Nanomancer creative writing competition - building a legend on Steem / Results
Nanomancer
First allow me to say that I could not have asked for a more marvelous collection of entries to this competition. I was absolutely thrilled to read all the incredible additions to the Nanomancer's world and to witness it's growth in vibrancy and depth through your words. I wanted to write so much more in the comments I left in your entry posts but felt that it was important for me to remain relatively neutral until the end of the competition. You all did the most fantastic job and unquestionably nailed the brief! :)
Many of you expressed interest in developing your characters and story elements further and if so inspired, you should go right ahead! If you add to your Nanomancer work, just remember to include Nanomancer in your post headings and in the tags so we can all find it!
Naturally, given the format of this undertaking, we will all have a slightly different take on Gethyra and it's inhabitants. To my mind, this is one of the wonderful features of our collaboration. Anyone contributing to this adventure should go ahead and harvest whatever makes sense or inspires them from what has already been produced and merge it with any new piece. In order to retain some cohesion I think the most important aid will be a chronology of key events to act as the spine for any future contributions. I intend to submit another post where we can hopefully all contribute towards the formation of these key events. What would also help is a list of key names, places and objects. I'm thinking of offering a bounty for anyone who can produce and post such a list.
The next competition will be both for artwork and creative writing. Keep an eye out for the announcement post that will be coming soon!
**NEW ADDITION - The Dragons
The majestic Dragons were the oldest of Gethyra's inhabitants and were not in fact native to Gethyra. Eons ago that had fled a cataclysm on the world from which they had originated, coming as refugees to Gethyra after a long search for their new home. They had chosen Gethyra specifically because of their affinity with the energy field that pervaded the entire system and it's similarity with that of their original home.
The Dragons were capable of changing form to the extent that they could literally merge with the land and appear as almost any being or living creature. No Dragon had been seen on Gethyra for a thousand years even before the coming of The Nanomancer. Given their strength, the remaining free races sought desperately for them, hoping to harness their extraordinary power and influence, to hopefully turn the tide against their nemesis.
Creative Writing Results
Winner - @nexusfyre
Place - @generikat
https://steemit.com/nanomancer/@generikat/nanomancer-creative-writing-competition-entry
Place - @horrorguyian
https://steemit.com/nanomancer/@horrorguyian/nanomancer-creative-writing-competition-entry-mined
Place - @bex-dk
Remaining highly worthy entries
https://steemit.com/nanomancer/@gmuxx/nanomancer-creative-writing-competition-entry-troll-tears
https://steemit.com/nanomancer/@rhondak/nanomancer-creative-writing-competition-entry-amalynde
https://steemit.com/nanomancer/@miniature-tiger/nanomancer-creative-writing-competition-entry
Feedback
I've decided in this case to keep the feedback general. The truth is, I found it extremely difficult to judge the entries because they all added so much and every single one was a pleasure to read and inspired my imagination. I loved the new creatures and characters that were introduced and in every case, I wanted to hear more about them and more of the thread being explored.
Those that were awarded prizes, I've done so on my best interpretation of quality but I felt I was splitting hairs. Nonetheless, congratulations to the winner and the runner ups! From my subjective position, your stories best captured the horror of a world in the throes of a desperate and unrelenting struggle against corruption and dominion, exemplified by the often brutal merger of nature with technology. The ideas around identity and control, beauty and function are more relevant today than ever before. It was fascinating to read the beginnings of how you might address these issues within the world of Gethyra.
In future, I hope to incorporate a panel of judges for competitions to enable a richer set of perspectives and minimise the potential for subjective bias. More on that later.
Once again, thank you so much for taking part. I couldn't have hoped for a better response.
Happy Steeming
Congratulations @nexusfyre and to all those who took part and most especially to @benjojo for this great contest here..keep it up.
Thank you so much @charles1. Yes the real winner here is @benjojo for his real world building skills!
I agree. @benjojo is the Champ.... Feel free to see my latest post on our addiction issue .
More success to you and keep up the good work
This was, in my opinion, the toughest fiction contest on Steemit so far. Any author that received any mention should take that as a badge of honor. Heartiest congratulations to @nexusfyre and all the rest (special shout out to my @bex-dk). Well done, people!
That means a lot to me @cristof. Thank you so much for the time and energy that you have put into the Fiction Workshop as well!
It is, sincerely, my pleasure. And that's a good story. You deserve the win.
Congratulations @nexusfyre! And also to everyone who took part. Some really enjoyable reads here!
Thank you @miniature-tiger . I loved your piece as well, especially the mirror-fish. Very cool idea!
I am positively humbled to have my work chosen for your inspiring world you have built @benjojo. Thank you so much for providing us the opportunity to be a small part of it. It would have been very difficult for me to choose any specfic entry, all of them opened new windows into a fascinating world. I enjoyed them all. Congratulations to all of you involved!
I want to make sure that I thank everyone at the Fiction Workshop on MSP Discord chat. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart! It is only due to their ceaseless efforts that I am becoming to understand my own writing ability. Special mention goes out to @rhondak, @carolkean, @bex-dk, @gmuxx for helping polish my work and myself. I want to especially thank @sandzat for bringing this contest to my eyes.
I am so looking forward to what the future brings for steemit, the Fiction Workshop, @sft, and the @minnowsupport project. If anyone has the least bit interest in improving their writing ability, I encourage all of you to check out the Fiction Workshop on Discord Chat. I will include a link below. I can't even say enough good things about @rhondak and @carolkean and all the other amazing people who make the FW so successful! Here is the link to join the real world builders:
https://discord.gg/XHc9GKa
You can find more here as well : http://www.mspfictionworkshop.com/
Another wonderful tool the Fiction Workshop has added is the ability for steemit writers to host their work all in one place. http://www.steemshelves.com/ is a professionally run site run by @rhondak that promotes authors and their work. To find out more, visit us at the Fiction Workshop.
Once again, a hearty thanks to everyone involved! Because of all of you, a passion is waking within me that I have not felt in many years.
So let's get to it, LET'S BUILD WORLDS!
My congratulations to @nexusfyre and the other placing entries. I certainly did not envy @benjojo the choices he had to make here. I am honored to have placed at all. My applause to ALL who entered.
Thank you @bex-dk. You are absolutely correct, It would have been very difficult for me to choose among such amazing entries as well. You entry was a blast @bex-dk ! I would love to hear more about Gryllus!
Congratulations all!
Loved your window into troll society @gmuxx! Thank you for everything you do over at MSP and the Fiction Workshop!
Wonderful post @benjojo ...blessings
Rooting for next competition :)
interesting your post...i like it,,thank you for sharing , good luck for you.
Congratulations to @nexusfyre and everybody else, especially @bex-dk. I'm so thrilled for you! You people are amazing to be able to write like this! And @benjojo, it is wonderful of you to hold such a contest! :)
Thank you so much @sandzat! If it weren't for you bringing this contest to me, I would never have had this wonderful opportunity. You are the example of all that I enjoy in the steemit community! Thank you for being you! Cheers!