manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 8:08am
oooooh, i like the flash fiction penalty shots idea. like 200 wds or something, postcard flash.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 8:11am
Manda - you are my new hero for bumping the page.
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 23, 2012 - 8:21am
Flash fiction idea is a really good one
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 8:24am
YES! 24 hours or less to write it, a ONE WORD prompt, 200 words or less. yes? yes???
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 8:25am
But then that pushes back our whole timeline. Because we have to wait for it to be resolved before other people get prompts.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 8:25am
I like it. I'll give it some consideration.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 8:28am
Shit, I don't think that would work well. Too truncated. You have to have time to write and to run the vote. I think a tiebreaker vote would probably still be best. It's cool. I've never had a problem being an asshole when it was necessary.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 8:33am
i think the people who tied might be willing to take a day or two time-cut as opposed to pushing the schedule back. OR the tied people could bith be given the prompt to start stewing/sketching on while they're working out their flash, then whoever won the flash could just get on with it.
like, a day to write the flash, then a day to vote. if you have your prompts already you can be getting started with it, and if you win the flash you've still got five full days to finish. it could even be more timed - like, as soon as both flash pieces are finished, post em. then have exactly 16 hours of voting time from that moment. then shut it down, see who moves ahead. so the quicker the tie is broken the quicker the winner moves into the regualr competetion.
utah, you should message the people involved in these close calls and see how they feel about this sudden death thing.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 8:34am
at least CONSIDER it! ask the people in the close calls. and with flash so short and the voting window so short, it just might work....
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 8:35am
I've already messaged everybody in the tournament. Except apparently for you, manda. For some reason it wouldn't group-email you. But I see how you feel about it. Are you cool with cutting off the vote tomorrow?
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 8:36am
i have to go now, can't check back in til evening, but i beseech you to consider it. later guys.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 8:38am
yeah, that's fine. that would leave tme for a flash challenge if tere are any ties :)
gotta go
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 23, 2012 - 8:38am
I blame this on avery for her adorable accent.
XyZy
from New York City is reading Seveneves and Animal MoneyMarch 23, 2012 - 9:08am
The problem with the flash-offs is that it does tie up the whole tournament, you can't just keep back those match-ups for two days while they write and then we vote. Because whoever wins that round has to face off against another opponent who wasn't held back in a tie. And you can't hold off the next round match-up and let the rest of the tournament go without revealing which stories those are. And since it seems we have two potential ties at the moment, that's possibly two out of eight matchups that won't be moving on on sunday when the new prompts drop.
Or we can hold back on the whole tournament to resolve the ties, but it seems that the general consensus is that we are eager for the reveals and for new stories.
I think it's a great idea, and if we have a tighter timeline for voting (which doesn't work for everyone) that leaves a couple days at the end to deal with ties, then it would be brilliant... and certainly a good idea for the finals (and possibly semi-finals) if that happens... but for the beginning rounds, with the timeframe we have established, it just doesn't fit.
I just don't think that closing the polls on saturday night, then we find out there's a tie, Utah sends out the prompts, they write the flash, and post them, and we vote on them, can all be resolved before the rest of the tournament is supposed to continue by sunday morning... or even sunday night if we revert back to the "original" timeline. I mean that would be an exciting challenge for those in the tie, to try to write a good flash piece on a prompt in less than twelve hours, but the whole point would be to give people a chance to vote, and not everyone will be able to do that in the little time we'd have to allot for it.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 9:17am
I tend to agree. It would be pretty fun to go all Dance-a-Thon 2012 on the ties, but right now I really lean strongly toward the simpler option of me rolling in as the tie-breaker, breaking the ties, and then we all move on. The other way, there's just too much, in my opinion, other stuff going on, we've got a round going but, shit, we've also still got parts of the first round still going. I, for one, would swiftly become confused.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 9:38am
These things usually are my fault.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 23, 2012 - 9:40am
I think many people would change their votes after having more time to think about it. I think we should just try a revote.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 9:51am
So here is what I would like to see happen (and therefore what SHOULD happen):
Polls officially end at 5pm CST Saturday (that time I made up, but you get the idea). Utah decides any ties and the loser punches him in the face - but JUST ONCE. New prompts are sent out to the winners at 11am CST on Sunday. New stories are due in the following Sunday by 10pm CST.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 23, 2012 - 9:54am
You are the voice of reason Avery. Yeah Utah it's all on you.
