Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Ultimate Writer Throwdown
I have noticed in my 15 months as a professional writer (on the web) that writers tend pride themselves in the quality of their work, the speed of their turnaround time and their personal level of creativity. There are a lot of great writers out there, but what I have always wondered is: how would they do if they had to duke it out one on one writing about the exact same topic?
That gave me an idea. I would like to start a tradition here on WickedFire where writers can go head to head in a contest of their skills and ability to deliver. I want it to be fun, fast and furious. I want us writers to really show off our skills and dazzle our audience as much as we can. Writing can be a very isolating way to make a living, so I believe this contest could be a social event that would let us be able to show off to more than just our clients.
In that spirit, I came up with what I'm calling the Ultimate Writer Throwdown. I want it to be a contest we can treat like a sport. Where we give our absolute best in the pursuit of victory, vanity and a cash prize!
I chose this thread sub forum because I believe it fits here best since it boils down to (at least one writer) selling content. If a Moderator disagrees, feel free to move this post to wherever you feel is best.
So, having said that, here is how I want it to go:
I would like each match to have a 'sponsor' that agrees to buy the article of his or her choice among the two contestants. For the first match or two, it may be possible to get two writers to compete for reputation's sake alone. If we can get that situation to work then I'm willing to do a few matches where there is no cash prize from a sponsor, but there needs to be iTrader. The sponsor of each match will choose the winner, leave them a positive iTrader, offer a positive review and, in turn, they get to hold the copyright to the article they have chosen. The winner needs to leave a positive iTrader back thanking the sponsor for sponsoring their match and their prize. The 'loser' is free to sell his or her article in any manner they so choose and owns the copyright to their article.
All articles must be clearly described by the sponsor before the match begins, including word count (must be 500 words or less), any required keywords, and any other particular elements that the article needs to include. In other words, if a sponsor wants 'sales copy' they should say that up front, but if they want 'an article written from the first person perspective' then they should specify - up front. Sponsors should bear in mind that they get what they pay for, so the better writers on WickedFire are not likely to be willing to write sales copy for 2 or 3 cents per word. The higher the reward the sponsor is willing to offer, the better the chance is that they will attract higher quality writers willing to duke it out to win that cash. Plus, we all love patrons so it is a good way to build your own rep.
Please keep in mind that sponsors and contestants are both volunteering so I would like to keep a spirit of fun, and not have this turn into a way for mooches to get cheap content. Yes, it's for the vanity and pure sport, but writers do need to eat, too, and hopefully even the 'losers' will be able to sell their work to the highest bidder so we can all benefit at the end of each match.
In order to keep things fun, I would like to ask each writer to create a fun bio of at least 4 or 5 sentences that is exciting and entices the sponsor to choose that writer. Be wildly creative and sell yourself. It's a good idea to mention where you come from (even if you want to make up an imaginary place), what your strengths are as a writer, what your background as a writer is and, of course, why you want to enter the Ultimate Writer Throwdown. Please keep it over the top and enjoyable for those viewing this thread to read. Remember that this is supposed to be a fun way for us to market ourselves and give the viewers a cool thread to check on regularly.
I would like for everyone who participates to keep a record of their wins, losses and any ties on their profile or, if feeling generous, in their signature (with a link to this thread). That way, we can turn this into a cool WickedFire tradition. Even if you lose, there's no sense in being embarrassed because I am willing to bet that plenty of writers won't be willing to try this out for fear of being embarrassed.
I am not sure if we will be allowed to start Ultimate Writer Throwdown threads because that will be up to the Moderators of this forum, but if so then I would ideally like to see each Throwdown have its own thread. If you are a Moderator and reading this thread, please let me know if it would be alright for us to have separate Ultimate Writer Throwdown threads for each match. If not, I believe we can keep it confined to this thread easily enough.
I think either 24 or 48 hours per match (from the time that both writers agree to get started) should be enough time to come up with a well written article. It will be the responsibility of each contestant to make sure that they are subscribed to this thread so that they see the announcement for the beginning of the match and can get started on their articles. We may all live in different time zones, so it would be a good idea to check this thread regularly if you are planning to take part. The same goes for sponsors.
So, to clarify, this is what I'm asking for:
Sponsors - If you would like to sponsor a match, please send me a PM. Let me know exactly what kind of article you want and please make sure it is 500 words or less in size. I am not yet prohibiting any topics so feel free to ask for anything in any way you want it delivered. Please also be willing to leave the winner an iTrader, a review in this thread stating why you chose them and if you are willing to offer a cash prize for the winner, please let me know the full amount and how you intend to pay - such as via PayPal.
Contestants - For now, if you are willing to participate in a match, please send me a PM stating that you want to take part in a match. As soon as the first match is held, I will let all of the people who PM'd me that they wanted to participate know via PM so that they can come to this thread and introduce themselves for a chance to be chosen by the sponsor to battle it out in the first Ultimate Writer Throwdown.
Everyone Else - Please let us know in this thread if you like this idea and if you would like to see it happen. Your written support will make the difference and let everyone who might be sitting on the fence know that a WickedFire audience will be watching. You are also free to leave your own assessment of the contestants for each match, as well as post your own personal thoughts on how well they wrote. Keep in mind, you are the crowd so booing and cheering are what we hope you will do!
Alright, that's enough from me - what do those of you reading this post think of the idea? Feel free to leave your feedback: good, bad or indifferent!
Thank you for reading and here's hoping we can hold our first Ultimate Writer Throwdown here on WickedFire soon!
