Discussion Thread -- April 2017 75-word Writing Challenge

Round Trip Lunar Astronaut, @Starbeast – A charming little musical ditty ripe with fun references for the reader to unpick, this song details the fate of a lost astronaut that might hinge on the build quality of flat-pack furniture.

And the Winner is… @ratsy – A bunch of ne’er-do-wells bid to be the ‘soul’ survivor of this battle royale. Games like these always make me hungry, for some reason.

Foreplay, Hobbits and Other Pleasure Activities, @Perpetual Man – Bringing new meaning to the phrase ‘whipped into a frenzy’, this risqué story of pre-battle ‘preparations’ raises many questions that are perhaps best left unsaid.*

* Although answers to them can probably be found on the internet.

Community Service, @Coast – Whilst you should always eat your greens, it sounds as if some of the players in this game are about to eat the greengrocer...

Hate the Game, @Heijan Xavier – Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land where they play some sort of arena hunt game that sounds pretty deadly so I’ll stay right here, okay?
 
More reviews coming, please don't feel left out! Also, votes. Yes, votes. Must remember those.
 
Victoria Silverwolf said:
RJM Corbet -- This suspenseful scene implies an intriguing back story and thrilling events to come.
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Parson said:
@RJM Corbet .... When you live by your wits and a game of chance, opportunity comes as randomly as a roll of the "Dice."
Click to expand...

Wow! Thank you both :)
Just read your nice reviews! Sorry, I haven't been around Chrons much recently. Is it voting time already? I've a lot of reading to do tonight then ...
Thank you both, again :)
 
DICE, @RJM Corbet – When opportunity comes knocking, it pays to stop what you’re doing and welcome it in with open arms...

What Mother Doesn’t Know, @Culhwch – Despite this story’s claims, in this writer’s experience Croquet is a brutal and unforgiving game and, I would argue, excellent preparation for troll hunting.

The Card Game, @Alex Darion – When card games and sorcery mix, things can only end badly. Is this one card trick too far?

Youthful enthusiasm, @chrispenycate – We all learn through play but this rhyme-of-brine tells a tale of youthful exuberance with disastrous consequences for the poor souls who get in the way.

Dungeons and Dinosaurs. @David Evil Overlord – When your fate hinges on the throw of a dice, don’t get the creature with the smallest arms to roll.
 
BigJ -- The Human Engineer
Cathbad -- The Brawl Bowl
Ashleyne -- I'm a Stalker
Dave Barsby -- Sheathing the Sword
mosaix -- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Hoopy -- Your Move
ratsy -- And the Winner Is...
Cul -- What Mother Doesn't Know
DEO -- Dungeons and Dinosaurs
*HazelRah -- A Collection Worth Six Million*
TJ -- Not Even the One-eyed King?
Tywin -- The Olympian Playa'
Ursa -- The Lonely Princess

I was really close to voting for frogs, or dinosaurs, or heirloom rings, but another read-through led me to look at the title of HazelRah's soul story and I realized this was probably the biggest story of them all. (Even though the dinosaur thing was a bit important in history, as well.) Unless I've misunderstood, in which case beauty is still in the eye of the beholder, so there.
 
I've cast my vote for Aine with the story Ouija.
Unspecific reason, it just somehow stood out to me
 
I suspect the wide variation of choices, over.all, is due to different folk are using different criteria for their evaluation.
I think it'd be interesting , to reveal the different approaches.

Mine is pretty analytical I think , a throwback to my reviewer days. First I define the objective. To me, the objective is .'create a mini story in 75 words. For me, that means the piece must have a beginning, middle and end , and be as self-contained as possible. The character(s) must be introduced, their issue shown and some form of response to that issue expressed ( I.e.,a resolution, though not necessarily a 'tidy' resolution). So, despite some fab writing, stories I felt didn't achieve this, or stories which felt essentially like excerpts, or opening paragraphs to a bigger story, (i.e., not self contained) I did not choose.

(Eta, of course, that's just the entrance criteria. After that it's, use of language, imagery, rhythm, emotional impact and so forth. )

A very useful excercise, all things considered. Looking fwd to the next one!
 
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First of all, for me, the story has to meet the theme and the genre, regardless of the quality of the writing. To vote for a story that doesn't meet those two is unfair on the other entries that do.

I understand that not seeing how a story meets the theme and genre may be down to my own shortcomings. But, in my view, it's up to the writer to make things as clear as possible in the 75 words. That is, after all, the challenge.

Then the entry has to be a story, not just a descriptive piece. Then the quality of the story and the quality of the writing.

Finally, all other things being equal, it's down to spelling, punctuation and presentation.

Also, I have to say, my eyesight isn't the best and some fonts and colours that are chosen don't make it easy to enjoy an entry.
 
mosaix said:
First of all, for me, the story has to meet the theme and the genre, regardless of the quality of the writing. To vote for a story that doesn't meet those two is unfair on the other entries that do.

I understand that not seeing how a story meets the theme and genre may be down to my own shortcomings. But, in my view, it's up to the writer to make things as clear as possible in the 75 words. That is, after all, the challenge.

Then the entry has to be a story, not just a descriptive piece. Then the quality of the story and the quality of the writing.

Finally, all other things being equal, it's down to spelling, punctuation and presentation.

Also, I have to say, my eyesight isn't the best and some fonts and colours that are chosen don't make it easy to enjoy an entry.
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Very good. (btw folks, I'm not suggesting one method is better than the other. The reader is ALWAYS right) re theme, yes of course, i agree.
 
Ursa major said:
Readers are always entitled to their opinions; they may or may not be right. Writers are also entitled to their opinions; all they can do, though, is write.
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Yes, what I'm saying is that a reader's experience, is their experience. It's their's alone, 100%. An important thing for writers to bear in mind, i think. (aka 'tell the story YOU want to tell')

Same as when we write. It's our words, no one elses.
 
I tend to agree with mosaix as well. While the genre doesn't need to beat one about the face and torso, it does need to be explicit. And, there do seem to be certain elements which go beyond opinions and into objective definitions, so the terms "right" and "wrong" may be appropriate. If I read "Much Ado about Nothing" as Shakespeare originally wrote it as a tragedy or "Hamlet" as a comedy, I would be wrong about the genre.

But, I also grant Ursa Major's point that, beyond objective criteria, opinions (and interpreted meaning, I will add) are what exist. Now, whose opinion and interpretation takes priority is an interesting hermeneutical question. It would seem intended meaning belongs to the author, received meaning belongs to the reader, and both the author and the critical reader seek to make these as close as possible.

And, of course, the meaning of all that is open to interpretation. This is what happens when I write at 6:30 in the morning...
 
My favourites, in order of appearance on the boards are:

@Ashleyne ‘I’m A Stalker’
@Victoria Silverwolf ‘Whom The Gods Destroy’
@Stable ‘It Was Thiiiiiiiiis Big!’
@HoopyFrood ‘Your Move’
@Parson ‘Rolling Bowling Balls’
@Perpetual Man ‘Foreplay, Hobbits and Other Pleasure Activities’
@HazelRah ‘A Collection Worth Six Million’
@TheDustyZebra ‘A Royal Affair’
@Ursa major ‘The Lonely Princess’

(Perhaps a kind moderator will convert the names into the @name format that is used here to alert the members? Sorry I don't know how to do it :()

It's hard, and there are several others too, but in the end I'm wavering between Ashleyne, HoopyFrood, HazelRah and The Dusty Zebra ...

Umm ...

OK, The Dusty Zebra -- you take my vote.
Hillarious :)
 
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