Writing Challenge Discussion — MARCH 2011

[Perpetual Man]

Parson, you're making me blush! Wasn't dangling by your participles a punishment in medieval times?

 

[Ursa major]

* Decides to instigate an investigation into the efficacy of the lock on the Communion wine. *

 

[Parson]

Now I'm blushing.

(Anything further that I say will likely be held against me.)

 

[Perpetual Man]

Been a bit of a funny weekend for me, but I was determined not to fall behind with my little comments, but if I seem a bit muddled, it's the weekends fault. Honest.


Bob S. Sr - A single post so far from a new Chronner, and it is this story, and what a good one it is. I liked the way the little tale twists in the middle, almost as though the bad and good guy swap places, the good becoming bad.

Culhwch - I'm not so sure I fully got this one, or rather whether my interpretation of it is the one Cul intended, but I like the feel of it, a man caught by one (possibly) small misdemeanour and being forced to do another's will again and again.

RSliwinski - When I first read this I nearly jumped, not quite ready for uhhh such a descriptive piece. That being said torture is not very nice, it is horrible, visceral and somewhat disgusting. In order to get that across sometimes the writing has to be too. Yes, this is close to the mark, but it does what it set out to do, just how self-righteousness can become more than just a conviction.

Crys - A good solid story, that required a couple of reads for me to enjoy it in full. It pulls expectations one way, but leads them another. A good piece that I enjoy more each time I read it.

TEIN - A dark piece, a man facing the end by execution. There is no knowing of what his crime was, or why he faces death, but it is well done, almost beautiful in places - loved the musing on why it always happens in the morning.

mygoditsraining - This is one of those stories that is a good read, but you get the feeling that there is so much that could have been said. But what is said is intriguing to say the least.

Chel - Another good solid story, as always they are mounting up as they come in, if I've read this one right, I like it a lot and even if I haven't I still like the idea of clones being made and each being punished for the originals crimes....

mosaix - This one put a shiver down my spine as I finished, gripping with a superb ending. Not much more I can say really, it was just damn good.

Boneman - I s it just me, or are the bankers getting it in the neck this month? Another excellent story, another great interpretation of the theme. Top notch.

mad_igauna - An infuriating one this - in a good way, well thought out, and a nice ending, apart from the fact it asks a question! What is his punishment? Just the way it should be. I know what I think anyway.

There's still time for a few more this month (and we know there are more still to come), but once again the quality has been exceptional and everyone should be really proud.

 

[mosaix]

Glad you enjoyed the story, PM.

 

[Culhwch]

Culhwch - I'm not so sure I fully got this one, or rather whether my interpretation of it is the one Cul intended, but I like the feel of it, a man caught by one (possibly) small misdemeanour and being forced to do another's will again and again.

Yep, that's pretty much the gist. No need to look for hidden meaning or depth in my stories, believe me. I'm not that clever. What you see is definitely what you get....

 

[Chel]

Chel - Another good solid story, as always they are mounting up as they come in, if I've read this one right, I like it a lot and even if I haven't I still like the idea of clones being made and each being punished for the originals crimes....

Yup, you got it. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it, since the idea was brewing in my brain for days. I'm very happy I got the idea, too, since the first one I had wasn't as thought-provoking as I hope this one is.

 

[Boneman]

Been a bit of a funny weekend for me, but I was determined not to fall behind with my little comments, but if I seem a bit muddled, it's the weekends fault. Honest.

Boneman - Is it just me, or are the bankers getting it in the neck this month? Another excellent story, another great interpretation of the theme. Top notch.

Thanks for the great words, PM. I was really struggling with the theme, and didn't have an idea, and then I read an article about the ex-chairman of a certain bank's pension, after he'd run it into the ground so badly the government had to rescue it, and I thought 'his pension should be taken away from him'. This was the only way I could do it...

 

[mosaix]

And the "Started later but shaping up well" set lack:- fitzchivalry, mirinda, Oxman, sloweye & Wannabewriter.

Oxman says he isn't going to enter again. Not only that, he doesn't even appear to have logged in since the end of the February challenge.

 

[alchemist]

Is there something we should know? 'Twould be a pity to lose him.

