Speaking of future themes... What if we have one month where the restriction is that all of our stories have to have the same title? I know that would be slightly confusing for voting purposes, but I feel like it would be kinda neat! Maybe we could vote on the title ahead of time (and The War of the Zagadoo" could be an option, I suppose! ) so then you can write whatever you want, as long as it's clear that the chosen title is in some way fitting for your story.
I like that. And for voting we would just use everyone's forum name I think.
You all are full of such wonderful ideas. Here's one I've been tossing around in my head for a while now. Would anybody be interested in doing a month where everyone writes a story using the same screenshots? This is an idea that I keep coming back to, but isn't something that I would select without seeing if y'all like it first. So let me know what you think.
Here's how I think it could (if there's interest for it):
One month - maybe as a side challenge to the actual writing challenge - we have people submit a collection of screenshots just like we normally submit stories and everyone could vote for their favorite at the end of that month. (Didn't someone suggest a wordless story theme way back in July/August?)
Then the next month the theme would simply be for everyone to create a story around the winning set of screenshots.
And another idea I've had is... an anonymous month. In this scenario you would PM your stories to me, and I would post them on the forums. After voting is over you could of course publish you story on your own blog/thread. It think it might be fun to see what everyone thinks of each story without knowing who wrote it. And I can picture everyone having fun trying to guess too. (again I would never pop this in a surprise theme; I want to see if anyone likes this idea first)
And last, I kind of want to put the two together: The month where everyone uses the same pics for their story is the same month that we do the anonymous thing. Because there would be no dead giveaways in the pictures to make it obvious whose story is whose.
As far as the voting system goes, I'm pretty sure of where I stand so here's my two cents as you across the pond like to put it
Quite frankly I think the whole system falters incredibly if we don't trust each other and the system itself. We can avoid people voting for the same story three times because it is simple enough to spot (as shown during the voting for August) but other than that there isn't much else a person can do to 'control' the voting. I also think controlling the vote is a little paradoxical since it is supposed to be a reflection of opinions.
Furthermore, as far as voting for yourself is concerned, I don't see why we are questioning it further than saying that it isn't an immoral thing to do neither is it against the rules. I agree it can seem a conceited act and can be done simply with the aim of winning rather than because of the work produced, but I also feel that I for one am confident enough to know good writing when I see it, regardless of who typed it out and that sometimes that person can be myself as much as it can another writer. Which is why I am offering something new into the mix.
I suggest anonymous submissions. I don't know how haha but I truly feel that if nobody but the author knows who produced each piece we can be absolutely certain of no 'popularity contests' and it is completely based upon the product rather than the creator. Obviously things like which game is used, and maybe if we're lucky the tone/style, might give away the author. However if we were all to submit them to a different site somehow anonymously and then maybe publish them to our own sites after voting has finished, we might just find a happy medium? The logistics may be too complicated but it is a mere suggestion to combat some concerns here.
However, my initial point still stands. I really don't like this whole concept of questioning whether voters will be mature enough to vote for the product over creator or not vote for their friends or whether they should be allowed to vote for themselves. I feel as if we should operate as any other voters would; with discretion and complete freedom to vote fairly and for the piece we wish. (note: i said piece not candidate as we are not focusing on the person here but their work).
Sorry for the rambling haha
I'd had a similar thought to your screenshot idea (I really like the way you have it, with everyone using the same ones!)
The thought I had was having everyone take a series of screenshots in-game (kind of like trying to tell a wordless story, but not necessarily for the challenge). Then, using a random number generator (or something like that!) you are randomly assigned another person's screenshots, so they send them to you and then you write a story for them (not PAIRS, but like, I get CathyTea's screenshots, CathyTea gets Jes2G's screenshots, Jes2G gets my screenshots, etc).
I think I actually prefer your idea, but I decided to throw mine out there too
@Lizzie1234 I agree with pretty much everything you said!
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact )
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
@Lizzie1234 I agree with pretty much everything you said!
