The I am... Challenge - Contest No. 2!

EDIT 6/6/14 - DECISION

The results of the poll (featured below) are in, and the contest will be judged as outlined below. Nothing else within the contest rules changes, so please pay attention to all of the rules before you submit an entry. Not long to go! Get your entries in by the 21st of June!! Good luck!! Happy writing!!

EDIT 27/4/14 - IMPORTANT - MUST READ

I have received several comments regarding the 'drawing names out of a hat' process of deciding winners for this contest. Originally, I had decided to stick to the original idea of not judging the pieces, that it is what you are saying that is more important not how you say it. Regardless of what ends up happening, that will always be the case for this contest.

However, I created this group to be a community of writers. This group is about you guys, the members. And so I cannot ignore your comments about disliking the 'drawing names out of a hat' process. Instead, I have decided to leave it up to you guys. There are two options (if you have no opinion, do not vote on the poll), both of which I will explain here, that you can vote on in THIS POLL. But before you follow the link, please read the following information:

A) Random draw
My reasons for originally choosing this are outlined below so I feel that it's pointless to reiterate it up here.

Whilst I am for this option, I am also in favour of option B. Hence why I'm doing this. I understand both sides of the argument, and, basically, agree with both. So it's up to you guys to decide because I honestly do not mind either way. This is your contest, so you have the final word.

B) Judge of best entries
If you choose for the entries to be judged, then this is my usual way of doing that (and how I did it for our previous contest). I will read all the entries and (provided we receive 20 or more) shortlist it to 10 entries (with the help of my co-founder if needed), which I will put into a poll on my profile (as this group isn't a super group the poll will have to go through my page). Then it will be up to you guys to decide the five places - the major winners (first, second, third) and minor winners (fourth and fifth). According to the vote, the best entries will be decided.

DO NOT comment your vote below (by all means comment your opinion) because it will be hard for me to keep track of people's votes that way. Please vote on THIS POLL.

The majority rules. I will make the final decision in two weeks on the 11th May so you have until then to vote and share your opinion! After that date, I will edit the contest rules accordingly.

Thank you and keep submitting those entries!

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Hello all 2,104 beautiful members of We-Write-To-Escape!

It has come time for our second contest!! Who's excited??  

It has been a long time since our last contest, and not too long ago I decided that it was about time, with ten times the number of members than we had back then (crazy, right?), to run another contest. But this one is a little different. Guess I should get onto telling you all about that shouldn't I...

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Introducing...

                        The "I am..." Challenge


"Who you are is what you are and what you are is beautiful."
_{~from Lying to the Mirror by Gabrielle Aplin}

There are many things that make me think in this world, and one of the biggest things that has been nagging at me recently is how hard it seems to be in our society today to stand up for who you are, and be happy about it. I believe that everyone should have the strength, and the opportunity, to stand up and say that this is who I am, and I am proud of it.

"There will always be a part of me that is dirty and sloppy, but I like that, just like all the other parts of myself. I can forgive. Can you say the same for yourself?"
_{~Tiffany to Pat in Silver Linings Playbook}

So this is my challenge to you. I want you to write something beginning with the words "I am..." and describing who YOU are. You can focus on one aspect of who you are, or write about every little part. You can use metaphors and similes to convey it, or you can just be straightforward and say it. You can write prose, poetry, any form of literature (as long as it's original). Use your words, and tell us who YOU are.

I live in amongst people who are not afraid to be themselves. Their flaws, strengths, weaknesses...they have accepted all of the parts of themselves. And they have done that because they are surrounded by people who are open and willing to accept them for who they ARE and not who they want them to be.

I strongly believe that everyone is beautiful in their own way. We need to own that. I want this group to be accepting, open and friendly. I want this group - a haven of sorts, a place for escape - to celebrate the identities of each and every individual member. Because we are all wonderful, beautiful human beings with one thing in common - we all love to WRITE. And through our words we could change the world.

"It is the beauty of our flaws that will define us,
So don't hold on to all the things you never had,
Just remember we're the good the bad the lovely,
It is the sanity of life that makes us mad."
_{~from Lying to the Mirror by Gabrielle Aplin}

It is not an easy task to open up about who you are, and you can reveal as little or as much as you want to. You could write an acrostic using your name, a haiku or about a memory from your childhood. Write something short, long or in between. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Who you are. What makes you YOU. I will be writing my own "I am..." piece in the next few days and submitting it to the folder (my entry does not count, however - I will not be in the running to win any prizes) so feel free to read it if you're not sure what to do. But this is a piece about YOU, so write it in your style, how you want.

