So, you like the Caption Contest? You think it is the bee's knees, the Elephante's instep or the cat's pajamas?! It is your ultimate goal on Seabreeze to win it?! Wow. Okay, calm down...
As a winner of the Caption Contest, I am here to give you some useful tips and advice. I am not saying after you read this guide you are a shoo-in to win or anything of the sort. This is simply what I have learned and have decided to share with you all.
Lately, I have had a good amount of people mail me asking for advice on this very subject. So I really hope everyone who reads this gets some ideas and maybe some new hope of winning.
People say you just need luck to get green thumbs, but you are mistaken. Like any other contest, it requires great skill. I think we all can be funny in our own ways and we all should have confidence in our humour.
I never in a million years thought I would ever win the Caption Contest! I would envy those who made it in and secretly wish I was them. Sometimes I would even stab a voodoo doll with their name on it.
I would sulk and sigh and think, 'Why oh why do my captions never get green thumbs? Am I cursed? Does everyone hate me?' then sob quietly in a corner of Seabreeze. After all this drama was over, I did not send in a caption for a long long time. It was probably over a year or something extreme like that.
So one day I decided, okay, I am going to submit captions every week and I do not care if they get picked or not! I am going to be stubborn and try, try, try.
Then, lo and behold, I won!!! I was shocked and amazed. Me? I made it in? Is this right? *checks again* Yep!
I was jumping for joy as I screenied this momentous event and told my family what happened. They really did not get why I was so happy, but then again they just think I'm just some crazy dude who goes windsurfing when it's pouring rain, freezing cold and trees are being uprooted.
After this surreal moment, I started to understand that it wasn't that I could not be funny. It was just that I finally started to hone in on my caption skills.
I thought longer about what my entries would be on and also sat and edited them before I sent them in.
It always makes me smile when I see one of my captions green thumbed :) along with being shocked, amazed and excited!!! I sometimes even give myself a pat on the back. *blushes* Yes, I'm a nerd. Okay, okay, enough about me...
Here are my top 10 suggestions upon entering the Caption Contest:
1. ALWAYS use proper English. Do not use chat speak! I know this is said a lot, but there is a reason for that.
2. Try and think of something unique, that not everyone would think of when they look at the caption picture.
3. Submit more than one caption! This way you give the Caption Contest judge a variety of options to choose from.
4. Look at the captions that have won in the past. See how well they put together their idea. (But don't copy them, obviously!)
5. If you find the entry funny, use it! It is always favourable to go with your instincts.
6. Make sure you have the Seabreeze names correct. Like if you call that Ixi, a Kau (or saying that Faellie is an Eizzil Etc.) you might not get in.
7. Sometimes putting a current Seabreeze event into your Caption helps. Like if there is a plot going on? Try using a plot character in your caption.
8. Do not get discouraged if you do not get in the first time. Keep trying. :)
9. Ask a close Seabreeze friend what they think of your caption. If they laugh, maybe the judge will too.
10. Lastly, have fun with it! If you are not having fun, then I suggest you move on to another contest.
Finally, if you have won the Caption Contest?:Grrreat job! *hugs* But personally, it's not about the green thumbs for me… it's a big accomplishment to triumph in a creative contest. It gives you pride and it shows that you can be funny.
How cool is that? Super cool in my book!
N1GEL
> 9 months ago, 19 Oct 2016
