Okay, prose and poetry styles are okay, but would it be okay to sumbit comic scripts as well, provided they fit the word-count limit? I have written stories extensively in both prose and comic-script formats (as I am an aspiring comic book writer), so would that style be okay as another possible option for writers? If so, I promise my submitted material will make up no more than 11 story pages.
Just wondering, as the idea hit me recently.
Many of you are worried about the 1000 word limit and I would like to say that these stories aren't limited to character origin alone. Maybe a story about an incident leading up to one of the villain groups forming or the background to a super group. The choices are endless and I hope to see many submissions should CoH make them public.
My advice for people who aren't sure that 1000 words is enough: try writing stories of 50 or 100 words maximum, just for fun. Once you've mastered being concise in stories with incredibly short word counts, a thousand words will seem like a lot and you can tell more story in fewer words.
Believe me, it is possible. 
Right, and don't be shy when you're done writing them either; I've posted my story and so far I've only seen one or two others on the forums. Show us your talent!
I know, there's not enough stories posted like there was on this site before the game came out. i've posted the first couple chapters of mine, I'll have to continue the story.
My name isn't Stephen King--I'm better than that (I write my stories w/o the aid of grad English lit students). I've conjured galactic civilizations whole and raised them again in the same paragraph (just did). I'm a drunken master of Kung Fu English prose, THE savant of metaphor. Bit-bucket MY stories to your own depravity.
I suggest w/o humility that you judge stories as I do: accept any length. Read each as far as it can hold your eye to the page, then stop. If you've read to the end--it's good. Less and you've not wasted your time on deadwood.
My most flawless stories (of the 30 or so I've written) are between 2000 and 3000 words. Less and I'm deligating the true art of storytelling in favor of a barebones outline. I don't write outlines for you to mangle. I write epic short stories--whole.
Selah.
Triumph: Gradient Guy, White Paw.
I managed to write, what I thought, was an acceptable story for what they wanted. If they had the room and the means to put out large texts of 3000+, then they would. But these seem to be more like summaries or article add-ins for when Cryptic wishes to release their comics and newsletters, not unlike what Neopets does.
I do wish they would give us some feedback on the large amount of submissions they've recieved, however.
Yes to feedback. Having submitted a sketch, a story, and a poem with zip zero nada--not even a "thanks we recieved your e-mail" in return...its starting to feel like an artwork graveyard in there.
-SideFX
Um...case in point (two DAYS of echoing silence later):
I stab things sharp: as I see 'em and brutally honest.
Gilg, its obvious to me by your efforts here (and lack thereof) y'all don't really intend for this to be the creative superhighway from the imaginative CoH gaming populace through to your artists, publishers, programmers and the like...that it could be. Nor has it really turned into much of a forum for us writing/drawing players to critique and enjoy each other's art.
Your staff is obviously too swamped with coding updates to seriously tackle the former, and likely you don't have the server space to spare for the latter. No hard feelings, just keep the game code crisply fresh, it's what we're really paying y'all at NC for (and please in your lust for high level epics, don't forget Atlas and Galaxy where all our second and after characters start--mostly bored by the repeats).
As for the rest of us rabbidly writing and speedily sketching fans, may I suggest we use the remains of this thread to post links to our own offshore fan sites and CoH-related materials (and our mutual praise thereof).
May the spammer's karma blacken over their own heads.
NC, lift and polish as you please, as per the license.
One out of two goals achieved ain't bad.
"Visualize Whirlled Peas"
-SideFX
Another fistfull o' days o' ear-shattering silence later....
Ok, fine. I'll go first. Here's something I sneezed up on break today at lunch. It's a bit of a day dream of mine about my CoH character "White Tail" and her boyfriend "GraviStarr".
"Dark Alleys Episode 4"
And a little bit I wrote to suggest a new level of kwality to DC for one of their main product lines a couple of months before CoH hit the streets:
"Urban Legends 1: Tanker's Ball"
And a bit of a sketch of "White Paw" and "GraviStarr":
"Desperado Nights"
And a bit of poetry I wrote from a clock's perspective:
Clockwork's Lament
(that link might be goofy as PC's can't stomach any kind of file name with style).
Enjoy.
Alright, who among you lilly-livered varmits brave enough to belly-up to THIS bar?
Next!
-SideFX
Since SpecialFX seems to have struck a point, I'd like to gauge an assumption that their latest bumber sticker contest will have about as much, if not less, response to the contestants as this contest did.
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For the envy and admiration of your peers?
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You didn't answer the other question, though, and it's one I'm generally curious about. Do we retain all of our rights to the story?
