Creative Writing discussion

Is there anything that anyone would like to see added or anything that might be changed for the better? Please ask and explain why you would like that change or why you think it is needed.

May I make a "Grammar Help" topic? I think that's fairly selfexplanatory.

lol, i was going to do this too. But you can, go ahead and do it. thanks

You're welcome. Where should I put it?

In the folder where it belongs. >:O

KAT, THAT'S NOT HELPFUL. DO I PUT IT UNDER 'general' OR 'Other'?

:D I don't know! :) You're welcome.

*headdesk.*

:D
Well make a folder called 'Help' and then put it in there. Then also make another topic called 'Complaints' and... 'Dying' in it! :)
Like Dying would be like Iso's situation, so that you can tell people bout it.

Kat, you're the mod.

lol, i will help if possible.

Kat, explain "dying". and at the moment, i would just put it under general.

I was joking. Sorry, my efficent attitude got tarnished for a second. :P

As a suggestion regarding the judging of the contests: last time, several people voted for themselves. I did not look at who voted, since that is impossible for me. I used inductive reasoning. It's not a fair way to vote, at all. I suggest we find one or more people who will not enter (or if they enter, they will not choose themselves) to be a judge/the judges.

thank you for saying that. and yeah, that is probably what is going to happen now. I will get three people to judge the entries and vote on them.

I am sorry, i won't vote for myself next time... i am sorry.

We could ask Ivan to judge if he was willing to read all of that. I think though, the easiest way would to host a poll. An email would be sent out, and people would have to swear that they read every entry and go on the honest code. They couldn't vote for themselves or just vote for someone because they're their BFF.

that might be too hard. and we don't want to single anyone out and then make them choose. So i think that it should be the MOD's responsibility to choose who deserves to win.

Mods should be able to vote for themselves either, but if the 4 of us just decide on one, then at least we could have a winner each timee. And we could still vote for each other in we truly thought they were the best.

Iviana (The Sign Painter!) wrote: "As a suggestion regarding the judging of the contests: last time, several people voted for themselves. I did not look at who voted, since that is impossible for me. I used inductive reasoning. It's..."

Most of us might be actually curious to see if anyone votes for us at all to determine how much interest our writings actually generate...but if the heat builds up there might be a temptation for a few to drop a vote on their own writing all the more because John did mention it could be done. I for one didn't and Amanda/Puppip didn't.

Seeing how there might be competitive misgivings later there is a simple way to equalize on this...By default ask everyone who has written to vote for themselves first?

Also as this is a friendly contest we could alsways have people sharing the first , second and third places...the whole purpose is to get people to write more and to encourage them to continue to participate , right :-)?

I want to say that I don't know how to join any of the rps because
1. They're too dang long
2. It's confusing on how it's set up...
3. And I don't know what a pass on story is, so I won't exactly know what you mean that rp's are similar to those.

Story weaver:

I think that what is going to happen is that we are going to just either have people share first place or have the mods vote on which they like.

Ji Mei ^_^: This is not a role playing group. At first it was but that is getting withered out because of non-active members.

For Pass on stories, yes they are long, but they are worth reading just to join. And yes you have to read all of the story to join in. And by join in, i just mean continue the story. That is all you do.

Pass on stories--- continue where someone left off.

As for the one Role playing story that we are doing, To Accept a Command, you cannot join that one because there was a first one and no new characters are needed.



Sorry that is was confusing to you. I need to redo most of the information threads.

A small suggestion.
Mods voting would make it quite professional ....all the more if we could have a categorized display of total score based on evaluation criteria

1. Presentation style
2. Story continuity / Flow
3. Grammar
4. Story appeal
5. Miscellaneous...

5 criteria, 2 marks each ....so like a perfect dive in swimming getting good score cards displayed...the Mods might have a total of say 7+8+7+8.....

This way there is a uniform protocol of evaluation (thus , made easy to evaluate) and contributors will try to improve upon their skills and scores...

Great going John! You might want to include Poem writing contests too. Restrictions enhance creative requirement ....waiting (eagerly) for your next contest with restrictions built in ;)

i have the next one in mind (personally my favorite idea but forgot it when i was making this contest thread.)

and thank you for putting that input. I think that we will have to do that now It probably is the best way.


And we might also ask the contestants to do that. But they can't do that for their own story.

