For those reading my writing tips, I want to stress how important it is to follow the rules when writing for the contest, but to also think about what you're writing before you write the story, as there are some places the judges would rather writers not go, at least from my experience with all of the contests. These are logical reasons for not going these directions in one's stories.

The reason I'm bringing this up comes down to the fact I keep a list of stories so I can keep track of what I have, and haven't read. For the Curtain Call contest over half of the entries got disqualified from the contest for rules clearly stated in the guidelines, but also a small hand full of things not actually stated in the guidelines, and yet have a logical reason for being reasons for not considering one's story.

1. The issue which crops up every single contest are the writers who try submitting stories they've written before the contest even begins. For someone who reads the entries, this can be aggravating due to the fact it feels like the writers are only submitting their stories to get more attention, or because they think the contests are anything goes.

This said, some of the people I've talked to really don't know that's an issue. This contest though I saw a story which I saw entered in a previous contest, so the person should know better, right? Now, I admit this isn't an issue for getting your story read for the contest, but it is an issue for getting your story read via the tags.

2. One of the major issues which cropped up for this particular contest were the number of stories which had nothing to do with theater, which was one of the two major stipulations for this particular contest. Some of the writers didn't even try to use the theme given and went with any random story they could think of. There are always these kinds of stories during the contest, and the number of stories tends to be slim.

However, here is where the thinking part comes in. There were a lot of stories submitted that people thought fit the theme that did not. Some people thought "taking place in a theater" meant a fandom that "takes place in a theater" rather than a story which "takes place in a theater". For example, a writer might write a story for the Annie fandom because that was a major broadway play.

Others thought theater meant any kind of entertainment when in reality it specifically means the dramatization of a story in what would be a live action setting. There were quite a few stories which focused on the music industry. (That said, I would like to see a pop idol fic contest someday.) Yes, there is a genre in the theater called the musical, but the music part is still a major part of the dramatization. If it's just music, it's not theater.

This said non-traditional theater was allowed, but they did favor the traditional theater, and most people went for traditional theater for their story.

3. The second major issue which cropped up was the number of stories which did not contain an OTP, which was the second major stipulation for this contest. Some of the stories simply didn't include romantic pairings of any kind, but most of the stories eliminated from the contest did contain a romantic pairing in their story. Said pairing though was not an OTP. An OTP specifically is any pairing which is between two canon characters in the same fandom, or two real people who know each other in real life. A writer was disqualified if they used a crossover pairing, or a pairing using OCs/reader insert.

4. Next issue which crops up is the formatting issue. One of the rules stipulated for all contests is "pay attention to your grammar and spelling to make sure that your story is understandable and accessible." Later on, they added an additional line which reads, "format your story using spaces between new paragraphs" as they got tired of reading stories where proper formatting wasn't being used. This means no walls of text, no posting stories without proper capitalization, no stories where the paragraphs are centered.

A few people may not think this is a big deal, but they want stories which are readable, and not just readable to the demographic which think tossing out the rules is a defining part of their writing style, (Sure, there are times you can break the rules, but you should have a reason for doing so, do it well, and not use it for all of your stories.

5. Another issue deals with another rule but is also something I've not seen crop up in other contests. In the rules, it says, "make sure your work is original. Do not copy another writer's work." There were a few stories which copied very liberally from the original plays being performed. Even if it's Shakespeare or your own play, this is not something you should do. A writer should only quote the lines which are important to your story, and what is important is going to not be very much.

6. There is another issue for this rule which has cropped up in quite a few contests. Not copying another writer's work includes not writing fanfiction for already existing fanworks. A few people likely don't think this is fair, but in reality, there is a reason fanfiction for already existing fanworks exists. First, it's easier for the judges to become familiar with the work, and figure out what is original to the fandom when the work is actually your own fanfic, and not based off another fanwork.

The second reason though comes down to the fact most people who've submitted fanfiction for already existing fanworks have NOT given credit to the original creator of the other fanwork. This means people who do NOT know the other fanwork WILL think that everything NOT original to the fandom is original to the writer. Thus, it is best not to have any.

7. Every contest there are also people submitting original work instead of fanfiction. Fanfic Friday is a fanfic contest, and always will be a fanfic contest. This means stories written about already existing canon works or stories written about famous real people who are part of current history, and not past history.

8. One of the things not written in the work is character death. There have been twenty-one contests, and character death has always been a major taboo. I think the only exception is if the writer is writing a mystery, and needs to kill off a character, most often an OC created for the mystery. The reason for this comes down to two reasons. One, not all writers handle character death well. Two, character death is not something all fans handle well, and they want to add these stories to their reading list.

9. The other issue which crops up is specifically a slash fic issue between two male characters. One of the reasons yaoi slashes has a bad reputation is because certain writers have a really bad habit of emasculating male characters, or even a real life guy. They do this just so the pairing will be more like a heterosexual pairing, and sometimes so the female writer can self-insert themselves as the emasculated male. I've read enough essays, and comments from gay guys to know they find this insulting, being stereotyped like this. This is bad writing, thus, it's not going to win a contest, as these contests are judged on the quality of the work, not the popularity.

However, this really cropped up big time for this contest, as I read quite a few stories where a guy was FORCED to play the female role and FORCED to wear a dress. This made the pairing feel like it was forced.

10. Speaking of Shakespeare, another issue which cropped up were writers who didn't do their research. I wouldn't say these stories were otherwise badly written, as I liked a couple. However, if I were judging the contest, I could not let the stories win. What though do I mean regarding research issues? Plays during Shakespeare's time only used male actors. It was illegal for a female to perform on stage, as it was considered indecent. This one stood out to me as a history junkie and a theater junkie. This is a quality issue.

11. Last - don't do blatant self-inserts for the contest. There is no rule against using an OC, but blatant wish fulfillment is bad writing, and the contests are judged on the quality. A lot of people don't want to read stories about some fan inserting obviously inserting themselves into the fandom either, so even if the story is well written, if the judges are able to identify the character as you, it's not going to likely win. And - there is the internet safety issue involved with this type of OC.

Now, I get not everybody does this to win. I myself tend to not write what I feel will win, but what pops into my head for a particular prompt. I still though write the story within the rules, and to the best of my ability. The more people one has to compete against, the more fun the contest is, plus there are more stories for the readers. A few people may be thinking, why do I have to follow the rules to win? My question back is, is it really fair to the winners, or potential winners, that one of them be knocked out for someone who didn't follow the rules? Last, every contest I read some disqualified works which are well written, and I'd like these writers to have a chance at winning.