Discussing the Writing Challenges -- November and December 2010

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Parson thinks to himself: "Why didn't you list your winners last night?"

Parson responds: "I didn't want to influence anyone's vote."

Parson thinks to himself: "Do you REALLY think anyone would be influenced by your votes?"

Parson responds: "Um, well, ah, No."

Parson thinks to himself: "Well, get over yourself, and list the winners they were very fine stories all."

Parson responds: "Okay, you're right."


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I'm not sure if having three votes helped me or not. It was just as easy for me to pick one winner as three. The difference between receiving a vote from me and not receiving one is minimal at best. But the three stories which I liked the best were:

Storm Feather: Ho Ho Ho --- ever think about writing a script for this?

The Judge: "Insert long title here" --- A GREAT SF story!!

Culhwch: "The Tithe" --- This one gives me goose bumps. "Take me." Humanity at its finest!!!


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I would participate in a "How could I have made my story better" thread.
 
Hmmm, I thought it would be a good idea to do a comment on everything this month, did the first bit, then got so busy that I had little time to even read the stories... but I did not think it would be fair not to do the others and so:


Stormfeather - An excellent poem. I absolutely loved this; from the rhythm to the words and the story therein, a real contender for me this month.
The End Is Nigh - Hmm. I'm not sure what I thought of this one - probably I just did not get it. I saw it working on a couple of levels, but it just did not work for me. (I'm probably just being thick)
Hilarious Joke - Hmmm2 I really like some of the wording in this one, but for this just did not work. (See the thick comment above)
Parson - I kept missing the hidden message, a bit more cleverly hidden than my own. I really enjoyed it, it seemed as though he managed to fit quite a bit in.
Star Girl - A nice sacrifice tale, that turned things on their head slightly. I liked the idea of seeing a sacrifice that appears to have been in vain.
Digs - A good solid SF concept, I felt it was one of those stories that just needed more space.
Moonbat - A lot of good quirky writing that made me smirk, the ending even made me chuckle.
Dubrech - I thought that this was almost an excerpt from a longer work, but it still worked as a complete story in its own right. Touching, but not overly sentimental.
Teresa - Almost an epic feel to this one, it evoked many great images in my head.
Xelah - I really enjoyed this, fund and felt that it looked at the idea of sacrifice from the other side. (Unfortunately naming a character Paddington distracted me with thoughts of marmalade sandwiches)
Alchemist - Now this begins a run of absolute crackers - I thought it was well written and it made me laugh out loud.
Jude - I think I worked out what was happening just before the revelation, it did not detract from it though, fun and a great twist.
Bookstop - A rather different take on Christmas Tree decorating and finding perfect balance - who does not have that problem when arranging the tree. I felt that it could have benefited from a few more words, but then that is the nature of the beast here. I could keep writing for pages...
Chel - Almost an epic tale ground down into 75 words, to me it felt a pseudo historical/fairy tale.
Harebrain - Ah, Harebrain, Harebrain, Harebrain. Absolute brilliance, I thought this one worked as a short and on so many different levels. Cannot praise it enough.
HoopyFrood - Almost the thematic opposite to Chel's; one a selfless act the other a selfish moment of self preservation. I particularly liked the idea of the character taking the reins of the story and becoming the protagonist.
Lenny - Another epic tale ground down to 75 words, dark, perhaps nearly depressing but somehow poignant (well at least to me)
Death From Massive - Okay, what really needs to be said? Brilliance, funny and a strange urge not to run into DFM on a dark night.
The Judge - I felt that this was something a little different, a good strong moral and could easily be the basis for something longer.
Culhwch - completely wrong footed me, I loved it!
Dozmonic - Another 'dark' tale, well presented again getting so much in, with so few words!
Junk Monkey - A nice build up, cool idea, but felt that it was the start of something longer (which I would happily of read)

From this I've struggled it down to a (long) short list: Bella Donna, Oxman, Ursa, Chris, Reiver 33, Allanon, Mosaix, No-One, Stormfeather, Parson, Digs, Teresa, Xelah, Alchemist, Jude, Harebrain, HoopyFrood & Culhwch

I had it down to a clear winner, but now I've got to find another two :D
 
Big thank you, Mouse and a confirmatory thank you, Parson.

