The idea is, to write a piece (prose or poetry) in exactly (no more, no less) 200 words (called a Droubble). Have a go - it's much harder than you might think!
It's still in the beta phase, but works fine and you can Tweet your efforts :) http://droubbles.com/
Stan | January 26, 2012 - 12:38
Thanks, Andrea... I've got a few already I've been posting on here. I don't do Twitter, but I'll check the site out.
Oop... shameless self-promotion here...
http://www.abctales.com/story/stantheman/old-adam-200-words
http://www.abctales.com/story/stantheman/once-upon-time
http://www.abctales.com/story/stantheman/flap
and a jokey one...
http://www.abctales.com/story/stantheman/lifes-bitch-201-words
andrea | January 26, 2012 - 12:45
Yeah, it's not too bad if you're vaguely in range (203, 198 etc, you can add/delete a word here or there, but seriously out (250, 135), forget it!
http://www.ukauthors.com
Stan | January 26, 2012 - 12:50
Well... I just submitted one that is exactly 200 words - and they said it was 201 words! I think they may be having a few teething problems with the software, probably. It has to be spot-on 200, or you can't submit it.
andrea | January 26, 2012 - 16:57
Hmmm...I'll email them. There's also a comments box (which I hadn't seen before), bottom left of the Droubble and I'm told there'll soon be a 'top 10' and a competition.
http://www.ukauthors.com
andrea | January 26, 2012 - 21:45
Ah, this explains it, Stan:
See the first FAQ
http://droubbles.com/faq.php
It's not a glitch. But diff word-processors and text editors count in different ways and arrive at different counts! The word counting system on droubbles is the one that is used to count the words and have the final say on what is, or is not, 200 words.
http://www.ukauthors.com
shep5377 | January 26, 2012 - 23:06
Seeing as Stan did it....
http://www.abctales.com/story/shep5377/youll-never-know-what-happened-ye...
Here is my 200 word effort!
It was actually surprisingly hard to do. Lots of fun though!
shep5377 | January 26, 2012 - 23:17
That looks like it will be a good little site. Some good efforts on there already.
It was easy to sign up and post a story as well. Well worth a look it you're tempted.
Stan | January 27, 2012 - 12:02
That's interesting, andrea. The thing is, though, I manually counted the words, and it was definitely 200 - but the site said 201! :s
andrea | January 27, 2012 - 15:25
Oh, okay :) Maybe you should drop 'em an email and let them know - they're looking for feedback, they say.
http://www.ukauthors.com
shep5377 | January 27, 2012 - 16:05
My story came up as 199 words so I had to add one. I counted mine as well and I was spot on. I'll drop them a line.
Stan | January 27, 2012 - 18:24
Will do. Thanks a lot.