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What Did You Get for Round 2?

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incompletegenius View Drop Down
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    Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 1:47pm
Originally posted by Tim G Tim G wrote:

Group 9 - Suspense, Watchtower, Pig

I've done what I always do with Suspense and pretend it says 'Thriller'. No judge has ever yet gotten into the weeds with me about how much the audience vs the protagonist knows Smile

Draft one complete so I'll sleep a little more soundly for that. Hope you're all doing great!

In hindsight I feel I should have done the same (but going with 'Mystery')...suspense felt... 'vague'. Best of wishes to you, Wet Moss and justmel!

Originally posted by justmel justmel wrote:

Originally posted by wet moss wet moss wrote:

Got 
Suspense, watchtower, pig 
as well. Now worried my idea is the obvious one and there will be 5 similar stories. Might need to drag in an alien or a dinosour to stand out. 


If you *have* an idea, you're three steps ahead of me. I had one, but it went nowhere. Currently fighting panic. Ugh. 

I went through this with these prompts, having ideas that seemed 'obvious', but ultimately not having ANYTHING. It's never been such a late call for me. I had NO story at 1am (deadline is 5am here - UK), at 2:20 I scrapped the 135 words I did have and started over, hand writing this time, different idea. At approx 4.15 I was at the 500-word mark.

None of that is in anyway ideal, nor advisable. I will not be proceeding, ha. Good luck heat-mates!


Edited by incompletegenius - 19 Oct 2020 at 1:54pm
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Logan Mountstuart View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Mountstuart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 7:17am
No no, it's perfectly clear and I thought so as well, so I chose not to capitalise it when I used it in my story :) Thanks for reassuring me !
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TelepathicTeaTime Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 7:15am
Originally posted by Logan Mountstuart Logan Mountstuart wrote:

Originally posted by Hatter Hatter wrote:

Oof.

Group 17

Romance/A public square/styrofoam

It's been nice knowing you all....


I'm not a native speaker, and I noticed that "Styrofoam" is sometimes written with a capital S, and other times not. What do you all think ?


Hey-o fellow group mate! So I ended up looking into this myself once I saw our prompts. Turns out the only difference is one is a trademark brand of Styrofoam which will be capitalized, and then any other brand of polystyrene foam is usually referred to as the same, just lowercase to show it's not the specific brand. It's kind of like a Band-Aid / medical adhesive situation. Almost everyone will just call a band-aid a "band-aid", even if it's not the actual Band-Aid brand.

I'm sorry, I hope that's not too confusing an explanation!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Logan Mountstuart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 7:09am
Originally posted by Archaeo Archaeo wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.
Fristly, I am not feeling dejected so much but frustrated, yes.
For me being goal-oriented, I am not seeing the results that I would like after two years.
Wow, after getting the same genre nine times, I would be totally over it, that's for sure.

Doing these comps here has improved my writing and I have enjoyed every round but it seems it is time to go elsewhere. I am starting to enter other comps where I can choose the themes and write what I want.

Secondly, I never meant by my comments that other writers should sacrifice their IP or publishing rights so I can see their work. In fact, it is why I don't publish in the forums. I respect that totally.
However, all I am saying is that it would be super helpful to me as a visual tool to see what is progressing in the comp when my work doesn't. That's all.




It seems to me that it's all about points. Your stories were awesome, but some other judges gave more points to other writers and you didn't advance. It's just that, chance, and numbers. In France we have a very sarcastic saying when it comes to competitions: "before we can succeed, the others have to fail".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Mountstuart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 6:47am
Originally posted by Lord Xoon Lord Xoon wrote:

I got the "widowmaker" - romance. So this is probably it for me.

But at least this time I'll have them end up together, unlike my past efforts. I've at least learned that much.



Why is romance the "widowmaker" ???
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Mountstuart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 6:36am
Originally posted by Hatter Hatter wrote:

Oof.

Group 17

Romance/A public square/styrofoam

It's been nice knowing you all....


I'm not a native speaker, and I noticed that "Styrofoam" is sometimes written with a capital S, and other times not. What do you all think ?

Edited by Logan Mountstuart - 19 Oct 2020 at 6:38am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Mountstuart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 6:34am
Originally posted by Hatter Hatter wrote:

Oof.

Group 17

Romance/A public square/styrofoam

It's been nice knowing you all....