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.March 23, 2012 - 10:37am
I have no problem with the whole early finish thing. The format is being tested on-the-go, so these issues are going to pop up. All good.
I do not like the flash penalties idea. There was a lot of reading involved in this first round. Plenty of great stories sure, but still almost a novel's worth of word count. There is an unavoidable time commitment there. Obviously this will become less and less as the rounds more on but still, seems a bit much to be asking of folks to have to potentially write/read/vote for tiebreakers too. However, I am not really sure of a better way to resolve last-minute ties. Hmm.
11am CST for sending out the prompts this next time round would be a whole lot better than 10pm. That would work for me. That would be somewhere around 4-5pm for me, would give me chance to make a start on Sunday. As I said in the PM thread, my time is going be a lot more limited next week so those few extra hours could actually make a lot of difference.
I'll survive if that aint' gonna happen though.
*
And okay, I have tried to bite my tongue on this one. I have. But to hell with it. Jason, is it my story you had a problem with? (I was his opponent) I can't see which other stories might have annoyed you so I am assuming it is me as we were matched up. If not, ignore this post. If so, feel free to pick me out dude. I have a thick skin and I am not going to get hissy.
I thought we got probably the most open-ended prompt of them all. It seemed like I had a lot of room to work in compared to what I might have done with some of the others. That said, I thought I made plenty enough use of the prompt. I certainly didn't ignore it. I firmly believe I would never have written my story without that prompt, which is all the evidence I need right now.
A prompt is not a firm set of rules. Guidelines are not zealous dogma. The clues are in the names. A prompt is supposed to inspire us to write something, not limit us. A prompt that limits you would be called a handicap. Guidelines are supposed to guide, not dictate. If they were meant to dictate they would be called laws.
So I would say there is no point having 'voting-guidelines.' No point at all. People wouldnt follow them anyway, They'd still just pick the story they liked more. And personally, I wouldn't want it any other way. Sorry if my story bugged you. For the record, I liked yours.
*
Bleh, too much glumness there. WAR!!! Happy war face people. Don't you just love the smell of napalm? I have had a lot of fun with this competition the last two weeks. Keep it up guys and gals. You all rock!
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 11:07am
Okay, Jason and I have discussed this at length. I feel the issue is resolved without casualty. If there is some surprise I'm not aware of and Jason disagrees with me, I'm sure he'll mention it, but I think everything is pretty well settled in an amenable manner.
So, unless I'm proven to have misunderstood something, let's all move on.
Jason, the Asian girl will be to your house for the foot rub this afternoon. As you've requested, her hands will be small yet strong.
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.March 23, 2012 - 11:23am
Good stuff Utah. You are a well reasoned fellow. The DOTP badge is very well earned.
Jason, I hope her hands are the smallest and the strongest. A happy ending? Yeah, why not? Send me the bill if she tries to charge you for it.
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMarch 23, 2012 - 12:08pm
I think no matter what Utah should lose. Person doesn't show up, Utah loses. Person goes over word count, Utah loses. Person didn't adhere to the prompt, Utah loses.
I'm not bitter.....
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 23, 2012 - 12:13pm
Diaz! Where've you been!
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 12:15pm
Diaz has a point....
Dave
from a city near you is reading constantlyMarch 23, 2012 - 12:16pm
Hey Diaz, Welcome to LitR! If you post an intro thread I ...
Wait.
OH! That Diaz. My bad. I thought you were new!
Kidding bro! It's just that, you know..
I miss you! There, alright, I said it! Are you happy now!
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMarch 23, 2012 - 12:26pm
I've been living life and generating more data for the brain bank. I have lots to do, so I will be in here and there.
Congrats on winning Utah. Just remember 4 people thought I was the better writer.
Still not bitter....
....I miss you all too.....
PandaMask
from Los Angeles is reading More Than HumanMarch 23, 2012 - 12:32pm
You can't just bring in a member, who isn't a part of WAR and who hasn't voted, to vote?
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.March 23, 2012 - 12:42pm
@ Panda - that will probably be the best way to break the ties, ask non-participant members of LR to vote. Some people have been doing anyway, which is really cool. Though it will have to be an odd number of extra readers, else you know sod's law will have it end in a tie again.
