FFF September 2007 Writing Competition

My Character Profiles · September 6, 2007, 2:29 AM

FFF September 2007 Writing Competition

Overview
This month’s writing competition will comprise of a 1-3 page composition of any scene, stage, or chapter from any one Final Fantasy game. You’ll be given 3 weeks to compose “the perfect scene” in narrative form. That’s right. It’s your job to narrate your favorite scene in Final Fantasy history! There will be a one page minimum, three page maximum limitation on your submission, so be careful to stay within your boundaries! The narrative may be written in your choice of either first or third person perspective; past, or present tense allowed.

Synopsis
**Write a 1-3 page narrative account portraying your favorite scene in FF history.
**May be written in first or third person perspective.
**May be written in past or present tense.
**3 weeks in total will be allotted to turn in your submission.
**The deadline for submission is on Sunday, September 30th.
**Opening date for submissions is Sunday, September 9th.

Format
**Please use 12point font when working on your narrative so that your submission is roughly the same size on your writing document as it is on the forums.
**Write your work in paragraph form; single or double space; nothing more, nothing less.

Competition Rules
**Obviously, plagiarism is out of the question. You are allowed to use actual in game scripts in your narrative, however, if it is discovered that you plagiarized any other portion of your submission, you will be penalized, and eliminated from the competition.

**I would like to encourage you not to post your work elsewhere or share your narrative with the other members before the competition begins; it just sort of ruins the anticipation.

**You may work with other members on your narrative piece; e.g. brainstorm and come up with new ideas.
You may not allow another member to work on your narrative for you; or vice versa. Don't do someone else's work for them!

Questions, Comments?

-------Example Submission:-------

Just to help you all have a better understanding of how your submissions should look, I cooked up a little example submission for you all just this afternoon. Be sure to mention at the top of your submission which game, and which event you'll be presenting.
This example submission was written in 12 point Times New Roman font on Microsoft Word. Roughly 2 and 1/4 pages long.

Game: Final Fantasy IX
Event: The party arrives at Madain Sairi

The group had finally made their way through the mountain pass and onto a vast new terrain. The atmosphere was hot, and the land completely deserted. Zidane, the leader of the group, had taken the first step as usual, and the others followed his lead shortly after.
He was accompanied by several others in fact. There was Miss Dagger…the innocent and pure maiden princess of Alexandria. Oh what a site for sore eyes she was! Then there was young master Vivi, the shy, modest little magician with a timid voice and shoes that were just way too big for his feet. You couldn’t help but notice those shoes…way too big. Next, there was “Rusty”. Rusty’s name was actually Steiner; Captain Adelbert Steiner in fact. He was princess Dagger’s body guard and personal friend; a real nuisance when it came to flirting it up with the princess though. Last but not least, was Freya; an old personal friend of Zidane. She was quite a reserved woman moreover, but she had a strong voice and an even stronger opinion on most matters.

Just as they proceeded through the narrow pathway, a familiar sound struck everyone as a pleasant surprise. “Kupo!” It was small white moogle with a bouncy little red pom pom on his head. “Kupo?” Another appeared to the rear. “Kup-ooo”. Then another, and another, and another…Then to everyone’s astonishment, a little purple head popped up from behind a rock; it wasn’t a moogle’s head though, it was a girl.
She was probably about six years old or so, based upon her height, her silly girlish style, and her sharp tongue. “This is my home; what are you doing here?!” She placed her hands on her hips and gave the group a cheeky glare.
“Hey…you look familiar”, Zidane said. He leaned down and took a good look at the girl’s face, and stroked his chin in curiosity. “I know! You’re that clumsy little monster that we saved on the mountain path!” He snapped his fingers and nodded his head. “That’s right…” As a matter of fact, it was the same girl that they had seen on the mountain pass. That mysterious little girl who could summon Eidolons just as princess Dagger could.
The little girl stomped her foot on the ground and her face turned red. “I’m no monster, I’m Eiko! And next time, you better not leave me behind like that!”
Zidane shook his head after seeing her rude show of sarcasm, then he turned around and looked back at everyone. He gave himself a quick tentative scratch on the back of the head, then smiled a crooked smile and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” She said. “Follow me!”

The girl paid extra close attention to Zidane; extra special attention in fact. She even led him by the hand, and jerked on his arm on several occasions to point out a few different (boring) pieces of scenery. Eventually, she led the group through the passage and into what appeared to be a small, deserted town; a deserted wasteland of a town. It was actually rather tidy considering that they’d seen nothing but a few moogles since they arrived. Maybe it was a moogle town? Zidane folded his arms and pondered. What an odd little town it was, he thought to himself. He was interrupted shortly after by Eiko’s distinctive voice. “Oh Zidane! Come sit over here with me!” She jerked him by the hand and led him over towards a dusty bench. “H-hey!” he shouted.
“Oh, tell me more about yourself Zidane! Tell me!”
“I want to know more about you too, Eiko.” He made a familiar head-scratching gesture as he spoke.
“Really!?” She blabbered.
“For instance”, he said, “the Eidolon-”
“Where are you from?” She interrupted. “How old are you? What do you do? Where are you going?”
“ No, what I wanna know is-”
“What kind of foods do you like? What kind of eidolons do you like? What type of moogles do you like? What type of girls do you like?”
Zidane took a quick peek over at Dagger to see what she was up to. He saw her leaning against a wall with her arms crossed; she was obviously in deep thought. “Hey, don’t be jealous!” He shouted. She rolled her eyes and walked off.

