Discussion -- August 2014 75-Word Writing Challenge

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Azzagorn -- This clever variation on a classic science fiction theme manages to be more chilling than its original.

 

[Azzagorn]

Thank you VS for the review

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Flyerman11 -- This tense and dramatic story raises important questions of which may never be answered.

 

[Azzagorn]

Part 1
This is my first attempt at something that may resemble reviews ( Bowler1 keep that sonic gun away from me).

Ashleyne: Dark and brilliant this will give many a restless nights sleep.

Springs: Never played mine craft myself but this tale made me a little sad and worried.

Valis13: Produces images of innocence and how they can be linked to naivety.

Bowler1: Robot with a temper, no-one likes sharing toys at that age innocence can indeed be selfish.

Ratsy: This made me laugh. Bravo! The word play is fabulous.

Victoria: Vivid story of forced innocence. After all no-one wants to grow up. Right?

Mosaix: Innocence and ignorance go hand in hand in this story of poor judgement.

Farntfar: Beautiful, kind of like it is being told by the TARDIS about the doctor.

Teresa: Even innocent people need hope; this conjures images of the fall of man and a new saviour

Karn: Sinister tale exploring how innocence can make one simply too trusting.

Luiglin: A tale not unlike Adam and Eve in my eyes. The writer does a wonderful job of showing us that using our innocence can be exciting.

Cats Cradle: A fun yarn. Reminded me of a child being strapped in a car seat to tightly.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Well, innocence has many different aspects, and I, for one, wanted simply to show how such a trait could be bad...is that too much to say, mods?

Thanks for the review, Az.


And indeed, as a veteran Minecraft player, Spring's tale was sad and rather frightening...though it actually needn't be, as multiplayer for the game is now far more popular than singleplayer, what with all the mods it can hold.


One of its biggest selling points, and reasons for popularity, is the very fact that it was made specifically to be mod friendly. Mojang, I think, realized early on the limitations of vanilla, so the possibilities of adding to it are nearly endless. I suspect there's even ways of turning it nearly into a JRPG.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I don't play Minecraft but my 9yo adores it so much I wonder has she vanished into it - hence the story! (She was playing it at the time in pink pjs with her little feet in the air, so the picture of innocence.)

Many thanks for the review, Azagorn, they made fab reading!

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

It is a pure world, though unfortunately, vanilla it is actually quite limited in biomes. The meat of it comes from underground and combat.

 

[ratsy]

Cheers Azzagorn! The more reviewers the better Glad I made you laugh cause that's the goal.

 

[Ashleyne]

Thanks for the review, Azzagorn

 

[The Judge]

BIG WARNING!!

Back on Old-Chrons we had an edit window of 60 minutes, and amendments to stories were allowed within that time. (Mods have unlimited edit windows, but we're also subject to the one hour rule in case anyone is wondering, and in the past one mod has fallen foul of it and has been disqualified from a Challenge as a result.) BUT the current edit window here on Nu-Chrons is substantially shorter by the looks of things. So anyone posting a story before Brian changes the settings might well get caught out.

So, it might be an idea to hold back from posting in the Challenge thread until the edit window is changed. If in the meantime anyone does have to post, but then tries to amend within the hour and can't do so, send a PM immediately to a Mod giving details of the proposed changes. It may be we will have to have a grace period where one of us makes the changes for non-mods, but we could only do that if the PM is itself timed within the hour of the edit window.


And alchemist has raised the issue of "likes". We're discussing this in the Staff Room, but for the present, please don't use the "like" button in the Challenge threads themselves. It's OK to come in here and say you like a story -- that's what the thread is for, after all! -- and it's OK to use the "like" button here in the Discussion thread, of course, just not in the Challenge thread, at least not for the time being.

 

[The Judge]

I was in two minds about removing the above post, since Brian was able to fix the edit window problem more quickly than I'd feared, but just in case anyone has read it already, the problem is solved! We now have the full hour again. So get posting those stories!

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Well, I had already posted mine, Your Honor, and would it not be breaking the law to double down? I would surely get a true sentence for such a crime.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I'm glad to see Azzagorn join in on the fun of reviewing. Often I only understand what I like about a story when I put it into words.

It's also interesting to find out how others see our work. (In this case, the wise reader certainly interpreted the story in the way I intended.)

 

[Flyerman11]

Flyerman11 -- This tense and dramatic story raises important questions of which may never be answered.

Thanks! That's the idea. At first I though I might sit this one out, but then I had the germ of this plot grow in my head. Hope you enjoyed it!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I remember back in the old days when people used to put anagrams or acrostics in their stories or their titles, or other word games or secrets hidden in the text. It was fun to figure them out. Is anyone doing that these days? I know the The Judge had one last month, but no one noticed until later when she mentioned it to some of us privately.

As for the mini-reviews, I think the more people who do that the merrier. They are a good starting point for discussions. Maybe I am remembering the discussions in the first year or so as more lively than they actually were, but it would be nice to revive the spirit of the old discussion. And now that we have the "Like" button, people can express their appreciation of the reviews without a thread full of "thank yous."

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I remember back in the old days when people used to put anagrams or acrostics in their stories or their titles, or other word games or secrets hidden in the text. It was fun to figure them out. Is anyone doing that these days? I know the The Judge had one last month, but no one noticed until later when she mentioned it to some of us privately.

I've never done it and, sadly, I rarely recognise them in others'. I must have the wrong kind of brain. but I do love it when they're pointed out and I can go back and go, a-ha!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

You and Mouse did some awesome things with the formatting though. You with Old Rusty, and Mouse with her mouse.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'd actually love it if something like that is easier on the new software and might give it a go. As I recall, the copy and paste didn't keep the formatting from word, which was much neater as I'd written it to fit, and it looked a little more higgedly-piggedly in the Chrons, which I spaced by hand. Although that maybe suited the rustic voice more in the end.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I worry about using the like button too much in case it's perceived as 'sucking up', but Teresa has a point about long 'Thank You' threads.

I like the mini reviews too. Maybe in a year or ten I'll have the nerve to write one!

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I haven't done any tricky things in a long time -- I'll have to consider that for this month, since I haven't written mine yet!

And, sadly, I have to admit that I never did find TJ's last one even when she said it was there. Someone will have to clue me in so I can bang my head on a wall.