Wonderful, excellent, fabulous work, VB.
You utter geek.
You utter geek.
Writing Challenge Statistics
- Thread starter The Judge
- Start date
Very fantastic. (Can't I be a Z? To make the stats completer?
Next time I do it, I intend to squeeze in discussion of normal distributions and standard deviations...
That opens up a whole can of worms
I was swivering on all the names starting with 'The' and not placing them in 'T', but in the end choosing a determiner makes it a distinctive name. The Judge is the judge not just any old judge. For example.
Culhwch
Lost Boy
Who knew statistics was the global pastime of Venus?
Amazing job, VB!
Amazing job, VB!
It's statistical interpretation that's their real passion, hence the song "Venus Infers".
Golly gosh! How wonderful are these graphy things!!
I was going to ask about the names thing, wondering if I were a T or a J, so that's answered. But isn't there a statistical problem with the Best Initial To Have graph? Which, if I'm right, means you're misleading newbies as to the power of names, and could lay you open to legal action notwithstanding your poorly-drafted disclaimer (using the word "instant" for success suggests you do guarantee eventual success). I was looking at the huge lead the "U"s have for the 300 Worder and trying to recall who was included in that apart from Ursa. And the answer is no one -- he's the only U to have entered the 300s. So (if I'm understanding the graph right!) if someone called Unicornus had entered last quarter and received no votes, that 40 votes average would presumably be reduced (to 20?). Would it be a more accurate measure of letter-power if the total votes for the initial were to be divided by its total entries? Of course, that doesn't help with the fact some members have wilfully changed their names during the course of the Challenges. Some of the J votes for Jo should be reassigned to the Ss since she was Springs1971/Springs for a goodly while, and if my sums are correct I think you've already moved Perp back to the Ps thought he was a T for at least part of last year.
Another interesting factoid is that Science Fiction of Fantasy as genre might have pulled a third of the total, but that's largely because in the first year there were 9 consecutive Challenges with it. Can we get Bob the Accountant to do a trends graph, showing which genres are increasing in popularity as the Challenges have progressed?
My absolute favourite graph is the Don't Give Up one, which is marvellous. I'm considering whether we should send it to every newbie entering the Challenges.
Anyway, my congrats to Bob for his hard work. He can have a custard cream from the Staff Room supply. (The one with the damaged corner where it fell on the floor and got hit with the Iron Maiden when we were enlarging the dungeon complex. The spikes sticking out of it are perfectly harmless. We think.)
Damn right, she ain't.I was swivering on all the names starting with 'The' and not placing them in 'T', but in the end choosing a determiner makes it a distinctive name. The Judge is the judge not just any old judge. For example.
I was going to ask about the names thing, wondering if I were a T or a J, so that's answered. But isn't there a statistical problem with the Best Initial To Have graph? Which, if I'm right, means you're misleading newbies as to the power of names, and could lay you open to legal action notwithstanding your poorly-drafted disclaimer (using the word "instant" for success suggests you do guarantee eventual success
). I was looking at the huge lead the "U"s have for the 300 Worder and trying to recall who was included in that apart from Ursa. And the answer is no one -- he's the only U to have entered the 300s. So (if I'm understanding the graph right!) if someone called Unicornus had entered last quarter and received no votes, that 40 votes average would presumably be reduced (to 20?). Would it be a more accurate measure of letter-power if the total votes for the initial were to be divided by its total entries? Of course, that doesn't help with the fact some members have wilfully changed their names during the course of the Challenges. Some of the J votes for Jo should be reassigned to the Ss since she was Springs1971/Springs for a goodly while, and if my sums are correct I think you've already moved Perp back to the Ps thought he was a T for at least part of last year.Another interesting factoid is that Science Fiction of Fantasy as genre might have pulled a third of the total, but that's largely because in the first year there were 9 consecutive Challenges with it. Can we get Bob the Accountant to do a trends graph, showing which genres are increasing in popularity as the Challenges have progressed?
