Let's Talk About... The Way To Win A Contest

A lot of people wanted and probably still want Episode to publish the winners’ scores so people can see what they should do and improve. But winners may not think the same…

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But that’s another point to add, actually. If you’re serious about winning a competition, read all of the competition winners of the past. Get a notepad if you have to! Write down all the common things that were good about the stories and hopefully you’ll understand what to do next time.

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College Days: In My Bed with My Professor to Raise My Grades

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I’m personally not sure why, to be honest! Episode praising your story sounds like a sweet deal.

I tend to read at least the first Episode, if its a short story like Thriller, I’ll read all of them. Episode focuses on choices and CC a lot from what I’ve seen.

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I read the Which stories graded section. They mentioned 3 things. Stories with high retention. Community recommended stories. And contest entries. This means that all contest entries are graded. Why would they ask for a form then? Retention is a bit unclear. I hope they address it.

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The winner with the lowest score might feel left out, but they have to remember that they won out of hundreds of stories

I’ve also noticed the level of originality. Very few “what happens when” descriptions, original art for the cover, maybe some original overlays…

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There’s probably a line for which stories get graded and which don’t. If it’s something above 50%, I will actually go really mad. And I really want to know, if the line is 50%, would a story with 49% retention get graded even though they almost pass it?

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I hope they clear this confusion. Are you entering the college days contest?

In fantastical contest, there were A LOT of original entries. I was actually really hooked on it. But originality is always subjective, I wonder how they decide it.

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Nah i’ll be safe at my own corner :joy: But probably join the next one if it is interesting

You don’t need to, not all best directing winners had “OMG! My wig!!!” directing just like other winners. Branching is more important for Episode

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I loved the fantastical competition: both writing and reading for it!

I think they consider originality as a more objective thing. As opposed to the originality of the actual idea, they focus on things they can quantify and put a score on:

  • Has the wording of the description been used before?

  • Have they used their own/commissioned artwork? What about overlays?

In terms of originality of story ideas, I’d actually argue that the more archetypal characters do well.

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I’m kind of a perfectionist. I want the story to have camera effects like movies. I know I’m much of a dreamer. I can’t help it’s lol. I hope I master it soon. And yes my story has a LOT of choices.

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My advice for you would actually be to stop dreaming of being like films! Episode exists because it’s different and new! It thrives on your new ideas.

I’m learning to experiment spot directing.

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It would be a lot more clear if Episode gave us some examples. I’ve been thinking of a plot story by Episode that would score at least 3.0 in the grading. The story can stay in My Stories section for everyone, just like the official tutorials. But they probably won’t do this.

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I suggest that you learn how to use overlays fully. A lot of the stuff you see on the good directed stories are because of overlay animations. They just somehow use their imagination and make the story realistic.

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I hope they show us an analysis of a 4.0 score story. It would be beneficial to new authors.

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