Beyond Infinity∞

'Beyond Infinity Writing Contest' has officially come to a closure. I still can't believe it. It seemed like only yesterday when I was still thinking whether I should host a contest. This blog is to give an overview of how I hosted the writing contest and to remind myself that I have  once done something special here on AFF. 

Step 1: Sieving out of lyrics from all my INFINITE songs in my phone to get the story prompts.
This was really fun having to scan through the lyrics and sieve out the useful ones. At this stage, I noticed something interesting: Almost all the songs sung by INFINITE have sad lyrics. And that's to my liking since I love sad stories. Hehe. I could stil recall how I was lying in bed till wee hours trying to write out prompts in my phone's notes. It was tiring but worth the while. My first step, after all. 

Step 2: Buying of merchandise. 
I went on different websites to scout for worthy prizes and had to order them using my sister's credit card. Sshhh... Keke~
I had a mental breakdown when I realised I'm buying so many merchandises but none are for me. In the end, I bought 'Will you go out with me' album by teen top to since it was just realeased at that point and I wanted to make myself feel better. Errr...That was on impulse, definitely. However, I did not regret when it was delivered since the photo book was kinda well-taken. BUT I had another mental breakdown when I heard the soundtrack and realised there were only 2 songs exlcuding the instrumental. OTL

Step 3: Creating of contest
I was so nervous when I first created the contest because I was afraid that no one would join. However, as time passes and the subscribers increased, I felt relieved and honoured. I am really thankful for those who joined since I'm new to contests and am not a worthy judge. The prizes pictures killed me as I tried to crop and post it up. I spent hours trying to size it correctly. Gosh. 

Step 4: Managing of contest. 
I updated the list of received entries every once in a while and it was funny how I would try to scroll and be careful not to see any comments written below. Haha. I am easily influenced so in order to be fair, I was banned from the comments section. 'Frequently Asked Questions' was subsequently added because there were questions raised and I thought I might as well do so since others contests did too. Heh.  

Step 5: Announcements
My announcements are SUPER lengthy, I know. But I can't help it since I need to get the full message across. Hehe. 
I guess I'm that long-winded. 
 

Step 6: Judging Sheet 
I did up my own judging sheet and edited a few times until it became 100 marks. I took some time to figure out how to print it out the way I wanted. Haha. 

Step 7: Judging
I was so excited to judge initially. However, after I printed out and cut them using a pair of scissors, the stack was staring at me evilly. I thought I wouldn't take too long to judge since they are one-shots. However, I was proven wrong. I realised that reading and judging are really two different things. I have to read in depth, search for mistakes and not merely for enjoyment sake. Therefore, I read twice or more times for every single entry. Now that I think about it, I would have read (29 x 2= 58) at least since I re-read. WOW. 
Oh. And I have to force myself to sit before the computer with a pencil, eraser, judging rubrics, judging sheets and calculator so as to get judging over and done with. 

Before Judging: 

After Judging: 

Step 8: Results 
When I was finally done judging, I did not feel relieved surprisingly. This was because I knew that I have to write a paragraph of justification for those chosen ones. I am bad at expressing myself, especially in writing, so I really dreaded it. Nonetheless, I tried my best and was finally done yesterday. 

Step 9: Post- Results.
After results were out, it's great to see comments of congratulatory messages flowing in. I felt really appreciated when people thanked me for hosting the contest. It made me feel 'Ah. They had fun because of me. Perhaps creating this contest despite all the pain was not that bad afterall'. ^^ Subsequently, I received replies from some of the winners via PM. I would say seeing that my contest made them this happy made me felt the same way too. (:
One of the contestants, a non-winner, sent me a personal message too and I really appreciate it a lot. It's my pleasure to have her first work here on AFF, really. 

Step 10: The End
Everything would be over once I am done sending the prizes. It's an interesting experience to host a contest of my own. I tried to be professional and I hope 'Beyond Infinity Writing Contest' made a relatively decent writing contest. Also, I ensured that I was fair to everyone, at least I thought so. 
Another contest? *Shakes head*
I think I'll die early if I hold another contest like this one. The preparation is gonna kill me. Haha. 
BUT a mini-challenge would be fine when I'm bored (; . Keke ~ 

Random stuff:
Now that I have the addresses to send to already, I really want to post it ASAP. I seriously need to get things off my mind before I go insane. Karma sending and promotions too... Oh my gosh, stressed mode on again. And sigh. School is starting soon DX . 
But YAY. I am finally free to update. <3 Oh yes, I didn't check my grammar for this blog because I'm in a rush. So let's overlook that, okay? (X 
(Edited) Kekeke, I have just posted the prizes. YES! Schedule freed. <3

Oh. And an interesting fact from my contest is that almost half of the stories have their characters dead. Kekeke~

Prizes that are ready to go:

-watermelon

INFINITE ∞ INSPIRITS