• Deadline is Feb. 1 each year.
• Fiction entries should have clear plot development and well-defined characters.
• There is an 1800-word maximum.
• Type the title on the top of the first page.
• Individuals may submit up to four entries per category in every category.
• Each entry must be sent separately.
• Failure to meet all guidelines may result in automatic disqualification.
• Contest entrants give their express permission that winning entries will be published in the magazine and may also be used for promotional and educational purposes.
• Email LatoniaBailey@crowder.edu or call 417-455-5410 if you have questions.
• Fiction entries include the following:

1. Short stories –a brief story that, while it does come to completion, lacks complexity and in-depth character development.
2. Plays –a written piece presenting a story that was created with the intention for the piece to be acted out on a stage.
3. Fables –A short narrative that is used to teach morals and commonly uses animals as characters.
4. Folklore –a piece of literature that preserves the traditional customs and tales among a certain group of people.
5. Parody –a piece of literature that closely imitates an author or another piece of literature, most often for comedic purposes.
6. Fantasy –a literary genre that is comprised of things that cannot occur in the real world, such as magic and mythical creatures.
7. Science fiction –a literary genre that has a story line that is based off different views on what science and technology will be like in the future.

• Nonfiction entries include essays, character sketches, and other true-to-life writings.
• Character sketches and personal essays should make a statement, whether serious, dramatic, or humorous.
• There is an 1800-word maximum.
• The deadline is Feb. 1 each year.
• Add the title to the top of the first page.
• Individuals may submit up to four entries per category in every category.
• Each entry must be sent separately.
• Failure to meet all guidelines may result in automatic disqualification.
• Contest entrants give their express permission that winning entries will be published in the magazine and may also be used for promotional and educational purposes.
• Email LatoniaBailey@crowder.edu or call 417-455-5410 if you have questions.
• Nonfiction entries include the following: 

1. Essays –a short piece of writing that is based on one certain subject in which the author normally states and details their opinion on. There are four types of essays in literature: expository, descriptive, narrative, and persuasive.
2. Biography –a piece of literature that has been written about someone’s life.
3. Autobiography –when the biography is written by the subject of the story.
4. Character sketch –a short piece of writing that details a certain character.
5. Memoir –a written work similar to a biography but focuses on a specific time in a person’s life.
6. Historical narrative –a narrative that was written for the general purpose of recreating historical events and characters.
7. Satire –a piece of writing that ridicules mankind’s downfalls and corruptions.
8. Political satire –a piece of literature written for the purpose of mocking the government and its members.
9. Commentary –writing that is generally used for records. The author, having been a part of a certain experience, details what occurred.
10. Journal/Diary entries –a written record of a person’s thoughts, opinions, and activities.

• Whether free verse, blank verse, rhymed or metered verse, poetry should make a point, state emotion, or relate an experience.
• There is an 1800-word maximum.
• The deadline is Feb. 1 each year.
• Add the title to the top of the first page.
• Individuals may submit up to four entries per category in every category.
• Each entry must be sent separately.
• Failure to meet all guidelines may result in automatic disqualification.
• Contest entrants give their express permission that winning entries will be published in the magazine and may also be used for promotional and educational purposes.
• Email LatoniaBailey@crowder.edu or call 417-455-5410 if you have questions.
• Poetry entries include the following:

1. Musical lyrics –poetry that is paired with instrumental sound to create a song.
2. Free verse –a verse that does not have a steady rhythm.
3. Blank verse –a verse that does not rhyme and is most commonly written in iambic pentameter.
4. Rhymed verse –a verse in which the words at the end of each line rhyme.
5. Metered verse –a syllabic rhythm recurring throughout a verse.
6. Ballad –a type of poetry that is used in dance songs, they often tell a story with the themes ranging from comedy to romance.
7. Sonnet –a poem in the fixed verse form pattern of fourteen lines that are generally iambic pentameter rhyming agreeing to a specific design.
8. Haiku –a type of verse, originating from Japan, that contains three lines with five syllables in the first and last lines, and seven syllables in the second line.

This graphic art category includes digitally generated or altered art or extensively manipulated photographs in order to create special effects.

• Photography with only minor adjustments should be entered in one of the photography categories.
• All entries should have good contrast, composition, and creativity.
• Photo and art creations/manipulations must be your own original work. It is NOT permissible to use other people’s images and/or those posted on a website.
• All entries should have good contrast, composition, and creativity.
• A model consent is included in the submission form to be used for entries using live models. Please do not use children’s names as entry titles.
• The deadline is Feb. 1 each year.
• Individuals may submit up to four entries per category in every category.
• Each entry must be sent separately.
• Failure to meet all guidelines may result in automatic disqualification.
• Contest entrants give their express permission that winning entries will be published in the magazine and may also be used for promotional and educational purposes.
• Email LatoniaBailey@crowder.edu or call 417-455-5410 if you have questions.

