Discussion -- April 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Dan Jones]

I wonder if we should sticky this or put it in the Rules thread as an example.

As an example of how not to do a review?

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Well, I understood what meta was once I looked upon it. Should have figured. But, it might be a bit too simple. It was one of those five-minute idea-to-words ones.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

As an example of how not to do a review?

An example of how we all write our stories.

 

[Dan Jones]

@Cascade - Wooing Sophie - Who is Sophie? Is she reading? If she is, is she aware that what is on her pillow is also on a hundred screens? What seems a very personal courtship becomes a very public exercise in the construction of affection. Perhaps a poem? No; it has to be a poem, cascading organically with the thoughts of the literate lovelorn. The poem forces the gaze of the unintended - the non-Sophie-reader - to intercept the missive, and makes the reader the canvas for the poet. Clever.

@holland - The Writer's Wrath - First of all, I think lots of people liked the reverse text thing. I did. But I guess the stress of war does strange things to people. A soldier is a nice symbol to use as the exasperated manifestation of the author's inner critic; continually under fire from the Big Ego firing inky bullets from PC HQ. But let me tell you, you can bomb that house to smithereens, but Soldier will still be standing there. And one well-aimed bullet from his rifle will be more incisive than all the bombs in Christendom. Stand down, soldier.

@Serendipity - Sinister Information Snatcher - this looks relatively simple on the outside, but just take a look at the amount of layers involved; a story... no, a recurring story within a story that addresses the reader. And it even delivers a gag!

@ratsy - Living Memoir - Time moves too quickly to change it. When each leaf of passage is a minute in a book the pages cannot be unturned; they can only be ridden. The book isn't there to be handled, or manipulated, or analysed. The book manipulates us, as author and reader. Sometimes we're active in life; sometimes we're passive. Sometimes we write; sometimes we read. This writer is his own antagonist precisely because he tries to fight the turning of the pages, but this just takes up valuable pages. It's when he realises his folly that the poignancy of the tale becomes clear. Every person reading this will relate to it. Kind of masterful.

@Kerrybuchanan - A Change of Heart - it's commonplace for authors to be labelled bloodthirsty when they off their characters in fantastic and barbaric ways within the story. But we're worse than that. We can erase them from existence - and we do it, too. The author is God, but not in the Abrahamic sense. No; the author is a Mayan god, and requires blood sacrifice. From the view of those on the page, she is whimsical, arrogrant, and cruel. And from the reader's view? Bloody funny.

@willwallace - 20,000 Leagues in 80 Days - Oh, purleeeeese, now you're just showing off, right? The submarine and the dirigible are both powered by fire, but it's their pilot's words that are so powerful that they break the gravitational pull of the page's gravity and send this tale through outer readership. Soaring across the boundary between reader and writer, this crosses canon and even across industry to reach the Promised Land for all bestselling novels: Hollywood. In short, it's the Journey to the Sector of net Worth.

Right, the Bond film's on.

 

[willwallace]

Amazing reviews, DG.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Wonderful review, thank you DGJ.

 

[holland]

You know that feeling when a review of your story is actually better than your story? Well I do now.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

It's how I feel just about every time, Holland.

 

[Cascade]

I like talking about writing nearly as much as I like writing. I think that is sometimes the hardest part of the challenge. To read a review of your story that engages you and leaves you wanting to respond more fulsomely, but unable to say anything because it might give away too much so you are left to give merely an inadequate... thanks DG and Victoria and Perp (again)

 

[Dan Jones]

Amazing reviews, DG.

Thanks so much. I'm putting extra effort in because the stories are amazing this month.

Wonderful review, thank you DGJ.

Very welcome, Kerry!

You know that feeling when a review of your story is actually better than your story? Well I do now.

