Whether it's your first time or your sixth time, writing a novella in 12 weeks isn't easy.
As a 2021 ONC Winner and 2023 Honorable Mention, I would know. After years of participation and reflection, I have lots of advice to share on how I did it. In...
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Hi all. OpenNovellaContest sent out this message recently and I wanted to make sure the community saw it. I also wanted to review a few of the solutions for the writers it applies to.
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First, you can check to make sure your draft is ONC-eligible (posted on or after February 1) by going to the desktop version of Wattpad on a laptop or computer and hovering over the ongoing tag at the top of your expanded story description.
Here's an example from my ONC entry, which I created the story for on February 1 but published the first part of February 6.
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If your story says it was published before February 1, it is in eligible because the draft/story creation date (aka when you clicked that "create a new story" button) was before the ONC prompt release. To the judges, this is proof that you technically started and worked on your entry before the contest began. Because of this, they will disqualify you and your story.
The solution regarding this situation is thankfully simple. But it's also unfortunate if you've already submitted for Round One and garnered some reads, comments, and votes. Yet it needs to be done if you want your ONC entry to count!
First, create a new story. Then copy and paste all the content from your ineligible version into that new version. Then take down and delete your old ineligible version. Finally, resubmit your new version to the ONC Round One Form and you should be good to go!
If you have any questions or concerns about this process, don't hesitate to comment here or on the official Open Novella Contest account! The Ambassador Team is pretty speedy with their replies, and I'd like to think I am too.
