Scheduling for IRON DM 2015

[Rune]

Yes, of course. The ingredients should never stand alone, since connecting them results in a more cohesive work. So five ingredients can be tough, six even more so, but when you get to seven it becomes nearly impossible to make all the ingredients relate in some way to the rest.

Oh, good. Then round 3 should be very fun.

 

[Rune]

[MENTION=60965]Iron Sky[/MENTION] and [MENTION=57112]Gradine[/MENTION], judgement for your match has been posted .

Would the finalists kindly post availability for the championship match?

 

[Gradine]

My experience and thoughts are pretty much exactly the same as Iron Sky's. My process begins by building connections between ingredients, and more ingredients mean more possibilities for connections. I didn't particularly find having seven ingredients to keep track of that much more difficult than six. The word count had definitely been the greater challenge this year, and certainly had a much bigger impact on both my planning as well as my editing.

 

[Rune]

I didn't really notice much difference. In some ways it made it easier since it gave you more "connection points" to tie things together, in other ways harder since, well, one more thing to keep track of.

I liked it. The word counts have been much harder than variations in ingredients IMO (in a good way).

My experience and thoughts are pretty much exactly the same as Iron Sky's. My process begins by building connections between ingredients, and more ingredients mean more possibilities for connections. I didn't particularly find having seven ingredients to keep track of that much more difficult than six. The word count had definitely been the greater challenge this year, and certainly had a much bigger impact on both my planning as well as my editing.

I find it interesting that both of you call out the extra ingredient as something to "keep track of" rather than something to weave into the adventure. I do think, perhaps, it might have something to do with the set of ingredients, though--yours was definitely the easier second-round set (to my mind). Next round should be tougher.

 

[Gradine]

I find it interesting that both of you call out the extra ingredient as something to "keep track of" rather than something to weave into the adventure. I do think, perhaps, it might have something to do with the set of ingredients, though--yours was definitely the easier second-round set (to my mind). Next round should be tougher.

I think it's more a function of how much more intense the editing phase had become due to the word limits. Weaving ingredients together is quite important, but is mostly competed by the planning phase. But when you've got somewhere between 15-20% of your first draft to cut, it's easy to cut elements that don't directly relate to an ingredient, but do give service towards how an ingredient relates to the rest of the adventure. "Fittest" originally had a lot of elements of psychological horror, which helped better emphasize a lot of visual metaphors that also ended up on the cutting room floor, but it also helped reinforce the metaphor behind the Tunnel of Love and Ultimate Test of Love, which were themselves more fleshed out to feel more well integrated into the overall adventure. With the final result being a more straight forward post-apocalypse it definitely made the un-funhouse ingredient feel much more tacked on. That's the kind of thing I talk about when I mention keeping track of the ingredients, including any element that gives service to an ingredient use.

I'll have a more detailed write-up of Fittest in the other thread. Congratulations to Iron Sky!

 

[Iron Sky]

By "keeping track", I mean remembering another element to integrate while I'm working. When I write, sometimes I have 3-5 ingredients that just click in my mind and I can hammer away most of an adventure, then realize I totally forgot one. This just gives another potential element to forget.

These ingredients were leagues easier than the first round set I had - something actually came to me when I read them (Gray Area is what got the whole thing rolling) vs the first round when I went through half-a-dozen ideas before I had anything.

My weekend has another business trip, so my availability starts Tuesday and is pretty open after that.

 

[Iron Sky]

Got back early. Free now until Thursday night, then another busy weekend.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I am also free for the next few days, though my schedule will get busier by the weekend.

 

[Rune]

[MENTION=60965]Iron Sky[/MENTION] and [MENTION=34958]Deuce Traveler[/MENTION], if you all can both start 12:00 PM Eastern (Noon) tomorrow (Tuesday), please confirm before that time and I'll post ingredients then.

If this won't work (or if you don't see this in time), please let me know what would be better.

 

[Iron Sky]

The sooner the better. Closer it gets to the weekend, the busier I get and less time I have.