R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 10:26am
I'm surprised no one's spotted mine yet. I thought it would be obvious. LOL... Maybe I changed up my style just enough.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 19, 2012 - 10:54am
Wait...I think I...yep, I spotted Moon's story.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 19, 2012 - 11:43am
YAY!!!! I CAN SEE I CAN SEE!!!
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 19, 2012 - 11:43am
go manda!!! woo hoo!
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 19, 2012 - 12:15pm
i read the story against mine - and holy shit, it's better than mine. easy!! really good. and deserves to win this round. if i lose against this story i'll totally be a matter of taste in storyline, i've honestly just been outwritten. well done, closure, well done. <3
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 19, 2012 - 12:18pm
you always downplay yourself, manda. that said my competitor did a really good job too. :-) i have a feeling of these stories will be voted on based on taste. so you never know. of course, that'll work in your favor, not mine ;-p lol
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 19, 2012 - 12:46pm
i broke my own self-proclaimed decision and voted. against myself :)
also i don't downplay myself - i've got a handle on what i'm doing ;) but in this, as far as a matter of taste (and solid writing) i liked the OTHER story better!!
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 19, 2012 - 12:54pm
definitely the overall quality of writing was higher than i thought it'd be.
Boone Spaulding
from Coldwater, Michigan, U.S.A. is reading Solarcide Presents: Nova ParadeMarch 19, 2012 - 1:05pm
^ @ Nikki & Manda: ditto and ditto. I also voted against my story because I too was outwritten. I've only been here since January 27, less than two months. I am BOWLED OVER by such a group of people gathered in one place, to one purpose. Sweet.
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMarch 19, 2012 - 2:10pm
Utah, you suck. That is all.
Congrats bitch. And no, I'm not bitter....much.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 19, 2012 - 2:12pm
One love.
I mean, WAR. WAAAAAAAAAR!
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 2:13pm
There's two that I think could be yours, Utah.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 19, 2012 - 2:14pm
Hint - he only wrote one.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 2:19pm
Haha... Thanks Mrs. Obvious. ;)
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 19, 2012 - 2:23pm
I don't want to be 'that' guy, but screw I will be. Does anyone else think that some people didn't necessarily adhere to the prompt?
Like if I read that a prompt has to do with two people meeting on a plane, I expect the plane to factor in and not just be thrown in at the very end.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 2:32pm
From what I've read so far, all have adhered to the prompt. Some, like my story, are more metaphorical than literal. I think it would be suitable to have two people meet on a plane and the plane not factor in until the end. I haven't seen anything that states that each part of the prompt has to be used in full, so long as each part is used at some point in the story. If the writer wanted to make, say, a plane crash to be the final reveal, I think that would be fine. It's really all in how you look at it. Do you take the prompts as literal or metaphorical, or a little of both?
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 19, 2012 - 2:46pm
i thought the prompts were used just fine.
Americantypo
from Philadelphia is reading The Bone ClocksMarch 19, 2012 - 2:52pm
I just voted with my gut on this round. Didn't really think too much about the prompt
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 19, 2012 - 3:02pm
I disagree and think that should've been made more clear. And voting with gut and not taking prompt into account basically makes the prompts serve no purpose.
So basically writing any story and then going "oh yeah, and there was a plane" seems to justify that they adhered to the prompt?
If I'm going to watch a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer I expect to see someone named Buffy slaying some damn vampires. I don't think the show should be called otherwise and vampire slayer shouldn't be a metaphor for facing down those who suck the life from us.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 3:11pm
So basically writing any story and then going "oh yeah, and there was a plane" seems to justify that they adhered to the prompt?
- Not exactly what I meant. Of course the plane has to be part of the story, but what I'm saying is that the plane doesn't need to be the crux of the story. If the story is about two people who meet on a plane, let's say a man and a woman, and they figure out that they're soul mates and the writer chooses not to reveal that the plane is crashing until the end, I believe that's fine. There should be though, clues throughout the story to elude to the plane.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is pretty self explanatory and straightfoward. Some of these prompts were kind of vague. Some were also very straightforward and I think some of the writers didn't want to go with the obvious story.
