previous topic, though this isn't just limited to those people), maybe some would be interested in doing this? I recall the idea being shot down rather venomously when afore mentioned in Seluna’s topic after she became the Artistic Discussion mod (wanted suggestions to get that forum more active), but I thought I’d bring this up again and see who all was interested.

I was thinking pretty much that it’d be sort of like this (so you have a general gist of what I’m getting at): There’s a monthly theme, and when all the poems are submitted into a topic, people read them, and then a discussion for voting opens in a new topic one week before the month ends. People would vote for the top three poems that they liked. Of course, that’s under the assumption people would even do this at all. Depending how many people are interested, it might turn out to be the top two or just the voter’s favorite out of however many submissions. ...And the point is also not to just have the people who write a poem and submit it to also be the only ones voting >.o.

Everyone following me so far? Good. So, I’d like to hear your thoughts on this...Does anybody think this would be a good idea to start? Who all would participate in it, besides me? Be honest. I just want a general idea of how many people who frequent this board would even be open for something like this. And, also, if you aren’t opposed to this (therefore I don’t want anyone who thinks the idea is dumb to say, “yeah, a good suggestion is to just don’t do it”---though I won’t be offended if you say you don’t think this is a good idea.), any suggestions to make the idea better?

We can do it like SOTM, Pick a theme and write. Though, it will be harder to judge and grade. Since everyone has their own style. You need to stead the judging criteria too I suppose.

OR

We could do an Essay contest? You know, give a theme and write an essay with minimum words criteria. Lol. Not sure though. But its a really good idea =p.

Lance.

Everybody has different styles for Photoshop as well =p. I see what you mean though. But, I don’t know it would make too much of a difference. Despite writing differences, people would just vote for which they thought was best. I don’t know that writing difference would matter much...I guess we could have voting be based off of which seemed to fit the theme best, and which seemed the best written (like SotM), or something like that. Maybe that would work?

Regardless, I think doing an essay contest would be good as well. I personally #### at writing them, but it’d be good practice, right? I think we could get somewhere with that. It would definitely add some variety to the writing forum (which has poetry and some novels, but not much else). Grand idea, Dookie! =).

Hope to get more feedback from others as well, otherwise Dookie and I can just have a contest against each other, haha XD. A singles battle...in something =p.

Well I told you about it on MSN but I'll support the topic hehe.

I'm not a real big fan of poetry, I don't write it very often and I'd probably need to be convinced to post it here. You pour your heart out on a poem, but people on here definitely speak their minds, often in a pretty blatant and straight way. I wouldn't appreciate pouring my heart out on something and then being told its garbage. Very few reply with stories, I guess chapters take too long to read hehe.

Anyway, I probably wouldn't participate, but I'd most likely vote since I'd like to see more things happening in this section of the forum. As for essay's, I've never done them for fun. They remind me of english class which doesn't exactly...remind me of enjoyment. But I'd see how it was done on here, test things out you know.

Even if you don’t submit anything, voters are also a key player in this =). I definitely encourage you to write something (I mean, hey, you’re a brilliant writer anyway, you could just try this once and see if you like it...I used to hurl at the idea of poetry, but the word play is what grabs me in it), but if you don’t, I appreciate that (if this takes off) you’d at least read the entries and vote =).

Im not good at poetry but ill try and kick you's a freestyle

Best mc here to rock the forum are you nerds are boring i hit the forum and im snoring. there is no ignoring my unique style im like a freak you dont wanna meet BAM 2 shots to your cheek cant fcuk around your game is WEAK

A little bit of rap there. Very nice =p. I would count that as poetry (aka: able to be submitted), as it has the rhyming going on (which is...what rap is, haha...), though the monthly poems will most likely have a theme. Shouldn't be terribly difficult though. Most of the themes will most likely be very broad anyway.

That brings the total number of contestants up to three though (Dookie, Wakka, and myself---and of course, Exire, our most esteemed “outside voter”.). Anybody else?

Hehehe, I'm up for anything.

Oh, by the way, shorten the time Due date, because its usually easier and faster to write then make.

Just a suggestion though.

Lance.

Oh, I have a suggestion that was done on another forum I used to go on, I think it worked quite beneficially. Of course, I have no intention for this forum to be copying or stealing from another...I just think its a good idea.

