Lochie_old Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 (edited) Short Story Of the Month Competition October 2008 Author: Iminicus Title: Lonesome Theme: Isolation September 2008 Author: Eminence Title: Freedom Theme: Getaway August 2008 Author: Struff Bunstridge Title: All is Darkness Theme: Fantasy Wrap-up This month has been interesting. With some (un-needed) theme change back and forth we've settled on Christmas Horror. The people who entered this month really rose to the challenge and for that they deserve a special commendation just for that. Much thanks to Iminicus for the theme. Voting Rules - You can only vote for one person - Don't discuss who you are voting for here, the other topic is still open for a reason - 3 lines per a vote. Any less and you're vote won't be counted and you will be told to edit it Entrees Together in the Warmth of Winter - Eminence The Best Christmas I've Ever Had - The Unvirginiser Bloodstained Snow - Chunk Happy voting! Emi will be taking over for me since I go away in the beginning of December, looking forward to seeing who wins. Edited November 26, 2008 by ~PhusioN~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoda Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Just to make a suggestion, but are using the ol' three line voting system, or are we adapting my idea of "three kisses and a wish"? For those unfamiliar with it, here is an example. If it's too short notice to implement it, that's fine, just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eminence Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 RE: voting system. As opposed to having a specific amount of lines that you have to fill, why not just say you simply have to leave some meaningful feedback in the vote? Ones that are simply tagged on to the topic won't count, and the voter can be informed that they need to leave further feedback before their choice will be counted. And with that, Unvirginiser's 'The Best Christmas Present I've Ever Had' wins for me. 'Bloodstained Snow' was an interesting idea, but executed in a bit of a hasty fashion; it was littered with errors in tense, punctuation and sentence structure, which became extremely repetitive at times (the man, the man, he, he as constant sentence openers, for example). The Best Christmas, while it had plenty of its own flaws, featured some really great imagery that I enjoyed reading. The whole double-language thing put me off a little and disrupted the flow, while Unvirginiser's general narrative style was also slightly (uniquely? ) off-putting, but some of the description more than made up for it - as did the unique twist on the theme, which was done well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxidizer Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 I am so badly torn right now. But I'm gonna have to go with Carbine23's Holokaust on account of the fact that it anybody repeats or revels in this and you'll die the most painful way imaginable almost made me cry. A little bit. Those of you who know me know that I'm somewhat of a heartless little bastard and C23's entry really got to me; I think it's the first thing in WD that emotionally affected me, and for that reason alone it would've gotten my vote, but I liked its style, despite a few grammatical errors and suchlike, and the overall story. Excellent job again, Carb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iminicus Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Well, looks like November was a bust on this idea. Since it is now just December, can we re do the rules and everything else before we kick it off again? Just so that there isn't any confusion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoda Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Ah well, you won't get a coconut every time. In terms of this month's contest, I'll have a natter with Eminence and see what he thinks, though it may be best to set the theme as "Christmas". This way you can make it horrific or as pleasant as you want, and any old scrooge can write about Christmas. They'll be a bigger turn out too, so I'm going to provisionally set the theme as Christmas. The contest will begin on the 5th of December, which gives you 20 days to submit your entry. Don't hold me to this, it's not final, it's just a brainstorm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iminicus Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Ah well, you won't get a coconut every time. In terms of this month's contest, I'll have a natter with Eminence and see what he thinks, though it may be best to set the theme as "Christmas". This way you can make it horrific or as pleasant as you want, and any old scrooge can write about Christmas. They'll be a bigger turn out too, so I'm going to provisionally set the theme as Christmas. The contest will begin on the 5th of December, which gives you 20 days to submit your entry. Don't hold me to this, it's not final, it's just a brainstorm. What about the rules? I think they need to be agreed to before the competition goes ahead. I just don't want to see another November happen. On the Theme, how about not doing Christmas again? I mean people moaned about it in November and though it is appropriate this month, I don't think they will want to do another one. I have a suggestion. What about doing a 1930's Film Noir style Detective story. These stories are the ones that begin: Today was just like any other day, until she walked into my office. She asked me if I was Frank Monroe, retired Police Detective Frank Monroe. I looked at her as she stood beneath the slow moving ceiling fan. I watched as the cigar smoke swirled around her blonde hair and as her tongue licked her crimson lips. She said her name was Gloria, Gloria Vander Hart. She said she needed a man. A real man to help her catch that lying cheating bastard of a husband. That type of detective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoda Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Well rules will either follow the layout suggested in the topic, or the layout this time round. I don't see a problem with the way voting went this time; everyone was fair and it was good to see. I think what put people off were the lack of entrants and the theme. Also, seeing as it's actually Christmas this month, I don't think people will be adverse to writing about it. Leaving it as free as the word "Christmas" let's people be as jolly as they want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unvirginiser Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Well, how is the winner decided? Shouldn't he get to decide the theme? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eminence Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 With regards to next month's competition, I'm not sure at the moment what course we should take, and I'm also not sure on how to decide the winner this month. What's annoying me, though, you may ask? What am I actually concerned over? I find it massively ironic and annoying that none of you have voted this month. Of the three people currently discussing what to do next month, none of you bothered to vote. Two, yes, two people - myself included - voted. And as far as I'm concerned, it's appalling. The person who set the theme? Didn't bother to vote. A person who entered? Didn't bother to vote. A person heading up the suggestion list for next month? Didn't bother to vote. The person who actually created the competition? Didn't bother to vote. Everyone else who calls themselves a 'regular' of this here community? Didn't bother to vote. I'm sorry, but it's unacceptable. This isn't a strict competition with a panel of judges doing the voting. It's a community competition, and right now, I don't see where the community is. I must ask, what's the f*cking point? You'll all come back with some lame f*cking excuse, but you know what, if you want any f*cking say on what happens with this, or if you want to enter it, or if you want to participate in this 'community' in any way, please pay us the f*cking courtesy as to lend your opinion on the pieces people have written. This month, there's no reason why you shouldn't have, either. Who gives a sh*t about the theme? There were three - tiny - f*cking pieces. Three! Unvirginiser especially, why no vote? You actually read the other entrants, so how could you not bother voting? The only reason I can see is that you didn't want to give out your vote so that it would benefit your chances of winning, and that's just f*cking lame. This whole thing is lame, and not to sound like a f*cking schoolteacher, but you should all be ashamed. We do this for each other, so why aren't people putting in any effort to keep it running? Two votes for the entire month, and one of them was mine. So, one vote? We had one vote in. That's a disgrace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxidizer Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 (edited) I don't understand why there are considerations into changing the rules, mostly because I don't see what's necessarily wrong with the current ones. That being said, and having read Eminence's somewhat valid points with regard to the lack of votes, perhaps there ought to be a rule to say that if you leave feedback for any of the entries you have to vote (not necessarily for the entry you've left feedback for)? Edited December 3, 2008 by Oxidizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chunk Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 I vote for the Unvirgniser's short story, The Best Christmas I've Ever Had. It was wonderfully written and a joy to read. Together in the Warmth of Winter was well written and the twist was great but the Unvirginiser's story was slightly better in my eyes. Bloodstained Snow was awful compared to the other two entries. I may have wrote it but I admit that the final product was very hastily written and was an expirement to improve my writing. So my vote goes to The Best Christmas I've Ever Had by The Unvirginiser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoda Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 (edited) I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I have no excuse for not voting, so I'm not exactly helping, especially seeing as I've been a led-by for barely a week. EDIT: Actually, I'm going to add my little bit on this. It's not the fault of the community this time round Phil, as many of theme haven't been here for a good while. With the regulars elsewhere, this isn't going to get the attention it deserves and it's not the fault of those who didn't participate. A more mainstream theme will bring people back I assure you, this theme was absolutely dreadful, it was the limbo between Halloween and Christmas. Let's give this another stab Phil, I'll change your mind I promise. Edited December 2, 2008 by Masterkraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iminicus Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I didn't vote purely because I was astonished at the crass decision half way through the month to change the theme. I also didn't vote because of some of the attitudes of people and things they have insinuated about me. Go ahead and call it childish, but the I am not going to participate in a competition which started off with a set of rules, which where then quickly dismissed because there appeared to be no interest in the month's competition. What needs to happen is: The rules need to be agreed upon. Some people are still voting to the previous rules and others the new ones. What rules are we following? This is