Yep! Prompts drop tonight at 10 pm EST. And I hear you... so many contests! I feel like I can't fit in everything I want to do. Might need some blinders to keep from looking at new ones.

I mean “my” 

Thank you!

I prefer the fact that it’s write one and done, the rounds over such a long period of time in NYCM is difficult for me. I also love doing the duels over there where you get to read and judge. 

I had to launch the new site 2 months earlier than I wanted (it was not supposed to be released until a couple weeks before the Summer Battle) -- so the forums aren't quite ready. But they will be ready before Debrief!

These are tough ones, especially for 500 words!

I can see the magical realism being popular

I’m sitting on military lampoon and afraid to risk changing it and ending up with environmental drama, lol

haha, if only we could've swapped logins!

I ended up going for it and got magical realism which I am enthused about! 

I like magical realism in theory but it’s not in my wheelhouse and I bet it is in LOTS of other’s

Those who are brave and go with military lampoon might have much better odds...

I actually have a sorta kinda idea for military lampoon but it could be really funny or really cringeworthy. 

I know a popular genre in a previous round had to add in a fifth round of judging instead of going straight to quarter finals so that the numbers could come down enough.

So if your genre is super popular you have to beat more stories!

Yes! Last Battle, one genre was an entire round smaller than all of the others. I imagine Magical Realism will be a huge pool with Military Lampoon being quite small hehe

I think I'd take environmental drama over military lampoon or conspiracy.

I think with drama you can amp up the emotions and relationships, passion for the environment/wildlife, something threatening that. There is lots of juice for an emotive piece. 

Having to be comedic on demand and in particular satirical (military lampoon) or really clever and intricate with a plot that keeps you guessing (conspiracy) in 500 words much scarier I think!

Good Luck, you've got this!!

I agree with everything you said which is why I am keeping it. Military lampoon is just too scary of a prospect. However, I do hope I get to read some in the duels because this brilliant bunch is sure to create some masterful work!

P.S. Thank you! Good luck to you!

How's everyone doing? Genres cool?

Personally, I think Conspiracy is the toughest out of the bunch. Super excited to read Military Lampoon.

These last 10 days have been a blur. I put in an average of 18 hours a day getting this Battle ready for the Spring Microfiction (four of those days I did 20 hours back-to-back-to-back-to-back). I wish that was an exaggeration. I was supposed to have another TWO MONTHS to get this new website ready for the Summer Battle, but out of no where, Wix changed something on their backend that blew up the old website. I had the choice to cancel the Spring Battle or crunch -- and I chose to crunch. Honestly, I can't believe we're here and folks are on the site and drawing cards. I LOVE IT.

Have so much fun writing over the weekend, everyone! And please let me know what I can improve. I'm here for you all :)

The redraw button is getting more tempting by the minute…

(And thank you so much for all the effort you’ve put in, Max!! I’m very impressed and appreciative that you’ve managed to get the site up and working just days out from the comp!)

I’m Env Drama, if anyone else in that genre wants to beta please msg me

I just finished a first draft, so I'm going to sleep and look at it with fresh eyeballs tomorrow. Best of luck to everyone with a tough set of genres!

Muahahaha 

What time was it in Nova Scotia when you wrote this? Get to bed, man!

I drew military lampoon and I'm sitting here wondering if my ideas are solid enough or whether I should redraw  

Haha I think 4:30am - I went to sleep for 4 hours and woke up. Had to check to see if anyone had questions! Launch of the Battle / Lock-In / Submission evenings I try to be available as much as possible.

I'm also a morning person, so 4:30am is not that bad for me 

How's everyone's writing going?

Prompts dropped at 12pm Saturday for me here in AUS so i've had a solid afternoon and evening on this and it's probably time I headed for bed and hope for fresh thoughts in the morning. 

https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic53533_post568274.html" rel="nofollow - https://forums.nycmidnight.com/topic53533_post568274.html

I wanted to make that work, I really did. I loved the subject/word and I had multiple ideas that I spent a lot of time trying to flesh out but all needed backstory and there's not a whole lot of room for that when writing satire. I even dissected some of my favorite movies in this genre and without it, the irony would have been lost. 

I can deal with environmental drama and will keep my prompts. There's a lot more to work with, just have to go from thinking "how do I make this funny" to "how do I make this serious".

I drew and stuck with magical realism— which is new territory and very much out of my comfort zone, but it scared me slightly less than the other three genres. Working on a draft now, then surrendering it to the betas.

I have a draft that I'm sure I'll pick to absolute death by the time tomorrow night rolls around. Hope everyone's doing ok!

