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crez View Drop Down
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Joined: 29 Jan 2019
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Points: 499 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote crez Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 2:10pm
Originally posted by Random Random wrote:

Originally posted by Aezekiel Aezekiel wrote:

This competition got me googling things like "how to speak english" and "what even are words"


There's usually a post-contest thread where you post your strangest internet searches.  It can get pretty wild.

Wish I'd seen this comment before I started a Google thread - waiting until after Saturday makes all kinds of sense!  
R1 Gr198 Time Zones and Trolley Problems (Sci-fi)
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Points: 5312 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Random Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 5:01pm
There is some satisfaction when you look at the word count and it says 2498 rather than 3876.  Of course the concern persists that in truncating your 5,000 word story into half that you've cut the actual story and all that's left is noncommittal grunting and a few hand gestures.

They wanted thriller, they got grunts.

I did force the main character to squeeze into a dress four plot points too small.  I'm vindictive.  I'm sure she'll get her revenge eventually.

Much left to do.  There are still extra words, and more words are needed to make the story flow.  By definition.

The day will come, soon, when this grows back into the story it's meant to be.
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Points: 257 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VaughnieM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 5:06pm
Well I am now think I may have nailed suspense as my story is so full of it I don’t know what is happening. Oh well I will submit something and look forward to not having to do round 2 lol.
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Points: 669 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pages Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 5:27pm
I stressed and strained over my prompt (ghost story / serendipity / a lawbreaker) since looking at it on Friday night.

I went through the winning ghost stories to get a feel for what the judges may like. I know it's subjective, but my mind went completely blank when thinking of how to write a ghost story. Literal crickets up there in my empty cranium.

I had some vague ideas but nothing solid. I couldn't seem to squish all the prompt bits into one coherent story.

Today (five days into the challenge) I remembered two things:
1 - I'm a discovery writer. Thinking about stories gets me nowhere. Plotting is impossible because I don't have ideas until I type. I need to write literally anything to get the juices flowing.
2 - If fitting all three bits into the story is too hard, write something using two of the three and see if I can cover the third in rewrites.

Anyway, I managed to bang out a story that fit all three (if I'm wild and loose with the definition of serendipity), that came in 250 words under the word count, and actually borders on comedic (shocking me most of all). Is it good? Ha! No. But it's written. Now for the editing.
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Any thoughts on the importance of physically describing the main character? I've just noticed that I don't describe anywhere what my main character looks like, although her age and occupation are made clear enough. 

I could probably squeeze in a few details somewhere, but her appearance is not remotely relevant to the story. Is it considered poor writing to leave the character's physical description entirely up to the reader's imagination?
R1 Gr198 Time Zones and Trolley Problems (Sci-fi)
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Points: 132 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kneazle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 6:39pm
Originally posted by thebatinthehat thebatinthehat wrote:

Originally posted by Kneazle Kneazle wrote:

Originally posted by thebatinthehat thebatinthehat wrote:

Originally posted by snuffles snuffles wrote:

Quote HOw are you doing?  Sci Fi is just what isn't possible in our world as we commenly know it... like food doesn't float, or cats don't bark or fly, but in Sci Fi, tiny machines could invade things and make them do other stuff sci fi like.

It's also the interaction with existing science and all the chaos adapting to new technology causes. 

I'll also add that futuristic sci-fi often makes a commentary of some sort on our present society. It doesn't have to and certainly doesn't always, but that's a pretty common theme, so if you're future inclined but stuck for ideas, that might help?
Agree with this  - my prompts are Sci Fi/Biological clock/Valedictorian and I'm writing a story about someone who's assigned life span is ticking away and their in the last three weeks of their state determined life span as one of the measures to stop humans destroying their new planet like they did the old one. 

Ooh, this sounds cool! I hope you'll share it! I'd love to read it.
I'll definitely share it - assuming I get it finished...
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Points: 387 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote snuffles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 6:42pm
I just reuploaded my story two times in a row after a minor edit. Does that happen a lot? 
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Points: 5312 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Random Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 6:46pm
Originally posted by snuffles snuffles wrote:

I just reuploaded my story two times in a row after a minor edit. Does that happen a lot? 


I don't think I've ever done more than 12 submissions, and it's possible a couple of those were a whopping three or four characters different than the one before.
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Points: 147 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HalcyonDaze Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 7:06pm
Did the thing where I got 1900 words into a comedy and then realized that my 1900th word was the first real joke that I had put in. And then realized that my idea in general didn't really lend itself to "comedy." More of a satire, and I think that those two genres are distinct enough (at least the way I'm currently handling it) that it might not work.

Anyway, starting anew with a new idea that in my head is totally zany and funny, but can I translate that to the page? My comedy chops are very underdeveloped.
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Points: 288 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote iBenj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jan 2023 at 9:05pm
Originally posted by crez crez wrote:

Any thoughts on the importance of physically describing the main character? I've just noticed that I don't describe anywhere what my main character looks like, although her age and occupation are made clear enough. 

I could probably squeeze in a few details somewhere, but her appearance is not remotely relevant to the story. Is it considered poor writing to leave the character's physical description entirely up to the reader's imagination?

I find physical descriptions are often badly executed - either cliched or waaaay too detailed (I really don't care that the killer's uncle had hairy feet).

Plus I'm really good at just forgetting (or running out of space) to add "interesting but unimportant details" to my writing. This time around, I realised at the last minute that I'd created an unusually solid visual impression of two out of the three characters in my story. The third had no physical description whatsoever. He's the central character. Oops.

My excuse is that letting readers create their own image of characters helps them to identify with the characters.
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