Stories Contest

[Vega]

So i've this idea of making a sims stories contest, everyone could participate and in the end we could make a poll to see what is the storie that most people like :)

it would be fun and it would also be good to find new talents for the library ;)

i just what to know what you all think about this idea :o and if we should do it.

[Mirelly]

Ooh! Great idea :D Joshie ... can we have a prize? How about some rep points?

[Lynet]

How about you, Vega? Are you going to write one, too? Short or long, funny or sad? :)

[surprised_by_witches]

Can it be a story that's already in the works? :o

[Vega]

i guess it would be better if people do new and short stories, it would be easier.

i have lots of ideas to write stories but i my english isn't good enough and it's really dificult to me to express my thoughts and feelings :(
but i guess i will try to write something :) something about magic and fantasy

[surprised_by_witches]

Guess I won't enter then. I'm pretty wrapped up in the two stories I'm already writing. But I'd be glad to read what others write.

[Mirelly]

I would suggest a short story as well. No more than can fit in a single post (currently limited to 20,000 characters which is roughly 3-4 thousand words
unless you're addicted to ridiculously long words like wot I am :rolleyes: )

[Vega]

yes Mirelly that is a good idea, we have to limit the number of words. :)

now we need to decide how many time we will have to write the stories, i think 1 month is enough, what do you all think? more time? :confused:

[Lynet]

One month sounds good to me. For one thing, it takes time to play the sims through their different life events -- going to school, getting married, having children.

I think the idea of a short story is good, too.

SBW, it's possible that something might happen in one of your current households that could be self-contained and lifted out of the regular PDL or Veronaville thread. However, I also know that your computer has been giving you problems. :(

I cannot begin to imagine what I would write about. I'll have to go look at my neighborhoods and see if anyone is doing anything interesting with their lives. :o

Oh, Errrrrolllllll, whatcha doin', Hon?

[muffin-tacos]

I'd like to enter! This sounds really fun! :biggrins: Wouldn't it just be lovely sitting down by the computer on Sunday evening, typing away on the keyboard... :rolleyes:

I have a few questions though:
1. Does the story have to be about sims?
2. Where shall you post it when you're done with it?

... And that's about all I can come up with right now. :p

[Vega]

the story can be about what you want but with sims

and about the place to post the story, i'm not sure :confused: perhaps in the library i guess...

[Lynet]

the story can be about what you want but with sims

and about the place to post the story, i'm not sure :confused: perhaps in the library i guess...I think it should be about sims.

I also think it should be in the library. But if we did that, and there are a lot of them, organization might be something we need to figure out.

This is just a suggestion: We have a Contest Thread here in the regular forum where everyone posts a link to their short story in the library. Just a thought. Maybe Josh would prefer something else.

[surprised_by_witches]

SBW, it's possible that something might happen in one of your current households that could be self-contained and lifted out of the regular PDL or Veronaville thread. However, I also know that your computer has been giving you problems. :(

That's an idea. I'll think on it.

[Vega]

You are rigth Lynet we should wait and see what Josh thinks is better, and then we could start the contest :D oh and it would also be good if there was a prize :rolleyes:

This is going to be fun :) i already started a story, i will write it in portuguese first and then i will translate it to english :o

[muffin-tacos]

Sounds good to me, Vega! And I agree, a prise would be nice. Like Mirelly said some reputation can be the prise... or something along those lines.

I like Lynet's idea. One thing's sure though; we gotta draw peoples attention to the contest page so that we can get some votes. I like the idea of there being a poll where everybody puts their votes but I think a rule should be that you're not allowed to vote on your own story because that's cheating. :knockedout:

We should also post the rules in the contest page (if there will be one) so that it's clear - not only to the people writing the story, but the people reading the stories and voting on them.

Aw, this is going to be so much fun. :o

[Vega]

LOL muffin :D you are right! But first we must see if Josh thinks that is a good idea to post the stories in the library or not :confused:

yes it's really going to be fun, i hope that many people enter the contest, so we should get the atention of everyone in the forum :rolleyes:

[muffin-tacos]

Yeah, it would be great if lots of people entered!! That would make it so interesting. All these people battling it out for some rep points and the honour of winning the Short Story contest. :rolleyes: :silly:

Does someone think they could ask Josh what he thinks about this idea? Someone that's been around for a while *hint hint* :winks:

[Lynet]

I wonder if Josh is buried to his neck in final exams. Either that, or tied up in some other project.

[ManagerJosh]

A mixture of everything.

It's midterms week, and finished up a midterm today. Got a B+ on my last midterm (GRRRRR...) and debugging the Library systems to get ready for another Beta 3 Phase.

[ManagerJosh]

LOL muffin :D you are right! But first we must see if Josh thinks that is a good idea to post the stories in the library or not :confused:

yes it's really going to be fun, i hope that many people enter the contest, so we should get the atention of everyone in the forum :rolleyes:
That's what the library is there for. For Stories :p

[Lynet]

OK, perhaps we should start this way:

Sim Short Story Contest -- start thread in Sims 2 General Discussion, with list of rules, like these:

1) Post reply to the Contest thread ONLY when you have already published a story to the library.

2) The reply might include the title and type (genre) of the story, (for example, humor, drama, etc.) and a link to your story in the library.

3) Story length is the limit of one post (Mirelly mentioned earlier about how much you can squeeze into a post.) For a story, it's not really very much. You'll have to be careful. It's frustrating to have to cut out passages that you've worked hard to write. :o

4) No public discussion of the stories allowed until after the contest ends and the voting is done.

5) Deadline of _______________ (:confused: we have to pick a date.)

Issues:

A) Should there be a rule limiting the number of entries? Personally, I think writing even one story will be really tough. But for some people the words seem to flow without effort. :scratchchin: (I won't name names.)

B) How will the voting be set up?

C) What's the prize? Reputation points? The admiration of the audience? (I myself would be more than content with being admired, but the younger folk here might prefer something more concrete. :rolleyes: )

Anyway, does anyone else have ideas? You won't hurt my feelings if you object to the rules I've suggested. ;) Got better ones?

[Lynet]

Real shame about that B+, Josh. But you must be glad that exams are done. :D ;)

[muffin-tacos]

Yeah, Lynet, I liked those rules quite a lot actually!! :classic: But one thing that should most definitely should be a rule (in my opinion) is that you can't vote for yourself.

2) The reply might include the title and type (genre) of the story, (for example, humor, drama, etc.) and a link to your story in the library.

Love this rule, Lyn! I think it's very important about the link, so one doesn't have to go and find the story in the library because I think that might put readers off a bit.



