Nonfiction is for Nuts!

Well, it was a roundabout way of doing it, but I decided to experiment a bit with Nonfiction Month by putting out educational articles and saving all the contests until the very end. I figured this would allow folks to pick and choose what they wanted to enter without feeling rushed or pressured. Here's to hoping it worked!

There are FIVE Nonfiction Contests planned. You may enter all of them, but you may not enter more than two submissions per individual contest. This is the first released contest; information on the others will follow soon.



The Political Editorial Contest

Yes, you read right: political editorial contest--an editorial about a political issue. Despite several warnings, and in anticipation of the storm that very well may follow, I've decided it would be a terrible disservice to include an editorial contest that shunned controversy. True, this might require a new level of maturity from some of us, but I think we're entirely capable--as rational human beings--to consider an opposing point of view.

That said, there are a few guidelines. One, you have to choose one of the given topics.



The Topics

Why hold back, right? Let's lay it all on the line.

Abortion
Stem Cell research
Euthanasia
The Death Penalty
Censorship
Socialized Health Care
Drug Legalization
Education
Gun Control
The Olympic Games
The War in Iraq
The War on Terror
Race Relations
Affirmative Action
Gay Marriage
Immigration and Immigrant Rights
Global Warming/Environmental Issues
Animal Rights
The 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign (pick a person or pick a person apart)
deviantART (open forum for writing an editorial on an issue directly related to dA)

As a note, many of these issues are debated worldwide. Our interest in holding this contest is in finding different perspectives and different editorials from different sides and different places. Please don't think that what you have to say will be undervalued because of who you are and where you're from. We're looking for the best-written editorials; we are not looking to further our own political agendas. Honest.



The Rules

This being the internet, anonymity tends to grant people the courage to say things they wouldn't normally say. It also tends to heighten the chance that someone will act like a total asswipe while saying such things. With that in mind, we do have a few guidelines--both for submissions and for comments on those submissions.


Your deviation must be submitted to Literature---> Prose---> Nonfiction---> Editorial. Submissions in Scraps will not be accepted.


For hints and tips on writing a proper editorial, kindly check this link. Rants, no matter how creative, will not be accepted and will be reported and (eventually) moved to Scraps. If you need help differentiating between a rant and an editorial, please read An Epic Battle: The Editorial vs. The Rant or ask a Lit GD.


Your editorial must not be longer than 1,500 words.

Your entry must be a new deviation submitted after 22 July 2008.

A link to you editorial must be sent, via NOTE, to ^GeneratingHype by 12:00AM (GMT) 1 September 2008.

All editorials should be written to a professional standard, with special attention to spelling, punctuation, grammar, and other conventions.

Please mention the contest and which topic you are writing about in your Author Comments.

Any deviant who resorts to personal attacks of another deviant in the comment section of the submitted editorial--whether in one's defense or not--will be disqualified from the competition. Attack ideas, not people.

You are under NO OBLIGATION to reply to any of the comments left on your submitted editorial.


If you do not think you have the ability to remain calm in the face of disagreement--as we promise you that there will be someone out there who disagrees with your very valid opinion--then we do not suggest you enter this contest. The point of an editorial is to talk intelligently about an issue in an effort to inform and occasionally persuade the reader. It's to make your voice heard by a wider audience and appeal to those who might not be listening. It's not to prove the other side's point by calling each other asswipes and apes and using profanity and all-caps to show how "right" you are.

Srsly.


Judges

Wouldn't you like to know? Wouldn't you like to judge? There are two spots still available for anyone willing and able. Send ^GeneratingHype a note.



Prizes

Well, I'm feeling generous. Prizes will be distributed based on the number of quality entries received. Should anyone else feel generous, I invite you to donate anything you'd like by contacting ^GeneratingHype with your plans. Many winners will have a choice between at least two different prizes (subscriptions, devWEAR, prints, etc.) to accommodate different deviant needs.


And that's that!

Check ^GeneratingHype's journal for the entry list and occasional updates.