CONTEST for Minnows– Suggest the Moral and Title of my short story and win SBD
This contest is for readers and writers. The writer-reader relationship is the glue of literary works.
In Samuel Johnson's words — 'A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it'.
This contest is thus premised on building that relationship here on steemit as a way of fostering engagement, without which there can be no true community.
What do i write about? In a word, "reflections"
I like to think of my writings as ‘reflections’, in the sense that I use them to drum fate!
When I write, it is to capture an essence and give it form, shape. If I am not capturing real life situations and giving them meaning, I am capturing meaning and bringing it out in real life situations. In my writings, I reflect on what I believe others are thinking, feeling.
I reflect on the events of the day, and to them, give larger existential significance and meaning.
What this means is that in each of my writings, is always to be found a moral.
Brief on the contest
Brief on the contest
Every week, I will be running a short story. I will publish it after every 24 hours in short chapters. Each of these chapters will be titled.
Following and reading through the preceding chapters, should enable you to know what the story is generally all about.
There are two categories of the contest (You can only participate in one) and the contest closes in 72 hours after the feature post (like this one) is published.
Category (A)
- Suggest the overall title for the story.
Of course each chapter will have a heading, but the complete story must have a title. One thing I am sure is that you will need to read all the chapters to finally zero down on the most suitable title. So just reading one chapter will not get you anywhere near, trust me!
That in the end is a win - win for everyone, for me the writer, for you the reader, and for steemit the platform becasue it ensures real engagement. Above else, it ensures that no one can game this contest to take the reward without being genuinely involved.
Suffice to add that I would rather have few entrants who genuinely read and engage than hundreds who just second guess, in the hope to stumble on the prize!
Category (B)
- The moral of the story.
I plan to ensure that each individual chapter of the story has at least one moral. So your task is to suggest at least three (3) morals. Of these, two (2) will have to be taken from any of the chapters (there will always be a minimum of 3 chapters). The third will be the overall moral of the story as you see fit.
Prizes
What is the prize pool that you get to win?
Category A
Two (2) winners will be selected
Each will get 1SBD
Category B
Only one (I) winner will be selected
The selected winner will get 2 SBD
Auxiliary benefits
- 50% of this post rewards will be equally shared amongst all entrants
- I will upvote every comment entry 100%. You may check out its worth here! Lol. Small, right, but it is worth something.
- My friends (66 by the time of posting) and several other wonderful steemians just might upvote your comment, and follow you!
- You get to meet several other steemians and engage
Selection Criteria
For now, I am the sole judge, but hopefully as the contest grows, I will bring in more judges.
To participate
- You must have Reputation 25 – 48 (compulsory), for now.
- Choose only one category (either A or B and not both). Participating in both automatically disqualifies your entry
- Resteem this post to increase visibility so that many of our friends out there get the chance to win (compulsory)
- Join @asapers discord channel at - https://discord.gg/xnAEyGX and @newbieresteem -
discord at https://discord.gg/WdG3Xg (optional) - Upvote to increase post payout. The rewards as already explained will after all be shared among entrants (optional)
- Post your suggested title or moral (s) as a comment on this post (indicate chosen category as title of your comment. If you do category (b), make sure to indicate the chapter number against your suggested moral.
Now Today Feature story you read
Today's feature story has four chapters. If you have been following, then you are good to go, drop in your entry suggestions in the comments now
If You have not yet read, here are the links to the four chapters, or you may find them on my blog. Read through thoughtfully, and please enjoy. No need to hurry. You have 72 hours.
Chapter I - Yellow Horizons
Chapter II - And if a house be divided against itself
Chapter III - Choices
Chapter IV - The girl who said no
Finihsed reading. Category B
Chapter I – There is alsways something to appreciate everyday despite the problems we wake up with
Chapter II – (i) Unity and forgiveness should be the foundation of family life (and if a house is divided, it cannot (ii) time and attention to your children when they are still you
Chapter III – Dirt in the hands is better than dirt in the soul. It is better to have hands that are dirty from doing work such as garden work, than to do engage in actions that make our souls dirty. In the end, it is the soul that is judged, and not the body
Chapter IV – Persistence is finally rewarded. It is also advisable remain honorable than loyal
Always choose the honorable path in life. It pays off in the end.
Entry received, @eso.seo.
My best wishes
Here is my entry:
Category B (Moral lessons)
I: Look around - there is a glint of brightness in every gloomy situation.
III: Always take the honourable path.
Overall moral lesson: Winners are perseverers.
Thanks for your entry @boladayl. We'll have the winners in the next 48 hours. My best wishes.
Category A. Story Title is Courageous
My title therefore for the story is
Entry received. Thanks @steemvisions.
My best wishes.
I guess I'm in category B.
My first choice for a moral, is what we've already talked about - the one that really stood out for me. (From Chapters 3 & 4)
"dirt in the hands is better than dirt in the soul"
The other is
“And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Chapter 2.)
(Though, that should never be used as an excuse to tolerate abuse and violence.)