3) Story length is the limit of one post (Mirelly mentioned earlier about how much you can squeeze into a post.) For a story, it's not really very much. You'll have to be careful. It's frustrating to have to cut out passages that you've worked hard to write. :o


Length is very important for me and I tend to write a lot of long stories and I think other people (not just myself) would prefer to be able to have the freedom of writing their stories without being bugged about a limit. I know, I know that this is supposed to be a short story contest, but I agree with Lynet: it's frustrating having to cut out things that you've written. But I suppose one could squeeze the story so that it fits into a post.. :rolleyes: :winks:

As for the number of stories you're allowed to enter: I think that there should be a rule about just posting one story. Other people might disagree with me, but I think that the whole point of this competition is that you should only be allowed to enter one story. If people have written more than one story that they want to post, then I say: hard cheese! Choose one of them. :winks:

Vega had a nice idea of there being a poll where it says the stories that people have written (and maybe the authors as well???) and then people get to vote which one they like best. :)

Anyways, enough of my blabbering. Tell us how you would like things to be in this competition. Go on. :classic:

[Vega]

humm perhaps 20 000 characters isn't enough for some people, i would sugest to extend the number to 25 000...

i like the rules that Lynet mentioned :) they are fine for me... i think we must get a way to get the attention of everybody inthe forum

[Lynet]

I think that a thread up in the main Sims 2 Discussion forum with Contest in the title will get plenty of attention.

As to length, I suppose we might relax on that, especially as there is going to be a definite deadline. But maybe we should get some more opinions on that.

If you go look at my story chapters in I, Sim (http://forums.worldsims.org/library/browsecategory.php?c=11) you can get an idea of how long one post can be. I was copying the story from the regular forum and tried to squeeze as much as possible into each post. As Mirelly said, 20,000 characters is 3 or 4 thousand words. Pictures use up more than a few characters, too.

I think that Muffin and Vega have good ideas here. Anyone else?

Today is May 10. I suggest June 15 (a Friday) as a deadline. Anyone think we should have more or less time than that?

[Vega]

that's good for me Lynet :) who is going to write the definitive thread with the rules? i could do it myself but i would prefer not to do it because i have some dificulties with english and the post must be very clear and easy to undestand by everybody...

we could post pictures as an atachement, that wouldn't stole characters would it? :confused:

[Lynet]

we could post pictures as an atachement, that wouldn't stole characters would it? :confused:Right you are. :D And the attachments look nice, too. Muffin posted pictures as attachments with her story and they look very good that way, along the margin of the story.

[Lynet]

OK, I decided to go ahead and start the contest, even though there are a couple of unresolved issues -- like voting and a prize.

Hope I didn't step on any toes. But I think the Library will benefit from this.

[muffin-tacos]

I think Vega can write the rules and stuff herself on the new thread since it actually was her idea to start with! :biggrin:

I better get cracking with my story then!

[Lynet]

I think Vega can write the rules and stuff herself on the new thread since it actually was her idea to start with! :biggrin:

I better get cracking with my story then!Err...already done. :o But we will definitely give Vega credit for the idea.

Also, Vega asked that someone else post the rules. And I thought we should get it started as soon as possible.

[muffin-tacos]

Then lets get this party started! :o

[Vega]

thanks for doing that Lynet :) :) i was concerned with the idea of write it myself :o
i think it's very good and everyone will understand the rules :)

thanks again :)

[Lynet]

You're more than welcome, Vega. If there is anything you think I should add, or that you want to go ahead and add yourself, the contest thread is open.

I didn't limit the story to one post, for instance. I hope that won't be a problem. We'll see.

I also hope that you, me and Muffin aren't the only participants. :D I don't have a single idea yet, and will probably put a story in at the very last minute. :o I'm thinkin hard!

Maybe some nice moderator will come along and sticky the Contest Rules so that they don't disappear off the end of the page. Either that, or we have to bump it once in a while.

[Vega]

yes it would be great if a lot of people enter the contest :rolleyes: i hope so, and i also hope that some moderator do that so everybody can see the thread.

I'm having lots of ideas LOL but it's confusing to start, i will have to get many new things to my sims, clothes, lots and other :) i'm also thinking about making my neighborhood, one with a creepy style :D :p

[hugzncuddles]

Maybe some nice moderator will come along and sticky the Contest Rules so that they don't disappear off the end of the page. Either that, or we have to bump it once in a while.

Done. :D

I'm looking forward to reading all the story entries! I don't think I'll be writing a story though - story writing was never one of my strong points in life lol. Still, I love to read. :)

[Lynet]

Oh, you might want to give it a try. Who knows...until you try it out. :D I experiment all over the place here because people are very kind.

Thanks for the sticky.

Later tonight or tomorrow I'm going to change my signature to advertise the contest. My signature is due for a change anyway. :)

And I can't wait to read the stories, either. It should be a lot of fun.

[Vega]

Done. :D

I'm looking forward to reading all the story entries! I don't think I'll be writing a story though - story writing was never one of my strong points in life lol. Still, I love to read. :)

Thanks Hugz :)

and good idea Lynet i will also change my signature :D

[Mirelly]

Just a thought. I wondered how we could group all the stories in one place.

As a stop gap I created a category for them under the genre "Drama" (all fiction is drama anyway :rolleyes:) The category is open for anyone.

http://forums.worldsims.org/library/browsecategory.php?c=24

I'll leave it to Lynet to edit her main sticky post if she approves of this idea. Or if her edit rights have expired, I'll do it tomorrow.

Oh yeah, I'm stuck on the beginning ... I can do middles and endings but beginnings are my bete noire :(

[Lynet]

My edit rights expire about an hour and a half after I post, so yes, please, put the link in place. That's a great idea. All the entries will then be grouped in one place. I worried some about that, but didn't see a way out of it.

Yup, beginnings are the roughest. I've been mulling over in my head the beginning of a story for two days now. Can't quite put my finger on it, but something along the lines of "It was a dark and stormy night..." :o :p

[Mirelly]

I couldn't remember how long edit rights remain :rolleyes:

Done now. Please let me know if I have over-edited para 6 :p

[Lynet]

Looks great to me. Very clear.

[Mirelly]

LOL, but you're just being polite and not mentioning the volunteer apostrophe in the word "its" ... I wish I knew why I keep doing that. It's not ignorance, it's a typo. How the heck can anyone manage to make grammatical typos that look like malapropisms?

[Lynet]

It's too late at night for me to catch stuff like that. I didn't even see it. :o

All very funny, since #5 was about grammar.

However, I'm more worried about the lack of periods at the end of sentences. And txt spk. :rolleyes: I think the whole story contest is a great idea mainly because the younger people get so caught up in the shorthand of text messaging that they forget how to write a good sentence (or at least one that I can understand. :confused: )

I'm very eager to see the stories we get.

