Escape Artists
The Arcade => Flash Contest VI => Completed Contests => Flash Fiction Contest VI - PseudoPod => Topic started by: Bdoomed on August 11, 2019, 03:57:32 AM
-
ATTENTION: The forums are currently undergoing maintenance. As such, new members may experience issues registering accounts. If you are experiencing issues, please email me at brian@escapeartists.net and I can try to help you sort things out. At the very least, I'll have your email on a shortlist to notify you when the forums are operational again. The goal is to have the forums fully updated and operational by the time the flash fiction contest begins!
The PseudoPod Flash Fiction Contest VI will begin on October 1, 2019!!!
We have received a total of 170 stories. They will be divided into 16 groups! 11 of them will have 11 stories, and 5 of them will have 10 stories!
First Round
Groups will be posted every TWO days which translates to....
October 1: Group 1 posted
October 3: Group 2 posted
October 5: Group 3 posted
October 7: Group 4 posted
October 8: Bdoomed's birthday, a day of rest
October 9: Group 5 posted
October 11: Group 6 posted
October 13: Group 7 posted
October 15: Group 8 posted
October 17: Group 9 posted
October 19: Group 10 posted
October 21: Group 11 posted
October 23: Group 12 posted
October 25: Group 13 posted
October 27: Group 14 posted
October 29: Group 15 posted
October 31: Group 16 posted
YOU (yes, you) get to decide which stories in each group are the best! Each community member can vote on up to three stories (but you don't HAVE to vote for three! If you only like one, vote for one!) to move on to the next round. These polls will be open for 1 week for each group. (That's 7 whole days to have an opinion!)
Quarter Finals
Quarter finals will consist of four groups of 12 stories that make it past the first round.
Quarter final polls will be up for 1 week each. That's another 7 whole days to have an opinion!
Quarter finals will start once the four first-round groups finish, which means...
October 16: Quarterfinal 1 posted
October 23: Quarterfinal 2 posted
October 31: Quarterfinal 3 posted
November 8: Quarterfinal 4 posted
Semifinals
Semifinals will consist of two groups of six stories each that make it past the quarterfinals. Semifinal rounds will start once the requisite quarterfinal rounds have completed. This means...
October 29: Semifinal 1 posted
November 14: Semifinal 2 posted
THE FINAL ROUND
The final round will consist of the three winning stories from each semifinal group, which means six stories each battling for the crown! Only the top 3 will be named PseudoPod Flash Fiction Contest VI Winners, but as in years before, if our illustrious editorial staff enjoy a story enough, they may pick a runner up at their discretion as well.
November 22: Final Round posted
May the best stories win, and I hope everyone has as much fun reading as I do running this lovely contest!
RULES
A special Flash Fiction contest portal is open on Submittable (https://pseudopod.submittable.com/submit) and will close at midnight as August 31 changes over to 9/1. If the portal disappears, submissions are formally closed and will not reopen.
1. The story must be no more than 500 words long, not including its title. Do not use the title to skirt around the word count. Word count will be determined using Google Docs.
2. The story must adhere to the general Pseudopod submission guidelines. Most importantly, it needs to be a horror story; other genres, including science fiction and fantasy, are discouraged. As a general rule, we will take a very liberal view of what constitutes horror, but authors should note that past experience shows that stories which attempt to skirt the genre restriction tend to fare badly in the voting.
3. The story must be original and previously unpublished. Stories will be posted on a members-only portion of the forum, so first publication rights will not be spent if your story does not win.
The person submitting the story must be the story's author (or acting for the author with express permission) and hold full publishing rights to the story. A story that is derived from a previous published work in another format (i.e. not a short story) is fine (assuming doing so isn't in violation of copyright, obviously).
If you are not sure whether your story counts as published or not (for example, if an earlier version has appeared on your blog but nowhere else), please write (PM or send a query to brian@escapeartists.net with the subject line "QUERY") and ask before submitting. Please do not submit stories that have been entries in a previous Escape Artists contest.
4. The story should be submitted in its final form, as the author intends it to be read by the voting public. We may or may not allow minor typo corrections if those slip in, but as a general rule, we will not allow authors to submit changes to stories, especially not after submissions are closed.
