A Haiku is a Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons.
Well, that said, heres the rules:
1) The Haiku must be original (no plagarizing)! 2) It must fit the weeks theme 3) It must be submitted before the deadline 4) It must be submitted for the contest (no using works previously written) 5) One Submission per user 6) The Same User cannot win twice in a row (but there welcome to submit!)
Hopefully oneday the winner could get a merit...
The Deadline will always be a Wednsday, so the deadline for the first theme will be Wednsday, September 2. The theme is The Pond
Then we're going back to the "no 2 wins in a row" rule to avoid an unfair advantage. I'd also like some way for the theme to be altered by the judges in case someone who wins decides to troll by giving an overspecific theme or something.
It seems that in the three months I was gone, this thing got seriously ****ed up. Just stick to the general rules in the OP. They worked just fine for two and a half years, so it goes to say that if it aint broke, then don't you dare mess with it.
On the subject of a merit, dont chNge the dadgum rules. The original rules were designed that the contest could be fair and impartial, and thus lend it to awarding a merit. Screw that up, and the proven basis of the merit system in contests just goes right out the window.
On the subject of judges: I think the burden of judging should be held by one individual at any given time as its straight forward and it avoids confusion. Likewas, because poetry is objective and everyone has a different opinion, the judgeship ought to be passed on every few rounds.
On the subject of themes: Since the judge is the temporary proprietor of the contest, the judge should pick the theme. The idea being that the judge would be competent enough in poetry to pick a legitiment theme.
Questions, comments, concerns? Of course, I dont dictate policy, but I figured I'd put forward my two cents.
Then we're going back to the "no 2 wins in a row" rule to avoid an unfair advantage. I'd also like some way for the theme to be altered by the judges in case someone who wins decides to troll by giving an overspecific theme or something.
We've always done that... Except with Ghost, but that was accident.
t seems that in the three months I was gone, this thing got seriously ****ed up.
Yes.
The original rules were designed that the contest could be fair and impartial, and thus lend it to awarding a merit. Screw that up, and the proven basis of the merit system in contests just goes right out the window.
What rule change?
On the subject of themes: Since the judge is the temporary proprietor of the contest, the judge should pick the theme. The idea being that the judge would be competent enough in poetry to pick a legitiment theme.
Well, in the early stages of the thread, this wasn't the case, but okay.
Mav is the guy who created this thread and made up the rules. That is the reason why people won Merits from this contest!
No; merits were still given because the contest was actively participated in and because judging was more thorough. We still have the same rules but tomes have changed.
Behind these cold eyes I run in the fires* of hell Looking for a crack
*Fires is one syllable. No really, it is. Last time my haiku was not judged for this very reason, so this time I thought I would go ahead and, you know, make sure you are aware of this. Count the dots for yourself if you want.
I personally think that nonwe shouldn't allow winners to choose themes. Multiple reasons:
1) Themes are supposed to be fairly and objectively picked; a winner might be more prone to choose a topic that is skewed towards friends. After all, judges are 'supposed' to be inpartial in topic selection. Contestants aren't.
2) Themes chosen by judges are likely to be themes the judge will want to and can judge since it was his responsibility and decision. A judge who is foisted with a lousy theme is more likely to do a shoddy job.
3) Writing poetry isn't all about winning a prize. We're just going to foster the same attitude of writing for the sake of winning instead of writing for writing's sake which has plagued the AMW to no end in recent times. Plus it cheapens art to no end.
At any rate, if you want to implement the new rule at least get the approval of those who are monitoring this baby on probation.
I post here to see what the judge thinks about it. I don't care if this contest has a reward or not, I'll still post. If people post just for a reward, they're doing it wrong.
As for the winner choosing the theme, I don't like the idea. Nicho covered that.