The sun was finally starting to set, casting a scarlet radiance onto the town. Dagger rested on another bench, just south of from where Zidane and Eiko sat; still talking. She sighed and twiddled her fingers together while she thought to herself. “A village of summoners...” She thought. “I read about them in a book once... A tribe that possesses the power to call forth eidolons... Eidolons... Knowing that I had eidolons inside me didn't bring me any joy. Mother imprisoned me... used the eidolons she stole from me as tools of war. I thought I would kill my eidolons if Kuja was going to use them for war...But now that they're gone... I feel like I've lost a piece of myself...Why am I thinking all this now...? It must be the location. This place feels so familiar to me somehow...” She stood up from the bench and proceeded to walk deeper into the town.

Zidane finally managed to break free from Eiko’s inexhaustible chatting. It was already almost dark out. He peered off into the distance; just a little bit of crimson hue remained in the sky. He caught a quick glimpse of rippling water near the base of the town. “Must be a lake”, he thought. Just as he turned around and started walking towards the center of the town, he heard the sweet sound of a lullaby; a familiar song that was being sung by a familiar voice. “Dagger…” he said.
He turned back around and proceeded along a crumbled stairway towards the edge of town. Before long, he took note of a small dark cove. That’s where the voice was coming from. As he approached, he saw dagger’s evident silhouette. The song suddenly stopped. She was sitting by herself on a small boat, rocking gently back and forth on the water. As she lifted her head up, there was no mistaking the heartbreaking shimmer of tears rolling down her face. “Zidane…” She said in a quiet voice.
He shook his head “It's okay. Keep singing. 'Cause it's our song, right?”
He hopped over onto one of the piers and hung his legs over the water.
“I'm surprised you found this place.” He said. “You got the talent to be a bandit! How 'bout you and me team up? We'll call ourselves 'The Betrothed.'”
“My talents up to snuff…” She said with a quick, timid smile. “But that name certainly isn’t.”
He rested his elbow on his knee, then leaned his head against his hand. “You’re really something these days.” He said.
“If I am, I must've gotten it from you.” She dropped her head down in what seemed to be a state of sorrow. “Without you, I couldn't have made it to Lindblum, much less seen a whole new continent. Everything I tried to do on my own was a total failure. I couldn't stop my mother... At times I almost lost hope...You helped me so much....I hope I can live up to the hopes of everyone who has helped me.”
Zidane stood up and quickly hopped into the boat with her. “You don't have to feel so responsible, Dagger.”
“But I do!” She raised her hands in order to stress her words. “I don’t want to let anyone down! “Look at how far you’ve all come with me; Steiner, Vivi, Freya, and…you.” She seemed nervous to be expressing herself so openly; her hands were trembling.
“Nobody wants you to feel that way.” He reached out and took her by the hand. “Every one has their own path to follow. We all have our own reasons for being here.”
“And what about you?” she asked. “Why did you come with me?”
He took her other hand and held them together with his. “I came with you…because…”

THE END!

September 6, 2007, 2:31 AM

So glad that the competition pulled through. And I approve of the topic as a good way to start off.

My Character Profiles · September 6, 2007, 2:32 AM

Wanted to start off with a topic that everyone here will love! ^.^

September 6, 2007, 6:21 AM

Writing competition? Winz. If I got the time, count me in.

September 6, 2007, 6:36 AM

Questions:

I don't plan to finish at exactly one page or exactly three, but for anybody who cuts it close, exactly what are you defining as "one to three pages" in terms of format? (margins, font, etc.)

How many submissions allowed per person? If a person in involved in a group submission, may that person be able to submit another work that he/she did as a solo effort, or as a work done with a differing group?

How will the works be judged? What will be taken into account and what will weigh more? Or will it just depend on the judges' overall rating of the work? (I suggest a board of panels with one vote per judge, as well as a general member poll which will count as one vote)

Also, for people who might post their work elsewhere, I suggest some kind of mention of this forum or for those running the competition to instate some kind of identifying key phrase to put into an author's note to prove it's not plagiarism.

My Character Profiles · September 6, 2007, 7:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eisprinz

Questions:

I don't plan to finish at exactly one page or exactly three, but for anybody who cuts it close, exactly what are you defining as "one to three pages" in terms of format? (margins, font, etc.)

You can type it up in your own style. Don't do anything more than a double space between paragraphs. 12 point font; just to ensure that it's the same size on the forums as it is on your computer. =]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eisprinz

How many submissions allowed per person? If a person in involved in a group submission, may that person be able to submit another work that he/she did as a solo effort, or as a work done with a differing group?

By group work, I mean, feel free to stick your heads together and come up with ideas. Just don't literally do the work for someone else. =]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eisprinz

How will the works be judged? What will be taken into account and what will weigh more? Or will it just depend on the judges' overall rating of the work? (I suggest a board of panels with one vote per judge, as well as a general member poll which will count as one vote)

This has yet to be determined. I'm actually just getting the show on the road. You guys will be given the option to have a panel of judges or a full forum vote.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eisprinz

Also, for people who might post their work elsewhere, I suggest some kind of mention of this forum or for those running the competition to instate some kind of identifying key phrase to put into an author's note to prove it's not plagiarism.

I'll add this to the first post. I think it would be alright to post your work elsewhere...it just ruins the fun if everyone sees it before the competition begins. ^.^

September 6, 2007, 12:10 PM

Question!

Are we required to write about the main series only or can we write about a scene in a Final Fantasy-related game (saaay...FFTactics, the Chocobo series, Kingdom Hearts, etc.)?

I'm sure there are others who are wondering about that as well.

My Character Profiles · September 6, 2007, 4:59 PM

As long as it carries the FF title!
Kingdom hearts is perfectly legitimate too! ^.^