The aim of this contest isn't the quality of the writing, but rather what you're writing about - essentially to accept who you are - so while it is important to write the best you can at the time, don't stress. All entrants (who have submitted an eligible entry) will be put into a hat (well, your usernames written on a slip of paper, not you ) and in order from first place through to fifth the winners will be randomly selected (I have chosen five winners because five is my favourite and lucky number). I will read every entry, and comment on every entry, but I will not be judging what you have written. This is designed to be a platform for you to express who you are, and I feel like it would be against the point of the challenge for me to judge the deviations. If you disagree, I apologise, but like I said, the point of this challenge isn't to produce the best writing. It is what you are saying that is more important, not how you say it.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Like all contests, this one must have rules. I have explained the majority of it above, but I will reiterate that plus the finer details in bullet point form so you have a quick point of reference for future. So without further ado...

"I am..." Challenge Rules - MUST READ

Finish Date: 21st of June. That is exactly two months away. As we are all in different time zones, I will draw the winners on the 25th of June, giving everyone PLENTY of time to have their entries submitted by 11:59pm on the 21st of June in their country. I will not be super strict on the timing, so don't worry too much. But please get your entries in on time to make things fair and easy. As the challenge progresses, I recieve feedback from you guys, and the entries come in, I may decide to extend the finish date. If I do change it, I will notify everyone with plenty of time.

Where to submit: 'The "I am..." Challenge Contest Entries' Gallery Folder All entries must be submitted to this folder in the group's gallery by the finish date to be eligible. If there are any issues, please note me (imperfect-parachute) or the group and we will help you as soon as possible.

What to write: An eligible entry will adhere to all of these points
                       i. Your entry must be literature (NO fanfiction and it should NOT be fiction as this is supposed to be about YOU)
                       ii. It must be an original piece - NO PLAGIARISM
                       iii. It must be a new deviation written especially for this challenge.
                       iv. It should start with "I am" and tell us who YOU are, giving as much or as little detail as you wish to disclose.
                       v. You can focus on one aspect of who you are, or everything, or several important things. It is up to you.
                       vi. There is no word limit, so feel free to write as much or as little as you want.
                       vii. In your artist's comments please include the group's name/icon, the name of the contest and a LINK to THIS JOURNAL ENTRY
                       viii. If you use a lot of metaphors/symbolism/personal anecdotes or jokes etc, please describe what you were saying in your piece in your artist's comments to help us understand better.

How Many Entries: ONE entry per person If at some stage within the time frame you write another piece and would like to exchange your current piece with that one, just note the group or me and we will remove your existing deviation from the folder so you can submit a new one.

How Many Winners Will There Be: First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth

How Will the Winners Be Selected: Random selection The usernames of all entrants will be placed into a hat and, in order from first through to fifth, the winners will be randomly drawn. I will have someone with me when I do this to verify that I do not cheat (which I would never do, but just to be sure there are no controversies).

Prizes: To see the current prize pool and to donate prizes yourself (you can still participate if you donate prizes) please see this journal: Challenge/Contest thing coming up soonHi all
I hope all of you are well and making the most of life.
I just wanted to announce that the challenge will be up by the 18th of April hopefully. It's just that I have just come into mid-semester assessment at uni at the moment and I can't spare enough time to write up the thorough challenge journal yet. The mid-semester break starts on Good Friday, the 18th, so I am hoping to get the journal done then before I have to continue work on two big assignments due at the same time for two different subjects.
As much as I love dA and this group, I'm paying a ridiculous amount of money to study and I need to put life before my duties on here for the next fortnight. I hope the wait just makes you enjoy the challenge more!
Now, as you know, for this challenge to be as amazing as I want it to be, we need some epic prizes for the five winners, who will be randomly drawn from a hat and recorded in order. Like usual, there will be three major winners, and two minor winners. You will und

You MUST be a member of We-Write-To-Escape to participate in this contest! Please feel free to join! All writers are welcome!! The more the merrier!

                                                                                                                                                                                           

That is all for now!!

I apologise for the length of this journal, but I wanted to make sure I had all bases covered. Even still, I may not have answered everything, so please feel free to comment or note me or the group with any questions or queries you may have!

A few more quotes to finish this off...

“The first question she was asked was What do you do? as if that were enough to define you. Nobody ever asked you who you really were, because that changed. You might be a judge or a mother or a dreamer. You might be a loner or a visionary or a pessimist. You might be the victim, and you might be the bully. You could be the parent, and also the child. You might wound one day and heal the next.”
_{~ Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes}

"People are who they are and, try as you might, you cannot make them be what you want them to be.”
_{~ Leila Sales, This Song Will Save Your Life}

Happy writing!!

Your founder,
Ash -imperfect-parachute