[Mirelly]

I'm also excited to see what comes out of this. Vega's idea was a inspired!

As for sentence ending periods, I tend to omit them when ending a sentence with an emoticon :rolleyes: They're just big blobs after all ;)

[Lynet]

Smilies are giant periods. True. :D

[Vega]

Yup, beginnings are the roughest. I've been mulling over in my head the beginning of a story for two days now. Can't quite put my finger on it, but something along the lines of "It was a dark and stormy night..." :o :p

LoL for me beginning is easy i've already had lots of ideas, but now i'm stucked i don't know how to continue :o
i write something and i like it, but then when i read it again i don't like it anymore and i think everything is wrong :( does this happens with someone else?

[Lynet]

All the time, Vega. Sometimes I just force myself to keep writing on the chapter, writing anything, even joking around or getting silly. Then I go back and change things around completely. :rolleyes: Sometimes I've jumped ahead and written parts of the ending of a story just because I couldn't stop thinking about it. Then I go back to the middle part.

Ironsides was very hard to write. I was always getting into mental blocks with it, and dreaded having to do the next chapter. But I really like how it turned out and I'm glad I finished it.

Just write whatever you feel like writing. Have fun. Be goofy if you want because you can always change it. Or even leave it goofy. :D I'm sure that anything you do will be very good. I look forward to reading it.

[Vega]

LOL thanks Lynet :shy: i will do my best!
i'm having fun, i use to think about stories when i go to sleep, i like to imagine myself having lots of adventures... but write what i imagine it's the hardest part :o

i'm very excited with the contest, i just can't wait to read all the stories, it will be so much fun :D

[Lynet]

LOL thanks Lynet :shy: i will do my best!
i'm having fun, i use to think about stories when i go to sleep, i like to imagine myself having lots of adventuresI did that while growing up. I started writing out stories when I was around 9 years old. I've done it for years and kept 3-ring binders of some pretty awful little stories and poems that I wrote. :D I always imagined myself starring in these wild adventures. Worldsims is great because I can now indulge all these whims. And everyone here is kind hearted about it. It's like being a kid again, which I'm not, unfortunately. :rolleyes:

Meanwhile, company is coming tomorrow and I've got major housecleaning to do. :(

[hugzncuddles]

I did that while growing up. I started writing out stories when I was around 9 years old. I've done it for years and kept 3-ring binders of some pretty awful little stories and poems that I wrote. :D I always imagined myself starring in these wild adventures. Worldsims is great because I can now indulge all these whims. And everyone here is kind hearted about it. It's like being a kid again, which I'm not, unfortunately. :rolleyes:

Lynet - you're as young as you feel inside. :p Heck, some days I reminisce about being the 10 year old kid who was hooked on cartoons, roller skates, playground rides and making 'dens' in the wild countryside nearby with the brooks and tunnels and hills and woods. I had a great imagination back then :p but was never able to put it into words as a written story.

I think it's great that you kept those ring binders from your early days as a writer. :) And I'm glad you indulge in that creativity and post it here for all to see. :) It's inspiring to see you and SBW and Mirelly and Chee-Z posting stories that are so well written and interesting to read. :)

[ManagerJosh]

I'll throw these items in for prizes :p. Judging will happen by your fellow peers. So the highest rated stories, and their authors will receive :p


1st Place: 6 Month SimsPass Membership and 500 Reputation Points
2nd Place: 3 Month SimsPass Membership and 300 Reputation Points
3rd Place: 300 Reputation Points
4th Place: 150 Reputation Points
5th Place: 75 Reputation Points

Contest will close: June 15, 2007




Summer Sims Literacy Competition :p

Moderators and Administrators will rate award prizes for the following areas:

Best Book - Author who composes a series of chapters to form a book. Minimum: 10 chapters.
Genre Author - Author who composes the most quality stories in the most number of genres.
Best Promoter - Author who brings in the most readers to their stories :p. To qualify, authors must get people to comment and leave feedback on their stories.

Authors who win the above will get a 3 Month SimsPass Membership and 600 reputation points. Stories must be written as of the beginning of the contest.

Contest will close: August 31, 2007

[hugzncuddles]

Oooooh nice prizes!! Thanks Josh! :D

Still not gonna enter but can't wait to read the stories! :)

[ManagerJosh]

/me pelts Hugz with never ending garlic till she submits an entry

[hugzncuddles]

/me wears an invisible garlic shield and sticks out her tongue at Josh :p

We'll see. Maybe. :)

[ManagerJosh]

Post up a REAL LIFE Hugzncuddles picture with Convertor along with an MP3 of both of you speaking and we'll say you entered :p :p

[hugzncuddles]

LOL! More chance of winning the lottery than hearing my voice on mp3. :p

I have an idea for a story though. :D

[Vega]

Great Prizes :eek: :D i think this will make more people enter the contest :)

humm hugz i think you should give a try and write something :)

[hugzncuddles]

I absolutely can't wait to read all the entries. :) So excited that a Contest is happening on Worldsims and I'm looking forward to reading everyone's stories. It's a fuzzy feeling knowing that a lot of members are gonna be working on a story at the same time. :)

Thanks again for the idea, Vega, and thanks again to Josh for the prizes. Best of all though, it brings the members here even closer as a community. :)

/me is feeling kinda fuzzy today. :o

[Lynet]

It's a good day for feeling fuzzy, Hugz.

Thanks so much, Josh. Those prizes are really fantastic and very generous. I went ahead and posted a link in the Contest Rules to your post down here. I wanted to catch as many people as possible who might stop by today -- all those mothers. :rolleyes:

Maybe the prizes should just be listed in the Contest Rule thread, instead of linked. But I'll let you, Josh, or one of the moderators decide about that.

And any changes to what I've done is OK with me! Really!

[muffin-tacos]

1st Place: 6 Month SimsPass Membership and 500 Reputation Points
2nd Place: 3 Month SimsPass Membership and 300 Reputation Points
3rd Place: 300 Reputation Points
4th Place: 150 Reputation Points
5th Place: 75 Reputation Points

:eek: WOW! I'm just going to stand here and look surprised for a minute.

*minute passed*
Great prises, Josh! The 3rd, 4th and 5th place prises aren't that bad either. :winks: This will definitely make other people want to enter this competition! Good job! Oh, I'm so excited!! :bitelip: :biggrin:


Moderators and Administrators will rate award prizes for the following areas:

Best Book - Author who composes a series of chapters to form a book. Minimum: 30 chapters.
Genre Author - Author who composes the most quality stories in the most number of genres.
Best Promoter - Author who brings in the most readers to their stories :p. To qualify, authors must get people to comment and leave feedback on their stories.

