Stepping down
This is my official announcement that tomorrow (Sept 18) I am stepping down from my position as co-admin of SFF and SF3.
I am not completely leaving – I just feel like it’s time to hand over my responsibilities to people with more time and energy for leadership than me. Next Wednesday, I’ll be starting my senior year of college, and I expect my homework and classes to take up a lot more of my time. I’ll still come on here when I can, to post stories and bother people with my weird ships; I just won’t be able to offer administratorly guidance or technical help anymore. For that, you’ll have to ask Swenson or the rest of the awesome moderating staff.
You’ve all been great to work with, and I hope to keep seeing you guys when I’m just a plain old member. :)
--QueenMindi
by QueenMindi on 18/09/09 - 02:34 am
4 Comments
And the Winner Is...
It's time for the news you've all been waiting for. After deliberation by the moderating staff, the winner of the Back to School Contest has at last been chosen. Your winner is
echo_sackett's Blonde and Purple, a story portraying the relationship between Angela and Elva! As the contest winner, echo_sackett will receive a lovely banner for her forum profile and her story will be featured next week.
Our runner-up was helvengurl's (Im)Proper, an Angela story that brought tear-inducing laughter to most of the staff.
Congratulations to our winners and thanks to all who participated! I can't wait until the next contest is up and running.
by Alzyran on 06/09/09 - 09:55 pm
6 Comments
Back to School Contest is Now Closed!
Well, after three weeks of great writing and new beginnings, the time has come to officially close the Back to School Contest. Subsequent chapters of unfinished stories should be submitted to General Fictions - Inheritance Fiction, as the Back to School Category is now locked.
Thanks to all who submitted a story and to all who faithfully reviewed those stories. Your participation made this all worthwhile.
Now just sit back and before you know it, we'll be announcing the winner!
by Alzyran on 05/09/09 - 04:04 am
0 Comments
Congratulations to Our New Validated Authors!
The latest round of Validated authors are in- and this time, we've got six new ones, our largest batch yet. Congratulations to Murtaghrider, Saphira and Shruikan, Jarla, Lya, Princess Sierra, and echo_sackett!
For those who submitted last-minute applications, don't worry if you don't see your name here and haven't gotten a letter yet- we have gotten your applications, but we haven't finished looking them over yet. And for those who missed the opportunity this time around, don't worry! We'll have another round of applications available soon. Get working on your stories if you want to apply!
by swenson on 03/09/09 - 01:27 pm
4 Comments
Back to School Contest Closes Soon!
Hey guys, I've just been reading through the submissions for the Back to School Contest, and let me tell you, there's been some really awesome stuff posted thus far. I'm excited to see some good participation in this activity, especially so close to the start of the academic year (for those of us in the U.S.).I just wanted to throw up a quick reminder to any of you still interested in submitting an entry, or those of you with incompleted stories, that the deadline for submissions is 12:00 AM EST on Saturday, 9/5/2009. After that, any submissions to the Challenge: Back to School category will be ineligible for the contest judging.
Again, thanks for all of your participation in this contest and around SFF and SF3. Without you, we'd have a much less interesting site!
by Alzyran on 02/09/09 - 08:29 pm
0 Comments
New Contest: Back to School!
For most of us here at SFF, the end of August brings to mind one thing: School. From just outside of middle schools to the hallowed halls of universities all over the world, we're gearing up to return to the daily grind of the twin wheels of our education and training for the future stages of life. Our earliest memories and our immediate struggles often return to the theme of school. Sometimes it feels as though someone has pushed the "Pause" button on life and we're missing something really important while teachers are catching us up on something we aren't all that interested in to begin with.
Education is also a vital theme in the Inheritance Cycle, taking up entire chapters of Eragon's journey and pages in other chapters where he learns important snatches of information in unusual ways. But what happens behind the scenes when all this learning is going on? What's really going on in the characters' heads while tons of obscure facts are getting dumped on their heads? And, perhaps most important, what in the world is going on in the real world while key characters are back in "school"?
