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brigits_flame

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brigits_flame's Journal

Created on 2008-03-18 13:55:14 (#15177820), last updated 2009-07-09

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Basic Info

Name:	Creativity makes you grow
Location:	United States
Membership:	Open
Posting Access:	Select Members, Moderated
Description:	A competition-based writing community that focuses on members improving as writers.

About

Welcome to Brigit's Flame, a competitive writing community. We were started in March of 2008 as an attempt to create a writing competition that would both encourage writers to grow and keep drama to a minimum while still allowing merit-based voting. Anyone who would like to is welcome to join the community, whether it's for the regular competition or for any of the other community activities - simply read the information below, and then any questions you may have can be directed to the moderators. Also, be sure to check out our web site for peripheral community stuff like artwork and the community's FAQ. Thanks!

Banner courtesy of

musicrocks987, winner of the July 2008 banner contest
More great community artwork can be found on our website!

Jump to Section...

How the Game Works
Guidelines for Contestant Behavior
Moderation Policies and Consequences for Rule-Breaking
Winning the Contest and Awards
Past Winners
Main Contest
Mini Contest
Quarterly Awards
Art Contests
Affiliates

Have a question not answered below? Check the FAQs! Coming soon.

How the Game Works

The main competition runs on a four-week schedule, starting as close as possible to the first Monday of each month:

Near the end of each month, a moderator will post the Signups, where you will be able to state your intent to play the following month. For instance, in the last week of November, the moderators will put up a post where you'll be able to sign up for December's contest.
Weekly topics are usually posted on Fridays, but may sometimes be posted as late as Monday. Entries will be due the following Friday at 12:00 (noon) EST.
Voting will open a couple hours after the submission deadline and stays open until the following Monday at 12:00 (noon) EST. Each week, the competitors who receive the most votes (roughly half of total eligible) will be advanced to the next round; on the fourth and final week of each month, the entry with the most votes is declared the winner for the month.

Please note: Only community members can vote in the weekly polls, but membership is open. You may use a writing journal when posting your entries, but please inform the moderators of your regular username in connection to the name of the writing journal to avoid confusion. Each submission must be written for the contest; you may not submit an archived piece.

Guidelines for Contestant Behavior

For the most part, members are expected to be responsible for their own behavior, and moderators should not have to step in very often, if at all, in an official capacity. To help members police themselves, there are a few general guidelines to consider:

Take critiques with dignity, and if you do not want editing help, simply let the commenter know. On the other side of the coin, not everyone wants detailed critiques, so be respectful of individual journal rules. Remember, if you don't like an entry, you don't have to vote for it!
Outright rudeness will not be tolerated; refrain from personal attacks. For example, "I disagree with your statement, and this why..." is more polite than "You would have to be an idiot to believe what you are spewing." This is subjective, so moderators will only step in if it gets out of hand.
Asking for votes is acceptable; actively discouraging people from voting for someone else is not. "Vote for me and not Contestant Y!" may result in being banned.
Do not make dummy accounts to boost votes. First offense is a one-month suspension, second is banning.
Adult themes are fine, but they should be labeled NSFW (Not Safe For Work) when applicable.
If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please talk to a moderator (send a comment, private message, or email) and give them at least 12 hours to respond. Drama-filled rant-fests are almost always completely avoidable in this manner.

Post about illegal activity at your own risk. This community is not a "safe space" for confessing horrible things - if you post claiming to have murdered someone, don't be surprised if the police are forwarded your entry. If you wouldn't shout it on the street, a public community may not be the best place, either.

Moderation Policies and Consequences for Rule-Breaking

Moderation is a last resort for extreme behavior. For the most part, the community will be self-policing - having 50 people tell you how out of line you are is generally more effective than an official warning and is the natural consequence of saying something dumb. The rules exist mainly so there is no confusion when a mod does step in to officially correct something. However, there are a few things you can expect from the moderators:

Moderators are free to submit entries and vote, as they are also members of the community, but they will not influence the vote. That means there will be no recommended reading list, no pimping of a particular author or entry, and no telling anyone how to vote.
All rule changes will be made between contests and posted publicly at least once.
Consequences will generally be administered in the following way: warning(s), suspension from competition, removal from the community, and banning from the community. Only in cases of extreme rule breaking will milder consequences be bypassed, and moderators will provide an explanation of their choice upon request should this happen.

This contest is run as transparently as possible. Game rules are as consistent, fair, and easily accessable as possible. They won't always be perfect, and misunderstandings will happen, but moderators will listen to and carefully consider any concerns on the subject, so be sure to speak up!

Winning the Contest and Awards

If you win the month, your name will put on the profile page and in the sidebar of the community as well as being announced to the whole community when the poll is closed and votes counted.

There are also quarterly awards, which are done on a nomination-voting basis. Awards are for Most Improved, Best Editor, Best Feedback, and Member's Choice. Again, the names of the winners go on the profile page.

Remember, the biggest prize in this community is the satisfaction of a job well done. This should not be 'life or death'; after all, you can always re-enter next month or submit Just-For-Fun entries. Relax - this is supposed to be fun!

Past Winners

Main Contest

June 2009 -

awkward_ostrich
May 2009 -

firesign10
April 2009 -

kuhori_rei
March 2009 -

mullvaney
February 2009 -

kuhori_rei
January 2009 -

tierfal
December 2008 -

insolentscrawl
November 2008 -

13_stories
October 2008 -

cutecrazyice
September 2008 -

firesign10 - First two-time winner!
August 2008 -

firesign10
July 2008 -

the_panic_light
June 2008 -

bwh
May 2008 -

classiquekandhi

Mini Contest

Congratulations to

kithlyara for winning the July Mini Contest, and many thanks to

elektrofonic for the musical score and to

musicrocks987 for the background image!

Quarterly Awards

October-January 2008/09
Most Improved:

tierfal
Best Editor:

bwh
Best Feedback:

cedarwolfsinger
Member's Choice:

cedarwolfsinger

June-September 2008
Best Editor:

lacombe
Best Feedback:

mermaidbia
Member's Choice:

blackbird_xiii

Art Contests

Check out our community website for all of our great icons and banners! Here's a small sampling:

Affiliates

allyear_sprints
A fun community dedicated to organizing 10, 15, 20, and sometimes even 30 minute sprints via an AIM chat room format. Weekly writing prompts and really nice people!
creationmadness
A community set up for daily posting of user-created art, fiction, and other content.
the_hot_chicks
A community of thirtysomething plus women writers, dedicated to the discussion and support of writing as well as personal improvement as authors.
linebyline
A community dedicated to "writing inspiration and community participation". Their goal is to see just how many different ways a single line, phrase, sentence, or title can go through creativity and writing.
midnite_oil
A random postings and prompt community for those of us who stay up late.
WeBook.com
A great place for new authors to get their work published. It has a community feel to it with reviews and a democratic voting system.
whattheprompts
This community is meant to offer writing prompts that make you say, "What the hell?" I can't promise the prompts will leave you momentarily nonplussed, but that's the goal: you have to make sense of crazy prompts. Why? Writing prompts tend to be pretty boring. "Leadership," "loss," & "luck" are just plain boring.