Discussion Thread -- October 2017 75-word Writing Challenge

[TheDustyZebra]

I forgot to vote! I didn't know when the poll closed and opened. Seems odd to have the two challenges have different poll periods.

You'll get used to it. It's always the same -- 24th to the 28th for the 75, and 1st to the 15th for the 300. When we first started, it was different every month, but we eventually standardized it so people could remember. The part I always forget is how long the voting is on the tiebreakers, which we do have fairly often, but it's in the post when it happens.

 

[The Judge]

I didn't know when the poll closed and opened. Seems odd to have the two challenges have different poll periods.

Well, the dates that the contest and voting were due to end were noted in the very first post in the Challenge thread, and Ursa did post a note in that thread confirming when voting was open, with a link to the poll which again set out the date when the poll would close, plus I put a message in the Challenge thread giving everyone 30 hours notice of the close of the poll and Teresa did the same in this thread when there were still a few hours left. So I rather think we did all we could to point the dates out for those who were new to entering the Challenges, but we do rely on members having the Challenge and Discussion threads "watched" so they receive alerts of this kind.

The two Challenges have different periods for entries to be submitted and for voting because they are different entities. The monthly 75 worder has to end in sufficient time for voting to take place with -- except in February -- time for a tie-break to take place if necessary, so that the next Challenge can start on the 1st of the following month, hence the 23rd for close of the Challenge and the 28th for close of voting. The 300 worder is quarterly, so without that time restriction it can remain open longer, namely until the end of the month, and since the stories are longer and therefore require longer reading and consideration time, it makes sense for voting to remain open longer, to the 15th of the following month. If we were to have the Challenges and voting all start and end at the same time, not only would this put extra pressure on the mods who have to do all the work on those days, but it would also undoubtedly lose us some entries in the 300 worder with people scrambling to complete the 75 worder and not finding time to do the longer Challenge, and also lose us more votes on both, with people not having the time and energy to pull in 70+ stories in the same 5 days.

 

[DelActivisto]

You'll get used to it. It's always the same -- 24th to the 28th for the 75, and 1st to the 15th for the 300. When we first started, it was different every month, but we eventually standardized it so people could remember. The part I always forget is how long the voting is on the tiebreakers, which we do have fairly often, but it's in the post when it happens.

Looks like far fewer people voted than entered.

 

[DelActivisto]

Well, the dates that the contest and voting were due to end were noted in the very first post in the Challenge thread, and Ursa did post a note in that thread confirming when voting was open, with a link to the poll which again set out the date when the poll would close, plus I put a message in the Challenge thread giving everyone 30 hours notice of the close of the poll and Teresa did the same in this thread when there were still a few hours left. So I rather think we did all we could to point the dates out for those who were new to entering the Challenges, but we do rely on members having the Challenge and Discussion threads "watched" so they receive alerts of this kind.

No need to get defensive. I simply didn't check the date soon enough.

The two Challenges have different periods for entries to be submitted and for voting because they are different entities. The monthly 75 worder has to end in sufficient time for voting to take place with -- except in February -- time for a tie-break to take place if necessary, so that the next Challenge can start on the 1st of the following month, hence the 23rd for close of the Challenge and the 28th for close of voting. The 300 worder is quarterly, so without that time restriction it can remain open longer, namely until the end of the month, and since the stories are longer and therefore require longer reading and consideration time, it makes sense for voting to remain open longer, to the 15th of the following month. If we were to have the Challenges and voting all start and end at the same time, not only would this put extra pressure on the mods who have to do all the work on those days, but it would also undoubtedly lose us some entries in the 300 worder with people scrambling to complete the 75 worder and not finding time to do the longer Challenge, and also lose us more votes on both, with people not having the time and energy to pull in 70+ stories in the same 5 days.

I see, that explains things. Thanks.

 

[The Judge]

No need to get defensive. I simply didn't check the date soon enough.

I wasn't intending to appear defensive; my intentions were quite the contrary in fact.

 

[Bashfull]

I will second this suggestion; they allowed me to post a couple of my practice 75s on the critique thread before I entered one, and it really helped with my learning curve. 75s are an art form which I have far from mastered, but I would be wallowing in far greater mediocrity had I not sought out critique early and often. Hopefully my frequent requests and engagement in discussion on this haven't started wearing my welcome thin yet...

Thanks, Joshua. I've posted my story on that thread for your feedback.

I really liked your story for the challenge. I have an imaginative little girl of my own, though her bath-time tales tend to involve LEGO Friends.

 

[Shyrka]

Congratulations @Teresa Edgerton, I had a feeling when I first saw the theme that your entry would be a strong one.