I'd forgotten you'd hidden something, Mouse. I'll go and have another look, though if it's in the title I'm stumped. It's all Greek to me...
 
You're welcome, I think I would've gone for yours if we'd only had the one vote. Chris and SF were very close so good thing we got the three votes this time!

And nope, not the title. The title's sort of saying what the story could be about.
 
Well knowing how busy the next few days are going to be I've made my final decision and voted: Stormfeather, DeathfromMassive and Harebrain - but I so wanted more votes ;)

I'm happy - I got a vote!!!

And as an aside, just had a conversation with Mrs Perp and it triggered an idea for a Sacrifice story, far too late to post in the competition, but as it was seasonal I thought I'd stick it up by way of wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!


She felt her heart lurch, her breath catch in her throat.

Her daughter stared up at her, a glint of hardness in her wide blue eyes.

"But mum," she said almost patronisingly, "I don't need to put a pillowcase out, I know Santa Claus doesn't exist."

And with those words a mother knew it was over, her daughter sacrificed her youth and began her path into adulthood.
 
After a great deal of thought, I went for Alchemist, J Riff and Oxman.

When I sat down to write mine this month, I had a completely different idea in mind. Was going to go for being stranded in the snow, cabin middle of nowhere, no heating etc, all combustible objects had gone leaving only the books.

Then the BBC breakfast show was discussing a theatre production of Bag Puss, and Bag Puss was there, getting passed between the presenters and they didn't want to give him back.
 
I have my shortlist - that took some doing!

Talysia
Ursa Major
Reiver33
J Riff
StormFeather
Alchemist
Jude
HoopyFrood
Culhwch


My votes go to Reiver33, Alchemist and HoopyFrood.
 
That was hard!!! I re-read them all twice before choosing a shortlist that went like this:

Sloweye, J Riff, Mosaix, Stormfeather, Star Girl, Talysia, Ursa, Perpetual Man, Precise, Dubrech and TE

Then things got really hard! Took me another three reads of the shortlist to whittle it down to the same list!! went away, came back and painstakingly took the list down to 5.

These were:

Mosaix, TE, Perpetual Man, Dubrech and Star Girl

So the winners ended up as the ones that touched me most:

Mosaix, Star Girl and Dubrech

The stories were wonderful and thank you for the vote whoever cast it for me!! I'm chuffed to have received that!!!
 
Oh, forgot to add that I think it would be good if we had a thread for critiques on these stories, I'd certainly appreciate the help!
 
My votes went to:
- Sloweye's The First and Last
- Mag the Mighty's The Hecatomb
- Moonbat's An Eye-Sack for an Eye-Sack

Runners-up for me were:
- J Riff's They Didn't Believe
- Teresa Edgerton's Sacrifice

I also liked the switch-up this month allowing people to have three votes.

I also also like pina coladas.
 
My shortlist:

Bella Donna - Air Supply
reiver33 - Fade Out
mosaix - A Day Like Any Other
No One - 88 Degrees of Melancholy
Moonbat - An eye sack for an eye sack
HareBrain - On a Long Road
The Judge - "Historical-Cultural Time Tours" = Diabolic Forces?

I voted foooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:

mosaix, No One and Moonbat.

P.S. TJ, does your title have a hidden message? It comes across as all hidden and messagy.
 
Shortlisted:

Nixie's Goodbye My Friend - Aw, that was both pitiful and sweet
Ursa's Self-Sacrifice (or Per Ardua ad Astral) - careful what you ask for ;)
Mouse's Αριθ Θυσία (Ochi Thusia) - Mouse's endings always make me smile (3)
Stormfeather's Ho Ho Ho! - scary and clever
Alchemist's Desperate Measures - oh,man, that made me laugh!
Jude's The Turkey's Revenge - despite the title, duh, I was pleasantly surprised at the ending; well done! (1)
Hoopy's 15:13 - 'Screw that.' That's where you got my vote :) (2)

 
There *he says with some satisfaction*.Voted. Without spreadsheet and on sister's computer. Who said three votes would make things easier?
 
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