Authors who win the above will get a 3 Month SimsPass Membership and 600 reputation points. Stories must be written as of the beginning of the contest.


Does this apply to the Short Story contest as well or is it the other stories that people have posted? :boggled: *looks confused* Because 30 chapters is hardly short.

[Lynet]

If I understand what Josh has offered, there are two separate contests.

First, there is the short story contest to be judged by voting by all members of Worldsims. That's the one with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so forth prizes.

Second, there is a separate contest to be judged by administrators and moderators. That's the one with the 30 chapters (a book.) That one also has the prize for promoting the library. That contest is a much tougher competition because writing 30 chapters between now and June 15 is no cake walk.

I believe that this: Stories must be written as of the beginning of the contest. Contest will close: June 15, 2007 means a NEW story of 30 chapters, and not one that's already been started. So my story The First Desire, Mirelly's Penn Vale Saga, and SBW's Veronaville, are not in the running.

Go for it, Muffin. And where's Person123? She can write fast, too. And Vega? Anyone who can write in two languages is obviously very talented.

[surprised_by_witches]

30 chapters before June 15? And my story doesn't count? I was cool with it when I thought it was just a one-page post. But just because I started my story before some arbitrary date I can't enter?

Not sure that's fair, y'all. :(

I think Josh had better clarify.

[ManagerJosh]

Haven't decided the second one deadline yet :p

[ManagerJosh]

Updated :)

[muffin-tacos]

You know what, I think I'm going to enter the long story contest too! :eek:

Just one quick question: will the long stories be posted in the Short Story section of the library or a different one?

[ManagerJosh]

Library == Library :p It has both long and short stories like a real library :p

[Lynet]

You know what, I think I'm going to enter the long story contest too! :eek:That's great. And the deadline for that one is August 31, so you have all summer to work on it.

Just one quick question: will the long stories be posted in the Short Story section of the library or a different one?I think we should save the short story section for the short story contest. So when you decide what type of story it is (romance or humor or something else) then put it in that category. We'll know which one it is because you'll have a link to it in the contest thread. Mirelly wrote instructions about posting stories in the library (here (http://forums.worldsims.org/showthread.php?p=125161#post125161)), but I'll be happy to help, too.

[muffin-tacos]

*LOL* thanks Lynet and Josh! :biggrins:

[Mirelly]

I'm a bit concerned about the deadline for the novel comptetition. 15 weeks seems a tight schedule to bash out 30 chapters ... I'm sure I would be unwilling to read far into a first draft of a novel. It is true that there are some authors who churn out novels in weeks rather than months, but they are the exception, not the rule and such yarns are rarely more than formulaic mush. Even getting down to novella country, thirty 500 word chapterettes, is pushing the limits.

Maybe I just set high standards. My own stories lurch and hop forward like a learner driver struggling with clutch and gas pedals because I set myself high standards (ones I never reach in my own estimation). My muse is still out on the short story idea because I find the short story an even more intimindating monster than the novel. I WILL be there, though. ;)

[Lynet]

Too true. I have a one-post-length short story in mind which I've started writing. It's not particularly clever, so I have no doubt that Muffin or Vega will beat me easily.

I haven't thought about anything else, except the usual list of summer chores--family and employer social obligations. :o (Don't you just hate those company picnics?)

Hmmm, do sims play volley ball?

However, it might be that other members and lurkers have already written a huge amount that they've been hesitant to upload anywhere yet. In other words, it's just gathering dust in their word processor. If so, maybe they'll see this contest as an opportunity to publish a sim novel.

I wonder how fast Muffin can write 30 chapters. That's 2 chapters a week. I don't know how long they need to be.

[muffin-tacos]

I know it's going to be a bit stressy.. but I think I might be able to do it, if I really put my mind to it.. I'm just going to wait and see how my short story goes first and then I might or might not enter the 30 chaps. competition. (I've started to work on the 30 chaps. but I'm finding it rather hard to make it into a sim story - I like writing real life stories a lot too - so at the moment it's kind of a mixture between real life and sim world..)

But I'm starting to get a bit hesitant on the 30 chapters, I must admit... I have a pretty good idea about the story but I haven't thought of an end yet. :worried: *thinks hard*

And I'm wondering if anybody's actually going to be bothered to read 30 chapters, 'cause it is a bit much and can get tiering. Nobody's going to be reading that in a day.. You'd just get bored half way through it, wouldn't you? Well, I would anyway. :rolleyes:

[ManagerJosh]

If an 8 year old could get through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I'm sure they can get through 30 Sim Chapters :p

[muffin-tacos]

If an 8 year old could get through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I'm sure they can get through 30 Sim Chapters :p

Yeah, that's true.. But still. :ducks:

[Vega]

(I've started to work on the 30 chaps. but I'm finding it rather hard to make it into a sim story - I like writing real life stories a lot too - so at the moment it's kind of a mixture between real life and sim world..

i'm confused :confused: do the story has to be about sims and the game? i mean i'm writing a story with sims about magic, do i have to write something just about sims life to enter the contest?

[Lynet]

I went back to look at my original posts for Ironsides and Andromeda Rose. I looked at the date of the first chapter and the last (THE END) chapter and calculated that each of them took 118 days, or between 16 and 17 weeks, to write.

:crazy: :nosleep: :faint:

They are both very, very long stories.

Sure, I was obsessed and neglected everything else in my life. :rolleyes: And I didn't have school homework, exams, and children needing attention. I also have an undemanding job and a husband who doesn't mind if I spend hours in front of my computer.

I must say, however, that a large chunk of those 118 days was spent on building castles and taking pictures of battles, and not on the actual writing.

[Lynet]

i'm confused :confused: do the story has to be about sims and the game? i mean i'm writing a story with sims about magic, do i have to write something just about sims life to enter the contest?Sounds good, Vega. We're expected to be imaginative about our sims--put words in their mouths, meaning into their behavior, magic into their lives. :)

Keep going. I can't wait to read your story.

[Vega]

i'm getting afraid that no one will like my story LOL

i write a lot yesterday i'm doing my best, it is almost finished, but now comes the hardest part, translate it to english, it will be a chalenge for me :rolleyes:

[hugzncuddles]

If an 8 year old could get through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I'm sure they can get through 30 Sim Chapters :p

Wow, I feel so ashamed. :p I stopped reading Harry Potter halfway through book 2. :rolleyes: I figured that the movies were faster. :p

[surprised_by_witches]

Maybe, but the books are better.

I think the stories should be 15 - 20 chapters.

[muffin-tacos]

I think the stories should be 15 - 20 chapters.

