General Discussion : (Un)Official Presents: WAR2: PRIDE - Round 1 - I'VE GOT YOUR NAME

@Byan: I agree--I think the winner of it all could very well come out of that bracket. The shorter length forces you to cut to the chase. I almost wish the primary bracket would be shorter as well, say 1,500 words. In any case, there's been so much good work going on here that I'm equally eager to read both brackets.

Considering you're one of the ones running the show, that's kinda bad.

Exactly.  If you don't like Flash-type work, my advice is that you just not lose.

I don't mind flash-type work, it's just that I'm usually curled up on the couch Saturday and Sundays asking myself "why?" 

In any case, my band is playing this Saturday in Cambridge (on the good side of the river of Boston). You guys should all come. It's going to be a bloodbath. I'll bring pictures of my dog.

That's ok, AD. If the bar wasn't a 12 minute walk from my apartment, I probably wouldn't go either.

We're called the Real Makers - used to have a website, but got tired of doing that. We have an album recorded 2 years ago, still haven't figured out what to do with it. We're awesome at rehearsing, playing a handful of shows per year, terrible at anything outside of that. We stopped caring at one point.

Anyway, the place we're playing at is kind of locally famous. Eddie Vedder has secretly stopped by when PJ is in town. It's a small joint, mostly Genericana type music (banjos, mandos, acoustic guitars, Yankee cowboys, cul-de-sac kids singing about their sunburned backs and dirt stained fingernails). We're nothing like that, probably way too loud for the place. 

In the spirit of WAR - I'm half-hoping we get asked to leave and never return, even though I spend a fair percentage of my paycheck at this place.

Here's a sample

http://soundcloud.com/jaymetz05/faith-hope-other-trickery

Edit to say: the singtarist has self-pulbished 3 novels. Most of the songs are based off those novels. So I'd like to think we're very much a writers band.

Wow, WAR is becoming more awesome by the minute!

My reading pace is way more slothful than last week, but I'll catch up! There are some stories worth immediate placement in some A lit mag, and I think I have spotted a couple of authors. But that to the Big Reveal.

As to the double elimination and losers bracket: I am amazed, I see glitter everywhere.

I am the worst at Flash. The absolute worst. This is bad news. I guess I could use the practice though.

EDIT:

Yes, I do think this is a motherfucking game. Look at that adorable cat! Aww!

That's my Wednesday.

Wow. Tell me how you really feel about working with me.

I still don't understand how the loser's bracket works. I mean, I get it, I just can't imagine how it feeds after the first round. Anyone care to break it down Barney style for me?

@Otis,

  Yes, I am serial-publishing my novel Madrigal over at JukePop Serials. Mr. Hector Acosta is publishing his novel Blood Noir there as well, and he is kicking my ass in the voting.

Actually, the one i just read was pretty much amazing. I'm intimidated and i hope i don't go up against whoever it is. I really need to know who it is too.

JGB - cool, I'll go over there when I get some WAR reading done and read you & Hector's stories. I assume I can just start from the beginning?
I'm interested in the serial form - I actually went to NYC this weekend to collaborate on a project that we conceived about 18 mos ago as a joke in Amsterdam (now it's taking a serious turn). We're a long way towards word one but did some good ground work on four characters and our fictional city. 

I'm going to be studying up on the form reading your stories.

As far as Rd 1 pt 2 goes, I'm about a 1/3 of the way through and I thought there were some really strong stories. One of them still sticking in my crawl space demanding that I vote it BAS. I'll see if there's one out there that dethrones it.

Looks like Deacon is a (somewhat) popular name this time around. A name i'm absolutely stealing  borrowing for a future, non-related WAR story. Reminds me of Deacon Jones. Great name.

Lots of sex this round, i noticed.

Also crazy how many participants really hugged up tight against that 2,500 maximum. Good job on the editing to get it all in there. 

Derr ~ who doesn't like sex? It's the only thing that keeps me sane, kinda sane. 

No stand out stories? That's crazy talk, or you have bad taste. Haha Just kidding, don't hate on me. 

Kind of a bummer to hear people say no good stories. We are all working on it. I thought this weka were as good or better than last weeks.

@Covewriter - It's not a particularly positive thing to say. I wasn't here for the last WAR, so it's impossible for me to compare the two. I guess when you have a larger sample of people in any type of competition, you're going to get a much larger mix of abilities. But as a new writer, and maybe as someone who is not as confident with their abilities as other people on here, it does dishearten me a bit to read things like that. But it's not something I'm too bothered by. It's the internet; people say things I don't agree with all the time on the internet!

Is it over? The posts are gone.

Who cares if people say one batch of stories is mediocre? I want to hear if I wrote a shitty story. I have no interest in praise, because if I didn't think it was good, I wouldn't have done it. I want to hear what I got wrong.

I promise you, you will never learn anything from someone saying 'It was perfect.' Perfection shifts from person to person, hour to hour, and story to story. If you're discouraged by lukewarm responses, quit writing and save yourself the pain.

Be nice to people, be cruel to stories.*

*Also, be mean to people if you want.

James Cross: You know what they say about people who treat other people bad on the way up?
Frank Cross: Yeah, you get to treat 'em bad on the way back down too. It's great, you get two chances to rough 'em up.

Just to add, I do admire all the new LR members who decided to take part in WAR. Regardless of your writing abilities, you all have guts for taking part, and if your story didn't get the response you hoped for, just know that your writing will get better if you stick around.

I almost didn't even take part in the last WAR because I was nervous about writing a story in a week and posting it up for all to see. I think in the end, WAR did get me noticed here and it did help me improve as a writer. I mean, I won, so my recommendation is basically a guarantee.

Jeff's an asshole - I mean, his stories are assholes.

'Really, I have no clue if Jeff is an asshole - maybe...  hell I'm pretty much an asshole'

Maybe everyone should just be better at writing.

It's hard to make the argument of constructive criticism when we aren't allowed to talk about specific stories.

I'm not judging anyone here for what they've said, I'm just pointing out that there might be a lot of people reading these incredibly vague comments and feeling really down. I don't think it's a stretch to say this site was designed for writers to support each other, not tear each other down. Getting a rough critique in the work shop is compeltely different--because it gives you the tools to improve. Just making a sweeping statement that 16 stories are mediocre doesn't do anything.

Anyway. There were some stand outs. There are much higher votes on this week's BAS poll than last week's. So, for such a "mediocre" round with so few "stand out" stories that's odd, yeah?

Where are the stories? Is it over, are they pulled.? Is my iPad dumb? I don't see the story contests anymore. 

Cove --- Did your subscription run out?

I agree that the vague comments aren't helpful, but those are the dumb rules..I guess it doesn't bother me because I trust there are legit, constructive criticisms behind those vague comments dying to be shared. I know I'm dying to hear them.