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The good morning, good night thread

Started by Ed, October 22, 2007, 03:49:05 AM

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leatherdykeuk

Quote from: Geoff_N on July 13, 2010, 05:33:49 PM

Would I do it again? Absolutely yes.


Eek! I was the 2008 prose judge and I honestly don't know how i found the time to do anything *but* read and judge. I was thankful in the later rounds when people started dropping out.

Rachel

Pharosian

Quote from: Geoff_N on July 13, 2010, 05:33:49 PM

Would I do it again? Absolutely yes.


You mean judge? Or have you entered as a contestant before? Would you enter again? Or the first time?

Geoff_N

Quote from: Pharosian on July 13, 2010, 07:44:30 PM
Quote from: Geoff_N on July 13, 2010, 05:33:49 PM

Would I do it again? Absolutely yes.


You mean judge? Or have you entered as a contestant before? Would you enter again? Or the first time?

I mean as a judge. I've never been a contestent for the Whittaker. I have often entered comps but I can't envisage being able to be so productive as you have to be in the Whittaker, rewarding though it might be!

delph_ambi

It's much, much easier being the poetry judge simply because poems are much, much shorter. One in round eight was only one line long this year. Although there's no minimum wordcount for the prose section, I bet nobody quite has the nerve to enter a tiny flash. This year they've tried to reduce the prose judging workload problem by having two prose judges, but I think that's proving a problem for the contestants as they can't start to tailor their work to the taste of the judge as they go along (which for me is half the fun of the challenge).


delboy

QuoteI never knew people could make a living out of playing recorder.

During the Cumbrian shooting spree there was mention that one of the victims was the local mole catcher. That was another occupation that I'd never considered anyone could make a living at (or that such a role even existed) but a few weeks later there was an article in our local paper about our mole catcher. He catches upwards of 6000 moles a year and does, apparantly, a vital job.

Great characters for stories...  a mole catcher and a professional recorderist are thrown together to battle the forces of evil quietly gathering in the rural concert halls of 21st century Great Britain...

Derek
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Pharosian

Quote from: delph_ambi on July 14, 2010, 03:30:31 AM
This year they've tried to reduce the prose judging workload problem by having two prose judges, but I think that's proving a problem for the contestants as they can't start to tailor their work to the taste of the judge as they go along (which for me is half the fun of the challenge).


Mmmm, I wouldn't say that. Three of my first four entries scored from 2 to 7 points below the median, but my last four scored 6 to 15 points above the median. For me, the biggest problem is that one of the judges took a week to ten days to return the scores, where the other one always had them back within a day or two. I much preferred the faster turnaround!

delph_ambi

Yes, fast turnaround is infinitely preferable! I've found it frustrating when I've got all the poetry scores to Donna within a day or so, and then had to wait over a week to see them posted. One of the prose judges is certainly taking his/her time this year.

I should have said 'some of the contestants' in my last post. I know from what some have been saying to me (and I've been very good and NOT talked directly to anyone who's been doing poetry, just prose) this has definitely been the case - as I know it was for me last year, as I tried each round to craft a story closer and closer to Geoff's taste, my reasoning being that if he had half a dozen stories each equally well-crafted, he wouldn't be able to help a tiny bit of subjectivity creeping in to separate them out score-wise.

Geoff_N

Yes, it can pay off to research or learn what the judge's personal tastes are. I'd hope that my passion for sensual Show leads to powerful writing after the comp anyway, and some writers were already doing that. I agree that a flash would find it difficult to score with last year's categories for points - it requires about 2k words for characters and plot to develop - as a rule.

Ed

I'm not sure how I'd go about writing a story that you'd like, Geoff. I don't think you've liked anything I've written yet :scratch: I think I'd be scuppered if you were the judge :afro:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Rev. Austin

Of Dirt and Dust has got TONS of sensual Show in it!  I think I filled 70% of the word count up with it lolololol  :2funny: but seriously, that's something I am very aware of ever since a few crits ago, and try to include, but some stories really, really deserve it more than others, I reckon.

Anyway, went to my friends for tea tonight, because he said he had a small surprise for me.  His girlfriend ended up inviting a couple of other people along (including my housemate) and she cooked a three course meal!  Roasted butternut squash, Moroccan lamb, home-made lemon cheesecake - very posh!  We also had these shots of gin filled with pomegranate seeds - I love gin but this was a bit much even for me  :grin: then the surprise - we went through to the lounge, and he said 'close yours eyes and tell me what this is, going purely by sound' and it ended up being a DVD version of one of my favourite films, In The Mouth of Madness, which I didn't think was possible to get on DVD in this country.  A very nice sweet surprise indeed, and a really lovely evening.  On Friday night we're going to do some snail racing!
facebook.com/waynegoodchildishaunted
Stay in touch! I don't mean that in a pervy way.

Pharosian


delph_ambi

Our country is small, Pharo. If we race anything faster than snails, they fall off the edge.

Ed

Quite so - I've lost track of the number of damn fine racing beetles I've lost to the briny off Land's End. Tsk... :/
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Geoff_N

Quote from: Ed on July 14, 2010, 01:29:37 PM
I'm not sure how I'd go about writing a story that you'd like, Geoff. I don't think you've liked anything I've written yet :scratch: I think I'd be scuppered if you were the judge :afro:

Hey, you mustn't equate a tough critique with not liking a story. I certainly liked your running novella you used to have in the Crit weeks.

Rev. Austin

Quote from: Pharosian on July 14, 2010, 08:05:35 PM
snail racing?   :scratch:
:grin:

My friend's made a large circle of wood, and collected a whole load of garden snails, and he's going to put them all in the centre of the circle, and the first snail past the edge wins!

I do live in Scunthorpe, so it's either snail racing for entertainment or get someone pregnant  :2funny:
facebook.com/waynegoodchildishaunted
Stay in touch! I don't mean that in a pervy way.