If you're familiar with the Gen 3 Contest, forget everything you know. We're gonna do it a bit differently now (and with "differently" we mean better). Strap in, folks.

Let's get started.

WHAT IS THE GEN 3 CONTEST?

The contest originated in the Literary Lounge Discord server, named after our nonexistent third general channel. The goal is to write a novelette between 7.5K and 20K, using 3 keywords. It's a community-based contest, so if you're interested in participating, please join the server! The link is in our bio.

The most notable thing about this contest is the anonymity. To avoid partiality and tension in the server, we ask participants to keep their story a secret. We send the contest entries directly to the judges without telling them who wrote what, and the judges are anonymous, too. This way, everybody is judged on their writing alone, and the judges can't be blamed for choosing one story over another for any other reason.

This means you cannot post your story online until the contest is over. Yes, this means you are supposed to write the story entirely offline.

WHAT ARE THE DATES?

May 4: The keywords are released. The contest officially starts.

June 20: End of round 1. At this time, we ask participants to send their first 5k words to the contest organizers (Glyn or Haley). There's no judging yet: we won't be reading any of these unfinished, unedited stories. We only want to encourage you to finish your novelette in time and to give you an opportunity to talk about it with fellow participants. If you manage to get 5K words by June 20, we will give you access to a private thread in the #contest channel where you can discuss your story if you wish.

August 4: End of round 2. Now is the time to submit your finished entry. It has to be between 7.5K and 20K and it has to include all 3 keywords. Again, send it to Glyn or Haley—no one else! Remember, anonymity is key. The judges will begin judging.

September 11: End of judging period. You are now required to publish your stories online. The contest organizers will be compiling the data and preparing the results.

September 15: Results.

All deadlines are at 10PM GMT/UTC.

HOW DO I SUBMIT MY CONTEST ENTRY?

As mentioned above, you have to send your entry to the contest organizers (Glyn or Haley, aka NerdOfAllTrades), and you can only do this on Discord, in a private message. Do not send it via any other platform and do not publish it online until September 11, 10 PM GMT.

You can send a docx or pdf file or a link to a Google Doc. Make sure that the document is easy to read and that it doesn't mention your name anywhere. If you have any questions about this, you're welcome to ask them in our #contest channel.

Between September 11 and September 15, you can publish your novelette wherever you like, as long as you post it on Wattpad.

HOW ARE THE STORIES JUDGED?

On top of your general writing quality, we look at 3 elements in your novelette: characterization, plot, and atmosphere. We'll be creating a sort of report card to judge your story in these categories, which you can request once the contest is over.

There will be a grand winner, a 2nd place winner, and a 3rd place winner.

(If you were there during the previous Gen 3 Contest: no, there won't be any winners or runner-ups per category anymore. We were a bit too ambitious the first time and ended up congratulating the same person three times, which is a bit excessive. We might do an honorable mention if the highest scorer in a category doesn't end up winning due to low scores in other categories, but that remains to be seen.)

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW?

You are required to publish your novelette (or at least the first chapter) on Wattpad between September 11 and September 15. When we post the results, we need to be able to refer people to your story, and it will be added to a reading list on our Wattpad account. When you submit your entry, you agree to keep it up on Wattpad for 3 months; you need to give people time to read it. After that, you can do whatever you want.

Your novelette must contain all 3 keywords, or it will be disqualified. You can use them however and wherever you want, either as a direct quote or metaphorically. For example, if you need to include the word "bridge" you can write about a literal bridge, or you can describe a metaphorical bridge between two things. Either way, it must be obvious to the judges that you used the keywords.

Your novelette must be written specifically for this contest. No recycling old stories, please. You have more than enough time to write something new.

If your final word count is a few words off from 7.5K or 20K, that's fine. We won't make a big deal out of one extra sentence. Just don't go overboard.

Also, follow Wattpad's guidelines. Thanks.

That is all the information you need for now, but there will be a chapter with frequently asked questions soon. If you're confused about anything, please ask your question in the #contest channel so we can put it on the list. Questions and answers sometimes get lost in the server, so we'll try to compile everything here on Wattpad for easy access.