300 word challenge - please?

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We planned the 300 Word Challenge as a quarterly competition, and I imagine we will keep it that way at least until (if) it's been around for a full year and there is enough interest in doing it more often. Which I don't anticipate at this point. We'll see. As people get better at doing 300 Words they might not find doing two Challenges in one month as exhausting as they did the first time. But for now we plan to hold it quarterly at least as long as there is interest in doing it at all.

So, yes, definitely we do mean to do another one in July. Plans are already tentatively afoot.
 
Grimbear said:
Will we have a 300 word challenge in June? Or in July maybe?

I wouldn't ask - but I'm finding this 75 word thing most terrifying and hideously difficult!

help

(tell me, guys, how the hell do you do it?)

Grim
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Well the thing of it is, GB (We already have a Grim here, no confusion) this is the first time in the 75 word challenge that we've had to follow a particular author's style. It's much easier to come up with something without such a thing.
 
I imagine chris thought we were all becoming so good at writing the stories that we needed something a bit more challenging. It's a compliment, really.
 
Well, it's not so much that rather than it being the author he chose to emulate, TE. I, for one, have really limited experience with Kipling and I am definitely not used to his writing style.



At least the 300 should be easier to do considering the fact that it's based off a picture. I'm able to deal with that. :)
 
Actually, Karn, in addition to responding to a picture, next month's 300 worder will need to be written simultaneously in the style of Charlotte Bronte, Christopher Marlowe and Aesop, and you won't be permitted to use the letters e, i, q, c, and m. Oh, and precisely 73.8% of the prose must be dialogue written in Russian.
 
Well darn. I can do the rest of it but I'm just not fluent enough in Russian. :p :D



Come to think of that, Cul, that would have been a perfect April Fool's prank.....:D



I could imagine that:


Brian: "Due to server overload, all non-staff members who wish to keep their accounts open must...." :D
 
Aww, GB, don't lose heart! As mentioned above, this is the first such restrictive challenge we've had. And after all, it's not even June yet -- you have lots of time to wrestle with it. Just read some Kipling and let it stew for a while, and something will come to you!
 
I know this is your first month, so is it the fact of the 75 words itself, Grim? If so, then don't worry -- we all thought it was impossible when we started! What you might find helpful is reading though the first few Challenges from April 2010 -- that will help get you in the mindset of the kind of stories we produced when we were all struggling with the idea of so few words.

If it's the specific Challenge, ie the Kipling bit -- then as you'll see from the Discussion thread, you're not alone. However,

Grimbear said:
I'm finding this 75 word thing most terrifying and hideously difficult!
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whether deliberate or otherwise, this strikes my ear as very Kiplingesque! So, by George, I think you've got it! **


** Oh, bother. Wrong author...
 
I'm not going to apologise, although it is unfortunate that your first challenge was the one in which some unpleasant, sadistic idiot decided to add a level of difficulty to shake the regulars out of their complacency. (If it makes you any happier, said idiot is wondering whether he is going to be able to rise to the challenge himself. I didn't make it easy on anyone.)

But I remember thinking a year ago "Seventy-five words? I use more than that in ordering a cup of coffee.", and I'm among those who've entered every challenge so far. Becoming blasé –

Wait till one or two of the others have submitted; I suspect you will be astonished at the results of what was never intended to be an easy exercise. Those who are now (justifiably) cursing my name will be producing pieces they would never have considered otherwise, and, judging by previous months, they will be almost universally good, with a few excellent (quite a few, actually).

So, don't be put off. It was supposed to be difficult.
 
chrispenycate said:
***snip***
Those who are now (justifiably) cursing my name

***/snip***
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I stopped doing that after last night, honestly. If I slip into cursing again when I start Kiplifying* my story, I apologise.



*Can we make that a new word please? Then I'll feel I've accomplished at least something if my entry comes out in a completely and utterly embarrassing state.
 
Don't be an overenthusiastic kiplifier, Chel: your story might be seen as overcooked.


I'm not sure I'm up to producing a 75-word story and a 300-word story every month, particularly as I would like to vote in both; the reading of that many entries every month would be in danger of becoming more of a chore than a pleasure.
 
Ursa has it right, I think, when it comes down to it, especially since that (last time at least) three votes per person occurs.


No, keep the 300 as it is, quarterly. we all have a lot to do otherwise anyway, and these challenges can take up enough time as they stand. Besides, we don't want to put extra stress upon the participants and have them burn out against both, do we? :) It's all for fun and cheek, and that's how we intend to keep it. It would quickly go from fun to frustrating if we made the 300 monthly. Something would just have to give.
 
(Belatedly noticing that this was in General Writing Discussion.)

Thread moved to Writing Challenges.

We don't really know how the 300 Word Challenge will hold up after the novelty wears off. The numbers could drop steadily after the first time. In which case, we might decide to hold it less often than originally planned.
 
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