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TORn Amateur Symposium - TAS4 - Call for Submissions Thread!

TORn Amateur Symposium
Bree


Jun 19 2014, 3:21am

Post #1 of 22 (1948 views)
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TORn Amateur Symposium - TAS4 - Call for Submissions Thread! Can't Post

Following on from the successes of the first three TORn Amateur Symposiums, we are pleased to present the Fourth TORn Amateur Symposium (TAS4), this July! Our special theme this time around are pieces concerning The Lord of the Rings, since the Jubilee Anniversary Date of The Fellowship of the Ring is on coming up on July 29.

Thank you to everybody who contributed to TAS last time - thanks to all of you, it was great reading! Our committee of 3 - (Brethil, Elaen32 and DanielLB ) and, judging by all your feedback, many of you - really enjoyed the first three Symposiums. So without further delay, here are the details you need to know for TAS4:

Overview:

TORn Amateur Symposium is an opportunity for us to share our written ideas on Tolkien-related subjects, in a more detailed way than the usual posts on the boards.
Some general categories to consider writing topics within are:

- Flora/Fauna of Middle Earth
- Art, Literature and Philosophy
- Natural Science, Geology and Weather
- Peoples and Cultures of Middle Earth.


*****For this TAS, all touching upon LOTR in some way.*****

These are just some suggestions based on the previous submissions. But remember, your ideas are limitless! Geography, history, ethnology, linguistics, botany, mythology and onomastics ... if you can write an essay about it, we'd love to read it!

Below is our proposed schedule for the TAS4:

Submission and deadline dates:

Thursday, June 19th- Introductory thread/Call for submissions thread

That’s this one!

Don’t panic yet! All you have to do is express interest in writing an essay for TAS. Either respond to this thread, or alternativel PM Brethil or DanielLB. And of course, get those thinking caps on! Through the Symposium process, we will stay in contact with anyone that expresses interest in writing an essay for TAS.

Tuesday, July 1st- First reminder thread

This will be a reminder thread for everyone, and we will repeat the details and answer any question you might have. You can express interest in submitting an essay all the way until the closing date. So we want to make sure everyone has had a chance to think about writing an essay.

Tuesday, July 15th- Second reminder thread

This is the last reminder thread and not the closing date. Between this thread and the first reminder thread, we would like to confirm with you your proposed topic and possible title (via PM). These will all be included in this thread. People are welcome to express interest all the way up until the closing date.

Tuesday, July 22nd – Submission closes thread
By this date, all submissions will have been sent to us (see “How To Submit Work”). Another summary of all the entries (and provisional dates) will also be posted. This TAS will include a specially crafted submission form, which we will show you later on in the process.

The week period between this allows us to check all submissions, order all essays into appropriate sessions, and allow for last minute editing. If you are unable to submit before then, not to worry: there is always the next TAS (November) to submit for.

Friday, July 25th - Anything after this date will, unfortunately, not be accepted.

Tuesday, July 29th - First TAS thread

All those hours of hard work from everyone will be presented on this date, and the following days!

TBD, in August - Feedback thread

As part of the symposium structure, we are always interested in ideas on what can (or should) be done, and what may or may not have worked. Feel free to tell us what you thought about the structure of the symposium, and any problems you experienced through this process. We will also tell you about the next TAS and provisional dates. The date for the feedback thread will be confirmed once we know how we are going to stagger each of the essays.

Some Guidelines for the TORn Amateur Symposium:

We're not looking for flawlessly polished, professionally cited work. This is for fun and enjoyment, and to share our common love of the JRR Tolkien universe: thus the title! We would like to see your original ideas, which tie in somehow to the works of Tolkien; they can be written from an academic, opinion or real-world perspective. Citations and references, although not required, may be helpful at times to readers, and feel free to use them as appropriate to support your writing. Discussion of the work is most heartily encouraged, keeping in mind both the "by the fans, for the fans" nature of the creations, as well as the dual spirit of fun and inquiry which we would like to promote in this Symposium series. We expect to have a Symposium 3-4 times annually. So if you miss a date, don't worry overmuch; you can always submit at the next round.

We have great regard for the creativity of our members, and very much look forward to reading your thoughts, TORn brethren!

Some notes on word count and spacing of pieces:

The first TAS had a a word limit of 2,000 words for each essay. Since then, we have removed the limit altogether. As a result, your piece can be as short or as long as you like. However, we do recommend not writing too long a piece, due to the short time-frame of TAS, and the limited time of potential readers and responders to your essay. We think a word count of 2,000 - 5,000 is a good length. But we leave that to author discretion.