I think working the prompt into something that may be a bit literal and a bit metaphorical makes the story more creative.
Flaminia Ferina
from Umbria is reading stuffMarch 19, 2012 - 3:17pm
Take Snakes on a Plane, for instance.
There's snakes. And there's a plane. Bingo!
Americantypo
from Philadelphia is reading The Bone ClocksMarch 19, 2012 - 3:19pm
I think following the prompt too closely would prove detrimental to the writing process and the whole point of this was to get people writing. As far as I've read, everyone at the very least used the prompt as a spring board and I decided id vote based on which story I likedmore regardless of how well it followed the restrictions of the prompt. If you want to vote differentlythen go for it. If a story blatantly ignored the prompt, call them out and get a discussion going
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 19, 2012 - 3:21pm
the prompt was to try to prevent people from using past work. it was a jumping off point. i didn't give extra points to a story for using the prompt well but did give kudos for creativity. but no matter what i voted for the best story regardless of use of prompt. i just didn't see any that i had a problem with. if people want to put limitations on themselves that's fine but i'd prefer people to keep their paws off my creativity as much as possible.
Americantypo
from Philadelphia is reading The Bone ClocksMarch 19, 2012 - 3:22pm
I looked at the prompts as more like the seeds for a story then the chicken wire it grows on.z
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 19, 2012 - 3:24pm
what americantypo said.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 3:24pm
The first book I looked at on my shelf was A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. If that was a prompt, it's fairly vague. Could go in a million different directions. I believe that's how some of these prompts are.
Snakes on a Plane: Pretty straightforward.
A Long Way Down: Pretty vague.
Gotta work with what you're given, and I think everyone did a damn fine job with whatever prompt was handed to them.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 3:25pm
I looked at the prompts as more like the seeds for a story then the chicken wire it grows on.z
- I like that.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 19, 2012 - 3:25pm
amen, moon.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 19, 2012 - 3:34pm
As far as it goes, there ain't no rule for prompt adherence. Basically, there is one argument that if you vaguely address the prompt and that is fine, while there is this other idea that a story should be DQed for improper prompt adherence. In the end it comes down to this: you vote your conscience. And so does everyone else. If your mind tells you not to vote for a story because it didn't stick to the prompt the way you felt it should have, cool. Vote against it. If you think otherwise, vote otherwise.
Bear in mind, conditions for disqualification were laid out pretty clearly in the submission instructions. Beyond that, I'm not going to improvise in the middle of the round. If you got your story in on time, under word count, and don't identify it during voting, then it stands until it's voted down.
I see caususes and voting blocs developing in the near future.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 19, 2012 - 3:55pm
I voted for best title. I got tired of reading stories. Jk.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 19, 2012 - 4:02pm
I have opinions (shocked?)!
I think if you feel very strongly that someone did not work their prompt properly, you should not vote for them. I personally did not see any that deviated enough from the prompt that I was offended.
If no one else was bothered enough to withhold votes, I feel that is consensus enough that it was fine.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 19, 2012 - 4:32pm
I vote Americantypo off the island, Jason, you can stay in my hut, I need warm flesh.
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 19, 2012 - 4:52pm
I did notice a few stories that were over the 2500 words.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.March 19, 2012 - 4:57pm
Next round, we need to vote by writer with best hair.
Fritz
March 19, 2012 - 5:06pm
I've said this before - but I wil say it again:
Prompts aren't chickenwire in that they limit imaginative endeavors of said subconscious exploration - Others will, of course, agree that any limitation on our writing is a bad thing. Don't give prompts a bad wrap.
Instead - and here is what I've said before: Prompts are like Hard Sci-Fi: If the prompt is taken out of the story then the story falls apart - like if you take the science out of Frankenstein their is no story - no monster. That's what I shoot for.
That said - I agree with Utah that it is not a reason to DQ anybody - to each his/her own - you make the decision as a reviewer.
