Discussion -- April 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Victoria Silverwolf]

This was a tough one. After rereading all the entries, I had to pick the ones that seemed to do something extra and unexpected with the theme. This is entirely subjective, of course.

Short list:

Cascade

ratsy

DG Jones

Phyrebrat

The Judge

VOTE:

"Off the Page" by Culhwch, for creating a genuinely suspenseful and chilling tale with an excellent ending.

 

[Parson]

Teresa, do I detect being written out of two stories this month? Or is that just one of Martin's things?

 

[Droflet]

My normal process is to read each story as it's posted and write down the ones that appeal to me. This month I checked my list and had 44. Damn, why do you people have to be so bloody good. Anyhoo, after viciously culling the herd ...
Honorable mentions to everyone but in particular: Culhwch, Ashleyne, Kerry, Beasty, TitaniumTi, HB, Crystal, Moonbat, AFareWells, BobSnr and High 8.
My vote went to CC for its originality and cleverness. And this month, that's saying something. Voting for CC is becoming a bit of a habit of late. And, no, we're not dating.

 

[Grimward]

I wrote three 75-worders this month, and decided that I didn't like any of them enough to post. I'm telling myself that discretion is the better part of valor here...

So, as for the offerings of all you gifted folks (and I can fairly say that I like all of your offerings better than mine!):

Quietly spooky, Ratsy.
Wickedly nasty, Telford.

Most of my Semi-short list(in no particular order):
A Change of Heart, Kerrybuchanan
The Perfect Crime, Victoria Silverwolf
Learning to Handle a Woman, Tywin
No Reason at All, Karn Maeshalanadae
Generation Gap, TitaniumTi
Stuck on White, Jastius
While the Iron is Hot, High Eight
Give my Regards to Ned Stark, Teresa Edgerton

Vote: Cul. Nice wrap up there, sir.

 

[Parson]

Before this month if someone would have asked me about meta-fiction I would have thought that they were talking about huge books. Now I know different.

Short list
Victoria Silverwolf: "The Perfect Crime." Stealing the last page was a brilliant idea.
Telford: "Learning Curve" ... I thought you created the perfect sentence and the voice of the main character was spot on.
Karn: "No Reason at All" ... This might be the best anti-war story ever.
Chrispenycat: "Logos" .... a story for a Biblical scholar with the perfect bang at the beginning and the end.
Dusty Zebra: "You Complete Me" .... A favorite story for obvious reasons.

Vote:
Teresa Edgerton: "Give My Regards to Ned Stark." ... I voted for this story because I thought it caught the genre perfectly. It had the right note of insight mixed insider information, to bring a smile to a knowledgeable person.

 

[Droflet]

This month, amongst this company, I expected not so much as a howdy. So I'm very pleasantly surprised. Thanks to Grimward and Parson for the mentions.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Thanks so much, telford, for the vote! I appreciate it greatly! And you're so right about this being a wonderful month for stories. I'll have to sit and re-read, and try to come up with a list of my own soon. It's one of those months where I am positive that the re-read will determine my vote...there are so many candidate stories, and I suspect one will just resonate with the mood I am in at that moment of reviewing. Thanks again telford!

And, no, we're not dating.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Or is that just one of Martin's things?

I don't think I'm supposed to answer that question until after the voting.

And thank you for the vote!

Thank you also, Grimward, for the mention.

 

[holland]

My vote goes to Victoria Silverwolf.

Runner-up is High Eight.

 

[Luiglin]

Top three for me...

Ratsy - my sort of autobiography, very short
Willwallace - subtle comedy
Titanium Ti - last line had me chuckling

The vote went to Titanium Ti just for that last line.

I'm also in the unusual position for knowing the first word in my entry for next months 75

 

[Remedy]

I tried to get my list down to 10, but it was too difficult - had to stop cutting entries at 12.

Shortlist, Runner-Ups (*) and Vote (***)

*Culhwch - Pulled in and thrown out. Made me think about what just happened. Excellent.

Cascade - Thoughtful and lyrical. Very well paced.

*Ratsy - Imaginatively deep. The life of book, or the book of life?

Juliana - Great comedy. I could see the frustrated adventurer clearly.

Perpetual Man - Reminiscent of the chicken/egg conundrum. Pleasant brain-hurt.

*HareBrain - A modern Brechtian-style entry that made me smile.

***Jastius - Original, smart and funny with a twist. Brilliant.

A. Fare Wells - A familiar battle to me. Each "Tap," a victory. Great stuff.

Mosaix - A complete 75 word meta-mystery, solved at the last with a couple misdirections. Well done.

Parson & TheDustyZebra - I'm linking these two because of their wonderful crafty ways! Great fun to hop back and forth between them.

*Teresa Edgerton - Fulfilling all aspects of the challenge perfectly. A nifty title and a great ending too!

 

[TitaniumTi]

I had difficulty selecting a short list from the many excellent stories, but here goes:

Culhwch - Off The Page
Juliana - Choose your own adventure
Ihe - Alpha and Omega
HareBrain - Conflict of Little Interest
Moonbat - Epic Spelling War at the Mountainous Moon of Madness
Mosaix - The Case of the Shropshire Writer

One colourful story, however, stood out from the crowd - Struck On White, by Jastius. Vote.