Steady on, old chap.

thanks DG and Victoria and Perp

You're welcome Cascade - I wonder which of us reviewers you could be referring to? Don't respond, though

 

[ratsy]

Thank you so much for the great reviews, Victoria, Perp and DG! It is great to read them all.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Thanks for the terrific review, DG! And a huge thank you for all the reviewers--it takes time to read through the stories, even in making lists for voting. To take that time while the competition is ongoing, and then to write thoughtful, interesting, insightful (often hilarious!) reviews, well, we all owe you a great debt of gratitude! Your reviews help to make the challenges even more special each month. You're all amazing!! CC

 

[Ashleyne]

Thanks for the reviews, Victoria, Perp and DG. It's clear you've all put in tremendous effort with every review and saying thank you doesn't seem like enough. As some have said before, its worth entering these competitions just to receive your reviews

 

[Serendipity]

Many thanks, DG, for you kind words.

I'm glad you liked my gag-gle of stories.

 

[Dan Jones]

@Juliana - Choose Your Own Adventure - Ah, this brings back fond memories of the old Steve Jackson books in which YOU are the hero! But as Juliana quite shrewdly points out; it's not YOU, it's the poor sap with the shortsword and the onyx egg (there's always an onyx egg) in his backpack, whose very life depends on YOUR own levels of hubris, curiosity and knack for dice. The choice of a gamebook to skewer the dividing line between reader and writer is astute because of its usage of the second person perspective; the reader becomes part of the 'writing' process by crafting her own narrative. Oh, and by the way, I would have gone with the bridge.

@Victoria Silverwolf - The Perfect Crime - ooh, this is naughty, Victoria. What a Napoleon of Crime you've created here in the form of the killer who, Skynet-like, has become self-aware; s/he's identified the weakness of the genre in which s/he serves - an absolute dependence upon the theatre of the Denouement - and so effectively neutralises the power of the story and even the author! But the main question is: who is the killer!!?

@Perpetual Man - Ouroboros - This could have been subtitled "75 Word Challenges Will Eat Itself". What a very apt tale from the Perpetual Man. Layers upon layers of meaning and nuance abound; the creation of the author is teaching and creating the author himself through the cyclical mechanics of creation. Many of us will utter the throwaway remark "writing's my life," without stopping to consider the literal implication of those words: the writing becomes life, becomes your life, writing you. So the creation becomes the creator, as this tale shows us that the writer and his works must - must - exist in a perfect symbiosis, until the line distinguishing them blurs and then vanishes completely forever. Don't believe me? Then why is Steve Coogan literally turning into Alan Partridge?

@johnnyjet - I'm Talking To You - sometimes characters will scream at their creators in metaphorical ways: "I don't work that way!", or "oh yeah, cos' I really would make that decision, right?" but I've never heard of a character literally screaming in the face of the author. And with good reason. We demand a lot of our characters, you know. Maybe a rule for writers should be: don't allow your characters to face anything that you wouldn't be prepared to face yourself. Because you never know when a big giant with pointy teeth is going to come knocking. Knocking heads, that is.

@telford - Learning Curve - how did the writer sneak a gun into class? Because he wrote it there, dummy! We writers have the power and the glory to change things as we see fit. Rules are meant to be broken, and we're the best at breaking rules because we all think they don't apply to us. You can't teach this stuff, man. Especially with a hole in your friggin' face!

@Tywin - Learning How To Handle A Woman - another, arguably more understated, way of showing that those who can't, teach... How lovely is the figure of the henpecked Horatio, conjuring male-fantasy female subjugation to supplant his own withering manliness. A touching warning to the chaps out there thinking of writing fantasy females; you see that foxy lady in your head, d'you see her, right there in the skimpy bodice, questionable morals and penchant for depravity? She doesn't exist, man! And all the admiration of all the Percys in the world won't change that. Take out the trash? Use the delete key.

 

[Juliana]

Thank you DG! I love the review.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for the review DG, greatly appreciated, and especially blown away by the wonderful words.

 

[Droflet]

Thanks, DG, great review as ever.

 

[Tywin]

Thanks for the review DG.

 

[johnnyjet]

Thanks for the great review, DG!