Writing Contest

[ScottyDM]

Greetings!

I came from TF Seeker’s website, http://tfseeker.tfcentral.com/. An archive of TF and anthro links. Unfortunately, the site hasn't been updated since the 15th of never. I hope it is okay that I post my link here. It is mostly on topic with the subject of this site. Story Archive seemed the best place to post, but if it isn't...

Last spring Nadan (a.k.a. Anthony Tiger) started a writing contest he called the WatchingStone AnthroStory Contest. I missed the spring season, but participated in the summer and fall contests. It was great fun and I think it helped me as a writer. Nadan skipped the winter season and started the contest for the spring 2006 season. I’ve never written therian characters before, but I came up with an idea and I started doing research for a story about two classic Romanian werewolves: an American-born 20-something female and an 18-year old male who fled Romania after the murder of his parents. They meet in the dining room at Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone Park, where she is a waitress.

Then real life intervened and Nadan had to drop management of the contest. After a bit of soul searching, I took up the gauntlet and am now managing the contest. Except I had to rename it... and I had to create a new website for it... but it occupies the same space. I call the new contest: Anthrofiction Network’s Short Story Contest.

So much for the werewolves. I spent all my time lovingly crafting PHP scripts and learning new skills. After much slippage, and confused writers, I had enough of the site working to accept story submissions and announced the imminent close of the story acceptance period and the start of the judging period—and only 2 weeks late. I did give people another week or so to upload their stories, after all they had two months to write them. One author's hard drive ate his story, and a few other people simply wandered off into the woods to grab a quick bite and didn't get back in time to enter their stories—but I did get four entries, down a bit from the nine of the fall season.

The purpose a writer might enter the contest is to have fun, to get some feedback on his or her story, and to learn to become a better writer. In brief, the format is the short story (that is a story rather than a writing sample), 1000 to 3500 words, uses at least one anthropomorphic character in an important role, no stronger than a PG-13 rating, and follows the contest theme (with a new theme each season).

Besides the usual animal-human hybrids, anthropomorphic can include shape shifters, therians, and other morphs. Elves and the like are not really anthros, but if you want to write a story about a Central American green elf who transforms to/from her jaguar form—go for it! Also, a human who gender transforms doesn't qualify either, unless hir best friend happens to be a kilt-wearing Scottish badger with a love for the pipes—or something like that—and this character has an important role in the story. Or you could simply have the badger gender-transform and that would fix that problem. Remember, PG-13 or less. Oh, there is no specific rule against, but I’m not fond of fan-fics, so rewrite your "Harry Potter transforms into a dragon" story so it is less Potterish.

Right now, we are in the judging period for the spring crop of stories. Besides the four entries, Nadan has graciously lent his sample story Far from Home, as a sample story—he can't win, but you can leave feedback for him. The judging period will close after the June 20th, GMT. So come on by the site, read a few of the stories, score them, and just generally check out the place. Unfortunately, there are no transformation stories this season.

The summer contest season will start shortly after the close of the spring judging period. Which means, hopefully, the 21st, but maybe more realistically the 22nd of June. I will announce the summer theme at that time. Will we have a transformation story for the summer season?

The link (bet you were wondering): Anthrofiction Network. Be prepared for skunk butt.

Thanks.

Scotty

[VanMan]

I'm wondering if non-animal transformations are OK, like human to zentai-being.

[ScottyDM]

VanMan, do you mean this kind of zentai? If so, then would a "zentai-being" be someone who is this way naturally rather than putting on a suit?

Anthropomorphic means giving human characteristics to something that is not human. If you take a human then erase all his features and turn him blue, how is that different from having a featureless blue human? Now I like elves, but I don't feel elves are anthropomorphic. They are more human than humans, more noble, more beautiful, longer lived, etc. Likewise dwarves can be thought of as being an earthier, harder working version of a human. Maybe it's only a matter of degree.

When I read anthrofiction where the author has anthropomorphized an animal--and the story is written for grownups rather than for children--I want to get the feeling the character really is an animal, at least in part. How do they move? How do they react? What are their mannerisms? When a scene is written from that character's point of view then how do they think? How do they experience the world? It is very, very common for an author, even a highly respected author in amateur anthrofiction, to write "humans in fur coats". When this happens I feel the author has failed.

One of my characters is Milliscent, a female anthro-skunk. She's at a pic-nic eating her dinner from a plate and what does she do when she finishes? She picks up the plate in both paws and licks it clean. Likewise when she finishes eating yogurt, she licks out the little cup before throwing it in the trash. When out hiking with some human friends they roll over a log while treasure hunting. She pounces on the orange centipedes that scamper through the dirt and eats them. Sharing lunch with a ferret friend he gives her some mouse jerky, which she enjoys with a raw jalapeño pepper (natural skunks love chilies). And she shows her emotional state by the way she holds her tail: sad, normal, feeling good, alarmed, etc. (skunk ears are too short to be very emotive). So I've worked at making sure Milli does not seem like some human in a skunk suit. But the more I learn, the more I see how I could improve her characterization still further.

So if a zentai-being is literally a human in a zentai suit (in this case one that cannot be removed) then what is the point? I suppose if you must write zentai TF, do it and submit it to the contest. If you convince me you have anthropomorphized a spandex suit, rather than merely painted a human blue (or whatever color), I'll accept it. Be aware though that about half the scores come from the traditional furry fandom, so you'll probably collect a few 1s, even if your prose is heartachingly beautiful and your storytelling leaves us on the edges of our seats till the end.

But wait until you learn what the summer theme is before starting to write something.


What about non-animal anthros? Is Veggie Tales anthro? Yes it is. The furry crowd may not give a high score to a story with talking vegetables, but I'll accept it. What about talking kitchen appliances? Maybe... well, okay. They can be anthropomorphized and so I would accept such a story. I think that just about covers it: animal, vegetable, mineral.

How much or how little can you push it and still be anthro? Getting back to the example of animal based anthros, is Jack London's classic Call of the Wild anthrofiction? No. While the main character is a dog, the dog remains 100% dog. London never gives it human characteristics such as human-like thoughts or emotions. What about Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull? Yes. We get into the head of the main character and the author has given his seagull human-like thoughts and emotions, although everything else about the seagull is 100% natural bird.

At the other end of the spectrum, is the X-Man Wolverine an anthro? I don't know much about the X-Men, but what I know of Wolverine is that he is called "Wolverine", fights like a dervish, has cool sideburns, and awesome metallic claws come out of his hands. I say he's not an anthro. Part of it is the aesthetics of his humanity strongly overriding his "animal" nature--which is really more of a mutant nature. But technically he's a gulopomorph--"giving wolverine characteristics to a non-wolverine". The same might be said for Japanese cat-girls and similar characters.


Transformation Stories

... I started to write something here, but then realized it would make a terrific theme for a future contest season. Imagine that! Anthrofiction Network requiring authors include transformation in a story to qualify for entry. Weee! Ha!

Well, not for the summer season. The theme is set and I'm writing a sample story.

Scotty

[VanMan]

Here's the thing, I melded zentai suits to my protagonists' bodies, and combined the material to their DNA, so they're essentially living zentai suits. They also meet up with native zentai beings from another planet. I've written the story already, so I can send you the finished product if you wish.

[ScottyDM]

VanMan:

Would that be your Living Lycra story here at TF Central? Or did you have something else in mind?

If it's something else you could upload it to Anthrofiction Network. It won't be publically accessable unless I manually add it to the database--what you see is only a temporary page. You can reach the story upload function at any time, not just the story submission period, by entering the "test" contest.

http://www.anthrofiction.net/short_s...contestID=test

Scotty

[VanMan]

Originally Posted by ScottyDM

VanMan:

Would that be your Living Lycra story here at TF Central? Or did you have something else in mind?

That would be the one. Would I be able to enter that?

[TFCAdmin]

Looks like you have something good going here. Stickied.

[ScottyDM]

Originally Posted by VanMan

That would be the one. Would I be able to enter that?

Sorry for the delay. I have only a partial answer for you at this time, but I did want to get back to you right away.

To answer your direct question, can you enter Living Lycra in the summer 2006 contest? The short answer is no.

#1. At six chapters it is far too long. Stories for the contest need to be between 1000 and 3500 words. In fact that restriction is coded into the story submission form.

#2. With a rating of NC-17 it is far too "hot" for the contest. Anthrofiction Network is a "family friendly" site and I'm trying to attract a wide audience for anthrofiction, even people who don't traditionally read it (such as my mother). PG-13 is the strongest rating I will accept.

The summer contest has a theme, which I have not announced yet. It is simple enough and should not preclude TF, or TF with lycra-beings.

I still need to read your story to see if the way you tread a zentai-being qualifies as anthropomorphic.

I remember reading in an airline magazine a transformation story. It's a bit mind boggling to realize that the commercial fiction market will publish TF. Anyway, a man becomes obsessed with cellos, buys one, sleeps with "her", rearranges his life to revolve around his new obsession, and eventually is transformed into a cello. Not an anthropomorphic cello, just a cello made of wood and varnish. At the end of the story he and his love are separated and sold to different pawn shops.

Scotty

[VanMan]

Originally Posted by ScottyDM

#1. At six chapters it is far too long. Stories for the contest need to be between 1000 and 3500 words. In fact that restriction is coded into the story submission form.

OK, I guess I would need to write a new one that isn't so long.

Originally Posted by ScottyDM

#2. With a rating of NC-17 it is far too "hot" for the contest. Anthrofiction Network is a "family friendly" site and I'm trying to attract a wide audience for anthrofiction, even people who don't traditionally read it (such as my mother). PG-13 is the strongest rating I will accept.

I can live with that. I was writing that story for a more fetishistic audience.

Originally Posted by ScottyDM

I still need to read your story to see if the way you tread a zentai-being qualifies as anthropomorphic.

I'd suggest you also go to Suya Zentai, because that has several zentai-related stories, including a couple (one complete, one in-progress) from a user named eternally_lost called "Finding Herself." One of the protagonists is turned into a living zentai that is actually worn and has a symbiotic relationship with the wearer, and can move on its own. You might want to take a look.

[ScottyDM]

Preliminary Contest Results

The complete results will appear on the website as soon as I can get the pages up.

Overall Score: 3.61
The Dance
by Dr. Kayngi

Overall Score: 3.59
Preacher Bennie Bunny
by Oscar Rat

Overall Score: 3.35
The Stinkfields and the McChips Feud
by Oscar Rat

Overall Score: 3.19
The Flight of the Silver Phoenix
by No Idea


When will the pages be up? In a few hours. It will probably take me daze to be able to auto-generate complete pages from the raw data. Meanwhile I will fudge it and hand generate the contest results to meld them with the existing bits of auto-generated story pages.

I should announce the summer contest season and summer theme within 24 hours. The close of the summer entry period will be on August 10th rather than July 31st because the start of the summer contest was pushed back by 21 days.

I’ll post again when the website is ready.

Scotty