- Posting Speed
- Multiple posts per week
- One post per week
- Slow As Molasses
- Writing Levels
- Adept
- Advanced
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Primarily Prefer Male
- Genres
- Slice-of-Life, Gothic, Horror, Fantasy
Hello lovers, it's me, ya ghoul!
Welcome to Iwaku's love-focused writing contest! I'm Wren, your host this year. Notice how I said love-focused and not romance-focused, as this contest (and Iwaku's Love Festival in general) is meant to honor every type of love, not just romantic love. Whether you love love or want to get better at writing it, I hope to see you try your hand in this contest!
To aid your writing and our later judging, we are going to give you a few themes. They are as follows:
- Forbidden
- Serendipity
- Partnership
You only need to incorporate one theme into your piece, but you are welcome to include multiple! Additionally, if you include an owl in your piece, you'll score special points with Owl Mom. Owl Mom Points will not earn you a higher ranking in this contest, but why not make her happy?
Submissions will be open January 1st to February 14th, closing at 11:59 PM CST, where they will then be posted publicly for the community to vote on. These votes will not determine the winners, but they will play a role in our judges' decisions.
Additionally, there will be a public reading of the pieces (with the author's consent) in the Iwaku Discord Server on February 17th starting at 3 PM CST. The final decision will be announced on February 29th.
The top three winners will receive prizes! This year, we are offering a $25 Etsy gift card, a custom profile ribbon for 3 months, a $15 Amazon gift card and Overcooked game code donated by @MiharuAya.
@Reina, @kroyote, and @wolf. have graciously volunteered their time to help me with the judging this year.
Feel free to ask any questions down below. Good luck to all of the entries!
- All submissions must be under 2000 words. Any submission longer than this will be automatically disqualified. Please note that if your entry is longer than 1000 words, it might not get read out over call due to how long it would take (it'll depend on how many submissions come in!)
- All submissions must follow Iwaku rules.
- The submission should, of course, be your own work and not anyone else's. Fanfiction is allowed, provided that you state what fandom the work is based on. However, just know that the judges who do not know this fandom might not understand your piece fully when voting!
- The submission should include at least one of the selected themes for the month.
- The submission cannot contain explicit content. Mentions of such things may occur, but you cannot submit full smut. If there is anything potentially triggering (e.g., self-harm, suicide, etc) in your piece, please leave a trigger warning tag at the beginning as well.
To submit a piece, please PM me and title the PM "ILC ENTRY" with this little form filled out to go with it!
Title of the Piece:
Word Count:
Chosen Theme(s):
Chosen Format: (short story, poetry, lyrics)
Remain anonymous?: Yes or No
Permission to read aloud during call?: Yes or No
Title of the Piece:
Word Count:
Chosen Theme(s):
Chosen Format: (short story, poetry, lyrics)
Remain anonymous?: Yes or No
Permission to read aloud during call?: Yes or No
We will be judging the pieces based on the incorporation of the chosen theme(s), the ease of reading, how complete the story is, and community vote. Grammar will not be a huge deciding factor in judging; we care more about the story you have to tell!
The prizes for winning can be transferred to someone else if you so choose, but you must tell any staff member that contacts you about winning before the prize is given.
The winners will receive a trophy and will also (with their permission) have their pieces placed in the ILC Showcasing thread!
The prizes for winning can be transferred to someone else if you so choose, but you must tell any staff member that contacts you about winning before the prize is given.
The winners will receive a trophy and will also (with their permission) have their pieces placed in the ILC Showcasing thread!
