Contest Results

I thank all of the entrants and judges for making this another successful and wonderful contest! I look forward to more contests in the future and hope that all of you will participate again and spread the word. The next ecent is my upcoming workshop, "Obsessions". Learning new ways to express yourself through technique and use of creative ideas will hone your skills as a writer.

Take care,

-Joe-

The winners of the Confessions Contest are:

First Place

*Ang3lsDrumSticks with Dirty Little Secret

6 month Subscription from *msklystron
3 month subscription from =Mattiello (donated by =Cyantre from previous contest)
Journal Feature from =Mattiello
Journal Feature from *msklystron
Journal Feature from =Cyantre
Journal Feature from *IrrevocableFate
Journal Feature from =mode-de-vie
Journal Feature from =Docali

Second Place

*chugglepuff with Dear PostSecret

3 month Subscription from *msklystron
1 month Subscription from =Mattiello
Journal Feature from =Mattiello
Journal Feature from *msklystron
Journal Feature from =Cyantre
Journal Feature from *IrrevocableFate
Journal Feature from :devdevmode-de-vie:
Journal Feature from =Docali


Third Place

*ladyshadowrage with Confessions of a Physician

1 month Subscription from *msklystron
Journal Feature from =Mattiello
Journal Feature from *msklystron
Journal Feature from =Cyantre
Journal Feature from *IrrevocableFate
Journal Feature from =mode-de-vie
Journal Feature from =Docali

Honorable Mentions (no particular order)

As you can obviously see, there are three honorable (honourable) mentions. I decided to include three because some of the entries were so moving and relatively well written.

~CoyoteCaliente with Dear...
=AGMeade with Things I Never Told You
~Odeena with Nostalgia


On another note, I began last week by telling all of you that I have some very interesting news. I think it is time to reveal it (even though I would have rather done this in a couple of months, but I was kind of forced to deliver my hand -- you'll see why as I explain).

On the 16th of October at 9:00pm EST, I will host my own show on Blogtalk Radio. The station itself is called "WriterFace Station". What does this mean? Well, it means that thousands of people will be listening to me talk about my book, my experiences in publishing, both traditionally and self-publishing, a workshop I've created for writers, tips and advice, and various other useful elements that I will be sharing with my listeners. Now, most of you do not know what I've been doing over the summer (hence, my inevitable absences), and some of you probably won't care. Still, I've acquired enough credentials and enough business partners to start a new page.

The offer I received from the owners of Schiel and Denver Publishing and WriterFace.com (WriterFace is part of Schiel&Denver and I highly recommend that you take a look at it), came much earlier than I had hoped, however, I will take the opportunity and run with it. I was approached and asked to do a show for them and was also highly encouraged to promote my work and book "Counting Clouds", along with whatever else I want to do. If the show goes well, I will actually be taking over the whole WriterFace station; meaning, I will be interviewing people, promoting their work, promoting my upcoming magazine (which will be available everywhere at the end of this coming summer), answering questions, hosting workshops, and inevitably stepping out into the world and changing it one word at a time.

Now, I'm sure some of you have question or doubts. I will answer the questions and leave the doubts where they should stay -- unvoiced and unrecognized. Will you be interviewing any writers on dA? Yes, actually. I have already determined who I want to interview but will not reveal who they are as of yet. How do I connect to this show? Go to WriterFace.com and click on the Radio tab at the top. My show is not listed yet, since I still have to turn in my outline for the show. (I also am in charge of tutorials on WriterFace -- just click on the tab. What is WriterFace? It's a fairly new sight for writers, literary agents (which is on of the departments my business handles), and those that love to read. If you join, friend request me: Joseph LM Sturm.

Any other questions? Either note me or leave a comment. Any doubts? Why the hell would I reveal any of this if I wasn't sure I was correct? :rollseyes:

I hope this is interesting enough. I know it is for me. (oh, as a side note I was interviewed again by The Review. Jade, if you are reading this I'll have you know that I mentioned you as one of my favorite modern poets. )

Ciao,

-Joe-



On the Sofa

Confessions

Type of Contest: Confessions

ENTRANTS

Count: 24

~embisdarkside's with Feeling Unfamiliar

~Mystxx with Confessions

=kyrrith with They Say I Am A Hero

*msklystron with Husband and Wife

~wh0rem0ans with Dear Post Secret

=LateNightLady with What I Never Told You

~nvrmind91 with My Secret Has A Name

=SpunkOnAStick with Where Did It Begin?

*ladyshadowrage with Confessions of a Physician

~magical-badger with So I Have a secret

=AGMeade with Things I Never Told You

*Wombat-Pentagram with To Confess of Love

=Tepea with Confessions to Father

*HiddenDragon-IPV with Secrets of the Past

~katepowellshine with Confessions Contest

=DJKibyKat with Page from Aslein's Diary

=Princekarr with Dear Secret Post

~jax-hitari with Confessions

~Odeena with Nostalgia

~CoyoteCaliente with Dear...

~Ethan-Richards with Dear Love

*Ang3lsDrumSticks with Dirty Little Secret

*chugglepuff with Dear PostSecret

~baboeska with Halfpast Midnite- Confessions




About the contest:

Hello everyone. Yes, I'm back with another contest. It's my umpteenth one so far, but this time, I've gotten together with *msklystron. Actually, it was she who came up with this wonderful idea. We're going to host a contest entitled "Confessions". Confessions is much like Post Secret where the "postee" writes about something he or she did and can post it anonymously. Usually, though, it's of the naughty or embarrassing nature. We've decided, however, to put the writer's flair into the design. The contestant is required to use a fictional character in their "confession". It's nothing too strenuous or mind boggling, so it's not likely to cause too much trepidation.