For myself, I'm thrilled to have gotten some mentions (thanks to @The Judge as well) - I didn't really expect it to be a vote-worthy entry but I enjoyed writing it too much to not use it. Fillet o' Mermaid just seemed like the perfect dwarven delicacy...

 

[Joshua Jones]

Thanks, Joshua. I've posted my story on that thread for your feedback.

I really liked your story for the challenge. I have an imaginative little girl of my own, though her bath-time tales tend to involve LEGO Friends.

Thank you for your encouragement. I have two of them, and the bath play usually revolves around princesses, but my younger one was playing with a princess and an octopus while I was trying to figure out something to write this month. I recognize that it is more "fantasy (something akin to a Fantasy story where the reader discovers the protagonists are in a video game the whole time)" than Fantasy proper, but I am glad that you enjoyed it.

I look forward to reading your story!

 

[paranoid marvin]

Congratulations Teresa on your win!

And thankyou Mr Bear for the shortlisting

Also if anyone is interested the Kraken in my title comes from the excellently named body of water on Titan.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Congratulations Teresa!

I was quite pleased with the writing of mine, unfortunately I really missed the mark as far as Sea Voyage went.

All that being said I was more pleased to actually write anything, thinking that I was going to miss my first challenge. Sometimes the win is taking part.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Looks like far fewer people voted than entered.

That's almost always the case, and has been a conundrum since the start. Nobody's ever really figured out why. It's one of the reasons that the shortlists and mentions are so important -- letting people know that their stories were appreciated even though there are so few votes to go around.

 

[DelActivisto]

That's almost always the case, and has been a conundrum since the start. Nobody's ever really figured out why. It's one of the reasons that the shortlists and mentions are so important -- letting people know that their stories were appreciated even though there are so few votes to go around.

I used to be part of a writing forum where on some contests, t winner chose the next contest AND the winner. Or, the winner chose the theme, like here, and 2nd place chose the next winners, or the first 3 places all were on the voting council.

 

[Starbeast]

Congratulations Teresa Edgerton
@Teresa Edgerton


​

Short List

@Ashleyne
@Victoria Silverwolf
@Cat's Cradle
@DragonAether
@dannymcg - ZOMBIES - Excellent
@R. T James
@Luiglin
@Shyrka
@Bob Senior
@Joshua Jones
@paranoid marvin
@johnnyjet
@Teresa Edgerton
@mosaix
@ratsy - VOTE
@Mad Alice

 

[Danny McG]

@Starbeast

" ZOMBIES - Excellent"

Back at ya my friend

 

[Joshua Jones]

but the writers around here can find inspiration for blood and gore in any theme, so who knows?

Not that I would be guilty of this and turn something as innocent as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" into an alien attack which slaughters a woman's family and decimates the countryside...

 

[johnnyjet]

Congratulations, Teresa! Somehow I knew I had voted for a winner.

Thanks to Dusty & Starbeast for the mentions and to Victoria & Parson for the excellent reviews.

 

[mosaix]

I knew mine would be too esoteric for most people to understand, not least because I only happened to stumble across the inspiration myself and had no knowledge of it previously. Of course, there are a lot of people here who know a lot of things I don't about science, so there was hope.

Apparently there is a spot, 1450 miles from any land, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where NASA and its counterparts around the world aim when they have a choice of where to land space junk that's coming out of orbit. It's called Point Nemo.

And one of the things that's there is an Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), or cargo ship, belonging to the European Space Agency, by the name of Jules Verne.

Here is the article I ran across while frantically looking for inspiration:

A spacecraft graveyard exists in the middle of the ocean -- here's what's down there

No surprise that I was totally confused by your entry TDZ. I always thought that ATV stood for All Terrain Vehicle.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Well, that was her impression too, hence the trip to the middle of the ocean.

 

[Bob Senior]

Howdy,
Congrats to Teresa, if you come up with a theme about old cars or old country singers I'm all in. That is not the old country or old singers but singers that sing old country songs, no, not about the "Old Country". Let's say if Hank Williams was still around and he sang a song about a hot rod Ford and a 2 dollar bill, never mind, seemed like a good idea at the time.

Thank you to Starbeast, Heijan Xavier and The Dusty Zebra for listings, always apreciated.

Bob

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Howdy,
Congrats to Teresa, if you come up with a theme about old cars or old country singers I'm all in. That is not the old country or old singers but singers that sing old country songs, no, not about the "Old Country". Let's say if Hank Williams was still around and he sang a song about a hot rod Ford and a 2 dollar bill, never mind, seemed like a good idea at the time.

Thank you to Starbeast, Heijan Xavier and The Dusty Zebra for listings, always apreciated.

Bob

I have a feeling you’ll think of something.