ZUser Created Challenge - Writing Round the Third~!!! (ZUCWR)

[HitokiriChibi]

Greetings, and welcome to the third (and long over-due) ZUser Created Challenge - Writing Round! It's been some two years since the last one, so here's a brief over-view of what this contest will involve.

In the ZUCWR, everyone is given a topic - usually fairly vague - and a maximum word count, along with the categories that each piece will be judged on. It is then your job to go away, write a piece that you think is worth entering (or not, if you just want to enter for the heck of it), and then post it in the submissions thread once it's up. After that, the chosen judges will score each piece, and the winners be announced.

Now for the details.

Topic - Take a scene from a Zelda game - any Zelda game - and write it in your own words. It can be a boss fight, an encounter with one of the numerous NPCs dotted around Hyrule, or even just a walk in the park (assuming there are any parks in Zelda games...). It doesn't matter if you write the same scene as another person, because odds are fairly high that it'll come out completely different anyway...unless you're copying, in which case you get disqualified.

Format - The final piece can be anything up to and including 1,500 words. We don't mind if you go a little over that, but only a little. Every piece will need a title to go with it, and they should be put in quote boxes for ease of reference. You will also need to give an age rating, and tell us what scene from what game it has been taken from.

Judging - The poor saps volunteers who will be judging your entries are <Puck, HitokiriChibi, Ciroton and Cookie>. The categories for judging are:

Spelling and Grammar - Microsoft Word usually gets all spelling mistakes, but make sure you read it through a few times and see that's nothing incorrectly spelled our there is lack of correct grammar in sentence parts. Do a spellcheck if you need. Any mistakes, whether minor or major, will decrease your point score for that category, and on an overall level lower your main score.

Dialogue - Hey, even if you just have Link in the scene, or a single character or whatever, you'll have to make them talk. Make sure what they say isn't exaggerated or sounds funny, make it clear whose talking, and of course have a variety of speaking description words *i.e, said, asked, inquired, replied* And remember - swearing is not allowed.

Originality - You're taking a scene that's already been made and putting it into writing yes, but if you just do that, then your score's gonna flop. Add little things we don't see, get into character's heads, have the narrator say things we didn't experience in the game. But remember, going overboard with new stuff will get you in trouble for this score as well, keep it in perfect moderation.

Description - Writing is painting a picture with words, but like real art, doing too much can make things bad, and doing too little is horrible. Just as originality, keep it in moderation. Add detail, but don't add too much, because then it'll sound funny, and your score won't be too good. Use just the right amount.

Also, don't forget - anything that breaks forum rules will be penalised. If it's bad, expect an infraction.

Timing - The submissions thread will open on the <15th of May>, and close on the <22nd of May>. Late entries will not be judged, so don't try it.

That's about all. Use this thread to ask questions, and we hope to see your entries later on.

Good luck!

[Lly]

I really want to enter this, however something struck me as kind of... eh. Might suggest changing it perhaps?

Originally Posted by HitokiriChibi

...and of course have a variety of speaking description words *i.e, said, asked, inquired, replied*...

I kind of disagree with this. It's a common misconception among writers that the word "said" is blah and dull and should be avoided all cost, but according to most editors, it's quite the opposite. The overuse of words like "exclaimed" and "hissed" and "stated" is seen as unprofessional and a rookie mistake.

And just to prove I'm not pulling this from up my bum, I'll give some sources:

"The Use and Abuse of Dialogue Tags" by Anne M. Marble
"Basics: Dialogue" by Terry W. Erwin" (see point d for reference)
"Dialogue Tags" by Jennifer Jensen
"'Said Bookisms,' She Growled" by Margo Lerwill

They make somewhat differne tpoints, but there is a general consensus among them that "said" is the best and others should be used in moderation of what is going on (such as volume, etc) might not otherwise be clear to the reader.

I'm not trying to sound overly-demanding- I mean, you are the judges, and all, and you can run this contest basically however you want- but I guess I just wanted to make y'all aware of the fact that one of your preferences is considered amongst editors, professionals and critics to be a pitfall in otherwise good manuscripts, and generally sloppy writing.

