2011
Our first year with Random Genre Month!
What a fun year it was, too! Jack and Emma, our co-founders, came up with the idea in the midst of their NaNoWriMo planning. It was started to make another writing competition, but one with a bit of a challenge. The rules were made and the website was created and, in order to stay away from NaNoWriMo, they made it 60,000 words instead of 50,000. This proved to be a difficult extra amount.
Finally, NaNoWriMo ended and the hype for RGM began. December 1st came around and the genres were picked. The first genre kind of brought everyone's mood down a bit. Erotic fiction was chosen and we hoped that the other genres would be better. They certainly weren't. The second genre picked was Mystery, and then the third, Science Fiction.
The month went by quickly and soon the holidays ended and it was type to start writing again. January 1st came and Jack sped ahead. He faced difficulty in the middle of the month, but eventually went on to finish the novel, winning RGM 2011.
Stats:
Total Competitors: 4
Total Completed: 1
Total Words: 60,003
Winner(s): Jackpk (60,003 - SciFi)
Genres: Erotic, Mystery, SciFi
What a fun year it was, too! Jack and Emma, our co-founders, came up with the idea in the midst of their NaNoWriMo planning. It was started to make another writing competition, but one with a bit of a challenge. The rules were made and the website was created and, in order to stay away from NaNoWriMo, they made it 60,000 words instead of 50,000. This proved to be a difficult extra amount.
Finally, NaNoWriMo ended and the hype for RGM began. December 1st came around and the genres were picked. The first genre kind of brought everyone's mood down a bit. Erotic fiction was chosen and we hoped that the other genres would be better. They certainly weren't. The second genre picked was Mystery, and then the third, Science Fiction.
The month went by quickly and soon the holidays ended and it was type to start writing again. January 1st came and Jack sped ahead. He faced difficulty in the middle of the month, but eventually went on to finish the novel, winning RGM 2011.
Stats:
Total Competitors: 4
Total Completed: 1
Total Words: 60,003
Winner(s): Jackpk (60,003 - SciFi)
Genres: Erotic, Mystery, SciFi
2012
Our second year with Random Genre Month showed quite a bit of expansion. In the months leading to December and January, the amount of competitors signed up for RGM sextupled. While we weren’t sure how having a greater number of competitors was going to affect our writing and managing the website, we were sure that we were going to have a lot of help with the two new staff members that signed on, in addition to the three we already had. Another new aspect to the site was the decreasing of the word count to 50,000 to increase win percentage.
Eventually it came time for the genre choosing. Two of the three genres that were randomly picked were the same as the year before. Erotic and Mystery, in addition to the new adventure. With the suggestion of Syaffolee, though, we added a new twist. Competitors were allowed to combine genres, incorporating elements from all three.
Finally it was time for Random Genre Month. The month began slow, and it seem like our number of winners were not increase, but as the month progressed, we started to have more words written, especially in the category of Adventure, which was the obvious favorite.
About halfway through the January, another idea was announced: the possibility to read and share stories. Unfortunately, the idea did not last long as people did not use it and with the end of the season brought the deletion of the page from the site.
On the last few days of RGM, though, it seemed like, once again, we would have only one winner. Then, at the last minute, we had another two victors come through and finish, ending another great year of Random Genre Month.
Stats:
Total Competitors: 24 (+600%)
Total Completed: 2 (+100%)
Total Words: 177,102 (+295%)
Winners: Jackpk (50,017-Mystery), Syaffolee (50,814-EAM)
Genres: Mystery, Erotic, Adventure
Eventually it came time for the genre choosing. Two of the three genres that were randomly picked were the same as the year before. Erotic and Mystery, in addition to the new adventure. With the suggestion of Syaffolee, though, we added a new twist. Competitors were allowed to combine genres, incorporating elements from all three.
Finally it was time for Random Genre Month. The month began slow, and it seem like our number of winners were not increase, but as the month progressed, we started to have more words written, especially in the category of Adventure, which was the obvious favorite.
About halfway through the January, another idea was announced: the possibility to read and share stories. Unfortunately, the idea did not last long as people did not use it and with the end of the season brought the deletion of the page from the site.
On the last few days of RGM, though, it seemed like, once again, we would have only one winner. Then, at the last minute, we had another two victors come through and finish, ending another great year of Random Genre Month.
Stats:
Total Competitors: 24 (+600%)
Total Completed: 2 (+100%)
Total Words: 177,102 (+295%)
Winners: Jackpk (50,017-Mystery), Syaffolee (50,814-EAM)
Genres: Mystery, Erotic, Adventure
2013
2013 was the year that we grew to nearly 100 competitors. With some help in the advertising department, there was a great increase in the number of people that we had. That made it slightly more difficult on the RGM staff but we kept our hopes high.
Unfortunately, however, Random Genre Month was hacked by some members of the Random Genre Month staff and there are still remnants of what they did in the website and there probably will be for some time. Though that pushed the staff backwards, the RGM writers continued strong.
Throughout the month, new ideas were tried out including a sharing portion of the website but due to a lack of support it was deleted. Apart from that, RGM began to finally hit its stride and find what works best with a very successful year.
Stats:
Total Competitors: 89 (+370%)
Total Completed: 4 (+200%)
Total Words: 494,496 (+279%)
Winners: Hap21b (51,201 - Young Adult), mernineame (58,202 - Young Adult), TearsOfNightfall (50,024 - Horror), zombienovelwriter (54,740 Young Adult Horror)
Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Erotic Fiction
Unfortunately, however, Random Genre Month was hacked by some members of the Random Genre Month staff and there are still remnants of what they did in the website and there probably will be for some time. Though that pushed the staff backwards, the RGM writers continued strong.
Throughout the month, new ideas were tried out including a sharing portion of the website but due to a lack of support it was deleted. Apart from that, RGM began to finally hit its stride and find what works best with a very successful year.
Stats:
Total Competitors: 89 (+370%)
Total Completed: 4 (+200%)
Total Words: 494,496 (+279%)
Winners: Hap21b (51,201 - Young Adult), mernineame (58,202 - Young Adult), TearsOfNightfall (50,024 - Horror), zombienovelwriter (54,740 Young Adult Horror)
Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Erotic Fiction