DISCUSSION -- January 2015 75 Word Writing Challenge

[jastius]

Thanks for the review Victoria and Great Challenge this month
I love the diversity of the entries. However I find this genre particularly challenging...Is it just me?
I must have binned about 6-7 storylines before settling on this one.

No it definitely isn't just you...
Made four starts and they all soaked up too many words for the story.
I wish the extra words were cookies. Then I could just eat them. Looks at her cookie-less glass of milk sadly.

 

[Sancho]

No it definitely isn't just you...
Made four starts and they all soaked up too many words for the story.
I wish the extra words were cookies. Then I could just eat them. Looks at her cookie-less glass of milk sadly.

I would love that, however if extra words really were cookies, I would need a new set of scales

 

[Ashleyne]

The story I posted was my fourth attempt. I originally wrote a story with flowers as characters, but I couldn't keep the word count down.

 

[holland]

Thanks for the great reviews Perpetual Man and Victoria

 

[Sancho]

The story I posted was my fourth attempt. I originally wrote a story with flowers as characters, but I couldn't keep the word count down.

At least that sounds original, most of my plot lines seem to end up like a James Bond parody. I definitely have to read less Fleming

 

[J.L. Borstlap]

Elle était si jolie - (@holland ) The story makes your heart sink, knowing love is powerful, then you finish this wonderful tale hoping he makes a decision only he will be able to. Surely he would feel lie this more than once in his life, but would the materialistic beauty last along with the unknown emotional?

The Last Big Taboo - (@Sancho ) Still allowing this one to run around in my mind, so many thoughts, but my mind settled on the love for cigarettes she had more than him, she used her looks to get to her real love, her addiction.

 

[Starbeast]

*shielding eyes from reviews and comments*

Hmm, I thought I'd have something solid by now. Idea One, too personal. Idea Two, a little weak. Idea Three, too long. Plan 2, or 3? Something else? Hmm...

Lots of tales right now, it's making me very curious to take a peek at other stories...Nah! I can't look. You definately picked a great challenge Victoria, it's got me occupied into overtime, and I haven't even begun to expand on any ideas for the 300 challenge either. Hmm...

Choices and Love Stories...decisions and romance, fluttering eyes and heatbeats, with the heavy breathing and the holding of hands and the GLA-VIN!!!

 

[J.L. Borstlap]

@Starbeast , had the same issue when writing mine. My idea was almost same as yours, so many entries the chance of two stories having the same theme or feel is bound to happen. Write what you feel is most likely you and what you feel passionate about, it will never be word for word the same as another and we all would judge it on its own merits. That way you wont feel obligated to lock down your potential for the subject is great and will create opportunity for stories to have same feeling.

 

[Boneman]

Thanks so much Perp, and don't put pressure on yourself too much! Great review...

 

[Perpetual Man]

Sancho - A great little story that leads you down the garden path and then back again. There is a nice bit of misdirection at the start, and the words really give the peice a racey feel. As a reader you think you know where the story is going, but the pay off is a lot more logical, and could almost be a comment on society.

Quite relaxing today, only one story to comment on...

Everyone who has thanked me for the comments, you are most welcome. And those of me who have welcomed me back, I'm glad to be back.

BM - if I've learned anything in the last few months it is not to put too much pressure on myself. Honest. The comments are something I have always enjoyed doing, and when I finding I was not enjoying doing them was one of the signs that there was something wrong somewhere. At the moment I feel better than I have done in ages and doing the comments makes it a lot easier when it comes to voting.

They do cut back on writing time though, so I'm not likely to be doing them on the 300 worder.

 

[Sancho]

Sancho - A great little story that leads you down the garden path and then back again. There is a nice bit of misdirection at the start, and the words really give the peice a racey feel. As a reader you think you know where the story is going, but the pay off is a lot more logical, and could almost be a comment on society.

Thanks JL Borstlap and to you Perp for the great insight and reviews
I hope you liked it, garden paths and all.

 

[J.L. Borstlap]

Love, Tim - (@AnneMartin ) taking us into a world so many are apart of, THE itch might stimulate us in the short but AN itch is what every one longs for. The character in my eyes realised it and took a step towards accepting true love.

 

[Anne Martin]

Thanks, JL. I had intended to post here after putting up the story, but never the "Post Reply", so here is the message:

Considering the genre of most of my writing, this was tough. I don't know if it was reining myself in, or the word limit. Actually, I composed this differently from usual. I normally write about 125 words and then pare it down to 75. This time, the first draft was 74 words, and it would have been a stretch to make it longer. I got an idea for another story when I scanned the other entries - just the title, but ... Anyway, maybe I'll use it for the 300 word challenge.

 

[holland]

Thanks for the review JL!

I actually found this challenge very refreshing, since I've been having trouble with coming up with anything for the 300-word challenge

 

[Starbeast]

@Starbeast , had the same issue when writing mine. My idea was almost same as yours, so many entries the chance of two stories having the same theme or feel is bound to happen. Write what you feel is most likely you and what you feel passionate about, it will never be word for word the same as another and we all would judge it on its own merits. That way you wont feel obligated to lock down your potential for the subject is great and will create opportunity for stories to have same feeling.

Thanks J.L. Borstlap. I'm the one usually encouraging others, but sometimes, I need encouragement too.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Anne Martin -- With a great sense of psychological depth, the author creates a complex character whose faults reflect our own.

reiver33 -- Through the use of a sweeping vision of the far future, this moving tale allows the reader to empathize with a non-human character.

Michael Colton -- Without making judgments, the author presents a character whose decisions we may not approve, while showing us what lies behind those decisions.

ddawson -- This surreal, introspective, moody prose poem creates an sense of otherness in the reader.

 

[Mr Orange]

well mine's in... one of two stories i had. the other one was decidedly monty python but i decided it didn't quite fit the genre. and i could not squish out the last 15 words to get it to 75. think this one's okay, although, like others, i did struggle to get in the genre.

by the way, some good stories in so far and i'm liking the inundation of reviews!

now i need to get my idea for the 300 down... i have an idea but that's it!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Anne Martin – A simple story that tells it as it sometimes is. There is a difference about love and being in love, just as there is a difference in what some people want. Two people can look at one another and think that they are on the same wavelength only to find tragically that they are out of synch.


reiver33 – Putting aside the story itself, I really liked the opening line, especially the end, it hit hard and was well done, read very well too. It succeeds in setting the scene for what is to come, telling the reader that there are no happy endings. All the same the choice of words throughout do the trick nicely and the end still comes with a wrench.


Michael Colton – a short story with a lot of depth. It could have been something else, something a little tackier, but the writer neatly subverts the idea of a prostitute and her mark, by giving it a little more depth. We learn in so few words why she is there, trying to relive something, putting herself beyond the actuality, so that each ‘job’ is a rendezvous with a true love of her past.


ddawson – It is incredible what some people dream of, and how those dreams, be they nightmares are hard to escape. Of course waking can bring relief, unless the waking world is a terrible as any black dream. And that is what we seem to see here, a well rendered nightmare that speaks of the loss of the ultimate love and the grip of despair.


Mr Orange – What could well be considered an epic fantasy distilled to about 75 words. It gives us all we need to know and our imaginations fill in the rest. A champion riding out to rescue his love, a quest and a riddle and the challenge met, so the two lovers can ride off into the sunset together. Of course there is the added spice that our hero was thinking along totally different lines.

 

[Michael Colton]

Thank you for the comments Victoria and Perpetual.

 

[ddawson]

Thanks for the reviews Victoria and Perpetual. I'm afraid to go see what I actually wrote since I sort of tossed them out yesterday and then felt like I was just hacking them down to make them fit. Helped getting them written though, because then I woke up at 1:30 this morning and rewrote a real story by this morning, one I started years ago and had on the back burner and feel I actually put it together much better.