Discussion thread -- November 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Phyrebrat]

Shortlist (& * favourites):
Robert Mackay
Victoria Silverwolf
Alex the G & T*
HareBrain
reiver33
Cat’s Cradle
Hazelrah *
DG Jones *
Highwayman*

But as soon as I read Bob Senior's entry, I was envious of how perfectly it fit both the challenge demands and so I had to vote for that. If it's any consolation, Alex, Hazelrah and StilLearning's were snapping at his heels.

I love my absurdist fiction and was pleased when Dan chose it. I had threatened to choose it the month I won but was talked out of it. When reading through the stories, many were good but I didn't think they fit the absurdist genre and some drifted too far into meta or comedy for my vote.

Thanks to Tim James and Jareb Collins for the votes! I had three stories written for this month's challenge and am glad I posted the one I did; of the other two I wrote, one was too hardcore Beckett, and one was too near comedy.

Thanks also to Droflet, VB, DG Jones (it’s meant to be Iceland, not Ireland ) and Saharren for the shortlist and mentions.

As always, great claps and fist pumps etc to Tim and Victoria for their unceasing efforts here. I don't really know anything about Pratchett (or that he was even dead, actually! RIP) but it was fun trying to see a pattern all the same.

pH

ETA: and thank YOU for the shortlist, CC, too

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Late to the party! But still time to vote...and what a tight race we have! Loved the challenge DG; loved the entries. So, my lists, and vote:

Honorable mentions -
Robert M., TitaniumTi, Parson, mosaix, Bob Senior, reiver33, TJ, Ursa

Shortlist -
Moonbat, Alex, Starbeast, Glen, Harebrain, Phyrebrat

Finalists -
Victoria - This is totally charming, and what a finish!
David Evil Lord - I smiled from beginning to end! There's a children's book in there somewhere, DEL.
StilLearning - Another charmer, and very exciting!

I was all ready to vote, but after writing these brief thoughts on my finalists, my determined mind has faltered. Forgive me, I don't want to erase all this and start over, so I am going to post what I've written, and then vote a bit later tonight.

Finally - a big thank you to Glen for the mention!
edit - thank you, Phyrebrat, too, for a mention!

 

[crystal haven]

Everyone is so good – I found it really difficult to choose my lists.

Longlist:

Victoria Silverwolf – A Matter of Style
Martin321 – Red or blue?
Littlestar – For a Life Spent in Cunning
Clockworkbot - The first time I died
HazelRah - Hereafter
Hopewrites - A Path Diverged In The Old Forest
Moonbat - Schrödinger's Menagerie
Jo Zebedee - Still Waiting
Travis Woodward - Taste the difference

Shortlist:

Titanium Ti – Save the Cat
HareBrain – The Voice Of Doombar
Cat’s Cradle - That Fair Flower of Love – That Tart Treacle of Plutocracy
Ratsy - 'And the non-believers shall dry on the path of life' - First Gnome 22:01
Mosaix - Mr White's Statement To Immigration Control
StilLearning – Highwayman

And my vote: **Johnnyjet – Forked**

 

[David Evil Overlord]

David Evil Lord - I smiled from beginning to end! There's a children's book in there somewhere, DEL.

I was thinking that, too

 

[willwallace]

The stories were so varied for this month, it is a little difficult to cut down to a shortlist, but here goes.

Droflet-The Road Too Traveled
Titanium Ti-Save The Cat
Harebrain-The Voice of Doombar
LittleStar-For A life Spent in Cunning
hopewrites-A Path Diverged In The Old Forest

The one that felt the most absurd, while sticking to the path not taken, was StilLearning's Highwayman, which got my vote.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Okay, I couldn't decide, so I asked my better half, and we discussed my three finalists...she loved them all, but slightly favored Brontosaurus’ Quantum Thesaurus. So my vote goes to DEL. I wish I had more votes, though!
Looking forward to seeing how the voting plays out...it's very close, now!
And thank you so much, crystal haven, for the mention!

 

[Alex The G and T]

A pleasure to go back and read these all a few more times; but an absurd job to apply any sort of judgement to such a chaotic parade of lunacy.

The two that made me laugh out loud where from Bob Senior and Venusian Broon. A tough choice, for me. In more of a spasm of uncertainty, than conscious choice; I voted for VB's ridiculous introduction to the shortest story ever told. If Adam and Evan live to be older than Methusela; it's still going to be a much shorter story than that other one.


******

I am so thrilled with the response to my entry. Thanks, ever so much for the listings, CC, Phyrebrat, Johnny Jet. And an actual vote from Mad Alice, about made me jump out of my chair. Thank you!

As always, thanks to Victoria and Tim for taking the time to post a kind word for each and every entry.

 

[The Judge]

Hmmm. As ever I'm going to be strict in looking at theme and genre. There were lots of absurd stories, but I'm not sure that very many were actually absurdist, which I would define as dealing with the idea of life's futility, and some also missed the theme for me -- merely having repetition isn't to my mind the same as the path** not taken. But I've nonetheless included some of the not-quite-genre stories as they tickled my funny bone, so they get a mention, if not a vote.