To kick off the beginning of what is sure to be a great school year, we invite you to explore the background of Alagaesia's education scenes. Tell us a story about what happened during Eragon's training during Eldest, which is the most "school-heavy" of the Inheritance books. Take us inside a character's head whose perspective seems missing while Paolini was writing about such things as the secret life of ants. Give us some action, romance, comedy, or conflict that took place during the missing months.
Story Requirements
1. Your story must be from 1-5 chapters long, with at least 500 words per chapter.
2. Your story must take place during the timeframe of Eldest, as stated above, but doesn't necessarily need to follow Paolini's storyline.
3. Your story must be from the perspective of A) any Inheritance character but Eragon or B) an original character.
4. Your story must include education as a major theme/plot point. Be creative.
5. You will need to write a new story for this contest. Resubmitting an old one won't count.
The contest will run from 12:00 AM EST August 15, 2009 to 12:00 AM EST September 5, 2009.
Have a great school year and happy writing!
by Alzyran on 15/08/09 - 12:56 am
11 Comments
Validated Apps Accepted!
We're now accepting more applications to the validated category! Being validated means that not only do you get a special category for your stories, but you also get to skip the queue and have your stories posted right away. For more information on how to apply, go here.
by QueenMindi on 02/08/09 - 07:20 pm
8 Comments
SFF Adventure Gangs Now Open!
For those of you who have been keeping up with the Shur'tugal Fan Fiction Adventure, the gangs are now open! If you have completed Challenge 4, you are eligible to join one of the four gangs: the Brawlers, the Council, the Lurkers, or the Rogues. Each gang has a unique style and goal, so be sure to carefully choose which one to join. For more information about gangs (and for joining up), visit the forums here .
For those of you who have not yet entered the SFF Adventure, why not sign up today? The Adventure is a combination roleplaying and text adventure that follows the troubles of the people of Narda, driven from their home by the evil Rider Lord Iris. Participants in the Adventure create a character and, through many writing challenges and other tasks, guide their way through the unfolding world and story. To begin, all you need to do is go over to the Character board on the forums and create a character of your very own! (And don't worry about signing up for the forums- if you already have an SFF account, you automatically have a forums account.)
by swenson on 24/06/09 - 11:53 am
4 Comments
New Validated Authors
Congratulations to the following new Validated Authors:
Ceranthor
Wutus
EmeraldDragonRider
ColumbiaPhoenix
They will now be posting in the Validated category and can skip the queue!
Want to be Validated? Or wanted to apply this time but weren't sure if you were ready yet? There will be another opportunity to apply about a month from now, so in the meantime, here's the list of things to do to prepare to apply.
—Not enough chapters? Keep posting!
—Grammar isn’t so great? “Hire” a beta reader and make them double check your stories. Edit old stories to fix past mistakes.
—Remember: you can ask your beta to help you with plot and characterization too!
—Show what an awesome user you are by reading and reviewing on SFF and participating helpfully in SF3 discussions.
by QueenMindi on 08/06/09 - 12:18 am
14 Comments
Plagiarism
Picture this: You had an idea. A seriously amazing, AWESOME idea. You start daydreaming, then doodling, then outlining. Finally, you have the guts to start a writing your story. A few sentences becomes a page and then a chapter. Your characters come to life before you and suddenly you realize that you've created something all your own. You want to share your story with your friends, and hope to find a few new readers who will help you get better and enjoy your work along with you.
Exciting, isn't it?
Now, try this image: You're online, still excited about your story. You decide to google it, or look for other stories like it. Suddenly, the search page comes up and you see your story. It's on the wrong website. It's by the wrong author. Someone stole your work and claimed it as your own - all your ideas, all your hard work.
Not so exciting, huh?
Recently, the SFF moderators have been contacted about a user doing exactly this: stealing stories and posting them, word for word, as her own. For anyone who's read the site rules or simply written their own story and been afraid of plagiarism, you KNOW this is not cool. SFF is a site where we can enjoy stories based on the Inheritance series and even a few original works too. It's a place for authors to grow and be encouraged and get better. But this is not going to happen if their work is being stolen. Not only is this simply wrong, but they are missing out on a chance to improve their craft or find people to share in the excitement of writing.
