My guess is your entries dried up after people witnessed how the winnings were being divvied up. We read our competitors and can see there is inconsistency or poor ability to discern good writing from bad writing. For me, your decisions made me lose trust in this as an authentic contest.
I'm not bitter.
Ok, so no disrespect to the winners, but I went through the entries in the i>play contests – All four of them. Of course, judging is a subjective activity and isn't always easy, but here are my opinions on the entries:
Week 4. COST OF FAME. The winners were: Iamthegray, tabithaa, rosyblessing
Tabithaa: This was a flat conversation, and even though it was short, had no dramatic tension or interesting parts.
Rosyblessing: A weak story featuring possibly the most spineless woman of all time. There is no dramatic tension, just the whinging of a girl whose boyfriend has dumped her.
Iamthegray: Great play. Nice characters, good build up of tension. But, the entry arrived past the deadline which should automatically void the submission.
My winners for Week 4 would've been:
@seesladen – great tension, comedy and irony; sticks with the theme. Grammar, spelling, formatting all good.
@intheory – What a great story! Atmosphere, builds superb tension with light humour, great use of repetition as rhetorical device. Sweet ending. Sticks with the theme. The grammar needs tidying up but it shines.
@ulqu3 – Wonderful, rich, filled with realistic characters. Poetic. Lots of interesting twists. Sticks with theme. Grammar, spelling, formatting all good.
Week 3. The winners were: dejojennifa, feebie, iamthegray
I agree with this week's results. You had hardly any entries.
Week 2. ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY. The winners were: ladybirdd, dejojennifa, darlingtoncj
Ladybirdd: funny anecdote, realistic dialogue, kept my interest throughout. Keeps with theme. Good stuff.
Darlingtoncj: Saying the theme doesn't make it the theme. The grammar, spelling and story was weak.
Dejojennifa: predictable but sticks with theme. Spelling needs tidying.
My winners for Week 2 would've been:
@ladybirdd (we agree on this one)
@oduwole – excellent wordsmithery, interesting use of character names, story builds, perfect grammar, spelling. Sticks with the theme. A great piece of writing.
@nicktravers – funny, interesting twist on the theme. Good story. Great grammar, spelling.
Week 1. CRIME OF A FRIEND. The winners were: iamthegray, youngboss, dejojennifa
Iamthegray – funny story using characters and voices 'inspired' by my entry. It was good writing. This won over mine. I'm not bitter o-0
youngboss – very poor grammar, spelling, formatting. Very hard to read and understand. This won over mine. I'm not bitter o-0
dejojennifa – poor spelling, punctuation, grammar. Confusion of too many characters. Unbelievable storyline. Goes from one winning the lottery to another suggesting they kill him. Nobody objects! Such an unbelievable scenario. This won over mine. I'm not bitter o-0
My winners for Week 1 would've been between these people (hard to choose):
@hope-k – how did this not win? Amazing, gripping tale from start to finish. Rich and deep, meaningful, dark. Perfectly fit the theme. Grammar, spelling, formatting – perfect. It was awesome.
@Sonofsatoshi – this was hilarious! It was unique, fit the theme, inventive and clever. Perfect spelling, grammar and formatting. Great twist on the theme. Loved it!
@blessedben – this was a gripping and interesting story, well paced, fit perfectly with the theme. Good grammar, spelling, etc.
@loresb – fascinating tale of the hitman, in keeping with the theme. The grammar's a bit dodgy but the story overrides that.
@joelgonz1982 – true recounting of the conversation between a murderer and his friend. Horrific but fascinating stuff.
And ME obviously :P
There, for what it's worth, is my opinion on the competition so far.
First of all, we are here to support each other, you little hater, and second if you are such a great judge, you should start a challenge with your own money. I can bet that people will disagree with your chosen winners!
It is not about the prizes in those challenges, it more important that people engage each other and support themselfs.
Don't waste your time searching for what is good or not and start helping others! Have a great time!
I observed this contest for three weeks before entering. I kept saving the contest posts as bookmarks each week without mustering up enough motivation to write an entry... So now, after i did, i have a few words to say too...
@the-future...
With all due respect, @anjkara is no hater. I'm a Nigerian myself, and i have a feeling too that something is fishy... I entered for week 4, and i just went back to reread the entries... Like @anjkara said, it made me want to cut off my hands and stop writing altogether.
No disrespect to the authors, but those were bullshit writings, i dare anyone to go read them and contradict me (you inclusive, go read again)...Perhaps you're unaware, but I'll tell you, the only work among the round 4 winning entries that was worth anything is that of @iamthegray. When the results were announced, i only read his, because he came first. I felt it was fair, afterall judging is a matter of perspective. Now however, after reading the second and third place entries (week 4 only), i truly understand @anjkara.
Please, do look things over, and make sure the wonderful brainstorming you all did back then to birth this awesome contest is not made pointless.
Thanks,
#SladenSpeaks ...
Plus here's my entry for week 4 too. Just in case you want to read.
You also owe me an upvote as well, as was promised to all entries. About 15 hours is left to make that right at least...
Thanks Sladen. I'm glad you read the 'winners' in the week you entered and could see what I saw. I'm not going insane then :P It just seems wrong to have great writing overlooked in such an obvious way.
Cheers
Don't forget to look at my genuine entry for the contest. I think I should win. I now identify as Nigerian.
I'm no hater... I sniffed out a scam.
I do run my own contests with my own money. So far, nobody's disagreed with my choices. Why? Because I'm fair. Nobody's ever won 3 out of 4 of my comps (twice).
Yes, and look how the engagement has dropped off in this contest. People aren't stupid. They flock to genuine contests and avoid circle-jerk scams.
I help plenty. I've helped people see this contest for what it is... that is, if they're still looking at it.
Have a nice day.
Thank you for recognizing my work, @anjkara. I, too, have nothing against anyone. But what has kept me undecided to send another entry to this contest again after week 1 is that, I think my writing style is not what the judges are looking for. I was not expecting anything but looking at the results, I just thought I cannot make the same kind of creative stories. I'll definitely try joining this contest again once I find time.
Thank you to @jochi and @the-future for making this contest possible.
Thanks for your opinion I appreciate. I believe if your entry impresses the Judge, he(she) you definitely pick you as a winner and you will have a chance to become a Judge too for the #iPlay. @anjkara