Alex The G & T -- A Staircase Mis-taken
Bob Senior -- Prison Overcrowding?
Glen -- Left to an uncertain fate
Moonbat -- Schrodinger's Menagerie
mosaix -- Mr White's Statement...
Mr Orange -- What is the question?
ratsy -- And the non-believers...
Robert Mackay -- Clutch TT-2
TitaniumTi -- Save the Cat

And after a good deal of to-ing and fro-ing my vote goes to Alex (who gets an extra Brownie point for adding a new -- real -- word to my vocabulary!).


And absurd, deeply pointless and frosty thanks for the mentions/shortlistings Droflet, johnnyjet, Glen, Ihe, Juliana, Saharren, TDZ, Mad Alice and CC!


** Which should of course be ROAD.

 

[TitaniumTi]

Thanks for the mentions,
LittleStar, crystal haven,
TDZ, The Judge.

Thanks, too, willwallace,
Cat's Cradle. I'm glad that you
enjoyed Save the Cat.

 

[ratsy]

This was a bizarre month if anything!

My faves were

Johnnyjet - Forked
Martin321 - Red or Blue?
Clockworkbot - The first time I died
HazelRah - Hereafter
TheJudge - Reflection has closed the Road

in the end I voted for Johnnyjet!!!

Congrats to everyone for coming up with something in this absurd theme

 

[TitaniumTi]

These are the stories I loved:
Warts and Wisdom - Juliana
The Voice of Doombar - HareBrain
Hereafter - HazelRah
Nope - willwallace
Still Waiting - Jo Zebedee

I almost voted for:
A Staircase Mis-taken - Alex the G and T
Script Changes - Venusian Broon

I voted for Turn Left, by Tim James, for perfectly capturing that familiar sense of creative futility.

 

[martin321]

The stories were so different that it was very hard to compare them, so in the end I just picked the ones I liked most (even if they didn't really fit the theme or genre).

Here is my shortlist and *vote*:

HareBrain - The Voice of Doombar
David Evil Overlord - Brontosaurus’ Quantum Thesaurus
Venusian Broon - Script changes
ratsy - 'And the non-believers shall dry on the path of life' - First Gnome 22:01
*Mad Alice* - And the Stars, Splintered, Sang...
Culhwch - In A Hundred Years We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter, Anyway

 

[Dan Jones]

I love my absurdist fiction and was pleased when Dan chose it.

I do believe that you were going to choose a very specific, Beckettian strain of Absurdism rather than plain old, common-or-garden Absurdism!

Thanks for the mention though, you've saved me from the dreaded 0-0 (no mentions, no votes)!!

** Which should of course be ROAD.

Yes, yes, I've read Frost too, you know. But the theme wasn't necessarily an explicit reference to Frost.

 

[Ursa major]

At least we know that voting in the Challenges isn't pointless, so here are the decisions of the Ursa jury:


Honourable Mentions:

• A Staircase Mis-taken by Alex The G & T
• The Voice of Doombar by HareBrain
• PRISON OVERCROWDING? by Bob Senior
• Hereafter by HazelRah

Runners Up:

• CLDVBN-3000 by holland
• Left to an uncertain fate by Glen
• 'And the non-believers shall dry on the path of life' - First Gnome 22:01 by ratsy

Winner:

• In A Hundred Years We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter, Anyway by Culhwch

(In the above, each category is ordered by time of posting.)

 

[Ursa major]

The poll is now closed and we have a winner.

Congratulations, StilLearning!​

​

 

[Dan Jones]

Yay! Congratulations @StilLearning !!

Very droll take on the theme. Well done

 

[Dan Jones]

As the November challenge is now closed I thought I'd post my alternative story. I'd written two stories and couldn't choose between them. In the end I chose the one that got me zero votes and only one mention (thank you @Phyrebrat)! Hey-ho, there you go. So here's the "lost" second story for my own genre/theme of Absurdism/Path Not Taken.

FoxAndRatOrFoxAndRatOrFoxAndRatOrFoxAndRat

The rat’s corpse looks mankier, but the fox’s is bigger. Hmmm, options, options…

Gotta choose: gotta get Gary back for putting rotting cats on my windscreen. Was pretty funny, though!

Decision time. I grab fox’s stinking tail. When I do, it jumps up, bites me hand, then legs it into the darkness! Owwwww.

Shoulda chose rat.

When I turn, the rat ain’t there! Instead I see a squirrel’s corpse, and a badger.

Hmmm, options, options…

 

[Culhwch]

Congrats, StilLearning!

I find the fact that i got four votes somewhat absurd, but I'm still greatly appreciative, so thanks to Ursa, HB, Glen and Bowler! And also thanks to those who snuck me onto their lists! I'm still not entirely sure if I got the genre right, but I guess the positive response is a fairly good indicator!

My own vote ame down to cats (TitaniumTi), dinosaurs (DEO), and a somewhat shady angel (HB). It was close, but I went with the latter, because I loved the image of Gabriel 'scarpering'.

 

[Ihe]

Congrats StilLearning! What will your new name be now?

 

[johnnyjet]

Congratulations, StilLearning! It appears you've learned a lot since you joined the Chrons! It was one of my favorites. Well done!

And thanks for the votes Jo, crystal & ratsy! That was a nice surprise!