In TAS1, essays were grouped into similar categories, and a new session was posted each day. From the feedback thread, it was suggested that too many essays were posted too often. So we will confirm when (and how often) essays will be posted, once all the authors have submitted their work. Depending on the number of essays, we will stagger them over a 1-2 week period. This seemed to work well for TAS2 and TAS3.

We would also like all authors to submit a short (100-300 words) abstract of their essay. This is simply to provide an overview of your essay to potential readers. Keeping in mind of the guidelines above, this has to be quite short. These will be posted in the session thread with the link to your essay. An abstract might cover: what you are writing about, why you are writing about it, what evidence/details/points you make, and what conclusions you come to.

We will happily answer any questions you might have about these changes. Feel free to ask!

How To Submit Work:

It starts with an idea (doesn't it always!) You can describe your idea in the Call for Submissions thread (that's this one!). Feel free to PM DanielLB or Brethil with any questions or concerns that you may have. We ask that all essays are submitted by Sunday, April 6th. Of course earlier submission is fine, feel free to submit your piece when you feel it is ready. And if Real Life interferes, just let us know - expressing interest isn't a commitment, and if you need to, you can post in the next Symposium - or just read along with us!

We are piloting a streamlined way to submit. Once you are ready to send us your piece, please fill out the details in this form:

New Submission Form for the TAS

To submit your essay, fill out all necessary fields. If you have any difficulties with this form, please submit your esssay via our email address (tornamateursymposium@gmail.com) or send us a PM via the forum. We also appreciate any comments about this new way of submitting essays, so feel free to send us any feedback to our email address or TORn account. We will get back to you as quick as possible regarding edits. We will confirm the date of your essay being posted by Saturday, July 26th.



Something else new in TAS4: we are also piloting authorial questions to be included at the end of each piece. You can include one, or two or more if you'd like, to stimulate interest and discussion, or emphasize points you have particular interest in (related to your piece) discussing with the TORn community.

We will do a quick look-over of the piece for any potential editing concerns (like those troublesome, sneak-attack typos) and to make certain that all pieces comply with TORn's ToS guidelines. (We can't post anything in that may be in violation, but if questions arise we will contact the author to resolve any issues.) All finished pieces will then be posted for display and discussion on the given date - we will send a PM to authors to inform them of when their piece will run.

Queries:

If you have queries or concerns, please send a PM via the TAS nick. It will be read by Brethil, Daniel or Elaen32, depending on who gets there first. Please try and give us a little time to respond, since we may be at work or not otherwise in a position to give an immediate answer. If, however, you think that your query would be of more general interest to others, then you can also post it as a reply to this, or subsequent TAS threads.

We are incredibly excited about TAS4, especially since it is celebrating such a special anniversary, and look forward to the wonderful essays that will be submitted. Happy scribbling!

Elaen, Brethil & Daniel Smile





(This post was edited by TORn Amateur Symposium on Jun 19 2014, 3:23am)


rangerfromthenorth
Rivendell

Jun 19 2014, 7:26pm

Post #2 of 22 (1400 views)
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and here...we...go... [In reply to] Can't Post

I am working on one, but I am still in the research phase. I will try to complete it in time!

Not all those who wander are lost

(This post was edited by rangerfromthenorth on Jun 19 2014, 7:28pm)


Maciliel
Valinor


Jun 19 2014, 10:01pm

Post #3 of 22 (1390 views)
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i will be writing an essay [In reply to] Can't Post

i will be writing for this symposium.

cheers-
.


aka. fili orc-enshield
+++++++++++++++++++
the scene, as i understand it, is exceptionally well-written. fili (in sort of a callback to the scene with the eagles), calls out "thorRIIIIIIN!!!" just as he sees the pale orc veer in for the kill. he picks up the severed arm of an orc which is lying on the ground, swings it up in desperation, effectively blocking the pale orc's blow. and thus, forever after, fili is known as "fili orc-enshield."

this earns him deep respect from his hard-to-please uncle. as well as a hug. kili wipes his boots on the pale orc's glory box. -- maciliel telpemairo


Brethil
Half-elven


Jun 20 2014, 12:18am

Post #4 of 22 (1387 views)
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Excellent Ranger! [In reply to] Can't Post

