What Really Amps People? - a Writing Contest [WRAP] [Winners announced]

Originally posted by masqua
I guess my suggestion of writing a story out on (i.e.) notepad prior to posting has fallen on deaf ears.

...if you're referring to my thank-you post to b.morrison - you're mistaken... your info simply did not answer my original question, which i restated in case i was not clear the first time...

...my story (which has now been entered into the contest) has been saved on a word processor (which has a word / character count tool) and on disks for decades... somewhere (lost in the abyss of my storage room) i've got a printed copy... so, i wasnt worried about losing it...

...also, when posting lengthy replies on ats, i've always used notepad - so, that wasnt my issue either...

...i thanked you for your input previously - so, please, dont take my response to b.morrison as an insult to you... we just didnt connect on the same level - thats all...

Originally posted by B.Morrison
No one ignored you, your answer just didn't actually answer the dudes question, as it turns out he found out what he wanted to know himself - 57 thousand character limit.

...exactly - except i lack the jewels to be a dude...

reply to post by Wyn Hawks


Bah, and there goes another mental image I had for an ATSer...Sheesh do you people know how difficult it is to make up and then remember 17,941 faces for the posters whose names I recognize... Now you collapse my mental house of cards with this tid bit????

Well, it was more creative than "Oh, you're female? How you doin'?"

~Heff

Oh, yeah, and I wrote again... but this time it wasn't poetry so it is safe to bash if ya want (this part is directed to everyone)

~Heff

Originally posted by Hefficide
reply to post by Wyn Hawks

 

Bah, and there goes another mental image I had for an ATSer...Sheesh do you people know how difficult it is to make up and then remember 17,941 faces for the posters whose names I recognize...

...that whine goes very well with my cheesy violin concerto... maybe we should hit the tour circuit...

Originally posted by Hefficide
Now you collapse my mental house of cards with this tid bit????

...while i'm flattered that a nobody such as me was noticed by a notable atser, you must've missed the posts where i mentioned that i've given birth - or - maybe you're from another planet where thats not a female-only thing... i've heard about those places - kinda kinky but who am i to judge?...

Originally posted by Hefficide
Well, it was more creative than "Oh, you're female? How you doin'?"

...yep, it was - made me laugh... whereas the "joey line" makes me nauseous...

reply to post by Wyn Hawks


ah, my mistake, yes old habits die hard unfortunately

-B.M

Fantabulous contest. So, can I insert a a lifelong dream into a dream, only to wake up in a fever?

Just giving this thread a little bump. I want to make sure lots of members get a chance to see it!

So many respectable opponents have already signed themselves up to participate in this competitive event. While I am still pandering what my subject shall be it is visible to me that whoever wins will truly deserve their award and recognition.

AboveTopSecret, I believe, has such extraordinary writers and thinkers this will be one for the record books. Be sure to write excellent though, as I am here watching and waiting in the eerie darkness of the shadows.

My hat is officially in this ring.

Originally posted by Misoir
My hat is officially in this ring.

It's been my experience that some of the best stories are entered just before the contest deadline. I wonder why that trend exists? Dark horses? Waiting and watching before the attack? Who knows?

reply to post by masqua


I will be submitting mine once it is finished, although I prefer to wait until the end that is when I suspect it shall be finished anyway. In my attempt to make the story exactly one million words, if I can, it shall take awhile. Currently I am at 10,000 words. When I finally reach the point where I cannot continue any further I will stop writing but I am hoping that happens when I reach one million!

Am I attempting to be a dark horse? I would have to say yes. Usually I read everyone else’s stories first to help see where they made good points and mistakes so I can create mine near perfect.

I bid good luck to us all.

Originally posted by Misoir
In my attempt to make the story exactly one million words, if I can, it shall take awhile. Currently I am at 10,000 words.

I'm so very pleased with myself that I hadn't set the upper limit to 5 million.

Usually I read everyone else’s stories first to help see where they made good points and mistakes so I can create mine near perfect.

