starwarsfans is back at it again another year for The Kessel Run: A Star Wars SmackDown!

As mentioned last year, a SmackDown is a short story contest where writers compete for the ultimate prize of Bragging Rights (amongst other, as yet unannounced prizes) because gaining overall victory in a SmackDown is anything but easy!

Over a series of rounds, the number of which will be determined by the overall number of contestants, you will be tried and tested, pushed to the very limits of your story telling abilities - all in the name of fun competition, of course!

A Few Points to Consider

1 - For each round you will be asked to write a short story based on an image(s), quote(s) or text prompt. The maximum word count for each round will vary, but throughout this contest we will never ask you to write more than 5,000 words (except for the final round, but that will have no maximum word count)!

2 - The time given for you to write for each round will vary from a week to a month, and all in between.

3 - There will be at least two rounds where we will specify the entry must be submitted as a one-shot standalone story as opposed to part of an existing collection. The reasons for this will become clear, we promise!

4 - When it comes to judging, something all stories submitted for this contest will be subject to (other than the qualification entry - see below) a team of Ambassadors will use a simple and basic scoring rubric, taking both SPG & story content into consideration. For elimination rounds (these will be announced when such a round goes live) the writers of the lowest-scored entries will be eliminated from the contest. The number of eliminations per round depends entirely upon the number of contestants.

5 - Any questions (and to be fair we suspect there will be many) should be asked in the comments' section below and directed at the starwarsfans profile team!

Qualification

The Kessel Run: A Star Wars SmackDown, is open to all comers and is most definitely a case of the more the merrier. However, should you wish to take part you must submit a qualification entry, the details of which are as follows:

Using up to 1,000 words, write a piece of Star Wars fanfiction making use of one of the three prompts given below. This will be your qualifying entry to The Kessel Run: A Star Wars Smackdown. Think of it more as a commitment to take part as opposed to anything else.

You have until June 30th to complete and submit your qualifying entry.

Once complete, upload the story to your profile as normal, either as a standalone one-shot or as part of an existing collection, and submit the direct link via this form.

Feel free to share that link in the comments' section below, to allow your fellow SmackDowners to check out your work—and the competition! It should be noted though that only those stories submitted via the above form will guarantee inclusion in the contest.

Your qualifying entry will not be judged. It will be read, however, and should it not adhere to one of the given prompts, participation in the contest will not be guaranteed.

Please remember this profile is available for all and as such, stories submitted for the contest should be as PG-13 as possible. Those running the profile and the contest are all writers though, and as such understand that a story goes where it wants to go. As such, some leeway will be given. But be mindful of Wattpads Content Guidelines.

Only entries written in English will result in inclusion in the SmackDown, as we unfortunately do not have any other language capabilities.

Qualifying Entry Prompts

1 - You are employed on Cloud City when the empire lands and captures Han Solo. Knowing that bad things befall those who get in the way of the galaxy's super power, you...

2 - You are a civilian caught in the middle of a battle when order 66 is given. Who are you and what do you do?

3 - You are a stormtrooper on patrol on board a star destroyer when you overhear someone spilling the First Order's secrets. The mole turns out to be General Hux. What do you do?

May the Force be with you, and let the SmackDown commence!