DISCUSSION -- The 75 word Challenge, April 2011

[Anne Martin]

Err ... I'm new here, and confused ... and sometimes a little thick. What is the actual theme and genre? It wasn't clear from the first post of this thread. Am I looking in the wrong place? And where do I post an entry?

(... as she tries to forget that some of her sentences have more then 75 words ...)

 

[The Judge]

Flaming hell, Karn! I thought you were complaining the theme was too hard!

And here was me hoping we'd get some nice HAPPY stories this month...



EDIT: the actual Challenge thread is here, Anne http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/531185-april-2011-seventy-five-word-challenge-read-first.html -- you might not have been able to find it just then as we had a bit of a problem with it, and it was removed temporarily.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Hey-you chose the theme, Yer Hona.



But honestly, it was the "romance" part that threw me off. It doesn't necessarily have that aspect, but to have included what I wanted would have had to have gone to the 300 challenge. And that ? at the end of the theme, I took advantage of.

 

[Ursa major]

I can almost see your story on the big screen, Karn; a French production, so that as the scene fades, the words paraFin appear on the screen.



Joking apart, your story contains the lack of clarity that I like to see in such stories. Are we seeing real paranormal activity? And if we are, of what type?

 

[Parson]

Your honor, I must confess Paranormal Romance, would be about as far out of the box as this poor Parson can imagine. Happily Ever After...? is a theme that fits me as a writer. It seems to me that my stories tend to be much more.... hmmm positive? hopeful?.... than our average post.

But Romance! ehhhh!

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I can almost see your story on the big screen, Karn; a French production, so that as the scene fades, the words paraFin appear on the screen.



Joking apart, your story contains the lack of clarity that I like to see in such stories. Are we seeing real paranormal activity? And if we are, of what type?

What type of paranormal activity is supposed to be perceived there?


Spirit of the dead of course. There's a LOT of background that could be thrown in. Due to the constraints it's rather only very vaguely implied background. And even less clear implied "romance".

 

[Ursa major]

The woman in the bed, Jana, could be a firestarter who has frightened herself - the creaks and the feel of the kiss may be the result of guilt - into using her power. (This may even be Jana's subconscious intention, allowing her to make amends by reigniting the Romance beyond the grave.)

 

[The Judge]

Parson -- you're a man who showers his wife with all kinds of assorted goodies on Valentine's Day, not to mention several hundred cards and love notes. You can do Romance.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Love the genre ; really focuses the mind.

Immediately thought - a poem ; and as it's romantic , why not a ballad?

Never written one before , but I have to admit it was rather fun doing so.

 

[Ursa major]

I like that, PM.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

The woman in the bed, Jana, could be a firestarter who has frightened herself - the creaks and the feel of the kiss may be the result of guilt - into using her power. (This may even be Jana's subconscious intention, allowing her to make amends by reigniting the Romance beyond the grave.)

Well, I perceived spirit of the dead and as the background was supposed to unfold, Jana had recently bought the house against the advice of her friends, and the house turns out to be haunted. If I had continued on the expansion, this was not supposed to be the first time this had happened but, it freaks her out each and every time. And telekinetic powers of any kind-the room had grown freezing cold quite suddenly, Ursa-the mark of a spirit from beyond passing through.

 

[Ursa major]

Come on, Karn: just because you wrote it with one intention in mind doesn't mean that there can't be another reading (which also happens to meet the criteria set by TJ). That's the whole point of the cleverer paranormal stories: the need for the reader to interpret what has been placed before them and to decide what was really going on. (IMHO, that makes it a good story, which is why I like it.)

.

 

[The Judge]

So. Two stories. One incinerated woman. One Horseman of the Apocalypse and thousands dead.

I am so glad this was going to be a happy theme...

 

[Anne Martin]

Flaming hell, Karn! I thought you were complaining the theme was too hard!

And here was me hoping we'd get some nice HAPPY stories this month...



EDIT: the actual Challenge thread is here, Anne http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/531185-april-2011-seventy-five-word-challenge-read-first.html -- you might not have been able to find it just then as we had a bit of a problem with it, and it was removed temporarily.

I see it now. Thanks! (I'll be up all night thinking about now!)

 

[Ursa major]

Someone did put a question mark at the end of the theme....

 

[paranoid marvin]

Thanks Ursa , glad you liked it.

I guess survivng the Apocalypse has to be a result ; whether you'd still want to be around afterwards is another thing entirely.

I think that specifying the genre makes the challenge both easier and harder ; but I thnk overall I prefer it to the 'any genre' challenges.

Should be an interesting month....

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Whoa... What the ... is paranormal romance.

Plus

HAPPY EVER AFTER ???????

 

[The Judge]

Well, the "ever" is undoubtedly very limited in time.

 

[Ursa major]

Sorry to post this here, but the thread about which I wish to comment is locked. It concerns the rules for challenge entries and the section on word count includes this sentence:

Non-standard compounds and hyphenated phrases will be treated as separate words eg call-centre, blue-moon, over-the-top, single-parent, longjump.

Some of the example are not, I would argue, necessarily non-standard. It surely depends on the context:

• She is a single parent. This is a single-parent family.
• He went over the top. That's an over-the-top response.

I'm not arguing that the hyphenated examples I've highlighted should not be counted as, respectively, two and three words; to do so might open the door to possible abuse of the rules. However, the examples I've given are not, in my opinion (and I could be wrong; it has been known), non-standard.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Come on, Karn: just because you wrote it with one intention in mind doesn't mean that there can't be another reading (which also happens to meet the critera set by TJ). That's the whole point of the cleverer paranormal stories: the need for the reader to interpret what has been placed before them and to decide what was really going on. (IMHO, that makes it a good story, which is why I like it.)

Well, indeed you're right about that Ursa.



And obviously it was one of my five-minute entries....