The last two months saw the return of the short story competition here in the UFP Community. It was a long-running tradition that returned with fanfare. The authors wrote with gusto and a winning story was chosen. The feedback has also been overwhelmingly positive, with an all-but-assured regular schedule of the contest for the foreseeable future.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Much thought went into the competition this time around. Member deuZige proposed the return of the event last year and this author finally took the ball and ran with it. What made deuZige want the contest back? It's what drew him to the UFP in the first place. "Basically the writing contests held here were what brought me here."

A lot of planning goes into writing a story. Those of us who write roleplay stories in the sim games and the few that have submitted fan fiction in our forums or for publication know that it is not just about sitting down and writing a fun quip. The stories are creations from the minds of the authors, complete with characters who have lives in this fictional universe and plots that delve into the heart and soul of Star Trek or other genres and topics.

What drove the five authors to submit their stories for the February competition? The infamous Kains says, "I've been going through some big changes in life, nothing I can really change, but my Star Trek Online character sure as heck can!" A new baby is definitely life-altering and a short story can be the perfect quick outlet for Trekkies and artists alike.

Further, the sheer challenge of writing a compelling tale in a small amount of text makes the author "strike the balance between being both concise yet being able to engross the reader in their work." Our winner Dentari put a lot of effort into this balance and it paid off with his win.

Soral also wrote with a specific intent - telling the story of his beloved Star Trek Online characters. While the names were changed in the competition, the intent was clear. "The story I submitted was just one piece of a larger story arc for those two characters that I'd like to pursue someday. Maybe even in the next story contest."

The writing is not just a great outlet for the authors, a creative tool to put their imaginations down on paper... or on the Internet. These tales of fun, excitement, future, pain, sorrow, and adventure are a compelling read for the UFP Community and Trekkies around the world. We all love living a Star Trek Online adventure; we all love reading a book about our favorite heroes from film and stage; we all love the Trek universe. But we also love to delve into the minds of our friends and fellow Trekkies.

One of my fellow writers for UFP, Hermanator, drives this point home:
"I also loved reading the other contestants, I found it interesting how they saw the competition and ended up with completely different stories. The diversity was astounding and grin worthy. Provided great afternoon reading from all writers."

This is the sentiment of all of us. While the votes only totaled 18, the view count of the thread with the five stories was 712 - a definite hot topic in the UFP Community.



The best part of this is summed up by deuZige, the reason the contests are back and running:
"The best part of the competitions is two fold. First the challenge coming from putting your work out there to be judged by not only readers who are Trekkies (the toughest audience I can imagine) but by other skilled fanfiction writers as well. Second is the knowledge that whatever happens, what you write will be read. On some sites on which you can submit your work the chance of your work being read can be somewhat disappointing. In the contests on 'this site' you're sure of readers, which is nice."

The next short story contest has just begun and we hope to have another winner crowned in April. Do you have a story to tell? Do you have a tale that will keep us all on the edge of our seats throughout? Are you looking forward to getting engrossed with the people and places and universe that your fellow Trek fans and writers create? Stay tuned, as the next great adventure is 'write' around the corner!