DISCUSSION -- February 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Bob Senior]

I'm sorry, I was about to drop the whole subject but I have a question and I'm sure the answer may help myself and others. My Webster defines & as a sign, by my thinking it is no different than a $ sign or a + sign or a = sign. By your thinking $1.00 or 1+1 would be two or more words, so when is a sign not a sign?
Again, I'm sorry to keep harping on this subject and am now done talking, but I do believe these disagreements should be where everyone can see them so we can all learn from them.
Thank you,

Bob S.

 

[Tywin]

Its a good thing that this is a writing forum and not a mathematics forum.

I think we'd all be screwed.

 

[Culhwch]

Bob, we have had this occur in the past, where a member contacted us to ask about word count for a formula. In that instance, we did in fact count the symbols as words. So '+' is indeed equal to 'plus', and counted as a word. I'm not sure if we ever had a dollar sign used, but I imagine that that would come under similar scrutiny, and the same rule would apply.

I think the ampersand is a law unto itself, anyway. 'And' is such a common word, and would appear a thousand times or more for each instance of any other symbol. It is common sense that it would be counted as a word - otherwise, members could get away with stories well over the seventy-five words by sprinkling them liberally around their prose.

I take your point, though, that this should be clarified, and we will look at having an explanation added to the rules.

Also, and I cannot stress this enough, and this is directed at EVERYBODY - if in doubt, DO NOT POST. Check with a mod. It may take us a day or two (or more, if it's a particularly curly question), but we will always make a decision before the last day to post.

 

[Starbeast]

Starbeast -- The hard-edged details of realistic crime fiction are used to bring the supernatural to life.

Thank you Lady Victoria for your review. I definately went dark on this one.

Trying not to fall behind with these - gosh you guys are good!

Starbeast - Werewolf Queen of New Orleans - There have been many stories this month exploring Carnival as the chance to mix, merge and change identities, but arguably none done in such a ballsy way. Here, the sheer weirdness of Carnival's spectrum of characters allows a werewolf - nay, two werewolves! - to go (almost) undetected through the throng, while the noise of the N'orlins street party outside, all drums and fireworks, would be the perfect cover for a hard-boiled bloodhound letting loose a few silver nuggets into the aforementioned underworld creature. Prose as meaty as Zola's henchmen's flesh, nom nom nom.

Thank you DG Jones. It's nice to see others reviewing stories, you're doing great. I usually do them, but I've been busy lately. I'm too pooped out to write proper reviews, and I'd rather not make typos & errors trying to rush through them. Nom, nom, nom. That's funny.

Howdy, Victoria, thank you for the review, much appreciated. DG Jones, thank you for the kind review, made my day.

Made my day up till they removed my story

Bob Senior

I was crushed to hear your entry was removed Bob. I see that others let you know to check with mods, if you're uncertain. But it was a technical error that would have gone unnoticed by myself too. Whenever I'm not sure, I somethings leave a word or two off, just in case.

Hang in there Bob, we're with you pal.

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

I'm curious. If we're talking about a single word here, can't the original writer simply remove an instance of a generally filler word such as "a", "an", or "the" to hit the word count? If you have a line of dialogue in there, nix the attribution. Have a speaker use less formal or clipped language.

 

[Culhwch]

Well, of course. But if you mean after it has been posted (and the editing time has expired), then no. It's every member's responsibility to ensure their entry is inside the word limit before posting.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

i had a month when I planned to use smileys as part of the story and asked the mods - I was told each would be counted as a word. That was ages ago.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I'm hoping to slowly claw back some of the comments over the next few days, not to mention actually write a story (I've tried twice and neither one feels quite right.... but have something now. I think.)

farntfar - One of the great payoffs in 75 word history, guaranteed to make the reader groan but in such a way that they cannot keep the smile from their face. In keeping with the theme it delivers all it needs but elevates it with the use of fairy tale characters to something bigger - all in all, even if it is to only get the punchline it is more than worth it.

Sancho - one of those strange coincidences that arise when stories with similar punchlines not only appear in the same month, but right after one another. That being said though they are totally different stories, and in this instance it was not the punchline that made me smile. The image of grandma chasing after the bullfighters will stay with me a long time. Another excellent story.

Fishbowl Helmet - A story that is perfectly delivered, this time with the voice of the Mardi Gras, the patois of the South. It gives the tale a flavour all of it's own, bringing life to the images evoked. There is a feel of hidden power, while deals are made, and lives changed, not necessarily for the better.

J L Borstlap – A clever little tale that calls into play the idea of perception and the tricks that our minds can play. Someone who believes in something might be able to do things that are impossible, but are those things real or all in the imagination? How can it be proved, after all magic, even real magic is the most nebulous things of all. If there is no evidence how can there be proof?

