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Post by Kaez on Feb 17, 2013 21:00:12 GMT -5
The prose is the best. The quality of the individual sentences is elegant and lovely. It blends poetry and pose into something gorgeous. Does it tell a coherent story? Do all the pieces fit together? Notttttttt really. Not this time, no. But I think you knew that. I thought they did, to be honest. I agree that it was the best story I've written for this challenge, but I don't find the story to be any less coherent then my Nonsense entry. And the score is still lower than any other score...and since that's the only metric we have to go by then this was my worst story by your opinion...? The Nonsense entry was jumbled in a way that seemed nonsensical. This one was jumbled in a less sensible way, I think. It was probably my least favorite entry of yours, though I think it contained, individually, your best overall writing. I know that seems contradictory. |
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Post by James on Feb 17, 2013 21:01:23 GMT -5
I thought they did, to be honest. I agree that it was the best story I've written for this challenge, but I don't find the story to be any less coherent then my Nonsense entry. And the score is still lower than any other score...and since that's the only metric we have to go by then this was my worst story by your opinion...? The Nonsense entry was jumbled in a way that seemed nonsensical. This one was jumbled in a less sensible way, I think. It was probably my least favorite entry of yours, though I think it contained, individually, your best overall writing. I know that seems contradictory. He loves the fine mahogany wood that you made the cabinet out of. But the cabinet isn't as good as some of the other cabinets you've made. |
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Post by Sekot on Feb 17, 2013 21:04:10 GMT -5
I thought they did, to be honest. I agree that it was the best story I've written for this challenge, but I don't find the story to be any less coherent then my Nonsense entry. And the score is still lower than any other score...and since that's the only metric we have to go by then this was my worst story by your opinion...? The Nonsense entry was jumbled in a way that seemed nonsensical. This one was jumbled in a less sensible way, I think. It was probably my least favorite entry of yours, though I think it contained, individually, your best overall writing. I know that seems contradictory. Its contradictory and seems fairly arbitrary. It just....doesn't make any sense. |
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Post by Sekot on Feb 17, 2013 21:12:14 GMT -5
This stinks fairly largely of me taking my toys and going home, but I thought that story was actually really good. I was proud of it. And I guess my comment about either really liking it or hating it was going to be true. But maybe my style just isn't suited for this Challenge much in the same way Flash Fiction isn't?
I'll fully acknowledge that there isn't a clear plot. I don't spell out to you an antagonist or protagonist, even the central "I" of the character is nebulous and non-existent. That's the point. Its a story about the nonexistent or (sort of) bifurcated self facing itself in an attempt to overcome what is, in the end, not overcomable. Its tying the themes together throughout the stories I've written for this Challenge into something I thought made sense in my own circuitous way.
Writing it, I was able to explore for myself the various ways I write, the themes I play with, and the kinds of stories I want to write. I really really don't want to sound pretentious but I thought this story was kind of "deep" or at least had more to it then "beautiful prose".
I'd like to think of it less as an ugly cabinet made of good wood and more as a song with lyrics that don't make sense but that has a beautiful sound. Its not about what is being said but how it is played out.
And I feel like the score is just...blah...
I'm not asking for it to be changed or anything silly like that, I just really really have to disagree with it. And I don't typically -like- doing that.
I'm just really disappointed maybe?
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Post by Kaez on Feb 17, 2013 21:12:32 GMT -5
The Nonsense entry was jumbled in a way that seemed nonsensical. This one was jumbled in a less sensible way, I think. It was probably my least favorite entry of yours, though I think it contained, individually, your best overall writing. I know that seems contradictory. Its contradictory and seems fairly arbitrary. It just....doesn't make any sense. I don't know what to say. I thought the writing was extremely well done, but I had trouble following the plot (3/5), didn't think the topic was as utilized as it could've been (7/10, one point -more- than Reffy's) and didn't leave the story finding it -very- entertaining (9/15, which you'll notice is only one point shy of Jackal's, which was -fairly- entertaining). It's a score based on the exact same criteria every other score has bee based on. ...someone read Sekot's entry and back me up here? |
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Post by Kaez on Feb 17, 2013 21:14:41 GMT -5
I'll fully acknowledge that there isn't a clear plot. I don't spell out to you an antagonist or protagonist, even the central "I" of the character is nebulous and non-existent. That's the point. Its a story about the nonexistent or (sort of) bifurcated self facing itself in an attempt to overcome what is, in the end, not overcomable. Its tying the themes together throughout the stories I've written for this Challenge into something I thought made sense in my own circuitous way. I want you to read that over a couple of times. If Reffy or James or Zovo was judging this tournament instead of me, do you really think your score would've even had a -chance- of being higher than the one I gave you? Even a -chance-? I can agree with that -to a degree-. |
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Post by Sekot on Feb 17, 2013 21:15:25 GMT -5
