Short Story Competition Discussion June 2022
Stories are here: https://thephilosophyforum.com/categories/41/short-story-competition-3
VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER IS 'DREAM OF THE FLOOD'.
Thank you to everyone for participating!
General Rules
1) Entries must be PMed both to me and @Caldwell
2) Max one submission per member.
3) Min 500/Max 5000 words (no exceptions).
4) Must fall under the broad category of short story. No poems or plays.
5) No pornography, trolling, or other obviously inappropriate content.
6) Submissions are to be anonymous. Don't advertise what you've written prior to voting.
7) Entries must not be previously available online.
8) Entries will be posted as discussion OPs and may be commented upon.
9) Comments should focus on stories, not authors, and may be moderated.
10) The winner will be chosen by means of a poll on each story. (Details).
If you have any further questions or comments, post them here. The above rules are not necessarily exhaustive. Clarification on the above may be posted in the discussion below and considered addenda. Read the discussion for a full understanding of how we’ll run this.
... All sounds a bit formal because we want to avoid confusion/controversy. Really though, the emphasis is on creativity, letting our hair down, and having a bit of fun.
VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER IS 'DREAM OF THE FLOOD'.
Thank you to everyone for participating!
General Rules
1) Entries must be PMed both to me and @Caldwell
2) Max one submission per member.
3) Min 500/Max 5000 words (no exceptions).
4) Must fall under the broad category of short story. No poems or plays.
5) No pornography, trolling, or other obviously inappropriate content.
6) Submissions are to be anonymous. Don't advertise what you've written prior to voting.
7) Entries must not be previously available online.
8) Entries will be posted as discussion OPs and may be commented upon.
9) Comments should focus on stories, not authors, and may be moderated.
10) The winner will be chosen by means of a poll on each story. (Details).
If you have any further questions or comments, post them here. The above rules are not necessarily exhaustive. Clarification on the above may be posted in the discussion below and considered addenda. Read the discussion for a full understanding of how we’ll run this.
... All sounds a bit formal because we want to avoid confusion/controversy. Really though, the emphasis is on creativity, letting our hair down, and having a bit of fun.
Comments (445)
How exactly does the poll calculation work? Is it 3 points for "I enjoyed it" and 1 for "Not for me"? That would mean if 4 people read Story A and vote "Not for me" then it will win over Story B that has just a single "I enjoyed it". Is that right?
It's just a straight poll, right @180 Proof? In which case, easy enough to implement.
This is a Wendy's, sir.
Can I get a plain baked potato please?
Being an Irish Wendy's, that's all we got, a chara.
Good catch. No downvotes, just upvotes. Zero point if not liked, 1 point if liked.
What I would add, though, is a feature that can allow multiple upvotes. So, a tie is possible.
1/3 [ ] "Substandard"
This vote will divide that contestant's total score by a third.
Example (how I conceived the poll might work)
story A – three votes (2pt + 2pts + 1pt, total 5pts)
story B – two votes (3pts + 3pts, total 6 pts)
story C – six votes (1pt + 1pt + 1pt + 1 pt + 1pt + 1pt, total 6pts)
tie – story B & story C (???)
:chin:
Oops, guess each submission tally should be averaged (rounded up) to compare apples & apples: total points ÷ no. votes = score per submission
story A – (5/3) ~2
story B – (6/2) 3
story C – (6/6) 1
winner – story B
Make sense? :wink:
edit:
I wouldn't close poll until every submission receives a number of votes equal to one-quarter(?) of the total number of submissions e.g. 12 stories, minumum 3(?) votes each before closing the poll. :sweat:
If you're volunteeing to do all this maths then fine. Hint, hint...
Thank you. I'm just putting up the polls. Someone else can figure out who won and PM me. :razz:
I'll gladly do it, just PM each story title with
• number of votes (add)
• total points (add)
I'll do the rest and PM the poll results back pronto! :victory:
(1) You put up the poll after the entrants PM their submissions.
(2) I will build a spreadsheet (or whatever) and when I'm ready you start the voting phase. All votes PMed to Baden & 180 Proof.
(3) I'll do my "maths" thing, and when polls close (after each story has minimum votes), I'll send you the results.
(4) You (and/or @Caldwell) make the final call.
How's that? :smile:
Haha! No mercy? :sweat:
@Baden -- for a quick description, please add the genre of each submission in the post.
@180 Proof -- is the layer of calculation to provide for how strongly a voter likes the story?
All good, but you don't have to do anything in advance. All the votes can be seen as we progress and when the discussions close they're finalized, only at which point the spreadsheet is needed. We on the same page?
I think posters should provide the genres in case I label them in a way they object to.
Sample here. https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/13064/sample-story . Please vote on the sample everyone, so we make sure we get this straight.
Quoting Caldwell
IMO, genre is a marketing label more than anything else. Kinda biases prospective readers, don't you think?
Each voters gets to vote on more than one and up to all stories registering their subjective preferences rather than have to, in effect, choose which story they think is "the best". Any calculation is to score average satisfaction with each story and then compare those satisfaction scores to determine which story or stories in the contest are most satisfying to the readers rather "which is best" (whatever that means).
There's no practical way to make voting secret. E.g There's no option in the software. That's all we got.
:up:
Quoting Baden
So, you can't hide the results?
Quoting 180 Proof
Okay.
Merry Christmas to all our members down under!
Please see above. :)
Quoting Banno
Hi Banno.
You can read past entries in the sub-categories under The Symposium. Philosophical content not required.
:smile: :up:
Quoting Caldwell
Unfortunately not.
I've adjusted the title to make it more inclusive of upside down world.
I'm just now starting to look through the stories. Where is the discussion and poll for 2?
Discussion - short story 2
I couldn't find the poll.