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact )
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
I won't even lie and say I wasn't thinking the exact same thing as I wrote it! I've had so much feedback this month and would miss it, but perhaps people can still comment on it and it would be even better because they are complimenting you without knowing its you! Dunno how it would work though
I'd had a similar thought to your screenshot idea (I really like the way you have it, with everyone using the same ones!)
The thought I had was having everyone take a series of screenshots in-game (kind of like trying to tell a wordless story, but not necessarily for the challenge). Then, using a random number generator (or something like that!) you are randomly assigned another person's screenshots, so they send them to you and then you write a story for them (not PAIRS, but like, I get CathyTea's screenshots, CathyTea gets Jes2G's screenshots, Jes2G gets my screenshots, etc).
I think I actually prefer your idea, but I decided to throw mine out there too
Maybe we could have a couple different choices of screenshot sets. Oh the possibilities.
@Lizzie1234 I agree with pretty much everything you said!
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact )
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
I won't even lie and say I wasn't thinking the exact same thing as I wrote it! I've had so much feedback this month and would miss it, but perhaps people can still comment on it and it would be even better because they are complimenting you without knowing its you! Dunno how it would work though
I honestly think that we would still be about to have a good guess of who each story belongs to just because of the screenshot. I we know who uses cc and who doesn't. We're used to who has their graphics set to high or low. Sim 3 v Sims 4. I like the idea of anonymity too, but I think it's just impractical to do for every month. But we could definitely do it one month (or even have it as an occasional thing) if others are interested in it the way I mentioned in my earlier post.
@Lizzie1234 I agree with pretty much everything you said!
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact )
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
I won't even lie and say I wasn't thinking the exact same thing as I wrote it! I've had so much feedback this month and would miss it, but perhaps people can still comment on it and it would be even better because they are complimenting you without knowing its you! Dunno how it would work though
I honestly think that we would still be about to have a good guess of who each story belongs to just because of the screenshot. I we know who uses cc and who doesn't. We're used to who has their graphics set to high or low. Sim 3 v Sims 4. I like the idea of anonymity too, but I think it's just impractical to do for every month. But we could definitely do it one month (or even have it as an occasional thing) if others are interested in it the way I mentioned in my earlier post.
This is what I was about to say (referring to the cc part) when I saw the idea about the anonymous all-screenshot one.
@Lizzie1234 I agree with pretty much everything you said!
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact )
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
I won't even lie and say I wasn't thinking the exact same thing as I wrote it! I've had so much feedback this month and would miss it, but perhaps people can still comment on it and it would be even better because they are complimenting you without knowing its you! Dunno how it would work though
I honestly think that we would still be about to have a good guess of who each story belongs to just because of the screenshot. I we know who uses cc and who doesn't. We're used to who has their graphics set to high or low. Sim 3 v Sims 4. I like the idea of anonymity too, but I think it's just impractical to do for every month. But we could definitely do it one month (or even have it as an occasional thing) if others are interested in it the way I mentioned in my earlier post.
This is what I was about to say (referring to the cc part) when I saw the idea about the anonymous all-screenshot one.
Oh, what I was suggesting was having the anonymous one be when everyone is using the same screenshots. The part where people submit all-screenshot entries wouldn't be anonymous.
I love the idea of a series of screenshots and we all have to make a story around the same ones. It'd be similar to this month with the first line. It's always interesting to see how different stories can be within the same set of guidelines. Just as long as I don't have to make the screenshots :P
I like the idea of that being a separate little mini-challenge. Sort of like when people do separate contest threads for speed-dates or building contests. Have everyone submit a series of 10-15 pictures and the winner of it will have their pictures used as the story prompt in our thread.
The anonymity of it would be nice, but I think just for that challenge or just for a challenge or two. I don't mind the popularity contest aspect to things, that's just how life is. It's too hard to try and make things completely fair all the time. Plus, this challenge has been really exciting for me, as I had so many views! Well, a lot for me... probably for most of you, lol! But it's still fun to see! (I still get excited when my view count goes above 10)
"The War of Zagadoo" sounds pretty epic to me, too!