-edit changed the word even to odd so that I don't look like a fool.
PandaMask
from Los Angeles is reading More Than HumanMarch 23, 2012 - 12:36pm
Grab 5 readers if you can.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 12:37pm
So, those of you with friends, go ask them to read a couple stories.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 23, 2012 - 12:40pm
How about having the losers break the tie?
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 23, 2012 - 12:54pm
I need a happy ending so I better not have to ask her if she does it.
Liana
from Romania and Texas is reading Naked LunchMarch 23, 2012 - 1:08pm
Well are people going to be selected objectively to break ties?
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 23, 2012 - 1:14pm
No.
Sorry, I don't know. I guess they are as objective as any of us.
Stacy Kear
from Bucyrus, Ohio lives in New Jersey is reading The Art of War March 23, 2012 - 1:38pm
I'm gonna say it, the only story I read that I thought possibly didn't strictly adhere to the prompt was The Executioner's Son. I thought that as I read it, until the story sunk in. I could see that it was a man retiring, passing down the torch to his son and in the end the secrete revealed was that maybe he should be like his mom and feel for those he puts down. I may be wrong about the story, but other than that I didn't see another that didn't stay pretty on spot with the prompts. Th elements were there though, just not blatant and I think that was partly what made the story brilliant.
Sorry if this wasn't the story in question. Just thought I would let you know what I thought about the prompts, I did keep them in mind while reading and I thought everyone did a good job.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 3:04pm
okay so what are we dong now? are we ending early, and how are the ties being settled?
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMarch 23, 2012 - 3:39pm
Fine I will go through find the ties and end them. I have yet to vote. I know. I'm a lazy SOB.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 23, 2012 - 3:42pm
they're all bumped to the top. there are like 4 close ones altogether, two ties i think at this point.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazMarch 23, 2012 - 4:41pm
I think in the future we should predesignate a guest tie breaker. Mark Vanderpool, Lidia Yuknavitch, Suzy Vitello, Vanessa Veselka, SGJ....
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 23, 2012 - 4:46pm
Chester: That would be really cool.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazMarch 28, 2012 - 1:09pm
This is just an observation from the last round:
I have no idea how Utah and Avery were 'releasing' submissions as they came in, but I believe they were posted once both came in.
Then I remember Fritz stating that he sent his story in on Monday and I figured that 'might' be a hint as to whose story belonged to whom.
The only reason I bring this up now is because, as the tournament continues, there will be fewer and fewer submissions posting, making any small comment a possible 'hint.' Of course this makes discretion all that much more important--and I will be the first to admit that I am a blabber mouth and have a hard time keeping my trap shut.
Anyway this all led me to think of another little safeguard to at least perpetuate this concept of anonymity as long as possible; well at the least through the first couple of rounds:
Don't divulge that you have made your submission.
If possible, Avery, can you post all of the submissions pretty much at the same time as opposed to as they come in? I understand it is nice to get the voting and reading going, but again, as things progress, I could see this as a potential cause for an anonymity breach. In other words, if all subs post at the same time, it will promote anonymity?
Just some thoughts.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 28, 2012 - 1:10pm
I'm fine with that in general. But I plan to start posting a little early. The deadline is 10pm, I'll begin posting at 9pm probably, if there is no huge objection.
I need my beauty sleep, you know.
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 28, 2012 - 1:20pm
But you're already so damn beautiful...surely an extra hour isn't needed.
Chester Pane
from Portland, Oregon is reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazMarch 28, 2012 - 1:21pm
We wouldn't want to deprive your pretty little noggin of that.
That would be great Avery, thank you.
I was thinking more of large time discrepancies that enabled those D.O.T.M. sufferers to have words come prematurely splattering out their mouths.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 28, 2012 - 1:26pm
No problem!
@Jason - you would be surprised.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 28, 2012 - 6:50pm
We are still talking about Sunday right?
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 28, 2012 - 6:51pm
Yes
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.March 28, 2012 - 7:20pm
Chester raises some good points, and makes some good suggestions, regarding anonymity.
Really, I think it boils down to people having to bite their tongues during writing weeks. I know, it's easy to ge excited when you have been hard at work and you have a finished draft you are proud of.
