Discussion Thread - 100 Word Anonymous Writing Challenge Feb 2015

[J.L. Borstlap]

I can see the votes

 

[Hex]

Then you could PM people and ask them to vote again if you wanted the poll reset?

(I still can't see who voted for whom in December -- it must be only the person who set up the poll who gets to see).

 

[Tywin]

Well, it's easy for ME to see who didn't actually submit a story.

 

[Droflet]

First time here for me. Same old problems as the other challenges. Why, oh why do you people have to be so damn good. Thank god I don't have to do an honorable mentions section. I don't, do I? I think someone is channeling Starbeast. Yeah, you know who you are. BTW, your entry was a hare's breath away from getting the vote. Once again, you troublesome Chrons, well done to everyone.

 

[farntfar]

I think you can do honorable mentions if you like, Telford.
"I liked the one about cricket" rather than I liked John Arlott's one.
It's just that it was really written by Geoff Boycott.

 

[Cascade]

Do we guess in this thread?

can we start guessing yet?

 

[farntfar]

That's the plan, Cascade.
This is where to guess.

Have you unmasked someone?

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Well, I think I will do everything possible here, in this one post...guessing, mentions, revealing my vote (sorry--it will be a very long post!). Wow, it's all been very difficult...the guessing, the culling, the vote deciding; it's been another challenge where every story could/should be listed. But here we go:

Honorable mentions:
Directive 51
Silver Lining
It's still day 1
Reporting on Case 572/B-7.
Today Jeopardy! Tomorrow the World.
Clouded Judgments in the Dark Skies of War
Cloud Psychiatry

Finalists:
Head in the Clouds--a truly moving tale
Precipitate--loved the narrative voice
A Dutchman, Updated--a beautiful update
Done By The Book--a terrifically crafted tale

Vote:
Aargh!! So close...it came down to Precipitate and Done By the Book, and I wish I had two votes. I decided to choose the better half of these stories after consulting my own better half. My wife and I discussed and struggled and finally decided on Precipitate. We both just really loved the original idea for the story, the voice, and especially the perfect opening sentences. Well done all!!

Guessing (consistently haphazard, certainly overwhelmingly-wrong guessing; but I tried!)

Head in the Clouds--Ashleyne
Directive 51--farntfar
Fallen Cloud--Kerry
Dissolution--Locksmith
Unaware--JLB
The Cloud (Starring Montgomery Forke)--crystal haven
A View from the Clouds--Juliana
You Have Signed Out of Chat--Hex
Reporting on Case 572/B-7.--Cascade
Precipitate--Victoria
Imagine My Surprise When:--chrispenycate
Today Jeopardy! Tomorrow The World.--reiver33
Clouded Judgments in the Dark Skies of War--mosaix
Keeping Them Happy--Tywin
Unidentified Floating Objects--ratsy
Cloud Psychiatry--Pwaa
The Cloud--willwallace
Black Hoylian--ddawson
A Dutchman, Updated--Remedy
Silver Lining--Darkchrome
It's still day 1--johnnyjet
Invasion--telford
Done By The Book--Robert Mackay

 

[J.L. Borstlap]

Cascade the voting and guessing can commence! When the vorig closes I will place an inage of the votes on the thread!

 

[Tywin]

Great stories. Trying to guess who wrote what is making my head spin. For me this was easier on the old forum where you saw everyone's location in the world (at least you could tease out British vs American spellings).

My top three:
It’s Still Day 1 -VOTE
The Cloud (The one with the tractor)
Directive 51

 

[chrispenycate]

When a poll

Great stories. Trying to guess who wrote what is making my head spin. For me this was easier on the old forum where you saw everyone's location in the world (at least you could tease out British vs American spellings).

Obviously, not everybody puts his or her location on their profile (I would cite a certain 'Tywin', who has neither gender nor location), but as a rough guide:-
mosaix M UK
telford M
Locksmith M UK
Crystal Haven F UK
riever33 F Scot
chrispenycate F UK (Switz)
Cascade ? ?
Cat's Cradle M Suomi (USA)
Hex F Scot
Tywin M? USA?
J.L. Borstlap
Kerrybuchanan F Eire
Pwaa ? ?
ddawson M
Darkchrome F
Ashleyne F
Juliana F USA (Brazil)
Ratsy M Can
Victoria Silverwolf F USA
willwallace M USA
Robert Mackay M UK
Remedy M Jersey
farntfar M France
johnnyjet M USA

 

[johnnyjet]

Honorable Mentions:
You Have Signed Out of Chat
Keeping Them Happy
Black Hoylian
It’s Still Day 1
Done By the Book

Top Three:
Head in the Clouds
Dissolution
Precipitate

Ultimately I voted for Precipate for it's originality.