@Lizzie1234 I agree with pretty much everything you said!
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact )
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
I won't even lie and say I wasn't thinking the exact same thing as I wrote it! I've had so much feedback this month and would miss it, but perhaps people can still comment on it and it would be even better because they are complimenting you without knowing its you! Dunno how it would work though
I honestly think that we would still be about to have a good guess of who each story belongs to just because of the screenshot. I we know who uses cc and who doesn't. We're used to who has their graphics set to high or low. Sim 3 v Sims 4. I like the idea of anonymity too, but I think it's just impractical to do for every month. But we could definitely do it one month (or even have it as an occasional thing) if others are interested in it the way I mentioned in my earlier post.
Hey! Wouldn't that be a fun contest? Match the story to the writer! Really clever ones would download CC or take out CC and change graphic settings--for sure, I would modify my writing style to match someone else's! But you know what? There are tells! For sure there are tells that I don't even know about! So someone would figure it out!
@Carewren123 I love both your ideas! Especially writing for the same set of screenshots! Oh man! That would be SO much fun!
@Lizzie1234 I agree with pretty much everything you said!
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact )
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
I won't even lie and say I wasn't thinking the exact same thing as I wrote it! I've had so much feedback this month and would miss it, but perhaps people can still comment on it and it would be even better because they are complimenting you without knowing its you! Dunno how it would work though
I honestly think that we would still be about to have a good guess of who each story belongs to just because of the screenshot. I we know who uses cc and who doesn't. We're used to who has their graphics set to high or low. Sim 3 v Sims 4. I like the idea of anonymity too, but I think it's just impractical to do for every month. But we could definitely do it one month (or even have it as an occasional thing) if others are interested in it the way I mentioned in my earlier post.
Hey! Wouldn't that be a fun contest? Match the story to the writer! Really clever ones would download CC or take out CC and change graphic settings--for sure, I would modify my writing style to match someone else's! But you know what? There are tells! For sure there are tells that I don't even know about! So someone would figure it out!
@Carewren123 I love both your ideas! Especially writing for the same set of screenshots! Oh man! That would be SO much fun!
I really would love to do at least one anonymous month just for the fun of the guess. (But... I guess I wouldn't to guess being the organizer and all... lol)
I love the idea of a series of screenshots and we all have to make a story around the same ones. It'd be similar to this month with the first line. It's always interesting to see how different stories can be within the same set of guidelines. Just as long as I don't have to make the screenshots :P
I like the idea of that being a separate little mini-challenge. Sort of like when people do separate contest threads for speed-dates or building contests. Have everyone submit a series of 10-15 pictures and the winner of it will have their pictures used as the story prompt in our thread.
The anonymity of it would be nice, but I think just for that challenge or just for a challenge or two. I don't mind the popularity contest aspect to things, that's just how life is. It's too hard to try and make things completely fair all the time. Plus, this challenge has been really exciting for me, as I had so many views! Well, a lot for me... probably for most of you, lol! But it's still fun to see! (I still get excited when my view count goes above 10)
"The War of Zagadoo" sounds pretty epic to me, too!
Yeah, I don't think everyone would be on board for it being anonymous all the time. Likely it'll be a one or two time thing. I mean everyone who has a blog enjoys having viewers right?
Speaking of future themes... What if we have one month where the restriction is that all of our stories have to have the same title? I know that would be slightly confusing for voting purposes, but I feel like it would be kinda neat! Maybe we could vote on the title ahead of time (and The War of the Zagadoo" could be an option, I suppose! ) so then you can write whatever you want, as long as it's clear that the chosen title is in some way fitting for your story.
I like that. And for voting we would just use everyone's forum name I think.
You all are full of such wonderful ideas. Here's one I've been tossing around in my head for a while now. Would anybody be interested in doing a month where everyone writes a story using the same screenshots? This is an idea that I keep coming back to, but isn't something that I would select without seeing if y'all like it first. So let me know what you think.