I don't know where the poll went though.
https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/12143/holiday-short-story-competition-discussion-and-poll/p1
Here's a reminder (to myself to bug the Moderators)
https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/641059
If we did, your mother wouldn't fare well.
C'mon now lad, dust off all the filth and add some 2x4's at the cornerstone. Some elbow grease will surely prop'er up to a strong outhouse.
I am hoping to, because I did write one in my notebook while I was out yesterday. I am not expecting it to win, but want to take part in the competition as a distraction from the heaviness of philosophy. The pain is typing it up on the site but I plan to do at the weekend. As I don't have word document on my phone I am hoping that I can manage to send it to Baden and Caldwell at the time rather have to type it up twice.
That's what I'd do.
And I'm being facetious of course as an ongoing line of jokes to make Baden's life more difficult.
You certainly don't need a word doc to type it and you can copy paste whatever you type the first time as per 180's advice. Thanks for participating anyhow, Jack.
I like that you think you need to point this out. :lol:
I will probably be able to type it into the personal message and send it that way. I guess most people probably type their stories at the initial stage, but I am a fan of writing in notebooks some of the time. It seems to make the process of writing very different from typing, but it does mean that the writing has to be typed at some point.
Still, I do like to do a certain amount of writing by hand because I have come across some people who have gone so long without handwriting that they find it extremely difficult to write with a pen!
You'd be surprised.
Could be, but I can't guarantee anything yet.
:up: you entering?
I don't know. I always feel weird about entering a competition I'm helping to organize. I'll only say if I do enter this time, I'll write something new for it. Was a bit lazy to throw in an old one last time.
I think you should; the more the merrier.
I'm one of them. I bought my first smartphone (an iPhone) in 2007 and since then my ability to write legibly has gone completely. My primary school nuns would be so disappointed. :sweat:
By the way mate, I just use LibreOffice on my mac. It's a free word processor. Not as slick as Microsoft Word, but does the job.
Some of us are dumb. You entering a story?
No. Difficult second album, that kind of thing.
"Gifted child" maybe?
Anyway, it's too late now.
Nah, just a riff on the sophomore slump notion. The gifted child with a 4.0 GPA who ends up working at McDonalds. (disclaimer, lest you think I'm poking fun; I don't work at McDonalds, but I was a "gifted child". Takes one to know one...)
Word. I'm trying to write something in the next seven days lol. I like the Ravel/Debussy dichotomy here; you being Ravel who took forever to write anything, and me being Debussy who wrote too much and probably should have edited more.
I seem to recall you did Visitations in about that time, whereas I took 10 weeks, mostly obssessive redrafting and editing.
I prefer Ravel so I'm happy to swap roles, although I don't think I can fill the masters shoes.
Quoting Jamal
Correct, but this time around my concept is less action-oriented, so it will be harder to whip it up in a week. The story needs time to breathe, which it probably won't have. I would crave time to obsessively edit.
:pray:
:cheer:
The beauty of my writing style is that random lines can be inserted wherever I want.
A venerable literary technique made famous by William S. Burroughs.
I haven't read his works, although I know a considerable amount about him now having skimmed the Wiki article. He's a beat generation writer, and I have read some Jack Kerouac. I do like his rambly way of writing.
One thing I do agree with Burroughs on that I found in my Wiki research is where he said:
"In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen. The dogma of science is that the will cannot possibly affect external forces, and I think that's just ridiculous. It's as bad as the church. My viewpoint is the exact contrary of the scientific viewpoint. I believe that if you run into somebody in the street it's for a reason. Among primitive people they say that if someone was bitten by a snake he was murdered. I believe that."
Maybe I'll be a modern beatnik. Something to think about. Won't be the worst decision I ever made.
One of the many possible reasons is that you both went jogging, and are completely blind.
Possible reason #2: like in a Hadron collider atoms are melded into each other, running high speed into another may have been planned as an experiment to see if Vulcan Mind-Meld is possible.
Reason #3: You both ran for the same attractive woman on the street, and at a critical point just before the impact with the woman she was taken "up".
#4: It was a measure of strength, momentum and energy, to see who can knock the other one off his or her course.
5: Cosmic forces unbeknownst to the collidents forced them to do it.
Better than being a hippie.
I haven’t read any Burroughs or Kerouac, though I do know that Burroughs used the cut-up technique, which can be referred to as découpé if you want to impress people who are not French.
I agree. I think of clever, free thinking, and intellectual when I think of beatnik. I think of dirty, lazy, and annoying when I think hippy. Bob Dylan versus The Grateful Dead. If I insulted someone with the stereotype, sorry you don't dig.
I found an excerpt from Burroughs:
https://genius.com/William-s-burroughs-naked-lunch-excerpt-the-man-that-taught-his-asshole-to-talk-annotated
It has an absurdist angle I like, but it seems overall critical or negative of something, like he's trying to make a deeper point, which loses its pure absurdity and it doesn't feel at all playful. He should undie and read some Hanover.
I realize my foray into beatnikism and French descriptors is new and might take a little while before I've fully embraced it, so give me some space. Dig?
It's a real groove Daddy-O.
Probably explains I haven't won yet.
Benk, tu es trop sophistiqué for this competition. Know yourself. :yum:
Quoting Baden It's good to extend, non?
I am wondering if the deadline is still the 22nd or whether the extension was granted because I know someone asked for it. I can probably get it in by then, but having to put off typing it for a day two because water has been coming through my ceiling this week. I have been having to move things around my room and it's in such a jumble that I am struggling to find a path to get to my bed. I have concluded that I need to more or less ban myself from the site until I have sorted out my room, which will probably take about 24hrs.
I'd call it "God's Manuscript."
Cool. What do you think for new deadline, end of month?
Perhaps it will be a future story for me to write, but probably not on this site because it would be too obviously mine.