5. Each author may submit only one story.
Included the body of the submission should be the title and the text of your story. Any byline will be stripped when the stories are posted in the contest, and will be revealed when either the story fails to advance, or ultimately wins. Feel free to request a pseudonym for the byline, but we will need a legal name if you win for prize purposes.
Winners will be paid $40, making this a pro sale of at least eight cents a word.
Please blog, tweet, email, send postcards, telephone, summon demons, and otherwise get the word out.
EDIT [Fenrix]: Clarified portal closing - look at the Submittable portal to confirm when it is closing in your time zone.
-
Hey, sorry, I've been gone a while and I was wondering if this was similar to previous FF contests - are the entries submitted here, as you say, in the members-only forum? On the Submittable it looks all very private. I really enjoyed looking at everyone else's work and discussing it here. Is that not a part of this?
How is The Grinder a part of this, I've never used it before?
Thanks.
-
Hey MonsieurMoustache, the stories are submitted to Submittable and are posted here for discussion and voting. Stories in the contest will be made available once the submissions period is over and all submissions have been processed.
The submission grinder isn't really a part of this, that's just a boilerplate response you get from Submittable, as it's the same system we use to receive and process normal submissions to the magazine.
-
I have a question: After I submitted my contest entry I realized I was supposed to include a short author bio in the cover letter. Should I resubmit with that information, or should I wait till after the contest is over to include that info?
-
Go ahead and resubmit it, include a note in the re-submission so I can remember this thread :)
-
Hi there! My name is Martin, and I am new here (obviously). I hope we can get along well :)
-
Go ahead and resubmit it, include a note in the re-submission so I can remember this thread :)
Done! Do I withdraw the original submission?
-
Go ahead and resubmit it, include a note in the re-submission so I can remember this thread :)
Done! Do I withdraw the original submission?
Yes please :)
-
Go ahead and resubmit it, include a note in the re-submission so I can remember this thread :)
Done! Do I withdraw the original submission?
Yes please :)
And done. Thank you! :)
-
For what it's worth, the registration thing now works--which is how I'm able to make my first post and keep the site from kicking me off.
-
I can't wait to see everyone's entries!
-
I can't wait to see everyone's entries!
I can't wait to see my own entry! The first draft came really easily but then I had to do a lot of cutting to get it under 500 words, so I'm not entirely sure wtf I submitted and I'm afraid to reopen Google Docs and look. Ideally by the time we start voting I'll completely forget which story is mine. Perfect anonymity!
-
What are you looking for in a bio? I think I fail at bio writing.
-
Do we have a timeline for the opening of the first round, so that I can put that on my calendar? Thank you!
-
What are you looking for in a bio? I think I fail at bio writing.
That's all up to you. What would you want read out to an audience of listeners?
Do we have a timeline for the opening of the first round, so that I can put that on my calendar? Thank you!
Right around the 1st of October, but more specific details will come after the closing of the submissions period.
-
Well, I’m submitted as of last night at 11:30 (which I thought was just before the deadline but turns out August has 31 days. Who knew?) I could write a horror story about the hacking and slashing I had to do to get it down to 500 ;D. Looking forward to October and seeing everyone’s work!
-
Wow, a month between closure of submissions and the start of reading on the forums? That's surprising, but I guess that since each contest seems to get more entries, it simply takes more time to prep the entries and organize them behind the scenes.
Thanks for the information! :)
-
Wow, a month between closure of submissions and the start of reading on the forums? That's surprising, but I guess that since each contest seems to get more entries, it simply takes more time to prep the entries and organize them behind the scenes.
I agree, but as most of our contest entries happen in the first two days of the window and the last two days, we can't save a lot of work for the end of the submission period. A month allows for pulling the stories out of Submittable, making sure they conform to the guidelines, anonymizing them, and then setting up all the brackets invisibly behind a curtain which can be pulled back as the contest proceeds. We also like to mix stories submitted at the beginning of the deadline with stories from the end. It's reminiscent to assembling a collage by hand, and the folks like bDoomed that do this put in a heroic amount of effort to make these contest happen.
-
I did not add a bio either. I am glad I read this thread and will resubmit.
