~Voting for Reader's Choice is open now through November 12th! Click here for more details~
This month, MoreThanThat is holding a Halloween writing competition. We are asking writers to submit their Halloween themed stories to MTT during the month of October. Then at the start of November, we will have a vote for the Reader's Choice and Moderator's Choice. In addition to internet praise and jellybeans, these two winners will also receive prizes for realsies!
What kind of stories can I enter?
- Your story should be at least 500 words long
- Your story should be new and never published
- Multi-chapter is ok but it needs to be completed and submitted by 11:59pm PDT on October 31
- Any genre and rating is allowed and can feature any Office character, it only needs to be Halloween themed. (though fair warning, we mods do love our JAM)
- And all stories should adhere to the regular MTT submission guidelines .
How Do I Enter My Story?
- If you don't already have an account on the MTT fanfic archive, sign up for one .
- Log in, go to My Account > Add New Story and submit your story. We ask that you state your entry is for the 2018 Halloween competition in the story summary to make sure it's categorized appropriately
- If you are a new writer, your story will be held for a quick review to make sure formatting is okay, as long as there are no major issues you should see your story published shortly.
- Once approved and published, a mod will add the entry to the Halloween 2018 Challenge.
The two winners will receive:
- One Office-themed enamel pin
- A photographic print of the winner's choice from our mod Ladama's RedBubble shop
- plus a special banner on their stories!
In addition, all participants will get a Jim/Pam card or sticker of their choice featuring Ladama's work and a participant banner on their entries.
*MoreThanThat reserves the right to modify prizes depending on response and interest
Are there guidelines for reviewing the contest entries?
Contest entries will be published and viewable to everyone as authors submit them, therefore readers *can* add reviews and leave jellybeans and we want readers to feel free to do so. However readers should not leave overly biased or campaign-like reviews on contest entries.
Kinds of Language that's fine on the contest entries:
- I really enjoyed this story!
- You're a great author!
- I liked how you did [x.y.z]
- If I could suggest anything it would be [kind, constructive criticism]
Bias/Campaigning Language that will be modified or deleted:
- This is hands down the BEST contest entry
- You have my vote for best entry, no question!
- Everyone better vote for you! If you don't win, something's wrong!
- This entry sucks but people are going to vote for it anyway (<---stuff like this we would consider harassing and would take disciplinary action against the member)Â
Contest FAQs
How will the winners be selected?
– We will have two winners, a reader’s choice and a moderator’s choice. Reader’s choice will be decided by a vote from registered readers (full voting details and voting forms will be posted on November 1), while the mods will deliberate among themselves on their choice.
Can I win both the Reader’s Choice and the Moderator’s Choice?
– Two different stories by two different writers will be selected.
Can I submit more than one story?
– You certainly can, but know that we are asking people to select their favorite story, not favorite writer, so you may end up splitting your own vote. Also an author can only win one prize, they cannot win both the Reader’s and Mod’s choices.
How "Halloweeny" does the story need to be?
– As little or as much as you want, Halloween or Halloween elements just needs to be worked in in some way. It can be an AU with some supernatural themes, it can be a full on suspense, or it can be just a regular day that happens to be Halloween (i.e. the Season 2 Halloween episode).
I have an old story that could fit this contest, can I submit that story?
– Stories should be new and never published to MTT or other fanfic sites.
My story is not quite 500 words long
– The 500 word minimum is more a guideline than a firm rule, what we most want from entries is for them to be well-written, so if they don’t quite clear the 500 word threshold, that’s okay, submit it anyway!
Is there a maximum word count limit on entries?
– We don't have a max word count, we want you to do your thing! That said, entries do need to be complete and submitted by the end of the month and when voting comes around we want our readers to be able to easily read all the entries to make an informed decision, so we suggest thinking more one-shot than novel.
Do I have to share my address with you to receive prizes?
– Yes, winners will need to provide an address for prizes to be sent to, and participants interested in receiving their small gift will also provide an address. We will not save addresses or use it for anything besides sending prizes.
