Finish The Story Contest - Curie Community Building Support Application
When I heard the first time from @randomwanderings that there could be a chance for the Finish the Story Contest to be supported by @curie (the Arcadia of every writer on Steemit) I almost fell from the chair: we were on the right track!
There are communities that develop contests, this instead is a contest from which a community is rapidly evolving: the @bananafish' Realms. There's a reason for this choice and I'll grab the opportunity of this application for giving a brief insight about what animates the Bananafish as the home for the Finish the Story (fiction) and the recent Mizu no Oto (haiku poetry) contests.
Here below please find the Q&A taken from @curie's Community Building Support project
1. What is your community/contest and what is its purpose here on Steem?
There are so many things to say that I'll put forward a couple of ideas in points:
Our core values: quality, inclusion, friendship, solidarity, an easy going environment.
This is a genuine project made by minnows with little material assets, whose greatest resources are: passion, building things with lot of work and care (see the design or the post curation for a clear example), truly caring for everyone.
This is a project that aims to be a shared, non-hierarchic initiative and to give a space for everyone (i.e., people can write the first half of the story and talk about themselves).
About the contest format: a healthy competition helps to understand the right direction for improving and learning together.
What we do and what's our purpose on Steemit: actually, we run two weekly contests, the main one is Finish the Story and our new entry is the Mizu no Oto haiku poetry contest, whose principles you may find here.
Our purpose on Steemit is to create interesting stories and poetry, pushing ourselves always a step further in our writing skills and believing in the power of creativity and imagination: we want to enrich ourselves and the whole Steemit with good contents.
2. How much support are you seeking per month for the two-month period?
I am deeply grateful for all the support that you already gave to this project. My plan in the long run is to make the contest/s self sustainable and, perhaps, to attract the interest of some good Samaritan wishing to pledge a conspicuous delegation. Sustainability is also why in the contest SBI shares are awarded, giving the possibility for the Bananafish to also receive a permanent vote for every share given to the winners. I have to say that we already gathered 11 delegations and I'm so grateful to our brave Bananafish Knights, who helped enormously in giving to our @bananafish vote a sense (actually it's voting at 0.02 with 501 SP, way better than nothing!).
The more common support amounts will be in the 100 - 200 Steem range.
Taking your range into consideration and clarifying that I'm more than grateful for everything you may decide to allocate, the request would be 52 STEEM per month, total 104 STEEM. As much as the @bananafish' votes, such funds are 100% intended to reward the community members and contests'participants for their worthy contributions. I forgot to add: 100% of the payouts from the @bananafish' posts go into power-up for better voting and in STEEM used for the contests' pots.
3. How will this support be used?
Finish the Story weekly pot: 8 STEEM
Mizu no Oto weekly pot: 3 STEEM
Weekly contribution for those that will write the story prompt: 2 STEEM*
*The STEEM may be converted in SBI as long as we need to increase the @bananafish VP.
4. Approximately how many users participate in your community or contest?
In 27 weekly editions of the Finish the Story contest, a total amount of 338 stories have been written, with an average of 12-13 stories per week. The first week of the poetry contest collected a total of 16 entries.
5.How will supporting your community or contest help grow the Steem community?
The Bananafish project aims to make Steemit interesting for its contents, providing quality stories and poems that someone would read just out of interest, whether he's a Steemian or not. We focus on human interactions and believe that Steemit will be successful only when it's economical aspect will be accompanied by real values and true content engagement.
Thank you @curie and @randomwanderings for this amazing opportunity once again!
I want to comment on one part of this application: How will your community help grow the Steem community?
What makes a community? On Steemit it's a unique combination of factors. Many people are drawn here because there's a chance to make money. Why do they stay? Making money isn't that easy. People stay because there's a sense of community--an opportunity to share and create. That's the heart of finishthestory. This is one of the most supportive, encouraging environments on the platform. And the encouragement comes from peers as much as it does from the administrators.
As I write this I think of the show, Cheers. On this show, people stopped by and caught up with friends. They shared stories and commented. That's sort of what it feels like on finishthestory (sans the liquor). There's a familiarity, a sense of community, which may be lacking on some parts of this platform.
Finishthestory is not for "authors"--it's for people who like to write, or think they might like to write. And, as casual as this small community seems, it's run very efficiently. I can't imagine the amount of work that goes into making so many moving parts run smoothly. Recently, a new writing experience was added: haiku. This is not a form I'm used to, but I'm not afraid to try it. Because I can't fail, not here. Here, on finishthestory, I can only grow.
So, how will finishthestory help the Steem platform to grow? It's well-run, creative, inviting and supportive. People like it here. That's the kind of community-glue money can't buy. But it helps :)
Triple wow! Tip! Thanks for sharing this @agmoore.. I'm thinking to create a dedicated post with yours and @raj808 comments with the aim of gathering some ideas about how to further improve the contest together.. stayin on steemit makes sense if we can create a worthy experience that goes beyond the economical aspects. Cheers my friend!
Thank you for the tip! I meant every word. You have created a very positive atmosphere here--more resources would allow you to create more opportunity, such as rewarding great comments (as per @theironfelix re: @ehre.germany.) Hope the Curie award comes through--you certainly deserve it.
In the end it's for everyone.. yes I run the @bananafish but basically it's like a trust. It's really bound to a mission 😉
On Cheers they also drank like fish!
Great comment!
Yeah, they did :)
Hi @agmoore! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @f3nix!
@tipU voting service | For investors.
Great initiative to increase engagement!
Thanks @dynamicrypto, your appreciation means a lot!