-
If you don't submit with a bio, it's not the end of the world -- we'll simply ask you for one if you win :) I wouldn't disqualify anyone for lack of a bio!
-
I have submitted my story and I do hope can get everyone's input to bettering my craft :)
-
I agree, but as most of our contest entries happen in the first two days of the window and the last two days, we can't save a lot of work for the end of the submission period. A month allows for pulling the stories out of Submittable, making sure they conform to the guidelines, anonymizing them, and then setting up all the brackets invisibly behind a curtain which can be pulled back as the contest proceeds. We also like to mix stories submitted at the beginning of the deadline with stories from the end. It's reminiscent to assembling a collage by hand, and the folks like bDoomed that do this put in a heroic amount of effort to make these contest happen.
Yep, as I said, I figured it was the growing hugeness of the contests that required more prep time. Having worked as an tech writer for many years, and having had to reformat stuff from forums into Word on my own a few times, I'm aware of just how much work reformatting can be, especially when there are no automatic tools to strip out metadata, artifacts from word processing programs, etc. So I salute bDoomed and the rest of the volunteers who do this thankless task! :)
-
What are you looking for in a bio? I think I fail at bio writing.
I don't think it matters too much because I THINK (correct me someone?) that in the event your story is chosen to be narrated, you'll be given a chance to submit a new bio anyway during the contract-signing bit.
-
Hello all, and good luck.
-
Cannot wait!
-
Thanks so much for hosting this, looking forward to some excellent work :D
-
I agree, but as most of our contest entries happen in the first two days of the window and the last two days, we can't save a lot of work for the end of the submission period. A month allows for pulling the stories out of Submittable, making sure they conform to the guidelines, anonymizing them, and then setting up all the brackets invisibly behind a curtain which can be pulled back as the contest proceeds. We also like to mix stories submitted at the beginning of the deadline with stories from the end. It's reminiscent to assembling a collage by hand, and the folks like bDoomed that do this put in a heroic amount of effort to make these contest happen.
Yep, as I said, I figured it was the growing hugeness of the contests that required more prep time. Having worked as an tech writer for many years, and having had to reformat stuff from forums into Word on my own a few times, I'm aware of just how much work reformatting can be, especially when there are no automatic tools to strip out metadata, artifacts from word processing programs, etc. So I salute bDoomed and the rest of the volunteers who do this thankless task! :)
All too true. I'm thinking of putting in a rule for next time that all bold and italicized text have to be formatted _like this_ instead of normal formatting. Most of the work is finding italics in the text and transferring those over, and depending on the typeface that's in the document, it can be pretty difficult to spot all of the italics.
Or maybe I'll look into some kind of scripting to automate it hehe.
-
I know someone who developed a plugin for Word that would do that for you. (And undoes smart quotes to ASCII standard, etc.) I often use that thing for markets that require this kind of formatting. It's not *pretty* by any means and tends to put the lines around _punctuation_, _as it were_, _rather oddly_, but give me automation with minimal cleanup any day over having to find all my italics in a 6k word story . . . let me ping him for you?
-
Could you post special formatting rules which would make your life easier? I suspect most submitters would be happy to comply.
-
I agree, but as most of our contest entries happen in the first two days of the window and the last two days, we can't save a lot of work for the end of the submission period. A month allows for pulling the stories out of Submittable, making sure they conform to the guidelines, anonymizing them, and then setting up all the brackets invisibly behind a curtain which can be pulled back as the contest proceeds. We also like to mix stories submitted at the beginning of the deadline with stories from the end. It's reminiscent to assembling a collage by hand, and the folks like bDoomed that do this put in a heroic amount of effort to make these contest happen.
Yep, as I said, I figured it was the growing hugeness of the contests that required more prep time. Having worked as an tech writer for many years, and having had to reformat stuff from forums into Word on my own a few times, I'm aware of just how much work reformatting can be, especially when there are no automatic tools to strip out metadata, artifacts from word processing programs, etc. So I salute bDoomed and the rest of the volunteers who do this thankless task! :)
All too true. I'm thinking of putting in a rule for next time that all bold and italicized text have to be formatted _like this_ instead of normal formatting. Most of the work is finding italics in the text and transferring those over, and depending on the typeface that's in the document, it can be pretty difficult to spot all of the italics.
