Discussing the Writing Challenges -- November and December 2010

[Parson]

No One --- Thanks for the mention. I thought after a discussion earlier where people didn't vote due to missed commas, etc. No one would even mention me. And I was right!

 

[Culhwch]

Just for future reference, show of hands who isn't using all three votes? It seems we have a few who've only indicated they voted for one story...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I thought ... No one would even mention me.

I, too, am about to mention you. Your story didn't need the hidden message in order to stand out, so as far as I was concerned, the fact that the word you intended did not ... exactly appear ... didn't count against you.

My short list:

reiver33 Fade Out
No One 88 Degrees of Melancholy
Parson Sacrifice Changes Everything
Dubrech The Failed Apprentice
Stormfeather Ho Ho Ho!
Xelah Cultists of Attica Station
HareBrain On A Long Road
The Judge "Historical-Cultural Time-Tours" = Diabolic Forces?

 

[Parson]

Thanks Teresa, I'm very much gratified.

I even got a vote! Thank you whomever.

I am a little confused though, the number of votes cast when I finished mine was 17, shouldn't that be 18 if everyone who voted, voted 3 times?

Anyway....

Short list:

Dusty Zebra --- Name Day ---- A clever combination of stories
Storm Feather --- Ho Ho Ho --- A Christmas myth from the dark side
Moonbat --- An eye sack for an eye sack --- How to make the inscrutable, scrutable
Teresa Edgerton --- Sacrifice --- A sacrifice worthy of God
Hare Brain --- On a Long Road --- A thought I should have thought about Abraham
Deathfrommassive --- Sugar and Spice --- A truly macabre but memorable ending
Judge --- "Historical-Cultural Time-Tours" = Diabolic Forces? --- Caught the essence of sacrifice
Culhwch --- The Tithe --- A near perfect understanding of true sacrifice

I did vote for 3. I will probably list them later. But it wasn't easy. I'm not sure how it is possible but the quality seems to continue heading up.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Just for future reference, show of hands who isn't using all three votes? It seems we have a few who've only indicated they voted for one story...

I haven't. I was only really torn between two stories, and I'm actually sticking to the single vote because it just seems a bit too confusing to vote on more than one.

 

[Deathfrommassive]

Sweet 3 votes!!! This makes things easier thats for sure.

Here is my short list:

Oxman - War Games
Paraniod Marvin - Writer's Block
TheDustyZerba - Name-Day
J Riff - They Didn't Believe
StormFeather - Ho Ho Ho!
Parson - Sacrifice Changes Everything
Moonbat - An Eye Sack for an Eye Sack
Harebrain - On a Long Road

 

[Pyan]

And I only used one, as I found out the hard way that if you vote for one story, then close the tab with the voting site on it (to re-read one or two, for instance), polldaddy dot com assumes you've finished and locks you out. Hence the warning in the last post of the thread...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I was only really torn between two stories, and I'm actually sticking to the single vote because it just seems a bit too confusing to vote on more than one.

If you were torn between two, why would it have been confusing to vote for both of them?

It's up to each voter to decide how many of their three votes they wish to cast. It's not just a choice between one and three -- two comes in there as well, if someone feels the most comfortable voting for their top two choices. On the other hand, if somebody else feels that one story stands so far above the others that they only want to vote once, that's perfectly reasonable.

 

[Talysia]

Another great month, and another difficult choice! I'm grateful for the extra votes this month, as I couldn't separate three of the stories. Here's my shortlist:

Karn - Whatever the Cost
Mag the Mighty - The Hecatomb
paranoid marvin - Writer's Block
chrispenycate - Tribute Maiden
Star Girl - Last Breath
Teresa Edgerton - S.a.c.r.i.f.i.c.e
HoopyFrood - 15:13

My three votes went to chris, Teresa and Hoopy. Great stories everyone! Reading through these entries as they come in has been a little ray of sunshine in a very cold December.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Just for future reference, show of hands who isn't using all three votes? It seems we have a few who've only indicated they voted for one story...

Only one vote from me.

That's what you get from being too eager.

In my defence, I would say that in the blurry drink sodden hours of the morning, when focusing through the matchsticks can be difficult, it's easy to miss some unexpected details.

Such is life for now

 

[Oxman]

Well, I finally did it. I got around to voting for the very first time (the bonus of three votes made the process a good deal easier - I'd imagine if we were allowed 1 vote it would have taken me much longer to pick a favourite!).

The lucky three were: Perpetual Man, Mosaix and Alchemist. Narrow misses went to....well, almost everyone and certainly too many to mention!

Ooh, look; 100 Posts. Only took 5 years and 3 months to get there...

And now I must go, I'm pottering around on here on my wedding anniversary and Mrs Oxman is tapping her foot at me, in case we are late for our restaurant reservation...

Have a wonderful Christmas everybody!

 

[alchemist]

My original shortlist numbered 21. So, pretty uselsss then. The shorter one was...
Oxman - the tiled courtyard did it for me.
Nixie - the final line was delivered so well.
Paranoid Marvin - it brought a big smile
Chrispenycate - I felt sorry for the dragon too
J Riff - the last line was so cinematic, I could imagine the film poster.
Stormfeather - I never trusted that guy.
Bookstop - aw shucks!
Harebrain - nothing needs to be said, really.
Hoopyfrood - another good ending, and well done.