 

[TitaniumTi]

Thank you for the vote, Luiglin, and thank you for the mentions, Grimward and telford. I feel honoured, considering all the wonderful entries.

Thank you also, Cat's Cradle, for the very enjoyable challenge.

 

[Juliana]

Thanks for the mentions, Remedy and Ti!

This month was an easy one, as I've had a firm favorite from the very beginning. My vote goes to Ratsy's tale (or should that be Ratsy's Tail?).

My not-so-short-shortlist:
Victoria
Cul
JJ
HB
Chrispy
Moonbat
Jastius
BigJ
High Eight
Glen
Parson/TDZ (sorry! I can't help thinking of this as a double act! )
Teresa

 

[willwallace]

Thanks for the mention, Luiglin. Didn't really know anything about meta fiction before this challenge, but I do now

 

[Remedy]

Parson/TDZ (sorry! I can't help thinking of this as a double act! )

I had to do the same, Juliana! We'll have to call them: TheDustyParson

 

[Juliana]

We'll have to call them: TheDustyParson

Love it!

 

[Perpetual Man]

There are those questions that seem too large to ask, and here BigJ – truly lives up to the first part of his name because the feeling of this piece is truly epic. We are spinning through space and time, seeing the infinite in all it’s magnificent, before being delivered that question that just can’t be answered. Of course there are questions that can be raised, things like if I create a character on the page is it almost murder to kill them? Sancho – takes out one of his own, but it is no0t the reader that finds themselves perplexed over the decision, but the characters themselves, particularly the one who has bit the dust. There is a web of intrigue though, perhaps the reality of the story is influenced by the reality that is in fact another story…. It could be worse though, you might not even be able to write a story, I mean what could be worse than writers block? Well High Eight – certainly let’s us know, it’s when you can still write but the characters actually block the writing! Can you imagine it, the words there ready to pour out but any movement towards the keyboard will end with a lopped finger from a character who may or may not be in the process of becoming an orc. Even if you could write there are now all those pesky modern things that come into play DEO – shows which these are with the dreaded predictive text logic extended to spellchecker. Not only might it change the odd word to something silly, but terrifyingly change the whole context of the story. Why? Because it wants to.

I sit back from my keyboard and wonder what next? I’m starting to struggle with the format of the comments this month, perhaps I have bitten off more than I could chew, worse it seems that the challenge is over and I should be looking at voting and thanking Remedy for the mention, but there are still more words that need to be written. Only one mention so far, perhaps I should have been more crowd pleasing, something for the common denominator, elves, orcs swords, perhaps even Rayguns… ahh I see Glen got there first.

Imagine the most evil criminal mastermind that has ever been. A capable foil for the greatest minds in the world? Who would you choose? Well the fun was taken out of this story for me, because I would have immediately gone for Mosaix – I mean obvious or what And then… well every challenge has a smarty-pants, and this time round we find that we have two. Step forward Parson and TDZ – I don’t know whether to brand you genius or just… oh what the heck let’s go with just genius eh? Cross referencing one another (and a few other bits to boot) it’s almost magic.

Who passes judgement on our characters, who they are or what they do? Well TJ –would be a good place to start, but what if they, those characters decide to think outside the box, or indeed the book and influence those around them, changing the very authors plans and… and… creating something more enduring… Or even trying (and succeeding) to create something funny, by telling the reader that it isn’t – Ursa. And not only the final story, but the most fitting lesson for the end. No matter how much those characters those characters might argue, no matter how they resist, it is the writer who ultimately is in the omnipotent position, able to lash out (as we are told) like GRRM on a benevolent day and take those argumentative souls and remove them from literary existence. So it is that Teresa - proves the oldest of adages, that the pen (or keyboard) is more powerful than the sword.

Phew.


Not setting myself anything like this next month, all Perp comments are going to be limited to one word. Is it even possible?

 

[Cat's Cradle]

*APPLAUSE-APPLAUSE* Standing ovation, Perp, from Finland! Beautiful job! Not sure how you did it all, well done. CC

 

[Parson]

I don't think I'm supposed to answer that question until after the voting.

Teresa: Parson thumps palm to forehead. Of course you couldn't answer that question. Consider it a gray moment. Please?

Parson & TheDustyZebra - I'm linking these two because of their wonderful crafty ways! Great fun to hop back and forth between them.

Thanks so much. Our Dusty really set this up, but I'll be happy to take any compliments that come my way.

Parson/TDZ (sorry! I can't help thinking of this as a double act! )

Parson grins. Thank you!

I had to do the same, Juliana! We'll have to call them: TheDustyParson

Parson's grin splits his face. That's wonderful! I'm sure Dusty will be insulted, but I can't quit smiling.

And then… well every challenge has a smarty-pants, and this time round we find that we have two. Step forward Parson and TDZ – I don’t know whether to brand you genius or just… oh what the heck let’s go with just genius eh? Cross referencing one another (and a few other bits to boot) it’s almost magic.

Smarty pants huh? --- I assume that has nothing to do with intelligence? ..... Well I want you to know that I represent that remark.