Or maybe I'll look into some kind of scripting to automate it hehe.
I use a GoogleDocs plug-in that does a marvellous job of converting to HTML. It's just the click of a button. Here's a link to it https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/docs-to-markdown/igffnbdfnodiaphfmfaiiaegmoljbghf
It's worked well for me, but it's for HTML only. Is there CSS involved for this?
-
Data point: I would absolutely support a submission guidelines requirement to denote italics using MMD. It's pretty widespread--various discussion fora and blog comment editors utilize it, and Scrivener's MMD compile options seem popular--and it's easy to describe ("Please denote italics with asterisks, *like this,* ok?")
Whatever makes administering this contest easier on its administrators/facilitators, I can get behind that.
-
To keep things simple, is there any way to simply "lose" bold and italics? I.e. if someone submits but doesn't follow the "preferred" option, EscapeArtists don't have to do any work, it just comes through without that formatting? I doubt too many stories would suffer overly!
-
Some stories have underline, some have bold, some have italics, some have a bunch of nice paragraphs that get all jumbled together when there's not an extra space in between each paragraph. MS Word does a great job of adding spaces before and after each paragraph, but the forum does not. Some stories have nice indentations at the beginning of each paragraph. Sometimes that indentation gets carried over to the forums. Sometimes only SOME of those indentations get carried over to the forums. Other times, NONE of the indentations get carried over to the forums. Why? Heck if I know. Do I bother to save all the indentations? Only if most of them have been preserved in the copy/paste.
Do I painstakingly separate out each paragraph to have an extra space in between? You bet your sweet, sweet forumite butt I do. Why? Because legibility is amazing.
Do I want to create a big set of formatting rules so I don't have to do nearly as much work?
NO!
I want people to write and enjoy writing. I want people to submit and enjoy submitting. I want people to read stories and enjoy reading. I don't want people to get caught up in formatting hell.
Okay, sure, it wouldn't be THAT hard for someone to format their story, but where does it end? Are stories not qualified if they're not formatted properly? If someone doesn't pay enough attention to the rules, do they get a lazily copy/pasted story without proper attention to their formatting? Italics, underlines, etc. add depth to the reading experience, inform us how a story might be read aloud, and every story deserves proper treatment.
The contest is about writers established and new coming together in one place to battle to the bloody death in the spirit of friendship and healthy competition.
I'd rather not slap more rules on it.
:)
(but next year may have some _suggestions_ for formatting)
-
HEY, YOU.
Are you wondering when this contest is going to start? Are you at the edge of your seat?! Well wait no further, because the initial post of this thread has just been updated with the FULL SCHEDULE along with DATES, GROUP COUNT, and also DATES.
So, you know... go look.
Also FYI I'm on vacation from now until the 25th. I'll be checking the forums of course but responses will likely be delayed.
GO CHECK OUT THOSE DATES!
-
That is a very interesting way the other rounds are being done. Also I am surprised that there are less stories this time. Still looking forward to the 1st!
-
That is a very interesting way the other rounds are being done. Also I am surprised that there are less stories this time. Still looking forward to the 1st!
The numbers depend a lot on how heavy the drumbeat is. We let promotion for this one develop mostly organically, with the drums being fainter, as if they were underground, or at the back of the darkened closet.
Once the contests exceed 200 entries, they start to break down. We're rather happy with the turnout for round six.
-
My pedantic worry beads are in overdrive...
Should it be 17 groups - 12 with 10 in and 5 with 11?
Because, 16*10 + 11 doesn't equal 175...
And in the quarters, 3 groups of 13 and one of 12? Because one group of 15 and 3 of 12 seems unfair odds for the larger group?
Just a thought.
-
^ sorry... I may have been up too late making that while trying to finalize my vacation plans when I made those numbers up. I'll fix 'em up today. hehe.
-
Alright, I made some updates to the schedule, and I also made a nice chart that can help everyone navigate the contest!
-
it's a very pretty chart! thank you!
-
I anxiously await all of the stories!