This is a VERY serious offense. Anyone who thinks they can get away with this needs to know that your entire account - even if every other story is something you've written - will be deleted and you will be permanently banned from the site. The moderating staff has zero tolerance for plagiarists and we will not hesitate to kick you off if you're caught.
If you're concerned that your story may fall under this category - PLEASE review the rules, especially these points:
- Stealing another fan's work in it's entirety (whole chapters, scenes, stories, etc... this INCLUDES edited stories with different character names or only slightly adjusted facts)
- Do NOT post stories you did not write - this means you can NOT post stories for friends
- Borrowing any small elements of another fan's work (ie a specific plot point or a character) may be done but only with specific permission from the original author and a clear reference to their story
In the mean time: if you see anything that looks suspicious or if you catch anyone plagiarising, notify the moderators immediately! Unfortunately, we have missed this once before and it can certainly happen again even if we are on the lookout for this. And if we can help it, we want to make sure it is not the author themselves who has to step forward and provide proof of their own hard work. There is nothing acceptable about that.
Thank you for your cooperation!
by Dragonknighttara on 02/06/09 - 01:38 am
7 Comments
The Review Challenge
On a fanfiction site such as this one, stories and authors are obviously quite important. However, there is another element to this site that sometimes gets overlooked- reviews. Anyone with an account can leave a review and rating after each chapter on the site, allowing you to post your thoughts and reflections on the chapter directly to the author. Reviews can help motivate writers, improve their writing skills, and even improve your own writing, as they encourage you to look closely at the mechanics of writing. Despite the many benefits of reviewing, many people do not. To encourage more people to do so, PhoenixRider will be starting the Review Challenge.
The premise of the Review Challenge is simple: for 10 days, review as many chapters and stories as possible. At the end of the 10 days, PhoenixRider will look through the reviews and determine who was the best participant. He will not only be judging on the number of reviews left, but also on their quality. Points will be awarded to each review left, and the person deemed the best will recieve recognition on both the forums and here on SF3- and a nice banner to display online!
You can find out more about the Challenge or join up on the forums (at http://fanfiction.shurtugal.com/smf/index.php?topic=3032 ) or by private messaging PhoenixRider through the forums. And remember- if you review, you may get a few in return!
by swenson on 28/05/09 - 06:49 pm
12 Comments
The Admin
I’m going to get this over with and say it quickly. I am resigning from SFF/SF3 leadership. I no longer have the time or passion to dedicate to this site and you all deserve better than that. So, with that being said, I will miss terrorizing you guys. I’ll still be around, just not as often.Now for the good news, Swenson will be replacing me as co-admin. I know she’ll do a great job and give that time in passion that I no longer posses.
Anyway, goodbye. If you all want to stay in contact with me you can feel free to add me as a Facebook friend or IM me..
Have a great life guys and good luck.
Dragonflame_05
AIM: Thewolfgirl005
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1223137280&ref=profile
by Dragonflame_05 on 12/05/09 - 02:07 am
4 Comments
Monthly Writing Prompts
Since the SFF Adventure is a little slow lately, we are starting up fanfiction challenges again... well, sort of.These challenges DO NOT have prizes or special categories. They're simply prompts that will make you think--the challenge is to use them in the most creative way possible, and to show off your skillz to fellow fanfic readers/writers.
To participate in the challenge, simply write a story that follows the guidelines, and somewhere in the summary, add: "Written for the May 2009 SF3 Writing Prompt" or something similar. Optional: seek out others' entries and drop them a review. (Who knows, they might return the favor!)
If you have challenge ideas you'd like me to use, PM them to me (I will credit you for the idea if I use them).
Have fun!
May 2009 SF3 Writing Prompt:
Write a one-shot of at least 500 words that includes ALL FOUR of the following:
-a nice Urgal
-one of Solembum's or Angela's prophecies coming true
-the line "Eragon shouted and jumped forward just as--"
-a reference to Greek mythology
by QueenMindi on 07/05/09 - 09:55 pm
7 Comments