2011-01-16, 06:55 | Link #62 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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But proofreading and other stuff, I don't mind volunteering if I can spare the time. That's my real forte. In contrast, I suck at creative fiction. |
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2011-01-16, 14:14 | Link #63 |
sleepyhead
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: event horizon
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BTW, since we're on the subject of word count, how about having it as character count instead? Out of fairness.
Word count can be iffy. For example "a" and "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis " would have the same value. Addition it can be debatable what constitutes as a word. For example is "username" one word or two? Yes? oh ok then is "Somekindofwierdsentence." a word too? What if I am just linking words together: "Ho-ho-ho" is that one word or three?
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2011-01-16, 16:53 | Link #64 |
…Nothing More
Administrator
Join Date: Mar 2003
Age: 44
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Out of curiosity: Why would character counting be fairer than word counting? Surely you're not suggesting that an entry should be should be differentiated by the length of the words used?
If it is just the ambiguities you're concerned about, most of them have standard resolutions if the author uses correct grammar. Presumably the count would not be so strict that a slight variance, in what is understood to constitute a word in some obscure cases, will cause problems? It shouldn't matter in any case, from the point of fairness, provided the same counting method is used each time. With a thousand words to play with, trimming a few shouldn't be beyond the wit of the entrant. |
2011-01-16, 17:17 | Link #65 | ||||||
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Ultimately, it is how one puts his/her idea across. Creating and holding information about the environment and characters, then letting it go bit-by-bit to create suspense, is a form of creative writing. Or the piece of writing could be in ballad or poetry form (I forget what is it called) like the Canterbury Tales, that would be telling a story in less than 500 words. Ultimately there must be a general theme, or else the piece of work will just go around in circles without objectivity. Quote:
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Actually those techniques are used to get around word limits in formal writing. Content is still king. Iteration is nothing more than a way of expressing it. Hence the saying : Words are useless! Listen to my song!
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2011-01-16, 18:17 | Link #66 | ||
sleepyhead
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: event horizon
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If there was a catch in the middle, like for example with the limit and poetry: yes poetry has almost unlimited space, but it's harder to split poetry into pieces, whereas with prose (theme considerations aside) you can easily just continue a story from a previous contest (ie. write one chapter per contest as a way to work with the limits). If you don't agree I formally request you remove (the annoying) bytes as the unit of measurement for signature size. j/k Quote:
Here's another one for you: "Bose–Einstein condensate" (two or three?)
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2011-01-16, 22:54 | Link #67 |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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Good grief. It's a writing competition, not a programming contest where brevity is a top priority. While I can see where Felix is coming from, I'm hard put to think of any publication that gives writers character limits rather than word limits.
As for what counts as a word, I suggest we avoid going down to such technicalities. The reason is simple: It's not fun. And I gather that this contest is for fun, right? I don't think I'd be enjoying myself very much if I had to constantly fire up my word processor to ensure that my character count stays within limit. Long word, short word, compound word... use whatever you need to bring your characters and story to life. I daresay that readers can easily tell when someone is a blowhard who tries too hard to show off his extensive vocabulary. In which case, I highly doubt the story would be enjoyable, let alone draw sufficient votes to win. |
2011-01-17, 04:02 | Link #69 | ||
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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It is supposed to be considered a supersolid since the vacancies are filled by bosons, but if a state of matter made with bosons had empty spaces between each particle filled with bosons, does it have different properties from actual supersolids? If there is no difference, it is categorised as one, if it does, it isn't. If it is a supersolid, we can use the surefire term. If not, we use the abbreviation BEC. But for simplicity's sake, it is still better to call it a "condensate". Quote:
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Even the sound of it, sound quite atrocious.... Yep, that is atrocious. Simplicity is still better.
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Last edited by SaintessHeart; 2011-01-17 at 04:12. |
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2011-01-17, 14:58 | Link #71 |
108 Shikabane to destroy
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Some place in Colorado
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I think the answer to the whole word or not a word issue is simple. If there is no space (username for instance) and it is commonly recognized as a word it should count. But it if it is not then it shouldn't be a word. For instance, say I'm writing an X-Men: Evolution fan fiction in which the character Quicksilver has a lot of dialog. Some people, myself included, will run all of the words he says together because his mutant power is super speed and he usually talks kind of fast in the show. Sobasicallyitwouldlooklikethis. But that isn't just one word. That's a seven word statement run together to stay true to the character. Personally I don't think a character count would be a good idea. For one, are we counting spaces? And what about judging? Would people have to count all of the characters themselves?
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2011-01-17, 16:37 | Link #72 |
sleepyhead
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: event horizon
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What are you talking about? Counting characters is easy, just call the length of the string after a trim. Words are a little more complicated, but given the discussion so far it should be very easy; the complexity with words being in the rules of what counts as a word.
I believe the only loose end remaining is how many words does something like "can't" count as, given the apostrophe is merely there to mark a missing salable.
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2011-01-17, 19:15 | Link #73 |
108 Shikabane to destroy
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Some place in Colorado
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Can't is one word. Just like shouldn't, couldn't, wouldn't, doesn't, don't, won't, let's, they're, he's, she's, wasn't, weren't, and any other words that follow the same rule as they do. By saying they count as two words each means that you must also count words like sometimes, someone, something, daytime, nighttime, or neighborhood as multiple words each.
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2011-01-17, 20:50 | Link #75 |
Senior Member
Author
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Virginia Tech
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I'd be interested in participating. Though I do agree in that I think 1000 words is too low of a maximum. I'm not very well at concise stories, as they usually run 25-35k when I write them, but I don't think it's really feasible to get an sort of development at 1k. 2.5k would give much more room to play with.
For a first theme, how about entrapment? Like the situation a bird is when it is locked in a cage.
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2011-01-18, 04:17 | Link #76 |
ゴリゴリ!
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Age: 33
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Some real good discussions going on here. I remind you to not take it so seriously; it's just for fun.
Now, what I'm actually wondering is the initiation process. Would I be able to have a mod confirm if I can just post the multiple threads involved, or if somebody else needs to get involved?
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2011-01-18, 10:22 | Link #78 |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Because this nasty-nutty-grammar-natso is hired as a proofreader, I should just write in wingdings and swastikas.
Joking. It is good to have him around because sometimes grammatical errors can kill a perfectly good script : which will be like training a hyperactive puppygirl in pilates and yoga. Anyway, with regards to Kristen's point, I'd say she made a good argument but bad suggestion. A long story keeps the suspense on by letting little information out at a time, but a theme of "entrapment" sounds closer to mystery, which requires extended writing because it'd be no surprise if the catgirl is let out of the bag so quickly. On the other hand, how are we going to sustain the number of entrants for this competition over a long period of time? Encourage them not to give up despite having a writer's block?
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2011-01-18, 14:54 | Link #79 | ||
ゴリゴリ!
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Age: 33
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2011-01-18, 20:01 | Link #80 |
Kaiba
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: David Tennant's bedroom in the TARDIS
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I think 1500 words is good.
I also think that with contractions, Word and such programs count them as one, as should we. or we could just have everyone copy paste their stuff into a word processing document and hit "word count" end of story.
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fanfiction |
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