Discussion -- 300 Word Challenge #4

[springs]

11? that's narrowed down; you got a lot of reading to do, Alc.

[alchemist]

Less than 3300 words! No hints about who's on the list.

(ssshhh. Don't tell the others; you are)

[springs]

secret's safe.


probably....

[alchemist]

I really needed four votes this month. One had to go, however.

I very much enjoyed about 15-20 stories, but narrowed it down to 11, then 6, then 4, then 3. Here are the mentions, shortlisted in bold.



Springs1971
Hex
Phoenixthewriter
Tactical Loco
mosaix
Perpetual Man
Teresa Edgerton
johnnyjet
The Judge
Kaladan
Dermit


The votes...

springs1971 - when I saw it was in the form of a script, I said "Wha-?" Then I saw how perfectly it managed to convey so much in that format.

Teresa Edgerton - I read this and let out a silent "Wow." The sheer quality is something to aspire to.

Dermit - I can hear the sputtering of the engine and feel the resignation as the faint hope fades. Expertly done. Come back and do some more, Dermit.

Edit: and I just noticed that Dermit's "The End" was the last story. It's all too much for me.

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for the shortlisting Alchemist, a nice end to the day.

[springs]

Oh, that's lovely, thanks Alc. I wasn't at all sure of the format, but the story seemed to like it. Dead pleased.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Thank you very much for the vote, alchemist! It's a lift on what has otherwise been a rather dull and grey day.

[HareBrain]

Lots of great entries. A reasonable-length shortlist would be fairly abritrary, so I haven't made one, as there were four that stuck out for me from the first reading. They are:

Mosaix -- superbly constructed.
Teresa -- beautifully written and *sniff* moving.
Cul -- a nice twist, and very neatly bookended.
Boneman -- builds wonderfully to a laugh-out-loud payoff (and unusually for that kind of joke, survives several readings).

Life would have been easier if only three of those had been written, but I had to lose one, and it was Boneman's, but only just.

[johnnyjet]

Thanks to Boneman & alchemist for the Honorable Mention and to Perpetual Man for the short listing. And a special thanks for the vote (an actual vote!) to chrispenycate. Since this is my first time in this challenge, it is especially encouraging. Thank you to all!

[mosaix]

Thanks for the vote, Harebrain.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Thank you, Harebrain. (And to my stealth voters, too.)

[David Evil Overlord]

Teresa, it has been several years since a story literally gave me goosebumps. Yours did.

Now, how do I actually vote in this thing?

[Perpetual Man]

Just follow the link:

300 Word Vote

[springs]

and you have 3 votes!

[chrispenycate]

Well, I finally managed to get voting done. I don't dare write a short list because it never was.

Many thanks for the mentions, Dusty Z, Spurring Platty and Hope, and more for the Vote Aun Doorback. Yes, mine was dark; I tried to do a follow up on my mechanical Christmas tree from December's 75 worder, but it wouldn't gell. I was dark myself, I'm afraid, and finally Teresa did a much better version than I could ever have managed.

Originally Posted by johnnyjet

Thanks to Boneman & alchemist for the Honorable Mention and to Perpetual Man for the short listing. And a special thanks for the vote (an actual vote!) to chrispenycate. Since this is my first time in this challenge, it is especially encouraging. Thank you to all!

You earned it. I may not have been able to find the voting time easily this quarter, but I didn't skimp, and eliminating good stories was like pulling teeth; so anything that survived…