Notice: This is a subset of an event. More information on the topic below.
Welcome to the second contest for the Dragon Head Event.
This time, I’m holding a writing contest. So the type of this event will obviously be Writing.
I’ve always wanted to hold a writing contest, but I had no rewards for it. A ticket for the event seems more than reasonable as it’s a very valuable possession you can have, so I will make that the reward of this one, obviously.
What do we write about?
I will allow you to write about anything, with one small restriction: It must be a poem. Poetry seems hard at first, but is definitely not if you give it some thought. Metaphors are not hard to create and any sort of twisting with words is welcome.
Rules [VERY IMPORTANT]
- Strictly no plagiarism, obviously. And if I catch any of it, you not only will be disqualified from this event, but from the entire Dragon Head Event. So no, don’t do that.
- Writing must strictly be in English. It’s kind of obvious, but I have to state it anyway. As much as I’d love to know all languages you all speak, I unfortunately don’t.
- Interpretation MUST be added on a separate text. This doesn’t need to be big, just a small explanation of what you did with the poem, especially for unclear bits. This is just so it’s easier to understand what you wrote if you go too abstract (which is totally fine).
- One entry per person. No exceptions.
- Editing is fine, as long as it’s before the due date. You won’t be disqualified if you edit your poem after it, but I will not count the most recent edit, but the previous one.
- Rhyming is not mandatory, but is encouraged. I’m totally fine with poems that have no rhymes in them, but if you rhyme, you’ll definitely give it some rhythm, which is essential.
- Don’t write nonsense. This is exactly why the interpretation part is important. Finding random words that rhyme just for those extra points is counted as cheating. However, if you find a clever meaning to the word which blends into the context, that’s perfectly fine (and pretty nice).
- Grammar errors aren’t forbidden, but are penalised. Your quality score will decrease 5% everytime a grammar error is spotted, and if you exceed 6 grammar errors, 10% of your total score will be taken per error. Negative scores don’t exist, so if you really exceed this number, you’ll unfortunately be scored 0. I recommend using grammar verification when writing your poem. If English isn’t your first language, I understand your position very well, but it’s no excuse to not using a simple grammar verifier if you’re not entirely sure about your writing. As for other errors, such as punctuation or other less severe errors, these will also take score from quality, but in a reduced amount, depending on the severity of the error.
- You may swear, but don’t use slurs or inappropriate content. It’s fine if you use swear words to express yourself, but flooding your poem with it is a bit discouraged. Finally, use of slurs will not be tolerated, and is against Mythic’s rules, just like anything inappropriate. Action will be taken against your account.
How you will be evaluated:
Score is given exclusively by me, but to keep this as fair as possible, I may ask for opinions of other staff members, and not only that, there will be strict criteria being followed:
- 40% go for originality. This is important, and finding a combination of verses that make your poem unique is very valuable.
- 30% for quality. Quality sounds subjective, but isn’t. This is the most generalistic score, which would often be the most valued, but exactly for the fact I want to make this as fair as possible, I’m keeping it low. This means how “good” your poem sounds, when it comes to how “likeable” it is when it comes to its theme and what point you make out of it.
- 20% will be for structure. This sub-divides into:
– 5% - Verse length. This means making not too long, not too short verses.
– 5% - Uniformity. This isn’t about whether your poem is irregular or not. That won’t influence the score directly, but the rhythm may be compromised if you don’t handle it well. Uniformity is about keeping your verse lengths similar per strophe.
– 10% - Rhythm. I don’t score rhyming, but it’s one of the best tools for this. What can sometimes compromise rhythm too is leaving sentences unfinished on some verses and finishing them on the next one. Sometimes this works, but sometimes it doesn’t. That compromises nothing but this parameter. - 10% go for use of figures of speech. Examples are alliteration, metaphors, paradoxes, personifications, irony, and many many more. Google is your friend. If you use these and they become too abstract, use your interpretation text.
I will not score the interpretation text at all. Grammar errors there won’t count, but at least keep it clear. If it lacks too much information, your quality score will be compromised.
How to submit:
It’s very simple. Just reply to this topic with the following format:
**Title:** <your poem's title>
**Submission**:
<submission goes here>
**Interpretation text**: <explain your poem here>
On a final note…
I’m not any sort of specialist on English literature, nor am I a professional writer, so don’t expect me to act like one. I’m doing my best here to be objective with any submissions you guys add here, but don’t expect perfect scoring either. If I have doubts, other staff will help me, so that should be settled.
If you find scores unfair, you can try reaching out to me, but I’ll have to keep this here as a warning: All scores are final unless a mistake happened, this being with the attributed score value. Don’t compare your submission with other submissions.
Due date: April the 30th of 2022, at 23:59 (11:59 PM) GMT+1.
Good luck and have fun!