And thanks for the vote Oxman!

 

[HoopyFrood]

I used two votes. There was always one story I was going to vote for, but with the extras there, I also voted for another that I quite liked.

 

[StormFeather]

Too tired and busy to give the voting the attention it deserves right now - hope to get some peaceful moments at some point over the next few days!

But, I just wanted to say a massive Thank You to those who have mentioned me, and for my votes. They have made my difficult morning much brighter and really lifted my spirits

 

[No One]

I should have pointed out before that, even though pyan doesn't take an active part in moderating the Challenge, he did participate in the decision to give extra votes this month.

So thanks should go to him, too.

I stand corrected and heartily extend my thanks to Pyan

And Parson - your poem was excellent. I'd never let the odd oversight in spelling or grammar influence my final decision on that.

Also, many thanks to Teresa for the mention.

I see that I've even got a vote! Many more thanks to whoever cast it my way.

 

[sloweye]

Karn - another cracker.

Oxman – caught me off guard on the first read, as it did others. But on the second read I thought it was very clever.

Ursa – Again, a very clever take. Reminds me of the experiments, of leaving notes on top of cupboards to test the ‘out of body experience.’

P’ Marvin – great take, caught my attention from the first read through. Even better the second time.

Chrispy – nice twist

Perp – I had the same trouble with yours as you had with mine, I wanted to know the story of what had bought him to the gallows.

J riff – nice mix of action/ fairytale/ comedy.

Stormfeather - made me go Oooooo!

Culhwch – I don’t know, I just liked it


There were a few this month I just don’t ‘get’ but that’s just because I’m a bit thick.

It came down to Oxman & stormfeather. But now I don’t need to choose and I can add Chrispy.

 

[The Judge]

So my suggestion is that, after the voting is complete, any author wanting critiques of their entries (or just a simple reason for rejection) could post them in the critiques forum

I think you're very right to hold back from offering anything here which might seem to be a critical comment. Even those of us who are aspiring writers -- and therefore should be keen to improve our work generally -- don't want to be ambushed with opinions! I seem to recall that HareBrain made much the same suggestion for critiquing a little while ago, in his case from a perspective that he wondered if he could have improved any of his pieces. From the lack of take up regarding his idea, it doesn't seem that anyone is that keen, though.

However, co-incidence or not, I was half-thinking of doing something similar with this month's story of mine, once voting had finished, since I saw something last night which would have improved it on a technical level, and it occurred to me that someone might be interested in my thinking. Perhaps if we kept it as a Workshop exercise called "Improving Our Stories" or somesuch, rather than a formal critique, it might encourage participation.

Would anyone else be interested?


Meanwhile, there's the voting to finish. And speaking of which, big thank yous for the shortlist mentions No One, Teresa and Parson, and even bigger thank yous for the votes No One and others, who may or may not be the same personages. (It's a trifle odd to see so many votes so quickly, isn't it!)

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

If you were torn between two, why would it have been confusing to vote for both of them?

It's up to each voter to decide how many of their three votes they wish to cast. It's not just a choice between one and three -- two comes in there as well, if someone feels the most comfortable voting for their top two choices. On the other hand, if somebody else feels that one story stands so far above the others that they only want to vote once, that's perfectly reasonable.

Well yes, but, I'm just simply used to the original rules we've had. And the one I voted for did shine above the others. My second did come close, but, I would go for it in a tiebreaker situation.

 

[Mouse]

I've just voted. Went for StormFeather, Chrispy and The Judge.

That probably would've been my shortlist as well really, with the addition of J Riff. I barely understood any of them this month! My brain's all snow covered.

Thanks for my vote!

If anybody was interested in what was hidden in mine, I'll tell you. It wasn't a hidden meaning, I never do those. Just something extra.

 

[HareBrain]

I seem to recall that HareBrain made much the same suggestion for critiquing a little while ago, in his case from a perspective that he wondered if he could have improved any of his pieces. From the lack of take up regarding his idea, it doesn't seem that anyone is that keen, though.

However, co-incidence or not, I was half-thinking of doing something similar with this month's story of mine, once voting had finished, since I saw something last night which would have improved it on a technical level, and it occurred to me that someone might be interested in my thinking. Perhaps if we kept it as a Workshop exercise called "Improving Our Stories" or somesuch, rather than a formal critique, it might encourage participation.

Would anyone else be interested?

I would. Where I wanted feedback before, it was largely because I wanted to know how many people hadn't got what the stories were on about (and how I could have avoided confusion), and on reflection that seemed a bit specific for a critique thread. Plus, laziness.

As for my votes ...

Had I been limited to one, I think I would have gone with Oxman, so that's one. Then Hoopy's. Third vote was between two of the funnies, JRiff's and Alchemist's. I loved the pulpy exuberence of Santa's near-demise at the hands of the lizard men, but Alchemist's tale just pipped it.

Well done those four, and many others too numerous to list, three of which I'm not sure I've seen mentioned yet being Bella Donna's, No One's and Lenny's. Lenny's made much more sense to me after the confusion about what was and wasn't in it, so maybe that was a happy accident!


By the way, what happened to the bars on the results screen?