The overall moral lesson should read something like:
"Honor motivates integrity."
Thanks for your entry @viking-ventures.
You submitted the first entry of this contest which is my first ever contest as yet! For that you win a 0.25 SBD bonus point which i am sending straight away.
Congratulations for this first win.
And my best wishes for the final prize. I will announce the winners on Saturday.
Edit - There you have it!
Thank you! I really do appreciate it! (Especially as someone who rarely gets that much for a post, yet.)
It is well @viking-ventures. You showed the first enthusiasm, and dropped in your entry, giving the contest some traction.
knowing the challenge involved in this kind of initiative as i am still learning to swim in the waters, i had a reward fro this reserved. i didn't mention of it in the prizing plan, just to make sure it really went to some one truly deserving. And you do.
Edit - It is very small, i am afraid, but just know it carries my highest gratitude.
Just realized I haven't quite given an overall moral suggestion!
I guess it's something like:
Honor motivates integrity.
True. Kindly edit your entry comment to include this. thanks
Hi @mirrors, you have a detailed moral lesson already included in chapter 2?
I did it intentionally, just as one of the indicators that contestants actually read the story.
Clearly you have. And you are the first.
I am sending it to you wallet in a jiffy.
Congratulations
EDIT - There you have it!
Interesting! and thanks!
Actually, I had read the other 3 parts previously but skipped chapter 2. I had to re-read them for the sake of the contest.
The intention was exactly what you vindicated. I expect some people to try an d game the contest, say by reading the last chapter alone. That means they can not make the observation you did.
Unless they read all. I didn't say anything about this in the rules, but you obviously nailed. it. So much for being true! Thanks.
Great idea for a contest, @mirrors!
It’s about actual engagement and a good way to have people read your content. Thumbs up.
(I’m not 100% sure about the compulsory resteem, however. See how it goes, and then afterwards, try one without to see if it makes a difference.)
Yeah i couldn't agree more about the resteem. but its real nice and way to go. @simplymike
True. Lets see how this one goes. I should be able to learn from the experience. Thanks
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As always, the support is much appreciated. Very much!
You are cool. Thanks for sharing. I'm Oatmeal Joey Arnold. You can call me Joey.
Hello @joeyarnoldvin. Long time no hear! I think last time our paths crossed was in my introduction, if i remember well.
So much has changed since. But i am glad to heart from you again.
Mirrors
How are you? Yes, long time no see.
Nice contest Idea @mirrors, make sure you post it in the Self post promo box at newbieresteemday discord, when you make your decision, and I will come by and help with a vote to all the entries also. It won't be a big vote, 20% power about one to two cents depending on price of steem. I also just might visit some of the contestants pages and make a comment on a post of theirs, but no guarantees about that.
Thanks @bashadow for the support. My intention is just about to encourage as much engagement as possible. And for me that comes from showing genuine interest in someone's work.
I have, found that several of the blogs i have read, particularly in the genres of literary works (stories, poems....) and photography, are wanting in regard to engagement.
Notably, people don't read the whole work. The courteous ones, think of them as the 'smart' ones, all about leave generic remarks, picking out, and referencing a 'line'. Of course the not so smart leave 'nice, good, great....' comments, which obviously add no value, and confer no sense of engagement.
For lack of another way, or should i say, ignorance of a better way, to elicit the much needed engagement in literary works, that which gets people really first reading and then sharing their thoughts, i found running this such contest something worthwhile. You never know what it can start.
In deed, it is an idea, which if someone else, more reputable than i am, took up and ran, would really sell. And give leaps of engagement. As it is, i am not sure how much and how many will come in and give a shot, less because of the reward because after all it is 'small', but for the genuine desire to share in the life and experience of my fictional characters.
If my reputation and clout as yet does not allow me get this idea the much needed traction, i am hoping someone else capable of giving bigger incentive (people seem drawn by them), and/or a larger following, takes it up and runs it.
Actually i am shortly penning a post proposing an idea along this, which can be taken up collectively.
Otherwise thanks for the support on this one. Much appreciated.
I joined steemit because my wife said there were lots of writers and stories to read. i am a reader. For a little while I did a small steem mag on writers, I think 12 issues, I would search out steemit for four or five Authors to profile, I got up to about 38 Authors and then started doing a few other things. There was a slight whale tiff about writers on steemit, and that kind of spoilt it for a little bit, i still read and I have a lot of Authors that I can turn to and find a good story to read when I want. I still add to it every now and then. And there are a few readers, enough that we have favorite authors of the moment, some more than others. But they are all nice to their readers. But yes the engagement with the Authors seems to be lacking a little bit. many times I find myself the only commenter on a chapter or part of a story, but the Authors hang in there, and I hang there with them giving what little support I can. And back then my vote was less than a penny.
SO I will help with votes to your audience, and they may come back for the second and third contest if you continue them. Yeah its only a penny or a two cent vote, but it's still a penny, and they add up.
A vote is a vote @bashadow. They finally add up. True. And thanks again.