Caption Contest Guide

Introductory

You can see the caption competition for yourself by clicking here. You will probably notice a very goofy picture pasted on the front. Well, that "goofy" picture, is what your caption will be talking about. You will notice a large text box underneath the picture. Yeah, that's where it goes. But wait! Don't submit anything just yet. You have to learn what captions are right from wrong, and how to make your caption witty!

The Right Captions and the Wrong Captions

First I am going to give you a bad example of a caption:

Chia: Don't hurt me!

Lupe: Oh I wouldn't hurt you..

Chia: Thanks.

Okay, I actually laughed at that because of how pathetic it actually was. Not because it was funny, which it wasn't. Well, it wasn't suppose to be. Now, here is a way you could make that caption a bit more pleasant to read...

Chia: Oh no! Please don't hurt me, please!

Lupe: Oh, I wasn't planning to hurt you! What would ever give you such a thought? These big sharp teeth? My "I Eat Chias" shirt? My chocolate Chia treats? My "How to Catch a Chia" volumes 1-10? I don't know where you POSSIBLY came up with that idea...

See, didn't that have more wit and thought put into it? Hey, stop shaking your head! Of course it did. I used my knowledge and sarcasm to make the caption have more zing. It wasn't as nearly as dull as the first example. Let's try another one..

(Bad example) Announcer: This Aisha was not harmed during the making of this caption contest.

(Good example) Announcer: The Aisha in this caption contest was not harmed, with the exception of: Getting its ears pulled, falling down the stairs, eating asparagus, getting chased by a Lupe, getting zapped by Dr. Sloth and getting zapped into snot by the lab-ray.

So you can see what that picture would be like, right? It would probably have a Neopet pulling on an Aisha's ear, while it's falling down the stairs, with asparagus in its mouth, while being chased by a Lupe, with Dr. Sloth trying to zap it and being the color snot.

Hopefully you get the main concept from boring and dull to witty and funny. Now let's move on..

Never Enter These...EVER!

Ugh, don't you hate it when some peoples captions are just so repetitive? It's like reading the same caption over and over. The first couple of times, yes, it's a good laugh. Then after awhile, it just gets so unoriginal. For the sake of originality, NEVER ENTER THESE:

• "Credit card parodies (the priceless one)" - This had to go at the top of the list. When I seen this first time, I burst out laughing. Then I noticed for the next billion captions, everyone started doing them. Instead of bursting out in laughter, I burst out in anger. Thank goodness Neopets isn't accepting them anymore.

• "No ______'s were harmed during the making of this caption contest." - Okay, okay. I know I used this one as an example up above, but I was just giving you the main idea on how to be witty. This one is just getting WAY out of hand now. It has lost all its meaning. I just roll my eyes for anytime I see one like this. It's very unoriginal. Very.

• "Dude, where's my _____?" - Dude, where's your originality?

• ANY popular movie quote - I'm talking about 'I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore,' OR 'I see dead ____,' OR, 'Never let go, Jack'. You get what I'm pointing at. Stay clear of those.

• "WAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZUP!!" - I never found this amusing. Just don't use it.

  The list could go on for awhile. All I am advising is, try to do something new and fresh. Voters will be most likely to vote for yours if it's original.

Speeling, gramur, punktewayshon..

If you can't spell or use your grammar right, then how will people ever be able to understand and enjoy your caption? This is where chat-speak deserves to be zapped by Dr. Sloth for all eternity. Okay, a little spelling mistake won't drive everyone insane (I hope), but something along the lines of this will:

Uni: "Haii pplz! Whuts ^?"

Jetsam: "N2m, u?"

Uni: "juzz reelaxinz"

Now let's translate that into what it REALLY should say:

Uni: "Hey people! What's up?"

Jetsam: "Not too much, you?"

Uni: "Just relaxing."

I know that isn't a very good caption for a caption contest, but I'm trying to get a point across. Typing the normal way actually saved me about two minutes of my time. Chatspeak is O.K. if your caption contest character is meant to be speaking that way. Other than that, it's a big no-no. If you are unsure how to spell something, there is always a friend or the dictionary. Now, just like a little spelling mistake, a little grammar mistake shouldn't be a big deal. Of course, something along the lines of this isn't good:

Techo: "Hey? I really. Love reading? Do you!"

Uni: "Not. Really? I find it! Boring."

Although the spelling is all correct, the punctuation doesn't make any sense at all! It is extremely confusing. Here is the correct version:

Techo: "Hey! I really love reading. Do you?"

Uni: "Not really. I find it boring."

Isn't that a lot better? It is much more fluent and easier to understand. Make sure after you have wrote your caption, the punctuation makes sense of where it is. Or else, you might be making a lot of Neopians dizzy! *Clunk* Now that you have grasped that concept, lets move on to some final notes that may help you in your captioning career...

Final notes

-Be random when writing your captions. Sometimes, making no sense can be a good thing! I personally prefer random captions, and tend to vote for them more.

-Use background objects for the caption. For example, if a Aisha is holding a plushie, make the plushie talk. Still making it funny, of course.

-Remember to stay clear of profanity and being unoriginal, this definitely will not help you.

-If you win, you get a whooping 5,000 NP-10,000 NP, a rare item and a trophy!