Writing Challenge Discussion -- FEBRUARY 2011

[Perpetual Man]

Right here are my final (hopefully positive thoughts) on the last batch of entries, I hope I did not miss anyone on my trawl through...


The Procrastinator – This one, despite the story was great on the images it brought to mind, making it a more powerful piece for it. I could almost taste the atmosphere.

Alchemist – What can be said about this one? Really? Funny, well written and enough to bring a smile on to my face every time I read it

Evelinn – A very melodic piece, catching the feel of something bigger an beautiful in the world around us.

Challah Rajni – Something that is almost beautiful in it darkness. I liked the form of it, the almost terrible events, a near epic nature, defeat at the hands of something that is about love rather than violence, and the darkness of the ending.

Kopiteste – This was one of those that I worked out rather quickly, and it drew me back to images on the news, and horrendous events, poignant, because of it’s reality, something that should not be forgotten.

Gwynnever – A slight magical piece, catching a beauty and wonder or a mystical birth, perhaps even the innocence, it made me wonder whether the fairy was being born into a magical world, or our own, the end reflecting the innocence of not seeing what our world has become.

Chel – Darkly humorous, another cracking story and another great turn on the song theme. Once more another story to really like (Thought the title was excellent too, really made the story Chel)

AdamCollings – A sense of wonder in this one, as a normal man stumbles onto something magical. The last sentence made me think though, was there another meaning to it all? Excellent.

Culhwch – (Another last minute arrival!) A feeling of melancholy and loss with this one. I could almost feel that there is something gone from the world, and can see the reason why. Unfortunately.

Once again everyone makes it to my over all not-so short list, will contemplate hard the final list...

 

[Allanon]

Gutted, the pole still isn't showing my vote!! Is anyone else having this problem?

 

[Talysia]

Sorry, Allanon - I just voted, and didn't run into any problems. I wonder what's going on.

Ok, on to the voting. It was a tough month, and once again my shortlist wasn't very short. Narrowing it down to just ten was a challenge in itself, but here's my final list:

Mouse - Snow White She-Devil
Brev - The Pit
nixie - Payment in Kind
Teresa Edgerton - Azariah
BookStop - Love is in the Air
Precise Calibre - Musica Universalis
mosaix - The Song is Life
Perpetual Man - Perfection Building
fitzchivalry - Her Gift
Culhwch - Mothersong

I had to read these stories through several times before I made up my mind. My vote goes to Cul's Mothersong, with Perpetual Man and Precise Calibre as very close runners up.

 

[nixie]

Still haven't got a short list... Thanks for the mention Talysia..

 

[chrispenycate]

Gutted, the pole

poll

still isn't showing my vote!! Is anyone else having this problem?

Oh, sorry, wrong thread.

I could cheat it in for you, if you like. No, not secret moderators powers, it's not in the Chrons; I've just worked out a way of cheating, and it would be quite fun to check it. The Procrastinator, you say?

My vote went to the Dusty Zebra, but they did cluster this month (you know, I think that's the first time I've admitted to who I voted for) But if the polldaddy site is eating people's votes, that could explain why we get fewer participants in the latter stages than in the writing.

Eight votes, eight different entries; it could hardly be said anyone had a commanding lead so far. The cinditions are ripe for an impressive tiebreaker

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Ooh, I have a vote! I'm back! Thanks to whomever pushed my button.

Edit: Thanks to Chrispy, who posted that a second or two before mine. Much appreciated!

 

[Boneman]

I think I'll have a protest vote this month - I can't separate five of the stories, so maybe I won't vote at all.

Stop writing such good entries, all of you!!!

 

[Perpetual Man]

I've got myself a proper shortlist now, which came about a lot easier than last month. Putting together a little positive note one every entry might take a lot of time and thought, but it certainly helps clarify the mind. Well into making a shortlist... not sure where I'm going to go after that.

But my shortlist is: Boneman, Chrispenycate, Cornelius, Mosaix, Nixie, Parson, Reiver33, Dusty Zebra, Teresa, Moonbat, Hoops and Fitzchivalry... now just got to make up my mind who gets the vote.

Talysia many thanks for the mention I did not expect any of them this month, so that made my day

 

[fitzchivalry]

My final short list, after 9 or 10 readings through them all came down to.

Talysia-Dawn chorus: Conjured up good memories of waking to the song of birds, got good imagery, and it made me smile.

Mouse-Snow white she-devil: A dark twist on a classic which i liked.with an added twist of humour at the end.

Teresa-Azariah: I liked this a lot, the thought of people feeding the angel scraps, so wrapped up in their wealth that they couldn't see his true form. I could imagine this being true today.

Moonbat-How I learned to stop the silence and love the song: Thought provoking. Reminded me of a james blunt song.

Alchemist-alt.history.de: Despite being a Hoff fan, I found it very amusing. Laugh out loud stuff

In the end, I gave my vote to Moonbat. Good job

 

[Mouse]

Woo! Two mentions! Cheers guys.

I think I have a favourite... But I need to do a re-read before I vote.

 

[mosaix]

Thanks for the vote, Kopiteste and someone else. And thanks, everyone for the mentions.

As for where my vote is going - I haven't got a clue!

 

[Brev]

As for where my vote is going - I haven't got a clue!

my thoughts entirely...hmmm

 

[nixie]

And mine... although I'm feeling rather pleased on 2 short lists

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Thank you everyone who mentioned me!

I just voted for The Procrastinator. Problem is it's not showing that my vote has counted!!!

This sounds rather obvious, but could it be that this time after you clicked on the story you forgot to go down to the bottom of the poll and click on "Vote" ?

It's the kind of thing I might do, anyway, if my mind wandered at the last moment.

 

[Culhwch]

Thanks for the vote, Taly! Always good news to log in and discover!

As for Allanon's voting issue, we're trying to work that out behind the scenes. But I'd just like to say that Chris was mistaken, he hasn't discovered a way to cheat, and he is very, very sorry (I presume) for even putting the notion that it was a possibility in anybody's head...

In all seriousness, yes, this is not a fool-proof system, it's quite easy to cheat, but I hope that our members (and especially our moderators) aren't tempted to give it a try just to see if it works. I definitely hope that no one will cheat just because they want to cheat. If there is any issue with the voting, let me know and I'll deal with it. I think it's best if the responsibility lies with one person - then we won't have votes mistakenly added in the belief that it's helping out.

 

[mosaix]

I definitely hope that no one will cheat just because they want to cheat.

Is there any other reason, Cul?

 

[Brev]

Oh I have a vote - exciting! Thankyou! (my very first)
Now back to reducing my long list to a short list....

 

[J Riff]

Reiver got my vote- I can actually see those crazy street-corner types keeping the world going, it's weird enough to be true. Chris's mighty poetics and Teresa's latest gem were a close second.
Were there a separate 'funny' category, Ursa, Boneman, Karn and a few others could slug it out.

 

[Culhwch]

Is there any other reason, Cul?

Well as I said there was mention of trying it just to see if it works, which would be cheating out of curiosity, rather than cheating to win....

 

[crys]

My vote has gone to Mosaix The Song is Life. A story that touches me deeply; it saddens, comforts, and lifts my spirits all at once. Beautiful.