Ceramic DM autumn '03(final judegment: new ceramic dm champ!)

Macbeth · Oct 31, 2003

Yeah, this was a great chance to have it (thouroughly) proved that I can't write half as well writing fiction as I can essays. thats the school system for you...

barsoomcore · Oct 31, 2003

BardStephenFox said:
Wow, when I initially read the Ceramic DM I was thinking I could jump in at some point in the future. Watching these stories though has seriously deflated my ego. That's a good thing! I need to hone my writing skills so I can jump into a future competition.

You want to hone your writing skills -- jump into a competition like this one. You learn so much getting thrown into a whirlwind like this.

Don't think you need to be "at a certain level" in order to enter the competition -- you'll rise to the occasion. Enter with commitment and a sense of fun and you'll do yourself (and all of us) proud.

I don't really think of Ceramic DM as a competition so much as a CELEBRATION. A celebration of the creative impulse and of inspiration.

Join in!

barsoomcore · Oct 31, 2003

alsih2o said:
wow, did i get my buttocks handed to me....

Which is nice, because you probably needed those.

seasong · Oct 31, 2003

Congrats Mythago!

Piratecat · Oct 31, 2003

A few thoughts on my last entry.

This last one was definitely the most difficult of the three to write. Unlike the others, I made four false starts before I found roughly the tone and plot that I wanted. I just wasn't comfortable using the same protagonist as in the second story, but I finally decided to do so from another person's point of view. The concept of the husband pushing a mannequin finally sealed it for me. The tie in with magic was too strong not to use it.

I considered having the little girl flying an ultra-realistic hawk kite, but couldn't tie it in. I considered making the bug-lady an actor in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (or a former HR Puffinstuff cast member!), but rejected that, too. The giraffe was a reject - beautiful, but very hard to tie to a story - so I ended up using it as window dressing.

When I finished the first draft, the narrator was completely and utterly without personality. Bleah. I improved it by making him a thief, but he still suffers a little. The last draft was spent removing words and tightening the story. I think it's still too wordy, though, for what it's trying to be.

I think I did a decent job (better than the first, worse than the second), but ultimately I retreaded mostly old ground. Mythago went with something that was ambitious, original and lended itself beautifully to the genre and mood of the photos. It shows.

Sialia · Oct 31, 2003

maldur said:
Great storytelling folks, Sialia is a very lucky person to game with these
great storytellers!

Yes, yes. Yes I am.

Maldur · Oct 31, 2003

It always fun to judge these. Im amazed how you come up with stuff!!

BSF · Oct 31, 2003

barsoomcore said:
You want to hone your writing skills -- jump into a competition like this one. You learn so much getting thrown into a whirlwind like this.

Don't think you need to be "at a certain level" in order to enter the competition -- you'll rise to the occasion. Enter with commitment and a sense of fun and you'll do yourself (and all of us) proud.

I don't really think of Ceramic DM as a competition so much as a CELEBRATION. A celebration of the creative impulse and of inspiration.

Join in!

I completely understand what you are saying. And I would agree. While I am great at encouraging people, I am lousy at following my own advice. I am hoping I can overcome my reticence by the time the next big Ceramic DM event comes around.

alsih2o · Oct 31, 2003

Piratecat said:
A few thoughts on my last entry.

The giraffe was a reject - beautiful, but very hard to tie to a story - so I ended up using it as window dressing.

i am glad to hear this. i have believed for a long time that "blank" pictures like that make the hardest pics to deal with.

almost anything can be happening in a pic and people find it easy to use. almost any character can be thrown at these writers and they are on it.

but there is a certain catergory of what i htink of as "static" pictures that i keep in a seperate file, the ones that are great pics, but seem hard to use. i have seen great writers stumble on them and seen mediocre writiers really be drawn out by them.

i always like the feedback on pic use because it shows that we tend tos ee things very universally. i love the commoness that is shown amongst us by art as amuch as i love the individuality.

i THINK the key with such pictures is to focus on somethig that isn't the focus. have a settign with a giraffe, but have the text be about how the odd fog arose, or about the trees.

i think i miss a lot of references in these stories, when read other peoples reviews i always think "i don't rememebr that!" peanut references, mythology references- ZOOM, right over my head. but what people draw from these pics seems an amorphous and hard to discuss art, and i like those

i worry about the fact that someone else is gonna do one. i worry that they won't have THAT feel. and then i realize that whoever it is will have their feel, and that is a good thing.

wow, i went on a bit there, didn't i?