Announcing a Short-Story Contest

[MissT74]

I'm so in.

T

[Dan87]

I'm gonna crush this.

BTW I think that stories should be submitted anonymously like the MSPaint competition, that way the work gets credited not the poster.

[mbillie1]

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I'm gonna crush this.

BTW I think that stories should be submitted anonymously like the MSPaint competition, that way the work gets credited not the poster.

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I like this idea too

[Blarg]

I like that idea. The only thing is, it would make productive back and forth discussions about the stories, by ruling out author participation, impossible until after the contest was over, by which point a lot of people would have lost interest even in their own submissions, probably.

Then again, a great back and forth between posters about the flaws of a story could overwhelm the value of any story itself, and even encourage one to vote for a mediocre story just because a kind of shared experience developed around it. So while commentary is very valuable and entertaining, choosing to make commentary easy has its problems and could seriously undermine a fair selection process.

I guess it depends on what it is that people really want out of the contest -- something more fair but probably much less entertaining and with lower participation, or something entertaining all the way through that may make an unprejudiced selection extremely difficult.

[eviljeff]

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I'm gonna crush this.

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side bet?

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BTW I think that stories should be submitted anonymously like the MSPaint competition, that way the work gets credited not the poster.

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I thought about this too. If the emphasis of this contest is on competition, then this should definitely be done. If the emphasis is on community, then no.

[mbillie1]

I just felt like this thread could use another mbillie1 post.

Actually, I'd really like to receive unbiased criticism on my writing, although I'm not hugely about competition with others on the forum (over writing, anyway). But I would appreciate the opportunity anonymity would afford people to criticize without bias.

[Zutroy]

I wouldn't really mind either way but, if forced to choose, anonymous submissions would be my preference. It just seems like people would be more willing to give constructive and honest criticism that way. Again, thought, I really don't mind either way.

[Dan87]

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I'm gonna crush this.

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side bet?

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No because I don't write creative stories, I would just write one for fun.

[daveT]

This is a valid concern, pretty much brought up by people who do not participate in the Lounge often. I understand their fears of being excluded.

I am not for or against it. I like both arguments. I guess Katy will have to decide that one.

I am sure that a few posters sit on a higher pedestal than others. Writing a worse than expected story will drop their chances, and posters on a lower pedestal will have a better chance if their stories are better than expected. I many ways, the benefit goes toward the unknown posters.

[mbillie1]

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I many ways, the benefit goes toward the unknown posters.

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Or the people who are well known but disliked... lol