Event overview | Review spreadsheet

Note for newcomers: While many participants choose to review others' entries, doing so is by no means required nor expected.

Please refrain from saying anything that might compromise your anonymity. Doing so is grounds for disqualification. It's recommended you do dummy reviews of your own stories should it otherwise be easy to deduce which you wrote.

4360585 Do we have that Journeyman / master class system implemented yet, or is that still WIP?

I really should partake in one of these one day. I was one of the first to join this group, too.

It's not even been half an hour and I'm already refreshing this thread regularly. Methinks I am a little too hyped for this...

Oh hey, I might actually be able to submit something for once.

I'd like to participate, but my 11th anniversary is on Saturday, and while my wife is a big supporter of my writing habit, I don't think I'd get away with it this weekend. ;)

Ah the minific, that thing I suck at. Off we go!

mnwaghhh D:

(Actually, for once I'm kind of sorry we didn't start a week sooner. <.< Would've been perfect for a no-episode weekend!)

I'll be at a convention this weekend, so there's a very real chance I'll skip the round. But I may try to set aside an hour or two to cobble a single entry together.

To be honest I'm thinking of stepping back until the M/J system is implemented, and only doing (a couple of) reviews (randomly, or for the ones with the least feedback, or as requested). I've got nothing left to prove at this point, I'd like to clear out some more breathing room at the top, and most importantly, I've got a serious backlog of old Writeoff stories that still haven't seen the FIMFiction light of day. I should be editing and posting those, then returning to Hard Reset 2, which a lot of people are waiting on.

Maybe I'll just write something 1000-words-ish to the prompt and post straight to FIMFic instead of entering?

I dunno. Would people rather have me in the competition, or writing but not officially entering?

Ooh, not sure if I can make this one. Going on vacation next week and I might be too busy.

4360744
This is a tough one. My minific record is... well, good, but less good than my short story record. No medals yet.

So, on the one hand, no Horizon means I've got a better chance at a medal, but on the other I'd have to assume that if you had written something I would have been a place lower.

I think you should only enter if you're going to do worse than me.

Well, I know I'm in. And we already have some interesting prompts. "And Then There Were Spiders" is rather intriguing...

4360819
>inb4 Children of Everfree fanfic

4360744
I concur with 4360778 entirely.

Also, pretty sure I'm back for this round.

4360744

Personally, I'd want you here and involved in the festivities.

If you chose to abstain from competing, it'd mean one less author's stories are being shared with us. Everyone's contribution is valuable, and as played out as the idea might be, the more, the merrier.

If you're more comfortable writing outside the competition to allow others a chance in the spotlight, well, I'm sure the gesture is appreciated. I think it's unnecessary, really. If you've written something of quality, there's nothing wrong with it receiving recognition. I don't think anyone harbors ill-will towards the authors that frequent the medal podium here.

However, there is an alternative, if you truly don't want your story to have a presence in the results: don't fill out a preliminary ballot. Your story then won't advance to the finals, even if it deserved it.

Even if you don't write a story at all, though, I would still hope to see you involved here in the thread. It's fun here, and you should be a part of it. If you enjoy providing reviews, then you should review as many as you see fit. If nothing else, the jokes and commentary that go on in the thread are amusing enough to warrant keeping up with them.

Ultimately, I'd want you to fully compete, but if you're more comfortable abstaining, then perhaps not filling out a preliminary ballot is an option. Whatever you choose to do, I do hope to see you involved here in the writeoff in some manner. You'd be missed if you weren't.

Prompt submitted. I see some good ones in the gallery already, so hopefully the muse will strike.

4360606
I doubt you'll spoon it. I liked your story too much last time.

4360924

Really not sure what I expected there...

Welp, that's it. I'm out already.

EDIT: I suppose it could be worse. Spiderprompt could generate...

(For that matter, are crossover fics allowed? AraneaSerketponi is acceptable spiderponi. But just please don't choose that prompt.)

Minifics - aw yeah! I can actually finish those before I realise how bad my ideas are.

