Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

I feel like a story should be complete before it's submitted to the challenge

0 (0%)

I feel like as long as the story is at least 2/3 done it is fine to submit

6 (100%)

Total Members Voted: 6

[Rose]

You're right on both counts.

Three if you count the idea to just do a poll LOL.

[mare]

LOL!

I do just want to add that the way the challenge is now it's set to that second rule but sometimes those stories do not read like they are 2/3 finished. Keep that in mind too.

[RokofAges75]

Yeah, as a reader, I would prefer to read something complete so I can give feedback on the whole story.  Also, I would not want to feel obligated to read the rest of the story after the challenge if I didn't really want to or to have to read a lot more than I signed up for because of the story being updated as the challenge was going on.  That said, as long as we get a choice in what we read, it shouldn't matter because readers who feel the same way I do can just choose stories that are complete.

From the writing side of things, I'm kind of on the fence.  I usually only submit complete stories for this challenge, but this year I would have submitted Song for the Undead for sure and maybe Sick as My Secrets because those are really the only stories I have worth submitting that haven't already been read for this challenge.  I'm glad Rose went ahead and submitted Undead, but I'm also glad I can wait another year before submitting SAMS because it will be so much farther (hopefully finished?) by next summer.

There's not a rule about submitting the same story more than one year, is there?  Because I've always tried to submit stories that haven't been read for this before, but I'm running out of ones to submit!  Have any of you submitted a story that was already chosen and read for a previous year's challenge?

[RokofAges75]

LOL!

I do just want to add that the way the challenge is now it's set to that second rule but sometimes those stories do not read like they are 2/3 finished. Keep that in mind too.

Sometimes it's hard to know if your story is 2/3 finished or not, unless you have the whole thing planned out chapter by chapter.  Otherwise it's just an estimate.

[mare]

No, you can submit the same story every single year because the rule is you can't read the same story for the challenge, so you'd just always get someone else reading it. A new pair of eyes for the same story is always a good thing too.

And that is also a good point when it comes to picking your stories. Sometimes people only have a few left to chose from though and sometimes people claim they are more than halfway done but when you read it you see they are clearly not or at least it reads that way.

As far as the whole obligation part, that's why I decided to make that slight change from last year. Last year I said that as long as the story was being updated while the challenge was going on, you had to keep reading. I decided that wasn't really fair to the reader to have to wait on the person updating it to finish up their surveys. So now, once that final survey is done, the obligation is over. Then if you want to continue reading it's your choice and not mine.

[mare]

Sometimes it's hard to know if your story is 2/3 finished or not, unless you have the whole thing planned out chapter by chapter.  Otherwise it's just an estimate.

Exactly why maybe if the writer isn't really sure, in that instance, they shouldn't submit that particular story. I know if I had no clue where my story was going and how long it would take me to get there, it wouldn't be a good thing to ask people to read.

[RokofAges75]

^ That seems very fair.  And that's a good point; it's probably nice to get this kind of feedback from more than one person.  Maybe I will re-submit some older stories if I do this next year.  Hopefully I will; I missed it this year, but knew I wouldn't have time to devote to it until July.  Next year June will still be busy, but at least I won't be moving on top of taking two classes.

[Rose]

Yeah, as a reader, I would prefer to read something complete so I can give feedback on the whole story.  Also, I would not want to feel obligated to read the rest of the story after the challenge if I didn't really want to or to have to read a lot more than I signed up for because of the story being updated as the challenge was going on.  That said, as long as we get a choice in what we read, it shouldn't matter because readers who feel the same way I do can just choose stories that are complete.

From the writing side of things, I'm kind of on the fence.  I usually only submit complete stories for this challenge, but this year I would have submitted Song for the Undead for sure and maybe Sick as My Secrets because those are really the only stories I have worth submitting that haven't already been read for this challenge.  I'm glad Rose went ahead and submitted Undead, but I'm also glad I can wait another year before submitting SAMS because it will be so much farther (hopefully finished?) by next summer.

There's not a rule about submitting the same story more than one year, is there?  Because I've always tried to submit stories that haven't been read for this before, but I'm running out of ones to submit!  Have any of you submitted a story that was already chosen and read for a previous year's challenge?

Yeah it's really the writing side that makes me go well....incomp letely (but over halfway) might be more beneficial. Perfect example was Undead cause I figured a fresh pair of eyes reading it would be awesome. I've submitted Remember Me This Way twice now. Mainly because if there's any fanfic (besides Undead lol) that I know I'd really consider someday trying to transition into a "real" novel, it's that one. It's gonna probably be something I keep doing that with because the more eyes, the better.