And to follow suit with Cat's Cradle and create a long posting, my wild guesses:

Head in the Clouds - Cat's Cradle
Directive 51 - ddawson
Fallen Cloud - mosaix
Dissolution - Juliana
Unaware - Ashleyne
The Cloud (Starring Montgomery Forke) - telford
A View From the Clouds - Ratsy
You Have Signed Out of Chat - Kerrybuchanan
Reporting on Case 572/B - 7 - chrispenycate
Precipitate - Crystal Haven
Imagine My Surprise When: - Hex
Today Jeopardy! Tomorrow the World. - farntfar
Clouded Judgments in the Dark Skies of War - J.L. Borstlap
Keeping Them Happy - Victoria Silverwolf
Unidentified Floating Objects - Pwaa
Cloud Psychiatry - Cascade
The Cloud - willwallace
Black Hoylian - Remedy
A Dutchman, Updated - Locksmith
Silver Lining - Robert Mackay
It’s Still Day 1 - Tywin
Invasion - riever33
Done By the Book - Darkchrome

 

[Cascade]

OK, Here goes.

I will follow CC's lead and try do it all in one post.

Shortlist (and Vote*)

Silver Lining- Cute and geeky and hopeful.
The Cloud (Starring Montgomery Forke)- I am always amazed how chrons members are not just able to tell a story but also mess around with narrative flow, and tell stories within stories with so few words.
The Cloud (the tractor one)- I found this quite chilling, and it stuck in my head for a while.
Dissolution*- I thought this was a really sweet original story. I'm not sure if it was meant to be a happy ending given her husband 'died' but there was a sense of acceptance and peace that was lovely.
A Dutchman, Updated- A really well set scene. I could clearly see the scene, the bridge of the airship, the stern, resolute captain (hands probably clasped behind hi back), the nervous young officer.

Head in the Clouds-- Juliana
Directive 51--Ashleyne
Fallen Cloud-- Crystal Haven
Dissolution-- Hex
Unaware-- chrispenycate
The Cloud (Starring Montgomery Forke)-- willwallace
A View from the Clouds-- Darkchrome
You Have Signed Out of Chat-- J.L. Borstlap
Reporting on Case 572/B-7.-- Locksmith
Precipitate-- Victoria Silverwolf
Imagine My Surprise When:-- johnnyjet
Today Jeopardy! Tomorrow The World.-- Rober Mackay
Clouded Judgments in the Dark Skies of War-- Tywin
Keeping Them Happy-- telford
Unidentified Floating Objects-- Kerrybuchanan
Cloud Psychiatry-- riever33
The Cloud (the tractor one)-- ddawson
Black Hoylian-- Cascade
A Dutchman, Updated --Ratsy
Silver Lining-- Cat's Cradle
It's still day 1-- mosaix
Invasion-- Pwaa
Done By The Book-- farntfar

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Digging these long posts with the listings, and the guessing...I love reading people's thoughts on the stories...I hope other folks can find the time to list up a post in response to these stages of the challenge!

ps--I opened three windows and compared my, johnnyjet's and Cascade's guessing lists, and I think there were only two or three stories where two of us guessed the same person as author...and no story (I think) where the three of us were in agreement about an author/story combo...so I am, personally, changing my expectations on the guessing round--the fewer right, the merrier!

 

[Droflet]

Firstly, Chris, location M???? Just for the records I'm from the land down under. Is that what M means? No worries either way.
Next, the honorable mentions. I just love choosing a few from an avalanche of great entries. (Not) Anyhoo:
Directive 51
Dissolution
Reporting on Case ....
The Cloud
The rest were all so innovative and generally well written that picking a hand full from the entries is never a task I look forward to. But, ehh, it's the nature of the beast.

 

[Droflet]

Hold on Chris, M for male. Doh! Having another senior moment.

 

[reiver33]

Hey, at least you ended up the right sex! I know I'm in touch with my feminine side but this is taking things a bit far...

 

[Juliana]

Hey, at least you ended up the right sex! I know I'm in touch with my feminine side but this is taking things a bit far...

I noticed Chris is also in touch with his own feminine side...

 

[Juliana]

Sorry about the double post! Anyhow...

My vote went to The Cloud (the one with the field and tractor).
Shortlist: Head in the Clouds, A View From The Clouds, Cloud Psychiatry, Silver Lining, Done by the Book.

As for my guesses, as usual I started out with careful pondering and eventually descended into mad guesswork and mayhem.
For what it's worth, here are my tries:


Mosaix – Done by the Book

Telford – Black Hoylian

Locksmith – Directive 51

Crystal Haven – A View from the Clouds

riever33 - Fallen Cloud

chrispenycate – Unidentified Floating Objects

Cascade – Imagine My Surprise When

Cat's Cradle - Precipitate

Hex – The Cloud

Tywin – You Have Signed Out of Chat

J.L. Borstlap – Reporting on Case 572/B-7

Kerrybuchanan – Silver Lining

Pwaa – Today Jeopardy! Tomorrow The World.

Ddawson - The Cloud (Starring Montgomery Forke)

Darkchrome - Invasion

Ashleyne - Dissolution

Ratsy – Keeping Them Happy

Victoria Silverwolf – Head in the Clouds

Willwallace – A Dutchman, Updated

Robert Mackay - Unaware

Remedy – Cloud Psychiatry

Farntfar – It’s still day 1

johnnyjet – Fallen Cloud

 

[Tywin]

Okay, my account information has been updated to include my gender (Male, last time I checked), and my location which is Southwest Oklahoma (The bright center of the universe).