Anyway. Whoever decides to be the 'leader' of the poetry contest, has people PM their poems to him/her. When the polling begins, the poems are posted and people vote by the title, not by the person who wrote them. I've often found that the more popular or prominent people/writers in the forum will get more votes just because they have more friends, are more well known or things like that. I don't like to think that it happens either, but it really does. I don't think it really takes away from the poetry contest at all, it just eliminates possible bias'. So purely and truely, people vote for the poem, not the writer.

Dookie, do you mean just have maybe a week to write after the theme is given? I was going to give (or whoever spearheads this) at least two, so people can think about what they want to write about, and also so they don’t feel rushed.

Exire, you bring up a good point. It would be a good idea to PM all the entries to whoever takes charge of this, because then people won’t feel biased and vote for the one they know is their friend’s. I find that to be a major problem sometimes. People here are usually fair, but...*cough*, there are always a few instances...If people want to know who wrote what, a list of the titles + authors can be “released” after the voting ends. Which means no posting a contest entry in personal topics people =p.

Thanks for the input you two =).


EDIT: Actually, I don't know if it'd matter to not have people know who's poem is which. We all have rather distinguishable styles as it is >.o. Oh well. We'll see how it turns out.

Two weeks is usually fine.

But if its like SOTM It'll be a month =p lol

As for the pming, the person who suggest it hosts it then =p xD

Not to forget, when we need to have some editing, it will be another problem. But its better to pm you since it will be more fair.

Lance.

True. SotM...a month. I’d more or less meant just the way the voting was concerned =p. But if two weeks is alright, we can do that. I have a sneaking suspicion this means I’m going to have to “take charge” of this. XD.

Alright, so the basic rules: Two weeks to write, has to be based off of the theme, no plagiarizing of any sort (obviously), PM the entries to me (I guess...), and...that’s basically it. Oh, and then one week to do the voting (if people complain about not having time to read, well...they have an entire week, and it doesn’t seem this will be *extremely* busy the first time around, so I don’t think that will be an issue, haha...).

I have one last question then, before I would start the “theme topic”...Since it’s only Wakka, Dookie, and myself who have said we’d write a poem...should I PM other people and see if they’d be interested? I’m sure they’ve seen this topic, but...you never know >.> Unless you guys don’t mind if this just starts off as us and see if it “catches on”?

Oh, I haven't noticed this topic until now. I want to participate aswell. I love Exire's idea about not telling in advance who wrote the poem.
I think two weeks will be enough to write something. One month would be too long. Then this forum would only bne active during a small period of the month.
DB, will you choose the theme?
I like the idea of a contest.

I say we vote for the first contest's theme

then the winner will decide on the theme for next season's.

Hows that sound?

Oh and lets start the first one to be an easier one.

My idea for the first theme is "Death"

Easy enough?


Lance.

Dookie has another grand idea =D. I think letting the winner choose the theme is good, then they can just PM me (since I guess someone needs to be “in charge” and whatnot, so I’ll do that). The first contest will start...when? Do you guys want it to be before Feb. is done, or wait until March? Otherwise today would be a good start date (beginning of the week, and whatnot).

The first theme will be “Death”, since it was suggested =). After that, the winners will PM the next theme to me, and I’ll post it in the “official topic” thing for that specific contest week.

Thanks for joining, Gelmar =). I guess we’ll do Exire’s idea then. Seems to be getting good feedback.


EDIT: Never mind again. I'll just start it right now, instead of making everybody wait (and then perhaps lose interest).

I also agree that the winner should choose the next theme. Very good ideas guys. Ouch! Death as a theme will be very challenging for me, since I dislike writing about it. Though, I'll plot out something.
Yup, we could start it now. There's plenty of time until March.

I like the idea of a poetry contest. It sounds like fun.

Glad to have you on board as well, Neko!

(sorry for the bump)

I'm just wondering, but would you guys want me to add a poll next time? It seems that (in the Artistic forum, for instance), there tend to usually be votes in a poll even if no one comments (actually, there usually tend to be more votes in general). Maybe it's easier to do a poll, I don't know, but topics such as these usually get more votes that way. Would you guys want me to add one next time, or do you not care either way?

It's a good idea. Though, now I'm more concerned about people not voting at all. I still don't want to vote, because, if I give out my votes, it would be easier to predict which one is mine. Please, people vote!
It will be a huge bummer, if no one votes.

