Star Wars Fanon:Short Story Contest/Summer 2011

Well folks, it is time once again for the third annual (if not entirely consistent with scheduling) Star Wars Fanon Short Story Contest! Hosted by yours truly, the contest hopefully will spark more interest in fan fiction writing and possibly get more stories to featured work status. So, without further ado, get out a pen and paper (that's the archaic form of a word processing program for you younguns out there) and let's get this show on the road!

Rules
Yes, rules. They're short and easy to follow, though. If you have any questions, though, don't hesitate to ask!
 * Length: Entries must be between 2,500 and 26,000 words. This allows for the possibility of shorter short stories, as well as decent-sized novellas. However, the novellas must not be longer than 26,000 words. Just remember, though, quantity does not necessarily dictate quality, so there is no need to pad your story just to make it longer than it needs to be. There are plenty of great shorter stories and plenty of awful longer stories out there that prove this (I rest my case). Additionally, only complete stories will be accepted, meaning that stories that are not yet finished are not eligible for this contest.
 * Nominations: You can nominate your own story. You can also nominate other users' stories. You cannot, however, vote for your own story once voting begins. If you nominate another user's story and they want it taken down, that is their right to do so. Additionally, the winning works from the last contest may not be re-nominated in the categories for which they won. However, if you had written a new story for those categories, you may nominate it.
 * Multiple entries: You can nominate as many stories you want for as many categories you want. If you nominate a story in a category that it does not belong in, it will be moved by the contest's host (yours truly) to the appropriate category.
 * Content: All stories must comply with the content policy. Stories that do not will be removed and an administrator will review the story.
 * Medium: Only textual narratives will be accepted, so no comics, photonovels, videos, video games, etc. Narrative texts can be in article sub-page form ( Story's name/Chapter 1, per the Manual of Style), .PDF file form, etc. Stories must be hosted on Star Wars Fanon (no external linking).
 * Voting: Once voting begins, you may only vote once per category. You may not vote for your own story. You can, however, vote for your own nomination, provided that you are not the author of the nominee. All relevant matters of the voting policy apply.

Prizes
Like the last contest, special userboxes and talk page templates will be created so you can show off how super duper awesome you are to all of your friends!!! (Three exclamation points mean it's even more awesome!)

Additionally, if an Archivist reads your work and enjoys it, there is always the possibility that they might nominate it for featured work status (or convince you to do so, if you have not already by the time you nominate it for this contest). Yet another stroke for your ego, and we all enjoy a good ego-stroking!

Schedule
The nomination period will last from 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time on July 10th to August 21st, giving you just over six (6) weeks to write your story (if you have not already written one). At the end of the nomination process, the host (with input from the Archivists) will decide whether a category with less than three (3) nominees will remain or be merged with another category. Categories with only one nominee will be automatically merged with the most applicable category. There will be no winning by default.

Voting will run from 12am Eastern Standard Time on August 22st to 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time on September 5th. At that point, the voting will be closed and the stories with the most votes in each category will be declared the winners. Good luck to all nominees!

Nominations
Now for the fun part... nominating the stories! As with the last contests, be sure to nominate in the following format: #Story's title by Story's author

Best Short Story
This category is for the best overall short story. Awards will be given for the first (1st) and second (2nd) place stories in this category, unless only two (2) stories are nominated.

Best Pre-Movie Era Story
This category is for any story set before 50 BBY.

Best Movie Era Story
This category is for any story from 50 BBY to 5 ABY.

Best Post-Movie Era Story
This category is for any story after 5 ABY.

Best Action
If the story is action-oriented, it gets nominated here.

Best Drama
This category is a broad classification for any story that is dramatic. Subcategories such as angst, hurt/comfort, and the like would go here.

Best Mystery
If mysterious happenings, whodunits, and howdunits are at the forefront of your story, nominate it here.

Best Other Story
This category is for any story that does not fit into any of the aforementioned genre categories (action, drama, mystery). You may nominate in this category only if the story does not fit into another category.

Discussion
Please be sure to keep the conversation civil! And for the record, no, I'm not adding in a "hurt/comfort" category.  Trak Nar  Ramble on 04:57, July 6, 2011 (UTC)

Category:Star Wars Fanon:Short Story Contest