• Writer's Training Ground #008: "Filli Vanilli"


    I'm taking over the writing event main post this week so Couch Crusader can go off and draw things on his fancy windows tablet! What does this mean for you? Probably nothing.  Feel free to write some Trixie into your story to appease me though.  Bonus points for avoiding that old sad mare trope.

    On with the prompt! Get it below. 

    A new singing group has taken over Canterlot! Unfortunately one of their members is causing all sorts of trouble!

    Read that how you will, there are a few things you can do with it that are pretty out of the box!

    Now have all that other stuff:



    Da Rulez:

    • Keep the content appropriate as defined by our submission guidelines.
    • Keep it between 1,000 - 7,000 words. >Greentexts and doorstoppers should apply elsewhere!
    • Keep it to two genres maximum. For the roundup, fics will be grouped by their primary genre.

    When you finish working on your fic, use this form to submit it to the Training Grounds. However, we will require much of the same information as if you were submitting a regular fic as follows, and this document explains what these requirements are.

    1. Story title
    2. Author name
    3. Story description (~1 paragraph maximum)
    4. Word count
    5. Genre tags (2 tags maximum)
    6. Character tags (3 tags maximum)
    7. Story URL (must be hosted on FimFiction, GDocs, dA, etc.)
    8. Email address

    The deadline for submission is Thursday, February 20, 11:59 PM PST.

    As always, please continue to leave us feedback with what works well for these events, what's not working well, your general satisfaction with these, etc. etc. and so on. Now get writing!



    With the largest and most varied set of writing panels and events of any MLP fan convention – boasting 12 writing panels and events during our 2013 convention alone – Everfree Northwest is fast becoming a literary hub on the convention circuit. Already EFNW 2014 is shaping up to be just as exciting if not more so for both writers and readers, with more panels and events currently in development than ever!

    Thus is it our pleasure to announce Everfree Northwest’s first pre-con writing contest! The second in our series of contests, this time we’re looking to showcase the amazing writing talents of the My Little Pony community.

    The contest shall be run through the Everfree Northwest FIMFiction group, moderated by the Everfree Northwest FIMFiction account.

    Theme:
    Show an established My Little Pony villain (e.g. Chrysalis, Sombra, Gilda, Diamond Tiara, etc.) or rival (e.g. Trixie, Lightning Dust, etc.) either being redeemed or showing them in a positive light. This reflects Everfree Northwest’s 2014 convention theme “Villains, Rivals… Friends?”

    How to enter:
    Publish your story to FIMFiction or as a Google Doc and send a link to either the Everfree Northwest contest email at contest@everfreenw.com or by sending a personal message to the Everfree Northwest FIMFiction account. Please include your name (actual and/or fanon) and the name of your contest entry in your submission message.

    Prizes:
    1st – Inclusion of full story in convention conbook, printed compilation book composed of the three winning contest entries with art from the Everfree Northwest Design team, 1st place sew-on patch, messenger bag, and EFNW 2012 con exclusive Fluttershy foil card.

    2nd – Inclusion of a brief story description in the convention conbook, printed compilation book composed of the three winning contest entries with art from the Everfree Northwest Design team, 2nd place sew-on patch, and messenger bag.

    3rd – Inclusion of a brief story description in the convention conbook, printed compilation book composed of the three winning contest entries with art from the Everfree Northwest Design team, 3rd place sew-on patch

    Community Choice – Community Choice patch

    Word Limit:
    1000-3000 words

    Duration:
    The Everfree Northwest writing contest will accept entries from 12:00am PST on February 7th until 11:59 pm PST on March 2nd. Contest winners will be announced after a period of 2-4 weeks.

    Judging:
    A panel of Everfree Northwest judges from the writing events team, with guest judge Pen Stroke (author of such stories as Past Sins), will review and rate each story. Ratings will be compiled and averaged to determine winners. During the judging process the community will be invited to vote on their favorite story with a poll, the victor of which will win the Community Choice award.

    Contest Rules:
    1) All entries must adhere to a PG rating. Submissions using elements that could reasonably be considered above a PG rating, including but not limited to adult activity, intense violence, drug use, or material that violates the rights of a third party, will be ineligible for the contest. If you are unsure if your story meets these guidelines and wish to ask, please contact us at contest@everfreenw.com.
    2) Submissions must follow the contest theme in some manner and be relevant to the convention’s My Little Pony theme. Any entries that do not meet these requirements will be ineligible.
    3) Stories must be an original work by the author and have not been released prior to the start of the contest. Entries, once finished, can immediately be published.
    4) Contestants may submit a maximum of two (2) stories for consideration. If more than two (2) stories are submitted, the submitter will be asked to select which entries they wish to enter into the contest. If the submitter cannot be reached in time for judging, the two (2) most recent entries will be used.
    5) Contestants may only win once. If both entries are up for prizes, the contestant will win the higher of the two prizes. For example, if an author wins both first (1st) and third (3rd) place, they will receive the first (1st) place prize and the fourth (4th) place runner-up will receive the third (3rd) place prize.
    6) Winners will be selected based on prose, creativity, originality, use of theme, and grammar.
    7) Submissions must be send either to the Everfree Northwest contest email at contest@everfreenw.com or sent as a private message to the Everfree Northwest FIMFiction account.
    8) Any interpretation and application of rules from Everfree Northwest’s panel of judges and its ruling on contest winners are final.
    9) Submitters retain all proper ownership of their submissions. By entering the contest the author agrees to allow Everfree Northwest to share their stories on our website, social media, conbook, and/or for use in promotions.
    10) Everfree Northwest will cover shipping of contest prizes within the United States. International shipping will not be covered.