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Challenge #3 - Title & Synopsis

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote plkphoto Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 10:11pm
Originally posted by nixie nixie wrote:

Originally posted by plkphoto plkphoto wrote:

YES!!! I completely agree! Funny on command is hard enough… but also "be funny in a way that some random judge that you don't know will think it is funny" is even worse. Even if you know how to make your friends laugh - it's really hard to be universally funny. Even comedians know their audience to some extent… 


Um - isn't this kinda the essence of writing fiction for publication....?



Not really - you send your fiction to journals or publishers that know the genre that you write in… and you know your audience. NYC Midnight is random judges assigned to judge stories written to random prompts, and writers assigned to genres they may or may not usually write in.

If I wanted to publish my comedy (HA!), I'd look for a journal that specialized in that sort of story. The people that bought the journal would know the types of story they publish and be the right audience for your story - otherwise it wouldn't be chosen.

You generally have some idea of your audience when you publish. If you're really lucky, then people outside of your intended audience will also enjoy what you've written.

I don't generally write comedy. I don't generally read comedy either. So… let's just say I googled as many "how to write comedy" essays as I did "vintage clothing store" images… probably even more "how to's" actually.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nixie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 10:01pm
Originally posted by plkphoto plkphoto wrote:

YES!!! I completely agree! Funny on command is hard enough… but also "be funny in a way that some random judge that you don't know will think it is funny" is even worse. Even if you know how to make your friends laugh - it's really hard to be universally funny. Even comedians know their audience to some extent… 


Um - isn't this kinda the essence of writing fiction for publication....?


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote plkphoto Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 9:59pm
Originally posted by salgal80 salgal80 wrote:


Dang.  I could have put you in a tunnel with a laptop and a stopwatch for the deadline and group 3: done!  LOL!

StarStarStarStarStar

Five stars for this comment! Sounds like a horror story to me!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote plkphoto Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 9:57pm
Originally posted by Lookit There Lookit There wrote:

Originally posted by BPM BPM wrote:

Title: Posing
Synopsis: A father grieves at a Vintage Clothing Store.

Group 8: Comedy, Aluminum foil, Vintage Clothing Store.

I don't feel great about this one.  It's a good story, but comedy is hard.  I used to have a friend who wrote for sitcoms.  She used to say that it's easier to wake up and find a boyfriend (she was single) than it is to wake up and be funny on command.  I now understand her position more clearly!

"Funny on Command" is now officially the synopsis of a horror story. Because I can't recall the last time I was so scared!
I like to think I'm funny in real life, but to sit down in front of the computer and tell myself, "Be funny. NOW!" was terrifying.
This story sounds promising. Can't wait to read what my fellow 8s came up with. Mine is decidedly not great.

YES!!! I completely agree! Funny on command is hard enough… but also "be funny in a way that some random judge that you don't know will think it is funny" is even worse. Even if you know how to make your friends laugh - it's really hard to be universally funny. Even comedians know their audience to some extent… 

And I can't wait to see what you all came up with either… glad there seem to be a good number of Group 8ers on the forums. Only three from my last group (including myself) posted in the forums. Smile Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote salgal80 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 9:23pm
Originally posted by Eggcorn Eggcorn wrote:

Originally posted by nixie nixie wrote:

Originally posted by telera telera wrote:

Originally posted by Thewytch Thewytch wrote:


. . . I hope we still get two shots at getting through to the next round!




Sorry, Thewytch, for Round 2_Challenge 3 there are no points given as such. Only the top five advance to the final. The Flash Fiction Challenge Round 1 is the only time two stories are guaranteed. 

Good luck! 


Soo... I get that the top five advance - is there no indication of how everyone else did?  or are you just saying that the 'points' don't count for anything, since only the first five go anywhere?

(Thanks for helping us nobs understand how this works!)

No points. The first five are listed, I think even alphabetically.

Do they give "honroable mention" like they do for short story?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote salgal80 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 9:21pm
Originally posted by Lookit There Lookit There wrote:

Originally posted by BPM BPM wrote:

Title: Posing
Synopsis: A father grieves at a Vintage Clothing Store.

Group 8: Comedy, Aluminum foil, Vintage Clothing Store.

I don't feel great about this one.  It's a good story, but comedy is hard.  I used to have a friend who wrote for sitcoms.  She used to say that it's easier to wake up and find a boyfriend (she was single) than it is to wake up and be funny on command.  I now understand her position more clearly!

"Funny on Command" is now officially the synopsis of a horror story. Because I can't recall the last time I was so scared!
I like to think I'm funny in real life, but to sit down in front of the computer and tell myself, "Be funny. NOW!" was terrifying.
This story sounds promising. Can't wait to read what my fellow 8s came up with. Mine is decidedly not great.

Dang.  I could have put you in a tunnel with a laptop and a stopwatch for the deadline and group 3: done!  LOL!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rcudlitz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 9:13pm
Group 1
Ghost Story
A forest
A saw

"Some Souls Stay"

Synopsis: A woman tells a tale about the the souls who haunt the forests she grew up in - which ones are just stories made up by her grandmother and which ones are, tragically, real.
Sent from planet Earth
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fionars Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 8:51pm
Group 2: Drama/A dermatologists office/A beer bottle

Under My Skin

 Plunged into personal crisis, a talented doctor relies on professional habits to get him through. 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Lookit There Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 6:59pm
Originally posted by BPM BPM wrote:

Title: Posing
Synopsis: A father grieves at a Vintage Clothing Store.

Group 8: Comedy, Aluminum foil, Vintage Clothing Store.

I don't feel great about this one.  It's a good story, but comedy is hard.  I used to have a friend who wrote for sitcoms.  She used to say that it's easier to wake up and find a boyfriend (she was single) than it is to wake up and be funny on command.  I now understand her position more clearly!

"Funny on Command" is now officially the synopsis of a horror story. Because I can't recall the last time I was so scared!
I like to think I'm funny in real life, but to sit down in front of the computer and tell myself, "Be funny. NOW!" was terrifying.
This story sounds promising. Can't wait to read what my fellow 8s came up with. Mine is decidedly not great.


Edited by Lookit There - 26 Oct 2015 at 7:05pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nixie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Oct 2015 at 6:50pm
Originally posted by Eggcorn Eggcorn wrote:

 
No points. The first five are listed, I think even alphabetically.

Thanks - appreciate understanding what to expect!
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