My absolute favourite graph is the Don't Give Up one, which is marvellous. I'm considering whether we should send it to every newbie entering the Challenges.
Anyway, my congrats to Bob for his hard work. He can have a custard cream from the Staff Room supply. (The one with the damaged corner where it fell on the floor and got hit with the Iron Maiden when we were enlarging the dungeon complex. The spikes sticking out of it are perfectly harmless. We think.)
Fabulous work , O Venusian One. Am very impressed. I applaud your efforts. But not your spiders, which you can keep.
We've been trying to suggest to them to move, perhaps a nice spot on Pluto...but they can be very persuasive when they've wiped out your escort in a 7 legged plasma frenzy...
... means you're misleading newbies as to the power of names, and could lay you open to legal action notwithstanding your poorly-drafted disclaimer (using the word "instant" for success suggests you do guarantee eventual success
I did put a caveat at the end of it
In that some might see it as a challenge for "initial glory"
Very astute. I like the idea too. I shall divide Bob's custard reward in two for not doing that. {Memo to treen high command: when attempting to conquer Earth, watch very closely the beings who designate themselves affiliated to the lawyers and the law profession}
Yes some of the initials are dominated by individuals (you won'the need three guesses to imagine who the 'H' was on the 75 worder. )
Amother excellent idea. I shall threaten Bob with flaying if he doesn't come up with a way of doing that...
However as I am sure you are aware, this month's genre has reverted to mean, so to speak...
(The power of mathematics eh!)I shall pass it on to him, he won't mind the metal, I'm sure he will come up with a way of claiming the discomfort as an expense in next year's tax return.
Last month concluded the SEVENTH Challenge year for the 75 Worders, so time for the Writing Challenge Statistics!
75 worder -- Year 7 -- April 2016 to March 2017
And the good news is that although we’re unlikely ever to reach the heights of earlier years, we seem to have achieved some stability, maintaining more or less the same figures as for 2015-16 in most things, save votes.
To begin, we had a slight increase in the number of members entering the Challenges, up from 120 in 2015-6, to 127 entrants for 2016-7. The number of new entrants was slightly down, though, from 50 last year to 46 newbies.
Another small increase showed in the number of entries, up from 573 in 2015-6 to 580 entries over the year. The highest achieving month was November with 55 stories, slightly down on last year’s highest of 57, and February was our lowest, though thanks to some last minutenagging persuasion from TDZ we managed to hit the magic 42. The best month for new members was September with 9, but in December we had no new entrants take part, the first time that’s happened since the Challenges began.
The number of votes cast was up from last year’s figure of 529 with 603 votes, but that was wholly due to the fact we had three votes apiece in April’s Challenge. Without that extra, we’d have hit a grim low of 507. April still managed (just) to give us more voters than entrants, but it was the only month to do so, and in both May and September we had an alarming entrant-vote gap of 10. Those figures would have been far worse had it not been for those members who voted in months when they hadn’t entered the Challenge, giving us 39 "extra" votes over the year. Our thanks are due to each of those voting heroes, and most especially to DEO, nixie and Suzanne (the former crystal haven in case the change of name escaped anyone!) who each voted a wonderful three times without taking part in that particular Challenge.
Regrettably, those extra votes are far outweighed by the disappointing 110 missing votes, where members who took part in a Challenge didn’t vote in it. Unforeseen circumstances can crop up, of course, and no one is going to be lambasted for occasionally forgetting what date it is and missing the last day for voting, especially if they're new to the Challenge or not taking part regularly. Real life intervenes and we all accept that. But it horrified me to see that one member entered no fewer than eight Challenges last year without making a single valid vote; another member missed six votes, two other members five each, and others missed three and four Challenges. With all due respect to those involved, that is rather taking forgetfulness to new heights.
