Let's have a moan about the new ABC short story competition
Thu, 2002-09-12 10:23
#1
Let's have a moan about the new ABC short story competition
I feel like having a moan about the new ABC short story competition. What bugs me is that after the feedback we gave on the last one (and it wasn't just me) they seem to have made the same two basic mistakes again. The first one is the word length: 1000 words is too short for an ordinary story where there is characterisation and plot development and dialogue and all the rest of it. It's in the realm of "super-shorts", what the Americans call "flash fiction", it's a very particular technique and a minority interest among short story writers. The second basic mistake is the narrow and uninspiring theme "the office". Okay, we can interpret it a bit (I suppose you could write about "the office of President") but basically the phrase is a big turn-off, as was the number twenty in the first competition. The aim seems to be to set up hoops that people either will or won't be able to jump through, certainly not to inspire or excite. The received wisdom is that the last competition was a great success and produced lots of first class writing: personally I don't go along with that analysis. I think it produced a few competent pieces but nothing in the least outstanding, and I most certainly include my own entry in that comment. What do the rest of you feel? Finally, the prize. Well, let's be honest, you can go along to BBC recording sessions for nothing if you write in, and although I admire Ricky Gervais' work I don't know if I will be free on the evening in question, and would feel a bit strange going along on my own. Isn't two tickets the traditional number? Also, what if I live in Nottingham, or Tampa for that matter? Come on, let's all have a good moan.
donignacio
Hey! Constructive criticism!
donignacio
...and I never said that I thought Claire-Michell's piece was unworthy. Hrugh?
*Utterly confused*
Liana
don sweety
i said immediately that i was talking to sirat not you....
ever wished youd never bothered....
donignacio
Oh! I thought you were saying to Sirat: "Not you" and directing the comment toward me.
Do you still have any of that Vodka left?
Liana
litres..... :o))
freda
Anyway i thought it was jolly hard, the competition. Having a theme ought to help one focus on something rather than everything, but it didn't in my case.
And I was impressed by the winning entry , and so relieved to find out at the end it was only meant to be a pie and not a concentration camp.
As for competitions they suit some people (the winners) and not others. Just the fact that its a competition puts me off. I feel I have more chance in the lottery.
Rokkitnite
Themed competitions are great - especially if the theme is totally inimical to you, because it forces you to write something you would normally eschew. Winning is neither here nor there... for me, it's about getting me to write something I would never have otherwise done.
miss~tree
Don, don't feel like that, your work is fab, that socks story is one of the funniest things I've read on here
seannelson
First of all, I'm eternally grateful to ABC Tales for giving us a place to read and write. But I do agree with Sirat that the contests are a bit silly. For one, the single ticket to an event in England doesn't exactly make a compelling prize. I haven't tried to write on either subject so I couldn't really say, but the number twenty doesn't strike me as a very good category for a short story, seeing as twenty could be fit into any kind of short story but also restricts the artistic freedom of the writer.
But, personally, I stopped entering any kind of writing contest a long time ago. At first I won a few essay contests and I thought it was fun. And then I started entering contests that I didn't win. And it occured to me, "I'm putting all this work into creating a piece for this contest." And then some random person will decide if my work is good enough to win.
And if a judge doesn't like my work, I'm out of all the time and effort that I put into the contest. Additionally, eccentric works seem to me to be unlikely to win contests. And I mostly write eccentric, if not offensive, work.
So now I just write whatever I want to and submit it to various magazines and publishers.
sirat
I'm not really being grumpy, Liana, I'm just pointing out what I believe to be avoidable pitfalls, the main two of which we discussed in these threads re the earlier competition. To restate them, I think the word limit is too low, encouraging gimmickry rather than good writing, and the theme is dull and uninspiring. In addition the prize is very parochial, being aimed exclusively at London-dwellers who like a particular comedian. I think the combined talents of the ABC editors could come up with something better than this.
donignacio
What I'm saying is that this prize (and I know the competition isn't about the prize, and I obviously ain't going to submit a story *for* the prize but merely to compete and support the sire) can easily be seen as an insult.