Thanks.

[HitokiriChibi]

Ah - in this case I believe what should be done is not making EVERY dialogue end with 'said'. For everything. Consistently.

You should have a balance that mixes in a few other descriptive words so that it doesn't become boring. Not going overboard with it either. Make sense =s?

[Lly]

Fair enough. :3

I just wasn't sure if by dissuading us from using "said" you were implying that it was dull, and when possible should be replaced by a synonym. Which is, as the pros of prose have been telling me... is not the case.

But, as it stands, I guess I misinterpreted your directions? Thanks for answering my question, in any case.

[Tiroth]

@Lly: Speaking as someone who reads a heck of a lot (although not as much as I used to), using the same word over and over again gets really dull very fast. "Said" tends to be one of the most over-used words in the history of fiction writing. Hence, the suggestion to use other words with similar meanings as well.

[Selah]

But doesn't "said" tend to vanish after a while? True, it's a commonly used word, but also one of those words rendered invisible by the repetition. Unless, of course, that repetition is purely ridiculous:

"Hey," John said.
"Hi," Mary said.
"You doin' good?" John said.
"'Kay," Mary said.
"That's good," John said.

In that case, I say ditch the dialogue tags all together, and substitute them with action, if with anything,

[Tiroth]

I'm fighting the urge to re-write that little segment right now, Selah. There are so many ways to do that better. Then again, I guess that was the point.

But no, I don't think "said" is a word that vanishes easily. I notice, anyway. Besides, there's a lot of other words you can use, and they're usually more informative as well. "Said" doesn't help much with the mental picture - it's too neutral.

[HitokiriChibi]

That being said, it was the intention of this to make it so you don't NOT use said and NOT replace it with new fangled words ALL the time.

Moderation is the main point. And yes, using said all the time makes you cringe because it doesn't add attitude to the way people are talking. If everyone merely 'said' everything, it doesn't give them character and makes it sound like a monologue done by a poor drama student.

[Lly]

Originally Posted by Tiroth

"Said" tends to be one of the most over-used words in the history of fiction writing. Hence, the suggestion to use other words with similar meanings as well.

I dunno about you- you might be more of a meticulous reader than I am, and you probably are since I'm kind of rubish at close-reading- but I seldom if ever notice dialogue tags, unless it's something particularly eyeroll-worthy like "boomed" or, as one of the sources stated, "ejaculated."

Not to mention:

Originally Posted by Use and Abuse of Dialogue Tags

However, words such as "hollered" and "bawled" often draw their attention away from the dialogue and yank them out of the story.

anyway.

Originally Posted by Selah

In that case, I say ditch the dialogue tags all together, and substitute them with action, if with anything,

I actually agree, completely. I seldom if ever dialogue tag anyway, so I guess it doesn't really apply to me- but I just find it particularly annoying when author feeld the need to do something like "Aah!" shouted Mary or "Be quiet!" commanded John. I'm not all for "he said, she said" after every line- I just find them preferable to ridiculous and/or obvious alternatives.

I guess in the end it's kind of up to personal preference, but I'm just stating something that professionals say with which I tend to agree. There are plenty of popular and renowned authors (see: JK Rowling) who break this rule into a million peices all the time, but I've read a lot of stuff by editors going berserk-bananas over the issue D:

[Tiroth]

Originally Posted by Lly

I dunno about you- you might be more of a meticulous reader than I am, and you probably are since I'm kind of rubish at close-reading- but I seldom if ever notice dialogue tags, unless it's something particularly eyeroll-worthy like "boomed" or, as one of the sources stated, "ejaculated."

See Selah's deliberately horrible example for the kind of thing I mean. Bumping off a few of those "said"s would do it a lot of good. Anyways, just listen to the Chibi - she's the one running the joint here.

But...ejaculated? >.> That is a horrible word to use.