Chrons as a whole depends on reciprocity. In the writing forums, that’s most obviously seen in Critiques: we seek help/advice, and in return we help/advise others where we can. But it also applies here in the Challenges. We want stories – the more the merrier. But we also need voters. To regularly enter the Challenges without voting is effectively taking from the forum and other members, without giving back. I would therefore ask each and every member to remember to vote if they have taken part in a Challenge. I’m by no means a model here, since I always leave it until the last minute – should BT ever foul up my internet connection on the 23rd, I’ve missed the vote. But perhaps those members who frequently miss voting could make a point of voting as soon as they can after the polls open, so real life doesn’t throw a spanner in the works yet again.
Right. Rant over. Back to the stats.
Some 16 entrants out of the 127 had 100% attendance records over the year, with another 6 dropping only one month, and 6 missing only two Challenges. But disappointingly, the low figure of the last two years of those entering only one Challenge – 33 members in 2014-15 and 44 in 2015-16 – has worsened, and last year some 51 members appeared only once (4 of those had their first Challenge in March, so the figure is 47 who could have returned but didn’t), and another 15 entered only twice (11 last year). Let's try and encourage intermittent and/or new entrants to return a bit more often. More people entering = more good stories to read!
And now, prepare the fanfares!
The year belonged to MOSAIX with a marvellous 36 votes from his two wins and tie, and only DEO pipping him in the tie-break last month prevented mosaix gaining an astonishing and record-breaking three wins in a Challenge year! Mega-congratulations are due!
Victoria – with one win and an astounding (and no doubt frustrating!) three second places – came second overall with 33 votes, and TDZ and I came in joint 3rd place with 31 votes apiece. In 5th place was Culhwch with 23 votes, then Bowler 6th with 19, ratsy 7th with 17, and in joint 8th place, Dan Jones and Hex with 16 votes each, but Hex won hers, incredibly, in the only two Challenges she entered in the year, and – more fanfares! – she became the first member ever to achieve consecutive wins! Chrispenycate came in at 10th place with 15 votes, and Shyrka and StilLearning – the latter also with two wins in the year – came in at joint 11th place with 14 votes each.
So, some astonishing figures with the disappointing ones. Let's hope 2017-18 gives more astonishment!
The 7 year cumulative stats are still being wrestled into shape, and will follow when I’ve beaten them into submission.
75 worder -- Year 7 -- April 2016 to March 2017
And the good news is that although we’re unlikely ever to reach the heights of earlier years, we seem to have achieved some stability, maintaining more or less the same figures as for 2015-16 in most things, save votes.
To begin, we had a slight increase in the number of members entering the Challenges, up from 120 in 2015-6, to 127 entrants for 2016-7. The number of new entrants was slightly down, though, from 50 last year to 46 newbies.
Another small increase showed in the number of entries, up from 573 in 2015-6 to 580 entries over the year. The highest achieving month was November with 55 stories, slightly down on last year’s highest of 57, and February was our lowest, though thanks to some last minute
The number of votes cast was up from last year’s figure of 529 with 603 votes, but that was wholly due to the fact we had three votes apiece in April’s Challenge. Without that extra, we’d have hit a grim low of 507. April still managed (just) to give us more voters than entrants, but it was the only month to do so, and in both May and September we had an alarming entrant-vote gap of 10. Those figures would have been far worse had it not been for those members who voted in months when they hadn’t entered the Challenge, giving us 39 "extra" votes over the year. Our thanks are due to each of those voting heroes, and most especially to DEO, nixie and Suzanne (the former crystal haven in case the change of name escaped anyone!) who each voted a wonderful three times without taking part in that particular Challenge.
Regrettably, those extra votes are far outweighed by the disappointing 110 missing votes, where members who took part in a Challenge didn’t vote in it. Unforeseen circumstances can crop up, of course, and no one is going to be lambasted for occasionally forgetting what date it is and missing the last day for voting, especially if they're new to the Challenge or not taking part regularly. Real life intervenes and we all accept that. But it horrified me to see that one member entered no fewer than eight Challenges last year without making a single valid vote; another member missed six votes, two other members five each, and others missed three and four Challenges. With all due respect to those involved, that is rather taking forgetfulness to new heights.
