Discussion Thread -- OCTOBER 2020 -- 300 Word Writing Challenge (#39)

[Parson]

@Elckerlyc .... “Thy name was writ in water—it shall stand,” .... Even when ephemeral and beyond proof, true contact will always be a thing of beauty.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

johnnyjet: This exciting epic of adventure, compressed into a small space, offers the convincing detail and matter-of-fact tone associated with magic realism. A touch of irony at the very end makes the reader ponder the ambiguous nature of heroes.

 

[Parson]

@johnnyjet .... Beneath Calm Waters .... Even great battles in the end will leave ripples only in fleeting memories making even truly heroic efforts mere legends.

 

[mosaix]

The Rebel

View attachment 70592

I've done this in the past. Completely by accident. It's very easy to do when scrolling through the stories on an iPhone. TDZ rapped my knuckles - only kidding she's a sweetie.

Well, I'm in. Struggled a bit at first but left the thing alone for four or five days and looking at it afresh gave me new ideas - often the way.

 

[Parson]

@mosaix .... Just Beneath The Surface… .... Sometimes the fate of the world turns on pretty ordinary circumstances, sometimes it doesn't. But either way there's more going on under the surface of water or a story than what is easily visible.

 

[Parson]

@Phyrebrat .... Vigil for a Mother .... A story filled with the colors of longing as time stretches into a long slow vigil. It brings to mind King David when he said: "Someday I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me.”

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

Well I have entered the winner.

 

[Parson]

Well I have entered the winner.

Reviewing the winner:

@Ian Fortytwo .... Enhanced Humanity .... When you live in the moment, and expect the next one to be much like the last, you may be in for a stupendous surprise.

 

[Peter V]

Well I have entered the winner.

thanks for the heads up. That's one of my votes sorted

 

[Peter V]

When I first started entering these competitions, I used to rattle off a tale quite easily and usually be happy with it. As time has passed, I have found it increasingly difficult to get those creative juices running. I sit and stare at the image, then at a blank word document. Then back to the image. And back to the document and so on. At some stage I might type a couple of words or three. This time they were "Earth or off-world?" Later I added "Lake or Sea?" and later still I typed "Or river?" next to them. Maybe that is progress

Looking at the other entries, there are some seriously good contenders there (and not just Ian's winning entry). I wish I hadn't read them

 

[Luiglin]

Thanks to @Parson for kindly pointing out that I'm an idiot without saying it

 

[Parson]

@Perpetual Man .... Ebb and Flow .... A story of earth and all creation as everything changes, except that everything changes.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I have something brewing I hope

 

[Parson]

I have something brewing I hope

Parson peers over a hill and sees a big black pot bubbling. His stomach does flip flops. He is scared. He is very scared about that brew.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

mosaix: By narrating this quietly eerie tale of visitors from elsewhere with half-seen motives in an oblique fashion, the author creates a brooding sense of mystery. The revelation at the end only enhances the intriguing nature of what remains unexplained.

Phyrebrat: The use of many telling details, both physical and emotional, adds a powerful sense of reality to this bittersweet tale of loss and hope. A fantasy concept is used with subtle skill to serve as a metaphor for universally experienced feelings.

Ian Fortytwo: Advanced technological concepts from exploratory science fiction come together to result in a memorable character with whom the reader can easily empathize, despite great differences from the ordinary person. This smoothly written work manages to be both intimate and far-reaching.

Perpetual Man: The immensity of this sweeping vision of the future of an entire world produces a sense of awe within the reader. An almost mythic sense of the inexorable flow of time fills one with a new perception of the vastness of reality.

 

[scarpelius]

Can an admin correct @jd73 entry font size? Is so small I have difficulties reading it.

 

[The Judge]

Wow, yes, that is tiny!

@jd73 -- would you be happy for us to increase the font here?


Just to confirm the usual rule -- after the one hour editing window is up, mods will only make changes to an entry in exceptional circumstances, so we can't correct mistakes or add/delete anything in a story, not even a title. I'll go back and speak to my fellow mods so we get a consensus, but in my view simply increasing the size of the font isn't a change to the story, it's only allowing the story to be read. Changing a font or making any other formatting changes would be a different matter, though.

 

[jd73]

Wow, yes, that is tiny!

@jd73 -- would you be happy for us to increase the font here?


Just to confirm the usual rule -- after the one hour editing window is up, mods will only make changes to an entry in exceptional circumstances, so we can't correct mistakes or add/delete anything in a story, not even a title. I'll go back and speak to my fellow mods so we get a consensus, but in my view simply increasing the size of the font isn't a change to the story, it's only allowing the story to be read. Changing a font or making any other formatting changes would be a different matter, though.

Lol, yes that's fine. Apologies for that

 

[Parson]

@jd73 .... Blue Water .... When on a hopeless quest you'll find less hope than you might have hoped.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

jd73: With great generosity, the author offers not one, and many different settings and concepts, so that the reader can enjoy the equivalent of several tales all at once. The way in which these are brought together in a holistic way renders the whole much more than just the sum of its parts.