Be careful though. Don't be telling us how long the draft is, because if it's 1k words matched vs 2.5K and you already told me you had to trim some stuff out to fit into the word-count, then I am guessing the 1k story isn't yours. Don't be telling us anything about it until those votes close.
I realise I have been a hypocrite at times here - as I say it is easy to get excited when you are finished with a draft. I shall endeavor not to do it again. Also, as pointed out already, there will be half as many stories to read this time, a lot less camoflague.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 29, 2012 - 5:49am
@rach122: you are correct. There is this option in a lot of tournament setups. It's called a double-elimination format. Everybody who loses gets a chance to come back to lose once more or start winning in a loser's bracket. So you have to lose twice to get knocked out of the tournament. Had this tournament been 16 contestants instead of 32 it would have been double-elim. I didn't actually think it would get as big as it did. After I saw there were 32 people in, we did briefly discuss going double-elimination for this one. As this is the first tourney run on the site, and as I have never run a tournament for anything before, we felt it would best serve everyone involved if we kept this WAR as simple as possible and just went a one-and-done format.
I do plan for the next tournament to be double-elimination. And to start with 64 people. That last might be a stretch.
oooooh, i like the flash fiction penalty shots idea. like 200 wds or something, postcard flash.
Manda - you are my new hero for bumping the page.
Flash fiction idea is a really good one
YES! 24 hours or less to write it, a ONE WORD prompt, 200 words or less. yes? yes???
But then that pushes back our whole timeline. Because we have to wait for it to be resolved before other people get prompts.
I like it. I'll give it some consideration.
Shit, I don't think that would work well. Too truncated. You have to have time to write and to run the vote. I think a tiebreaker vote would probably still be best. It's cool. I've never had a problem being an asshole when it was necessary.
i think the people who tied might be willing to take a day or two time-cut as opposed to pushing the schedule back. OR the tied people could bith be given the prompt to start stewing/sketching on while they're working out their flash, then whoever won the flash could just get on with it.
like, a day to write the flash, then a day to vote. if you have your prompts already you can be getting started with it, and if you win the flash you've still got five full days to finish. it could even be more timed - like, as soon as both flash pieces are finished, post em. then have exactly 16 hours of voting time from that moment. then shut it down, see who moves ahead. so the quicker the tie is broken the quicker the winner moves into the regualr competetion.
utah, you should message the people involved in these close calls and see how they feel about this sudden death thing.
at least CONSIDER it! ask the people in the close calls. and with flash so short and the voting window so short, it just might work....
I've already messaged everybody in the tournament. Except apparently for you, manda. For some reason it wouldn't group-email you. But I see how you feel about it. Are you cool with cutting off the vote tomorrow?
i have to go now, can't check back in til evening, but i beseech you to consider it. later guys.
yeah, that's fine. that would leave tme for a flash challenge if tere are any ties :)
gotta go
I blame this on avery for her adorable accent.
The problem with the flash-offs is that it does tie up the whole tournament, you can't just keep back those match-ups for two days while they write and then we vote. Because whoever wins that round has to face off against another opponent who wasn't held back in a tie. And you can't hold off the next round match-up and let the rest of the tournament go without revealing which stories those are. And since it seems we have two potential ties at the moment, that's possibly two out of eight matchups that won't be moving on on sunday when the new prompts drop.
Or we can hold back on the whole tournament to resolve the ties, but it seems that the general consensus is that we are eager for the reveals and for new stories.
I think it's a great idea, and if we have a tighter timeline for voting (which doesn't work for everyone) that leaves a couple days at the end to deal with ties, then it would be brilliant... and certainly a good idea for the finals (and possibly semi-finals) if that happens... but for the beginning rounds, with the timeframe we have established, it just doesn't fit.
I just don't think that closing the polls on saturday night, then we find out there's a tie, Utah sends out the prompts, they write the flash, and post them, and we vote on them, can all be resolved before the rest of the tournament is supposed to continue by sunday morning... or even sunday night if we revert back to the "original" timeline. I mean that would be an exciting challenge for those in the tie, to try to write a good flash piece on a prompt in less than twelve hours, but the whole point would be to give people a chance to vote, and not everyone will be able to do that in the little time we'd have to allot for it.