Here's how I think it could (if there's interest for it):
One month - maybe as a side challenge to the actual writing challenge - we have people submit a collection of screenshots just like we normally submit stories and everyone could vote for their favorite at the end of that month. (Didn't someone suggest a wordless story theme way back in July/August?)
Then the next month the theme would simply be for everyone to create a story around the winning set of screenshots.
And another idea I've had is... an anonymous month. In this scenario you would PM your stories to me, and I would post them on the forums. After voting is over you could of course publish you story on your own blog/thread. It think it might be fun to see what everyone thinks of each story without knowing who wrote it. And I can picture everyone having fun trying to guess too. (again I would never pop this in a surprise theme; I want to see if anyone likes this idea first)
And last, I kind of want to put the two together: The month where everyone uses the same pics for their story is the same month that we do the anonymous thing. Because there would be no dead giveaways in the pictures to make it obvious whose story is whose.
Okay, not let me know what ya think!
Oh, I completely want to do this! It sounds like so much fun.
@Lizzie1234 I agree with pretty much everything you said!
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact )
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
I won't even lie and say I wasn't thinking the exact same thing as I wrote it! I've had so much feedback this month and would miss it, but perhaps people can still comment on it and it would be even better because they are complimenting you without knowing its you! Dunno how it would work though
I honestly think that we would still be about to have a good guess of who each story belongs to just because of the screenshot. I we know who uses cc and who doesn't. We're used to who has their graphics set to high or low. Sim 3 v Sims 4. I like the idea of anonymity too, but I think it's just impractical to do for every month. But we could definitely do it one month (or even have it as an occasional thing) if others are interested in it the way I mentioned in my earlier post.
Now I want to throw everyone off and do one with no cc!
If we were to do something like that, it would probably mean submitting the story to Carewren (or the person in charge of that months poll) and them putting them up on a centralized thread/blog. That would be a tonne of work for the person involved, and it's really the only way I think it would work?
Silly me. Carewren already suggested this. That'll teach me to not read the thread properly!
Hehe you helped me prove my point things will get too complicated and/or less fun if we don't just trust the voters and the system we already have.
I agree. I think everyone should just vote their conscience ^^ If you feel fine with voting for yourself there is not really anything we can do about it I personally wouldn't feel good if I voted for myself because I would always be scared that I'd only win because of my own vote at that others didn't actually like my piece as much. But of course that's nonsense if everybody votes for themselves xD So go ahead and just vote what you want ^^
@Julyvee94 I want more vague voting hints Are there still multiple ties, did first place change? I like teasers
First place didn't change yet but the story didnt get any more votes so far so other stories are catching up, the lead is pretty small now. The second place is tied Behind that things are all really close
@Julyvee94 I want more vague voting hints Are there still multiple ties, did first place change? I like teasers
First place didn't change yet but the story didnt get any more votes so far so other stories are catching up, the lead is pretty small now. The second place is tied Behind that things are all really close
That is making me intrigued and excited and also terrified (since I have no idea where my story falls in all of this So I'm excited if I'm one of the second place stories (or any of the ones that are catching up!) and terrified if I'm the first place story ) Two more days! It's killing me!
Are there a lot of votes?I will totally tell you D2D spoilers in exchange for information.
@Julyvee94 I want more vague voting hints Are there still multiple ties, did first place change? I like teasers
First place didn't change yet but the story didnt get any more votes so far so other stories are catching up, the lead is pretty small now. The second place is tied Behind that things are all really close
I just melted a cookie the size of a small plate in the microwave! I'm now going to enjoy it while I check out the September entries I missed!
Send one this way, please, friend!! Coooookies
@aroseinbloom LOL - yes! (Btw I love your YouTube videos with the Minimalist Challenge! Your voice is so cute and friendly! It makes you more 'real' to me, lol, as weird as that sounds).
Here's the thing (and at design college, you'll probably get this from your teachers a lot!): this is not about YOU as a person. This is about your work. This is about product: what you have created.
We're not saying that any one of us is better than another: we're not even saying that any one of us is more talented or more creative than another.
