The Fifth (and Possibly Final) Morrowind Writing Competition
Once again, we are celebrating the new year by organizing our annual Writing Competition at the Morrowind Writers' Guild Discord server. From the 9thof January, 2025 until the 24thof January, 2026, you can submit one or more pieces of literature about Morrowind in the #submissions channel of the server with the chance to win tangible prizes. The competition will start and end on the indicated days, at 00:00, according to UTC. (Coordinated Universal Time.)
Important note: due to certain events happening in my private life, this will be the last Writing Competition I can guarantee we’ll organize. Even if competitions happen again in the future, they won’t be run by me, which means this will be our final “classic” Writing Competition. So if you’ve ever told yourself “I’ll join next year”… This is your year. This is your moment.
What do you consider a “piece of literature?”
Any written work, in any genre, such as fan fiction or essay.
This year, we will once again also accept mods that involve writing: it can be a quest or a dialogue mod, or a new in-game book, for example)
Why should I participate?
Just by participating, you might gain an audience for your writing, along with feedback from the members of the server.
In addition to which, the author of the writing that gains the first place will win a special channel on the server dedicated just for them and their writings, where the spotlight will be entirely on them. (In the Corners of Our Writers section of the server, similarly to the channels already there.)
The winner will also win the “Champion of Writing” vanity role in the server.
Cxu mi rajtas partopreni per skribajxo kiu estas en alia lingvo ol la angla?
Every writing that you submit must be in English.
Ayup lass, can uz piece o’ literature be written li’ dis?
Works submitted in any dialect of modern English are acceptable.
I have just finished a fan fiction which can be compared to In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust, as far as length is concerned. I want to submit it for the competition, so please spend weeks reading it and giving me feedback!
This time there are no restrictions concerning length. However, please bear in mind that people might have a limited capacity to read, so if you want a bigger chance to receive feedback, you might want to aim for submitting shorter pieces. If you insist on a writing a larger project for this competition, the submission of an excerpt or a demo instead of the whole work is totally acceptable, and recommended too.
I have a drawing which depicts Darth Vader surviving Episode VI and establishing a new Jedi order with Luke, as Anakin Skywalker once again. Can I submit that for this competition?
Works submitted must be about Morrowind and they absolutely should be, at the very least in part, some kind of a written work.
I have a fan fiction about an Orc Barbarian who beheads his enemies and uses their heads as hats. Can I submit that for the competition?
There are no restrictions concerning the theme (as long as it fits the broader theme of Morrowind). We believe that one of the most important functions of art is self-expression. Works exploring sexuality, trauma, grief, violence or other sensitive topics are okay, but the usage of content warnings before posting is highly recommended.
How can I submit my work?
Your work can be published on any platform that is NOT a site of a deep web**, as long as you provide a link in the #submissions channel of the Morrowind Writers' Guild server for us to access it. Somewhere at the top of your description, please include the line “Part of the Morrowind Writing Competition organized by the Morrowind Writers’ Guild” and an invite link to the server. (Can be found in the #invite-link channel of the server)
**I understand being shy about your piece of writing, however, one of the aims of this competition is to advertise our server and get new friends for us to hang out with, so just putting your work up to Google Docs, or uploading the .esp will not be acceptable this time. Your work must be published on a proper site of the surface web to be considered this time. For fan fictions and essays, we recommend using https://archiveofourown.org/(or AO3), for mods, we recommend https://www.nexusmods.com/but any site on the surface web is fine.
I will just copy-paste a popular fan fiction from AO3 and submit that as my original work, muhahahahahaha!
For anything that you submit, plagiarism is forbidden: your writing must absolutely be your own, original work.
In case of mods, just like in other modding competitions, using any non-written assets by other modders is permitted, as long as you credit them, and you’re sure that you have their explicit permission for using their asset.
What about using AI, such as ChatGPT to help me write my work?
Since there is no way to catch anyone (in a foolproof way) who would cheat with ChatGPT at this point, its usage for the sake of this competition is tolerated, but not endorsed. Just try to use it for brainstorming and inspiration instead of making it write the whole thing, okay?
How will the winner of the competition be determined?
The winners will be based on the vox populi: members of the server will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite piece of literature once the competition ends.
Can everyone participate in this competition?
Since it’s a competition organized by two people, only members of the server can participate, by submitting their work in the #submissions channel. If there’s someone you would like to participate in the competition, who is not a member of the server, you can use the invite in the #invite-link channel of the server to invite them.
You can join our server here.
How about a completely optional theme, just to get us inspired?
This year, we won’t have an optional theme, but a bunch of optional themes. As many of you know, last year, we had monthly Writing Challenges in our server. Feel free to pick any of the themes of the challenges. As a bonus, since the Writing Challenges are an ongoing event, if you choose to use any of these themes you can submit your work to both the Writing Competition and the Writing Challenge! Here’s the list of themes:
1. Alternate history
2. One room, one story
3. Inversion
4. Superheroes
5. Roman Isekai - a Roman soldier ends up in Nirn somehow
6. Narsis (TR's version)
7. Airships
8. Balmora Gravemarket (Morrowind mod)
9. The Great Hive Baan Binif (MK concept art/Morrowind mod)
10. The HoonDing
11. "Prophecy and Myth" and "Hunting and Horrors"
12. The Mistaken Nerevarine (An avarage person gets mistaken for the Nerevarine)