And in reviewing - I look to the prose first - it there are twangs that make me stop reading because I am lost or don't know who is speaking or what is happening - that is my biggest pet peeve - Its all about readability for me - first off - then idea (creativity). We are, after all, trying to become better writers - nobody here doubts that we all are creative people - we wouldn't be here if we weren't.
Richard
from St. Louis is reading various anthologiesMarch 19, 2012 - 5:35pm
there WERE a few stories that were a bit over, but i took the title and prompt into consideration as well. was there anybody that was WAY over? because that's grounds for elimination. 2515, not so much. 2700? yes.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 19, 2012 - 5:35pm
I did notice a few stories that were over the 2500 words.
Actually, every story came in under 2500 words. You will see super-2500 word counts in some of the docs. Removing title and prompt from those word counts -- bearing in mind that title and word count do not count against the word limit, as was discussed in the initial instructions -- get all of them under the limit.
Jason Van Horn
from North Carolina is reading A Feast For CrowsMarch 19, 2012 - 5:44pm
Well if the prompt didn't have to be adhered to then there shouldn't have been one.
And it was "supposedly" so someone couldn't use a past work, but I definitely remember reading someone saying something along the lines of, "Oh this already goes with a story I've been working on."
Plus like I said: I've read some where there's definitely snakes on a plane, but there are others where the snake is a tattoo on a man getting onto a plane and that to me is crap and avoiding the prompt. Clever work around? Yes, but I think it's a middle-finger to the competition.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 19, 2012 - 5:46pm
""Oh this already goes with a story I've been working on.""
Liana said that, in jest. If I remember right.
Nikki Guerlain
from Portlandia
March 19, 2012 - 5:55pm
there are many shades of grey. being free and loose with a prompt is a far cry from not having one.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryMarch 19, 2012 - 5:57pm
I didn't use prompts so that someone couldn't use past work. I used prompts to encourage a bunch of creative people to interpret, build, and then function within a framework.
As to adherence/non-adherence: Your job as the writer is to sell your story to the voters in the competition. Those voters will decide, individually, if you stayed within the lines enough to satisfy their subjective opinions.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 5:58pm
Clever work around? Yes, but I think it's a middle-finger to the competition.
- I'm not sure I understand your logic here. The snake could also be a reference to the man as a person. He could be sneaky and slimy. As for a middle finger to the competition, I'm not sure about that because it's really only one person's opinion and concept of the prompt.
Well if the prompt didn't have to be adhered to then there shouldn't have been one.
- I think there's a general acceptance here that everyone adhere to the prompt. How someone chooses to use their prompt is up to them and doesn't reflect on the competition since no one knew what the prompts were except those who got them.
but I definitely remember reading someone saying something along the lines of, "Oh this already goes with a story I've been working on."
- I don't remember seeing this, but I know I did read a story that I've read before, although this time it was changed.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersMarch 19, 2012 - 6:27pm
@Utah - I thought you used them just to be a prick.
Richard
from St. Louis is reading various anthologiesMarch 19, 2012 - 6:32pm
if somebody barely uses a prompt, then that's the risk they take. i wouldn't vote for a story that had the prompt as a barely there tacked on item. but, we can all interpret things differently. we were talking about a "new baby" somewhere here, and we said the "baby" could be a child, a girl, a horse, a clone, a hooker, some piece of property, etc. so, take risks and ignore the prompts at your peril.
this is also supposed to be for fun, not the Nobel Peace Prize or the Pulitzer. if you see a major rule being broken (story is 3000 words, ignores the prompt, etc.) talk about it, tell Utah. otherwise, write like a motherfucker and no regrets.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestMarch 19, 2012 - 6:37pm
write like a motherfucker and no regrets.
- Sage advice.
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterMarch 19, 2012 - 6:54pm
@Utah - Thanks for addressing the word count thing. I do know that some word processing programs count word differently. I know mine sometimes over-counts words based on whether or not the quote tags are 'straight' or 'curly'. That may have had something to do with the counts being off for me.
