DISCUSSION THREAD -- JULY 2023 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge

[Parson]

@Elckerlyc .... A Harrowing Experience in the Hailed Thames Tunnel (London, 1848) .... Who midnight duty brings one into dark dank depths alone?

 

[johnnyjet]

I'm in. I had to strip it down from over 180 words. Hope I didn't lose anything in the process.

 

[Bowler1]

Victorian London is proving popular, with me joining the gang in the same gritty old city. I was stuck for a while there and struggling for any type of idea, but I'm in and done. I enjoyed the theme and setting in the end, what the 75 word is all about really - a new setting out of our comfort zone, which this was for me. Later everyone.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

"This account by Elckerlyc forces me to reconsider my dictum that 'no ghosts need apply.'"

"The wonders of the modern age are aptly depicted in this eyewitness account from johnnyjet. I must prepare a brief monograph upon the subject."

"If I may be permitted a bit of macabre amusement, I appreciate how Bowler1 reminds us that ''tis sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petard.'"

 

[Simbelmynë]

@AnRoinnUltra - Believe it or not it's a complete coincidence that my story also includes a banshee. I wrote it a good few hours ago, edited it and posted it just now, and only after did I read your story!

 

[paranoid marvin]

Too bad this isn't the 100 worder, I'm getting all kinds of ideas now!

Yes, I enjoyed the Challenge this month. Definitely one of those months when I would have liked to have had a chance to enter a second story.

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

my story also includes a banshee

Hope that's a sign that the idea is a good one ...and not a portent of doom for our stories

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

"Note the poetic structure used in this account by AnRoinnUltra. As I have oft noted, art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms."

"The theft that occurs in this report from Simbelmynë involves an incident not unlike that in the remarkable case of the Baskervilles."

 

[THX1138]

Yes, I enjoyed the Challenge this month. Definitely one of those months when I would have liked to have had a chance to enter a second story.

Depending on how the entries go, I just might put one into the 75-word critique just for the fun of it.

 

[Parson]

@johnnyjet .... Icarus in Ruffles and Lace ,,,, And what are you hiding from the world?

@Bowler1 .... Jack the Rippers last night, a sad tale of Mutilation and Suffering .... What evil might yonder walk?

@AnRoinnUltra .... Better the Devil you don't know .... How do you know when you've bit off more than you can chew?

@Simbelmynë .... Celtic Twilight .... What happens when someone won't go quietly into the night?

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

"This poem without rhymes and lacking a regular rhythm by JS Wiig causes me to speculate that the author is French, and a devotee of the recent literary movement known as vers libre. Either that, or a student of the vulgar American (if that is not a redundancy!) Whitman."

"From therapist I obtain more evidence, if any be needed, that love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true, cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgement."

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

"What may appear at first to be mere whimsey on the part of Aknot conceals a scarlet thread of foreboding."

 

[BigJ]

"I deduce that BigJ is a commercial author . . .

Don't mind me, I've just been over here taking this quote completely out of context and feeling good about myself for a bit.

Between this and the 350 it seems like @Victoria Silverwolf is really going hard in the paint with the reviews this month.

 

[THX1138]

I think her is painting is bringing our stories together into a lively world as only she can.
Her reviews are slowly becoming a story on their own, as if alive. Crafty vixen!

 

[Parson]

@JS Wiig .... Night Patrol .... Is it really better to be kept in the dark?

@therapist ..... Alexander .... Is it possible that like the Good Book says "those who build a trap fall into it themselves?"

@Aknot .... Trust Or Treason .... Doesn't the old proverb go "The best laid plans of Elves and Goblins....?"

 

[paranoid marvin]

I think her is painting is bringing our stories together into a lively world as only she can.
Her reviews are slowly becoming a story on their own, as if alive. Crafty vixen!

I agree. I would also say that Parson's reviews have their own particular unique style, and they nicely complement each other.

It's mentioned more in 'likes' than words, but that doesn't mean we appreciate both your contributions any less.

 

[THX1138]

Very true indeed PM! @Parson reviews do have an insightful view to them, and at times a bit more than the author may have seen themselves.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

If I miss the gist of a story - sometimes even with several readings - I can always count on Parson and Victoria to give a suggestion of what I didn't see. Love the reviews, CC

 

[Paul J. Menzies]

To all you who have already submitted... Damn and double damn you straight to the dread depths of Hades.

The bar has been set high this month. Very high. And every time I think it can't climb any higher, a new bunch of entries come along and push the bar to new heights. Bastardos!

Seriously... Well done, everyone! The competition looks truly formidable this month.

@THX1138
I have multiple ideas developed too. Such an interesting genre. I might join you in submitting an extra story or two in the critique thread.

Of those multiple attempts, my favorite so far is one I have set in 1800s Japan but I'm worried that this location might not be considered "Gaslampy".

Not sure how strict people are about physical setting and actually having "gaslamps." But it is romantic fantasy.

Hence, I have a couple of backups, but my heart leans towards the original.

 

[THX1138]

@Paul J. Menzies I guess this is a lesson in 'Take a week and write a few, then choose the best.'

Maybe this might show up in the 100 worder someday!