Pseudopod Flash Fiction Contest IV Rules

[Kabal]

The way I voted in the prior rounds of the contest:

I would open the group in a new window and open all the stories in individual tabs.

I'd move the story to the left of the poll if I liked it. I'd close it if I didn't.

Then I would read the comments to help me narrow my choices down to three.

How have all of you been voting?

Pretty much the same. No amount of conversation is going to sway me on entries I just didn't like.

[Unblinking]

The way I voted in the prior rounds of the contest:

I would open the group in a new window and open all the stories in individual tabs.

I'd move the story to the left of the poll if I liked it. I'd close it if I didn't.

Then I would read the comments to help me narrow my choices down to three.

How have all of you been voting?

I haven't done that, but I don't think I could, because I often don't have time to read a whole group in one sitting, and some I read from different computers.  I just read them all, reading comments after the stories before making my own comments, and then vote in the poll and move on.

I'm a curmudgeon and I don't think there's much chance my choice will significantly shift from reading other people's feedback.  The one case where it might be more likely is if I just didn't understand a theme or event because I am not always great at details, and someone's explaining the point allows me to see that it's supported by the text, then I might be more likely to vote for it then.

[Jon Padgett]

The way I voted in the prior rounds of the contest:

I would open the group in a new window and open all the stories in individual tabs.

I'd move the story to the left of the poll if I liked it. I'd close it if I didn't.

Then I would read the comments to help me narrow my choices down to three.

How have all of you been voting?

In the first couple of groups, I didn't really think about the comments as I read them along with the fiction pieces.  As I went along, though, I began ignoring the comments until I voted just in case the comments were unconsciously swaying me one way or another.  Groupthink is human nature, no matter how independent-minded we may be as individuals.  At any rate, it's just an observation.  I'm not advocating for removing story comments--just separating them from the story text itself.  Thanks for hearing me out.

[Bdoomed]

The trick is to read all of the stories at 1am EST after I post them

be the first comment!

[Jon Padgett]

The trick is to read all of the stories at 1am EST after I post them

be the first comment!

:laughter becomes weeping:

[benjaminjb]

The trick is to read all of the stories at 1am EST after I post them

be the first comment!

:laughter becomes weeping:

I call dibs if :laughter becomes weeping: isn't the name of a story or an emo album already...

[starktheground]

My two cents:
I like to read other's opinions but don't really influence my own. I usually-but not always-read the story and type up my comments before I read the other comments anyway. Then, copy paste and done.
I also don't comment on a story if I don't feel like I have anything productive or nice to say.
Which is why I may or may not have commented on my own...which may or may not have already been posted.

[MCWagner]

The trick is to read all of the stories at 1am EST after I post them

be the first comment!

I'm trying, dangit!

This voices a concern I've had looking at a lot of the stories.  Quick one-off dismissal comments of stories that immediately follow them seem to get propagated throughout the thread, and it takes a good bit of effort to redirect later in the thread.  (This is true even when there's a basic factual misconception in the comment.)  Whether that affects voting or not is up in the air (picking three from a group of 13 means that there's usually strong feelings about the ones you vote for, which are unlikely to be reversed), but it does affect the overall tenor of the thread.  As three stories have already been pulled, I would suggest caution if you are one of the early commenters on a story:  try a some-positive, some-negative approach to get your points across without simply condemning the piece.

I know my own opinions can be swayed, not reversed entirely, but a negative thread can push me in a more negative direction than perhaps I initially intended...

[Devoted135]

I do exactly as Fenrix does, except that I tend to read/skim the comments along with each story. The comments have definitely swayed me on a small handful of stories, but that was for the story's benefit just as often as it was to its detriment. Personally, I think that separating the comment threads would increase the required clicking to the point of many fewer comments per story, which would weaken one of the contest's unique strengths.

[eytanz]

So far, the comments have swayed me in a positive direction in a few cases, where I missed or didn't understand something in the story but when I saw it noted in the comments I reread the story and understood it better. I don't think there was a case where the comments affected me negatively, at least not on a concious level.

[Moritz]

Same for me.

[Ryan H]

Agreed. If there was something I liked in the story but the comments were more negative, I'm even more likely to add my own comment and point out what I enjoyed. And I'm probably going to show the story some love with a vote.