It's so obvious from reading all our selections that each one of us (and maybe even most people, given something they feel passionate about) are amazingly talented and creative. The spirit of the contest, in my view, is to celebrate the creativity, talent, skill, and passion that is part of being a person. It's something that is in all of us
@CathyTea Agree - and you put this perfectly, CathyTea. On that topic, I joined the contest but since I highly doubt I'd win, I mainly tried to focus on making the short story a little window into my Sims, how I play, etc. mostly for people who may have never visited my blog before ... ie, like picking out Malcolm Landgraab, etc, all the Sims I love. I might not win the contest, but I feel like I've had a chance to gain new readers and that's worth it to me. Plus it was fun to write, lol.
I just melted a cookie the size of a small plate in the microwave! I'm now going to enjoy it while I check out the September entries I missed!
Send one this way, please, friend!! Coooookies
@aroseinbloom LOL - yes! (Btw I love your YouTube videos with the Minimalist Challenge! Your voice is so cute and friendly! It makes you more 'real' to me, lol, as weird as that sounds).
Here's the thing (and at design college, you'll probably get this from your teachers a lot!): this is not about YOU as a person. This is about your work. This is about product: what you have created.
We're not saying that any one of us is better than another: we're not even saying that any one of us is more talented or more creative than another.
It's so obvious from reading all our selections that each one of us (and maybe even most people, given something they feel passionate about) are amazingly talented and creative. The spirit of the contest, in my view, is to celebrate the creativity, talent, skill, and passion that is part of being a person. It's something that is in all of us
@CathyTea Agree - and you put this perfectly, CathyTea. On that topic, I joined the contest but since I highly doubt I'd win, I mainly tried to focus on making the short story a little window into my Sims, how I play, etc. mostly for people who may have never visited my blog before ... ie, like picking out Malcolm Landgraab, etc, all the Sims I love. I might not win the contest, but I feel like I've had a chance to gain new readers and that's worth it to me. Plus it was fun to write, lol.
So much this! In the past I've participated in quite a few story prompt threads (mostly on fanfiction boards) but those were always just for fun. I don't think I've ever entered something that had a contest. So I did this for fun, to give myself a little challenge and almost like an introduction to my style (or at least one of my styles) and myself (since I haven't ever officially introduced myself on the larger thread... it moves so fast!).
And then again, it was fun because after I finished I got to read everyone's stories and even if I don't gain readers, I've found some great new writers for myself to read! All in all, it's a win for me
@RachelRosebud I had never been to your site before (I'm actually just starting expanding my reading beyond the 5 or stories that got me hooked reading SimLit), and I enjoyed your story sooo much. I could've sworn I gave you feedback, but it looks like it got eaten. I should've guessed when it kept trying to sign me back and forth between a name and anonymous! Anyway, I went over to your picture thread too, and omg, all those rockets! It was a whole lotta fun.
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I like that. And for voting we would just use everyone's forum name I think.
You all are full of such wonderful ideas. Here's one I've been tossing around in my head for a while now. Would anybody be interested in doing a month where everyone writes a story using the same screenshots? This is an idea that I keep coming back to, but isn't something that I would select without seeing if y'all like it first. So let me know what you think.
Here's how I think it could (if there's interest for it):
And another idea I've had is... an anonymous month. In this scenario you would PM your stories to me, and I would post them on the forums. After voting is over you could of course publish you story on your own blog/thread. It think it might be fun to see what everyone thinks of each story without knowing who wrote it. And I can picture everyone having fun trying to guess too. (again I would never pop this in a surprise theme; I want to see if anyone likes this idea first)
And last, I kind of want to put the two together: The month where everyone uses the same pics for their story is the same month that we do the anonymous thing. Because there would be no dead giveaways in the pictures to make it obvious whose story is whose.
Okay, not let me know what ya think!
Wren's Nest * * * Get a CLUE
Completed Stories: Ana Pringle
My Main Site: Carewren123 Sim Stories
YouTube Channel: Carewren123 Sims
Monthly Short Story Challenge Thread: Current Theme: April: Choose your screenshots.
