Global Transformers Writing Competition

[Verno]

I recently sent IDW the following letter, and while I'm yet to receive a reply, I thought I'd repost it here to get your thoughts on the idea.


Dear IDW,

A goal of mine is to one day find work at a distinguished Comic Book institution like IDW, but like all my fellow Writers with a similar dream, we have a tough task ahead of us.

By IDW’s own admission, you’re unable to accept unsolicited manuscripts or proposals from Writers -- my understanding of this is so as to avoid any copyright complications, and that is perfectly understandable. But when IDW openly accepts work by Artists, Colourists, Designers and Letterers, there is something of a double-standard that I, and others, can’t help but notice.

Now, I’m by no means suggesting IDW should change its policy in regards to accepting work by Writers, but nor should IDW simply show them a brick wall. The answer? A global Writing Competition.

I can already hear the alarm bells ringing in your head, but have no fear, allow me to expand on the idea.

I’m a big Transformers fan, and I’m not alone -- the franchise and fanbase gets bigger every year. To accommodate this large number of fans from all over the world, there are a number of Transformers fan sites, complete with forums, such as TFW2005, Seibertron, The Allspark -- and even Ozformers, an Australian forum for fans down-under, like myself. And, of course, here we are on IDW's own forum, complete with Transformers section. (I'm using the Transformers franchise simply as an example. The same could work with any number of other franchises.)

The heavy-lifting for this Writing Competition would be done by the fans on these forums.

The Premise:

IDW announce that, in partnership with these forums, they’re hosting a Writing Competition. Writers submit their work to one (and only one) of the fan forums within a submission period. Once that closes, the readers on said forums go to work, reading and rating each of the submissions until a final vote is cast and a single winner (or two) from each forum is announced. These winners (of which there may be 10 to 15, depending on how many forums you get involved) have their story passed on to IDW, with the promise of nothing more than getting on the desk of one of the Editors.

IDW avoids having to trawl through mountains of stories to find the genuine nuggets of brilliance. If IDW then look further into the work of some of these Writers, then excellent. If not, no harm done -- at least these Writers got a shot at being noticed, like their Artist-brothers in other fields get to.

Basically, it’s a competition to ‘even out the playing field’, so to speak. You can go onto an art-sharing website such as DeviantArt and look at simply astounding Transformers artwork done by fans and the response is immediate -- that’s the beauty of a visual medium. But Writers can’t get the same immediate response -- reading takes an investment of time, and works of fan fiction are generally overlooked because, although one might be good, it’s stuck alongside work that may not be so well crafted. This is an opportunity for those pieces of fiction worthy enough of gaining attention to do so.

It’s just an idea I thought I’d put to you for your consideration -- a proposal, funnily enough. Should you have any questions, I’m more than happy to answer them.

I truly believe this is an idea IDW could and should get behind, if for no other reason than to have a greater interaction with fans of their titles.

I hope to be hearing from you soon.

Cheers,
- Verno.

Do you think such an endeavor would work? Do you think the fandom would get behind something like this and do the 'heavy-lifting' in selecting their board's candidate? I'd be very appreciative of any and all your thoughts.

[autobreadticon]

i cant offer any advice or suggestions but I will quote Optimus Prime

"hold onto your dreams, the future is built on dreams"

[Bidoofdude]

I recently sent IDW the following letter, and while I'm yet to receive a reply, I thought I'd repost it here to get your thoughts on the idea.



Do you think such an endeavor would work? Do you think the fandom would get behind something like this and do the 'heavy-lifting' in selecting their board's candidate? I'd be very appreciative of any and all your thoughts.

If we got enough support, I'm sure they'd noticed, but it might take some time.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I will go on record as saying I FREAKING LOVE THIS IDEA! And you know what? My wife, who is always at me to take creative writing back up (the sweet thing is so sure I have the talent to one day write a book and get us on easy street so to speak :p) loves the idea too, and she usually wants nothing to do with my TF fetish. :p

Whether they take you up on the idea or not, who knows? Could even come down to the proclivities of the person from IDW that reads your email. Certainly it cant have hurt to have sent the email and I hope they do you the courtesy of responding.