Welp. Here's hoping I get an idea not three hours late. I was so close last time... It'd be nice to finish for a change, heh. Lot of neat prompts, though, so looking good.

4360744
lol go away and let Cold in Gardez someone else win :V

4361082 Or wait and see if you made it to the second round, then break your anonymity with less than a day remaining to vote so you get disqualified...

4362088

A valid alternative.

4361377

Vriska is the best Serket.

I'm sitting this one out; too much (non pony) editing and (pony) writing on my plate at the moment…

Whoever did that thing they did - and I guarantee they know who they are - I have my eye on you. Whoever you are. Because there's no way that was accidental.

I sent my prompt in awhile ago. Depending on the prompt I might be joining in on this one.

I think the submitter of "Friendship is Magic" gets an award for least creative prompt.

Ohey, it's happening again!

I've finally been moved back to having Saturday off, so I have no reason to not participate.

Barring, you know, general ennui and lack of willpower.

We Are All Cold

in Gardez.

Minific contest? Colour me keen. Hopefully my laptop is back up and running by then. I spilled tea on it yesterday, but, fingers crossed, it'll be OK.

4363047 The big thing with electronics and liquid is to make sure the electricity is off. Be sure to pop the battery out while it dries, and put it someplace warm and ventilated until you're sure the tea has evaporated. Most laptops are fairly sealed, though; it may just be in the keyboard.

I worked with some lifeguards, who regularly dropped radios into pools. They would seal them in a bag of rice for a while, and managed to resurrect them quite often.

4360744 There's been a fair amount said already, but I think people enjoy competing against you. I know I would, if I was on the level to seriously try. Withdrawing is your prerogative, of course, but 'lowering the stakes' draws a little fun out of the challenge, perhaps? One of the great things about this group is that there are some seriously talented writers here, and winning against them really means something.

4360744

To be honest I'm thinking of stepping back until the M/J system is implemented, and only doing (a couple of) reviews (randomly, or for the ones with the least feedback, or as requested).

Think I might do the same thing, boss. There's been a lot of, uh, snarky comments lately.

I don't mind them, but it's probably a sign that I should lean back a bit.

4363106

Being rewritten. Already twice as long as the original, and just getting started.

Here's the draft cover art, if you're interested:

4362096
Just keep telling yourself that.

I must admit I'm more of a Vriska myself, though. I cosplayed her at our annual pirate party in January! It was fun.

4363128
Love the art!!! Haven't read the story. Need to.

Hay everypony! I need to read your stories I already read in these competitions! I want to fave them all but I have to re-read them because edits make them differenter sometimes. Sorry for being super slowwolf.

Case in point: my story from last competition has been reworked a bunch. I had to modify it not only to embetterate it, but also to correct some of the physics (you have to accelerate away from a black hole to get most of the effects attributed to falling in). Yeah, I'm that much of a dork.

4362928
Prompt winner should really get an award. Just sayin'.

also it should be retroactive by at least one contest

4363250
Also: I was serious about my question. Are crossovers permitted? I can't imagine myself writing one, but I'm curious.

>Just Over the Morning Sun

4363261
Crossovers, just like fics that work closely with comic or novel canon, run the risk that no one who reads it will understand what you're getting at, and thus vote appropriately. I mean, we even have people who participate in the writeoff who haven't seen Rainbow Rocks, so it's always a crapshoot. Just consider how well you can make the crossover accessible in 750 words.

Tossing my non-existent hat (Not_a_Hat?) into the ring: I would rather lose against good competition than win knowing that I only did so because the heavy-hitters were sitting on the bench.

Seriously, having CiG and Horizon and Chris and all the other repeat offenders top-tier writers participate in these competitions is part of the fun. It's fun when you're punching above you're weight, because when the impossible happens and you beat one of their entries, it's an amazing feeling. You realise that, yeah, maybe you do got some writing chops. Maybe you are cut-out to mince it with the big boys.

That sense of confirmation is more than worth the sense of "eh, crap, they did it again!" that you get when you're beaten.

