Story competition

The competition I want to enter has this you have to agree to:
I certify that the manuscript entered by me is my own original unaided work, and has not been published or broadcast, or submitted for publication or broadcast, and has not been entered into any other competitions. I also certify that I have read and understood the Conditions of Entry and agree to be bound by them.


Does the unaided bit mean you cannot post it here and get critiques from people on YWS?

What do you think?

Yeah I think it does. That's an awful lot of conditions!

I say its not much coonditions. you just right a good new story and submit it.

Maybe. Seems more to me like it's not supposed to be co-written.

Yeah, I think it means that you can't put it on here, because other people will be able to see and read it. So putting it on here is like a form of publishing.

Actually, no- it's perfectly okay to post it here. I indirectly quote Miss Snark, literary agent:

As long as it doesn't have an ISBN number, it's not published.

Ta-da! So, never fear. *hugs Snark*

I hate to be the party pooper but I reckon posting on here isn't such a good idea if you want to enter it.

my own original unaided work

I think the unaided bit is the important bit here. It looks to me that if the critiques on YWS aid you in any way then it breaks the rules . I reckon you're right. Sorry mate.

On the other hand, you can post different writing here and get it critiqued and learn from that, or you can write it without any help and see how it goes. You can always post it on YWS after the competition if you still want to!

Hope I've helped

DarkLight

I'd go with what Sam says--she's good with this stuff.

I suppose it would be aided if someone else wrote it for you and you edited it and sent it in as your own. Posting something here does not, technically in a way, make it published, though by writing anything on a piece of paper it is also published. It's an odd and confusing mixture of things to try and understand, but I would say Sam is right.

Worst comes to worst, you post it, get critiques, than have someone delete it. It might still be left in archives, but then it is unattainable by anyone on the internet, where as if you did a google search for the titles of one of my stories on YWS, you'd probably find a link right to it on YWS. [Did that make sense?]