Liana
from Romania and Texas is reading Naked LunchMarch 19, 2012 - 7:34pm
Avery, good memory. Yes, I was kidding! I had no plans of reusing an older story but I did say something along those lines.
manda lynn
from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again)March 19, 2012 - 8:44pm
8 rounds so far. can't stop reading. must go to bed....
after a couple more....
closure
from Australia is reading The Ghormenghast Trilogy, by Mervyn PeakeMarch 19, 2012 - 8:48pm
@manda_lynn: you are too kind!
I called in sick today, so I am at home, in bed, with a glass of orange juice and a bazillion WAR stories to read.
Man, this is awesome.
Americantypo
from Philadelphia is reading The Bone ClocksMarch 19, 2012 - 8:53pm
Wowwww, so a lot of interesting comments regarding the prompts. I was reading them at work and couldn't really write anything too succinct. But here's my two cents for what it's worth:
1- as Utah and Richard and a few others have said- vote how you want to vote. For instance, I really like horror, weird fiction. That said, two stories faced against one another might find more favor with me if its a horror story or something unusual. I just go with my gut. If I like one story more than the other, I vote for it, plain and simple. And likeability has a hell of a lot to do with readability, so style, grammar, etc, will also come into play. But if both stories are written well but one had an element of genre fiction, I'm more likely to vote for that story.
2- Here's how I see the prompts- they're a starting point for new work, not necessarily parameters. Consider "snakes on a plane" as the prompt. Jason mentioned the idea of someone taking that and writing about a guy with a snake tattoo on a plane, etc, and writing about the prompt in a round about way, and that this would be a slap in the face to the competition. Maybe... but if the work is fresh and that's how the writer tackled the idea, then I don't see it as being such an insult. After all, if we start with one idea and it goes in a different direction, why should we as writers stop the creative process just because it's going to go out of the parameters of the prompt? If I submitted said "snake" story and it got sent back cause it didn't follow the prompt in a literal way or didn't have enough mention of snakes and planes, I'd probably just bail on this whole competition. I decided to do this in order to give myself a kick in the ass and produce some stories, not because I wanted a bunch of homework.
I'll admit, without giving away which story is mine, that my story did NOT clearly fulfill all aspects of my prompt. There were three specific details in my prompt and while the first was pretty clear, the second two ideas weren't followed quite as closely, in fact one was ignored altogether. Yet the prompt and the story have enough of a context that they aren't completely at odds with one another, and I think, at least in my opinion, that the story was a success. Personally, I'm really proud of what I did in a week. It's brand new, and didn't even make use of whatever I had on my "idea board" in my office. And it was inspired by the prompt but as I wrote, I found certain elements of the prompt not really working in the story in a organic way, forcing me to abandon these ideas so I could tell the story I wanted to tell, and that's important I think. If I had forced these other details into the story, it would have been disingenuous, and I would have spent a week writing something I wasn't proud of. I would have been doing "homework", not something I felt passion about. So is it a slap in face of the competition? If it is, I don't care. I'm not here to win (though I'd like to, as much as anyone would). I'm here to write.
3- R Moon mentioned that he read a story on here he's read before. That actually kind of bothers me a little for the simple reason that I believe a lot of us wrote these stories from scratch. So... I don't know. I don't want to whine and throw a fit, but I think it's in poor taste to take old work or something that was already in progress and plug the prompt into it. But that's just my opinion. I don't think there's much that can be done in the midst of the first round, but if everyone agrees, maybe it should be just put out there- stories submitted should be new work, not old work that's been tinkered with and edited in order to fit the prompt in some manner. THAT to me is closer to a "slap in the face" then someone writing a story that worked with the prompt in an unusual roundabout way. Cause I see it as- I wrote a draft, and then a second draft, all in one week, whereas another person already had a draft sitting around, took it, added and subtracted some stuff, and handed it in. If time is an issue... that's kinda frustrating to me that someone took advantage of an old story they had lying around. My "idea board" has single words, slug lines. I'd love to have a prompt I could mesh with one of those ideas. But I'd never take an old story and rewrite it for this.