Although generative artificial intelligence (AI) can serve a function in graphic design as well as assisting workplace productivity in various industries, AI provides an unfair advantage in a contest based on creative expression of human-generated art and original thought and should not be used for Quill contest entries. Of course, digital technology such as photo editing software may be used as a tool for the digital art category, and the creative process should be clearly explained.

Digital art incudes the following techniques and use of software:

1. Common Photoshop techniques –a few of the most commonly used Photoshop techniques are the ability to manipulate photos, create textures, alter hand-drawn images that are scanned in, add layers to create more dimension, and alter the lighting on an image to make it brighter or darker.
2. Photoshop layers –different sections of the same image that can be altered and moved separately to give the image more dimension.
3. Photoshop filters –an effect that can be used to imitate photographic filters, correct a photo, or apply special art effects that give the image a unique appearance or appear to have been created using a different medium.
4. Sumo Paint software program –a website with a downloadable program for image design, photo editing, and making digital art.
5. InspirARTion software application –an application that allows users to utilize various brushes of different styles, sizes, and colors as well as different symmetry modes to draw or create digital art.  

Traditional 2D and 3D artists are encouraged to participate in the Quill contest by adapting their work into digital formats and expanding their creative skillsets.

For example, a painting can be further altered in an editing platform. A photograph of a sculpture can be digitally altered as well and qualify as digital art. We look forward to seeing creative uses of digital software for the digital art category.

Black and white photography entries may be reproduced from film or digital file with only minor corrections and adjustments.

• All entries should have good contrast, composition, and creativity.
• Photographs with more than minor adjustment should be entered in the Digital Art category.
• A model consent is included in the submission form to be used for entries using live models. Please do not use children’s names as entry titles.
• The deadline is Feb. 1 each year.
• Individuals may submit up to four entries per category in every category.
• Each entry must be sent separately.
• Failure to meet all guidelines may result in automatic disqualification.
• Contest entrants give their express permission that winning entries will be published in the magazine and may also be used for promotional and educational purposes.
• Email LatoniaBailey@crowder.edu or call 417-455-5410 if you have questions.
• The following information should be included in the process when available:

1. Aperture setting (f-stop) –f-stops are the size of the aperture and corresponds to how much light is allowed in the lens. Larger f-stop numbers result in a darker image. Smaller f-stop numbers result in a brighter image.
2. ISO (film speed) –measures how sensitive to light the camera sensor is; the lower the number, the less light sensitive and less grain on the photo, and the higher the number, the more light sensitive and more grain on the photo.
3. Shutter speed –how long the aperture exposes the sensor to the light, the faster the speed of the shutter, the crisper the picture.
4. Automatic setting (Auto) –the automatic setting controls aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for the user.
5. iPhone lens attachment –smartphone attachments that helps the phone and user to produce a higher quality photo.
6. Film processing –a series of chemical baths that develop a photograph, requiring control over the environment, especially light. With digital printing, images from digital cameras can be printed directly from the computer.

We seek film or digital files that emphasize vibrant color.

• All entries should have good contrast, composition, and creativity.
• Color photography entries may be reproduced from film or digital file with only minor corrections and adjustments.
• Photographs with more than minor adjustment should be entered in the Digital Art category.
• A model consent is included in the submission form to be used for entries using live models. Please do not use children’s names as entry titles.
• The deadline is Feb. 1 each year.
• Individuals may submit up to four entries per category in every category.
• Each entry must be sent separately.
• Failure to meet all guidelines may result in automatic disqualification.
• Contest entrants give their express permission that winning entries will be published in the magazine and may also be used for promotional and educational purposes.
• Email LatoniaBailey@crowder.edu or call 417-455-5410 if you have questions.
• The following information should be included in the process when available:

1. Aperture setting (f-stop) –f-stops are the size of the aperture and corresponds to how much light is allowed in the lens. Larger f-stop numbers result in a darker image. Smaller f-stop numbers result in a brighter image.
2. ISO (film speed) –measures how sensitive to light the camera sensor is; the lower the number, the less light sensitive and less grain on the photo, and the higher the number, the more light sensitive and more grain on the photo.
3. Shutter speed –how long the aperture exposes the sensor to the light, the faster the speed of the shutter, the crisper the picture.
4. Automatic setting (Auto) –the automatic setting controls aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for the user.
5. iPhone lens attachment –smartphone attachments that helps the phone and user to produce a higher quality photo.
6. Film processing –a series of chemical baths that develop a photograph, requiring control over the environment, especially light. With digital printing, images from digital cameras can be printed directly from the computer.