Same here. That seems more reasonable to me. :snooty: :silly: :rambo:

[Lynet]

I keep meaning to thank you, Muffin, for updating the story contest thread. I didn't even notice that Josh had changed the length, so I'm really glad that you were watching out for it.

I'm still working on my short story, just trying to play with the sim family so that I can get a couple of pictures. I guess it's taking me longer than I thought it would. But we still have about 3 weeks and a couple of days, thank goodness.

I was looking forward to our 3-day weekend. But then found out we have a family get together for most of Sunday. *sigh*

[muffin-tacos]

No probs, Lynet. :biggrins:

I've finnished my actual sotry now, it's the pics that need to get sorted and I keep going back and editing the story because I can't make my mind up. :rolleyes: Hope that I'll be happy in the end. I can't wait to read all the stories later! Oh this is so much fun! :hyper:

[Lynet]

I can't wait to read all the stories later! Oh this is so much fun! :hyper:I completely agree.

[Jazz]

I really don't have any ideas. 15-20 chapters, now how much should be in a chapter?

[muffin-tacos]

I really don't have any ideas. 15-20 chapters, now how much should be in a chapter?

*AHEM* Jazz. Take a look at the new update in the stories competition... The minimum of chapters has been changed to 10 chapters. :classic:

[Jazz]

thanks muffin. But should there be, like, one page in a chapeter or what?

[muffin-tacos]

Huh-uh. :winks:
Thinking of writing a story or two?

[Jazz]

yes i am. :) just one though...

[Vega]

Great Jazz :D another story!

[ManagerJosh]

Just a reminder :p. People have to vote for active stories. If not, no one can win :p

[Lynet]

Just a reminder :p. People have to vote for active stories. If not, no one can win :pBy active, do you mean stories that have been written after the contest was announced and are posted before June 15?

I suspect they're all going to be posted the last week before June 15. :D

I hope the Worldsims' servers can handle the rush. :p

[ManagerJosh]

Active as in stories publically available to read :p. Plus all ratings must be in by June 15th :p

[muffin-tacos]

I suspect they're all going to be posted the last week before June 15. :D

I hope the Worldsims' servers can handle the rush. :p

Well, I most certainly am. :D And I couldn't agree with you more on that last bit you said.

[Vega]

i must hurry :o i have to play with my sims to get pictures, and i need to translate the story :eek:

[Lynet]

Plus all ratings must be in by June 15th :pIf by ratings, you mean voting, that might conflict a little with general rule #8, which says that there will be no voting until after the June 15th deadline.

If you mean rating a story by giving it gold stars (the rate thread option,) we might have little bitty problem there. I just went to my story The First Desire and gave Chapter 1 a five star rating all by myself. :o Just a test of the system!!! --although I do think it's a compelling first chapter which should have drawn an audience of thousands :p

For voting, I was hoping we could set up a poll. Maybe some experienced poll setter-uppers could recommend the best way to handle that.

Can we have the Awards Ceremony and Gala in the shoutbox? We'll have to mop the floors and hang streamers, maybe hire a band. :D ;) Hey, Jazz, do you have a band?

[muffin-tacos]

For voting, I was hoping we could set up a poll. Maybe some experienced poll setter-uppers could recommend the best way to handle that.

Can we have the Awards Ceremony and Gala in the shoutbox? We'll have to mop the floors and hang streamers, maybe hire a band. :D ;)

A poll sounds great to me! :) But I was thinking that the winner(s) would be posted in the Short Story Contest announcement page in case the winners aren't online during the ceremony or miss it? But the actual ceremony and stuff would be great to have in the shouldbox!

[Lynet]

A poll sounds great to me! :) But I was thinking that the winner(s) would be posted in the Short Story Contest announcement page in case the winners aren't online during the ceremony or miss it? But the actual ceremony and stuff would be great to have in the shouldbox! I was joking around, Muffin, But you're right, the winners should be posted and toasted in the contest thread.

And we can throw streamers around in the..uh...shouldbox? :D

I should have a shouldbox at work. :p

[muffin-tacos]

I was joking around, Muffin,

That's what I thought, but you can't be too sure. *LOL* :winks::D

[muffin-tacos]

I've made up my mind about the book contest: I'm going to enter!! I'm cooking up a story right now and I'll be posting it soon (I think). Not sure if it's going to be any good but oh well. It's the fun that I'll have writing it that counts. :D Woohay!

[Vega]

lol that's cool Muffin :) i can't wait to read all the stories :D

[Lynet]

Very good, Muffin. I can't wait to read it, too. :)

I've finally finished writing my short one. I've uploaded it as a DRAFT.

(Save as draft is one of the additional options that is listed at the bottom of the screen when you are uploading a story.)

Tonight I'm going to upload the pictures and publish the story. In Microsoft Word, (Verdana font size 12,) it's 8 pages long, 3,400 words. When I add pictures, that will make it longer and use up more space, so I'm curious to see if I'm going to have to edit it down to fewer words. It fits OK now without the pictures, but I really need the pictures to show the characters. Anyway, if I have to shorten it, I'll let you know how it fits.

[Jazz]

I honestly don't know if I can get mine written. Summer school starts tomorrow and they give you this big essay (10 pgs) at the very beginning on whatever topic you choose. So with that going and all... I don't know if it will happen. I will try my hardest.

[muffin-tacos]

Finnished the first chapter of my book for the book competition! :D Posted it in the library and I'm going to make a post with a link on the Announcement page as well (that's what you're supposed to do, right?) so that people can get to it quickly.

That's great news, Lynet! My SHORT Story is ready soon as well. The actual story is nearly finnished (just a few edits that I got to do first), it's those pictures that are slowing me down... They won't be that good but oh well, at least I got some.

Aw, I'm really sorry to hear that, Jazz! I know what you mean about school and everything (<- it was so tempting to put a swear word there...:rolleyes:). Tomorrow I'm having my last test of this term yipee! So I thought it would be great to enter the book contest as well since I'll be getting all this free time... (I just hope that I don't go off on holiday in the middle of my writing!!) Try to write something, though, Jazz. I don't want to be the only one with a story up there. :classic:

[hugzncuddles]

Can I clarify something regarding the Short Story Contest?
Can the story be based on a true life situation, retold with Sims (therefore more like a blog/ re-telling of events with real people), or does it need to be fictional? :)

Edit: Woot! my 500th post! :D

[Lynet]

I've always thought of the sims game as an animated dollhouse. I've even described it that way to friends and relatives who have never seen it nor heard of it.

With a dollhouse we act out real life situations. I think that's the big appeal of the game -- finding love, getting a job, buying a house, raising babies. And sims fight each other, have affairs with the maid, lose their children to the social workers, lose their jobs, and (in some cases) get locked up in asylums. :rolleyes:

We put words in their mouths and meaning into their behavior every time we play. Who's to say whether it's based on real events in our own lives or not? Probably is, sometimes.