WinterLight – A story that is transformed by wonder, there is a deep rooted grace that imbues this piece throughout, the choice of words really conjures up a progressive image that might just be magic, or perhaps it just the feeling of the protagonist as she is swept up in the wonder around her.

Robert Mackay – Another solid story that hits the reader with some excellent, strong imagery, with a clever premise. Are the events portrayed a real mystical ceremony, or are they a repeated part of each year’s festival, another face chosen time and time again to become the king, then to fade away into obscurity… or something more real?

ratsy – It is a time of partying, or wonder and fun, that draws people from all over the world, but is there more to the Mardi Gras than is seen by the eye? Perhaps the whole reason the people take to the streets is to ward of something more sinister, and the partying in fact keeps darkness at bay, even though those that celebrate have forgotten why.

 

[farntfar]

Thank you Perp, for your delightful review.

 

[Zoe Mackay]

Thanks Perp, DG, and Victoria for the lovely reviews!

 

[Bob Senior]

Howdy,
So I did learn something and I hope others did too. I did sneak one thru recently that involved a hyphen, Dusty notified me that my entry was being pulled, when I questioned it the powers that be reviewed it and allowed my hyphenated word. So you win some and you lose some. Better to open your mouth, speak your mind than to go in the corner and pout. I feel much better now, got a load off my mind. I appreciate how civil people on this site are when discussion gets more involved.
Starbeast, you are just too cool.

Bob

 

[ratsy]

Thanks for the reviews DG and Perp! I really look forward to them every month

 

[Perpetual Man]

Reiver33 – There is the old saying that history repeats, something that seems to be at the core of the story (and cleverly in the title too). But there is a lesson to be taught as well, what some might see as a tragedy, might actually be a bit of a repetitive joke.

Chris – A rather spooky offering that shows that in some places in the world, the carnival time may be full of life, laughter and passion, but it is a time of year when it can be very cold! It also takes the religious days at the heart of the festival and makes them something a little more literal – people literally starving for Lent, with ash being the aftermath of fire and the promise of the spring to come.

Karn – Taking a step further back in time, to the precursor of the modern religious festival, when there were still celebrations, where sacrifice, whether enforced or volunteered was part of the process, loved and welcomed by the people around, who just knew that one life given could bring a better year.

Glen – What can I say, out of the blue something completely different and fun. We are hit with a poem, that is in fact a double limerick that quite heartedly tells a wonderful little tale, that touches on such themes as prejudice, identity, living up to who you are, no matter what with the payoff that there might just be a bit of magic left in this old world to grant those most heartfelt dreams.

SB – If there is a particular brand of craziness on the Chrons then this is it, fortunately it is nothing but the best and highly entertaining to boot. A werewolf, who was also a crime boss!!! It’s the craziest takedown of the week, but it is pure entertainment, you cannot help but delight at the madcap tale and the way in which it is told.

Crystal – I’m unsure what I enjoyed most about this one, either the debate about what could or could not be done for the parade or the fact that the spy should be a door, when presumably those being discussed are tree like entities. It’s something right from left field and quite genius at that. I have a peculiar image of the door doing a runner in my head that will stay with me for quite a while.

 

[crystal haven]

Thank you for the lovely review, Perp!

 

[Sancho]

Sancho - one of those strange coincidences that arise when stories with similar punchlines not only appear in the same month, but right after one another. That being said though they are totally different stories, and in this instance it was not the punchline that made me smile. The image of grandma chasing after the bullfighters will stay with me a long time. Another excellent story.

Thanks Perp for your kind words. I'm glad you liked Grandma, she was always most likely to get into the carnival spirit.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I did sneak one thru recently that involved a hyphen, Dusty notified me that my entry was being pulled, when I questioned it the powers that be reviewed it and allowed my hyphenated word.

Point of order, here -- I noticed, while Bob still had time to edit, that there was a hyphenated construction that might be a problem, and if it was, it would put him over the limit. As I have done whenever I see something during the editing time, I sent a message to tell him that he might want to look at that before it was too late. Then, during discussion in the staff room, it turned out the verdict was that I was being alarmist and the word was ok. So, while Bob is indeed a sneaky fellow, he didn't actually get away with anything underhanded there.

 

[farntfar]

I can vouch for that.
TDZ very kindly sent me a similar message once, and I was able to correct it in time.
(Not sure it was a word count actually, but it certainly made my entry ridiculous if uncorrected.)

 

[Ursa major]

TDZ can suggest things that stop our challenge entries being ridiculous?!


TDZ: Make sure you're around and about in the run up to the challenge closing. I may very well need your help...!

 

[farntfar]

It was a spelling mistake in the title, Ursa.
It didn't make it really ridiculous, but it did help.

 

[Ursa major]

Darp! That's a shame.

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