Its contradictory and seems fairly arbitrary. It just....doesn't make any sense. I don't know what to say. I thought the writing was extremely well done, but I had trouble following the plot (3/5), didn't think the topic was as utilized as it could've been (7/10, one point -more- than Reffy's) and didn't leave the story finding it -very- entertaining (9/15, which you'll notice is only one point shy of Jackal's, which was -fairly- entertaining). It's a score based on the exact same criteria every other score has bee based on. ...someone read Sekot's entry and back me up here? I'm not gauging my score off of others so much as I am my other stories. I don't care about winning so much as just not understanding how this did so much more poorly than my other stories. Especially the Thirst one which was the worst followed by the Terminal entry. |
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Post by Sekot on Feb 17, 2013 21:16:07 GMT -5
I'll fully acknowledge that there isn't a clear plot. I don't spell out to you an antagonist or protagonist, even the central "I" of the character is nebulous and non-existent. That's the point. Its a story about the nonexistent or (sort of) bifurcated self facing itself in an attempt to overcome what is, in the end, not overcomable. Its tying the themes together throughout the stories I've written for this Challenge into something I thought made sense in my own circuitous way. I want you to read that over a couple of times. If Reffy or James or Zovo was judging this tournament instead of me, do you really think your score would've even had a -chance- of being higher than the one I gave you? Even a -chance-? I can agree with that -to a degree-. And I would disagree with each of them as well. Edit: Look, I guess I just don't get or am disappointed in the fact that I apparently didn't get across what I thought was pretty clear. |
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Post by Kaez on Feb 17, 2013 21:20:47 GMT -5
I don't know what to say. I thought the writing was extremely well done, but I had trouble following the plot (3/5), didn't think the topic was as utilized as it could've been (7/10, one point -more- than Reffy's) and didn't leave the story finding it -very- entertaining (9/15, which you'll notice is only one point shy of Jackal's, which was -fairly- entertaining). It's a score based on the exact same criteria every other score has bee based on. ...someone read Sekot's entry and back me up here? I'm not gauging my score off of others so much as I am my other stories. I don't care about winning so much as just not understanding how this did so much more poorly than my other stories. Especially the Thirst one which was the worst followed by the Terminal entry. Your opinion of your stories is very different than mine. This story, I think, more than any of the others (though -all- of them to a -much- larger degree than anyone else's) requires a simultaneous understanding of what the author is going for and a willingness to freely interpret that which is not clearly spelled out. That means that any given person reading your stories is going to get something -very- different out of it. That's just sort of the nature of them. And you, as the -author-? What you get is -never- going to coincide with what the readers think. And the more personalized, the more drastic that gap. This story, I think, had the most personal intention behind it. And so the gap was big. I want you to read that over a couple of times. If Reffy or James or Zovo was judging this tournament instead of me, do you really think your score would've even had a -chance- of being higher than the one I gave you? Even a -chance-? I can agree with that -to a degree-. And I would disagree with each of them as well. Edit: Look, I guess I just don't get or am disappointed in the fact that I apparently didn't get across what I thought was pretty clear. No, you wouldn't be writing that entry because they would've called your early stories very difficult to follow and lacking clear plots and characters and given you relatively low scores (this is a generalization but a more-or-less true one). I completely understand the disappointment, and I'm likely to go re-read your story tonight and try to see something I missed, but I dunno'. I'd challenge -anyone- else reading this post to go read Sekot's story and see if they genuinely get more comprehensible story out of it than I did. |
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Jackal
Senior Scribe
Warning: I don't bite, but I do make horrible puns.
Posts: 1,532
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Post by Jackal on Feb 17, 2013 22:47:42 GMT -5
I was actually worried I dragged that out a bit long.. huh. Maybe I'll continue working on that one later.
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Post by Injin on Feb 18, 2013 1:09:01 GMT -5
I expected my score. It was a topic I just couldn't do well, I suppose.
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Post by Kaez on Feb 18, 2013 1:17:33 GMT -5
Was expecting slllllllightly more commentary on, y'know, the conclusion of the tournament rather than this specific round.
But.
Y'know.
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Post by James on Feb 18, 2013 1:18:38 GMT -5
I expected my score. It was a topic I just couldn't do well, I suppose. It seems to me, Injin, that every time you do well, you take that as a sign that you can do -anything-. Which is admirable. But also 'a bit not good'. Keep it simple. Work on the little things. Go for the slow, incremental improvements over massive leaps. |
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Post by James on Feb 18, 2013 1:21:06 GMT -5
Was expecting slllllllightly more commentary on, y'know, the conclusion of the tournament rather than this specific round. But. Y'know. I'm not in a great position since, you know, I won. Any commentary might make me look not humble, which, as we all know, couldn't be further from the truth. Although, I'm interested if there's anything you'd note from my writing over six rounds as being worth looking at (negative or positive). Also! Everyone, how about three cheers for Pete! For organising and judging everything! Sincere thanks. |
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Post by James on Feb 18, 2013 1:37:52 GMT -5
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