Dear Writer,

You may or may not have realized this already, but fantasy is a difficult genre to write. You have to take the obviously not real and make it real for the readers. I will not expect anyone to write the genre like a published professional. I myself can't even do it that well. The point of this contest is to get people to challenge the limits of their writing by tackling this tough genre.

Some of you probably know who I am and know that I have pretty high expectations when it comes to writing. However, don't let that knowledge deter you from participating. I won't post a rant bashing your story if I don't like it. I created this contest to encourage people to write my favorite genres. I'm not going to bite your head off for doing what I wanted you to do.

There is nothing to lose and definitely something to gain by participating in this contest. Even if you don't win anything, you will have practiced your writing skills, possibly tried out a new genre, and--assuming you really did exert yourself--created a story that you can be proud of. I will leave this contest up after it ends with the links to all contestants' stories, so you are getting a free promotion of sorts.

Now that I have clarified all of these things, you can put writing utensil to paper or fingers to keyboard and write to your heart's content.

Best wishes,

Eris