Discussion -- 75 Word Challenge -- May

[Moonbat]

Phew!
That is the latest I have ever posted, and it wasn't so much as waiting until the last minute as only just finishing it. With the 300 word voting taking the start of the month I seem to have just sneaked in before the bell. It probably could have done with more work, but I'm quite pleased with it
Now to get a-voting

[Brev]

Originally Posted by ratsy

Well, there are a lot of good ones in here. Should be interesting. Good work everyone.

Yes, couldn't put it better. Good work everyone . Excellent effort all round...I sense another closely fought vote.

[David Evil Overlord]

Originally Posted by hopewrites

Not that kind of fantasy David ...

No, actually. And not a gorgeous geek girl in glasses and a pink lab coat, either.

[Ursa major]

Mine is still at 81 words. (To be fair, I wrote it in some of the ad breaks during NCIS on 5+1. And I was watching that channel because I'd been watching Lewis on ITV1. All of which may - very, very vaguely - suggest my inspiration, if that's the right word.)

And I still need to do some Internet research. (The first draft was written on a PC at a place with no Internet access.)

Busy, busy, busy....

[Culhwch]

Urse, you do know the clock is ticking, yes? Research at this late hour?

[hopewrites]

Trying to get these in before voting starts. sorry if they are not as expressive as my usual, been sick the last few days. Writing them was an enjoyable way to keep my "I cant sleep any more DO SOMETHING" brain from driving me out of the house into something foolish that would retard my recovery.
more on the way.



Karn Maeshalanadae: I bet the jackalopes were happy… Sorry only one thing comes to mind when I encounter heliotrope, and it involves happy jackalopes.

JohnyJet: and I thought Dr Suese had problems… at least he didn’t have a mad dad who turned bad.

Ratsy: ohhhhhhhhhhhh that’s kind of sad! But in a fairytale world where everything is bright and beautiful, what else would someone with only a grey out look find.

StarBeast: is that why the only encounters we have on record with aliens now are so weird? They’re all newlyweds? Well, that explains a lot actually.

Aun Doorback: Confidence… not always one’s best friend eh? Fantastic descriptors, it always creeps me out when approaching insects leer at me with quivering mouthparts.

Scott R Forshaw: oh what fun word play! If he can be half so witty as you, and he were my husband, I would forgive him for it.

Bob S. Sr. : oh mysterious twist at the end! I love it. Also love the imagery of a purple sky illuminated only by occasional lightning flashes. What you painted there for me made me wish my imagination had a camera.

Brev: team voodoo? And no one found that suspicious? Nice use of light waves as weapons technologies.

Paranoid Marvin: oh *shiver* delightful as your poetry always is this, I feel, is one of your best! A warning, I fear, only the converted will hear, and few know how to heed. The cadence has a marching feel and I can easily hear a massive “robot” army chanting it as they decimate what ever foes they are pitted against. Definitely paints a drab future. Well done, I say. Well done indeed.

Tisiphone: Beautiful imagery here as well. I have met a few sunshine smiles in my life and there is little I wouldn’t do for them.

Chrispenycate: that would have been good to know earlier, tone deaf… well I liked your thrilling instruments and the idea that light can trigger a magic show of sound.

TheDustyZebra: ouch! Drastic relief is right… at least Jesse knows he is going to a good cause right? Not like those who draw a soylent-green-card, that would have been poor taste…

Perpetual Man: now here is tragedy! Yet if someone who could have enjoyed the beauty of what General Starr was up against had been there, they might not have come home to be decorated. The commonality of this perspective, in my experience, leads me to cherish my colored view of the world even more.

Highlander: definitely leaves me with chills… perfect pacing and the detached voice really brings home to me the terror of the situation, like the narrator is already trying to block out what is happening before it can imbed itself in memory and become the stuff of nightmares.

High Eight: hope never was so slimy. Nicely done. J

Alex: 2001 meets Alice in wonderland? I’d rather have a high caterpillar than a computer with a complex… still, it makes one think…

[Ursa major]

Originally Posted by Culhwch

Research at this late hour?

