Competition: Variations on a theme 3 (Cinderella)

Oryx

Wow, what a high standard with all of them. Choosing is going to take some time!

ToasterSparks

Ugh, I hate you all, you all write too well. I don't stand a chance.

Really enjoyed reading all the entries, well done again!

pickarooney

Phew, got finished! Great selection of stories there. Having copied and pasted before I read, I tried to match each one up with its writer based on previous entries but failed miserably. There are one or two in there which show huge improvements from earlier competitions, by the way.

I'm not sure there are many suitable for bedtime stories though

P.S. those of you who have sigs linking to this thread, if you can change them to the voting thread ( http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055928167 ) it will get the window-shoppers to the right place that bit quicker.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Really high standard again this time - I could've voted for nearly all those stories... Not a chance of me winning this time anyway - will have to truly bring my A-game to the next competition...
Have we had any ideas for the next competition yet?

pickarooney

I think a one-hour write-off should be considered, even outside the regular competitions.

I've nothing else to propose just now though.

Oryx

Im sitting here thinking I entered the wrong story out of the two I had. Nuts.

Id like to post up the other for opinion, but should I wait till voting ends?

And this time I am absolutely staying out of all discussion on the next competition. Honest.

pickarooney

There are at least three of you with stories that were not entered, partially entered or pulled from competition. Maybe give it a couple of days and post them somewhere?

Antilles

I had two ideas for this competition. The first ended up being the story I wrote. The second never really got off the ground, but would have dealt with Prince Charming being confronted as a wide-area bigamist by Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. That's kind of close to story 15, so I'm glad I didn't write it

Dublin141

Have to say I'm a bit embarrassed by my entry. I found this one really hard to do. The word limit killed me for some reason. I was hoping everyone would have as much trouble but not a chance.

Great competition this time though, I haven't a clue who I want to vote for yet! I think each month has seen an improvement overall so looking forward to the next one already.

Antilles

pickarooney wrote: »

I think a one-hour write-off should be considered, even outside the regular competitions.

I've nothing else to propose just now though.

Not wanting to put you on the spot, but what format would that take?

Daemos

Agreed with the high quality comments. Have only read through 9 stories so far and I already like more than I did after reading all 13 the last time.

I didn't submit anything this time because I couldn't think of anything good. The best I could think of was some drug-trip idea where the main character is hallucinating, but couldn't come up with much more so I decided to abandon it and just sit back this time.

angelll

Antilles wrote: »

Not wanting to put you on the spot, but what format would that take?

I think i'd do very well at this,lol. You could announce a theme at say 8.55 pm and all entries must be in by ten pm?

Antilles

Well I think it would need to be announced ahead of schedule, i.e. we decide today that at 9pm-10pm on 12th June, all entrants will have to submit a 500 word flash fiction, with the topic decided in advance by a moderator but only announced at 9pm on the date selected.

angelll

Sounds good.....a boards.ie write off

pickarooney

Antilles wrote: »

Well I think it would need to be announced ahead of schedule, i.e. we decide today that at 9pm-10pm on 12th June, all entrants will have to submit a 500 word flash fiction, with the topic decided in advance by a moderator but only announced at 9pm on the date selected.

That's exactly what I was thinking, but choosing a time that suits could be difficult. Personally there's not a single time-slot where I know I'd be free.

Oryx

I would love the write off idea but couldnt do it either, I only have a pc at work so can only do my own stuff if its quiet.

pickarooney

If we could get at least five people who were sure to be able to have a specific hour free, I could probably make sure to be there to post up the opening at that time. I think this would be better as a side-project thuogh as too many people won't be able to make it.

Keep other ideas coming for the main monthly one. I was mulling over an earlier idea of giving the first and last lines and giving free rein to write between them, but I'm not sure how well that would go down.

Another thing is the word limit - it caused a few problems this time. Anyone feel like expanding it or is it best to restrict it so as not to ask too much from the casual reader?

Wantobe

How about putting people on their honour on the one-hour write off thing?

Put the theme/story up with a spoiler, ask people to only look at it when they are going to actually write it and put them on their honour to do it in an hour.

I can't see anyone cheating deliberately ( unless you're going to put a car up as a prize or something?:P Cause if so, bets off).

pickarooney

Hand on heart, if it were me doing it and I ran 5 minutes over in finishing off the last paragraph I probably wouldn't admit it. I think the idea that other people are doing the same thing at the same time would add to it also.

The Sparrow

I think the hour long write off is a great idea. the honour system could work but I think it would be better to try and find a time that works for everyone. That way it would be much more immediate and fun to do. It would be great to pretty much immediately see what everyone else has done after finishing your story.

Mr E

It'd be a great challenge, I'm definitely up for it.

My stories (for the competitions) are pretty much written by the middle of the month, and then I have around 10 days to tweak, edit and adjust. Putting something up that is raw with minimal editing would be a new experience for me.

Count me in (assuming the date/time are right).

Antilles

Great! How does 3am Saturday morning suit people?

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Antilles wrote: »

Great! How does 3am Saturday morning suit people?

Suits me better than any other time to be honest... I work nights and sleep days, so thats an ideal time for me... Can't see many going for it though...

pickarooney

I'm usually awake at that hour, so it's fine for me.

Mr E

I'm game.

