A rating system like that is not available. There was a CAW where you could vote for as many stories as you wished - anonymously. The socks were even posting that they were voting because no one would know. It was a major cluster.

What about a committing to a group of CAW's and everyone who commits gets to run one? It wouldn't matter who won, if there even was a poll, because everyone would run one.

 

You mean, we have a sign-up sheet? Set a schedule, perhaps, with a limited number of CAW's a year. I'll throw out the number six for consideration. Are you suggesting that someone start a thread, or maybe a social group to get volunteers to host Challenges?

 

Well voting for as many as you like anonymously is a little extreme, and I imagine very difficult to control and keep track of. Would it not be possible to create a more controlled version of the same system? For example, limit people to 3 votes, and you have to leave reasons why? I think anonymous voting is a bad idea anyway, it works better when you have to be a registered user.

Wouldn't the "commiting to run" idea take away the element of competition? I personally like there to be a little competitiveness, it adds something to it and makes you push yourself to produce your best work.

 

The poll software only allows for public voting or anomymous voting and it only allows for 1 vote or multiple votes. The next poll will more than likely be a single, public vote as this one was.

 

Apparently the website software does not support much variety in the way you create a poll. As I understand it, your choices are: anonymous votes vs. displayed user names; multiple votes per user vs. a single vote.

Period. No weighted votes, no displaying user names only after the poll is closed, nothing like that. They're all worthwhile suggestions, but I don't believe they can be implemented.

As far as the competitiveness of the whole thing, who do you compete against when you write a story that isn't for a CAW? Do you write to "beat" so-and-so, or do you write to be better than your own last story?

Competition is fine, sure. It's better on a level playing field, though, and I question whether anyone can provide that.

 

Competition is good if everyone feels they have a fighting chance. As I said the anonymous voting was laughable at best.

I've written for each of the CAW's, but did not submit for the second one, having won the first. A little embarrassing winning a challenge you create, don't you think? I will continue to write, maybe for the challenges, maybe not. I think my personal writing has suffered because of the time I spent on the challenges, as wonderful as they have been.

I owe the creators of the different CAWs a lot. Because of them, I will be pursuing the publishing of a Christmas story from a previous year. Because of them I came in 38th in the top 100 entries for short stories in the 80th Annual Writers Digest Competition (PG version). These exercises have helped me grow and expand (don't you dare look at my ass).

Thank you to the writers - thank you to the people that actually take the time to read, vote on the Stories Site, comment here, and vote in the poll (in that order). Feedback is hugely important and we can't give you better stories without it.

 

Congratulations on your success . I wish you all the best with your publishing!

 

I have never heard anything about a rule stating that you can not promote your CAW story. I have actively promoted every single story that I have ever posted, on the forum, and every story that I have entered in a CAW challenge. I won a total of one challenge. My last challenge entry (promoted as much as this one) got a total of two votes. The one I entered in the challenge before that got no votes at all. You can ask a person to read your story and you can ask for their vote but you can't MAKE THEM read your story or vote for it unless they REALLY like it. This current story has 23 votes and I am beyond flattered by this. More than half the people who voted for "Megan's Gift" are people that I have never heard of. I can only imagine word of mouth brought them to the story, on the forum, or they read the version of my story that is on the story site.

The votes that make me feel the most like I have written a good story are the votes of the other regular writers on the forum and the other writers in the CAW challenge. As of yet, I hardly have even one of those but I will feel most grateful for each and every one of those "special" votes.

 

I see nothing wrong with promoting your own work. Who else is going to promote your work? I'm now totally confused as to the point of this challenge. I understand that it is for fun, and that it is supposed to be a way for you to challenge yourself as a writer and see what your abilities will allow you to create. However, it should also be a way to promote yourself and your work and if people want to be competitive with it, I think that's fine, if there is a winner, which there is, then in my view, it's a competition!

Regardless, I had fun writing my story and entering the competition. I've also had some lovely feedback and very kind words from great people, and I've met some new friends too. Those are the big plus's for me, I didn't enter it to win, I entered it to promote my story and my other work, and to see what people thought of my writing. To that extent I am satisfied with how it has gone, and I am delighted that I got a vote as a nice bonus . That should be it really, I think we're begining to over complicate it.

 

At this time of year

Peace on earth
and good will to all xnxx writers :excited:
and all that (as I am drunk as returning from a family function)

and that should be everyones sentiments
as ELP has one this one.Congrats
r5

 

Is it official?

Oooh didn't realise the comp was over. Sincere congrats to you very much ELP. I look forward to your topic for the next challenge FJ

 

It's my understanding that the poll closes on the 24th. What do they say? It's not over until the fat lady sings? I don't hear any music, yet.

 

My bad

In that case who can i pay to add one more measly vote to my effort so i don't look like such a dick being the only one to vote for his own story

 

You are hardly that, Joe.
Of the 19 authors, only 8 have voted as of this time. Of those 8, 3 have voted for themselves. Something I still support fully, myself. Of the remaining 11, at least one has said he will not vote for himself, nor for anyone else. That still leaves 10 to make up their minds, and WebCam could always change his mind as well.

A pity the software doesn't support more robust voting options. Should definitely remain single votes, although I wonder if anonymous might not work. What happens at the end of the voting when it's anon? Do the votes stay anon and we just get a number of votes for each story?

Also, It may have already been done but a reiteration that the entire point of the challenge as I understand it is to vote for the story, not the author. IF there was any way for anonymous submissions I think that would be a way to level the playing field, so to speak. Sure the authors would still know which work was theirs, but if it wasn't revealed until after voting whose story was who's, perhaps that would accomplish a change to what most people seem to be having an issue with. It would be a pain in the ass to run, though.

 

I may be far ahead in the CAW9 voting (for now) but has anyone noticed that "Gift Unwrapping" by Shiine-chan and "Blizzard Blues" by Captius are far ahead in popularity on the story site? Well done to both of them and they just might have us all beat where it really counts.

 

I don't plan to vote so that's one name off the ballot.

I would have liked to vote for two stories and I refuse to choose which one I enjoyed more.

 

If you think it's had to choose between these CAW9 stories, just look at the best picture nominees for 1939...

Gone With the Wind (Selznick International Pictures; MGM)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (MGM)
Love Affair (RKO Radio)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Columbia)
Ninotchka (MGM)
Of Mice and Men (United Artists)
Stagecoach (United Artists)
The Wizard of Oz (MGM)
Wuthering Heights (Goldwyn; United Artists)

Babes in Toyland with Mickey Rooney and Dark Victory with Bette Davis were not even nominated.

 

CAW9

Thank you for the kind words. At the end of the day (no offence to any one intended) it is call a challenge. Challenge me to write better it did. Perhaps the odd one or two (maybe more) have lost site of this and become obsessed with the vote. I like to read as well as write and sometimes you have to wade through a sea of crap to find a pearl of a story. This challenge, in my opinion, has had no crap entries at all and therefore provided a heap of quality reading. That is an absolute bonus for me! Again - thanks for your continued support :excited::excited::excited:

 

Is it over? Are we there yet?

She's not singing yet, ejls, but I think I hear the rapture of a good rogasm building up somewhere in the background! :excited:

ELP, I'd pass on my congrats, but they tell me that's bad luck (congrats before it's all over) and I wouldn't want to become known as a Jinx. Not that I haven't been called worse things in my life . . . !

 

Congratulations on your win, ELaken-Palmer :rose: