By now, most of you have probably seen the rant I posted on the last entry. I would like to apologize to all contestants, and especially . As mentioned in that rant, everything I said was just "the ramblings of a writer with a particularly large chip on his shoulder and should be taken lightly", or something to that effect. I truly hope you all don't take much that I say seriously, as I really don't mean it all that seriously.

I want to now take the time to really tell you all what I think is wrong in the best way that I can. I want to give criticism to help you improve, not just complain and rant about what is wrong.

First and foremost, I must point out the problem that is most visible to me. There are two levels of this problem, the first is smaller and more manageable. Namely, it is that stories by certain writers are all very nearly the same. They have the same basic plot, same tiny amount of expansion, and the same "characters". No creativity. It's the cookie cutter effect. Every time they want to write a story, they just do the same thing. It's the status quo my friends, and it is a very dangerous place to be. It saddens me that I no longer see creativity. I only see a certain type of story that seems to be successful enough, and writers settling for that. Why not try to create, innovate, improve? I say make your own characters, give them personality, make their struggles and conflicts seem human. Design them from the ground up, leaving out the omnipotency. I say make new plots, different scenarios that no one has tried before, or new and unique variations on old ones. Different characters doing different things, keep the readers guessing and always wanting more, while knowing what is happening and why. I say write expansion if you're going to write expansion. Form the plot around the growth, and not the other way around. Make it more than an afterthought, a single line of text. Detail, always more detail. This is the advice I give. Not a rant, suggestion. If one writer here tries out these tips, then I will be satisfied.

But that brings me to the second part of this problem, which is that many writers are writing the same story. Yes, I know they are technically different. However, they look the same, feel the same, act the same. Does that not make them the same? Break free from the herd, create your own style. People will respond well, I guarantee it.

The next problem is grammar and spelling. If people really would like to learn some basic rules of grammar and spelling, I'd be more than happy to write a journal with as many as I can fit. The language used in your stories are a bigger part of them than you can imagine. It shows the effort you put in that story, and can have quite a large effect on the reader's opinion. Good grammar and spelling show that you have enough pride in your work to take the time to polish it. I see stories out there that glitter, polish 'em up and they'll shine.

That's all I wanted to say. I can be reasonable, sometimes I just forget the difference between flaming and helping. I want change for the better, but I can have an odd way of showing it. I'd love it if people just considered the things I've said here honestly and in regard to their own work.

Always trying to help,
Feorath, Founder of Expansion Writers






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Results of the Contest
(NOTICE / The Rewards had to be changed due to the lower number of Contestants)

[Main Judge]
[2nd Judges]



[1st Place Winner]


Rewards /

*Free requests from a contestant (that finished in one of the last places) of your choosing and one of the judges.

*Be posted on here as the first winner of the first club contest. This title must be defended in the club contests to come.

*All other contestants must post you in their journal entries as the winner of this contest for an entire month.

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[2nd Place Winner]


Rewards /

*Free request from any contestant in one of the last places, assumin g the first place winner has not already chosen them. I don't want people getting overloaded.

*Be posted on here as are 2nd place winner of this contest.

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[Last Place Winners]
(Not In Order)






Reward /
*All members in this will be posted on the next journal entry for a month and will get to have their expansion story or drawing of choice posted as a link on here for people to see and check out for a whole month.


Out of respect for the last place winners, we will not reveal who got very last place or what order they lost in. So please don't bother asking us on that matter.

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Founders


Mangers



Current members.