Very necessary research, as it happens. The Old Memory is not what it was. And what I discovered (but should have already known) saved me a few words, enough that I could add a couple more and go below the limit. (And for those who know the inspiration, my earlier version would have been risible in its lack of attention to (at least one) detail.)


Anywho, it's now been posted.

[Ursa major]

Here's the link to the Poll:

May 75-Word Challenge Poll

[Azzagorn]

I've just voted. This was a hard challenge so first I'd like to say well done to everyone who posted something this month. I found it hard to pick just one to vote for, especially considering the amount of talented people on this forum.

Anyway, my shortlisted stories are:- Harebrain's Victory, The spurring Plattys For display purposes only and The Dusty Zebra's Dye Lot.

I loved all three of these and picking one to vote for was hard. In the end I chose the one that actually made me laugh out loud when I read it on the bus.

My vote goes to.... ( Insert drum roll here): For Display Purposes Only by TSP

[David Evil Overlord]

Shortlist: Springs, Hex, The Dusty Zebra, Culhwch, Hopewrites, Grizzgreen.

Vote: The Spurring Platty, because who doesn't like a good accidentally-aroused-alien story?

[TheDustyZebra]

Thanks for the shortlists, Azzagorn and DEO, and the great review, hope! I almost titled it "Silent Red" for that reason, but I changed my mind.

[TheDustyZebra]

Sorry for the double post, but nobody's slipped in after my last one in the past hour and a half, and I had time to look over the stories. My daughter's birthday is tomorrow, and school is ending, and I might forget entirely if I don't vote now. Probably not, but I'm stalling so I don't have to decorate a cake and a bunch of cookies and wrap presents tonight.

I'm pretty sure this is a first, as I don't remember anybody ever getting the first three votes before!

So here we go:

reiver33 -- We'll Always Have Kansas
Gary Compton -- Many Names but Only One...
Hex -- Handwavium! ...
Glen -- Estd 1759
HareBrain -- Victory
Bob S. Sr -- Bucket List
Brev -- Intercept...
chrispenycate -- Doctor of Chromothaumatology
*TSP -- For Display Purposes Only*
Culhwch -- We Are All Made of Colour
Ursa major -- Euan Cries
DEO -- I Can See Infra-Red...
TacticalLoco -- Detective Roy G Biv...
mosaix -- Colour Bar

[David Evil Overlord]

Thanks for the shortlisting, TDZ.

[springs]

Ty for the mention, DEO. I just ruined the lovely 100%, apologies TSP.

I found this really hard this month.

I got down to a shortlist late last night (once Ursa's arrived, I figured we were there, and checked again this morning)

TDZ, what a gruesome future.
BM, I loved the red raw courage, thought it was space fantasy in one line
HB, I read this to my kids, who discovered the joys of the rubik's cube last year, and they're still talking about it. (gruesomely, they especially liked the exploding brains....)
Scott, the ultimate oh no moment, and an original take on colour
Alc, again, the kids have taken to calling each other traitor boy, and it's spreading... when it reaches your neck of the woods, you can deny all knowledge.
CH; I thought this was a brilliant take on space fantasy, a real blend of the impossible with the barely credible.
Glen, I liked it, but could I vote for such an unthinkable outcome - No!

Read them again this morning and my shorter list was BM, HB and Crystal and the botanist in me (and the fact I can see the little snapdragons) said Crystal Haven.

[Boneman]

Originally Posted by StilLearning

Mine was based on idea I had when I was about 14, after reading an X-Men comic. I originally wrote it out at 900 words. But I don't think it's an apporach I'll take again, it's really difficult to compress the idea so much and keep it comprehensible, and real life is eating my time at the moment.

but... by golly, what excellent practice for writing a synopsis...

Now I've got the pleasure of reading them all for the first time. Springs, thanks so much for the very short listing - I'm in there with some excellent company!