COMING IN APRIL -- The 300 Word Writing Challenge

[Teresa Edgerton]

Oh Princess of Goblins, I bow to your depth of knowledge and history.

Well, I wouldn't bow too low if I were you. As I said, some of it happened before I arrived so I may be a bit hazy on the details. I only say with certainty what the place was like when I arrived on the scene, and then it was mostly a place where people were discussing the books they were currently reading and their favorite authors.

 

[Ursa major]

There are plenty of posters into whom one bumps on the Chrons who are never seen in any of the Aspiring Writers sub-forums, which is one reason why I've never assumed the Chrons is primarily a site for writers seriously aspiring to be published.

As to the number of competitions: if there were forty writers producing 300-word entries each and every month, that would give 144,000 words per year. Add those to the more than 40k words entered annually in the 75-words challenges, and voting would soon become a chore rather than a pleasure. (Voting requires more than simply reading each entry, but comparisons and, possibly, the production of shortlists.)

I think a quarterly 300-word competition, on top of the monthly 75-word ones, is a good compromise.

 

[Dave]

As I understand it, Parson, the forums started out as a place to discuss Brian's writing (Chronicles of Empire), but when the site thrived he decided to make it into a general SFF forum, and at some point whisked away his own (as yet still uncompleted) novel.

Just to add that it is even more complicated because there was also another site called ASciFi which Brian bought and amalgamated since (being primarily discussions, not of books, but of TV and Film) he thought they were a good fit together. This is why you have people like me who have been around considerably longer than Chronicles has existed, yet not a member of Chronicles for much of that time.

 

[Parson]

Just to add that it is even more complicated because there was also another site called ASciFi which Brian bought and amalgamated since (being primarily discussions, not of books, but of TV and Film) he thought they were a good fit together. This is why you have people like me who have been around considerably longer than Chronicles has existed, yet not a member of Chronicles for much of that time.

I knew that ASciFi was amalgamated into Chrons, but I would never have guessed that Brian bought it. --- Part of that astounds me. Why would you buy a forum which generates a lot of work, and little income?

Ursa: You are so right about the number of words to read for the challenges! I'm a fairly fast reader normally, but the 75 word challenges require a lot closer attention to every word and nuance. I suspect that the 300 word challenge is going to garner somewhere between 10 and 20 entries. If it gets anything like the 40-50 the 75 word challenge has garnered. It may well be a monumental task to read and judge.

 

[Mouse]

I have no idea how I ended up joining this site.

As for the challenges I think 300 is fine for tops. It takes me a while to read through the 75 challenge thread and even then I find my attention wandering (my fault, not the stories!) so I'm kinda worried I won't be able to focus on the 300 worders. I definitely wouldn't be able to read anything longer.

And yeah, if it was 300 a month, I probably wouldn't do it. I have my own writing to work on, plus I've just been commissioned to write 20 thousand word stories for a publisher (yay! yay! yay! and also shh, cos it's a secret).

And ooh...

I'll make that picture my desktop background or something so that I can stare at it when I'm not doing anything else.

That slightly weirds me out. My holiday snaps in someone else's house. Cool.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Add to that the fact that we aren't judging them over a period of three months, but rather 2 to 4 weeks -- four weeks for the earliest-posted stories, down to two weeks for the late entries. Monumental indeed!

plus I've just been commissioned to write 20 thousand word stories for a publisher (yay! yay! yay! and also shh, cos it's a secret).

Congrats! And we won't tell a soul.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Oh, many congratulations, Mouse. (Oops. I didn't say that.)

If there are more entries than we expect at that length, we'll extend the voting period to give people more time to read through everything.

 

[Mouse]

Cheers, guys. I've been grinning like a loony for the past few days.

 

[Dave]

I knew that ASciFi was amalgamated into Chrons, but I would never have guessed that Brian bought it. --- Part of that astounds me. Why would you buy a forum which generates a lot of work, and little income?

Well, that's Brian's concern, and he would have to answer, but I suspect that instantly becoming the Premier SFF forum on the internet had something to do with it. Brian's day job is search engine optimisation. He does much behind the curtain that I am not aware of, but I'm sure you must be aware of how many Google searches in which Chronicles come 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

 

[Ursa major]

Cheers, guys. I've been grinning like a loony for the past few days.

So situation normal...

...except that you now have a good reason for doing so.


Seriously, though, that's excellent news, Mouse. Congratulations!

 

[alchemist]

Many congrats Mouse!

20 separate ideas? Good grief.

 

[Gary Compton]

Yes Mouse, your running up that clock!

 

[Parson]

I have my own writing to work on, plus I've just been commissioned to write 20 thousand word stories for a publisher (yay! yay! yay! and also shh, cos it's a secret).

Too cool! shhh! Did I read that right "stories?) Much impressed and much deserved too. Congrats!!

 

[crys]

I've always seen it as a place to discuss books. I only ventured into the writing section out of curiosity for the 75 word challenge.

Ditto, although of course I haven't been here long and haven't gotten round to much discussion yet... but I've just found out what a ''nixie'' is!

 

[cornelius]

Cheers, guys. I've been grinning like a loony for the past few days.

(congratulations Mouse, that's great news)


*puts up an act*

Guys, why is Mouse grinning so much? Must be... eh.... the weather?


(no seriously, congratulations)

Yeah... the weather.

 

[Mouse]

Cheers, all!

Yes, stories. 20 one thousand word ones. And they'll be based on character images so it's sort of like this challenge (see what I did there? ).

As for the clock, I keep seeing those patterns around the edge as mice! I'm going to try not to write about mice.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Wow Mouse - 20 Short stories based on images!!! I'll say congratulations, to add to all the others... (See, I managed to keep my trap shut!)

And why not have mice in a challenge?

They seem to get everywhere at the moment. In fact one the short story I'm working on at the moment has a mouse or two in it.

 

[Mouse]

(See, I managed to keep my trap shut!)

And why not have mice in a challenge?

They seem to get everywhere at the moment. In fact one the short story I'm working on at the moment has a mouse or two in it.

Good stuff! I usually end up with pigeons in my short stories. Don't know why.

While I was in Prague I bought a really cool painting of that clock too - it's all in browns with some yellows picked out. There's weird patterns painted on the pavement. I love it... but I keep looking at it and I should be looking at this one here.

I have a question actually (which has probably been answered already somewhere) but do the stories have to be 300 exactly? Or 300 words and under?

 

[digs]

Secret congratulations, Mouse! To be paid for writing - sounds like a dream.

Hypothetically, Mouse, how does one get a commission from a publisher? Did yo...would they have to be known to them through previous submissions? Do you go through an agent? Do you steal it from a publisher's handbag while they're at lunch?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

300 or less, Mouse. As with the 75 Word Challenge, you aren't obliged to use all the available words.