I tend to agree. It would be pretty fun to go all Dance-a-Thon 2012 on the ties, but right now I really lean strongly toward the simpler option of me rolling in as the tie-breaker, breaking the ties, and then we all move on. The other way, there's just too much, in my opinion, other stuff going on, we've got a round going but, shit, we've also still got parts of the first round still going. I, for one, would swiftly become confused.
These things usually are my fault.
I think many people would change their votes after having more time to think about it. I think we should just try a revote.
So here is what I would like to see happen (and therefore what SHOULD happen):
Polls officially end at 5pm CST Saturday (that time I made up, but you get the idea). Utah decides any ties and the loser punches him in the face - but JUST ONCE. New prompts are sent out to the winners at 11am CST on Sunday. New stories are due in the following Sunday by 10pm CST.
You are the voice of reason Avery. Yeah Utah it's all on you.
I have no problem with the whole early finish thing. The format is being tested on-the-go, so these issues are going to pop up. All good.
I do not like the flash penalties idea. There was a lot of reading involved in this first round. Plenty of great stories sure, but still almost a novel's worth of word count. There is an unavoidable time commitment there. Obviously this will become less and less as the rounds more on but still, seems a bit much to be asking of folks to have to potentially write/read/vote for tiebreakers too. However, I am not really sure of a better way to resolve last-minute ties. Hmm.
11am CST for sending out the prompts this next time round would be a whole lot better than 10pm. That would work for me. That would be somewhere around 4-5pm for me, would give me chance to make a start on Sunday. As I said in the PM thread, my time is going be a lot more limited next week so those few extra hours could actually make a lot of difference.
I'll survive if that aint' gonna happen though.
*
And okay, I have tried to bite my tongue on this one. I have. But to hell with it. Jason, is it my story you had a problem with? (I was his opponent) I can't see which other stories might have annoyed you so I am assuming it is me as we were matched up. If not, ignore this post. If so, feel free to pick me out dude. I have a thick skin and I am not going to get hissy.
I thought we got probably the most open-ended prompt of them all. It seemed like I had a lot of room to work in compared to what I might have done with some of the others. That said, I thought I made plenty enough use of the prompt. I certainly didn't ignore it. I firmly believe I would never have written my story without that prompt, which is all the evidence I need right now.
A prompt is not a firm set of rules. Guidelines are not zealous dogma. The clues are in the names. A prompt is supposed to inspire us to write something, not limit us. A prompt that limits you would be called a handicap. Guidelines are supposed to guide, not dictate. If they were meant to dictate they would be called laws.
So I would say there is no point having 'voting-guidelines.' No point at all. People wouldnt follow them anyway, They'd still just pick the story they liked more. And personally, I wouldn't want it any other way. Sorry if my story bugged you. For the record, I liked yours.
*
Bleh, too much glumness there. WAR!!! Happy war face people. Don't you just love the smell of napalm? I have had a lot of fun with this competition the last two weeks. Keep it up guys and gals. You all rock!
Okay, Jason and I have discussed this at length. I feel the issue is resolved without casualty. If there is some surprise I'm not aware of and Jason disagrees with me, I'm sure he'll mention it, but I think everything is pretty well settled in an amenable manner.
So, unless I'm proven to have misunderstood something, let's all move on.
Jason, the Asian girl will be to your house for the foot rub this afternoon. As you've requested, her hands will be small yet strong.
Good stuff Utah. You are a well reasoned fellow. The DOTP badge is very well earned.
Jason, I hope her hands are the smallest and the strongest. A happy ending? Yeah, why not? Send me the bill if she tries to charge you for it.
I think no matter what Utah should lose. Person doesn't show up, Utah loses. Person goes over word count, Utah loses. Person didn't adhere to the prompt, Utah loses.
I'm not bitter.....
Diaz! Where've you been!
Diaz has a point....
Hey Diaz, Welcome to LitR! If you post an intro thread I ...
Wait.
OH! That Diaz. My bad. I thought you were new!
Kidding bro! It's just that, you know..
I miss you! There, alright, I said it! Are you happy now!
I've been living life and generating more data for the brain bank. I have lots to do, so I will be in here and there.
Congrats on winning Utah. Just remember 4 people thought I was the better writer.
Still not bitter....
....I miss you all too.....
