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Zblugg View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zblugg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 4:08pm
Originally posted by Balabean Balabean wrote:

I'm a super duper first timer times a thousand. The entirety of my post high school writing has been done in comp 1 and 2 at a community college this past year. I had some success publishing one of my comp 1 essays and want to write a book. I have zero experience with fiction but am trying to "fictionalize" some of my real experiences for said book. I thought this would be a good way to practice. In my first story the two main occurrences are things that really happened to me, so I think it was a good experience.


This is a very interesting take, actually. The cost could be seen as a fee for an online writing course of sorts. Except you get out of your sili and read other people's stuff, give and get feedback...

There's that extra bit of competitive spirit as a bonus as well!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Balabean Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 4:38pm
Originally posted by Zblugg Zblugg wrote:

Originally posted by Balabean Balabean wrote:

I'm a super duper first timer times a thousand. The entirety of my post high school writing has been done in comp 1 and 2 at a community college this past year. I had some success publishing one of my comp 1 essays and want to write a book. I have zero experience with fiction but am trying to "fictionalize" some of my real experiences for said book. I thought this would be a good way to practice. In my first story the two main occurrences are things that really happened to me, so I think it was a good experience.


This is a very interesting take, actually. The cost could be seen as a fee for an online writing course of sorts. Except you get out of your sili and read other people's stuff, give and get feedback...

There's that extra bit of competitive spirit as a bonus as well!

Yes, that was my thinking. It was a small price to pay for critical feedback.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote De Chelonian Mobile Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 4:52pm
The Short Story Challenge in January was my first experience with NYC Midnight. This is my second go. It is well worth the money for the feedback from the forum. (Judges feedback is very limited)

The forum is where the value is, and much like life, you get out of it what you put in. Post your stories. Review your tail off and you will receive reviews in return. Some of them will be very detailed and VERY helpful. For every three reviews I posted, I received two. Some writers post their stories but have limited time to return the favor, and that's okay, but if you don't return reviews, yours will dry up quickly.

You are in total control of how "worth it" the entrance fee was. 

I look forward to reading many of your stories. Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JanetM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 5:13pm
Another contest newbie here! 

I enjoyed the challenge of it. I got romantic comedy- it's hard to do comedy, I think, but at least with romantic comedy, the "rules" are maybe more defined? or at least easier  with not all the focus on hilarity? I was also just happy that I didn't get political satire! 

The 1000 word limit is a bit of a killer. I was at 500 and my couple hadn't met! lol. Anyway, lots of whittling down of details, which I enjoyed as a challenge, but I'm just hoping that everything still makes sense without all the background details. kwim? (I feel like i could do a Q&A on the characters' lives and backgrounds from all the brainstorming I did to try to make the prompts fit. So, if anyone is interested? ;)) I enjoyed trying to find ways to have fewer words say more.

I'm really looking forward to reading other people's stories- especially those from group 20!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alex_Ben Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 5:17pm
First time here as well, and i had no idea coming into that the forum/beta was an aspect of it, and i love this.

The challenge itself was great - i love these type of prompts and i have been moving more towards flash fiction in the past few months, so it was great and I'm excited for round 1B.

In the meantime, i hope to contribute to these boards.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Saviarre Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 5:53pm
I'm a newbie as well! I've been trying to get up the nerve to post to the forums more, but I'm one of those who is often more comfortable lurking. (Social anxiety that extends to the internet? Whaaa-?)

This is my first adventure into flash fiction. I'm generally really shy about sharing my writing with others... Okay, it scares the pants off of me!... But, in the essence of personal growth and all that jazz, here I am.

For some reason, I didn't have much of a problem with this story. I think I was one of the lucky ones. I actually had a pretty busy weekend with other obligations, and spent the majority of the time just thinking about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to incorporate my prompts (drama/cybercafe/snail). I was really concerned about the word count because I'm a naturally verbose person when I get going (which doesn't quite go with that shyness/social anxiety thing, does it?). Keeping in mind the short word-limit, whenever I would get an idea, I would also think about "okay, how can I shave it down?" As such, when it came to writing my story, I really didn't have any problem staying within the word count because I had already brainstorm-boiled it down so much, it was concentrated enough. 

I got lucky this time. Next time, I'm sure I won't be so lucky. 

Either way, this has been an incredibly fun experience! Now, it seems I've got a couple days to get up the courage to post my story for peer review. I look forward to meeting you all through your words!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote roccapia Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 5:53pm
First time flash fiction, but I've done the short story one--got up to the final round this year. I decided to do flash fiction to try my hand at even shorter fiction, and really enjoyed the first round. My sentiments are similar to others; I am not a short story writer by nature (everything always turns into a novel with me) so paying the entry fee to complete a couple of solid short stories is well worth it to me. It's educational, I get great feedback, and it forces me out of my comfort zone. And I'm finding that I enjoy writing short stories, now that I've finished a few :D
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Metroe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 6:36pm
My first attempt at anything like this was the short story competition this year where I crashed and burned in round one and took a panning from the judges. I was happier with that story than the one I have just submitted in flash .... so it does not auger well. But, on the other hand, it can't be any worse.
Still .... one point over 2 rounds would be nice and surely not too much to ask for.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jdarmody Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 6:54pm
I'm a total newbie too and I also am a bit funny about posting to forums, so I lurk... but I'm trying not to!

I'm with you all the way. When I got my prompts (fairy tale/aviary/sword) I thought, "Okay, not bad, it could be worse." And as I scrolled down through the others I noticed how much more out of my comfort zone I could have been.

This weekend ended up being a bit awkward for me to sit down and focus because I just bought my first house - as in, literally picked up the keys on Friday - so I spent most of the time thinking about the outline and then powering through it with the deadline looming.

I'm also guilty of writing longer stories so this one was at almost 1,900 with at 1am local time! Eventually, I got it down to 1,000 words and went to sleep just after 2am, three hours before the deadline. 

I'm hoping to be able to give the next story more time for editing and polishing! Loving the pressure so far though! And looking forward to getting involved in the forum.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote JCotter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2017 at 9:39pm
This is my first time doing any kind of challenge like this. I've been writing for years for myself and to share with friends and family. I've always been told that I need to get my stuff published, but never really had the confidence. I was convinced that they were all just telling me that because they felt obligated to.

I had a non-fiction essay published just over 2 years ago, but I've never submitted any of my fiction. I love to tell stories, so I felt like this challenge was really in my wheelhouse. I was a little distraught to be given mystery as my genre, but after a few hours of brainstorming and a couple e more of writing, I was happy with what I had.

I'm really looking forward to reading everyone's stories and hearing feedback on mine from all of you.

Cheers!

Edited by JCotter - 17 Jul 2017 at 9:55pm
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