Well thank you for being part of making Steemit awesome!
First off, thank you to the @Curie community for the support that they've given to the @Bananafish Tribe, Finish the Story contest and quite frankly Steemit as a whole!
I completely agree with @agmoore's and @raj808's comments (which stated many points better than I ever could 😁) and I'll try not to repeat their excellent points!
I was fortunate to meet @F3nix and @Marcoriccardi (those two powerhouses who bust their fins pushing the @Bananafish Tribe forward) soon after I joined Steemit. Through this past year, I've been able to witness their interactions on this site and on Discord. If I was only given one word to describe both of them, I'd have to say "genuine". These two men are real with their caring, their want for everyone to be able to find success in doing what they love, their friendships, their humor, their writing and their feedback. Their sincerity was what compelled me to give them my actual name, which I have only shared with two others.
The Finish the Fiction (and now Mizu No Oto) contest are run with that same integrity. There isn't favoritism towards technical ability or standing friendships. Creativity reigns supreme and that has given many the courage to join in and have fun putting their spin on an ending. Also, each week the writers and readers are greatly encouraged to submit their vote for their favorite ending. It's a sign of respect for the opinions and voices of the community.
This is what people find when joining the Finish the Fiction (and now Mizu No Oto) challenges. A group that genuinely cares and honestly wants to have fun together. A community that is only possible thanks to @F3nix, @Marcoriccardi, the @Bananafish Tribe!
Oh my, I left this beautiful comment behind.. so sorry my friend 😭
Finish the Story and Mizu no Oto contests are a haven of creative writing and international friendship here on Steemit. I put in this project the most part of my efforts for this platform, but it's nothing compared to the stalwart dedication of @f3nix.
I really hope this project will last a very long time and helping all its participants growing as writers and as accounts!
Thank you @curie for all the support you gave and will give!
I like the starlwart part ha! Thanks Marco, my partner in crime!
Great application for one of the best writing contest/communities on steemit. @curie, I'd like to add my 2 cents on why I say this. There are many great writing contests across steemit, some hosted by whales, some by large communities but one thing they all seem to lack is a genuine desire to foster inventiveness for it's own sake. The finish the story community, and the structure of the competition, does this with a non-judgmental ethos. Bringing writers from many different backgrounds and abilities together which inspires learning and betterment through the simple act of interaction. Reading others work, commenting and particularly in the structure as you can see very clearly how other writers thought processes have taken them down a different path, or a different writing style, from the same beginning.
Finish the story comp rewards consistently based on the criteria of inventive/unique endings. I haven't to this day seen a better creative catalyst on steemit, rewarding interesting and inventive writing from the prompt. This is how people grow into good or even great creative writers, having something to spark that imagination in the first place is half the battle. Finish the story achieves this, I have seen so many people join after stating they only wrote science articles etc after @f3nix encouragement that they should give it a go. The community is strong in this initiative and if anything I think @f3nix has asked for too little in his application 😉
Anyway, I'll finish by saying; curie is all about community and fostering engagement, 'finish the story' mirrors those values ✍ 🙂
Believe me if I tell you that I took a screenshot of your comment and will keep it with care between my best memories of this adventure that we're living together. You understood the true spirit of this initiative and put it down better than how I could ever write. It's through creativity and overcoming our mind prisons that we can feed the best part of us. Cheers my friend!
No worries @f3nix. I spoke from the heart with this comment and I hope that you get the support that the contest deserves :-)
@f3nix should copy & paste this into a post for bananafish! Amazing comment!
Thanks @dynamicrypto I'm a great believer in trying to be real with comments. Sometimes you look at a post and you think 'nice art, I really liked the way you create contrast between sea and sky' and so that's what gets posted, something short but meaningful. Then other times like this, there is so much more to say :-)
Outstanding!
Good idea.. I think I'll do that! 🤔
I'm so glad to hear the good news! Although we had already felt Curie's support in some stories, the fact that they directly support the contest is a joy of a thousand suns! I remember when we started, everyone watered the soil! Now the tree is growing. It's an ant job, but the leaders of this project have been @f3nix and @marcoricardi. To them all the congratulations of the world. From afar, I embrace them! ;)
Thank you Nancy, your presence from the beginning was so important .. I hope that you will keep being part of this and one day we'll look back and smile and remember the old times like true friends around a camping fire 😉
Thank you Nancy, you're so kind 🤗
I'm looking forward for your stories, and maybe your haiku...
Thank you Nancy, you're very kind! I'm looking forward for your next stories, and maybe a haiku...🤗
Always on the wave like a true mutant cetacean!
Ha hargh!
A great initiative. I need some time to gather my creativity!
BTW thank you. https://steempeak.com/positivity/@vdux/sometimes-people-are-awesome
You're a very nice person 🙂 I'll keep supporting you when I can .. come and write a story when you feel like buddy and thanks for your post!
Shy inner artist
Lured with encouragement
Intellect blossoms
:)
We created a monster.
(Joking!! Thanks for your original haiku-comment.. next step, see you in the Finish the Story!)
Ho ho, thank you!
So far short form serves me best -- a bit of rest between technically-minded tasks. But as my brain-fruit swells with creative juices and I get a little more English language exercise, I may even attempt that bold venture!
If I do, I may only be able to write in purple prose though :)
Poetry and fiction are indeed the best counterbalance/antidote against much technical thinking.
Good luck, guys. I am a big fan of the project. I believe it contributes a lot of quality to the content pool.
Thank you @misterakpan. We are honored to have you as a member of the Bananafish Realms!