We should love to feature your work again! Cool (And I must add...I titled the recent email to Daniel and Elaen as exactly those words: aaaand here we go! Laugh)

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








(This post was edited by Brethil on Jun 20 2014, 12:20am)


Brethil
Half-elven


Jun 20 2014, 12:19am

Post #5 of 22 (1377 views)
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Thrilled to hear that Telpemairo! [In reply to] Can't Post

Keep us posted. Wonderful news! Cool

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








MirielCelebel
Rivendell


Jun 20 2014, 4:05pm

Post #6 of 22 (1368 views)
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I will be writing an essay [In reply to] Can't Post

I have a few topics floating around in my head right now, so I must narrow it down. But count me in as a contributor!

"The Road goes ever on..."

Writing Bliss


Eruvandi
Tol Eressea


Jun 20 2014, 4:20pm

Post #7 of 22 (1363 views)
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I've still got that paper from my cinema course [In reply to] Can't Post

It's about the theme of self-sacrifice in the ROTK movie and how that connects to Christian theology. I'm a smidgen nervous because no one outside of my teachers and my parents have read my writing before, but I think I'll be brave and submit it to the Symposium.Smile

"Love woke me up this morning
With a memory
Love came and whispered a story
That awakened a dream,

I am a dreamer, take me higher
Open the sky up, start a fire
I believe even if it's just a dream"
~"Dreamer" by Bethany Dillon



Rembrethil
Tol Eressea


Jun 20 2014, 4:36pm

Post #8 of 22 (1365 views)
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Hooray!! [In reply to] Can't Post

I'm looking forward to reading it. I had a similar experience with my own writing, but I was very well-read, and my parents were my best critics, so when I dared to show some of it to others-- a few, strangers-- I was pleasantly surprised by some unexpected praise. I don't know about you, but I'm my own worst critic, and--like our dear Professor-- an inveterate niggler. You just have to let some of that unhealthy attachment and worrisome self-doubt go.

Let it go! Let it go!!.....LOL.

Call me Rem, and remember, not all who ramble are lost...Uh...where was I?


Brethil
Half-elven


Jun 21 2014, 1:38am

Post #9 of 22 (1350 views)
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Lovely to see you Miriel! [In reply to] Can't Post

Do keep us posted on your choice of topic, when you narrow it down (never easy) - happy to hear you are in the works. Cool Excellent!

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








Brethil
Half-elven


Jun 21 2014, 1:39am

Post #10 of 22 (1349 views)
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That sounds very promising Eruvandi [In reply to] Can't Post

I recall you mentioning that piece - a great connection. Look forward to it! Angelic

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








rangerfromthenorth
Rivendell

Jun 21 2014, 1:57am

Post #11 of 22 (1347 views)
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you know what they say about great minds// [In reply to] Can't Post

 

Not all those who wander are lost


Ceridwen89
Registered User

Jun 21 2014, 3:22am

Post #12 of 22 (1345 views)
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Irish and Norse [In reply to] Can't Post

I'd like to brush up a paper I wrote a bit ago in college (never published, just for a class). It's a comparison of how Tolkien used Irish and Norse legends to create a unique mythology for England.


Demosthenes
Sr. Staff


Jun 21 2014, 5:19am

Post #13 of 22 (1341 views)
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Will try to participate this time round [In reply to] Can't Post

Just a clarifier: when you say "based around LOTR", can you give me more of an idea what that means?

Not sure of my topic just yet, but something about elves, I suspect.

TheOneRing.net Senior Staff
IRC Admin and Hall of Fire moderator


Brethil
Half-elven


Jun 21 2014, 11:46pm

Post #14 of 22 (1340 views)
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Well, our idea was to have the primary focus be LOTR subjects [In reply to] Can't Post

versus, for example, things exclusively Sil or Farmer Giles. Elves are a fantastic choice Demo - certainly they touch upon the Sil but that's such a quintessential Tolkien and LOTR related topic it would fit nicely. So references to Sil or other ages other than the Third is fine...as long as it sort of still includes the LOTR somehow, just to have some LOTR celebration.
Would love to read your ideas again! Cool

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








Brethil
Half-elven


Jun 21 2014, 11:47pm

Post #15 of 22 (1321 views)
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Very encompassing topic Ceridwen! [In reply to] Can't Post

And one we love to discuss, especially here in the RR. Tracing influences is fascinating - sounds great!

