My Top 10 Tips to Get Into the Caption Contest

So, you like the Caption Contest? You think it is the bee's knees, the Elephante's instep or the cat's pajamas?! It is your ultimate goal in Neopia to win it?! Wow. Okay, calm down...

As a winner of the Caption Contest, I am here to give you some useful tips and advice. I am not saying after you read this guide you are a shoo-in to win or anything of the sort. This is simply what I have learned and have decided to share with you all.

Lately, I have had a good amount of people mail me asking for advice on this very subject. So I really hope everyone who reads this gets some ideas and maybe some new hope of winning.

People say you just need luck to get your caption in, but you are mistaken. Like any other contest in Neopia, it does require skill. I think we all can be funny in our own ways and we all should have confidence in our humour.

I never in a million years thought I would ever make it into the Caption Contest! I would envy those who made it in and secretly wish I was them.

I would sulk and sigh and think, 'Why oh why do my captions never get in? Am I cursed? Does Fyora hate me?' then sob quietly in a corner of my Neohome.

My Neopets would see this, shake their heads and go play Gormball without me. After all this drama was over, I did not send in a caption for a long long time. It was probably over a year or something extreme like that.

So one day I decided, okay, I am going to send captions in every week and I do not care if they get picked or not! I am going to be stubborn and try, try, try.

Then, lo and behold, I made it in one week!!! I was shocked and amazed. Me? I made it in? Is this right? *checks again* Yep!

I was jumping for joy as I screenied this momentous event and told my Neopets what happened. They really did not get why I was so happy, but then again they just think I'm just some crazy girl who runs around the Uni Meadows singing to herself.

After this surreal moment, I started to understand that it wasn't that I could not be funny. It was just that I finally started to hone in on my caption skills.

From then on I started entering the Caption Contest every week! Never expecting to win again, but always being positive about it.

I thought longer about what my entries would be on and also sat and edited them before I sent them in.

It always makes me smile when I see one of my captions chosen :) along with being shocked, amazed and excited!!! I sometimes even give myself a pat on the back. *blushes* Yes, I'm a nerd. Okay, okay, enough about me...

Here are my top 10 suggestions upon entering the Caption Contest:

1. ALWAYS use proper English. Do not use chat speak! I know this is said a lot, but there is a reason for that.

2. Try and think of something unique, that not everyone would think of when they look at the caption picture.

3. Send in more than one caption! This way you give the Caption Contest judge a variety of options to choose from.

4. Look at the captions that have won in the past. See how well they put together their idea. (But don't copy them, obviously!)

5. If you find the entry funny, use it! It is always favourable to go with your instincts.

6. Make sure you have the Neopets' names correct. Like if you call that Ixi, a Kau (or saying that Faellie is an Eizzil Etc.) you might not get in.

7. Sometimes putting a current Neopian event into your Caption helps. Like if there is a plot going on? Try using a plot character in your caption.

8. Do not get discouraged if you do not get in the first time. Keep trying. :)

9. Ask a close neofriend what they think of your caption. If they laugh, maybe the judge will too.

10. Lastly, have fun with it! If you are not having fun, then I suggest you move on to another contest.

Next, my recommendations, if you make it in:

What now, you say? Well, first of all, advertise your entry! Let your friends know you made it in, because not everyone even checks the Caption Contest page each week. Even though they should. :K

Please do not spam the boards about this, though. :( A simple board will do. I would think the Games board would be your best bet. You can vote every 4 hours so vote for yourself too.

Oh! I was asked this the other day. Are you notified by TNT if you make it into the Caption Contest? Nope. You have to keep looking back and checking. You are only notified after the Caption Contest is over, and only if you have won.

Finally, if you have won the Caption Contest?:

First, grrreat job! *hugs* What can you win, you say? That depends, you can win 5,000-10,000 Neopoints, a trophy and an item. If you win Gold, you receive a snazzy trophy, 10,000 Neopoints and a shiny item like a Paint Brush or an adorable Petpet *drools*.

If you win Silver or Bronze, you usually get a codestone (nice for those in training, considering the codestone inflation lately *cough*) 5,000 Neopoints, and the trophy too, of course!

But personally, it's not about the prizes (or even the trophy itself); it's a big accomplishment to triumph in a creative contest. It gives you pride and it shows that you can be funny.

How cool is that? Super cool in my book!

Remember:

25 people get into the Caption Contest and 15 win! That's some pretty good odds, I think.

In most contests there are only 3 winners, so to those who say the Caption Contest is harder to get into...

It really isn't, if you think of it this way. Don't you agree?

In the end, like any other Neopets' contest, it's all about doing your finest. So I will leave you with this... Good luck and do not give up!

PS: Happy 350th anniversary to the Neopian times! *throws confetti*