Question: as a pseudopod fan, I want to read the stories and vote. However, I am also a participant. Thus there are some conflicts of interest if I were to vote. Are there rules about participants voting? Should we refrain? Are we on the honor system? I will definitely be reading the stories. If I were to vote, I would do so with my honest opinion - but I understand if there is a rule to avoid conflicts of interest.
Question 2: (as a newbie) is there opportunity for giving / receiving feedback? I'm totally happy giving and receiving, though I understand this can be a sensitive thing for some folks.
-
Wonderful questions!
1. You are absolutely encouraged to vote on all stories, and are more than welcome to vote for your own story as well! The only thing you CANNOT do is ask other people to vote for your story or reveal yourself to be the author of your story. If your story fails to move forward from any of the rounds, you can then reveal yourself as the author and answer any questions or criticisms from other forumites!
2. Somewhat answered by #1 above, but YES! Feel free to comment on any and all stories about what you liked, disliked, how the story might be improved, etc. Just remember our One Rule and be respectful at all times!
Enjoy the contest!
-
Let the voting begin! -- Group 1 has been posted!
-
Is there a, “if you are new to the forum post here” post?
-
Do I want to create a big set of formatting rules so I don't have to do nearly as much work?
NO!
I want people to write and enjoy writing. I want people to submit and enjoy submitting. I want people to read stories and enjoy reading. I don't want people to get caught up in formatting hell.
You are awesome. That is all.
-
Good luck, everyone!
-
Is it just me or are others finding the new look website harder to read and less discernible than the previous version?
-
I've never done anything like this before. Very cool! Bring on the stories! Let the blood begin to spill. Muhahahahahahaha!
-
Is it just me or are others finding the new look website harder to read and less discernible than the previous version?
I didn't really like it either TBH, so I went back to the old theme (you can do that! Profile > Look & Layout > Current Theme > Core Theme)
-
….
-
I didn't really like it either TBH, so I went back to the old theme (you can do that! Profile > Look & Layout > Current Theme > Core Theme)
Followed the directions. Doesn't seem to make a big difference, alas. The backgrounds are still light, and the dividers are still dark. Am not entirely sure what difference there is between "core" and current. . .
-
Is it just me or are others finding the new look website harder to read and less discernible than the previous version?
I didn't really like it either TBH, so I went back to the old theme (you can do that! Profile > Look & Layout > Current Theme > Core Theme)
Thanks! I didn't know you could do that.
-
Group 2 will be posted sometime around 7pm EST today
-
What are the best social medias to find and promote?
-
This contest is like a box of grisly chocolates! And I mean that in a good way. :P
-
Almost forgot...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BDOOMED!!!!! 🎂🎉
-
Happy birthday Bdoomed! Thanks for hosting the contest :) :)
-
Waiting breathlessly for Group 5!
Hope Bdoomed had a great birthday!
-
Will there be a group posted today?
-
Will there be a group posted today?
That’s the theory...
-
Sorry for the group 5 delay, folks! It's up now for your reading and voting pleasure!
-
Also thanks for the birthday wishes!
-
Just dropping in to say how much I’m enjoying the contest! I’m learning so much from the other commenters and their thoughts on the stories. So glad Escape Artists sponsors these contests! Thanks!
-
It is hard to only be able to vote for 3 from each group. I am so impressed by the wide variety of fascinating stories being posted. Well done, everyone!
-
My favorite dilemma is narrowing down favorites to only three. Competition is fierce!
-
I’m confused— got my dates mixed up. Wasn’t Group 8 supposed to be posted yesterday?
-
Aargh. Group 8 isn’t posted yet and I have to go to bed!
The schedule said that it would be posted yesterday. Maybe it was forgotten.
-
Aargh. Group 8 isn’t posted yet and I have to go to bed!
The schedule said that it would be posted yesterday. Maybe it was forgotten.
Thanks — for some reason I thought today was the 13th, so was waiting eagerly for the group to be posted. Then I checked my calendar and realized that the contest was running late. Can you give us any information, Bdoomed?
-
There was a mixup in the chart I posted where I didn't skip a day in between groups 6 and 7 and 8 because I'm a silly goose. Group 8 will be posted sometime today, likely around noon or later! I'll also be updating that chart in the original post sometime on Wednesday (currently traveling which makes that type of update hard to do)
-
Gotcha—thanks!