 

[mosaix]

Is there something we should know? 'Twould be a pity to lose him.

Agree, alchemist. Here's his last post.

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/foru...lenge-discussion-february-11.html#post1473219

 

[digs]

Yep, that's pretty much the gist. No need to look for hidden meaning or depth in my stories, believe me. I'm not that clever. What you see is definitely what you get....

That's what I think about my stories too, but I have a feeling that people will find hidden meanings whether you put em there or not.

 

[mad_iguana]

mad_igauna - An infuriating one this - in a good way, well thought out, and a nice ending, apart from the fact it asks a question! What is his punishment? Just the way it should be. I know what I think anyway.

Infuriating in a good way?! I like that!!
Thanks for the kind words. I'm not sure if it was particularly well thought out - I know it could have been better, but I was afraid I wouldn't have time if I tried too hard to polish it.

Really enjoying everyone's little stories though - it reminds me of the short prose snippets we used to study in school. Somehow short little pieces of prose allow for so much more analysis and interpretation that make them almost more fun than longer works.

 

[alchemist]

Agree, alchemist. Here's his last post.

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/foru...lenge-discussion-february-11.html#post1473219

Noted. I've sent him a PM, and hope he's doing okay. Didn't pay enough attention the first time.

 

[Boneman]

That's what I think about my stories too, but I have a feeling that people will find hidden meanings whether you put em there or not.

Yeah, definitely agree with that (though not in my stories, I'm convinced they're as simple as I see them). Do you see the industry that grew around Shakespeare? I can remember arguing on my A level course (see? I was argumentative even then) that all the references/cross references that we had to remember could not possibly have been put in deliberately by Will, or he'd have to have been the Einstein of his day - so intellectual that he couldn't be artistic. No wonder I got grade 'E' in my exam...

 

[HoopyFrood]

Intentional fallacy!

 

[mosaix]

Somehow short little pieces of prose allow for so much more analysis and interpretation that make them almost more fun than longer works.

I think that's because they're short MI. There aren't enough words to explain the piece in full so allowing full rein to the reviewer's imagination.

Fully agree with Boneman's comments. Remember Woody Allen, in Annie Hall, producing Marshall McLuhan from behind a poster to support Allen's view of his work? If only we could have done the same at school with Shakespeare?

 

[mad_iguana]

I think that's because they're short MI. There aren't enough words to explain the piece in full so allowing full rein to the reviewer's imagination.

Fully agree with Boneman's comments. Remember the Woody Allen, in Annie Hall, producing Marshall McLuhan from behind a poster to support Allen's view of his work? If only we could have done the same at school with Shakespeare?

Agree with you & Boneman here too.
I think that each word in any language has so many connotations, every phrase has so much history that it's impossible to construct any series of sentences without someone somewhere noticing a resonance that may not have been intentional.
But, the nature of words being what they are, even if the layers were not always apparent, I think that most people understand subconsciously the significance of what they write.

For example (and this is a hurried example because I'm jotting this down in my lunch break), you might use the phrase "All quiet on the western front" to describe a lull in the midst of an otherwise tense situation.
Now when I first heard this phrase, I was only a wee thing and my Granny used it when my elder sisters were - for once - not fighting with one another. So I had no idea of the history of the phrase but I knew what it meant on the surface at least.
So if one were to have written a story and thrown that in there, someone reading it may have read into that the relevance to WW1 and seen in it an appropriateness (or not) that the author might never have quite understood or intended.
It doesn't make the depth completely unintentional, but it would certainly be slightly accidental.
But the history and the layers of relevance in the language will have brought out a richness that we all know is implied in every word we say.

Not sure if this makes as much sense as I'd like it to, but I've a meeting to go to and can't edit it any further!!

 

[Parson]

Mad I .... That made perfect sense. I too would agree. I have an example from decades ago when I was in "University." We had a low level author (one whose work had not sold particularly well) in our class as we discussed his book. After a comment he made this comment which is indelible to me: "If you found that in my book, I must have meant it that way."

I took it to mean the same thing that Boneman was saying about Shakespeare. The author was writing and wrote the story as it developed, and if there were nuances there, he put them there without consciously thinking about it.

 

[nixie]

I'm liking TJ's. I've always hated witch hunters.