For those who wish to participate, or who wish to just look it over, please go to my forum, located at
http://www.munsil.net/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=55 .
In a flash challenge you are given a topic or trigger word, and a certain amount of time to write. In our challenge we are also allowing a certain period of time to participate, in order to be fair to our friends in other countries.
[Edited to add info on how it works]
After reading the rules and deciding to take the challenge, you go to the Flash Challenge #1 topic and read the top part of the post. The topic trigger word is hidden at the bottom of the post where you'll have to scroll down to find it. If you decide to do it, post that you are starting, then go look at the topic word. That sets the clock, and you have one hour to write and then email me the response. I will post your response anonymously as a Guest[number].
After the open period is over I will create a poll and ask everyone to vote on whose flash they liked best. You are also welcome to comment on or critique flashes as replies to the anonynmous posts. When the voting is over I'll wait a week or so and delete all the posts.
Anyone is welcome to suggest a topic.
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited April 01, 2005).]
By the way, any joy on the automated challenge system?
Anyone who desires to start early, may. Just please respect the "write for 1 hour after reading the topic" rule. Reading the topic triggers your start time. Also, please take note of the way that I am asking you to post, as a 'guest'.
Please do not blame ME for the the topic (aka trigger word). HSO picked it. (that's my story and I'm sticking with it)
By the way, there's an interesting connection between Writer's Block and free-writing (flash challenges are a form of free-writing) in the latest newsletter from:
W R I T I N G W O R L D
A World of Writing Information - For Writers Around the World
Issue 5:07 March 31, 2005
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited April 01, 2005).]
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited April 01, 2005).]
In this case, though, I suggest you put your creative hat on, as HSO's topic is an 'interesting' one.
That's what you get for making me a villain! Now your name will be cursed by all those who partake of the challenge! Some might even be *gasp* offended.
Oops. I didn't read the rules at all... then I posted while logged in. And then I deleted that post and posted again in the wrong place (not logged in)...
But then again, I don't often look at instruction manuals these days. I used to, though -- I wonder when that changed...
STARTS AT: 0:00 April 2, 2005 (these are your times)
And I posted after midnight... so ptthbb!
[This message has been edited by HSO (edited April 01, 2005).]
--Mel
Some pretty gruesome stories, though.
I hope some more of you flash; there's no telling what we'll see next.
Go here: http://www.munsil.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=200
Will there be more flash stories before midnight arrives? Who will be the victor of the first Flash Challenge?
Stay tuned, viewers.
It's in the nature of flash challenges to be, well, challenges. Yes, the trigger word is a bit strange, but I did include a definition. How about if next time one of you guys choose a trigger word, phrase, saying or picture?
If anyone is interested, here is where I found that word: http://phrontistery.info/
Also, would the flashers please comment on the flashes in a critiquing sense? Not a full-blown critique of course, just something that will help the author take his/her piece and turn it into a finished product.
Additionally, please make any suggestions you can on the process of flashing as we did it this time. Was it easy, hard? Is there a better way? We will ultimately be using web-based software to run the flash, but until then we must continue it this way. So, any suggestions are welcome and will be passed along to the person designing it.
Penultimately, I will be deleting the flashes from the site on Wednesday, so if you flashers choose to reveal who you are after the voting closes, please do it Tuesday.
And finally, would someone please volunteer to choose a trigger word or topic for next week so that I can participate? I will show you what you have to do to post it, and then I will take it from there. The challenge can be a trigger word, a phrase, a poem, or an image, and I will consider music as well.
Ciao
mikemunsil
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited April 03, 2005).]
quote:
Additionally, please make any suggestions you can on the process of flashing as we did it this time. Was it easy, hard? Is there a better way?
Aside that a few of us failed to follow the instructions properly, myself included, it wasn't hard. The word was perhaps challenging, and I noticed that you adjusted the definition of UTRICIDE part way through the contest -- perhaps to make the meaning clearer -- yet I don't think that should have been done. Nevertheless, it happened... no worries.