I'd say no. There's a big disclaimer that whatever you send them becomes their propety. I don't think they actual read our stories anyhow so it's not a big deal.
A typical publisher recieves so many submissions that if they read more than a paragraph of most of them they would have time for nothing else. Likewise, I would find it surprising if they had the time to respond to the vast, vast majority of their submissions. Their web site says that by submitting you cede all rights to the story to them (or something like that), so they needn't even contact you for permission and legal wrangling even if they use something you send.
That being said, it would be nice to know if they are negotiable about such things at all. I, for one, would not be willing to wholly relinquish ownership... there are other venues where it's not required or even asked. I can see why they might stick on it for the sake of simplicity, but they may miss out on some good stuff by doing so.
Just my 2 influence.
PS: If you can't write a compelling 1000-word story, how are you ever going to summarize your book for publishers? (:
Heres a sketch with a bit of primatice coloring for my main Tribal Steel. Hope you enjoy.
if you like my art e-mail me a screen of your char and i should be able to draw it for you. my e-mail is al_papavich@yahoo.com
Keep up the good pencilin! Surely better than I could do in my first 10 years of tryin. Practice, practice...and (ethem!) practice! 
-SideFX
Like everyone else has said, I'm mostly concerned with how much of my copyright for characters will apply. I mean, with the story I have (set up in serialized format like a comic book and as of now continously ongoing) I could conceivably change some details (albeit major ones, but in the world of comics, is it really that hard to find hate-mongering groups of villains or come up with a group that would experiment on a known killer with cybernetics?) and be clear of the entire City of Heroes story. But I don't want to. I'd prefer to have a venue in which to post it. But if I have to worry about my characters being taken over by CoH should it be posted to the message board in serial format, and/or selected issues submitted to the Fan Fiction portion, I'll just skip it entirely. Just seems to be a waste to me that well done work by talented authors (or artists) is being left sitting on a shelf, on a drive, or even worse, unexpressed because people are afraid their work suddenly won't be theirs anymore. I'd just like to have SOMEBODY give us an official answer on this.
-Czernabog
I know this may be nitpicking, but the three pieces of fan fiction that are presently on the CoH site under the Fan Fiction heading are longer than 1500 words in each instance, and two appear to be a serialized story. These examples are not conducive to following a stated 1000-1500 word limit and a prohibition on serialized stories. How do you respond to this?
I actually posted my first fan fiction one one of these threads. I thought it was pretty good ( prolly more than 1500 words) and I was hoping for comments....
as yet, I have seen some people have viewed it, but no one has made any comments about it (course I haven't looked in a few days, so there might be something now).
My main concern is that I would like to at least have SOME feedback stating that they have received what I have sent. It wouldn't be hard.... could be an automated message.
Also, a quick email to those writers that have been accepted for publication, would be great!
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Anyone thought about doing a CoH movie? I lack the equipment but I'd love to participate.
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That's a pretty cool idea. Does anyone got a fan film in the works?
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As executive producer on a 35 MM film i can tell you that making a film is no easy task i have wanted to do one but theirs things you need to decide, those interested throw a email to gorathtogar@hotmail.com
live action is obviously out of the question so the quetion is CGI or Cell Animation, i know how to do both but would need
a: Script writers
b: Artists or modlers
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C: Voice actors 
*raises hand* I can do that one!
Generally speaking. After submitting fan fiction, how long should we hold our breath awaiting a reply of acceptance assuming a story is accepted?
Hey dev's, I'm a student in college, majoring in creative writing and journalism. I hope to one day work for a gaming magazine such as Nintendo Power or Electronic Gaming Monthly. I was recently inspired to write some CoH related material and my best friend (Who plays with me and is also a writer.) suggested I submit one of my stories for the CoH comic book; the section at the end that is. So far, as I understand it, it must be up to 1000 words, I get name credit only, relinquish all rights and get no notification of acceptance or denial.
Can I get some confirmation on this please?
Oh, and if that is how it is, I'm not sure how many people you are going to get for this...
Bah! To heck with submission's! there are post's here (in the Roleplaying section) that MORE than exceed the paltry 1k word limit and are fine writing! 
I never like summaries anyway! What is the worth of saying something if you can't take a long time to say it? 
(everyone go check out my (who knows how many words) background story of Gnaw the Ogre, titled: The Legacy of Gnaw)
Hopefully you'll find it good enough to read the whole thing. It's a work in progress, one chapter at a time, so it won't overwhelm the reader with content! Enjoy!
I'm going to agree with that. 1000 words is like a summary of most things I write...