Hee hee :) contestants doing it is cute and naughty...reminds me the lower classes in school when we were asked to swap multiple choice test papers and correct them once the 'key' /answers were provided

It would be a nice thing to try. If contestants could be forthright enough they could even include a tiny summary like this " well written, excellent prose, slightly confusing storyline, but on the whole good' along with the 5 category marks 2+1+1+2+1

Gives the story writer excellent feedback .. even if it is constructive criticism.

yes. but for now... we will just have the mods do it and any one that wants to. To reduce confusion.

Let the Mods decide for now.

If we want additional input like the feedback ratings of a TV show you could have a parallel thread ' Contest 1, contestants evaluations ' in which each contestant (only if all are willing) evaulates all stories other than his/her own..... Carries a tiny bit of the 'risk' of honesty hurting though...

Its like that story....who is to bell the cat eh? :)

The Mods will do fine don't worry. For now let's keep writing...keep the contests coming !

Brilliant, I say, brilliant! My goodness. Now that's a great idea. It gives people feeback on their stories as well as picking a winner. That totally reminds me of school and grading each others papers.

Dark Angel wrote: "Brilliant, I say, brilliant! My goodness. Now that's a great idea. It gives people feeback on their stories as well as picking a winner. That totally reminds me of school and grading each other..."

:) and participants will (at least grudgingly) respect a co-participant's views/evaluations better (I sincerely hope)

As it is an in house contest we can always 'try' and learn from our various approaches . Perfect 'win-win' right ? :)

you win. see if you can understand what i put for the judging contests thread.

I am but a novice when it comes to poetry
Rhyme and reason to me is still a mystery :)
But a poem that is a story is the best
Can we have this 'restriction' in the contest :)

Rather than random poems, you could give us a theme/rules/restrictions like Story Contest 1

See U around John, over and out, P

Poems aren't about rhyming,
Their about creating a story with limited words and a continuous flow. Rhyming is just a contributor to the flow.

I think that we are just going to have separated contests for Poems and Stories. I put a poll up for people to vote.

And yeah, Rhyming could be a restriction sometimes but not all the time.

Also, poems are but leaving room for the reader to make it theirs...
Sorry I went on a rant. My English teacher signed my yearbook and took up half a page describing how passionate I was about writing and how deep they were. She didn't even see my really good poems. I like showed her one sonnet. XD It was hilarious.

lol but i think that i'll make the poerty contest thing tomorrow.

YES! *does a happy dance*

I am pulling legs :) , right royally maybe :) Do I Catalyze discussions or what ? :)
Great flow of inputs.
Great that people who are good at Poetry can showcase their skills in the Contests Zone ...and guys like me can join in too pretending to write poems .

Same!

John wrote: "Same!"
Serious?Naaw now U R doing the leg pulling :)! I thought you'd excel at poetry too .... In a perverse way I am glad I have company....But do let's try John, no harm :)
Guess Kat, Ivi and our other in house poets could give us a few pointers. I for one will stick to my (nursery?) Rhyme style or maybe the style of a Limmerick

Let the fun begin....double fold...with poetry contests and story contests :) Yippee :)

Lol, I was boasting before. Not that good of a poet.

I do have a poem published in a book actually. But so do half the kids in my grade. We all had to enter a contest and most of them got put into poetry books.

(it was really lame)


but yeah. im not good at poetry.

Contest Judging
Superb Work John!
-Crystal clear guidelines
- It isn't mandatory as to how many people would like to evaluate...anyone who wants to follows the guidelines
-You are aware of the points and can appraise contestants 'personally' (by personal message) preventing flaming (master stroke)

Once again , simply superb, am proud of the way you executed the process into an ironclad user friendly member friendly system :)

OH John! I am sorry!!! I didn't know this place was active!!! I just read everything :) If you ever need anything done by other mods im here :)

John wrote: "I do have a poem published in a book actually. But so do half the kids in my grade. We all had to enter a contest and most of them got put into poetry books.

(it was really lame)


but yeah. im no..."

You should put a bunch of poems together and get it published at least on e-book. It is always good to start the path than to always wonder what if.

SW: Thank you! couldn't have done it without you.

Asami: No problem. You are on almost every day.

Ivan: But im not good. I don't enjoy writing poetry that much. I would rather write something that goes places and gets in depth with everything. ;)

John wrote: "SW: Thank you! couldn't have done it without you.

Asami: No problem. You are on almost every day.

Ivan: But im not good. I don't enjoy writing poetry that much. I would rather write something tha..."

I used to say the same thing about my writing, but the moment I started singing and writing songs, others were telling me different. I didn't believe them and stopped writing and now I find myself bursting with words that I feel I have to give them a chance or I will regret it until I die. Showcase your poetry and let others judge because we are our thoughest critics. You never know how great they could be to somebody else.