The latest episode to the story is that my lightbulb has gone and I can't reach the ceiling to put a new one in. As its getting dark already I will have to just do the bare essentials, and sort out my room tomorrow when its light and, hopefully, get someone to change my lightbulb tomorrow...
I've had the water coming through the ceiling thing too. Caused a huge crack up there. But I just put on my hippy head, lie back, and think 'wow, man, the sky is smiling'.
I love this. Can't change the light bulb because it's too dark... It's light again! Screw it, I'll get someone else to do it. :lol:
EDIT: I think I amusingly misread you here. But... look what I'm smoking...
I will try to take your advice as I am a bit of a hippy. The other morning it felt like it was raining in my room, even in my bed. It's actually coming from the top of the house and I am on the bottom floor. But, as I don't even have a light now I will relax, maybe with a bit of psychedelic hippy music and try and sort out the room tomorrow. I dare'nt even ask my neighbour to change my bulb until I sort out the jumble because he doesn't understand why I have so many strange books all over the floor. He is not a fan of philosophy and thinks that it would be better if I did more 'normal things'.
Is the picture you? That is definitely not how I imagined that you would look. We probably visualise people on the site and get them all wrong. Actually, I have smoked something a few times recently, (which I won't mention because my name is on the site,) in the first time in quite a few years.
No shit.
Quoting Baden
Quoting Hanover
Making sense yet?
The problem which I have is to keep it alight because it seems to blow out every other second, but I don't know what I am doing wrong. I don't know if I put too much in or am simply not rolling it up properly. I tried adding it to the ready meal I was cooking and it seemed to work a little.
You guys... :lol:
Wait, are you making your own edibles...?
"After weeks of watching the roof leak
I fixed it tonight
by moving a single board"
https://terebess.hu/english/haiku/snyder.html
People usually have it in cakes but mine was in my microwaved vegetable curry. But, in some ways it is better than smoking because I don't smoke cigarettes usually.
I guess that there could be a haiku thread in the lounge. I did write some at one stage briefly but I don't remember the rules for composing them.
Well played!
I am really having a silly evening but the people in the house helped change my light bulb. But we are all such hobbits that the 11 year old girl upstairs was climbing up because she was the tallest, until someone else came through the door. I still need to sort out my jumbled up room, so I shouldn't be procrastinating by playing on the site.
Sometimes water pouring through the light fixture causes premature bulb loss. The water isn't all bad though. It's probably extinguishing the fire.
"I'm fixin' a hole where the rain gets in and stops my mind from wandering... where it will go. I'm sealin' a crack that runs through the door and stops my mind from pondering..."
I run through the door where I get a fix of crack. Get in and start up my mind's wandering out the ceiling...
I weak, me ceiling, coming like crazy when I think of door, pond for pond I fix through.
The man above me has a bigger problem with the water leaking. I just hope that his floor doesn't collapse, and have him crashing through the ceiling one night...
You might be lucky, and the Good Lord will answer your prayer; and make the man crash through during the day, not at night.
ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR.
Quoting god must be atheist
"The man above me" is the Lord. The "water leaking" is sin. "His floor" is the division between heaven and earth. Jack's hope is that all this sin doesn't cause God to come crashing to earth with vengeance.
Jack's metaphor is very complex. Don't let him fool you into thinking he's just talking about living in a shitty apartment with a leaky roof.
The metaphor breaks down with sin dripping through the division between heaven and earth. GOD DRIPS NO SIN.
Or if you are right, and He does, then we are all screwed. Major-league big time.Quoting Hanover
I concur. For all intents and purposes, in my opinion (or Opinion, if you like) Jack's dead. The floor is between levels of consciousness, and Jack's water dripping in is actually the effect of the level of the water-table rising above the depth of his coughin'.
I found the metaphorical understanding of my ceiling scenario helpful. Although I was describing what is happening in my room life is full of deeper symbolic layers in the stories which make up our experiences. We are living and creating mythic dramas constantly which is probably why stories are as powerful as philosophy itself.
That's good. :up:
Chill pic.
Alright then, I'll adjust the OP. :up:
@Jack Cummins, what do you think of that?
Just trying to keep @Baden entertained.
The short story about the deadline change may include a leaking ceiling as part of the plot, especially with the division of the earth and the heavens and the wrath of God coming through from above. The ongoing rain, due to sins, may make the deadline end with the day of judgment being postponed a little longer until the end of month apocalypse.
:pray:
I'll be on the lookout for a story about being quarantined.
I'm thinking a swashbuckling pirate tale involving scurvy and lots of madeira.
:cool:
We deal with quality, not quantity. :cool:
The concept is similar to allowing the purchase of multiple lottery tickets to increase your odds of winning. That the concept exists in another context is proof of its soundness.
For example, create a first-person frame narrative that pretends to introduce two stories found in a chest in the attic of your new house. Use that frame narrative to speculate about how the stories are linked together. Edit the two to make it work.
Maybe I could do this with my entire life and speculate how it all fits together.
[quote=WSB, Naked Lunch]Did I ever tell you about the man who taught his asshole to talk? His whole abdomen would move up and down, you dig? Farting out the words. It was unlike anything I ever heard. Bubbly, thick, stagnant sound. Sound you could smell. This man worked for the carnival, you dig?[/quote]
Looking at this not as social commentary, but just as a comedic shock value statement, I give it an average grade.
If he makes improvements to the shock value and has the asshole search out penises and whatnot to alternatively injure or pleasure depending upon mood, he will increase the absurdity, but maybe make it too radical for the time period. It will also make the asshole more of an evil monster as opposed to a metaphor for something else.
I'd also point out that there is an entire belly of shit just above the asshole typically, and what he might have that shit do for him in the story leaves open additional avenues for exploration that perhaps he does eventually take advantage of and that I just don't know about.
