I say no bumps, ever. Bumps clutter up the forum while adding no substance to the discussion, and they create the impression that the challenge stories are being artificially buttressed at the expense of other material. It's also always disappointing when you think there's a new comment on a story you wrote or a story you're keeping an eye on and it turns out just to be a bump instead.

Most stories will garner the attention they warrant, however much that will be. If anything drops out of site, that's what this thread is for.

 

I just keep this page open and select them of the hyperlinks.

 

Nevermind me, apparently I was a little quick on the trigger.

 

Considering that everyone who wants to vote has to comment on all the stories I really think bumps are superfluous for this one.
Also the bumping annoys a few of the Non-CAW forumites who complain about it whenever they can. We all share the forum it's worth keeping our neighbors thoughts in mind, even if we disagree with them.

I transfer the list to an excel document so I can keep notes and keep my author guesses all in one place.

 

+1
I don't feel that there is a need to bump the stories and, like BR, get frustrated by expectations of comments only to find that bump.

 

When I post a story, CAW or not, I tend to watch for new posts on the thread. While a bump may bring my story back into view, it's a big disappointment.

The requirement for all voters to comment can result in some pretty meaningless comments, but a few words about what a reader liked or disliked can be a real help to a writer.

 

I can find it hard to pin down what I liked about a story but am normally able to identify what I did not. When giving that information, I also try to give those who are trying information on how to improve their writing out of what I disliked.

One of my biggest pet peeves is malapropisms in a work. Misspellings can normally be recognized by being one-off instances or nonsense spellings but the repeated use of an incorrect word shows a fundamental lack in basic skills which are necessary for a writer. I cringe to think about a character who shutters at what they see and close the windows of their sole to avoid it almost as much as I wince when I see someone write about donning their suite while preparing in they're suit for a formal diner (INTENTIONAL spellings).
Shudder and shutter are extremely close to being homonyms and speech to text interpreters can easily make that mistake.
Sole and soul ARE homonyms and as such anybody using such interpreters need to be monitoring it to ensure that such mistakes are not made.
Suite and suit, however, are very different pronunciations and EXTREMELY different interpretations. This type of error is not a typo or misspelling but flat out misuse.
Quit/quiet/quite fall into a similar category as suite/suit but can be typos unless the appearance is consistent throughout the work.
They're/their/there and to/too/two are also difficult to ignore.

Unfortunately, some of the works presented for our judging in this contest contain too many of those issues and that fact is often a deciding factor on which stories get into my short list. I have given the following advice to many writers on this site and it works: when proofreading your work, read it from the end to the beginning. You already know what you are trying to say and reading normally can cause your brain to SEE what is not there but going backwards breaks up the expected flow and you can more easily see malapropisms and misspellings. You can even catch comma breaks and run-on sentences as well. When I critiqued HCB on his incubus submission, I saw a number of malapropisms on first read but when I was writing the comment out and proofed the doc as described, I found more which I had simply read through the first time.

 

+1

The level of competition here has risen over the past few years, and I find that there are usually a handful, sometimes more, of stories that read well enough to get my vote(s). So then I go to a technical level and look for grammar, etc. and grade accordingly. That usually thins the herd enough so I can pick a winner or three, depending upon the voting regiment.

It's like anything else. You can do it, and be mediocre, or you can really hone all aspects of your skills and climb higher. Just wish I could figure out how to do that with my golf swing!

 

focus on the ball and keep your body straight all the way through the stroke.

never swung a driver in my life, but what the hey …

 

Golf is like sex ,one day you hit all the right places and you melt into orgasmic bliss together. The next time your mind isn't quite in it and you jam it in the wrong hole.
You have now screwed with my mind you and your malapropisms. The biggest question I have in relation to it would be what level of education did the writer achieve and where did they get it? You just have to log into the sex tips forum to see the ever lowering standards of literacy.

 

LOL

 

I don't play golf, but I do enjoy studying braille with the ladies...:mrgreen:

 

It depends, mistakes do happen, and sometimes some words can be continuously misspelled. In one of the stories I wrote, I kept unconsciously renaming two characters throughout the story, to a slight variation of their names. Although since I'm not from an English speaking country, mistakes do happen more often than I'd like, and my vocabulary is limited. I know that it'd take me years to even get near the Snow's level of vocabulary, and even then I doubt I'll be able to write in a way that the story flows easily and smoothly, to the point that it makes a delight to read.

 

DT,
Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy a work which contains those errors; what makes them important is when I have to judge for quality of writing.

Those errors tend to indicate a difficulty with proofreading at the very least and indicate a story teller who, although they might be very talented as a story teller, lacks certain qualities necessary for a story writer.

I am on a free site reading works by people who in general have yet to quit their day job. I do not expect professional quality work. When I see somebody with quality story telling abilities but lacking a bit in their presentations, I will try to show where they lacked what and how to improve what I saw as lacking.

 

Of course, I get what you mean. I was just pointing out that it can and often does happen by mistake, rather than lack of proper education. However, it irks me too when I misspell stuff myself, or when I see someone write 'witch' instead of 'which', and such. Critique is appreciated by most, and I know I do appreciate it, otherwise, how we'd learn?

 

Don't forget that these stories were also done on a time table. Though any writer would like to have a good amount of time to proofread, sometimes it's all that can be done just to get the stories in on time.

 

To let everyone know,

I am done with the site for good: thank you all for the enjoyable stories here.
I wish you all the best and have asked for my stories to be pulled from the CAW.

I will log out for the last time right after this posts and hence my time here is done: best wishes to all.

Snowleopard.

 

That's a bummer. Hope you don't stop writing, it'd be a shame. Anyhow, good luck, and cheers.

 

Hey Snow. I hope you come back and see this.
While the two of us never had much interaction, I enjoyed your stories and posts. You were always upbeat and friendly. I have no idea what may have caused you departure, but I hope that things work out for you. If you find your way back I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you. Good luck.

 

I may come back at a later time Uncle, but for now no.
Right now, I cannot even consider continuing with the Chronicles of Elsa, despite a year and more of working on them.

Best wishes to all.
Farewell: snowleopard.