I don't personally see it exactly as an "insult", but if two extremely good writers on this site come from, say, Sydney, and the grand prize was going to see a comedian in Australia -- that's like saying that everybody else doesn't have a shot at winning. I know the overwhelming majority of the members live around London and I'm probably the only one who lives outside the hemisphere, but ... do you kind of see what I'm saying?
I realize that the prize was donated, which means that the site will get more needed funds to run it, but it could easily put off some regular members as it did me at first.
Henstoat
I also find the prize...well...not off-putting, but put it like this: I don't even know who Ricky Gervais is. No reason not to enter though - treat it as a chance to stretch yourself and donate to the cause. Sounds good.
roybar
Don't see a problem with it myself. Don't really care what the prize is - i see it as a writing challenge.
Liana
The competition is on the theme of the office, because thats the name of the show that ricky gervais wrote and starred in. if you havent seen it hen, youre missing out. anyone that has ever worked in an office, can identify with it. its brilliant, in that cringing "eek shi t noooo" type of way...
i might enter, if im not disallowed. couldnt enter the last one, as i was in prague at the time, and couldnt send the cash anyway... although i agree with the one ticket thing - i dont particularly like going to the theatre alone, and im certainly not going to traipse all the way to London to do it. they could keep the prize as far as im concerned, but its a bit of a fundraiser thats all...... agree with hen there.
writing to a theme can be a good way to write something that you would never usually even think about. i never even considered writing a diary, until i was challenged to do so, and ive enjoyed it, it has stretched me to do something different.
alex-j
I think one of the best things about these competitions is how differently everyone treats the same theme - it gives a bit of an insight into other writers’ creative processes. Seeing what everyone has done with a common starting point makes me think about other ways of doing things in my own work, which has to be useful...
fish
if i enter it will be to support abc ...
if i don't its because i dont like going out ... and i specially dont like seeing comedians ...
Henstoat
Oh! *Him!*
I see. I've seen clips of 'The Office' and was not particularly impressed. I've worked in one for the last seven weeks though, so I presume I'm just not attuned to that kind fo humour. Didn't like 'The League of Gentlemen' either.
Wolfgirl
The problem of the tickets is easily solved: the two winners can go together....
I like small uninspiring titles. It is then truly a challenge because I believe a good writer, one who wishes to hone his/her craft, will be able to write about the tip of a match and make it interesting....
Got A Light, Mac?
My party piece:
I strike, then from the moment when the matchstick
conjures up its light, to when the brightness moves
beyond its means, and dies, I say the story
of my life -
dates and places, torches I carried,
a cast of names and faces, those
who showed me love, or came close,
the changes I made, the lessons I learnt -
then somehow still find time to stall and blush
before I'm bitten by the flame, and burnt.
A warning, though, to anyone nursing
an ounce of sadness, anyone alone:
don't try this on your own; it's dangerous,
madness.
- Simon Armitage
Mykle
I should have thought - since Ricky Gervais is playing to sell out audiences and Ralph has promised a backstage introduction - that the tickets would probably make a decent price if they were actioned (with suitable publicity). The money could then be used as a replacement prize - even divided into two the amount should exceed the last prize fund. Of course, since the competition should be over well before January, the winners could probably sell the tickets themselves - but they would be worth much more as a pair and the promised introduction to Ricky would probably greatly increase their value to a Gervais fan.
With a bit of enterprise both Ralph and ABC could profit from the publicity and the moaning minnies would have less to complain about.
donmickeymouse
Hey! I'm no Minnie!
freda
it's not so much moaning as carping
Henstoat
Or, indeed, burbling.
Hee hee.
Tony Cook
Points are taken on board.
1,000 words is a rough limit. I would count out anything over 1500 but don't be too put off by it. It also makes it possible for the judges to read every entry. This is just a competition to help the writers on the site to develop and it is voluntary to enter! The last contest DID produce some extraordinarily good work and read as a body they combine to make a very strong and powerful case for ABCtales. They are now doing the round of funders to help make our case for support and I would dearly love to produce the lot in a short run publication. We are examining the possibilities.