causing confusion. Since we can't decide on this simple thing it has ballooned and ruined the voting. We also need to agree on who is running this competition. Should it fall onto Phusion or should one of the led bys take over? Hell, really we just need some clear guidance. You can sit there Emi and complain. But it seems to me, that we have to all take in what you say, while you ignore what us the participates are saying. Clear up this competition and make it easy to enter and understand the rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxidizer Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 This is starting to get silly now. To be fair, the theme only changed midway due to there not being any entries written for it, and then it changed back after people had started writing things for the original theme. It was only November's SSOTM comp. that went awry, other than that I don't really see what's particuarly 'wrong' with the rules or why they need to be changed; which I think debating about has actually been the cause for the lack of participation for last month's competition (which is exactly what it is - a competition, a bit of fun - so why are we all getting worked up over it? ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struff Bunstridge Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I didn't vote partly due to time constraints; I didn't have time to participate, and I didn't have time to read the submissions in enough depth to do them justice. I also think that, while E is absolutely correct in his analysis of what went wrong, there's no need to question the longevity of the competition based on one quiet month. Given the confusion around the changes Lochie made, it's no wonder few people contributed and voted. I say, let's get a good theme going, and kick start what was, for the first three months, an outstanding competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoda Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Well as far as I can see, there's a lot of community spirit here already. I don't know about you Phil, but this competition is far from over. Like Struff said, we need a good theme and we'll give it twelve bells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unvirginiser Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Easy now Phil, chill out mate. So, I've had the choice of voting for Phil or Carbine. Carbine, I felt, was a direct rip off from mine, he basically took my idea and changed it just enough to pass it off as original. I realise it's not an original idea in general, but I mean original for this month. Phil, I've not voted for you for the reasons I explained in my feedback. It was a good piece, I just felt that it didn't deserve to win, that's all. This month has been a f*ck up, we need solid ground rules that the led-bys need to sort out. So c'mon lads, let's get this competition back on track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struff Bunstridge Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 The ground rules are there, they've always been there and as far as I know they haven't changed. I think they're fine as they are. The only problem was the theme, and the only reason I can see for it not working was that people didn't like it. Well, if that's the case, we all need to shout up far sooner than we did; I'll hold my hands up there, and I feel most others ought to as well. Let's have a theme announced asap so we can crack on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoda Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 (edited) Since Eminence is the official runner of SSOTM while Phusion's gone, I've taken the liberty of delcaring UV the winner and pinning his topic seeing as we're way past the voting deadline date. New theme will be up soon. Edited December 3, 2008 by Masterkraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eminence Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 You can sit there Emi and complain. But it seems to me, that we have to all take in what you say, while you ignore what us the participates are saying. I haven't ignored anything you're saying, and I myself have spoken up and said that I, too, was unhappy about the theme being changed. But you're right, you were childish, and to not vote because of that is stupid. I won't back down from that. Nor have I stated the competition is going downhill or is 'over', as some of you may seem. My point is that it's extremely annoying that, in effect, you all expect things to be done for you and yet you won't do them for others. My point is that we do have a strong community here, but my question is: where was it for the past month? Participation is key, whether you like it or not. Unvirginiser, my respect for you couldn't be any lower right now, and quite frankly I'm appalled at your response. Don't tell me to f*cking chill and then pull off some pathetic excuse for not voting like that, you hypocritical and arrogant excuse for a writer. You didn't vote because you wanted to win, end of. Just own up and say it, say how shallow your participation in the matter is. You didn't vote because mine didn't deserve to win - so what did? Yours? Way to be modest; way to be part of the community. I haven't said this competition is over. But you people need to realise that without the participation of everyone here, whether they like it or not, then it is. So you need to put aside your pathetic excuses and participate. If you don't have the time, then fine - but don't discard your vote because you're too arrogant or childish to do otherwise. The theme didn't ruin this month's competition, and neither did Phusion's theme changing decision. You all did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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