Personally I think it is a fantastic idea and will happily participate in anything of this nature you decide to organize on Ozformers. :)

[GoktimusPrime]

I admire your enthusiastic determination, however I'd be somewhat wary about popularity being used to determine the winner. Because a writer could get more votes by getting his/her mates to cast more votes. Just because people are fans of Transformers doesn't necessarily make them good judges of actual writing. Some people can be attracted to stories that are badly written -- e.g. the Twilight series. :rolleyes: Not all popular stories are well written... the Bay movies are more popular and widely known TF stories than Beast Wars, but we all know which series has the better stories. ;) :D

Also, for the competition to be fair, I think there needs to be some set conditions for all contestants to abide by. Perhaps a pre-determined elements. Once these factors are pre-set, it's up to contestants to fill in the rest. There would also be a word limit too. For example, everyone may need to write a short story about any G1 Transformer(s) who did not appear in The Transformers: The Movie but was previously seen in the G1 cartoon. The story must take place at the same time as any of the events during TFTM (so it cannot occur before or after) and it cannot conflict with canonical events in TFTM. So entrants may choose to write about say Omega Supreme or the Combaticons or Sparkplug Witwicky etc. And say there's a 300 word limit or something.

The only downside of course, is that this would much more time intensive for IDW as someone would need to read through and evaluate all these entries. But it would remove the "popularity contest" aspect and try to make it based on merit/ability. Takara ran competitions during Beast Wars allowing fans to submit designs, with winning designs being made into actual toys (thus Archadys, Mach Kick and Bazooka were created; Star Upper was also based on a winning fan design, though wasn't made into a toy (but the character did make canonical appearances (as well as Paulbot's avatar :D))).

[BigTransformerTrev]

I admire your enthusiastic determination, however I'd be somewhat wary about popularity being used to determine the winner. Because a writer could get more votes by getting his/her mates to cast more votes.



I remember that happening on Lexicon, the TF fanfic website, many many years ago. They used to have a review and ratings system where you could give people a score out of 10 (maybe they still do, been a long time since I was on there). I was very chuffed for my 'Soundwave vs The Borg' crossover fanfic to be sitting at the top of the charts for about a month. Then one day suddenly mine and most of the others dissapeared from the top 20. Turns out some other person had gone through, creating several aliases, and given every other fanfic in the top twenty multiple scores of '1' so that they would drop and his would be at the top. It was considered rather petty by most of us. :rolleyes:

[Verno]

I admire your enthusiastic determination, however I'd be somewhat wary about popularity being used to determine the winner. Because a writer could get more votes by getting his/her mates to cast more votes. Just because people are fans of Transformers doesn't necessarily make them good judges of actual writing.
We'd be trusting the fandom to be fair in the judgement, but you're perhaps right about some popularity filtering in. But then again, someone can't be good friends with everyone on a board, so hopefully with enough people reading and voting, a true representation of the board's choice would rise to the top.


Also, for the competition to be fair, I think there needs to be some set conditions for all contestants to abide by. Perhaps a pre-determined elements. Once these factors are pre-set, it's up to contestants to fill in the rest.
Absolutely. I didn't go into specifics in the letter, as it was more of a general inquiry to IDW, but a set of rules and guidelines for the competition would certainly need to be hashed out.


Takara ran competitions during Beast Wars allowing fans to submit designs, with winning designs being made into actual toys (thus Archadys, Mach Kick and Bazooka were created; Star Upper was also based on a winning fan design, though wasn't made into a toy (but the character did make canonical appearances (as well as Paulbot's avatar :D))).
That would have been a very exciting competition!

[Sky Shadow]

I admire your enthusiastic determination, however I'd be somewhat wary about popularity being used to determine the winner.

Agreed - the broad concept is a good one, but I'm not a fan of the specifics.

[UltraMarginal]

I like the Idea Verno, I totally agree with the percieved lack of a level playing field for writers.

I like Goks restrictions idea. That every entry be restricted to a character/event/time that would allow for a more even judgement of entries and it would more accurately reflect a writers ability to work within some of the potential boundaries of comic writing.

I wouldn't hold your breath for a response. Something like this, if seriously considered might spend a couple months bouncing around desks at IDW before making it back to you with a response. Creative writing was something I enjoye back in High school (oh so long ago now) I might even put some words down myself if this goes ahead.

