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omniety tips.
IP: 95.149.92.59
Posted on April 7, 2012 at 03:36:04 AM by georgia

Now we have a few years of Omniety behind us, I feel okay about writing a brief article on it. This should provide a bit of insight into how Omniety is judged, to help you with writing your entries if you want.

The Omniety competition always takes at least two judges: an internal and an external. I have, so far, sat on the judging panel every year as one of the internal judges. The internal judge(s) can look at Omniety posts in relation to other posts by that character and consider things like character development and writing style. It’s easier for an internal judge to spot if an entrant is writing outside of their comfort zone and really pushing themselves and/or their character to new limits – which, effectively, is what Omniety is all about. The external judge(s) provide unbiased basic-level insight into how good the entries are when they stand alone.

The judges always read the entries independently and then come together once they’ve read them all to discuss them as a group. Personally, I jot down my initial feelings after reading each entry so that I can remember my first impressions of them. Together, we’ll go through every individual entry and talk about what we liked and didn’t like about them, trying to come up with pros and cons for each. In both previous years, one person distinctly outshone the others and all the judges immediately agreed on putting that person straight through. Picking the second and third people to go through usually takes longer, and there are a lot of things that have to be considered.

So, what can you do to make your entry as good as possible?

Take the time to plan it. Don’t just plan your idea, actually sit down and plan the structure of your post(s). This isn’t necessary for everyday RPing when you’re only writing about 500 words a-piece, but Omniety posts frequently hit 1000+ words and posts of that length need some kind of structure. Work out exactly what you’re going to say before you say it. The judges can tell posts which have been well-planned, and it tells us that you’ve put a lot of effort into it. On top of having good structure, it’ll be quicker and easier for you to write it.

Always get it proof-read. Proof-read it yourself and make sure you get someone else to proof-read it too, to get the mistakes you miss! It is painfully obvious when entries haven’t been proof-read, and all that tells us is that you couldn’t be bothered to proof it. Also, since part of your entry is judged on English quality, it pays to have good grammar and punctuation.

Push yourself. That’s what Omniety is all about! Try and jump out of your comfort zone a little. This year you have the opportunity to play characters which aren’t your own – this is extremely challenging as a writer. It’s a risk trying it, but if you pull it off you are in for a very good shot at one of those coveted round 2 spots. Even if it doesn’t quite work, the judges will respect you for trying something new and pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. Omniety also gives you the opportunity to do things you can’t normally do in the game – seize that chance! We want to see you making the most of it.

Make sure your entry is readable and professional. Don’t be tempted to succumb to RP-speak or certain awful uses of grammar/punctuation which only seem to be found in the RPG world. If you word something in a way which wouldn’t be found in a professional novel, reword it. It’s better to use simple, plain, easy-to-understand English than try to be poetic and not quite pull it off. Other judges may disagree with me on this one, but I feel very strongly that clarity is more important than attempting to revolutionise English literature.

Make your entry enjoyable. This is one of the key things we judge the contest on – which posts made us laugh? Which made us cry? It kind of doesn’t matter which emotion you’re provoking in your reader as long as you provoke something. Really try and convey emotion as well as you can. Put yourself in your character’s shoes and imagine how he or she must be feeling. If you want me to remember your entry, more than anything else you need to make me feel something.

Better easy reading than an adventurous rip-off. If you can’t come up with some awesome, original, brilliant idea, don’t be tempted to copy someone else’s. Sometimes simpler is better anyway. Don’t worry too much about originality, and don’t worry about other people having similar ideas. We trust you not to copy each other, but sometimes it’s very tempting to borrow ideas from films, books or TV! By all means draw inspiration from these places, but don’t rip them right off.

Get it done early. Lots of Omniety entries are ruined because the ending is rushed or the final bits haven’t been proof-read. Do yourself a favour and get it done well before the deadline so that you have time to check everything through.

Do your research. Showing knowledge of a relevant subject is a great way to impress the judges. Never write about something without doing a bit of reading up on it first, even if you just spend a minute skimming the Wikipedia page. If you try and bluff your way through, you could end up looking like a fool if one of the judges happens to know about that subject! That said, don’t use technical terms without a) explaining them and b) understanding exactly what they mean yourself. Better no terminology than wrongly used terminology.

Most importantly: enjoy yourself! If you’re having fun writing, most times everything else just falls into place. It’s really easy to see where people have had fun all the way through writing their entries, and where others got bored half-way through. If you’re having fun writing, I’m having fun reading.

If you want more inside info on how the judges work, you can always chat to us personally. The first year had just two judges – myself and Laurel. The second year was judged by myself, Chia and Equilibrium. Chia and I are both returning as judges this year, alongside Jacquie and a TBC fourth judge. Chia is usually around on AIM to speak to and Jacquie can be found on her own RPG, Angeni (http://angeni.x10.mx/). I’m usually around chatango, on AIM or you can contact me at georgia@shamanrpg.com.

What else can you do? Well, if you’re going to use existing characters in your entry, make sure you read up on those characters first. Check the Character Archives and Join boards to see if they have any info which could be useful to you. Check the database too. Read that character’s posts to get a feel for them, and if necessary speak to the character’s player. If you’re unsure how that character would react in a situation, the player can point you in the right direction.

Try to vary your sentence lengths to keep good flow, and be sure to have nice, medium/short length paragraphs. Large chunks of texts and long sentences are very off-putting to readers.

Enjoy yourselves, seriously. Omniety is all about becoming a better writer and expanding your writing horizons. Don’t worry about it, don’t stress, and try not to get too competitive. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Help is always available.


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