A couple of points to discuss about the submission process:
I don't feel the stories should be posted up until after the contest. Even though it's an honor system with looking at the keyword, there isn't anything stopping anyone from reading the prior submissions before writing their own. I feel the contest should be done with blind subs -- no one seeing the entries until after the contest ends. Then, all stories are posted at once, each in its own topic... along with the poll.
Second... don't take down the stories so quickly once they are posted. We need a little time to crit them or read them and vote. I've only read three so far.... So, I feel the poll should last at least half of a week. Maybe even a week.
Third. Is the poll setup to prevent unfair "padding" of the results? I'm not suggesting that anyone would cheat by voting for their own story several times -- okay I am suggesting that. It depends on the poll setup (i.e., can only members vote?) and if not then participants should be excluded from the vote for the fairest vote. Also, the flash admin for that week must also be excluded from the vote, because he will know who wrote what story.
Which means, fourthly, that we need outside voters to judge the stories. Yet, this requires participation on a level that maybe few will be interested in doing. Who knows?
My thoughts on the subject. Anyone?
quote:
I don't feel the stories should be posted up until after the contest. Even though it's an honor system with looking at the keyword, there isn't anything stopping anyone from reading the prior submissions before writing their own. I feel the contest should be done with blind subs -- no one seeing the entries until after the contest ends. Then, all stories are posted at once, each in its own topic... along with the poll.
I don't have any problem with that. Anybody else care to weigh in?
quote:
Second... don't take down the stories so quickly once they are posted. We need a little time to crit them or read them and vote. I've only read three so far.... So, I feel the poll should last at least half of a week. Maybe even a week.
The reason to rake down the stories so quickly was to preserve as much as possible the ability of the authors to sell them later. At the moment, because we do not have 'flashing software', I had a choice to make: either force everyone to register at Liberty Hall in order to set that forum as private, or minimize the duration that the stories were on the web. Many people I know use flash to generate salable stories. Some editors will tell you that they do a web search to see if a story is published on the web somewhere before deciding to accept it. I didn't want to restrict access to this first flash challenge, and I didn't want to hurt anyone's chances of publishing their story. This was the best compromise I could make at this time. So, unless so,eone can suggest a better compromise, that won't change until the software is ready or everyone agrees to register at the site in order to participate.
quote:
Third. Is the poll setup to prevent unfair "padding" of the results? I'm not suggesting that anyone would cheat by voting for their own story several times -- okay I am suggesting that. It depends on the poll setup (i.e., can only members vote?) and if not then participants should be excluded from the vote for the fairest vote. Also, the flash admin for that week must also be excluded from the vote, because he will know who wrote what story.
The forum software makes it impossible to see the poll results until you vote, and impossible to vote more than once. So, I think this is fair. Again, until the flashing software is implemented, we will have to compromise.
Good comments! What do you think of what I have said above? Anyone else?
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited April 04, 2005).]
And anyway, I didn't even vote for my own story. There was one that was a clear standout from all of the others and original -- to me anyway. I suspect others will likely agree.
http://www.munsil.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=206
The poll, if it displays properly for you, will give you all nine choices. Choose the one you want and hit submit.
It looks different for me now, I've already voted... so I might be slighty off here.
mm
Or, go to the site and register. I'll temporarily change the registration option to make registration instantaneous. After you register, if you'd rather not stay registered, please let me know and I'll delete your registration fortwith.
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited April 04, 2005).]
quote:
The forum software makes it impossible to see the poll results until you vote, and impossible to vote more than once. So, I think this is fair. Again, until the flashing software is implemented, we will have to compromise.
This isn't quite true. I tried to vote without logging in (to see if it would work) and it only showed me the results. I had to log in to vote.
quote:
So, unless so,eone can suggest a better compromise, that won't change until the software is ready or everyone agrees to register at the site in order to participate.
Personally, I didn't have a problem with registering. I think a private forum is a good idea. The only thing is that anyone who wants to read the stories to vote would also need to register.
--Mel
Not everyone wants to be registered, though. Too bad, that would make it easier, but I can certainly understand.
Or you could temporarily register and vote, then ask me to delete you as a registered user.
--Mel
#2 starts this coming Friday.