DISCUSSION THREAD -- January 2022 -- 300 Word Writing Challenge #44

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Rafellin: The setting of this action-packed tale of violent adventure provides a touch of irony. The narrator's cynical professionalism causes one to wonder about when the ends justifies the means.

Christine Wheelwright: This satiric tale looks at the way that economic considerations invade the most personal aspects of life. The seductions of the latest technological fads are also skewered with sharp wit.

JS Wiig: In this imaginative science fiction story the reader finds a profound statement about the power of emotion under the most unlikely circumstances. In addition, it is possible to read the narrative as an allegory of societal changes in our own time.

Astro Pen: In this moving tale, the author takes a look at the unstated implications of speculative technology. The theme raises important questions about the nature of identity and human relationships.

Aknot: The quiet narrative style of this haunting story draws the reader into a convincing portrait of a community. It is only when the hidden nature of this society is revealed that we understand what lies beneath our traditions.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

BigJ: In this sad and beautiful supernatural love story the author tugs at the reader's heartstrings. The historical setting and sensory appeal of descriptions adds to the emotional power.

 

[Astro Pen]

That wonderful moment when you realise that a word you have used means the exact opposite of what you always thought it meant.

 

[Parson]

That wonderful moment when you realise that a word you have used means the exact opposite of what you always thought it meant.

Been there, done that! But the opposite is truly enjoyable when you use a word that people think is not what you say it is, and (of course) you are right and they are wrong.

 

[Ursa major]

That wonderful moment when you realise that a word you have used means the exact opposite of what you always thought it meant.

You must be chuffed**.



** - chuffed adj.

1. (Britain, informal) Very pleased or satisfied; delighted. ​

2. disgruntled, displeased, unsatisfied​

 

[Parson]

@BigJ .... To dream, to dance, to love . . . .... BigJ draws us into such a sad, and yet somehow sweet story, that I believe the dance is going to last forever.

 

[The Judge]

I'm sorry to say that we've had to remove a story from the Challenge for being over the 300 word limit.

We really, really hate having to pull good stories so could everyone please remember not only to check and double-check and triple-check word count, but also to re-examine your assumptions about joined or hyphenated words -- you might commonly join two or more words when you're writing to friends, but that doesn't make them a legitimate single word when it comes to the Challenges. If we can't find a reputable dictionary which agrees with your version, chances are we'll have to separate the words, which potentially will take you over the limit.

If in doubt about words, either give yourself lee-way, so even if they're counted as two you're still within the limit, or ask a mod and we'll make a formal decision.

What made matters even more unfortunate on this occasion is that the problem was noted by a mod within one hour of the story being posted. If the author had been on site at the time, a speedy PM warning of the situation could have sorted it out within the editing window and the story would still be there. It's always worth hanging around the site for a while after posting, just in case an error has been made which someone else quickly picks up.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Oh, that's a shame. My sympathies to the author.
I do exactly as TJ mentioned, and make sure I post when I have an hour or more to stick around. (Of course, I sometimes do my final edit in that one-hour window -amazing what you notice, sometimes, after you post - so a bit of free time after posting is a good thing.) To the author, please don't let this discourage you, and maybe post the story for us to read after voting closes, in mid-February, CC

 

[Astro Pen]

I'm sorry to say that we've had to remove a story from the Challenge for being over the 300 word limit.

I noticed that but didn't like to say since they were a long established member.
It weren't even words, it was the asterisks what done it guv'.

 

[The Judge]

Asterisks rarely done it, since when they're used as eg scene dividers, then they're treated as other punctuation such as ellipses and dashes, and they're not counted.

However, it looks like there is another story which is over the 300 limit. I'm just getting the word count pixie to double check -- always assuming we can drag him out of bed and sober him up -- and one of us will report back in due course.

 

[chrispenycate]

I made it overlong as well - but that was a word processor count.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Yes, guilty as charged. But rules are rules.

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

guilty as charged

Hard luck, it's an easy thing to do -I got one count on OpenOffice and another from Google for the same block of text and am not sure if either was right. I downlanded a thing called Scrievener last year and I think it does the business for this sort of exercise. Can't say for sure as it's an unclicked icon on my laptop at the moment, but I think @Phyrebrat is an expert if it's something ya think would be useful.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Yep, Scrivener is perfect for word count duties.

 

[Peter V]

Got an idea. Churned it out. Just under 500 words. Don't think contractions are going to sort this one out.

 

[JS Wiig]

Looks like print and hand count from here on out.

*hangs head in dejected shame*

 

[The Judge]

Yep, as I suspected last night, we've had to remove another story. Which is a real shame both for the individuals concerned, and for us as readers and voters -- though I'd hope both members will put up their stories here after voting is over, so that anyone who hasn't read their work then has the opportunity to do so.

Meanwhile, if you use dashes in your work, particularly the long em-dashes, do be careful if you thereby connect two words together, whether deliberately or inadvertently (eg "and--he") as some automatic counters may treat that as one word, not two, thinking the dash is just a hyphen. So copy your story to a new blank document and remove the dashes and any other free-standing punctuation and see what the result is then. Separate any hyphenated words, too, to be extra careful.

And a tip for counting in the 300s if, like me, you try hand-counting on the screen and quickly get lost as to where you are. Again copy the story to a new blank document and divide it into separate lines/paragraphs of 25 words each (ie ignoring the paragraphs and spacing you've already got in it). By the end you should have no more than 12 lines/paragraphs. If you've got some left over, you've got a problem.

Be careful out there!

 

[JS Wiig]

@The Judge I put spaces after the dashes as you suggest and verified the over count.

Writing, as anything in life, is a series of sometimes disappointing opportunities to learn and grow, disguised as mistakes.

Will definitely repost here after voting so stay tuned!

ETA: where’s @Bowler1 with those pitchforks?

 

[BigJ]

Nice to see some things haven't changed since last I was around these parts; the ability of @Victoria Silverwolf and @Parson to find the good in whatever you may have hacked together and posted, and the panic that sets in when you see @The Judge has commented about a story being over the word limit (even if you counted it by hand, backwards, like I did).

Similar to the dashes, I think I've seen folks get tripped up with the use of ellipses before as well, depending how you write them. As an example, Microsoft Word counts "But . . . you can't!" as six words while "But...you can't!" is counted as only two. Live and learn.

 

[JS Wiig]

Live and learn.

@BigJ true dat!

…the panic that sets in when you see @The Judge has commented about a story being over the word limit…

…heavily exacerbated when you see in the notification bar that you have a private message