But to be clear, all that I say here is out of love and a desire for his improvement because both of us at the end of the day are kindred beatniks.
But seeing as how you're feeling analytical, here's the whole quote:
For fiction writing, I need a line from a song that grabs me. Otherwise my story is shit. For essay writing, I need a flash of insight. For arguing on philosophical topics, I rely on my wits.
I agree that finding a starting point is the hardest point. Songs are great though and I have come across a series of short story collection books which are based on songs of a particular group, including Sonic Youth, The Smiths and The Fall. So, maybe a favourite artist or group may give you a song and I would like to try that too.
Oh I start with an idea too. The notes are about the idea.
I mean, my "idea" this time around is a situation. First lines, phrases, and situations are all ideas.
Seems self-evident to me. Maybe idea has a different meaning in an artistic context than otherwise.
Draft 1. "I went to the store today."
Draft 2. "I drove my car to Kroger through the rain."
Draft 3. "My cat and I got in my car, me through the door, the cat through the hole in the floor board. We weren't sure where we going to go, but I thought we should either go to the grocery store or the sex store to buy a rabbit shaped dildo to put in my cat's cat shaped kitty cat. It was raining cats and dogs. The kitty was dripping wet from the hole beneath it."
And so on with this amazing creative process you've just watched unfold. The car might turn into a 1975 Cadillac, just to add description and make me sound quirky. Cadillac also sounds like cat, so there's that too, but only advanced readers would have noticed that.
My Draft 1 would be more than just that line. It might gone on with basic skeletal statements for a page or so, but by the time I've added all the bullshit, it'll be pretty long. Also, after it's done, I'd go back and make the first part make sense to the other parts, so that if I stopped writing about my cat in the first few paragraphs, I'd be sure to tie her back in to the rest of the story.
These things are always funny: Vaginas, penises, sex with animals (especially goats), vomit, crushed body parts, and ball peen hammers.
I hope this has been helpful.
V. 1.0. I must put together a draft.
V. 1.1. It is a draft I shall draft.
V. 1.2. I am getting a draft of what to draft in the draft.
V. 1.3. What the (&&^%** am I going to write about?
V. 1.4. I got an idea!! The idea is, that to write a draft I need an idea what to write about. Right now I've got no idea.
V. 2.0. I will write about something.
V. 3.0. Twenty-eight years have passed since V. 2.0.
V. 4.0. There is a man-looking thing knocking at my door... he's carrying a scythe. Good God. Good bye.
Sex with vomit*, penis hammered into crushed body parts, goats having sex with many other interesting animals.
* Not vomit added as a prop or as an accoutrement to proper sex, but doing sex to (for a male) or by (for a female) real, unadulterated (pard' the pun) vomit. Make no mistake.
Writing Flight and this one took about 1-2 weeks, from a few minutes to a few hours max each day. If I have my laptop with me and I'm in a nice spot I might stop, sit on the ground and write for a few minutes. Or Ill go to the beach smoke some weed and write a few hours. I'll also squeeze in a few sentences during long compiles at work.
I don't write as well or at all in wintertime.
Should have it in tonight or tomorrow. :ok:
:cool:
3 [ ] "I enjoyed it."
2 [ ] "It's okay."
1 [ ] "Not for me."
and each member (reader) picks only one option per submission resulting in a total score for each submission.
— 180 Proof
Baden/Mod tallies each submission's scores and the submission/s with highest total score "wins". Then, each entrant reveals which story s/he wrote in its comments section (and maybe acknowledges which other one is his / her "favorite" in its comments section). Let's trust each other not to vote for his / her own story. :halo:
I see some weakness in this poll structure. Obviously you have to assign weights to each rank. If 3 is 2, and 2 is 1, and 1 is 0, that's fine. But if you assign 3 to 3, 2 to 2 and 1 to 1, then the most read and scored story that is not for anyone, may win. If 31 people give "1 [ ] not for me", and the weight of this mark is one each, then the write will earn 31 points. If the story with the most "3 [ ] enjoyed it" earns 10 votes, then the story's score will be 30... so the least liked story will bump out the best liked story for first place.
The poll affixed to each story will give each reader the opportunity to express her degree of subjective satisfaction with each story and thereby produce a total score (poll) and number of votes (readers). The final score for each story will be determined by each story's total score ÷ number of votes. The story (or stories) with the highest final score "wins". IIRC. :nerd:
Is the "number of votes" total votes for all? Or for just this entry?
:cool:
obviously you just skimmed over my post, and you did not read it or else did not understand the math concept of inherent error in the "opportunity to express her degree of subjective satisfaction" as expressed in weights given to answers.
This may be a good thing, or a bad one but you need to decide on the weight given to each answer before you tabulate the results.
Read my example. If you don't understand it, you must not be the one to decide on the scoring system.
1k
total score ÷ number of votes.
— 180 Proof
Is the "number of votes" total votes for all? Or for just this entry?
6 hours ago
180 Proof
8.7k
?Caldwell Just the entry.
5 hours ago
Noble Dust
5.7k
Isn't @Hanover supposed to be giving us a pep talk right about now?
5 hours ago
Caldwell
1k
?180 Proof That'll work.
5 hours ago
180 Proof
8.7k
?Caldwell :cool:
4 hours ago
Caldwell
1k
?180 Proof :cool:
4 hours ago
Noble Dust
5.7k
?Caldwell
:cool:
4 hours ago
you may love each other to pieces, but the math is more important to understand than the love you feel.
What? If a post (short story) gets voted "not for me" 60 times, it earns 120 points, whereas another story that gets 14 "love it" gets 56 points. The inferior product gets first prize, though nobody likes it, and the winning story gets shoved under.