-
Group 8 has been posted!
-
Is the first quarterfinals going up today, too?
-
They'll be going up tomorrow along with updates to group 4 winners -- I'm traveling the rest of today so I'm unable to get that all kicked off. :)
-
They'll be going up tomorrow along with updates to group 4 winners -- I'm traveling the rest of today so I'm unable to get that all kicked off. :)
No worries, was just curious :) Safe travels!
-
Thanks!
-
What's the timezone for the contest? I feel like I'm a day ahead of the schedule and the times on the forums are so far off my own. (I'm PST)
-
I'm Eastern US -- again, the schedule posted in the first post is a bit off -- I realized I didn't skip a day in between groups 6, 7, and 8 so everything is thrown off! I'm working on fixing that, posting the Quarterfinals, and closing out Group 5 today. Sorry for the confusion!
-
THE FIRST ROUND OF QUARTERFINALS ARE UP http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?board=388.0
Take your time -- it's up for a week and it's not an easy choice!
-
Bit of a delay on today's group -- I've noticed an inconsistency in story count from earlier counts and I need to make sure the withdrawn story has already been posted vs in a future group. Combing through story names right now hoping to set everything straight in my records.
Stay tuned!
-
Found the culprit, and the next group is up! Sorry for the delay, folks!
-
Found the culprit, and the next group is up! Sorry for the delay, folks!
No worries! I was just refreshing like a madman! Ahahah! New stories! Thanks for your hard work.
-
I refresh far too much on the day the next group drops.
-
:) Quarterfinal 2 and Group 12 are comin down the pipe in about 30 minutes (I had a late day at work today)
-
Thanks so much for all your hard work, Bdoomed! <3
-
AAAAND we're live! Today's monster is seriously creepy, I hope you all watch out for it.
-
Quarterfinal 1 results are in and posted! Congrats to our quarterfinal winners and thanks to everyone who's participating!
-
Man, I blazed through the last group. I want the next one already! I'm on a roll!
Great work, Bdoomed. Thanks for keeping it up to date.
-
So this is my first time participating in an Escape Artists flash contest, and I have a process question: is there any screening of contest entries, or do all stories that are submitted before the deadline, and that fall within the word limitations, get accepted and posted?
-
This is my first time participating also. My question is, has anyone else noticed that the voting participation has dropped precipitously since the first groups? Is the standard? People lose interest as the contest goes on?
-
I looked at the last Pseudopod contest and it happened then too.
-
This is my first time participating also. My question is, has anyone else noticed that the voting participation has dropped precipitously since the first groups? Is the standard? People lose interest as the contest goes on?
I haven't participated in THIS contest before, but I have done a similar style of "popular vote" contest a couple of times. Participants tend to be very active up until the point when they realize they didn't make the cut. So as rounds are decided, votes and comments drop off.
-
Aye. I've been charting the voter turnout this year. It's standard but that doesn't mean I like it :P
-
Bdoomed, could you respond to the question about whether contest entries are screened before posting? I’m curious about the process. Thanks!
-
Aye. I've been charting the voter turnout this year. It's standard but that doesn't mean I like it :P
It's a shame, it's so rare to have the chance to group crit like this. I'm sad the contest is wrapping up.
On the other hand, the people who stay are the most dedicated and have earned their right to an opinion most, so kudos to everyone who sticks around and keeps reading and commenting and voting, no matter how their piece did. It's really appreciated for everyone curious to see how stuff is received.
-
Bdoomed, could you respond to the question about whether contest entries are screened before posting? I’m curious about the process. Thanks!
I'm pretty sure all entries go up as-is (formatting included) so long as they're under 500 words, because otherwise there would have to be some judging outside the contest parameters.
But if I'm wrong, I'd like to hear the accurate answer from Bdoomed.
-
Bdoomed, could you respond to the question about whether contest entries are screened before posting? I’m curious about the process. Thanks!
Sorry, missed that one! Hpips is mostly right. We do some light screening to try to catch anyone stealing someone else's work and passing it off as their own. Other than that, as long as it's under 500 words and it's the author's only submission, it's fine to be in the contest.