Quite frankly I think the whole system falters incredibly if we don't trust each other and the system itself. We can avoid people voting for the same story three times because it is simple enough to spot (as shown during the voting for August) but other than that there isn't much else a person can do to 'control' the voting. I also think controlling the vote is a little paradoxical since it is supposed to be a reflection of opinions.
Furthermore, as far as voting for yourself is concerned, I don't see why we are questioning it further than saying that it isn't an immoral thing to do neither is it against the rules. I agree it can seem a conceited act and can be done simply with the aim of winning rather than because of the work produced, but I also feel that I for one am confident enough to know good writing when I see it, regardless of who typed it out and that sometimes that person can be myself as much as it can another writer. Which is why I am offering something new into the mix.
I suggest anonymous submissions. I don't know how haha but I truly feel that if nobody but the author knows who produced each piece we can be absolutely certain of no 'popularity contests' and it is completely based upon the product rather than the creator. Obviously things like which game is used, and maybe if we're lucky the tone/style, might give away the author. However if we were all to submit them to a different site somehow anonymously and then maybe publish them to our own sites after voting has finished, we might just find a happy medium? The logistics may be too complicated but it is a mere suggestion to combat some concerns here.
However, my initial point still stands. I really don't like this whole concept of questioning whether voters will be mature enough to vote for the product over creator or not vote for their friends or whether they should be allowed to vote for themselves. I feel as if we should operate as any other voters would; with discretion and complete freedom to vote fairly and for the piece we wish. (note: i said piece not candidate as we are not focusing on the person here but their work).
Sorry for the rambling haha
I'd had a similar thought to your screenshot idea (I really like the way you have it, with everyone using the same ones!)
The thought I had was having everyone take a series of screenshots in-game (kind of like trying to tell a wordless story, but not necessarily for the challenge). Then, using a random number generator (or something like that!) you are randomly assigned another person's screenshots, so they send them to you and then you write a story for them (not PAIRS, but like, I get CathyTea's screenshots, CathyTea gets Jes2G's screenshots, Jes2G gets my screenshots, etc).
I think I actually prefer your idea, but I decided to throw mine out there too
I guess my only issue with having anonymous submissions EVERY month is that I love getting likes/comments/etc on my blog about my story, and I think that if we post them on our own blogs AFTER voting is over and everyone has read our stories, very few people will actually take the time to go back and leave feedback. I don't know about other people, but literally no one reads my short story blog outside of challenge time (which isn't a bad thing, just a fact
I'm sure that sounds so selfish, but again, at least I admit it
Maybe we could have a couple different choices of screenshot sets. Oh the possibilities.
Wren's Nest * * * Get a CLUE
Completed Stories: Ana Pringle
My Main Site: Carewren123 Sim Stories
YouTube Channel: Carewren123 Sims
Monthly Short Story Challenge Thread: Current Theme: April: Choose your screenshots.
I honestly think that we would still be about to have a good guess of who each story belongs to just because of the screenshot. I we know who uses cc and who doesn't. We're used to who has their graphics set to high or low. Sim 3 v Sims 4. I like the idea of anonymity too, but I think it's just impractical to do for every month. But we could definitely do it one month (or even have it as an occasional thing) if others are interested in it the way I mentioned in my earlier post.
Wren's Nest * * * Get a CLUE
Completed Stories: Ana Pringle
My Main Site: Carewren123 Sim Stories
YouTube Channel: Carewren123 Sims
Monthly Short Story Challenge Thread: Current Theme: April: Choose your screenshots.
Oh, what I was suggesting was having the anonymous one be when everyone is using the same screenshots. The part where people submit all-screenshot entries wouldn't be anonymous.
Wren's Nest * * * Get a CLUE
Completed Stories: Ana Pringle
My Main Site: Carewren123 Sim Stories
YouTube Channel: Carewren123 Sims
Monthly Short Story Challenge Thread: Current Theme: April: Choose your screenshots.