[Lly]

Bumping off a few of those "said"s would do it a lot of good.

yeh. some action would do it good, as well, or eliminating a couple of tags together.

Originally Posted by Chibi

Moderation is the main point. And yes, using said all the time makes you cringe because it doesn't add attitude to the way people are talking. If everyone merely 'said' everything, it doesn't give them character and makes it sound like a monologue done by a poor drama student.

mkay that's fine.

I'm done rabble-rousing now :3

[HitokiriChibi]

Lolz... if someone can ft 'ejaculated' into it without making any dirty jokes and it actually being relevant... they get bonus points and an Honorable Mention just for that XD

And I'm not the only one running the joint.. just the only one who knows I've posted it XD

Feel free though to take out the dialogue tags and replace with action. I do agree it makes for better reading that way since it flows better when done well ^_^

[Selah]

Originally Posted by Lly

There are plenty of popular and renowned authors (see: JK Rowling) who break this rule into a million peices all the time...

The first thing that came to mind when I read this was a lovely line from Eragon:

Originally Posted by Christopher Paolini

"Sorry," Brom apologized.

This notice has been no doubt irrelevant. Though it could be taken as an example of a "plz avoid for the sake of my sanity, thnx" dialogue tag. But as the Chibi said, moderation is key, =3

Originally Posted by Tiroth

But...ejaculated? >.> That is a horrible word to use.

I seem to recall reading a good deal of children's literature from... oh, I couldn't say precisely what time period... Victorian, perhaps? - using "ejaculated" as another word for "shouted". It was a curious practice.

I think I shall be joining in 2008's ZUCWR, =D

[HitokiriChibi]

And will the Podcast be covering it? =3

[Ciroton]

Originally Posted by HitokiriChibi

Lolz... if someone can ft 'ejaculated' into it without making any dirty jokes and it actually being relevant... they get bonus points and an Honorable Mention just for that XD

And I'm not the only one running the joint.. just the only one who knows I've posted it XD

Feel free though to take out the dialogue tags and replace with action. I do agree it makes for better reading that way since it flows better when done well ^_^

*Ahem* I've been hear a while, you just haven't noticed yet because of my awesome Ninja skillz. =P Hi, I am Ciro, and I'll be a judge. Flattery and/or Bribary on the contestants part WILL have a little sway on how I mark things, so no Illegal behaviour, kiddies. =P ((Just try and blackmail me, I dare you. XD))

[Selah]

Originally Posted by HitokiriChibi

And will the Podcast be covering it? =3

I don't see why not! This is, after all, front page news, in my humble opinion, :3 'Life Returns to a ZU Writer's Tradition After Two Years of Hiatus!'

[HitokiriChibi]

Schweet on Front Page news =3

*glomps her fellow Judge* Chibi has dibs on being the mean old judge who hates everyone and is miserly with her grades >=3

[Ciroton]

Originally Posted by HitokiriChibi

Schweet on Front Page news =3

*glomps her fellow Judge* Chibi has dibs on being the mean old judge who hates everyone and is miserly with her grades >=3

Damn. If you don't give me the fun-loving, and bubbly judge position, you'll face the buisness end of me sword.

[Puck]

Puck is here as well, as a Judge of course. He is hard to anger, but hard to please. Be on guard for he holds nothing back when he is judging. No form of favoritism, bribary, or sucking up will sway his vote, so it is best not to try it.

Puck is also the sexiest Judge. ^_^

[HitokiriChibi]

Originally Posted by Ciroton

Damn. If you don't give me the fun-loving, and bubbly judge position, you'll face the buisness end of me sword.

(Zorlo) > (Sparta)
HA! Take your fun bubbly position!

Originally Posted by Puck

Puck is here as well, as a Judge of course. He is hard to anger, but hard to please. Be on guard for he holds nothing back when he is judging. No form of favoritism, bribary, or sucking up will sway his vote, so it is best not to try it.

Puck is also the sexiest Judge. ^_^

*kitty growls at Puck* That Puck is XD