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








Demosthenes
Sr. Staff


Jun 23 2014, 5:06am

Post #16 of 22 (1319 views)
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thanks + proposed topic [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
versus, for example, things exclusively Sil or Farmer Giles.

(snip)

references to Sil or other ages other than the Third is fine...as long as it sort of still includes the LOTR somehow, just to have some LOTR celebration.


Thanks for the clarification! I suspected something like that, but wanted to be certain.

I've got a topic now: "Why swords are of no more use here".

It may not hit 2k words though. We'll see once I get started.

TheOneRing.net Senior Staff
IRC Admin and Hall of Fire moderator


Brethil
Half-elven


Jun 23 2014, 1:50pm

Post #17 of 22 (1307 views)
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Sweet! [In reply to] Can't Post

And no worries on word count, either way. Cool

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!








DanielLB
Immortal


Jun 23 2014, 2:33pm

Post #18 of 22 (1304 views)
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Just got in from a long weekend away ... [In reply to] Can't Post

And it's great to see so much varied essays, thoughts and interest for TAS4.

I look forward to this anniversary special. Smile

I was going to write an essay on numerology in The Lord of the Rings. I might get it finished, I might not. We'll see!


noWizardme
Half-elven


Jun 23 2014, 7:43pm

Post #19 of 22 (1302 views)
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Welcome to the Reading Room, and the TAS, Ceridwen89! [In reply to] Can't Post

What an interesting topic- looking forward to it already.

~~~~~~

"… ever let your aim be to come at truth, not to conquer your opponent. So you never shall be at a loss in losing the argument, and gaining a new discovery.”
Arthur Martine

"nowimë I am in the West, Furincurunir to the Dwarves (or at least, to their best friend) and by other names in other lands. Mostly they just say 'Oh no it's him - look busy!' "
Or "Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!"


noWizardme
Half-elven


Jun 24 2014, 9:56am

Post #20 of 22 (1295 views)
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Oooh! Oooh! I got one!! [In reply to] Can't Post

‘I do not know what you mean by that,' - Why is magic so little explained in Lord of the Rings?

by noWizardme

Some fantasy storytellers choose to go into great detail about how magic works in their invented worlds. Whilst the explanations must ultimately be ...er...fantasy, there are advantages to this: magic risks being a serious underminer of plot, and so perhaps it is wise to explain the limitations before someone starts asking “But why don’t the Eagles just fly the ring to Mordor” (or the equivalent in another story.) Also some readers (and I am certainly one of them on occasion) enjoy thinking about mechanisms. Tolkien, however, has distinctly chosen a different route. Throughout Lord Of The Rings he seems determined to deny that anything much that is magical is happening (whilst simultaneously inferring the opposite). Or he goes out of his way to introduce confusion about what ‘magic’ might be. I think it is an interesting question to ask “why does Tolkien choose to be so mysterious about this?”. I will try to answer that question in this essay.

Or, at least I will get myself into a terrible tangle getting into all sorts of ideas I'd like to know more about, and sorting me out should make for an interesting discussion...


This will, I hope, nearly make good on my rash promise at an earlier TAS to tackle this subject!

~~~~~~

"… ever let your aim be to come at truth, not to conquer your opponent. So you never shall be at a loss in losing the argument, and gaining a new discovery.”
Arthur Martine

"nowimë I am in the West, Furincurunir to the Dwarves (or at least, to their best friend) and by other names in other lands. Mostly they just say 'Oh no it's him - look busy!' "
Or "Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!"


elaen32
Gondor


Jun 26 2014, 7:12pm

Post #21 of 22 (1261 views)
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Sounds great No Wiz! [In reply to] Can't Post

Looking forward to reading it Smile
It's good to see such a good response and interesting topics.


Is there a Tolkien topic that you have wanted to look into more deeply and write about your thoughts on it? If so, we'd like to hear from you for the next TORn Amateur Symposium- coming in April. Happy writing!



Brethil
Half-elven


Jun 27 2014, 12:43am

Post #22 of 22 (1285 views)
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Rash promises? [In reply to] Can't Post

TAS loves rash promises, we does. Mwaahaaahaaaa.


Looking forward to it Furincurunir!!!!Cool

The next TORn Amateur Symposium is a special edition: the Jubilee TAS to celebrate 60 years of FOTR! If you have an LOTR idea you would like to write about, we'd love to see your writing featured there!







 
 

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