You can't just bring in a member, who isn't a part of WAR and who hasn't voted, to vote?
@ Panda - that will probably be the best way to break the ties, ask non-participant members of LR to vote. Some people have been doing anyway, which is really cool. Though it will have to be an odd number of extra readers, else you know sod's law will have it end in a tie again.
-edit changed the word even to odd so that I don't look like a fool.
Grab 5 readers if you can.
So, those of you with friends, go ask them to read a couple stories.
How about having the losers break the tie?
I need a happy ending so I better not have to ask her if she does it.
Well are people going to be selected objectively to break ties?
No.
Sorry, I don't know. I guess they are as objective as any of us.
I'm gonna say it, the only story I read that I thought possibly didn't strictly adhere to the prompt was The Executioner's Son. I thought that as I read it, until the story sunk in. I could see that it was a man retiring, passing down the torch to his son and in the end the secrete revealed was that maybe he should be like his mom and feel for those he puts down. I may be wrong about the story, but other than that I didn't see another that didn't stay pretty on spot with the prompts. Th elements were there though, just not blatant and I think that was partly what made the story brilliant.
Sorry if this wasn't the story in question. Just thought I would let you know what I thought about the prompts, I did keep them in mind while reading and I thought everyone did a good job.
okay so what are we dong now? are we ending early, and how are the ties being settled?
Fine I will go through find the ties and end them. I have yet to vote. I know. I'm a lazy SOB.
they're all bumped to the top. there are like 4 close ones altogether, two ties i think at this point.
I think in the future we should predesignate a guest tie breaker. Mark Vanderpool, Lidia Yuknavitch, Suzy Vitello, Vanessa Veselka, SGJ....
Chester: That would be really cool.
This is just an observation from the last round:
I have no idea how Utah and Avery were 'releasing' submissions as they came in, but I believe they were posted once both came in.
Then I remember Fritz stating that he sent his story in on Monday and I figured that 'might' be a hint as to whose story belonged to whom.
The only reason I bring this up now is because, as the tournament continues, there will be fewer and fewer submissions posting, making any small comment a possible 'hint.' Of course this makes discretion all that much more important--and I will be the first to admit that I am a blabber mouth and have a hard time keeping my trap shut.
Anyway this all led me to think of another little safeguard to at least perpetuate this concept of anonymity as long as possible; well at the least through the first couple of rounds:
Just some thoughts.
I'm fine with that in general. But I plan to start posting a little early. The deadline is 10pm, I'll begin posting at 9pm probably, if there is no huge objection.
I need my beauty sleep, you know.
But you're already so damn beautiful...surely an extra hour isn't needed.
We wouldn't want to deprive your pretty little noggin of that.
That would be great Avery, thank you.
I was thinking more of large time discrepancies that enabled those D.O.T.M. sufferers to have words come prematurely splattering out their mouths.
No problem!
@Jason - you would be surprised.
We are still talking about Sunday right?
Yes
Chester raises some good points, and makes some good suggestions, regarding anonymity.
Really, I think it boils down to people having to bite their tongues during writing weeks. I know, it's easy to ge excited when you have been hard at work and you have a finished draft you are proud of.
Be careful though. Don't be telling us how long the draft is, because if it's 1k words matched vs 2.5K and you already told me you had to trim some stuff out to fit into the word-count, then I am guessing the 1k story isn't yours. Don't be telling us anything about it until those votes close.
I realise I have been a hypocrite at times here - as I say it is easy to get excited when you are finished with a draft. I shall endeavor not to do it again. Also, as pointed out already, there will be half as many stories to read this time, a lot less camoflague.
@rach122: you are correct. There is this option in a lot of tournament setups. It's called a double-elimination format. Everybody who loses gets a chance to come back to lose once more or start winning in a loser's bracket. So you have to lose twice to get knocked out of the tournament. Had this tournament been 16 contestants instead of 32 it would have been double-elim. I didn't actually think it would get as big as it did. After I saw there were 32 people in, we did briefly discuss going double-elimination for this one. As this is the first tourney run on the site, and as I have never run a tournament for anything before, we felt it would best serve everyone involved if we kept this WAR as simple as possible and just went a one-and-done format.
I do plan for the next tournament to be double-elimination. And to start with 64 people. That last might be a stretch.