Alright, enough from me. I have a feeling everyone is all pretty settled on the whole "prompt" debate, but that's my two cents.
I'm surprised no one's spotted mine yet. I thought it would be obvious. LOL... Maybe I changed up my style just enough.
Wait...I think I...yep, I spotted Moon's story.
YAY!!!! I CAN SEE I CAN SEE!!!
go manda!!! woo hoo!
i read the story against mine - and holy shit, it's better than mine. easy!! really good. and deserves to win this round. if i lose against this story i'll totally be a matter of taste in storyline, i've honestly just been outwritten. well done, closure, well done. <3
you always downplay yourself, manda. that said my competitor did a really good job too. :-) i have a feeling of these stories will be voted on based on taste. so you never know. of course, that'll work in your favor, not mine ;-p lol
i broke my own self-proclaimed decision and voted. against myself :)
also i don't downplay myself - i've got a handle on what i'm doing ;) but in this, as far as a matter of taste (and solid writing) i liked the OTHER story better!!
definitely the overall quality of writing was higher than i thought it'd be.
^ @ Nikki & Manda: ditto and ditto. I also voted against my story because I too was outwritten. I've only been here since January 27, less than two months. I am BOWLED OVER by such a group of people gathered in one place, to one purpose. Sweet.
Utah, you suck. That is all.
Congrats bitch. And no, I'm not bitter....much.
One love.
I mean, WAR. WAAAAAAAAAR!
There's two that I think could be yours, Utah.
Hint - he only wrote one.
Haha... Thanks Mrs. Obvious. ;)
I don't want to be 'that' guy, but screw I will be. Does anyone else think that some people didn't necessarily adhere to the prompt?
Like if I read that a prompt has to do with two people meeting on a plane, I expect the plane to factor in and not just be thrown in at the very end.
From what I've read so far, all have adhered to the prompt. Some, like my story, are more metaphorical than literal. I think it would be suitable to have two people meet on a plane and the plane not factor in until the end. I haven't seen anything that states that each part of the prompt has to be used in full, so long as each part is used at some point in the story. If the writer wanted to make, say, a plane crash to be the final reveal, I think that would be fine. It's really all in how you look at it. Do you take the prompts as literal or metaphorical, or a little of both?
i thought the prompts were used just fine.
I just voted with my gut on this round. Didn't really think too much about the prompt
I disagree and think that should've been made more clear. And voting with gut and not taking prompt into account basically makes the prompts serve no purpose.
So basically writing any story and then going "oh yeah, and there was a plane" seems to justify that they adhered to the prompt?
If I'm going to watch a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer I expect to see someone named Buffy slaying some damn vampires. I don't think the show should be called otherwise and vampire slayer shouldn't be a metaphor for facing down those who suck the life from us.
Take Snakes on a Plane, for instance.
There's snakes. And there's a plane. Bingo!
I think following the prompt too closely would prove detrimental to the writing process and the whole point of this was to get people writing. As far as I've read, everyone at the very least used the prompt as a spring board and I decided id vote based on which story I likedmore regardless of how well it followed the restrictions of the prompt. If you want to vote differentlythen go for it. If a story blatantly ignored the prompt, call them out and get a discussion going
the prompt was to try to prevent people from using past work. it was a jumping off point. i didn't give extra points to a story for using the prompt well but did give kudos for creativity. but no matter what i voted for the best story regardless of use of prompt. i just didn't see any that i had a problem with. if people want to put limitations on themselves that's fine but i'd prefer people to keep their paws off my creativity as much as possible.
I looked at the prompts as more like the seeds for a story then the chicken wire it grows on.z
what americantypo said.
The first book I looked at on my shelf was A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. If that was a prompt, it's fairly vague. Could go in a million different directions. I believe that's how some of these prompts are.
Snakes on a Plane: Pretty straightforward.
A Long Way Down: Pretty vague.
Gotta work with what you're given, and I think everyone did a damn fine job with whatever prompt was handed to them.
amen, moon.
