25 Jul 19
@ghost-of-a-duke saidI don't see where you should be concerned if Rusty recognized the link with the Vincent story. I think the fact that he voted for it knowing it was yours was a small victory. In fact he voted for your other story as well knowing it was yours, proves no malice towards you is held by him.
Much appreciated sir. Your interpretation was correct. (I'm still unclear if Rusty recognized the link).
Vincent was fun to write, but horror really isn't my genre. - My wife patiently read both stories and kindly informed me that neither was scary. 😆
-VR
25 Jul 19
@ghost-of-a-duke saidStray Cat was cramped by the 800 word limit and would indeed benefit from more detail. given the very positive response to the story in its present clipped form, I think I will expand it.
Lots of good entries, but as already highlighted, I think Stray Cat was the best-written out of all the submissions (including my own). The reason I voted it 3rd rather than 1st was that I think it suffered by the word count restriction. A little more 'flesh on the bones' would have lifted it to another level. It was the kind of story that I think needed 'stretching o ...[text shortened]... (Very difficult within 800 words).
Curious sir what your views are on the other stories entered?
@ponderable saidThe story could also be made longer by breaking it in two parts or three parts, what ever was needed to make up the amount of words as you can only get so many characters in one posting....This would of course make a lot more work for the person who was in charge of the Prose Competition.
one comment on the 800 word Limit.
We can have 10000 characters in one post. That is we Need to restrict length if we do the contest here. We could also give a 9900 character Limit, if that would be what everyone wants.
-VR
25 Jul 19
@Very-Rusty
If you consider that only 17 persons voted, the Question will also be: Will the People read the longer stories?
For some stories I could imagine the possibility to be published (though I am not an Editor of short Story anthologies myself). Woud longer stories have the Problem of the "free" availabiliyt via the net if authors would try to sell them?
25 Jul 19
@very-rusty saidNot the Vincent story sir. We were talking about the 'Are you in there' story where we were both parodied.
I don't see where you should be concerned if Rusty recognized the link with the Vincent story. I think the fact that he voted for it knowing it was yours was a small victory. In fact he voted for your other story as well knowing it was yours, proves no malice towards you is held by him.
-VR
Did you spot that? (Admittedly I turned you into a woman with hairy legs).
@ponderable saidGood Points made Ponderable, all we could do is make assumptions on the answers of course. I was thinking more along the lines of work for the guy looking after the competition. I agree a few of the Stories could possibly be published, and the problem of them already being on a site. Maybe that was 'why' the 800 words was decided in the first place. Personally I would read the longer stories, and I am assuming the others who read them would also. This was my very first year actually voting. 😉
@Very-Rusty
If you consider that only 17 persons voted, the Question will also be: Will the People read the longer stories?
For some stories I could imagine the possibility to be published (though I am not an Editor of short Story anthologies myself). Woud longer stories have the Problem of the "free" availabiliyt via the net if authors would try to sell them?
-VR
25 Jul 19
@ghost-of-a-duke saidMy 2 cents worth:
Curious sir what your views are on the other stories entered?
Are You In There: This is quite an amusing idea and the parallel to RHP forum behavior, twisted into a sort of Jack Nicholson ‘insane lurking hunter’ motif, was very clever. Nothing especially supernatural about it, but a pleasingly gruesome punchline.
Here Be Unicorns: This is a fine concept for a fantasy-horror comic series with Frank Frazetta-ish sort of imagery. 800 words don’t do it justice.
The Crayon: Excellent story, excellent idea. This would have made a very good episode of the original Twilight Zone tv show, and ranked among my favorites this year. For those not familiar with the name, Adolf Diekmann was a Nazi SS stormtrooper responsible for a massacre in a French village. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Diekmann
Transcendence: Interesting idea, cramped by the 800-word limit. This story really needed to be told in a different format, not described, but, as another poster said about my own Last Metro story, “immersed and atmospherically”: Nathaniel when he is Nathaniel speaking in his own voice, and then Nathaniel when he is in someone else’s head , set off by italics for example, at first himself confused and then later exalted, so that it only gradually dawns on the reader what has happened. Hardly possible in 800 words.
You Remember: How interesting that two authors should have written first person present tense narratives of the consciousness of dying. I have it on good authority* that dying is a process, not an event, which can take anywhere from several minutes to several weeks to complete.
* My wife is a neuro-radiologist; she looks at brain scans of severely injured people and is part of the committee which decides whether a person is brain dead. When deprived of oxygen, the brain does not stop working all at once, but in stages. This strongly indicates there is very likely at least some residual cognitive function going on after the heart stops. This story and The Last Metro explored this.
Young Man With Roses: Excellent idea for a story, but for two small, really annoying, details. 1. Rather than a voice, something in the painting itself should change (e.g., the boy’s face shows signs torment when the real boy is kidnapped, and then of gratitude and relief when the case is solved). 2. Oscar Wilde did that already in “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Too bad about that. Get yourself a time machine and publish first!
Vincent: Really clever idea to ‘explain’ phantom pain; well-suited to the 800-word contest format.
25 Jul 19
@moonbus saidI agree (as does Paul himself I believe) that his 2 stories would have fared much better if the word count had been double what it was. Although the challenge is always to think of an original and clever idea and write it well, I find the greater challenge is to squeeze it in successfully to such a small word count.
My 2 cents worth:
Are You In There: This is quite an amusing idea and the parallel to RHP forum behavior, twisted into a sort of Jack Nicholson ‘insane lurking hunter’ motif, was very clever. Nothing especially supernatural about it, but a pleasingly gruesome punchline.
Here Be Unicorns: This is a fine concept for a fantasy-horror comic series with Frank Frazetta-ish so ...[text shortened]...
Vincent: Really clever idea to ‘explain’ phantom pain; well-suited to the 800-word contest format.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidYou have managed very well the past 4 years goad! 😉
I agree (as does Paul himself I believe) that his 2 stories would have fared much better if the word count had been double what it was. Although the challenge is always to think of an original and clever idea and write it well, I find the greater challenge is to squeeze it in successfully to such a small word count.
-VR
25 Jul 19
@very-rusty saidAlways a struggle. Even this year, my Vincent story used every one of the 800 words available.
You have managed very well the past 4 years goad! 😉
-VR
801 (including the 1-word title, which isn't counted).
25 Jul 19
@kevcvs57 saidI think also, anything longer than 800 words would be quite an ordeal for our readers.
I like the 800 word limit it compels you edit and word count and it’s part of the challenge. I’m sure it could be useful to add another sentence or two but there is also the risk of rambling.
25 Jul 19
@ghost-of-a-duke saidMaybe not for your readers so much but certainly mine 🙁
I think also, anything longer than 800 words would be quite an ordeal for our readers.