Will you be able to send prizes to my country?
– This contest is open to any writer anywhere in the world and we are prepared to send prizes to a variety of countries. But if we are unable or if shipping is cost-prohibitive we will work with winners to find an equivalent arrangement.
Other Questions?
- If you still have questions, please contact us via the contact form, or email us at MTT.fanfic@gmail.com
--Admin Team on September 30, 2018 09:12 pm 2 Comments
WishYouWould tried out the Plot Generator I linked to and it gave her this masterpiece :
The Wind that Blew like Running SnakesA Short Story by WishYouWould
Jim Halpert looked at the heavy hay in his hands and felt hurt.
He walked over to the window and reflected on his dark surroundings. He had always loved creepy Corn Maze with its black, beautiful barn. It was a place that encouraged his tendency to feel hurt.
Then he saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the figure of Pam Beesly. Pam was a happy doll with brown arms and curvy eyelashes.
Jim gulped. He glanced at his own reflection. He was a funny, quirky, coffee drinker with slim arms and gangly eyelashes. His friends saw him as a spicy, short scarecrow. Once, he had even revived a dying, baby goat.
But not even a funny person who had once revived a dying, baby goat, was prepared for what Pam had in store today.
The wind blew like running snakes, making Jim lonely.
As Jim stepped outside and Pam came closer, he could see the vain glint in her eye.
Pam gazed with the affection of 90 lonely kooky kittens. She said, in hushed tones, "I love you and I want friendship."
Jim looked back, even more lonely and still fingering the heavy hay. "Pam, you’re such a dork," he replied.
They looked at each other with conflicted feelings, like two thoughtless, tame toads peeking at a very playful Halloween, which had creepy music playing in the background and two forlorn uncles calling to the beat.
Jim regarded Pam's brown arms and curvy eyelashes. "I feel the same way!" revealed Jim with a delighted grin.
Pam looked annoyed, her emotions blushing like a burnt, breakable blade.
Then Pam came inside for a nice cup of coffee.
THE END
Two weeks left in our Halloween contest! Hopefully you all are busy writing but if you're really stumped for ideas here are a few free prompts and ideas!
- Pick any of the Halloween Episodes/Segments and write about what happened after (or before), for example what was Poor Richard's like after Devon's firing, how did the rest of Pam's day go at corporate dressed as Charlie Chaplin/Hitler, how did Pam show her appreciation for Jim agreeing to be Popeye? (wink wink)
- Past or Future Halloweens: Choose some characters or pairings and write about Halloween before or after the cameras were there. What other no-effort costumes did Jim throw together? Or what borderline questions costumes had Michael donned? What's trick or Treating like with the kids?
- Couples Costume: Write some passages (short or long) about some character putting together couples costumes.
- Haunting of Schrute Farms: Dwight tries to bring in extra money by turning Schrute farms into a Halloween destination with corn mazes and haunted barns, what could go wrong? Get pre-relationship Pam and Jim lost in the corn maze, or make it so Dwight is dealing with an actual ghost.
- Haunted Warehouse: write some shenanigans in the DM warehouse at any point in the series (but maybe don't have it end with someone scaring children with a fake suicide like the cut Koi Pond scene)
- Jim the Vampire: Jim has an idea to take his vampire prank further. Bonus: Karen's not interested in participating anymore, but a familiar partner in crime steps up.
- Dwight the Vampire Slayer: maybe Jim is not the first or the last person Dwight thought was a vampire...
- Urban Legends come true: Spice it up with some of the supernatural, maybe a Dunder Mifflinite is or becomes and actual vampire/werewolf/etc. How does that play out?
- College/High School AU: hey can't go wrong with a Halloween themed School AU! What would the Dunder Mifflinites wear if they were teens today? What would happen if they ended up at a costume party and said party gets a little crazy?
And mostly just for fun but may be useful, here's a site with lots of plot generators that will also basically write paranormal romances for you (don't submit them word for word though, we'll know ;) )