As far as it goes, there ain't no rule for prompt adherence. Basically, there is one argument that if you vaguely address the prompt and that is fine, while there is this other idea that a story should be DQed for improper prompt adherence. In the end it comes down to this: you vote your conscience. And so does everyone else. If your mind tells you not to vote for a story because it didn't stick to the prompt the way you felt it should have, cool. Vote against it. If you think otherwise, vote otherwise.
Bear in mind, conditions for disqualification were laid out pretty clearly in the submission instructions. Beyond that, I'm not going to improvise in the middle of the round. If you got your story in on time, under word count, and don't identify it during voting, then it stands until it's voted down.
I see caususes and voting blocs developing in the near future.
I voted for best title. I got tired of reading stories. Jk.
I have opinions (shocked?)!
I think if you feel very strongly that someone did not work their prompt properly, you should not vote for them. I personally did not see any that deviated enough from the prompt that I was offended.
If no one else was bothered enough to withhold votes, I feel that is consensus enough that it was fine.
I vote Americantypo off the island, Jason, you can stay in my hut, I need warm flesh.
I did notice a few stories that were over the 2500 words.
Next round, we need to vote by writer with best hair.
I've said this before - but I wil say it again:
Prompts aren't chickenwire in that they limit imaginative endeavors of said subconscious exploration - Others will, of course, agree that any limitation on our writing is a bad thing. Don't give prompts a bad wrap.
Instead - and here is what I've said before: Prompts are like Hard Sci-Fi: If the prompt is taken out of the story then the story falls apart - like if you take the science out of Frankenstein their is no story - no monster. That's what I shoot for.
That said - I agree with Utah that it is not a reason to DQ anybody - to each his/her own - you make the decision as a reviewer.
And in reviewing - I look to the prose first - it there are twangs that make me stop reading because I am lost or don't know who is speaking or what is happening - that is my biggest pet peeve - Its all about readability for me - first off - then idea (creativity). We are, after all, trying to become better writers - nobody here doubts that we all are creative people - we wouldn't be here if we weren't.
there WERE a few stories that were a bit over, but i took the title and prompt into consideration as well. was there anybody that was WAY over? because that's grounds for elimination. 2515, not so much. 2700? yes.
Actually, every story came in under 2500 words. You will see super-2500 word counts in some of the docs. Removing title and prompt from those word counts -- bearing in mind that title and word count do not count against the word limit, as was discussed in the initial instructions -- get all of them under the limit.
Well if the prompt didn't have to be adhered to then there shouldn't have been one.
And it was "supposedly" so someone couldn't use a past work, but I definitely remember reading someone saying something along the lines of, "Oh this already goes with a story I've been working on."
Plus like I said: I've read some where there's definitely snakes on a plane, but there are others where the snake is a tattoo on a man getting onto a plane and that to me is crap and avoiding the prompt. Clever work around? Yes, but I think it's a middle-finger to the competition.
""Oh this already goes with a story I've been working on.""
Liana said that, in jest. If I remember right.
there are many shades of grey. being free and loose with a prompt is a far cry from not having one.
I didn't use prompts so that someone couldn't use past work. I used prompts to encourage a bunch of creative people to interpret, build, and then function within a framework.
As to adherence/non-adherence: Your job as the writer is to sell your story to the voters in the competition. Those voters will decide, individually, if you stayed within the lines enough to satisfy their subjective opinions.
@Utah - I thought you used them just to be a prick.
if somebody barely uses a prompt, then that's the risk they take. i wouldn't vote for a story that had the prompt as a barely there tacked on item. but, we can all interpret things differently. we were talking about a "new baby" somewhere here, and we said the "baby" could be a child, a girl, a horse, a clone, a hooker, some piece of property, etc. so, take risks and ignore the prompts at your peril.
this is also supposed to be for fun, not the Nobel Peace Prize or the Pulitzer. if you see a major rule being broken (story is 3000 words, ignores the prompt, etc.) talk about it, tell Utah. otherwise, write like a motherfucker and no regrets.
