Hey, finally got another chance to check the boards. Mad props PC, it was very well done, now, just two rounds left to win the whole thing ;-)
Hrm... backstory on my story? I'll try...
Well, I remember seeing the pairings, and noticing I was up against you. My first thought then was "uh oh..." Because I've read some of your story hour (much fun
) and I knew it wouldn't be easy.
Then, a while later, I saw the pictures. It took me a long time of thinking about them to decide exacly how to use what. However, a few things just kinda came out right away. The dancers.jpg just screamed NORWAY to me, and the flambe.jpg likewise for the fire of Prometheus. The lock and the rift were really iffy, along with how exactly to use the dancers. Nothing really immediate struck me to use a mountain climber as the storyteller, it was just one thing among others that struck me as an idea during the first 24 hours when I was doing most of the thinking about it.
As for the second person narrative? Well, I knew it would be a risk, but I also figured it would be worth it if I could pull it off. Mainly because, with so few stories actually written in second person, it would be a sure attention-grabber. I just needed to be able to keep up the mood.
Well, once i decided where it was going to take place, and a few of the big details (i.e.- old mountain climber, 2nd person perspective, flame of prometheus, etc...) I just sat down and wrote it. Took about 4-5 hours, but I just typed it up in one sitting. It just flowed as I wrote it, the stuff about the dancers being on the postcard and other things just came out as I typed.
Admittedly, I was woried about it being long, and had to rush the plot in a few places (I know what you're talking about Arwink). I had looked at a few of the past Ceramic DM entries, and figured if I didn't rush it, I would set a new record for entry length. That, combined with the second person bit wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
All in all though, I think it turned out well in the end. Although, I'm kinda curious, for everyone that read it, what links did you see? I made an effort to leave enough questions unanswered at the end to try to keep you guys trying to think them out for a while. I'm pretty sure most everyone picked up on the cane on the coffin signifying the old man's death (in the end as you wake up from the "dream") but what about the similarity between the effect of the flame of prometheus on the old man's hand, and the postcard's powers?
Beyond that, for all the other readers, if it's not too badly hijacking the thread (you can email it to
carpdiem@gte.net ), what did you guys especially like vs dislike? Any comments would be greatly appreciated, I'm all for improving my writing