So my opinion about this, and it is just mine, is that if you are using the sims to act out or illustrate a situation from real life, it's OK for the contest. I don't think we limited the contest to pure fiction.

Does anybody else feel differently?

[Lynet]

Very odd, but Save as Draft didn't work for me last night. :confused:

It was working for my other story.

So scratch my comment about that option.

[muffin-tacos]

Hmm, that's really strange, Lynet, because I saved my story as a draft yesterday too and it worked fine for me. :confusion:

[Lynet]

Hmm, that's really strange, Lynet, because I saved my story as a draft yesterday too and it worked fine for me. :confusion:I know. It has worked just fine for me when I was posting my chapters for The First Desire (which I really need to get back to writing.)

It just didn't work in the Short Stories Contest sub-category. I'm wondering if it might have something to do with the fact that I didn't set up that sub-category. In other words, is it possible that I can only save drafts in a category that I created? Don't know. Doesn't really matter, anyway. :)

It's just a reminder that computers follow an otherworldly logic that I, a mere mortal, will never fully understand. ;)

[muffin-tacos]

Yup, I tried to save my story as a draft there as well and it didn't work either. A box thingy game up saying that I should notify the administrator or something and there was a link but it didn't work when I clicked on it. :o :confused:

My short story is now finnished! I've got pictures and everything *looks proud*. I'll put in the library another time when I have more time on my hands though. :biggrin:

[ManagerJosh]

Added item to list to be fixed.

[Lynet]

My short story is now finnished! I've got pictures and everything *looks proud*. I'll put in the library another time when I have more time on my hands though. :biggrin:I can't wait to read it. And just because I don't post any comment after reading it, doesn't mean I don't think it's great. It's just those darn rules, you know. :rolleyes: (And who could possibly have dreamed those up? :p)

Added item to list to be fixed.I guess we should be glad that software still requires human oversight for fixing bugs. It'll be a bad day when computers don't need us anymore. :scared:

[ManagerJosh]

What exactly happens when you try to save it? Is it just not being marked as a draft, or?

[Lynet]

When I go to My Stuff and click on My Drafts I get a the screen showing the title of my draft. (I did not include the actual links here.)

Stories in Category: My Drafts
To the place where I belong by Lynet on 05-29-2007 08:56 AM Short Story Contest - May 2007


If I pass the cursor over the title I can see the first paragraph. When I click on the title of the draft, however, I get the following:

vBulletin Message
No story specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

p.s. to clarify: I was able to save the file as a draft...just couldn't open it up again to read it, nor did the publish button work. I got the same message as above. I have not had this problem under the sub-categories I set up myself for my own stories. The problem is only with the Short Story Contest sub-category.

Test: I just now saved as a draft a Test of Draft function chapter to my First Desire story.

Now I have two story drafts listed when I open My Drafts. I have no problem opening the draft under the First Desire story. I still cannot open the draft under the Short Story Contest. That is why I thought it might be because I did not set up that sub-category. Draft functions are restricted to the person who created the sub-category? Just a wild guess, but it makes sense when you think about it. I wouldn't want anyone messing with my drafts saved under The First Desire. :)

[ManagerJosh]

Should be fixed :)

[muffin-tacos]

BIG thanks to the person that deleted that weirdo post in the Short Sotry category that popped up when I was posting my story. Some kind of code thing came up before I took it away and wrote that little post thing. :(

...Scary...

[muffin-tacos]

Guys, I think it's about time we start talking about how the voting is going to work for the Short Story Comp.
Personally, I like the idea of there being a poll. Will there be one vote allowed per person or more? Should everybody see who's voted for who? When is the poll going to close?

So many questions and there will probably be more to come. :)

[Lynet]

I like the idea of a poll, too.

My suggestions, and these are JUST suggestions, so I want to hear other ideas because I'm still drinking coffee and hardly awake...etc...etc...

1) one vote per member

2) poll closing at some time on Monday evening. And the reason I suggest this is because of members who may only have access to the internet while at work or school. :o

3) Josh, and only Josh, having access to who voted for which story. I'm really not sure about this last suggestion. Maybe we should just have the courage of our convictions and boldly explain our choice.

Other ideas, anyone?


:hyper: I am so anxious and excited about the other stories I expect will be posted this week. I can hardly sit still. Maybe I should just go play the game for a little while. :bouncy:

[muffin-tacos]

I'm so excited too! I can barely sit still in my seat when I think about it!!! :bouncy: Fingers crossed that everybody can make the deadline!

Nice suggestions, BTW. I'd like to change number two a bit though. :)
Personally, I think that we should give people a bit more time to vote. I'd leave it to - maybe Tuesday evening? Just so that everybody has plenty of time to vote. And that was just my opinion on the matter. I don't mind if we do as Lynet suggested, though. :rolleyes: I'm just happy for whoever gets any votes! Imagine if nobody got any votes. How sad. :(

[muffin-tacos]

Actually, scratch that last thing I said (about Tuesday). I got mixed up. I thought the deadline was on Saturday and not Friday. So Monday sounds good to me. :)

[Lynet]

But if we don't get many votes, I suppose we could extend the deadline. I'm curious about how many people actually visit the library and read the stories.

I suppose it's one of those things that takes time for word to get around. I know that sim stories are popular because they're all over the internet. But when I google Worldims I don't see any mention of the library. Don't know how google works, though. And when I google sim stories I get links to talk about the Sims Life Stories game.

Just rambling here. :rolleyes:

[Mirelly]

But when I google Worldims I don't see any mention of the library. Don't know how google works, though. And when I google sim stories I get links to talk about the Sims Life Stories game.

Just rambling here. :rolleyes:

Ramble away. Our dearest Josh rushed to open a whole forum devoted to a game that not only doesn't exist, but quite possibly never will (SC5) and yet the Library remains an afterthought, still in beta, with no suitably eye-catching link to lead folks there ...

Sorry, Josh. My Mary from Maine poking stick was still on my desk ...

*Mirelly blushes with shame and puts her poking stick away in a very deep drawer*

[Lynet]

Where's your short story, Mirelly? :nosleep:

tick...tick...tick... :scared: :bomb:

[Mirelly]

Darn it ... isn't it there yet? I mailed it last week. You wait till I get my hands on that man from FedEx. :rolleyes:

Actaully there's a deadline, isn't there? June 15th ... funny that date rings a bell ... oh yeah, it's a Friday and I have a date with a Crunchie (http://www.cadbury.co.uk/en/ctb2003/product_info/crunchie.htm)(TM) ;) ... anyway I like deadlines ... I like the sound they make as they go whizzing past. Accordingly I plan to submit an entry on Sunday, when I have recovered from the minor oral surgery required to have the shards of dangerous-but-delicious, honeycomb removed from my gums. Oh, poop on waiting till Friday ... I gotta munch on a Crunchie right now! Chomp!

