Ceramic DM Winter 07 (Final Judgment Posted)

[Drawmack]

and my response to your response

[sblock]

DrawmackAnother hardboiled PI, but for me this is the stylistically best of them so far. It made me laugh and I really like some of the pictures and sentences. You basically had me hooked with "a set of gams that would leave a priest needing a confessional". The rest of the story is a nice trip in the dark detectives life, but maybe a bit too little resistance. On the other hand it shows that "detective work is boring" in a vary entertaining way
The end is a bit sudden and short, so I don't feel as satisfied finishing this as I do reading it, but the trip was nice, so I'll just live with the destination being "not so good".

Thank you very much for this glowing review. I am glad I could entertain you, after all that is the entire point of fiction. And, yes making to work look boring, by making it too easy is what I was going for. I am glad you picked up on the subtelty.
[/sblock]

Håkon

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I can tell you this, the judging process sure teaches you a lot about writing. I imagine this experience will improve mine a couple notches.

I think my first stint at judging Ceramic DM was what let me win the next time I competed. It taught me to focus on the 'scoring' aspects, and to get a better feel for how big a bite I could take given the time constraints.

Oddly, though, I think I like the stuff I wrote before judging better than the stuff I've done since.

 

[Piratecat]

Oddly, though, I think I like the stuff I wrote before judging better than the stuff I've done since.

Playing to the judges/contest is not necessarily as satisfying as following your own muse.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Playing to the judges/contest is not necessarily as satisfying as following your own muse.

I don't think that's it, or at least not the primary reason. I don't think I play to the judges, at least consciously. And creatively, I haven't felt constrained -- I actually feel a little freer as time goes on to experiment with different things.

What I think it is, is that where before I'd see something that didn't work, I'd try to paper over it and trust that the intent got through, or at the least that it didn't cripple the story. And because at least in my head I'd know how it was supposed to work, it felt finished and complete.

After judging, though, I find I'm more uptight about that, and I'll cut things out, because I know they don't work, and I won't have time to do them the way I want. The stories, I think, are better for it, but because *I* made the decision to cut something, I lose that sense of completeness.

Or maybe I'm just watching too much Oprah.

 

[tadk]

All the comments on mine

Hi there all,

Thanks for the kind words and comments on my stuff so far
yes the time frame tends to thunk me up badly
I fight to get it done within 48 hours cause I dread posting it too late
So I push it hard.
Now if I were to stay in straight up free verse poetry
odds are my writing would be tighter, more coherent, more flowing
Then I try to add in the prose elements and it tends to toss me a loop.
I honestly need more time to write, and so I never seem to hit all the points I want to.
That aside, I again chose to place my story in an existing, for me, writing setting, of interconnected stories, game settings, what have you, poetry, what not. So it all ties in in my head. Making it easier to write, a whole lot harded for someone else to read a partial story like this one.
Overall I liked what i got done in the time I took to do it in. It didnt say all I wanted, but it came out just fine.

TK

 

[Drawmack]

So how does the ceramic dm thread end up on page two?

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

The judges are slackers?

(I'm kidding. Judging is harder than writing.)

 

[Sialia]

Playing to the judges/contest is not necessarily as satisfying as following your own muse.

My muse gets perverse glee out of writing to the judges-- I love the focus I get from writing to a specific audience, as if the story were almost a private conversation between me and someone special and intimate. Different parts of my brain work when I write here.

BSF, if I were judging, you'd have won me on this round if you had done one thing different: don't tell me "and then she bit him"--stick her sharp wet teeth into his shoulder and bite him. All the way through the story, I keep feeling like I was reading the synopsis of a really good story, instead of experiencing the story itself. I really think this is a good first draft worth re-visiting. Something about the camera angle or the tense needs to become more immediate, so that I feel what is happening instead of just knowing it. (If you do decide to rework this, you know my email address . . . I'd love another look at this.)

Congrats Piratecat! As usual, my elevated expectations of your brilliance follow you to the next round. Be a tough act for yourself to follow, again.

 

[yangnome]

now wouln't it be funny if PC were the top choice for the round and BSF as the favorite loser...they'd have to face one another again next round.

 

[mythago]

now wouln't it be funny if PC were the top choice for the round and BSF as the favorite loser...they'd have to face one another again next round.

see previous smacktalk re: Golden Comeback