Polls, Voting and other things....

[tamingmods.livejournal.com]

Voting

It was pretty clear that overwhelmingly people would like to do away with the polls in favor of something else. Our members do seem to like that we cover any fandom and would like the poll, or it's replacement, to help them write better.

So, until further notice, polls are suspended.  As we haven't had them for two weeks, I'm sure no one is shocked.

Most people agree that comments are the way to go with concrit, instead of an anonymous low vote. We received several good ideas and will be mulling over the best way to implement the suggestions.

Other News

In other news, to spice the community up a little bit, we're going to be implementing two new features. One will be an optional monthly challenge and the other will be the addition of two new types of prompts - 'Pictures' and 'Finish the Phrase'.

1) Monthly Challenges - These will be challenges that overlay the weekly challenges. They'll be issued on the first of the month with a deadline of midnight on the last day of the month. They don't count as part of your standings, and will have specific rules that you will need to follow - ex: 'original fiction.' These will be totally optional and can be used on top of your weekly entry as long as you've met all the requirements of both challenges. The idea is to help you stretch your wings and challenge your muse even further. For Example:

On the first of the month, we post the Monthly Challenge '1000 + word original short story told from first person POV.' You will have until the last day of the month to post your entry.

If you get an idea for a story, you can post it any time during the month and simply tag it with your author name and the challenge tag and you're done.

-OR-

If on Sunday of week 4, the prompt 'Blueblood' comes up and you realize you can work into your monthly challenge piece, you can enter it for both. When you post your 'Blueblood' entry, you would need to:

Tag your entry for both the weekly prompt and the monthly challenge as well as your author name.
Make sure it was an original fic.
Over 1000 words (instead of the usual 500).
Contained the word 'Blueblood'.
Be posted by midnight on the 30th of the month - even if the 30th is a Wednesday.

We're going to start these in December. Depending on the turnout, we may do banners at the end of the month for those who participated.
As these aren't part of the standings, anyone can participate at any time:  new authors, old ones who've dropped out, or ones currently doing a run. The more the merrier.

2) We're going to be adding two additional types of prompts into the prompt generator. One will be pictures, the other will be 'finish the phrase.'

Pictures - The prompt will be similar to the following.



Farmhouse

You'll be given an image, along with a word. As with the prompts we currently have, it will be up to you how you use it. You can choose to write about the image, refer to it in passing as a photo or painting on the wall in your story, or simply incorporate the word that accompanies it. If you know someone who can manip, you can have the image altered to suit your needs.

We will be very broad about what we accept for these type of prompts because the idea is to spur your imagination. If you're nervous about your interpretation of the prompt, you can always bold it or call it out somehow in your post to get feedback.

All of the following would be accepted as valid uses of the prompt:

His eyes were an unusual shade gray, like the sky after an electrical storm.

Bored, Jared began to flip through the thick book on the coffee table - New England Farmhouses.

The realtor strode away, chattering rapidly on her cell phone, allowing Armand to study the structure in earnest. The brick was solid enough, but the roof looked like it had seen better days.

Finish the Phrase -

For this type of prompt, you'll be given the beginning of a common phrase and you will get to be creative with the ending. Here are three example phrases -

you can catch more flies with honey than with...

all work and no play makes....

absence makes the heart....

So you could do the following -

you can catch more flies with honey than with...asbestos

all work and no play makes....me cranky

absence makes the heart....shrivel up and die


 

We'll be limited to English phrases, however, if you have a common saying in your part of the world that you can translate into English (or one that's not specifically American) - feel free to pass it on to us.

For both of these type of prompts, we would enter our selections into the prompt generator and allow them to come up randomly, as we do other prompts.

Hopefully, these changes will all be positive for the community and help it grow. 

So any questions? Comments? 

~tamingmods (calypso)

Comments

[spiceblueeyes.livejournal.com]

These new ideas look fun. I really like the finish the phrase one, I've had serious writers block the past couple months, so I'm hopeful these will help me out.

[catw00man.livejournal.com]

This all sounds awesome guys. I love the idea of a picture and a word. And the monthy chanllenge sound very interesting as well. I like the idea of more interesting challenges. The only thing I'm worried about is the finish the phrase prompts. Will we have to actually *use* the phrase or be inspired by it? Also will there be an alternate word like with the pictures? I'm all for the inspiration, I just personally wouldn't like to be forced into using a phrase.

Just my 2 cents and I'm sorry if I've misunderstood. Thanks!

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

These ideas look great, and I will definitely try to participate in the monthly challenge even though I'm taking some time off. I really need to say again, that you guys - the mods, do a brilliant job for a terrific community.

[jans-intentions.livejournal.com]

I think this is a positive thing. I may not get everything yet, but I appreciate the effort in making things interesting and I also like the flexibility. Plus, bravo for rewarding people for writing original. I think that this place has done a lot of good for people.

[alexfoster451.livejournal.com]

That sounds very cool! I think it is great that the community is expanding and growing to allow the writers to do the same. It’s very exciting to see.

~ Alex

[catw00man.livejournal.com]

Thanks for explaining and of course I'll abide by majority rules. I think a phrase like that for inspiration would be cool but I'll go ahead and put my vote in now that I'm not for being fed a phrase to be used verbatim in my fic. I'll do it if that's what we're doing but for me that verymuch kills the muses, especially if it's something none of them would ever say. But yeah, that's just my opinion.

Keep up the good work guys. I'll be curious to see how this all works out.

[lit-gal.livejournal.com]

Do you want me to create a random generator like this....

http://www.feath.com/idea/quote.htm

for the phrases or monthly challenges?

[authoressnebula.livejournal.com]

If you could do it, I would personally love to see it, because you on a general basis? Equal a lot of awesomeness. This would increase that factor. LOL

I think it would really help out, so if you have the time and the possibility, I would love for you to do it.

*hugs*

~Nebula

[delilahdraken]

I have a little question.

The monthly challenge is to be always a 1000+ words original piece in 1st person POV, or was that only an example? And about the other two prompt variants, are they for the weekly challenge or for the month's challenge?

Also, are we to use the exact phrases of the prompts? Because if that is now the case, writing will become very much more difficult for those who tend to have very abstract interpretations of the prompts.

I am sorry if my question sounds a bit stupid because I got confused. Some days I have some difficulties understanding English.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Seconding sparrow2000's comment - you guys - the mods, do a brilliant job for a terrific community.