And if anyone in the same genre is interested in doing a swap for beta help, I'm game!

going over the draft of that next. we are A MESS

Not most people’s idea of a wild weekend. This is how we party.

Thanks, Barbara!!

>Conspiracy<
Not sure if I nailed the genre but it was really great practice!

Hi genre mate! I had a ton of fun writing this one too, I love writing battle so much 😭 

Just submitted. I had a blast writing it. Best of luck to all still creating masterpieces. Roll on the judging. 

Private Benjamin and Stripes are good ones.

If you go to the battle page on writing battle it has a count down in the top corner.

The email we got is just preparing everyone for a slightly different submission then previously

I’m not actually ready to submit so I just chose to assume it was something glitchy. 

Yep - I just went to do a submission as well and it is giving me the same error and I can't submit either. Hopefully a glitch that can be fixed quickly

Please let me know if you encounter any other errors. I understand this is a "big one" where you were trying to submit. Sincerely, I hope this hasn't inconvenienced you too much. Still plenty of time to submit!

No harm, no foul! Managing this contest must be a TON of work and you’re always super responsive! 

Thanks, Lisa, that means a lot! 

I do want everyone to know that I take everyone's time and frustrations seriously and I don't take any of your participation for granted.

Thanks again!

I always like a preview before reading other stories and presenting my own.

I may just have to expand the title by a dozen or so words 

I had no problems submitting my story. When I got the general email, I submitted it again and was glad I did, as I changed the last two lines. In a roundabout way, the glitch made my story better. Thanks! 

No synopsis this time. I think I agree with you. I'm definitely in the pro-synopsis-camp. But from the polling I did with the community, you and I seem to be in the minority. Everyone that I asked seemed to hate loglines, so I pulled them.

It's definitely something we can all think about/discuss. One thing I've never liked is that it sometimes gives people an edge in their story with added context... so folks that don't include a logline might be at a disadvantage.

I'm more than happy to add them back in though if that's what the community wants. For these shorter Battles (micro and nano) I think I like them without. The Short Story one in Autumn might need them.

Yeah, I guess in Microfiction a logline isn’t always necessary and can be considered a sneaky way to simply add more words to your story.

Maybe an option to add a 10-words-or-less one for MF.

It is a good way to get more words/clarity into a super short story so I don't think it should be optional where some folks get that extra drink at the well to give context to their stories and others don't. And on micro fiction, summarizing feels super unnecessary to me. 

I'm not a fan of loglines, but writing one isn't a big deal if it's required. There's also a bit of difference (at least in what I was taught) about loglines and synopses so what is actually wanted/required should probably be clarified. I consider loglines to be teasers and meant to be just enough to get you to read whereas a synopsis is more of a summary of the story in its entirety. 

Switched out my word once and called it a day. 

I really enjoy writing battle. Bummed the forums won’t be open there but it’s such a a fun community. Can’t wait for the battles to begin on Tuesday. 

Good luck y’all! 

Yay to sea kayaking, margaritas and the last of the sun's light! Huge well done to submitting stories in between. Just submitted Writing Battle myself after a busy weekend. No idea what is next with it as totes new to the comp but will get up to speed after another glass of fizz (new King and all) ❤️

I may be too late, but just PMed you!

I got military lampoon. Spotted one minor issue just after the deadline, but overall I'm moderately happy with what I wrote.

Touch wood others like it!!

I wrote an accidental magical realism meet cute in the last battle so of course I got it this time. Intentional magical realism was way harder, it turned out, especially when I had to rush-write another longer story. Usually fantasy's my wheelhouse but the story ended up strange. I am curious (and excited) to see what others think of it. 

Agree re form! Loved the one-step process. V clear and simple to use and found it easy to format on the desktop. Having to face the submitable process again after finding an error always feels like an uphill struggle.

I am just hoping the way I have used my word is acceptable! 🙏 

As usual with micro, my conscious thought was 'Great! Get a first draft done nice and early, then a whole weekend to tinker and polish until it shines like a diamond. I'm going to write a masterpiece!'

And as usual, my subconscious interpreted that as 'Great! A whole 45 hours to piss away before you have to do any work! Why have a nice easy weekend, when you could choose sleep deprivation and self-loathing instead?'

The one upside to my procrastination this time was that apparently I missed a lot of angst with the website, because it was completely smooth for me. The submission process is great, Max - I especially like the instant reassurance on the word count.

The story's okay, I think, provided I don't get disqualified for a somewhat tenuous interpretation of the subject prompt. If we do get DQ'd, do we find out when it happens or at the end? Not that I'd mind carrying on with the judging even if I was out, but it would be good to know.

And I'll at least get a no-redraw trophy, if we're still doing that!