Meanwhile ...

Vertigo, by Moi Vraiment will appear when it ... escapes or at 07:06:15:23.59 ( Coordinated Universal Time -7 hours) ... which means I'll have to get up early on Saturday morning to do the deed ... :p

[hugzncuddles]

I have a date with a Crunchie (http://www.cadbury.co.uk/en/ctb2003/product_info/crunchie.htm)(TM) ;)

Oooh Mirelly, now I'm craving for a Crunchie! 'thank Crunchie it's Friday!' - I remember those adverts lol. I've had my willpower tested this last week, for chocolate. I bought some of those Cadbury Snaps (http://www.cadbury.co.uk/en/ctb2003/product_info/snaps/#home)(amongst other chocolate) for the staff on my last day at work on Friday - orange flavour and mint ones too - took them out of the boxes to put in a bowl and omg the chocolate smell called my name! :eek:

I'm soooo tempted to buy some chocolate and cave in to my desires, hehe. You're right about the Crunchies though - those honeycomb shards are annoyingly sticky and sharp. I liked Twirl (http://www.britishdelights.com/detail.asp?product_id=cad24) - lots of them - pure chocolate heaven. :p

Oops, I digress. The Short Story Competition - I am having problems and have decided not to post a story, yet. However, I am looking forward to reading everyone's stories as the deadline approaches. :D

[Lynet]

Well, DRAT, Hugz! Can you go for the long contest?

And where's Vega? Vega's been extremely quiet lately.

I am anxious for Vega's story, too. :D

[Mirelly]

*does a Homer-style drooling action* <grrrraaaaahhhhllllll> :drip:

My fave chocolate at the moment is Asda Extra Special Belgian Dark Chocolate 76% Cocoa Solids ... I first found it in the baking supplies section but it's wicked just to let a square melt on the tongue. I usually start on the cooking chocolate when my supplies of fun-sized Crunchies runs out ... :rolleyes:

[Vega]

Well i'm translating my story, and it's getting really bad so i guess you will be disaponteid Lynet :(

[Sacharissa]

Darn it ... isn't it there yet? I mailed it last week. You wait till I get my hands on that man from FedEx. :rolleyes:

Actaully there's a deadline, isn't there? June 15th ... funny that date rings a bell ... oh yeah, it's a Friday and I have a date with a Crunchie (http://www.cadbury.co.uk/en/ctb2003/product_info/crunchie.htm)(TM) ;) ... :p

Oooo how I miss Crunchies! I remember well my first Crunchie...standing there on the platform of the Liecester Square station, after having liberated that little block of heaven from a nearby vending machine, only to end it's short, but significant freedom, by ingestion...Oh, the memories...

[Lynet]

Well i'm translating my story, and it's getting really bad so i guess you will be disaponteid Lynet :(I will only be disappointed if you don't post it. This is all supposed to be fun, not like an exam in school. :) Please don't worry about anything.

Maybe you don't have to translate every word. You'll force me to learn something I didn't know before. Believe me, that would be a GOOD thing. :D

(Ever read The Name of the Rose?...sheesh...)

[Mirelly]

I agree with Lynet, Vega. Your grasp of english is much better than most native speakers. The yarn is the thing. The best thing about english anyway is that most of it made up as we-who-use-it go along. In practise, this means that the average reader can decipher even the most garbled script. I mean, there are some folks that can even understand some of what I write, and that's saying something. :p

[Vega]

Thanks Lynet :) you make me feel a little bit relieved :D and i will do my best to translate the story :o

[muffin-tacos]

I was just about to ask Vega how her story was coming along. :o

Don't worry about the translation. It's the story that we are looking at, not if your English is bad (which it probably won't be anyway!!!). Your English is great the way it is and we will understand what you mean even if you get some stuff wrong. :)

The way things are going now, it looks like everybody will get a prize! :trophy: :biggrins: Hey, Josh, will the prizes come in boxes with nice silky ribbons and luverly wrapping paper? :silly:

:champagne: Pop the champagne and lets part-aay! :D

[Lynet]

We need an experienced pollster to set up the poll. I know nothing about how, and I'm too old to learn.:old: And I guess we need it set up sometime on Saturday, the 16th. ??

So, the questions are...
Who's going to set up the poll?
What's the best way?
Where can we put it to get the most attention?


Unrelated thought -- Gosh darn it, but I miss seeing comments. I've so come to depend on them. I hesitated about the summer literacy contest because a whole summer without comments about my story will be so painful for me to endure.

I still think it's better not to comment, but it is not an opinion I can easily support. :o I was afraid that comments would affect the reader's judgment, perhaps unfairly.

Does anyone feel differently about comments for the summer long contest?

[Mirelly]

I will add the poll. No idea where. I'll have to think about it ... unless Josh comes up with an idea.

My preferred idea is to add a poll to each story so that every reader can vote for that story ... one reader, one vote: 5 voting options giving 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 points. After voting closes, we just count up the points :rolleyes:

I expect it could be automated but that would be too complex for a small compy.

[muffin-tacos]

My preferred idea is to add a poll to each story so that every reader can vote for that story ... one reader, one vote: 5 voting options giving 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 points. After voting closes, we just count up the points :rolleyes:


That's an interessting idea, actually. :classic: Will it be one vote per story or one vote per everything (meaning that your only allowed to give your points to one story)? Personally, with a poll like the one Mirelly suggested, I think that it's better to have one vote per story.

Here's an interesting question that I just thought of: what are we going to do if there's a draw??

[Lynet]

Here's an interesting question that I just thought of: what are we going to do if there's a draw??We'll run out to the sidewalk and grab an innocent bystander to cast the deciding vote, then give 'em a cup o' coffee and a donut and send them on their way.

[Sacharissa]

Unrelated thought -- Gosh darn it, but I miss seeing comments. I've so come to depend on them. I hesitated about the summer literacy contest because a whole summer without comments about my story will be so painful for me to endure.

I still think it's better not to comment, but it is not an opinion I can easily support. :o I was afraid that comments would affect the reader's judgment, perhaps unfairly.

Does anyone feel differently about comments for the summer long contest?

It is one of the reason's I've hesitated posting for the Summer Literacy contest...You pour your heart and soul into creating each chapter, but you must wait until the end of summer to get any feedback on whether or not it's any good? That seems too much like summer school to me! (And it's been REALLY hard not posting encouraging comments to the existing entries! At least we will be able to comment on the short stories soon!)