I love the idea of a series of screenshots and we all have to make a story around the same ones. It'd be similar to this month with the first line. It's always interesting to see how different stories can be within the same set of guidelines. Just as long as I don't have to make the screenshots :P
I like the idea of that being a separate little mini-challenge. Sort of like when people do separate contest threads for speed-dates or building contests. Have everyone submit a series of 10-15 pictures and the winner of it will have their pictures used as the story prompt in our thread.
The anonymity of it would be nice, but I think just for that challenge or just for a challenge or two. I don't mind the popularity contest aspect to things, that's just how life is. It's too hard to try and make things completely fair all the time. Plus, this challenge has been really exciting for me, as I had so many views! Well, a lot for me... probably for most of you, lol! But it's still fun to see! (I still get excited when my view count goes above 10)
"The War of Zagadoo" sounds pretty epic to me, too!
Hey! Wouldn't that be a fun contest? Match the story to the writer! Really clever ones would download CC or take out CC and change graphic settings--for sure, I would modify my writing style to match someone else's! But you know what? There are tells! For sure there are tells that I don't even know about! So someone would figure it out!
@Carewren123 I love both your ideas! Especially writing for the same set of screenshots! Oh man! That would be SO much fun!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I really would love to do at least one anonymous month just for the fun of the guess. (But... I guess I wouldn't to guess being the organizer and all... lol)
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Monthly Short Story Challenge Thread: Current Theme: April: Choose your screenshots.
Yeah, I don't think everyone would be on board for it being anonymous all the time. Likely it'll be a one or two time thing. I mean everyone who has a blog enjoys having viewers right?
Wren's Nest * * * Get a CLUE
Completed Stories: Ana Pringle
My Main Site: Carewren123 Sim Stories
YouTube Channel: Carewren123 Sims
Monthly Short Story Challenge Thread: Current Theme: April: Choose your screenshots.
Oh, I completely want to do this! It sounds like so much fun.
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Now I want to throw everyone off and do one with no cc!
If we were to do something like that, it would probably mean submitting the story to Carewren (or the person in charge of that months poll) and them putting them up on a centralized thread/blog. That would be a tonne of work for the person involved, and it's really the only way I think it would work?
Silly me. Carewren already suggested this. That'll teach me to not read the thread properly!
I agree. I think everyone should just vote their conscience ^^ If you feel fine with voting for yourself there is not really anything we can do about it
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First place didn't change yet but the story didnt get any more votes so far so other stories are catching up, the lead is pretty small now. The second place is tied
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That is making me intrigued and excited and also terrified (since I have no idea where my story falls in all of this
Are there a lot of votes?I will totally tell you D2D spoilers in exchange for information.
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Oooh! It's so exciting!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
@aroseinbloom LOL - yes!
@CathyTea Agree - and you put this perfectly, CathyTea. On that topic, I joined the contest but since I highly doubt I'd win, I mainly tried to focus on making the short story a little window into my Sims, how I play, etc. mostly for people who may have never visited my blog before ... ie, like picking out Malcolm Landgraab, etc, all the Sims I love. I might not win the contest, but I feel like I've had a chance to gain new readers and that's worth it to me.
So much this! In the past I've participated in quite a few story prompt threads (mostly on fanfiction boards) but those were always just for fun. I don't think I've ever entered something that had a contest. So I did this for fun, to give myself a little challenge and almost like an introduction to my style (or at least one of my styles) and myself (since I haven't ever officially introduced myself on the larger thread... it moves so fast!).
And then again, it was fun because after I finished I got to read everyone's stories and even if I don't gain readers, I've found some great new writers for myself to read! All in all, it's a win for me
@RachelRosebud I had never been to your site before (I'm actually just starting expanding my reading beyond the 5 or stories that got me hooked reading SimLit), and I enjoyed your story sooo much. I could've sworn I gave you feedback, but it looks like it got eaten. I should've guessed when it kept trying to sign me back and forth between a name and anonymous! Anyway, I went over to your picture thread too, and omg, all those rockets! It was a whole lotta fun.