DISCUSSION -- October 2014 300-word Writing Challenge (#15)

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Getting closer to the date and I haven't begun yet. I'm not sure if I'm in the mood for it currently...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't have any ideas either, but we have the rest of the month to come up with something.

 

[Rafellin]

Intriguing picture, duly filed for consideration by the storymaking engine, which may be kind enough to donate something before the end of the month. Got a lot of online story sorting to do in the meanwhile, so hopefully things will coincide in a timely manner.

 

[Bowler1]

I didn't enter the last 300 because the rocks in water failed to spark anything for me, but such is life. This picture was a light bulb going on and all I need is a working title and patience to wait and edit (a weakness for me, waiting). All I need now is an idea for the 75, a blank so far.

 

[Juliana]

I just need to revise and double check (bartender, make that a triple!) my word count. Love the 300 challenge! It's always so cool reading the stories.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I have something, finally on try three. Needs some honing, though.

 

[Juliana]

I have something, finally on try three. Needs some honing, though.

Took me two tries this time. @Phyrebrat unwittingly gave me the inspiration on twitter. Must thank him!

 

[The Judge]

I just need to revise and double check (bartender, make that a triple!) my word count.

I can't recall the last time I gave my fail-safe counting system for the 300s, but in case there's anyone who hasn't heard it already.

Copy and paste the final version into a new document and then divide it into paragraphs of just 25 words (ie ignore the actual paragraph and sentence structure) with a line's space between each, and you should end up with 12 or fewer paragraphs. If you've got more than 12, you've got too many! And to be on the safe side, unless you've specifically checked hyphenated words with one of us, count them as separate words.

If you're having difficulty counting the 25s, start at the end of the paragraph -- or print it out and turn the paper upside down -- so you're forced to look at each individual word rather than your eyes skim-reading what's there.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I usually copy my stories into a couple of trustworthy word processing programs (Word works if you know its little tricks and ways, but I'd always want a back-up. Appleworks and Pages have so far proven reliable). Then I count the words myself. Then I print it up and give it to my husband or some other handy family member to count.

But I like your method, and will probably use it during my own count.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

I have an idea...bwahahahaha!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

And don't make up words...

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Yes, I find counting backward to be the best last-resort -- after counting forward several times, of course! (Err, that would be counting from the end to the beginning, not starting at 300 and counting down, which could get problematic.)

And I do actually have an idea, although I may not get it written before the last minute anyway.

 

[Juliana]

I do the counting backwards thing with the 75. With the 300 it's too confusing, so I usually make sure I'm a good few words under, just in case. Also, I count all hyphenated words separately, even the 'legal' ones. Paranoid, much?

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I've only had one 300 that I took all the way to 300 (the most recent, actually) -- I usually give myself a few words' leeway on that, just in case. My 75 ones are always 75, because that's an obsession of mine.

 

[Bowler1]

I usually go with 299 words even after counting by hand, just in casey (a made up word, like clickity click, another one of mine).

 

[David Evil Overlord]

@springs: Embiggens is a perfectly cromulant word

 

[Juliana]

Embiggens is a perfectly cromulant word

Patrick Rothfuss uses embiggen all the time on his blog. So it's definitely legit.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

According to Collins Dictionary, the word "Embiggens" was "Coined by The Simpsons in "Lisa the Iconoclast," has since been adopted for use in elements of string theory."

Life imitating art?

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Well, I'd come here this morning hoping to see several stories posted, so I wouldn't be first again! But it is very early throughout much of the world, so I'm in at the beginning once again.
I'm not really very strong on writing fantasy, so I decided to approach this from a different direction. I hope people like the story, and I'm really looking forward to reading the other stories...there should be some terrific tales of wonder told this challenge.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

And a nice take, CC. I decided not to go pure fantasy either. But I did count my words many times, and ran it past a mod, and tried not to make up any delightful new words this time.