I'm with you...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Archaeo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 2:13am
Hi,

Thanks for your reply.
Fristly, I am not feeling dejected so much but frustrated, yes.
For me being goal-oriented, I am not seeing the results that I would like after two years.
Wow, after getting the same genre nine times, I would be totally over it, that's for sure.

Doing these comps here has improved my writing and I have enjoyed every round but it seems it is time to go elsewhere. I am starting to enter other comps where I can choose the themes and write what I want.

Secondly, I never meant by my comments that other writers should sacrifice their IP or publishing rights so I can see their work. In fact, it is why I don't publish in the forums. I respect that totally.
However, all I am saying is that it would be super helpful to me as a visual tool to see what is progressing in the comp when my work doesn't. That's all.



Edited by Archaeo - 19 Oct 2020 at 2:13am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote taaaylor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 1:36am
Originally posted by Archaeo Archaeo wrote:

Yep, well, I got romance, again.
And to make it even better, I had -

romance / operating room / sand

Seriously, I am moving on from this competition in the new year.
Not only are the prompts getting ridiculous and repetitive (my last one was a spy thriller set in a doughnut shop and I have had the spy genre and romance twice now), but the feedback is driving me around the bend.   

I just got feedback and once again, I did not advance but received glowing feedback.

Although we are discussing here writing prompts, does anyone also have an issue with their feedback?

I have been doing these comps now for two years. I have taken the challenges onboard and accepted very positive and constructive feedback. And I am grateful. But I never advance. I feel like I am receiving a very mixed message. Last year, I was told one of my stories would make a wonderful short film.

In this latest round of feedback, I was told -

"Wow, this is a very unique and creative story. You have a tremendous voice."
But I did not progress. I never do.

I would really love to have them publish the five writers who advance from each group or the writers who make it through to the final, so we can see what the stories are like that are progressing. They only just released the winner from last year's microfiction comp, which I had entered.

If my stories are so great, what am I missing?

Thanks

Honestly, if you're feeling this dejected and frustrated, it probably is best you move on.

The prompt selection is truly random. (There's a user here who got ghost story nine times, for example.) Sometimes luck is on your side, and sometimes it isn't. However, you are more than welcome to cross genres in this competition, which is a good way to shake up getting the same genre assigned genre multiple times. I've gotten suspense twice and crossed it with fantasy for one and sci-fi for the other.

I haven't personally had significant issues with my feedback in the 20 rounds I've done, but everyone has their own judge stories.

Quote If my stories are so great, what am I missing?

A couple of things:

1) Some groups are harder than others. It's just the nature of the beast. If you happen to end up in a group with enough equally-good writers, it can be enough to edge you out. That's a harsh and painful reality of writing for any competition, tbh.

2) Everyone has room to improve. Everyone. Sometimes one or two elements of the story are working beautifully, but they don't quite mesh with the rest of it. Or the plot couldn't quite fit into the word count. Or the writing was strong, but the character wasn't quite as developed as other stories in the group. That doesn't mean the judges are lying by listing your strengths. It just means there's room to tighten up the story -- just like all stories written in 24-48 hours could stand to do. ;)

It would definitely be nice if more people posted to the forums, but I'm personally glad I can enter this competition without signing over my first publication rights just for advancing to the next round.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Archaeo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2020 at 1:02am
Yep, well, I got romance, again.
And to make it even better, I had -

romance / operating room / sand

Seriously, I am moving on from this competition in the new year.
Not only are the prompts getting ridiculous and repetitive (my last one was a spy thriller set in a doughnut shop and I have had the spy genre and romance twice now), but the feedback is driving me around the bend.   

I just got feedback and once again, I did not advance but received glowing feedback.

Although we are discussing here writing prompts, does anyone also have an issue with their feedback?

I have been doing these comps now for two years. I have taken the challenges onboard and accepted very positive and constructive feedback. And I am grateful. But I never advance. I feel like I am receiving a very mixed message. Last year, I was told one of my stories would make a wonderful short film.

In this latest round of feedback, I was told -

"Wow, this is a very unique and creative story. You have a tremendous voice."
But I did not progress. I never do.

I would really love to have them publish the five writers who advance from each group or the writers who make it through to the final, so we can see what the stories are like that are progressing. They only just released the winner from last year's microfiction comp, which I had entered.

If my stories are so great, what am I missing?

Thanks


Edited by Archaeo - 19 Oct 2020 at 1:02am
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