[Rose]

^ That seems very fair.  And that's a good point; it's probably nice to get this kind of feedback from more than one person.  Maybe I will re-submit some older stories if I do this next year.  Hopefully I will; I missed it this year, but knew I wouldn't have time to devote to it until July.  Next year June will still be busy, but at least I won't be moving on top of taking two classes.

Which is good cause...withou t you all I'm going to be is... Innnnnncoooooo mmmmpleeeeettt e....*goes to the knees*

Yeah I really couldn't help myself just now LOL.

[mare]

Yup, the more eyes the better but also the more times it's submitted the less chance that there are people who haven't already read it. Sometimes I think that's really the challenge for some people. Fr the more popular stories, they have pretty much been read by everyone already doing the challenge so they kind of end up being left out. That's why I avoid submitting "Why I'd Do it all Again" or "It Stays With You." Although I might next summer because they're old enough now that some people may have completely missed them. LOL

I hope you get a chance to do this next year, Julie!

Oh another thing I'm on the fence about is the readers only thing I did this year. Ritz is the only person doing it this year and she rocks so it isn't really an issue but I couldn't help but wonder what if it happened to be someone who wasn't that great who didn't care if they completed the challenge? There's really nothing I could do as a 'punishment' for those people. At least if you submit a story I can put it on hold but if there's nothing to put on hold all I can do is bug that person and hope it's enough.

I would love some of our great reviewers like Pammy, Silver Knife and GrunAugen to do a challenge like this because when it comes to handing out feedback they are awesome at it. From what I have seen anyway. I mean not that they even know or care about this challenge, but still I don't want to take that away from them if they did choose to participate.

[RokofAges75]

That's true about the readers, but if you don't let readers-only participate, that means fewer stories are chosen to be read in the first place.  I guess I would rather have one of my stories chosen by someone who reads part of it and then flakes than have it chosen by no one.  At least then I'd get some feedback out of it.  And you could still shame the people who flake here on the forum - that is "punishment" enough LOL.

[mare]

I am good at shaming people when they deserve it!  lol

[RokofAges75]

Yes, yes you are!  I feel bad that my story is the one causing someone to be shamed though.  I hope it's not that agonizing to read, although it's obvious that Song for the Undead is 1) a zombie apocalypse story and 2) really long, so if that wasn't something she wanted to commit to reading, she probably shouldn't have picked it.

[Rose]

Yes, yes you are!  I feel bad that my story is the one causing someone to be shamed though.  I hope it's not that agonizing to read, although it's obvious that Song for the Undead is 1) a zombie apocalypse story and 2) really long, so if that wasn't something she wanted to commit to reading, she probably shouldn't have picked it.

Yeah it really does make you wonder and feel bad our story is causing the problem.

[mare]

Yes, yes you are!  I feel bad that my story is the one causing someone to be shamed though.  I hope it's not that agonizing to read, although it's obvious that Song for the Undead is 1) a zombie apocalypse story and 2) really long, so if that wasn't something she wanted to commit to reading, she probably shouldn't have picked it.

And that's why the shaming needs to happen. No one should have those types of thoughts but those ARE the thoughts that would naturally run through your mind when someone fails to come through and review something when they are supposed to!

Judging by her reviews though, it does seem like she is enjoying it. She's not responding to her feedback either which again doesn't always sit well for people who leave it. I have seen that pattern before. People just will stop giving you feedback if you don't bother answering it and rightly so. I don't know, it's ALWAYS been a huge peeve of mine. There's no way I'm going to read your stuff if you aren't going to take the time to acknowledge the fact that I am. To me it's the same as if BSB never bothered to thank anyone for buying their CDs. Fans of anything across the board just want someone to say "Hey thanks!"

Reviews work the same way! I wish there was a way to see who is reading your stories on the site because those people who read and don't leave reviews are another reason why so many authors second guess themselves and why it's a mandatory part of this challenge.

ESPECIALLY if you write, you should ALWAYS leave a review for other authors. I can't tell you how many times I have to bite my tongue on any given day when I see someone say "Oh my God you have to check that story out, it's AMAZING!!" and then I go check that story out, look at the reviews and see ZERO by the person recommending it! AHH! Drives me insane!! Especially if they happen to complain about lack of reviews themselves which almost ALWAYS happens!! Or of people say things alluding to the fact that they have read or are reading your story but once again not a single review but also complain about lack of reviews. SHAMING NEEDS TO COMMENCE!

Ah, that felt good. lol

Besides everyone knew going into this because I made it no secret, that if you don't' do what needs to be done, this would happen, right? LOL