[8BitDlite]

Yeah, I think I'm swayed by the previous comments in that they impact what I choose to discuss about the story. If there's already a number of comments talking about the stakes being too low (for example), then I'm much more likely to mention the dialogue or sense of place.  I generally don't want to feel like I'm "piling on", and I know that critiques can certainly feel that way at times.

As far as voting, I don't think the comments affect me all that much.

[Kolin Gates]

As far as voting, I don't think the comments affect me all that much.

The first rule of Group Think, deny that it affects you!

I agree though, while comments do sometimes change the way I look at a single aspect of the story, I don't think they have ever made a story that I didn't like any better. The inverse applies, no matter how much battering a story takes, it doesn't change the core vote or no vote concept. Sometimes, I've been on the fence and ended up throwing a vote at one because there were too many, "Not my kind of story."

More than anything, I'm trying to be objective and look at each story individually and without my personal distaste for a subject present. I think that you can go either way with that though, obviously you will like stories that speak to your life.

[Chicken Ghost]

I've generally been putting stories in "maybe" and "no" lists immediately after reading.  A few of the maybes I've visited the comments to help make a decision.

[DoWhileNot]

For better or worse,  I know that group think DOES effect me.   I'm very careful therefore when I'm reading the stories not to read the comments right away.   I keep a notepad by me while I read and give all of the stories a score and a brief couple of notes about my impression.   It's only after that that I go ahead and read the comments.

I'll vote for whichever stories get the highest score regardless of what the comments say or how they influence me.   On a scale of 1 to 10, so far nothing has been lower than a 4 or higher than a 9.5.  Lots of 9.5s though.   This has been a great contest so far.

[Not-a-Robot]

The way I voted in the prior rounds of the contest:

I would open the group in a new window and open all the stories in individual tabs.

I'd move the story to the left of the poll if I liked it. I'd close it if I didn't.

Then I would read the comments to help me narrow my choices down to three.

How have all of you been voting?

I read the story, then I read the comments,
Most of the time I go, "Yeah, I agree" or "What the hell are they all thinking?"
Then I vote and find out that nobody has the same tastes as I do.
Have I been affected by group think?  It's a possibility that I can't rule out, but I have had many instances where I have disagreed with the comments and voted my own way.

I like the commenting, and I think that it's sometimes a good thing.  For instance, I have learned a ton about banshees, and I know that group think DOES effect me.   I'm very careful therefore when I'm reading the stories not to read the comments right away.   I keep a notepad by me while I read and give all of the stories a score and a brief couple of notes about my impression.   It's only after that that I go ahead and read the comments.

I'll vote for whichever stories get the highest score regardless of what the comments say or how they influence me.   On a scale of 1 to 10, so far nothing has been lower than a 4 or higher than a 9.5.  Lots of 9.5s though.   This has been a great contest so far.


Uhh oh...

[Chicken Ghost]

I've been reading them and recording them in a "maybe" list and a "no" list.  I usually don't read the comments until I've decided.  If I've only got 3 in the "maybe" list (only 2 or 3 groups so far) the rest is easy.

[Not-a-Robot]

Just a quick question for the future.

In case anyone would want to get a head start on things for 2016, would the PC and EP flash fiction contests have the same word limit as this contest?  Or is that not known yet?

[Fenrix]

Just a quick question for the future.

In case anyone would want to get a head start on things for 2016, would the PC and EP flash fiction contests have the same word limit as this contest?  Or is that not known yet?

Odds are good. I think some in the past have been 750, but 500 is a good size to shoot for.

[Bdoomed]

Definitely a safe bet at 500.

[eytanz]

I ran the previous EP contest with a 750 word limit as an experiment, but afterwards the consensus was that while there were some stories that took advantage of the extra words quite well, overall it did not make a big enough impact on the quality of the stories to be worthwhile the longer reading times necessary. I haven't discussed it with the editors yet - and the final decision is theirs - but I think the next EP contest will be 500 words.

[Scattercat]

I know I'll be advocating 500 tops.  The 750 stories were just too saggy overall, unless interest drops dramatically and we were only expecting like twenty people to submit.  XD

[Unblinking]

As a writer, I really want 750 words, because in both my entries this time I had to cut vital information that I could've fit with another couple hundred words.

But as a reader/voter/participant, I'm good with 500 because I was already worn out by the end with 500 words apiece!

[Chicken Ghost]

Now we almost know how slush readers feel.