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Short Story Challenge 3 Title & Synopsis Chain

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    Posted: 20 May 2020 at 3:06pm
Originally posted by fioOxf fioOxf wrote:

Originally posted by td333777 td333777 wrote:

Originally posted by fioOxf fioOxf wrote:

Interested to note that the 8 genres chosen for Round 3 are all the 'bigger' ones - not PolSat, no Fairy Tale, no Spy or Crime Caper, with their greater number of tropes and limitations. Easing towards the Open genre stage. Is this usually the case?
(Though my brain has just reminded me this is the first time it's been a 4 round competition, so probably not.)


They have definitely done a similar winnowing of genres in prior contests.  In last year's Flash Fiction, the semi-final round didn't have spy or poly satire.  I know the semi-final round in last year's Short Story competition didn't have poly satire either.  If the contest stage has less than 40 heats, it's not uncommon to see them pare back a little on the curveball genres--probably to prevent complaints, I'd guess.  And yep, today is the day for email verifications, I'm guessing by 3-4pm NYC time.  With so many fewer people in this round (160), it's surprising it still takes three days to give us the all clear.  It'll be even weirder in the final, with only 40 remaining writers.  Does it seriously take 72 hours to verify 40 stories? :)

Trey

I honestly wish they'd ditch PoliSat - if they want something similar, just Satire would do, but PoliSat seems the hardest to come up with something original for - especially given our current global crop of Polis.... I've never had it, but I guess sooner or later... Spy's not THAT easy to be original with, either. However. :)
I'm intrigued by what you say - not a newbie, but only made it to HM before.

I didn't even attempt to write a political satire with my first round story. Instead, I went all out with cultural satire and they didn't even mention it. I think they should just change it to satire and move on. Political satire is a little too niche imo. Spy and Thriller, fairytale and fantasy. The former is often a niche of the latter. 

You could just have "a spy" as a character assignment.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fioOxf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2020 at 3:01pm
Originally posted by td333777 td333777 wrote:

Originally posted by fioOxf fioOxf wrote:

Interested to note that the 8 genres chosen for Round 3 are all the 'bigger' ones - not PolSat, no Fairy Tale, no Spy or Crime Caper, with their greater number of tropes and limitations. Easing towards the Open genre stage. Is this usually the case?
(Though my brain has just reminded me this is the first time it's been a 4 round competition, so probably not.)


They have definitely done a similar winnowing of genres in prior contests.  In last year's Flash Fiction, the semi-final round didn't have spy or poly satire.  I know the semi-final round in last year's Short Story competition didn't have poly satire either.  If the contest stage has less than 40 heats, it's not uncommon to see them pare back a little on the curveball genres--probably to prevent complaints, I'd guess.  And yep, today is the day for email verifications, I'm guessing by 3-4pm NYC time.  With so many fewer people in this round (160), it's surprising it still takes three days to give us the all clear.  It'll be even weirder in the final, with only 40 remaining writers.  Does it seriously take 72 hours to verify 40 stories? :)

Trey

I honestly wish they'd ditch PoliSat - if they want something similar, just Satire would do, but PoliSat seems the hardest to come up with something original for - especially given our current global crop of Polis.... I've never had it, but I guess sooner or later... Spy's not THAT easy to be original with, either. However. :)
I'm intrigued by what you say - not a newbie, but only made it to HM before.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote megzott Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2020 at 2:49pm
Heat 4, Comedy, A shopping spree, a teacher


Betsy Gyrates to The Beach Boys

An eighty-five-year-old widow explores her sexuality after moving into a retirement home.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote td333777 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2020 at 2:15pm
Originally posted by fioOxf fioOxf wrote:

Interested to note that the 8 genres chosen for Round 3 are all the 'bigger' ones - not PolSat, no Fairy Tale, no Spy or Crime Caper, with their greater number of tropes and limitations. Easing towards the Open genre stage. Is this usually the case?
(Though my brain has just reminded me this is the first time it's been a 4 round competition, so probably not.)


