Athelstone

You made me think long and hard Gerry because it doesn’t work like that at all for me. It tends to be when I am submerged in a writing project that I’m most active on my particular forms of social media either seeking help or discussing writing or just having a good moan about every part of the process from drafting to submitting. I’m quietest…[Read more]

Is it available anywhere to read?

Excellent … your fame is spreading, and rightfully so.

This story has just been accepted into the Mechanics Institute Review. Randomly named journal, but I’m pleased it’s found a good home. 😊

Yeah, I’d agree, i think the comp works best as a pressure-free place for people to dip their toes in the water or play around a bit. Nice, encouraging comments are a great way of supporting that, but more critiquey comments, although a wonderful thing would perhaps be more useful in the critiquey Forum, or direct posting/messaging, and of course…[Read more]

‘Specific questions’? – yes indeed, particularly in the light of the current one – Raine’s saying “It’ll be judged purely on ‘how much do I want to read on’” (which strikes me as a genius note to strike when setting a competition.) Of those posted so far I would say there are those which I am unlikely to pursue, simply because they are not the g…[Read more]

I think this discussion is clarifying things. We want the monthly/bi-monthly/whatever frequency competition to be somewhere where people can post unfinished/half-finished/incomplete/never going to be finished/trying-things-out bits of writing as well as more finished and considered things. As such the tone of comments should be positive. If a…[Read more]

Entirely agree with Knicks and Jane. If critique is wanted it should be specifically asked for; where someone believes it would be helpful, a pm is the best place to start. For myself, comp entries are often little more than the flexing of writing muscles.

Compliments are what comes to mind when I consider the definition of positive commentary. Stating what you liked about a piece to encourage its writer. If someone specifically wants a critique they can ask for it plainly when posting their entry. But I think the general consensus is that this won’t really be the forum in which to offer…[Read more]

It is a tricky one, Jonathan, and I don’t have all the answers, but the monthly competition is IMO intended to be an encouraging place where writers at all stages of learning the craft can enjoy a challenge, try things out and so on. Or at least I think that’s what it should be. I’m not sure it’s the right place for full on criticism especially as…[Read more]

THanks for the interesting post @richardb. 🙂 I did laugh at Harry critisising the very services that JW offer! I guess their taught courses are less in depth than an MA, but it’s the same principal. As someone said (@janeshuff?) I love that the SE course attracts a wide range of writing genres/styles so there seemed no gravitation towards some…[Read more]

Sorry for absence … Yes, I like the idea of (positive) commenting within the comp thread, and if sub-threading isn’t an option then tagging people is a fair second best, I guess. So yes please do jump into the current comp if you wish to comment. It will be a nice way for people to get a bit of feedback regardless of the comp results. As @daedalu…[Read more]

Thanks Squidge and Woolleybeans – really interesting.

I think you have to activate reply threading, but I don’t know for sure.

Absolutely agree with you Daeds about the caveat.

But is it possible to keep the comments linked to the entry. The way we do it now won’t let that happen, as Jonathan showed. Is there a way round that? Having a master thread for each comp with threads within it for each entry?