>
> 1) Clarify the issue about stories that are sequels or prequels to
an author's previous contest story. Either allow such stories, as
long as the prequel/sequel can stand completely as an independent
story. Or else make a rule that a writer cannot write a story about
any character who was in any of his/her previous years' entries.
Good point. Common sense says it is fine as long as it is a complete
short story on its own, but since I didn't clarify that this time
around (didn't even think about it) it of course popped up. I'll
clarify it this next time, same characters - fine as long as it is a
complete short story and doesn't read like a chapter in a larger
story.
> 2) You might want to allow a writer to enter more than one story,
as long as each of an entrant's stories are in a different
category.
Isn't that sort of like stuffing the balot box? Although if I did
allow this, I would also have to require a seperate fee for each
story, which might make it interesting, story wise and money wise.
> 3) I would make at least a suggestion that, as this is
the "SAMURAI Fiction Contest", that the main character of any story
actually be a samurai. Or else, if the POV character isn't a
samurai, that the story centers on some sort of samurai character. I
realize that in earlier eras of Japanese history, that samurai
didn't exist as a distinct, separate class. So for these stories, it
should center on a person who would perform a role that a samurai
would perform i.e. fight in battles or studies a martial art.
That is a tough one. The first contest was very strict, and there
were good results. This one was less strict, and had a larger
variety. I'll have to think about this one, but I am taking it under
advisement. Technically speaking, the "historical fiction" option
covered this. So I'm drawn between the two - I don't want to
actively discourage anyone from entering by making it too strict,
but at the same time the more focused stories tend to be more
interestng, because the people with the knowledge and interest are
the ones who write them.
Thanks for the thoughts.