Maybe a better way is that we should pit each story against each other story in a round robin competition, voting on which one wins in each mono a mono competition, and then using the Elo system to determine the rating of each competitor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system
We would then have a creative writing ranking that we could carry from one competition to the next, breaking out each competitor in subsequent competitions to subsections composed only of those of near equal rank so a novice ranked writer wouldn't be subjected to a competition against a master level writer.
I can see some logistical challenges with creating the pairings and the computation of the ratings, but, with the right software and diligent attention, I think @Baden should be able to do an acceptable job.
Tl;Dr but I'm very happy for you or sorry that it happened.
I think you're missing something. @180 Proof's method should work fine.
tl;dr
Looks like she left the forum due to the aggressive Tankies in the Ukraine thread.
That's the only way, really. Her commentaries will be missed, for sure.
Commie bastards.
She seems to enjoy the contest, and that being the case, no reason to not participate.
Thanks to you and others for your PMs, also Jamal for his email, which I responded to yesterday.
If others are still wondering, I'll post a snippet here:
[i]I left TPF, about 3 months ago, for a whole load of reasons.
I now feel less connected and engaged. Other things have been given priority
I think the Short Story event will do just fine without my presence. Others will step in.
Thanks again for your stories and input.
I gained so much from all previous discussions and explorations.
Quite the eye-opener. One of the best experiences.
However, I feel I have moved on and have less to offer in time, energy and motivation.
Will probably read the stories but...the oomph has gone.[/i]
Best wishes to all :sparkle:
I guess I missed it big time. I still don't know what I missed, because I read the things he wrote and if he does what he has written then this is a math disgrace. But maybe he did not write what he thought. I encounter this sort of discrepancy here on this site with people not being able to express themselves in writing.
At any rate, do the math, and if you can't, then yes, put your faith in anything that your personal friends recommend and ignore the reasoned-out thoughtful critical analysis. Sort of what the RC church did to Galileo. "Your science and math is impeccable, and it would be believable if it weren't going directly against the teachings of the Church."
I am now seriously thinking about quitting this site. If people who present things can't express themselves, and if its most influential people are ignoring well-presented examples of how things are going to go wrong, then I don't want to be associated with this site.
I am not quitting yet, but I am this } { close to it.
You wrote.
Quoting god must be atheist
Before that @180 Proof wrote:
Quoting 180 Proof
So, the "love it" story would win even though it got less total votes because scores are divided by number of votes. (With potentially a minimum number required).
Sounds like something someone who's expecting to lose would say.
How can I lose with literary connoisseurs like you in my audience?
Dear Amity,
Your commentary will indeed be missed. It just is not the same without your witty and slightly tantalizing discourse. May you move on to where the oomph will lead you...
My point exactly!
Who is Simon Cowell and what is an AGT?
Deadline has passed, yes. Thanks to everyone for their entries, which I'll post within a few days.
I think about ten. Anyhow, I have been a little distracted but I'll get to putting them all up soon.
:party:
I am not altogether confident this would not become cause for complaint. Perhaps I have developed paranoiac tendencies. Feel free to tell your friends at the FBI that anyhow.
Much like Trump, just honest about it.
Okay, I was wrong. I read the division sign as a plus sign. I must get my eye-glass prescription updated.
I would not even be able to find that division sign on the keyboard.
Can you tell us a story while we wait please? Thanks.
So thank you for this opportunity.
Are you ready?
Lemme grab my hard seltzer and tuck in under the covers with my girlfriend. She doesn't totally understand what's going on because I also have my computer on my lap and asked her to hold it while I grabbed my hard seltzer. Ok, I'm ready.
Once upon a time, there were three bears, and you know the rest.
I love that story so much; thanks.
What the hell are you talking about?
Oh yeah? How the goats doing? Still alive and well I presume?
I would have thought it would have been easier to just say "they're doing quite well, thanks". Strange. To each their own...?
Best wishes, Amity.
They're hidden from the main page now so as not to clog it up.
Not finished putting them all up yet though.
At any rate, your math is good, and I apologize to you. I hope you can forgive me.
I am presuming it will be possible to make comments and, then, vote later. It will help to know whether the rule is to vote for every story (except one's own, of course), or whether there is a limit of how many votes one has. It is early days though and I definitely wish to spend time reading all of them in as thoroughly as possible.
You're free to comment and vote on any story you read. Ideally, read, comment and vote on them all if you can.
Okay, thanks for the clarity. I think I will take a summer holiday, of reading the stories, as an interlude from the problems of philosophy.
Tbd. What do people want?
How about a fortnight? Or, who knows, some people who are extremely busy may even feel that they need longer.
:up:
That's too long. Maybe an hour or two.
(!) from here on this sign will indicate I'm saying things in deadpan seriousness but I am actually joking.
I'm half way through the stories and have only read one where I'm not sure of the author. Of course I could be very wrong.
:sweat: I could use a new career path actually...
OK, Let's say the 15th of July. I'll put that in the OP.
All new information in the OP now.
Cool with me. Unless others have something else. :up:
I'm sure it sucks but you won't hear that from me. :snicker:
I'm good at sugar coating. :wink:
I agree with you. I want to spend time reading them and thinking about them, not just before voting, but, also, before giving comments because feedback matters and trying to be constructive. During the first competition, I wished to dive in and I got stressed out in the emotional aspects of all of this. So, I want to approach it slowly and carefully this time. We have until the 15th of July anyway.
Word. Check back with me in a week. :up:
It's pretty common in short stories with very few characters. Why name them? One of the stories names a character who is mentioned only in passing and I thought, why did you tell us their name?
Yes, actually. It's OK, I guess. We're all big boys and girls, but she was amazingly charitable and helpful.
Edit: I knew one right away and can't tell the others yet.
Oh, it's just a request as we usually do that at the end anyway. If people really want to guess now, they can.