Chrons as a whole depends on reciprocity. In the writing forums, that’s most obviously seen in Critiques: we seek help/advice, and in return we help/advise others where we can. But it also applies here in the Challenges. We want stories – the more the merrier. But we also need voters. To regularly enter the Challenges without voting is effectively taking from the forum and other members, without giving back. I would therefore ask each and every member to remember to vote if they have taken part in a Challenge. I’m by no means a model here, since I always leave it until the last minute – should BT ever foul up my internet connection on the 23rd, I’ve missed the vote. But perhaps those members who frequently miss voting could make a point of voting as soon as they can after the polls open, so real life doesn’t throw a spanner in the works yet again.
Right. Rant over. Back to the stats.
Some 16 entrants out of the 127 had 100% attendance records over the year, with another 6 dropping only one month, and 6 missing only two Challenges. But disappointingly, the low figure of the last two years of those entering only one Challenge – 33 members in 2014-15 and 44 in 2015-16 – has worsened, and last year some 51 members appeared only once (4 of those had their first Challenge in March, so the figure is 47 who could have returned but didn’t), and another 15 entered only twice (11 last year). Let's try and encourage intermittent and/or new entrants to return a bit more often. More people entering = more good stories to read!
And now, prepare the fanfares!
The year belonged to MOSAIX with a marvellous 36 votes from his two wins and tie, and only DEO pipping him in the tie-break last month prevented mosaix gaining an astonishing and record-breaking three wins in a Challenge year! Mega-congratulations are due!
Victoria – with one win and an astounding (and no doubt frustrating!) three second places – came second overall with 33 votes, and TDZ and I came in joint 3rd place with 31 votes apiece. In 5th place was Culhwch with 23 votes, then Bowler 6th with 19, ratsy 7th with 17, and in joint 8th place, Dan Jones and Hex with 16 votes each, but Hex won hers, incredibly, in the only two Challenges she entered in the year, and – more fanfares! – she became the first member ever to achieve consecutive wins! Chrispenycate came in at 10th place with 15 votes, and Shyrka and StilLearning – the latter also with two wins in the year – came in at joint 11th place with 14 votes each.
So, some astonishing figures with the disappointing ones. Let's hope 2017-18 gives more astonishment!
The 7 year cumulative stats are still being wrestled into shape, and will follow when I’ve beaten them into submission.
Cory Swanson
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2016
- Messages
- 453
Wow. I basically suck at 75s. Oh well, it's all in good fun.
Luiglin
Getting worse one day at a time
Damn me ... I got 4 votes in one month. I must dig that one out and use it for each new 75.
Well, take comfort in the fact that you are in an enviable position in the 300 Worder league table, as you'll see when I get around to posting that one in a few days' time.
As to which, it's strange, but some members do find they're far more successful in one set of the Challenges than the other. Jo does incredibly well in the 300s, but perhaps not quite so well in the 75s, whereas HareBrain complains that his results are just the opposite. (Though he might have more success in the 300s if he actually took part in some of them...
)
I'm so glad for the rant... You know how non-voting infuriates me
Not so glad for the statistics, though. I think they're wrong. Very, very wrong. It seems painfully obvious when my name is absent from anything special. So... please stop oppressing me
Or just 'find' me some votes.
pH
Not so glad for the statistics, though. I think they're wrong. Very, very wrong. It seems painfully obvious when my name is absent from anything special. So... please stop oppressing me
Or just 'find' me some votes.
pH
There's always one...
But because you are special, here is an addendum to my earlier post:
... and in joint 13th place (lucky for some!) with 13 (ooh, spooky!) votes each, HazelRah, Mr Orange, Wruter and PHYREBRAT!!
Satisfied now?
Well, of course he'd be in THAT list! I'm sure it's exactly what he was going for.
I'm astounded at the overall statistics for the year, myself. I've been digging in comfortably in sixth place for years, I think, and thought sure I'd have slipped off the charts entirely this year. To find myself listed in third (!) is mind-boggling.
Satisfied now?
I suppose.
*pH
*although I'd be more satisfied if I wasn't sharing with three others.
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