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Wow, I appreciate all the work you did to come up with such a concept, but we're already straying from the "simple writing competition for everyone" idea. Like I said, I want to run with just one theme and one winner for a few months; we're brainstorming like mad over simple speculations at the moment. What if the two sides can be evenly matched? I've won several contests of free writing by entering 3 line haikus. Majority of the entries were stories too, if you were wondering. And by the way, this is a writing contest, you're right! That's exactly why we need to promote creativity, but not let it roam wildly beyond control.
Don't get me wrong, I really like the idea and think it would be quite interesting if we weren't making this apply to everyone. If this was a more serious competition, other little tidbits would be included for sure, but we're just trying to have fun here, nothing else. It should be very simple: each month has a theme, the community decides on the best entry. That entrant picks the next month's theme, and the only major limitation is that you must use 1500 words or less (in order to allow voters to...vote, instead of having them read for hours on end).
You say that having the winner choose the next theme is advantageous for them, but is it really? They have a couple of days to decide or they basically forfeit that right so that the competition can move on. I don't know how imaginative you are, but I can't come up with an entire concept that works without problems in that timespan.
I'd truly prefer a one-theme, one-winner competition. Trust me, we're doing all of this because we think poetry doesn't stand much of a chance against short stories. The truth is, those who are bold enough to try probably have enough skill (and will receive enough criticism) to have a standing chance. If we try this for a few months and it really doesn't work for some reason, then I'd come to the one-theme, two-winner idea. Like I said, 2 themes means that non-poets will never be able to write about the secondary theme, and vice versa for the others as well.
In the end, I'm just asking that this stays...a competition for fun. Write something creative, have fun doing it, and if you're not picked, at least you get a good supply of constructive criticism and brownie points for trying. Take them in and try again next month. When we overcomplicate things, then we start to lose the crowd, for we start to lose the core idea of this contest.
And hey, I'm just ranting my points here; stop me if I'm being rude or if I'm incorrect in any way. I don't mind the creative opinions at all.
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