(I fear Señor Antilles was joking though!)

Daemos

I love the 1 hour write-off idea. I'd be free most days, so I'm 90% sure I'll be available.

pickarooney

We have a new leader!

pickarooney

4-way tie at the moment Those percentages in the poll make no sense though.

Mr E

4 people on 6 points (out of a total of 18 voters). 6 into 18 is 3, or 33.3%.
Just as well you're Creative Writing mod, not Maths mod.

/ducks

No comments on some recent votes though... are you going to weed those out from the final count?

pickarooney

Mr E wrote: »

4 people on 6 points (out of a total of 18 voters). 6 into 18 is 3, or 33.3%.
Just as well you're Creative Writing mod, not Maths mod.

/ducks

You're doing that waiter with the 3 pounds change trick! The total percentages add up to 211 - 4 stories have a third of the votes each.
I suppose it's supposed to mean 1/3 of all voters chose went for this?

No comments on some recent votes though... are you going to weed those out from the final count?

I'll hunt them down and try get them to comment before the week is up.

Mr E

pickarooney wrote: »

You're doing that waiter with the 3 pounds change trick! The total percentages add up to 211 - 4 stories have a third of the votes each.
I suppose it's supposed to mean 1/3 of all voters chose went for this?

Hmmm... maybe its just as well I'm not maths mod either.

Daemos

pickarooney wrote: »

You're doing that waiter with the 3 pounds change trick! The total percentages add up to 211 - 4 stories have a third of the votes each.
I suppose it's supposed to mean 1/3 of all voters chose went for this?

Correct, because in multiple choice polls the percentages will never add up to 100%. Let's look at it small-scale. A poll with three options. Person A votes 1 & 2, B votes 1 & 3, C votes 2, D votes all three.

1 = 75% of people voted for it
2 = 75% of people voted for it
3 = 50% of people voted for it

So in multiple choice polls the percentages don't say the % of votes the options got, it's the % of people who voted for it

Antilles

Yes, but even if you were right, that would be one plus one plus two plus one, not one plus *two* plus one plus one.

Daemos

Okay, we've successfully turned this thread into Maths Corner :rolleyes:

What do you mean Antilles?

Wantobe

All this math... my head hurts. Sorry, 3am? Kidding, right? If not, count me out- unless the prize really is a car or something.:pac:

pickarooney

We need at least 5 people and a suitable timeslot. For me that timeslot would need to be between 8.30 AM and 5.30 PM, Monday to Friday, but if anyone else wants to drop teh flag and collect the PMs that's cool with me.

Mr E

Bank Holiday Monday, some time during the day?

pickarooney

What date is that? No bank holidys here until August.

I'm confused... I can only count 14 individual voters (and 13 comments) yet the poll says there have been 20 voters. If we count each individual vote there are 36, so where is this 20 coming from?

ToasterSparks

Can't we just trust the computerised percentages?


This Monday would be okay, but I'm sure people might be up to something for the Bank Holiday weekend. Maybe wait til voting is over in the Cinderella thread and wait until the weekend after?

pickarooney

ToasterSparks wrote: »

Can't we just trust the computerised percentages?


This Monday would be okay, but I'm sure people might be up to something for the Bank Holiday weekend. Maybe wait til voting is over in the Cinderella thread and wait until the weekend after?

Definitely wait for the voting to finish.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Personally I think a bank holiday is a bad idea for a competition - surely its one of the least likely days for people to free...
I'm not gonna suggest and alternative time, because times that suit me don't suit the rest of the world - I'm just gonna have to come to terms with the fact that 9to5ers ultimately have the world designed in their favour...

pickarooney

Alternatively....
Whoever wants to enter, PM me a time when you can set an hour aside. I'll confirm if I can be there. At the appointed time I'll send you the outline and expect a PM back 60 minutes later.
It should all be done within a 24-hour timeframe to keep the suspense factor though.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

That could work...

Antilles

Haha I was joking about the 3am

BTW pickarooney, any chance we could advertise this competition like we did the last one?

pickarooney

Antilles wrote: »

Haha I was joking about the 3am

BTW pickarooney, any chance we could advertise this competition like we did the last one?

Not really I'm afraid. There's only one site announcement possible at any time. Maybe ToasterSparks can tweet it (did I say that right?)

ToasterSparks

pickarooney wrote:

Maybe ToasterSparks can tweet it?

I could. I'm still updating, but I'm not sure if there's any point! Twitter is very overrated...



Also, I was thinking some time we could try writing a story where someone writes a couple of paragraphs, then pass the story on to someone else to continue the story until we reach an end. Less a competition and more a fun project, but I thought I'd mention the idea.

Antilles

ToasterSparks wrote: »

Also, I was thinking some time we could try writing a story where someone writes a couple of paragraphs, then pass the story on to someone else to continue the story until we reach an end. Less a competition and more a fun project, but I thought I'd mention the idea.

Count me out of that one - hate collaborative writing!

pickarooney

Just in case anyone is wondering, the last vote in the thread does appear to be included in the total even though the voter's name doesn't appear.

Antilles

Dublin141's vote? That username is showing up fine for me.

Antilles

So, is there a plan to continue this with a VOAT #4? Its been ages since I submitted my story and I'm itching to do another one