Oh right, yes, got it.
So much for my detecting and guessing who wrote what. I don't know style, I don't know the competitors' mind sets, heck, I don't even read the stories. But there are more then seven ways to milk a cat.
Now we're reviewing the reviews.
And many of his short reviews seemed negative and harsh. Many vs many.
Now we're reviewing the reviews' reviews.
Can we stretch this into an infinite regret?
Makes sense. :up:
I can reveal that the sentiment is mutual in your case :lol:
Sorry, I decided to just convey my honest impression after finishing each story. It is the tragedy of writing, and creation in general, that the product of hours or days of loving labor is consumed and disposed of in minutes.
I'll take salt over sugar coating.
Not only that, but her comments were penetrating themselves causing more rounds of interpretation analysis and witty banter. I know this is all charity work, but hey... we counted on Amity to make comments... the organizers and writers anticipated them... did she not violate some unwritten memorandum of understanding or something ;)
Ouch, very acid comment, please don't be so basic.
How do you know Benk?
How does me doing that affect the final vote?
i.e. I don't know what my final vote is, because I voted positively for a few stories, but I don't quite remember which, since I enjoyed a few of them, and there's no way to see how I voted in post.
Because that's how voting for the best story should work?
i.e. I don't know what my final vote is, because I voted positively for a few stories, but I don't quite remember which, since I enjoyed a few of them, and there's no way to see how I voted in post.
What?
How could you not have heard him? The question was written.
:rofl:
Exactly; I couldn't here him because he wrote his question.
Okay, instead of measuring the concentration of ions, I'll switch me to "I on" and "I off", depending on whether you, yourself personally, without any action, just by being yourself: add to the acceleration of climate change, or else promote condensation of nanomolecules in flux through a literary device.
Sorry for the late reply, I am struggling with sciatica and lubar pain, and my internet was also out for two days.
I know which story you wrote.
Me? I have a sweet tooth. Several sweet teeth. Most or all of which are full of cavities, fillings, and food remnants.
I do appreciate that some posters put more thought into their comments than others. They comment for the author rather than for themselves.
At any rate, thanks for your thoughtful reminder. I shall make sure I'll only post on these threads that fall in line with the posting principles of some posters.
It's alrighttt, I was way too busy to make anything good anyways. Will there be one for the fall as well?
:up:
It's not too late to pick up where @Amity left off, however...
Planning to do this twice a year, John. So, probably around end of December for the next one.
:up: I will try it the next time too.
:cool:
Quoting Baden
I don't suppose that there is a chance of a few days extension for commenting and voting. I have been struggling to do it, but just haven't felt up to reading them because I am having difficulty sleeping and the English heatwave isn't helping. Of course, if it is just me who is struggling to through all the stories, I don't expect the deadline to be extended. It is not as if I am going to write some great reviews, but simply wish to offer some feedback. I guess I could just vote and give feedback later.
I should have titled this post as 'Excuses, Excuses and More Excuses', because I asked for an extension for submission due to my ceiling leaking and, now, I am moaning about not being able to sleep and the weather being too hot...
:up: Get some sleep, Jack.
That's what I'd suggest. I don't fancy extending this deadline. We'll have a day or two of guess the author afterwards and more discussion on the stories once that's done, so most of the month will be taken up and that's enough I think.
Okay, I will try to write some comments before, but if not I will vote and try to write after. I'll just do the best I can.
I am never a good sleeper but it has been worse recently, because I am often not getting off to sleep until about 5 in the morning. Even that, is after taking over the counter sleeping tablets. Some people seem to be able to manage without sleep but I find it just makes me dysfunctional. I feel that the people who just put their head on the pillow and fall asleep are so lucky!
I have voted for some of the stories. I am a little confused by whether the 'Not for me' is an up vote or a down vote, and, I do feel that it would probably have been better if it was about voting for the ones people liked best, such as choosing a first, second and third.
I am also hoping to write some responses in the threads before or after the deadlines because feedback may be as helpful rather than simply about picking the winner. But, I am struggling to sleep and concentrate because it is over 30 degrees in England. I am not used to coping with extreme heat and it makes me irritable, which is not the best state for appreciating stories. But, I do wish to get in the right frame of mind for it!
I read there are reasons in Michael Pollan’s book on caffeine, though I don’t recall the specific reasons.
I have cut down on caffeine tremendously. I used to drink 5 or 6 coffees a day and now I am only having 1 to 2. It doesn't seem to make much difference to my sleep and I do wonder if all the emphasis on caffeine is a hype. I am trying to drink sugar free squash as much as possible but it may be that it has worse chemicals than coffee. Certainly, it is unlikely to help me become a writer or philosopher and, more likely, a boring robot of a person.
I can't imagine how a sugar-free drink could turn you into a boring robot. Perhaps another cup of tea would spur my imagination. :chin:
What's confusing? The options are listed vertically: top - I enjoyed it, middle - It's OK & bottom - Not for me (i.e. first / "liked best", second / liked somewhat & third / like least); otherwise, I guess, the options could have been listed horizontally like flavors of ice cream. :yum:
I am not confused about how to use the options. I am just unsure why the 'Not for me' vote is there, and whether it would simply be better not to vote for a story if one doesn't like it.
:up:
Okay, I will try to finish voting for them all(except mine) after a few doses of coffee!
Like if I serve you a burnt piece of leather that was supposed to be a steak, and you rate it as "not for me," what you really mean is that it's not just not for you, but not for anyone.
If you disagree with how I've defined "not for me," then you should just say that this definition is not for you.
Someone explain to me why I did this to myself again. :yawn:
Because you’re a —> :halo:
Thanks!
...Voting is now closed. Winner to be announced soon. G'night.
Good night, Baden.
Thanks to all who participated.
Lightning round of what?