In my opinion.

tl;dr: Risk it for the Biscuit.

4363261

A well-written crossover fic can stand alone without any prior knowledge of the secondary material. If you can do that, go for it.

Otherwise, you risk what PP describes, and will turn off part of your audience before you even get started.

4360744
4363101
I am among those that think competing against way better writers is a good way to grow. I sincerely appreciate the time and work that goes into the write-offs, being it reviews, comments or the stories themselves, even if it means others will wipe the floor with my entries.

I also don't think that the comments about the same people winning repeatedly have really you as a target, I feel they are more along the lines of self-deprecating humor than anything else.

Long story short, if the only reason for not participating is winning too much, then at least from my point of view it's nothing to really worry about.

4363460
It's a good movie, and the music is fantastic.

My access to the internet will probably be sporadic for the next few months, but I plan on trying my best to throw an entry into the pool. Of course, reviewing them might be an altogether different story...

4360744
You're acting as if more horizon-stories could ever be a bad thing. I'll have to respectfully disagree.

4363101
I'm more than 100% sure that it's all done in jest. If you want to sweep away the finals with another sextuplet of amazing stories, I don't think anyone can rightly complain about getting that much good reading material. After all, the point of these things is to generate fics, whether for practice or enjoyment.

Prompts "I'm Not a Pony!" followed by "Existential Crisis".

I think the stars are aligning for this writeoff.

4363278
4363436

I agree. Competing against the better writers is not only fun, but it's a great learning process. You learn from the best, you grow from the best.

4363893 4363630 4363436 4363278 4363078 4363076 4361786 4361082 4361023 4360778
Thanks for the feedback. Those are all legitimate points. It's just a matter of weighing them against the equally legitimate points raised in the Master/Journeyman thread about stifling enthusiasm (especially of newer writers). I think the M/J system is the ultimate solution, and once that's in place I'll have no guilt about flinging medal-worthy work at the competitions.

Guilt or no: A lot of people disapproved of the idea of me withdrawing out of principle, so if I bow out that won't be why. As noted in my earlier comment, RL distractions may make my decision for me this round.

At any rate, I can pretty confidently say I won't enter more than once this round. Maybe one serious entry and one "Through The Fire And Flames"-esque fibrous-nugget speedfic, if the prompt is super inspiring, but given that most of my prime writing time will be in the middle of BLFC's Dance Till Dawn …

4363101
Almost all of the snarking (if that's the best word) has been over the six-finalists-in-24-hours thing. That blew past Titanium Dragon's record of four-in-the-Top-10 (which got plenty of commentary at the time). That, in turn, overtopped Pascoite's feat of scoring silver and bronze with two entries in a short-story round (which led to a rule change of one medal per author per round).

There's two competing elements in the commentary, and often they're simultaneous. One is to compliment you for an amazing feat, because you have to be a great writer at the top of your game to pull something off like that, and there's a certain amount of awe that goes into the name-drop. The Writeoff is all about recognizing merit, and when you get name-dropped, it's because you did something cool.

The other factor is that if people feel like they don't have the opportunity to get recognized for good work, they lose incentive to participate. Last minific round, we had such a critical mass of great authors that just reaching the finals would have been a meaningful accomplishment — but we also had five different authors with multiple stories in the finals (including the three at the top of the scoreboard: me, Pascoite, and you). So there's concern that even excellent stories can be forced into obscurity by the writeoff wizards, which is what I hoped to address with the M/J system.

tl,dr: My sense of the audience here is that people might be uncomfortable with you writing six stories again, but they would be equally uncomfortable with you writing zero stories. (See: All the quoted posts above.)

4364050
I think these are all valid points, and that the best way to address them is for me to murder you and Gardez, and then eat your respective hearts to gain your powers.

4364074

But I need my heart! It's where I keep all my powers :(

4364295
Speak for yourself, all the powers I stole from the authors around me are in my stomach.

edit:

… uhhhhh … I mean … perfectly normal pony?

…

LOOK! A DISTRACTION! *runs away*

4364416