@Utah - Thanks for addressing the word count thing. I do know that some word processing programs count word differently. I know mine sometimes over-counts words based on whether or not the quote tags are 'straight' or 'curly'. That may have had something to do with the counts being off for me.
Avery, good memory. Yes, I was kidding! I had no plans of reusing an older story but I did say something along those lines.
8 rounds so far. can't stop reading. must go to bed....
after a couple more....
@manda_lynn: you are too kind!
I called in sick today, so I am at home, in bed, with a glass of orange juice and a bazillion WAR stories to read.
Man, this is awesome.
Wowwww, so a lot of interesting comments regarding the prompts. I was reading them at work and couldn't really write anything too succinct. But here's my two cents for what it's worth:
1- as Utah and Richard and a few others have said- vote how you want to vote. For instance, I really like horror, weird fiction. That said, two stories faced against one another might find more favor with me if its a horror story or something unusual. I just go with my gut. If I like one story more than the other, I vote for it, plain and simple. And likeability has a hell of a lot to do with readability, so style, grammar, etc, will also come into play. But if both stories are written well but one had an element of genre fiction, I'm more likely to vote for that story.
2- Here's how I see the prompts- they're a starting point for new work, not necessarily parameters. Consider "snakes on a plane" as the prompt. Jason mentioned the idea of someone taking that and writing about a guy with a snake tattoo on a plane, etc, and writing about the prompt in a round about way, and that this would be a slap in the face to the competition. Maybe... but if the work is fresh and that's how the writer tackled the idea, then I don't see it as being such an insult. After all, if we start with one idea and it goes in a different direction, why should we as writers stop the creative process just because it's going to go out of the parameters of the prompt? If I submitted said "snake" story and it got sent back cause it didn't follow the prompt in a literal way or didn't have enough mention of snakes and planes, I'd probably just bail on this whole competition. I decided to do this in order to give myself a kick in the ass and produce some stories, not because I wanted a bunch of homework.
I'll admit, without giving away which story is mine, that my story did NOT clearly fulfill all aspects of my prompt. There were three specific details in my prompt and while the first was pretty clear, the second two ideas weren't followed quite as closely, in fact one was ignored altogether. Yet the prompt and the story have enough of a context that they aren't completely at odds with one another, and I think, at least in my opinion, that the story was a success. Personally, I'm really proud of what I did in a week. It's brand new, and didn't even make use of whatever I had on my "idea board" in my office. And it was inspired by the prompt but as I wrote, I found certain elements of the prompt not really working in the story in a organic way, forcing me to abandon these ideas so I could tell the story I wanted to tell, and that's important I think. If I had forced these other details into the story, it would have been disingenuous, and I would have spent a week writing something I wasn't proud of. I would have been doing "homework", not something I felt passion about. So is it a slap in face of the competition? If it is, I don't care. I'm not here to win (though I'd like to, as much as anyone would). I'm here to write.
3- R Moon mentioned that he read a story on here he's read before. That actually kind of bothers me a little for the simple reason that I believe a lot of us wrote these stories from scratch. So... I don't know. I don't want to whine and throw a fit, but I think it's in poor taste to take old work or something that was already in progress and plug the prompt into it. But that's just my opinion. I don't think there's much that can be done in the midst of the first round, but if everyone agrees, maybe it should be just put out there- stories submitted should be new work, not old work that's been tinkered with and edited in order to fit the prompt in some manner. THAT to me is closer to a "slap in the face" then someone writing a story that worked with the prompt in an unusual roundabout way. Cause I see it as- I wrote a draft, and then a second draft, all in one week, whereas another person already had a draft sitting around, took it, added and subtracted some stuff, and handed it in. If time is an issue... that's kinda frustrating to me that someone took advantage of an old story they had lying around. My "idea board" has single words, slug lines. I'd love to have a prompt I could mesh with one of those ideas. But I'd never take an old story and rewrite it for this.
Alright, enough from me. I have a feeling everyone is all pretty settled on the whole "prompt" debate, but that's my two cents.
-Bill