-
No worries! And thanks for responding. That’s what I figured, but just wondered if there might be another level of screening that I wasn’t aware of. Thanks for all you and the other Escape Artists do to put these contests together!
-
FYI, the closing of recently finished groups, the posting of group 16, and the posting of Quarterfinal 3 will be a bit delayed today -- I have an office party that'll stretch until about 6 or 7 EST today and I'll get right on it when I get home tonight! So give your refresh fingers/buttons/shortcuts a rest :)
Sorry for the inconvenience, and happy Halloween!
-
We appreciate all the work you're putting into this, no worries.
Happy Halloween!
-
Yes! Have a lovely Halloween, and don’t worry about us! Thanks for being so communicative.
-
I'm alive. Thanks for your patience! You can expect things to start being updated shortly :)
Yall rock!
-
We're live on group 16! Quarterfinal 3 to come shortly.
-
Quarterfinals Group 3 and SEMIFINALS GROUP 1 are live! Enjoy the sweet, sweet sorrow of not voting for stories you love in favor of stories you love just that much more.
-
FYI: Group 13 has a tiebreaker poll up right now to determine who gets 3rd place! It's running for only three days so go make your voices heard!
-
I have an idea for how this contest is ran. I do not know if it's practical or even if it's a good idea but I'm going to voice it anyway. I like the way the voting cannot be seen for a group until an individual's votes have been cast. I wonder if it would also be possible to not show comments on a story until an individual's votes have been cast. Because I wonder if comments made, whether they be dismissive or laudatory, might sway the opinions of subsequent readers. Especially if those comments come from some of the more vociferous (perceived as more credible?) commentators. I enjoy commenting on the stories myself. And believe that comments are valuable to the writer. And I hope that the reader can make up their own mind about how they feel about a story. But I do wonder if comments affect the voting and think it would be interesting to withhold them until after an individual has voted.
-
:) This idea has been brought up in nearly every contest so far, and the answer has always generally been a no on this. A) we can't hide comments until someone has voted with this forum software and B) each voter can choose how they vote -- you can merely elect not to read comments until you've voted.
-
:) This idea has been brought up in nearly every contest so far, and the answer has always generally been a no on this. A) we can't hide comments until someone has voted with this forum software and B) each voter can choose how they vote -- you can merely elect not to read comments until you've voted.
Ah, well, great minds think alike. 😀 It was just a thought. I'm sure in the end the strongest stories will prevail.
-
Hehe exactly. One could make the other argument that discussing a story with others can form a more well-rounded position on said story, one that, in the end, will help pick the best stories that will be enjoyed by even larger audiences than just those who vote in the contest. Stories that can survive discussion and nitpicking pretty much 'prove' themselves before getting to later rounds.
-
Hehe exactly. One could make the other argument that discussing a story with others can form a more well-rounded position on said story, one that, in the end, will help pick the best stories that will be enjoyed by even larger audiences than just those who vote in the contest. Stories that can survive discussion and nitpicking pretty much 'prove' themselves before getting to later rounds.
I feel this way as well. Getting to read people's thoughts on the stories is a huge part of why I find these contests helpful, and the social aspect is important. I think I'd be far less engaged otherwise.
-
A tiebreaker poll (http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?topic=13142) has just gone up for Group 15! It will be up for 3 days -- go vote for your favorite!
-
First Round groups are all closed!
Quarterfinal 4 will be going up sometime mid-day today (11/9) EST
-
It's getting super close and interesting now that we're into semifinals! ;D
-
Should I be able to see Semifinal group 2? I'd made a note for myself that it was due this weekend... is it up yet?
-
Should I be able to see Semifinal group 2? I'd made a note for myself that it was due this weekend... is it up yet?
Not just you. I don't see it either, must be a delay.
-
The semifinals can’t be posted until the quarterfinals have ended. The quarterfinals were delayed because of the need for multiple tiebreakers.
-
Ahhh I see. Was just worried it was some sort of glitch at my end.
-
Semifinal Group 2 (http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?board=400.0) is up! Go vote yer hearts out.
-
psssst. Thefinalpollisuponusandyoushouldallgovoteokaythanksbye.