I can understand the rationale, but it's still hard...

[Lynet]

I've been thinking about this some more.

Do you realize that we are much, much harder on ourselves than anyone here who reads our stories.

I have been terribly spoiled by the feedback I get. Everyone is so encouraging and always has been.

So now I am alone with my summer long story and have only myself to please. I think, "Oh, drat and blast, I should have said thus and so, and not this and that...what will people think?" :rolleyes: But I'm actually enjoying it now, trying to think up new ways to look at my characters. It will be great fun to discuss it at the end of the summer. I'm looking forward to that.

Sacha, I'd like to see you submit a story. Be brave, because you will be the harshest judge of your own work. The rest of us will be quietly applauding. :D

[Lynet]

Well, it's a little past 6:30 PM where I'm sitting here on the east coast of the U.S. of A.

And I can tell you this -- I'm going to have an absolutely awful time trying to figure who to vote for in the Short Story Contest. Or how many points to give, if that's how Mirelly sets up the poll.

I want EVERYONE to win. Blast, the stories are ALL so incredible.

Of course, I haven't seen Mirelly's yet, but I'm assuming it'll be good, too.

[muffin-tacos]

The Announcement page has been unstickied. I understand why but what about the Literacy competition and all the chapters that us writers have posted there? :(

Shall someone start a new thread announcing the summer Literacy competition so that it's not forgotten?

PS I should add that authors may vote for other writers' stories but they should also vote for their own - the one point "I have no opinion" vote please :rolleyes:
Does this mean what I think it means?? :eek: I get to vote for my own story by choosing that one? Oh, I'm gonna faint... *faints*

[Mirelly]

The Announcement page has been unstickied. I understand why but what about the Literacy competition and all the chapters that us writers have posted there? :(

Shall someone start a new thread announcing the summer Literacy competition so that it's not forgotten?

Oops ... sorry. I'll look into it in a day or so. Needs thinking about the best way to approach it. That thread's not been closed. Just bump it periodically until I (or someone else ... hint hint, sbw, maybe) gets around to creating a new sticky for the summer lit. compy

Also ... I am utterly knocked out by the quality of the stories. I'd rather have just 4 good stories to read than have the 4 good ones buried among 46 boring ones. (I am obviously not counting my own effort :rolleyes: )

[muffin-tacos]

Oops ... sorry. I'll look into it in a day or so. Needs thinking about the best way to approach it. That thread's not been closed. Just bump it periodically until I (or someone else ... hint hint, sbw, maybe) gets around to creating a new sticky for the summer lit. compy

No worries. :)

I can hardly sit still in my chair! This competition is far too exciting! :hyper: Everybody's stories were so good, I just had to leave little comments on them all. And since we were only five entering the compy, everybody will get a prise. How nice. :D

BTW, will the "I have no opinion" vote count as a point? *looks confused*

[Lynet]

So...um...did I miss the party? Did the voting end? I've just been in my game a lot for a couple of days, having a blast with Mrs. Crumplebottom and her therapist.

:confused:

So, I suppose that all the American members have gone off on holiday. Except my household. We're just hanging out here. :rolleyes:

[Lynet]

So there may be moderators who are even now sorting through the scores and making a final decision.

However, pending that, I decided to look at the scores myself. It was not easy to do, mainly because of the uneven number of votes cast.

This is what it looks like to me:

No. 1 The place where I belong
No. 2 Star Dust
No. 3 Icicles through the heart
No. 4 Vertigo
No. 5 A Veronaville Tale

Mainly, I looked at the number of votes in the top three categories as a whole: the Good, Very Good and Best categories.

The most difficult choice is between No. 2 and No. 3. I believe it's between Star Dust and Icicles through the heart. I chose Start Dust for No. 2 because of the 4 votes that were also cast in the Best Category. Using the same reasoning I decided that Icicles beat Vertigo because of all the votes cast in both the Very Good and Good categories.

http://uoem.com/gallery/files/1/3/5/4/6/scores.JPG

Please, if there is better way to look at this, let us know. Also, please forgive my clumsy transfer from spreadsheet to jpeg. (Badly done, I can see now.) Thanks.

[muffin-tacos]

Oo, nice chart, Lynet. Now I can see all the votes clearly.

I just counted up all the scores but I'm not sure that's the way it's supposed to be done?? Well anyway, if you count up all the scores, I think you'll find that Vertigo actually comes before my Icicles - not sure though. I might have added up the points wrong.. :blush:

[Lynet]

Thanks, about the chart. :o

But how did you add yours up? I'm just showing total votes that each story received in each category. Not many people voted.

If you notice the time I posted, you can see it was in the middle of the night. My eyes were tired, my brain was tired. :nosleep:

But I thought I'd get the ball rolling here. :rolleyes:

[muffin-tacos]

Getting that ball rolling is definitely what we need! Thank you.

I don't think that me getting them in a different order has to do with you being wrong; I think we just counted the scores a bit differently.

What I did was to ad up the numbers by the score they got (that doesn't really make sence so I'll try to explain a bit better). :o
These are the points that different categories give (from my point of veiw anyway):
No Opinion: 1 p, Like it: 2 p, Good: 3 p and so on. So the amount of points that people get is by which order the categories are in.
For example: if somebody has 2 votes in the 'like it' category they get 4 points. 4 votes in the 'Good' category gives 12 points.

(I hope you can find some sence in all that rambling up there. :flippant:)

[Lynet]

I understand what you did, Muffin. That's very good, like calculating my grade point average in school. :rolleyes:

The only issue I see is the uneven number of votes. A couple of people didn't put in a vote on all the stories. So for the moment, looking at only the two stories that I think were very close in the scoring, yours and Vega's, I made the total votes equal. (84 can be divided evenly by both 14 and 12.) Chart attached:

http://uoem.com/gallery/files/1/3/5/4/6/score2.JPG

Then I used your point system. Actually I looked at all the stories this way, and I still think they come out to the order I first suggested. All of the stories were very good. I wish more people had read them, and that all those who did had voted. :cry:

p.s. If you see any errors in my math, point them out and beat me up. It's a problem with spreadsheets, you see. The formulas that aren't visible can be wrong. You have to be careful when you use spreadsheets.

[muffin-tacos]

... and I still think they come out to the order I first suggested.

Forget that I said anything. It was just me that was going wrong somewhere. I added things up again and it came out in the same order as yours did the first time. :o

All of the stories were very good. I wish more people had read them, and that all those who did had voted. :cry:

Uh-huh. I agree with you there. It would have been much more exciting if more people had voted. As for the stories, they were all superb.