I have noticed in my 15 months as a professional writer (on the web) that writers tend pride themselves in the quality of their work, the speed of their turnaround time and their personal level of creativity. There are a lot of great writers out there, but what I have always wondered is: how would they do if they had to duke it out one on one writing about the exact same topic?
That gave me an idea. I would like to start a tradition here on WickedFire where writers can go head to head in a contest of their skills and ability to deliver. I want it to be fun, fast and furious. I want us writers to really show off our skills and dazzle our audience as much as we can. Writing can be a very isolating way to make a living, so I believe this contest could be a social event that would let us be able to show off to more than just our clients.
In that spirit, I came up with what I'm calling the Ultimate Writer Throwdown. I want it to be a contest we can treat like a sport. Where we give our absolute best in the pursuit of victory, vanity and a cash prize!
I chose this thread sub forum because I believe it fits here best since it boils down to (at least one writer) selling content. If a Moderator disagrees, feel free to move this post to wherever you feel is best.
So, having said that, here is how I want it to go:
I would like each match to have a 'sponsor' that agrees to buy the article of his or her choice among the two contestants. For the first match or two, it may be possible to get two writers to compete for reputation's sake alone. If we can get that situation to work then I'm willing to do a few matches where there is no cash prize from a sponsor, but there needs to be iTrader. The sponsor of each match will choose the winner, leave them a positive iTrader, offer a positive review and, in turn, they get to hold the copyright to the article they have chosen. The winner needs to leave a positive iTrader back thanking the sponsor for sponsoring their match and their prize. The 'loser' is free to sell his or her article in any manner they so choose and owns the copyright to their article.
All articles must be clearly described by the sponsor before the match begins, including word count (must be 500 words or less), any required keywords, and any other particular elements that the article needs to include. In other words, if a sponsor wants 'sales copy' they should say that up front, but if they want 'an article written from the first person perspective' then they should specify - up front. Sponsors should bear in mind that they get what they pay for, so the better writers on WickedFire are not likely to be willing to write sales copy for 2 or 3 cents per word. The higher the reward the sponsor is willing to offer, the better the chance is that they will attract higher quality writers willing to duke it out to win that cash. Plus, we all love patrons so it is a good way to build your own rep.
Please keep in mind that sponsors and contestants are both volunteering so I would like to keep a spirit of fun, and not have this turn into a way for mooches to get cheap content. Yes, it's for the vanity and pure sport, but writers do need to eat, too, and hopefully even the 'losers' will be able to sell their work to the highest bidder so we can all benefit at the end of each match.
In order to keep things fun, I would like to ask each writer to create a fun bio of at least 4 or 5 sentences that is exciting and entices the sponsor to choose that writer. Be wildly creative and sell yourself. It's a good idea to mention where you come from (even if you want to make up an imaginary place), what your strengths are as a writer, what your background as a writer is and, of course, why you want to enter the Ultimate Writer Throwdown. Please keep it over the top and enjoyable for those viewing this thread to read. Remember that this is supposed to be a fun way for us to market ourselves and give the viewers a cool thread to check on regularly.
I would like for everyone who participates to keep a record of their wins, losses and any ties on their profile or, if feeling generous, in their signature (with a link to this thread). That way, we can turn this into a cool WickedFire tradition. Even if you lose, there's no sense in being embarrassed because I am willing to bet that plenty of writers won't be willing to try this out for fear of being embarrassed.
I am not sure if we will be allowed to start Ultimate Writer Throwdown threads because that will be up to the Moderators of this forum, but if so then I would ideally like to see each Throwdown have its own thread. If you are a Moderator and reading this thread, please let me know if it would be alright for us to have separate Ultimate Writer Throwdown threads for each match. If not, I believe we can keep it confined to this thread easily enough.
I think either 24 or 48 hours per match (from the time that both writers agree to get started) should be enough time to come up with a well written article. It will be the responsibility of each contestant to make sure that they are subscribed to this thread so that they see the announcement for the beginning of the match and can get started on their articles. We may all live in different time zones, so it would be a good idea to check this thread regularly if you are planning to take part. The same goes for sponsors.
So, to clarify, this is what I'm asking for:
Sponsors - If you would like to sponsor a match, please send me a PM. Let me know exactly what kind of article you want and please make sure it is 500 words or less in size. I am not yet prohibiting any topics so feel free to ask for anything in any way you want it delivered. Please also be willing to leave the winner an iTrader, a review in this thread stating why you chose them and if you are willing to offer a cash prize for the winner, please let me know the full amount and how you intend to pay - such as via PayPal.
Contestants - For now, if you are willing to participate in a match, please send me a PM stating that you want to take part in a match. As soon as the first match is held, I will let all of the people who PM'd me that they wanted to participate know via PM so that they can come to this thread and introduce themselves for a chance to be chosen by the sponsor to battle it out in the first Ultimate Writer Throwdown.
Everyone Else - Please let us know in this thread if you like this idea and if you would like to see it happen. Your written support will make the difference and let everyone who might be sitting on the fence know that a WickedFire audience will be watching. You are also free to leave your own assessment of the contestants for each match, as well as post your own personal thoughts on how well they wrote. Keep in mind, you are the crowd so booing and cheering are what we hope you will do!
Alright, that's enough from me - what do those of you reading this post think of the idea? Feel free to leave your feedback: good, bad or indifferent!
Thank you for reading and here's hoping we can hold our first Ultimate Writer Throwdown here on WickedFire soon!
I really hope we can make a tradition and quite a spectacle of this!