Yeah, I can see how people might not want to vote right away because it'd give things away. Perhaps it would work best for everyone to submit their votes on the last day, or maybe PM them to me and I’ll tally all the results and submit the votes/comments from everybody the day after voting closes? That way people will be able to see who voted for who, and what their comments were (if any). Do you think maybe that would work best?

Next time though, I will add a poll, and people can still vote on that and (if the idea is fine) PM me their votes. That way people can still see who is getting the most votes and whatnot, so it's not entirely just a waiting game...

I like that idea.

I have added the poll. Vote once in each of the categories for one poem, but you can’t vote for the same one in all of them (obviously). It has to be three different poems (or just one in the first vote column, or two; first in the first vote, second in the second vote column.). If you guys want to vote in the poll, do that, and if you want to PM the votes to me as well, I’ll put those up (along with any possible extra comments on the works) after voting ends on March 9. If we don’t get many votes, I’ll extend the date...but please vote now. >.o.

I'm really looking forward to this. I have some free time for awhile, so I'll be able to dedicate more time towards writing more structured works outside of my memo pad. Woo.

Already voted, so guess results shall wait.

Edit: Sorry, I haven't had a lot of time lately and was only able to skim the previous posts. Anyway, nice idea, and.... I know I idle a lot off and on, but I'm in.

I know there is still technically time to vote, but I figure that everyone who was going to vote did already, so I tallied everything up. Next time I’ll probably leave it the whole day on the last day, just in case. I didn’t know how much time I’ll have later to do this, which is why I did it now. Hope that’s okay with everyone >.o.

So anyway, the results are up in the contest topic. I must say, everyone did a nice job. Also, before I forget, glad to see you two join, Lost Seraphim and reanimation =).

Now, something really annoys me. The Nostalgia topic has been viewed more than 100 times, and only three people voted.
I would like it if more people voted, or othervise, the places will be shared again and it'll become dull.
I mean, what's the big deal? You take a little time reading all the poems, and choose 3 ones.
If there are tons of critiques and votes for Photoshop works, why couldn't there be for the poems aswell?
PLEASE vote!

A lot of those views carried over from when it was still in the “rules” form, without the poems, though I share the sentiment. There’s still a bit of time though, so I’d expect that everyone who submitted a poem will have at least voted, and hopefully others who didn’t participate either might as well. =).

Why is it mandatory that we vote for 3 poems? What if we like only one of them, or two, why vote for the third one if we don't like it?

It isn't mandatory, but I realize I did not state this specifically inside the official topics. Basically just that if you do vote, vote for different ones. I apologize for that. If you vote, it's for three max., or one minimum. =).


Sorry about that. I'll add that in the rules next time, and thanks for asking.

I tried to, but it didn't want to pass my vote until I voted in all three columns.

...Um, I’m not really used to making polls that are this "complex", haha. I’ll see what I can do to fix that. Sorry >.<

Edit: Well, all I could really do was make it so people could choose more than one option in each one, but I fail to see how that’s going to help matters, haha. Next time I’ll just make one question, and have it so people can choose three option out of it, instead of my three little Vote One/Two/Three. So, if you *really* don’t want to vote for a second/third, just PM me your vote and I’ll count it up at the end with all the rest.

Sorry for making you all suffer my stupidity, haha XD. I shall revise the poll next time, and specify the rules better. =)



Edit 2: Never mind, I figured out an alternative (that you all probably would have figured out much sooner, but oh well). I have added “None” to the choices.

Enthusiasm for this has died down quite a bit. I understand that (where I am, anyway) school is nearing its end, and you guys can have busy days anyways, but have we lost interest in this? Do you guys want to see different kinds of themes that you can relate to more? Do you want to just say what type of poetry you actually like to write, and just have me pick a theme that can encompass something that everybody can write so we can have more entries?

I’d like to see this get a bit more active again. I know it’s hard to write it all the time, so there’s always the option of me giving more time to enter poems (the current contest hasn’t gotten any submissions, so that one is already delayed until June 2nd as its end date).

Feedback, please. I’d like to know what you all think regarding this. =).

Sorry, recently there is slightly more work to be done then usual, seeing that its school holidays for the younger generations. But we'll be having a break soon. So yes, sorry for the died down on that. But I would be summiting something soon. Meanwhile, just a while more longer.

Sorry about the trouble though.