Ceramic DM feedback thread[JUDGES, OUT!]

[Piratecat]

I'm really not sure which judges will lean; my guess is that it'll be a split vote no matter what.

Orchid Blossom, I was amused to see that On Writing claims that you should usually ignore plot. Visualize the characters and a situation, and then let the story write itself. I think my worst writing is when I try to make plot fit.

The piece I just did was nothing more than "emotionalyl abused and isolated woman begins to lose it," and it sort of unwound from there.

 

[Sparky]

Yeah. Plot can make you do awkward things when your characters aren't quite ready to move along. Plot and staying up all night writing your story. And popping sinus meds for the better part of all 72 hours. I blame tylenol cold & sinus.

I mourn the stuff I forgot - I had some really great linkage between the pictures that I glossed over or dropped completely. Stuff that was supposed to come out so that events and choices rang true and the story made sense. The characters' trials were built on those linkages... I could cry you guys a river, but I don't have to, I know you know.


Anyone heard from Firelance in a while? I'd suggested a supplemental round 1 match up between the two of us with the victor going on to round 2, but hadn't gotten any response from Firelance or judges.


In other arenas... any secrets to formatting you more savvy folks would care to pass on? My wysiwyg settings have been busted for a while now... anyone else having trouble?

 

[Piratecat]

I never use the wysiwyg setting, myself. I'll share a secret and sneaky trick that I use.

1. Find an old thread you posted on. Make sure it isn't on the first couple of pages.

2. Go to your post.

3. Without deleting your post (just put a line ------ and add text underneath it), post your story. Submit edit and read your story. Editing an old post won't bump the thread, don't worry.

4. Open a second window (right click --> open link in new window) to make the inevitable changes. Adjust your photo links, your formatting, your spelling, whatever you find.

5. When you think you have it perfect, submit edits and read it AGAIN - I always screw up one of my edits.

6. When it really is in good shape, edit the post again in one of the windows. Select-copy. In the other window, open the Ceramic DM thread. Hit reply, then paste the text and formatting and links right from your "sample" post into the official one.

7. WHEN YOU KNOW IT TOOK (what with the slow server), delete your entry in the old thread and restore your post to how it looked originally.

I use this to get out a lot of bugs in my stories. I never catch all of them, though.

 

[Halivar]

Wow. I wish I'd have thought of that. Piratecat, that advice is so useful I wish I could hug you right now.

*flexes typing fingers for Spring competition*

 

[Piratecat]

Here's another hint. See the box down in the bottom left hand corner of this page that says "Posting Rules"? Go click on the link for "vB Code" - what you get is effectively a tutorial on what you can do to format your posts and add image links. Very useful when you don't know the correct command.

http://www.enworld.org/forums/misc.php?do=bbcode

 

[FireLance]

Anyone heard from Firelance in a while? I'd suggested a supplemental round 1 match up between the two of us with the victor going on to round 2, but hadn't gotten any response from Firelance or judges.

Hi Sparky, I admit that I've been deliberately keeping quiet on this issue as I would rather avoid the extra work , but I don't want my negativity to influence the judges as you seem quite eager. I'm prepared to go for another round if the judges want.

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

One of these days I'm gonna join this competition... Winter Ceramic DM may be it, since I've got free time coming up. When precisely is it?

Sparky, I like your story. The concept of an order of malevolent monks kidnapping members of a tribe and using their linkage to that group to spy on them is creepy and well executed. The story seemed a bit... slow(?) however, and the fact that the monks had blocked up the river wasn't at all clear until the end (I had to re-read some paragraphs to figure out what the cascade of white was- my first thought was that it was the linen-wrapped bodies being dropped out).

Piratecat- that was delicious. Snicker-snack. I did find the flashbacks were a little confusing sometimes. Sometimes they worked well and other times the transition was jarring enough I had to re-read the jump over again to figure it out. Ditto on the so-so ness of the bronze statue use being made up by the boa (ribbon?) as centipede.

SteelDraco- An interesting tale well told. I didn't spot the plot twist until the end, which may or may not be the best measurement (I'm a little oblivious sometimes) but is probably a good sign. The picture use was, I thought, all very spot-on.

 

[RangerWickett]

I get to cheat a bit. When I'm editing my entry, I post in the E.N. Publishing private forum. *grin*

I'm sorry that I haven't made any comments for any of the stories. I think I was unfortunately subconsciously wanting to wait to see who won, so I could pick which stories to read. Not nice, I know. I should just read them all.

 

[Sparky]

Thanks for the tips and the link, PC. That's good stuff. Shoulda known you'd have something clever up your fuzzy sleeve.

 

[RangerWickett]

Rodrigo, I read your story when you first posted it, and all through it I was grinning at how well-written it was. I personally loved the ending, and while I agree with the judges that flashbacks aren't as interesting as an ongoing conversation between Dave and Hal would've been, I liked the fact that the computer was lonely and going crazy. Nice focus on the pen; it works well for the story.

While reading it, I didn't see much that didn't fit, but in hindsight, yes, some parts like the fake emergency occured but had not impact on the total story. Still, it was a pleasure to read.