Discussion thread -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE June 2013

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I Think my story ended up at 60-something words so I wasn't worried.

Thanks Eloise for commenting on my story and sorry about yours.
 
Cathy M. - The cold certainty of an encroaching end is presented here, and in some style too. The idea of dragons freezing the world with ice is a good one, but it is given even more depth by the fact that it is not a quick end, rather a lingering drawn out affair, as mankind can only wait for the inevitable. A shivering end.

Alc. - What would make a man run? We are led to believe that our protagonist would flee to the ends of the Earth to escape some hideous torment, and perhaps it is, but not on so large a scale, rather we have a writer trying to escape his fans with their incessant nitpicking questions? Really? Who could blame him? I hope fans aren't really like that. Anyway, Alc. Why does he jump from the....

kromanjon – There is a flavour of the old west in the voice of this story, you can almost hear the story being told rather than reading it. But it is not that which makes it work so well, it is the clever ending that is quite often missed. If there is indeed and end of the Earth, then surely there must be a beginning. An intriguing idea in its own right and one that might need to be told.

like_the_morningstar – this is one of those stories that I immediately see something in, but it might not be what the writer intended... for me at least there is an incredible depth sunk into the small story, of survivors coping after the 'end of the world' by watching apocalyptic movies, almost as though seeing the world saved or destroyed on the screen might make reality seem that little bit better. The conclusion, that wish of seeing the kids again, takes on a grimmer meaning with the hint that the only way of doing that suicide.

Stormcrow – a tale that is just power. The wonderful, abstract view of immortality, that takes on a metaphysical approach, with some superb imagery, from Time-Looms allowing one to see all the ends, through to the beautiful contrast of colours and elements, and the conclusion that gives an ever changing world form rather one of stagnation and unchanging forms.
 
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Ha! @ Perp. Thanks for the review and the same to Victoria and Eloise.

Also commiserations to Eloise (and the other; wulfsbane?) on the word-count issue. I can only imagine it feels like being chucked out of a party. Both of you, make sure to try again next time.
 
Aww, how sad! Sorry to hear it, EloiseA and (I'll take alchemist's word for it) wulfsbane!

I have to be an obsessive counter myself, even if I were not obsessive to begin with, because I always use exactly 75 words for this challenge. It's a point of pride, or order, or probably obsession, to be exact, for me. Now for the 300, on the other hand, I give myself a few words of wiggle room because there's more room for error in there -- more hyphens, more questionable words, and harder to count in general.

I generally write the 75 by hand, so I count each line as I go and add the totals, and when I'm done I go back and count it all forward and backward (backward is useful because it breaks you out of that "I know how many words are in that phrase" rut) several times. Then I do that again after I type it and after I post it, just to be sure.

I can't use the word-counter anyway, because I'm in OpenOffice/NeoOffice and it likes to count quotation marks as extra words, among other things.

Anyway, sorry to hear we lost some good stories -- that always hurts.
 
i didn't even realize that it did this and I use Open Office for my writing...I will have to check when on my home computer...thanks for the link AMB
 
Thanks Perp, that pretty much sums it up like I wanted. Sadly I do feel I posted it too soon as I now see several ways to improve it. Ah well, ain't that always the case?
 
Wow. Thank You for that review Perp Man! You really seem to have a knack for getting inside my head, in a good way!

A pity we've lost entries: tough breaks. I'm always nervous of my word counts, although I check manually and fret a bit rather than rely on auto-counting. Compounds? I reckon I'm a dead-cert to fall-foul to these one day!
 
Not all word counts are created equal. I use Word Perfect and it has been spot on every time. I'm much more likely to miscount by hand. But I think T.E.'s suggestion of 5 word groupings makes a lot of sense. I think I could count that correctly as well.
 
Glen - I really liked yours actually. It was a nice creative take on the theme, and very true!

Venusian Broon - Mine was similar, (before it was removed, that is. We can cry together EloiseA. :) ) but I think you did a really good job. I like the history reference!

Mosaix - Another creative take on the theme!
 
Got mine in, just a shade under the word limit.

I actually had my first story pulled way back when because I was over the limit. I use the auto-word-count still, but just as a guide. I only write my story, I add the title later so the count doesn't get confusing. Then I go back and count by hand three or four times.

I will never go over count again! :D
 
TDZ: Sorry, wrong link. http://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29740 suggests turning off custom quotes, as it appears to be a curly quote issue.

What version are you using? Version 3.4 supposedly has this fixed. If you've got the latest version and it is doing it, I don't know what to tell you. File a bug report, or maybe switch.

These days I use Libre Office, which forked off of OpenOffice a couple of years ago. It doesn't appear to have the problem you describe.
 
Thanks EloiseA (so sorry yours got pulled!), and Perpetual Man (I loved your comments, but no, not quite what I intended, though of course I intended depth. :) I'll wait to clarify till after voting. A lot of great stories, will comment when I'm more awake. I just joined up and it's an impressive group.
 
Perpetual Man said:
Cathy M. - The cold certainty of an encroaching end is presented here, and in some style too. The idea of dragons freezing the world with ice is a good one, but it is given even more depth by the fact that it is not a quick end, rather a lingering drawn out affair, as mankind can only wait for the inevitable. A shivering end.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the review! :D
I wanted to try something different, im glad I seemed to do just that!
 
AMB said:
TDZ: Sorry, wrong link. http://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29740 suggests turning off custom quotes, as it appears to be a curly quote issue.

What version are you using? Version 3.4 supposedly has this fixed. If you've got the latest version and it is doing it, I don't know what to tell you. File a bug report, or maybe switch.

These days I use Libre Office, which forked off of OpenOffice a couple of years ago. It doesn't appear to have the problem you describe.
Click to expand...

Oh, thank you -- I'll have to try that, and I should update as well. Mine is 3.3. Maybe that will help! I'm not sure which NeoOffice I have at work, but I do know it's been asking for an update for a long time.
 
wulfsbane said:
Venusian Broon - Mine was similar, (before it was removed, that is. We can cry together EloiseA. :) )
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear - it's a harsh rule, but I can see why it should be there. I was paranoid about getting the length within the limits!

And yeah, if I'd got any hint of a story in the same area, I'd have not submitted. So I'd have let yours 'fly the flag' :) (I unfortunately started reading the thread after yours had been removed so I didn't see it)
 
Thanks for all the commiserations, people -- Glen, I'm just moving on, sadder & wiser, and I'll enjoy reading and voting this month. I'll PM you my 76-word post at the end of the month.

Catching up --

mosaix -- a foodie's apocalyptic nightmare! Laughed out loud at the Chef's Special - Ribs, Serpents, Apples. A nod to Douglas Adams?

Karn Maeshalanadae -- I'd side with the elves too. Succinct and successful fable

Glen -- a sci fi solution quite literally in your hands! I had to Google 'stickle-bricks' and now I too want to play ray guns with them
 
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