Begin writing in a Letter/postcard format with a Dear 'so and so' (or salutation) at the top. We encourage you to use “ostcard-ish” art as well, but it isn’t necessary. Poetry and well prose are welcome in this contest. Confess your character’s most embarrassing moment --or deadly sin and let’s make this contest fun!

Start: August 28, 2009


Deadline: October 2, 2009 11:59:59 pm GMT


Guidelines: (written by *msklystron )

Begin your entry with the salutation, "Dear Post Secret," (but you may give the deviation a title of your choosing), and write it in (an unsigned) letter or postcard format.

You may include visual art to simulate a homemade postcard or notepaper. (Make sure to obtain any copyright permissions if using stock or another artist's images.) However, visual-art-free entries will be accepted.

Your entry may be written in prose or verse or a combination of both and no longer than 1000 words. 500 words is the idea length.

Try to grab the reader's attention with a strong lead and maintain it.

Your confession must be fictional. State it somewhere in the body of the piece. It can be a personal flaw or regrettable action, drawn from your imagination, but you may take inspiration from personal experience. Basically we want a character (not you) to confess the make-believe faux pas, tragic flaw or criminal act. To think up a confession, you might begin by asking yourself a hypothetical question, such as what if someone saved a person, and the rescuer wouldn’t leave the rescue alone? In this case the confession might be, “I wish the person who saved my life would drop dead... Not really but...” Your confession piece should awe, amuse or be touching. Above all, it should generate conversation or leave readers with something to ponder. In my example, The Rejection, I attempt to explore whether the character could have romantic feelings for someone with a disability.

Your entry must be written in the first person (I, me, mine) in the voice of an original, fictional character (no fan-fiction please).

Your main character (the fictional author of the fictional confession) should ‘develop’ -- have some kind of revelation or undergo a positive or negative transformation. In my Unwilling Gardener example, the character somewhat conquered nature and became a better gardener.

To write a plausible character, try to establish his/her personality through monologue, dialogue, "backstory" or action and be true to it. Some people like to build up a character from a set of parameters, such as vocation, hobbies, ethnicity/ family background, physical attributes, likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. If this works for you, go for it. Others will create a character based on the central problem (the confession in this case). For instance if you want your character to have difficulty facing death, give them a fatal disease or make them a doctor or someone who faces the death of others. I tend to create characters this way and as writer Elmore Leonard describes it, I ‘trot them out and let them talk’. I see who they are as a person and carefully consider how they would react in every scene. You can borrow character traits from yourself or people you know, but be sure to change the names to protect the innocent.

To make your confession seem genuine, show rather than just tell. Use sensory details (sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell) when describing characters, action, setting, props or backstory.

Edit your entry for typos and grammatical or spelling errors.


Here is an example as well: [link]

Rules:

Judges are able to enter.

Entries must fit the guidelines the tutorial dictates. (Guidelines -- links-- are to be found above)

Your piece must be a new deviation submitted on and after August 28, 2009.

No slander, racial remarks, or any type of prejudices will be accepted. Failure to comply with this rule will result in an automatic ban from the contest. Comments from entrants that break this rule will also suffer the same consequence.

Entries must be a deviation and sent via note to =Mattiello and *msklystron.

No entries will be accepted after the deadline.

only 1 entry will be accepted from each person (some have more than one account).

Judging:

Judging will be simple. Each judge will vote for their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place picks, and they will receive 3 points, 2 points, and 1 point respectively. Once they've decided on their winners, they will send their votes to me via note. I will add all of the points together and send them to the judges for verification.

After the results are verified, I will post the winners in our news section. The judges are then free to comment however they like on the entries.

4th and 5th place will receive honorable mentions.
Judges are not able to vote for themselves.



=Mattiello
*msklystron
=Cyantre
`jade-pandora


Please thank the judges for participating. Judges may be added in the future

Prizes:

Note: if we have an exorbitant amount of entries and/or prizes, we will split the prizes into 1st to 5th place categories with honorable mentions for 6th and 7th.

As of now the prizes are as follows: (send a note me if you want to donate! Come on, help everyone out!)

First Place

6 month Subscription from *msklystron
3 month subscription from =Mattiello (donated by =Cyantre from previous contest)
Journal Feature from =Mattiello
Journal Feature from *msklystron
Journal Feature from =Cyantre
Journal Feature from *IrrevocableFate
Journal Feature from =mode-de-vie
Journal Feature from =Docali

Second Place

3 month Subscription from *msklystron
1 month Subscription from =Mattiello
Journal Feature from =Mattiello
Journal Feature from *msklystron
Journal Feature from =Cyantre
Journal Feature from *IrrevocableFate
Journal Feature from :devdevmode-de-vie:
Journal Feature from =Docali


Third Place

1 month Subscription from *msklystron
Journal Feature from =Mattiello
Journal Feature from *msklystron
Journal Feature from =Cyantre
Journal Feature from *IrrevocableFate
Journal Feature from =mode-de-vie
Journal Feature from =Docali


If you have any questions about the form and/or the contest, simply note me. I’ll respond as quickly as I can.

Featured Deviant of the Month

The Featured Deviant of the month is:

=Osiristhrasher06


The Reluctant Ball--------------Harlot


The Swan and the Sea-----------------Moon Drip



Love - Ode to a Mermaid-------Kiss the Rain



--------Rendezvous



Justin is a blooming writer. Anyone with half a brain can drown in his imagery alone -- and love every second of it. That's what captured me. I don't mean that "Great Job. Good imagery" deal. I mean that he intuitively knows what words will affect a person's mind in the intended way. That's a secret that takes long to master and still longer to convey subtly. I personally await for more striking pieces and encourage him to never give up. Everyone will do well to keep a watch on his work.

CSS Created by =edmunn and =alfajr
and edited by *Kittenista for =Mattiello

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