1. The flood = Tobias
2. The Frame = Baden
3. Radcastle = Jack Cummins
Edit: I assume the flood won. So congrats Tobias on winning with a story that is not even one of your best! Time to change careers!
If we're guessing:
The Frame: Baden
The Good Samaritan: Hanover
Small Gods: Benkei
Antoine Wallace: Hypericin
A Sort of Duel: Paul
Earth: A Tall Tale Of Morality: _db
Become The Light, The Balmy Breeze: god must be an atheist
Sugar: 180 Proof
Dream Of The Flood: Tobias
A Place Called Radcastle Station: Jack Cummins
The Ennui Of Hungthor The Great:
Confrontation Outside of Yuma: ucarr
Since the new voting system doesn't show this, I vote for Dream Of The Flood as the winner.
No. Guess I jumped the gun. :yikes: @Baden is on his beauty rest. Perhaps @Caldwell can assist?
The good Samaritan Hanover
The Frame Baden
Small Gods GMBA
The authors are:
@hypericin
@Tobias
@god must be atheist
@Jack Cummins
@Hanover
@Baden
@_db
@ucarr
@Enrique
@Noble Dust
@Benkei
@180 Proof
:eyes: thanks bruv, appreciate you
Yep. But we can open them again after we announce the scores, which I'm about to do now.
And they are, courtesy of @180 Proof! (Thank you!)
Confrontation Outside Yuma
19% (3(3) = 9)
38% (6(2) = 12)
44% (5(1) = 5)
total score 26 / 16 votes = final score 1.6
The Ennui of Hungthor The Great
42% (5(3) = 15)
33% (4(2) = 8)
25% (3(1) = 3)
total score 26 / 12 votes = final score 2.2
A Sort of Duel
13% (2(3) = 6)
47% (7(2) = 14)
40% (6(1) = 6)
total score 26 / 15 votes = final score 1 7
A Place Called Radcatsle Station
36% (5(3) = 15)
57% (8(2) = 16)
7% (1(1) = 1)
total score 32 / 14 votes = final score 2.3
Earth: A Tall Tale of Morality
9% (1(3) = 3)
27% (3(2) = 6)
64% (7(1) = 7)
total score 16 / 11 votes = final score 1.5
Become the Light, the Balmy Breeze
14% (2(3) = 6)
43% (6(2) = 12)
43% (6(1) = 6)
total score 24 / 14 votes = final score 1.7
Sugar
31% (4(3) = 12)
54% (7(2) = 14)
15% (2(1) = 2)
total score 28 / 13 votes = final score 2.2
Small Gods
27 % (3(3) = 9)
55% (6(2) = 12)
18% (2(1) = 2)
total score 23 / 11 votes = final score 2.1
[b]Dream of the Flood
57% (9(3) = 27)
29% (4(2) = 8)
14% (2(1) = 2)
total score 37 / 15 votes = final score 2.5[/b]
Antoine Wallace
15% (2(3) = 6)
38% (5(2) = 10)
46% (6(1) = 6)
total score 22 / 13 votes = final score 1.7
The Frame
50% (7(3) = 21)
29% (4(2) = 8)
21% (3(1) = 1)
total score 32 / 14 votes = final score 2.3
The Good Samaritan
42% (5(3) = 15)
33% (4(2) = 8)
25% (3(1) = 3)
total score 26 / 12 votes = final score 2.2
:cool:
Congrats! My vote.
I still think this voting system is pretty nerdy (I scrolled past the math), but I guess it fits this forum, to which I don't fit. As long as we can now comment further on stories I'm good. Now to hone in the guessing...
Seems like Jack’s jam to me.
JFYI, The Good Samaritan would have tied with the Flood if I didn't make a mistake in my voting.
Hanover, you fish!
Congratulations to the winner -- @Tobias
I DO NOT ENDORSE THIS MESSAGE. :lol:
Baden, mon chéri, you beat The Good Samaritan by having the higher number of votes in the #3 category. :heart:
Is being a fish a good thing or bad thing?
I guess I'll feel a bit more comfortable talking about the stories when we're all on an equal footing re knowing who wrote what. I'm probably not going to comment on everything though.
:snicker:
Depends on how tasty the fish is.
In terms of how well you did versus how well I did, IN YOUR FACE!
I did enjoy participating in the competition, but don't like the UK heatwave and believe it is going to get even hotter at the beginning of next week. I don't have a fan and I probably need to buy some shorts.
I have been unsure who the authors are throughout the contest, which was good because it meant that it didn't sway my voting. I wondered whether @Hanoverwrote' The Frame', but realise now that it was by @Baden. I am still wondering if the tall girl changing the lightbulb was coincidental or based on my own lightbulb scenario.
Ouch.
Quoting Jack Cummins
No coincidence. I used the idea as a prompt and ran with it. Thank you for the inspiration!
Frustratingly good. Happy?
Quoting Benkei
Benk, I wanted to write something else about your story. Poignancy is what I was looking for in your writing. Sci-fi thrives on such modicum of sentiment, especially if one of the heroes holds the key to the continuation of the other's existence -- in a world where emotions could run afoul of AI functioning.
For example. I'm sure you've heard it before in fiction -- protocols rule the world of AIs. If our human hero thinks that he'd gained the trust of the AI, who talks and thinks like a human being, our hero must think again. If the ship is on fire, no amount of pleading and first-name basis would make the AI release the lock of this or that chamber to save our hero from burning. It's the protocol. It's programmed to follow that protocol. :cool:
I am glad that the girl in my house was useful as an inspiration. The mother of the girl upstairs once said that events in the house would make an interesting novel as we have a lot of dramas, including the man in the room next door getting burgled by two men carrying a crowbar about six weeks ago. Also, what is a bit surreal is that in the 2 years I have lived here it seems that the women are mostly taller than the men, including in 3 married couples. And, even the landlord's wife is taller than the landlord. So, it is a land of Amazons and hobbits.