They have definitely done a similar winnowing of genres in prior contests.  In last year's Flash Fiction, the semi-final round didn't have spy or poly satire.  I know the semi-final round in last year's Short Story competition didn't have poly satire either.  If the contest stage has less than 40 heats, it's not uncommon to see them pare back a little on the curveball genres--probably to prevent complaints, I'd guess.  And yep, today is the day for email verifications, I'm guessing by 3-4pm NYC time.  With so many fewer people in this round (160), it's surprising it still takes three days to give us the all clear.  It'll be even weirder in the final, with only 40 remaining writers.  Does it seriously take 72 hours to verify 40 stories? :)

Trey
FF '17 - 1st, SSC '18 - 2nd, FF '20 - 7th
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jhill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2020 at 12:57pm
Originally posted by fioOxf fioOxf wrote:

Interested to note that the 8 genres chosen for Round 3 are all the 'bigger' ones - not PolSat, no Fairy Tale, no Spy or Crime Caper, with their greater number of tropes and limitations. Easing towards the Open genre stage. Is this usually the case?
(Though my brain has just reminded me this is the first time it's been a 4 round competition, so probably not.)

AND I'm fast losing track of what day it is - lockdown syndrome - but... today's the day for confirmation emails, probably - right? (I'm in the UK, so potentially tomorrow wee smalls, but they usually arrive somewhere around 8-9pm).

You're right, they cut out the genres I like the most!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fioOxf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2020 at 11:31am
Interested to note that the 8 genres chosen for Round 3 are all the 'bigger' ones - not PolSat, no Fairy Tale, no Spy or Crime Caper, with their greater number of tropes and limitations. Easing towards the Open genre stage. Is this usually the case?
(Though my brain has just reminded me this is the first time it's been a 4 round competition, so probably not.)

AND I'm fast losing track of what day it is - lockdown syndrome - but... today's the day for confirmation emails, probably - right? (I'm in the UK, so potentially tomorrow wee smalls, but they usually arrive somewhere around 8-9pm).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fioOxf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 May 2020 at 3:38pm
Originally posted by Kevin Thomas Kevin Thomas wrote:


I hope everyone posting their loglines will also post their stories cause they're all sparking my curiosity!

I always post, no matter how I feel about my work - I figure I learn more from the forums that I do from the judges, and it's useful for reworking stories later. Besides, it's kinda fun and good way to avoid doing any work. 
And speaking of which...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lucie-Bee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 May 2020 at 2:02pm
Heat 3: Ghost story / an animal trainer / compromise

Banshee’s Bet
Alive or dead, Declan O’Rourke would not compromise the safety of his best friend.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Banana Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 May 2020 at 1:34am
Originally posted by sidle_by sidle_by wrote:

Originally posted by Banana Banana wrote:

Originally posted by fioOxf fioOxf wrote:

Originally posted by Banana Banana wrote:

Heat 5, Romantic Comedy, a ceremony, a procrastinator.
Title: Dear @&$!ing Helen
Synopsis: A lovelorn pet store owner encounters an old flame at a funeral.
Originally posted by sidle_by sidle_by wrote:

Group 5: rom com/a ceremony/a procrastinator

All the Devils are Singing 

Fontaine, a mage working on his PhD, uses an ancient text to forge a Contract with a demon. Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite get the translation right.


Hey there, heatmates! Hope you survived the rom-com experience. How was it? It was a first for me, and I didn't find it the most 'exciting' genre, especially with the incredible shrinking wordcount.
Looking forward to reading your work later this week, if you post. And then, of course, reading as many of the others as possible. 

I have never written romcom before, and was horrified to see it. I sat down and wrote it, and I think it might be the best thing I’ve ever done! I had so much fun writing it. I’m going to play around with this genre some more.

I’m so excited that you love your piece!! It’s always great when you end up with something you really like!
Looking forward to reading it :)

Probably means I’ll do terribly! It seems I bomb the hardest when I’m most confident. I’d do better if I slid it across the table with an embarrassed smile and said, “Sorry. I know it’s crap but it’s the best I can do.” 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kevin Thomas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 May 2020 at 1:08am
H6: sci-fi / a promotion / a repairman

TIME PIECES

It was a leap of faith for Charlotte to open her own watch-repair shop,
but her first job calls for a leap much, much farther.


Three guesses what kind of sci-fi story this is... and the first two don't count.

I hope everyone posting their loglines will also post their stories cause they're all sparking my curiosity!
SSC2020 R3 H6 Time Pieces
R2 H23 In the Clutch of the Giant
R1 H20 Two Thousand Feet Over Tonga
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