We are planning to hold a Lord of the Rings fanfiction contest in the near future. In the meantime, get your creative juices going and think up a good story. Stay tuned for further announcements!

EDIT 11/9/06:
Congrats to Aramel Elyanwë
winner of the 2006 A-U forum Return of the Rings Fanfiction Contest!
Your fanfic "Middle-Earth Madness" rules the day!

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I have a story all ready...when's it starting???

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resistance is futile...
avvie by mrs.gamgee photoshop genious!

I'm interested!

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Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future.
It's simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step Joni Erickson Tada

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resistance is futile...
avvie by mrs.gamgee photoshop genious!

I wanna enter..?

Your fanfiction is going to take place somewhere in Middle-Earth. Whether it's a dropped into Middle-Earth fanfic, a in the time of the War of the Rings fanfic, characters from LotR in different situations (such as life in the Elf-Kings halls, etc) or whatever-- anything Middle-Earth you can think of--it must be in Tolkien's Middle Earth.

Guidelines to creating a winning fanfic:

Use good spelling and punctuation.
Please no Mary-Sues. Make your character realistic. If your female character must fight, study how Tolkien has Eowyn do it in the books.
Have someone critique your story before submitting it. Take their advice and make any changes.
Research what an area in Middle-Earth looks like, or how that Middle-Earth culture is.
Avoid cliche storylines.
Keep it G or PG
Give your characters realistic powers and personalities
Keep it somewhere between 3 to 5 pages.
Make sure it's structured and complete, a well-proportioned story.
The characters, situation adequately explained
Character's personality, manner of speaking, etc. consistant throughout the story

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Starting October 13th: globe trotting from my kitchen. Follow along on Cook In Fifty-Two

Two things: We can use Tolkien's characters, right? They don't all have to be our own creations? And - should we PM our stories to you or post them here? (I still need to get more people to critique mine though...)

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Ivreniel in the mod account:

It can be Tolkien's characters or your own characters. Just in Middle-Earth.

You may either PM your story OR post it here. Your choice. I'm sure everyone would love to read them here.

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Is it alright if I use a story I have that is already on the A-U fanfic section?

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

Okay, well, here's mine!!

Never to Return

As night fell over the Shire, squeals of happiness could still be heard down below Bag End, where two hobbit-children played, both small girls. It made Sam smile as he strolled down, intending to take Elanor to bed. He stopped, lovingly fingering a few small athelas flowers that he had coaxed to grow outside the hobbit hole, and listened idly to the conversation of the little girls below him.
“My daddy says that Big People do exist.” This came from Elanor, in her customary irrevocable I’m-right-you’re-wrong tone.
“He’s never seen one!” The other little girl demurred solemnly.
“He has too! He can tell you all about them! And he’s seen elfs – lots of elfs!”
Sam smiled at Ela’s mispronunciation, and continued to listen.
“No he hasn’t!”
“’Course he has. And dwoirfs. But he’ll never tell me about those. I think –“
Sam, deciding that this conversation had gone far enough, rounded a corner and unexpectedly swept Elanor up in his arms, making her squeal in surprise. “Time for bed, little one, or you’ll sleep in and miss breakfast tomorrow – and you know how Daddy eats!”
The other hobbit-lass scurried off to her own bed and Elanor giggled. “You eat too much, Daddy!”
Sam only smiled, and put Elanor on his shoulders as he took her inside. As he was about to put her down and enter the perfectly round, green door, she looked up at him very seriously and said, “Daddy, aren’t you forgetting Bella?”
Bella was Elanor’s well-worn stuffed rabbit, a gift from her Uncle Pippin, who knew where to get such things. Sam sighed. “Where have you left her now?”
“Oh, I didn’t, Daddy! She walked away all by herself!”
Sam sighed. “Can you show me where?”
“I don’t know, she looked like she was going pretty fast,” said Elanor doubtfully.
Sam hoisted his small daughter up again. “Well, let’s go have a peep.”
The two of them walked out into the flower patch where the two girls had played, and Elanor showed him exactly where Bella had gone. Sam had an uncomfortable feeling that Bella was now helping keep real baby rabbits warm – the footprints of some rodent were evident in the soft dirt. His daughter had obviously seen Bella moving, but not what moved her. But he and Elanor followed a trail of bits of Bella’s fur, coming off on brambles, over two small fields, until they came to a bit of forest that banded those uninhabited fields, and he reluctantly said to his daughter, “Ela, I don’t think we’ll find Bella. We’d best get you home to bed.”
Little Elanor looked up at him sadly, grasping one of Sam’s work-hardened hands, and said “Please, just a little further, Daddy?”
Sam could not resist those eyes, and so the two of them ventured into the woods, looking about for the rabbit.
Eventually, just as Sam was about to tell Elanor that they really should get her to bed, he spotted the bunny lying by a large fallen tree and, with a relieved laugh, gave it into Ela’s equally relieved grasp. He sat to rest a minute, and suddenly glimpsed a soft, strange light in the forest. Curiousity piqued, he slid down behind the log, pulling Elanor to him.
She, surprisingly, kept very quiet.
And so it was that Sam and his little daughter watched the slow, sad procession of the last of The Firstborn of Iluvatar, to the Grey Havens from whence they would not return. They were both male and female, and equally fair of face and bearing, but their expressions were wistful, as though they were sad to leave the land that had been theirs for so many years, even to such a fair one where their beauty would never dim.
Elanor tugged at his shirt and said quietly, “Daddy, are those elfs?”
Sam gave a sad smile before replying “Yes, my little one. Elves.”
“Where are they going?”
There was a long pause before Sam replied, “They are going to the Sea.”
“Why, Daddy?”
“There are ships there, to take them far away.”
“They’re pretty.”
“They’re lovely, Ela.”
As the two of them watched the last of the procession pass, Sam could feel the sadness he’d pushed away for so long. Middle-Earth would never be the same. Men might ever grow in stature and power but the Elves were leaving – and the world was changing forever.
As Sam walked home with his daughter and her rabbit, they were silent until they came again to the green door. Then Ela said, “Daddy, will they come back?”
Sam held her close and they went inside together. As he tucked her into bed she asked again, “Daddy, will they come back?”
And this time Sam replied, “No, little one. They are leaving…never to return.”
Ela nodded soberly. “Goodnight.”
Sam quietly left her room and sat for a long time in front of the fire, smoking contemplatively. Rosie came in and kissed him, telling him he needed to get to bed, but he only replied absently that he’d come soon.
As he followed her, a few minutes later, he peered through the door to Elanor’s room, which was a little ajar. She slept peacefully, one small hand curled beside her head. Sam smiled and whispered, “Sleep well, little one.”
And as he went to sleep himself, the sadness was still there – but hope remained, too, and Sam knew that as long as he had Ela and Rosie, he could never be sad for too long.

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I think I shall join this one as well. Very lovely fanfic Meldawen!

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Thanks Haldir and Gil!
"You said: I know that this will hurt, but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse..."

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Thanks Haldir and Gil!
"You said: I know that this will hurt, but if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse..."

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I was cured all right.