An excellent plan. Hit 'em when they haven't the time to surpass your submission.

Originally posted by Misoir

An excellent plan. Hit 'em when they haven't the time to surpass your submission.

Exactly.

reply to post by masqua


I have made my first entry into the competition, It may or may not be the only one.
I found this a remarkably difficult piece to write for several reasons, but no matter.

Thank you for a challenging and interesting competition,
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the other entries so far and look forward to reading yours too

Peace!
-B.M

reply to post by B.Morrison


I thought it was quite well done.

cheers

im in
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by masqua


thank you for the feedback masqua, I appreciate that

Writing for this competition has made me realise the possibility that I only like to write for escapism...writing for this was definitely a different experience to what I'm used to.

Thanks for reading

-B.M

Sup everybody,

Second-time, long-time!

Anyway, I just had a few questions so let's just dive right in before I go off on some random tangent...

Can we post part of our story/contest entry well before the deadline, get some feedback/constructive criticism on it and then re-post a much better revised story closer to the deadline? I ask this only because I busted out 4,000 words of my story last night after being inspired by an idea and just want to get some feelers on whether I should drag it out further or somehow come up with a backdoor ending to suture it all up nice and neat. Well, nice and neat in an ideal world... I'm still not even sure it's going to be half as good as it seemed to me last night.

I'm pretty sure the OP said something along the lines of you could submit however many entries you wanted and just had to U2U the moderator to let them know of the updated/new one, but I'm still unsure if that would apply to me because.... well, let's just jump into the next question as it's directly related:

I'm aware I have a depressing two posts to my credit (including this one) but fully plan on having the required 20 before the end-of-February deadline. With this in mind, can I still post a contest entry with [WRAP] in it or will it only be official once I've arrived at the hallowed 20 posts? I just wanted to ask before blatantly disregarding the rules in the original post. You know, cause I'm wicked nice and kind and stuff!

Anyway, I can't believe I never noticed this section of the forum until now... indeed it was the major driving force behind why I signed up here at long last in the first place! I'm looking forward to getting to know you all through your writing and would like to say thank you in advance in regards to any replies to my questions!

Originally posted by JDWriter

Can we post part of our story/contest entry well before the deadline, get some feedback/constructive criticism on it and then re-post a much better revised story closer to the deadline?

Yes, you can.

I'm pretty sure the OP said something along the lines of you could submit however many entries you wanted and just had to U2U the moderator to let them know of the updated/new one

As many times as you like. A completely different story may allowed to remain on the Short Stories forum, but have the [WRAP] removed from the title, disqualifying it as a contest submission OR, if it's the same story with too many changes, it can be deleted and replaced with a new submission. You may do this as often as you like as long as the contest runs. For the sake of expediency, though, U2U me for any and all modifications.

I'm aware I have a depressing two posts to my credit (including this one) but fully plan on having the required 20 before the end-of-February deadline. With this in mind, can I still post a contest entry with [WRAP] in it or will it only be official once I've arrived at the hallowed 20 posts?

The rule within the OP is specific. You DO need those 20 posts before you can start a thread. However, it is ridiculously easy to rack up those 20 posts. First of all, do an introduction thread and profusely thank every member that replies in it OR you could go to the Off Topic forums and plink away at whatever might tickle your sense of humor.

Anyway, I can't believe I never noticed this section of the forum until now... indeed it was the major driving force behind why I signed up here at long last in the first place! I'm looking forward to getting to know you all through your writing and would like to say thank you in advance in regards to any replies to my questions!

If you like creative writing, you are going to find yourself among quite a number of like-minded individuals. Enjoy.

Submitted mine a few days ago

What's in it for me?

It's more of a Rant though, but boy oh boy is it what gets me "amped"

Sounds great.
I'm currently re-writing something I did a a script for an assignment for my course as a short story, so if I finish it and I'm proud of the result then I'll submit it.