The reason for one ticket is that it was universally agreed that poetry was necessary for this comp - and the winners would be able to go together. If the winner comes from miles away (such as don) or doesn't want to go (such as fish) then I agree, we will auction off the ticket and send the winner the cash. Seems fair to me!
It is London centric, I accept, but it seemed such a warm and generous offer that I felt it would be ideal as a prize.
as for the choice of topic - it's only boring and constraining if you allow it to be. The range and imagination of the entries for '20' was part of the delight of the competition and I hope that this one will prove the same.
Get entering if you want to do so - if you don't, then just keep writing about whatever turns you on!
chant
that sounds exciting, Tony. will the pieces be ordered according to how they were rated by the judges?
*looks forward to seeing Martin_T's piece in second place in the volume.*
Tony Cook
It is exciting! The things we could do with this site beggar the imagination at times. We have such a great resource (you lot in all your madness!) and a basic system that it does frustrate me at times that we are not able to excite the world out there to gain the significant amounts of cash necessary to really make it go places. My main concern is to get to people with stories to tell and no opportunity to tell them - the disadvantaged, the homeless, the refugees etc.
However I also want to show how writing and reading the writing of others can change your life - any life - in that it gives you an insight into the minds of those around you in a way that is impossible in other ways.
We are getting through in some places but it's a longer and harder slog than I ever envisaged.
Ho Hum, So It Goes (as Mr. Vonnegut would say!)
robink
I wanted to say that I found the last competition really difficult. And that's the point. I think I learned more from writing that story that any I've written all year.
Why?
Rather than scribbling what ever comes into your head you have to think about it. It might not have ended up being the best thing to come out of a QWERTY keyboard, but I learned a lot. And anything that makes me a better writer is a good, good thing.
angry young man
I agree. It's rubbish. A curse on those bas.tards and their infernal competitions. Everyone hates me. I'd kick myself to death if it was physically possible.
Picky Gervaiselene
Bad day at the office, Sirat?
Henstoat
Setting themes like '20' and 'the office' is only off-putting because it restricts your ideas. If you're willing to enter, however, this forces your ideas more than no set theme would. Similarly, 1000 words is restrictive - it does indeed force you to work in a smaller space.
On the whole, I think these conditions are for our benefit. There are *loads* of competitions where you can just send off any old piece you're happy with and take a potshot at the jackpot. I don't like them and I don't like entering them. They just take my money (£5 usually) and that's an end to it. At least the ABC competition encourages me to stretch myself, knocks me out of any lazy state I might have found myself in and makes me think very carefully about how to take it. I'd still say I'm highly unlikely to win - I've always felt (imagined, perhaps,) that there is a certain type of piece that wins a competition, something that treads the line between invention and convention in both style and content - and I don't think I've ever written that kind of piece. But, after my initial reservations about the previous comp (because, to be honest, I felt bloody certain that either Tom Saunders or Ivoryfishbone would walk away with it whatever they produced,) I'm all in favour of this one, and will enter it. I've already written one poem I might consider entering, and will think carefully about a possible story.
In a way, it's like the Rokkitnite's dice stories, or the Googlelit game - and I find these invaluable to the progress of my writing. I'm even starting to feel dependant on them - not for ideas, but for that extra edge.
donignacio
For some reason I thought that "20" was more restrictive than "The Office." Probably because I could come up with very little viable story ideas for that. Also, I've already written four or maybe even more stories that fit into the "office" theme. Which is good, I guess. I also feel utterly excluded from the competition with the grand prize. I know I ain't that good of a writer, but ...
I guess that's what I get from joining a British site ... so I shouldn't complain.
Liana
firstly, its not compulsory to enter, secondly, I think Claire Michels winning piece was a worthy winner.....
and thirdly, dont be so bloody grumpy!
:O)
Liana
sirat, not you... though no wonder YOURE grumpy after the way that you behaved at the party Don..