[Deonasis]

I remember a similar idw competition for artists.

I like the idea that the top few end up on an editors desk. I also like the idea of idw coming up with a setting, or plot point, or characters involved for the self contained story (a Spotlight issue would be best).

I think it is great Verno!

[Sam]

I recently sent IDW the following letter, and while I'm yet to receive a reply, I thought I'd repost it here to get your thoughts on the idea.



Do you think such an endeavor would work? Do you think the fandom would get behind something like this and do the 'heavy-lifting' in selecting their board's candidate? I'd be very appreciative of any and all your thoughts.

I actually think your writing is really good, and feel you are totally justified in simply _telling_ IDW to accept your manuscripts.

But, that might seem a little arrogant, so this letter seems much more professional. :)

[Verno]

I'm chuffed you think the idea has some legs, lads, and would get behind it should something ever come to fruition. I posted the letter on a few other boards to get some reactions and surprisingly the comments have been quite negative, so it's nice to get some home-grown support.


I actually think your writing is really good, and feel you are totally justified in simply _telling_ IDW to accept your manuscripts.

But, that might seem a little arrogant, so this letter seems much more professional.

The main force behind the idea is simply to try and level the playing field and give writers an avenue to promote their own work. There's top-notch fan fiction out there that needs a bigger audience, and if the competition help get it read, then all the better.

[Zechariah]

Having come across your writing many times on sites and reading them I would believe if there were a competition held that you my friend could win it and therefore warrant the attention your fan fiction stories deserve.
I was particularly impressed with your drive to invite others to do various jobs in bringing to fruition your awesome comic scripts in which I feel are of a level worthy of if not better than what we are seeing with the big trademark comic producers. Being a fan of the Beastwars and their continuity stories I was thrilled to have read works of such caliber as yours with your latest offerings continuing to deliver where the top contenders have ceased.
I wish you all the best with your passion and drive to succeed though strongly believe your professionalism and work ethic should be enough to have the big guns take notice, and maybe they have and see you as a threat.
I am filled with well described imagery when reading your comic scripts and hope they become published with full color art printing so I may own them all.
You make my hobby everything through your efforts.

[Verno]

Having come across your writing many times on sites and reading them I would believe if there were a competition held that you my friend could win it and therefore warrant the attention your fan fiction stories deserve.
I was particularly impressed with your drive to invite others to do various jobs in bringing to fruition your awesome comic scripts in which I feel are of a level worthy of if not better than what we are seeing with the big trademark comic producers. Being a fan of the Beastwars and their continuity stories I was thrilled to have read works of such caliber as yours with your latest offerings continuing to deliver where the top contenders have ceased.
I wish you all the best with your passion and drive to succeed though strongly believe your professionalism and work ethic should be enough to have the big guns take notice, and maybe they have and see you as a threat.
I am filled with well described imagery when reading your comic scripts and hope they become published with full color art printing so I may own them all.
You make my hobby everything through your efforts.
Mate, I'm flattered. Keep reading, there's one big story to go.

[Bladestorm]

I like the idea and think it has merit. I suspect there are a lot of Transformers fans out there who write who can spin a much better story that certain movie directors teams come up with. ;)

I also think it is fine to have fans vet the first round (as long as it isn't a popularity contest) as winning aside it can give IDW an idea of what characters and storylines fans are interested in seeing explored.

Having the top 10 stories read and critiqued by proper writers (be it from IDW or elsewhere) would be quite a reward in itself and if IDW has the ability to use the winning story if they like it (and credit the winning writer in some way) even more of a bonus.

I'm curious - on the other boards, what and why were people so negative? Were they just closed minded? Anti- fan fic or other reasons?
I don't think there is anything negative about wanting to support and offer a diverse range of interesting and vivid stories to the Transformers universe.

[Verno]

I think with a lot of things on the internet (and in this fandom sadly) people are quick to point out the negatives, rather than offer constructive criticism.

[GoktimusPrime]

I think with a lot of things on the internet (and in this fandom sadly) people are quick to point out the negatives, rather than offer constructive criticism.
"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defence of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends."
- Anton Ego (Ratatouille) (https://teeganloy.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/anton-ego-ratatouille-critics-quote.jpg)