Obvious why?
Keep posting tidbits here anyway, mate. :up:
Well at least I called that right. :smirk:
AFAIK there were no giveaways, apart from your talking about writing a messed up story. I guess you have a distinct personality and sense of humor, and the story conveyed it.
I had a large banana.
Otherwise, well done to the author of “Dream of the Flood”. It was probably my favourite.
No author guesses?
The Frame: Baden
The Good Samaritan: Hanover
Small Gods: Benkei
A Sort of Duel: Noble Dust
A Place Called Radcastle Station: Jack Cummins
Not sure about the others.
:chin:
Yeah, this round has been a bit lackluster when it comes to participation, so I see no reason to delay. You're correct, I wrote A Sort of Duel. Looking forward to responding to comments when the gods re-open the floodgates.
:lol: I tried to hide it by switching the location to London ("the tube", etc), which clearly failed. I'll get more into it, but this was a last minute Hail Mary.
I was briefly misdirected by “the tube” but the smell of ND was too strong.
:brow: Like I said, I'll reserve further comment for when the threads are re-opened.
I'll open everything up some time today anyway.
:cheer: :grin:
:up:
Hmmm.... are you sure? :snicker:
Thanks to you, @Caldwell and @180 Proof. Looking forward to the December round.
Welcome, bruv!
:up:
Well done, y'all :cool:
I understand the need to unpin this discussion.
However, any new comments to the actual stories are not being shown on the front page.
Given their - the stories' - inspirational value, can you not make it so that can happen?
Sounds good. Unfortunately, we'd have to move all the story discussions into the front page area to do that, so it's a bit impractical.
Why? I don't understand.
I thought each story was a thread unto itself?
Quoting Jamal
Hah. Yeah, right :roll:
I'll edit my original, ambiguous post. See bolds.
I know, I know.
I missed the exchanges as they were happening.
I should have let it lie...
There's a time and place and after that, it's not the same.
You're very welcome to carry on commenting on the stories, but we're not going to put them on the main page. I took you to be concerned that the authors wouldn't see the comments because the stories are not on the main page, so I suggested that you and anyone else mention the author using the standard mention functionality, so that they get alerts. That solves the problem, no?
No problem.
I don't know, I'm quite happy to hear nice things about my story any time or place. :halo:
Yeah, of that I am certain :100:
But if I did you, then I would have to do others.
You don't know how sorry I am that I can't. Or maybe you do...
It really is too late, baby.
Carole King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRPls7hjRfs
Thank you.
I appreciate your understanding ways.
Take care :sparkle:
An update:
You might have noticed that I've 'done' some of the short stories.
And just as I thought, it is not the same as reading 'blindfold' and lacks the sense of immediacy.
(My reading was helped by the comments and feedback of others, including the writers.)
I won't be attempting to read the rest, given that it really does feel too late and a bit stale.
Also, after a walk, a talk and a thought, I no longer feel obliged to.
I admire all the writers for giving their time, thoughts and energy.
They share a bit of themselves using their unique talents and expressive ways.
After a while we think we know who they are; the guessing game begins almost immediately.
Perhaps to the detriment of a close(r) reading? I can't help but think that this must influence the voting.
Not that it matters much but I have reservations about the new voting system.
In particular the giving of one point to a 'Not for me'.
What does that choice say about the story, the author or the reader?
Unless there is a reason or constructive feedback given by the 'reader'/voter, then it says little.
It can suggest a level of impatience and intolerance; a closed mind if it's not the preferred genre.
It would make more sense if the votes were ordered in terms of 'favourites' 1,2 and 3.
Even then, an accompanying comment would make such 'judgements' more valuable.
But I suppose that's only a concern if the competition is more than just a lark, a bit of fun...
Relaxing into a story for sheer enjoyment, the roller coaster ride of sensations, no scores can describe.
Our questions and answers, any 'messages' can be clear or hidden...therein lies the magic.
Best wishes to all for the next competition, in December?
After confirming with Baden, we will skip the short story this December; which I think is better -- we will save the best for the window in the spring-summer time.
:heart:
:up:
A decision taken then. Not to be overturned.
Just one last thing re levels of interest.
I noted that the highest level was during what I now call 'Jamal's Winning Contest' (Competition2).
Perhaps it was the juiciness of the Plum Pie but I think it was @Jamal's engaging and sustained interest in all entries not just his own which had 124 replies. This brought everyone together.
The time and energy to fully participate is not something everyone wants to or can do.
When it happens there is a great sense of achievement and in my case, learning. Thanks to all.
Anything coming after that would seem less. But really wasn't in comparison to Comp1.
This gauging levels of participation before the event reminds me of the angst before the first TPF revival of the Short Story Competition. Thanks to the perseverance of people like @180 Proof, it happened.
The decision taken is based on Baden's belief that doing it once a year makes more sense; apparently, it will be fresher that way.
I doubt it will be any fresher...
...unless in the meantime efforts are made for improved organisation and voting system.
And perhaps a 'Spring Forward' support by the likes of Jamal and co.
Or the prevention of any conflict of interest by having an objective host with no entry.
Looking at the stories in themselves and not any perceived intentions of an author.
I've said more than I intended.
It would have been good if Baden had started a new pinned thread to discuss Short Story 4 and its cancellation. Better than skirting around in the nonsense of Shoutbox.
I note and wonder at the silence of other mods who would usually participate or support.
@Benkei @Hanover @Michael - what's up?
The World Cup 2022 is on from Nov 20th - December 18th. :roll:
Amity, there's something else going on with the Baden's life in December that's why it's not happening with him. But a new thread is coming right up. :smile: