_{(This is for the ErinshawRespite, for all of you who will be seeing this in your inbox and have no idea what I'm talking about!)}
We've cooked up a contest for you all to participate in. Short stories!! Because who doesn't love filling their day with awesome tales?

Thank you everyone who participated! It was such a joy to read all the entries, I hope you'll all participate again in our next tournament!

Third place is AconiteSymphony with her entry:
For ErinshawRespite ContestI stare at the dilapidated well in front of me, the moss growing over the side of it and the fallen bricks were strangely…beautiful. The light shone through the densely packed trees and onto the well with a form of grace that only came with the wild beauty that lived simply in this little meadow, with its waist high, soft, flowing grass, with the ring of pine trees that circled it perfectly, as though the trees had been carved into a circle around, well, the well.
The well was simply magnificent. While it was falling apart, it had an ageless beauty to it. There were wildflowers growing up around it, weaving between the densely packed bricks and hanging above the abyss that was the middle of the well. The bricks laying on the ground were bleached a bone white from the sun, the edges crumbling away, leaving the corners broken, showing the harsh, whittled down cement on the inside, small caves dug into the cement where the rain had pooled over the years and eaten away at the rock.
T

Second place is our own mod Skriff with his entry:


Our first place winner is THE BEST TALE WEAVER: Razgriz-3 with his entry:
Meaningless Ramblings of an Old CootSo I’ve got a bit of a tale for you.
I know, I know. You’re probably thinking something like Get away from me old man, I just want to drink my beer in peace. But it won’t cost you nothin’ to listen, and worse comes to worse you can stab me with something if you really get sick of me flappin’ my gums. Wouldn’t be the first time somebody’s tried. But I do ask you to listen for a little while before you start trying to stick me.
I’ll start forthwith: In my younger days - yes, I know that’s how they all start, but how many seventy-year-olds do you talk to who fight pirates and Commies on a regular basis? - I was what you young’uns might call a “gadabout.” No? Fine - I guess you could call me a “wanderer.” Wherever you please, I was there. Cairo, Berlin, Singapore. And all over the U.S., as you might expect, though that was mostly right after I’d had to leave home, and it wasn’t long befor

Wonderful work, all of you, and another thank you to all our participants! Your prizes should be granted to you within the next week or so - if they don't show up please give pinkythepink a note to let her know, we'll get it sorted out!

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Original Post:

Your contest is:

• Write a short story of a minimum of 750 words (with a maximum of 6,000 words).
• Original work only! (No fanfiction, please and thanks.)
• "FanFiction" | Noun, Informal. Fiction written by fans of a TV series, movie, etc., using existing characters and situations to develop new plots.
• All genres are welcome, from nonfiction personal stories to scifi extraordinaires.

Start date is April 2nd!
End date is May 31st!
Judging results should be in by June 15th!
(Please note all dates are UTC-07:00, Arizona, United States.)

Your judges are:

• Luddeagle
• pinkythepink
• Gallinaceus
  
• GraniteFire as backup judge
  

You'll find the rules rather straight forward:

• You've gotta be a member of the chat! That means you're out of the itchy burlap guest chair and into a proper class.
  
• [click here to join chat]
  
• You need to be a member of the group because
• You have to submit your story to the contest folder. [click here]
  
• The artist comments for your entry should both mention that you wrote it for this contest and link back to this journal.
• English, please! Ask other members in the chat for help if you need it.
• You aren't limited on the amount of submissions, but only one of your stories can win.
• In other words, you can't win every prize.
• Your entry should be new, posted on or after April 2nd.
  
• And if we don't get at least five entries, there's no contest.
• Mature Tagged deviations are allowed by deviantART rules, but please do not use the '18+ only' tag.
  
• 'Cause everyone should be able to read your story!
• Familiarize yourself with the Mature Content rules [here].
  

The prizes are pretty worth it:

• First Place
• 6 Month Core Membership
• Special "Clancian" Class in the #ErinshawRespite
• Featured in the chat's title as Best Tale Weaver until June 30th.
• Second Place
• 3 Month Core Membership
• Special "Clancian" Class in the #ErinshawRespite
• Third Place
• 1 Month Core Membership
• Special "Clancian" Class in the #ErinshawRespite

Core Membership prizes provided by pinkythepink on behalf of the Community Volunteer team, you should receive your Core Membership a few days after the winners are announced.

Galli is merciful and wants you to have some basic guidelines:

• The story is more important than format, grammar, and so on.
• But please do your best to make it neat and tidy.
  
• We are encouraging understandable stories with great imagery.
• Likewise, we are discouraging the standard high school essay format of "Intro, Item, Support, Conclusion".
• We used the American SAT grading scale for writing as a base for our own scoring system.
• If you feel lost give it a google and a look over.

How to submit a literature deviation instead of a journal:
Please note, these instructions are for the desktop version of the site. I am unable to give you guidance for the mobile app at this time.

1. At the top of the screen, left-center, hover over the green SUBMIT button.
2. Click "Submit Art"!
   
3. Below the blue Choose a file to upload button, click "Enter text".
4. Place your story here!
5. For purposes of the contest, be sure to add that it's for the contest and link back to this journal in the Artist Comments.
6. Under Select Category click "Literature" and then categorize your submission properly.
1. For this contest, you'll want to select "Prose", then "Fiction" or "Non-Fiction", and then your genre.