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Look, y'all, I'm a big fan of "Musicology Anthology"  and I was really excited about my entry this year. But some major life things got in the way, to the point that I both wanted to make finishing my entry be my by-year-end goal and also made me want to let go of that idea. I didn't want to let go of that idea, for reasons that are outlined in the item, I hope. I did the thing. I didn't do it in time for the contest, but I'm making peace with that, because I'm very proud of me for finishing all the stories in spite of all that's happened this year. So here it is, the collection of 2024. in all its pain and glory:
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| I found myself in the same boat, so I just deferred it to 2025. I've got the album chosen, with the folder and static items set up ready to go. Now I just need some...um...actual stories... |
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| Dave Ryan - I got a few written before life threw me into weirdness, so I wouldn't have felt right about doing that. Wishing you the best of luck with your entry this year! |
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 How about a special May round? Too bad, there's one going on!  I've been addicted to doing short story rounds, and this one is similar to February's, so a pick-up round seemed appropriate. Also, this May round is featured in "The Contest Challenge" . One of the character prompts didn't sit right when I read over the round before going public, so it got replaced in the eleventh hour. I'm especially curious to see if anyone chooses to use that one.
And of course I got this going right in the middle of writing my own entry for "Musicology Anthology" , but I did get one story written and I made some brainstorming notes for all the others. So if one Lodestar story that incorporates two prompts isn't right or enough for you, come join me in writing as many stories as there are songs on an album of your choosing! Or be way cooler than I'll ever be and do both!
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Have you seen that this has opened back up?
This is a writing challenge, a creativity challenge, and a challenge of endurance. I have yet to walk away from having taken a stab at this contest without at least one story I love. Even choosing an album is a challenge! I think I got mine for this round, but I need to finish another project before I do some writing exercises to make sure. Would love to see a whole bunch of people go the distance this year.  |
| Play a game with me! I can make it easy and fast, but I can't make it fun. It can be fun, though; you just have to be as easily amused as I am. First, do you know about "Random Rotation"? You can use a code to make a list of item links or text colors (and other stuff, too) and each time a page loads, a different item will be linked or text will be a different color. You can find this under Writing.com Tools > WritingML Docs: & Help > Miscellaneous. And there you can also find the list of WdC MLs that you can randomly rotate. As an example, I can take the item #s for "Invalid Item" , "The Lodestar Contest" , and "WYRM" , and put them all in the Random Rotation ML code, and you'll see a different one listed every time the page loads. The code: {item:2160953,2130938,1142497} The result: "WYRM" What isn't listed on the "Random Rotation" help page is that it works with emoticons, too. And we have rock/paper/scissors emoticons. So play a game a with me. The code: {huser:amalthea}: {e:rpspaper,rpsrock,rpsscissors} {huser:yourUNhere}: {e:rpspaper,rpsrock,rpsscissors} The (partial) result: Someone different wins (or we tie) every time you load the page, and only you get to know which. Want to play? Copy the code above but replace "yourUNhere" with your username. (Like I said, for this to be fun, you have to be as easily as amused as I am.  ) |
I'm starting off the year with revising and rewriting and fresh writing. The last one, there, is almost always best instigated by WdC contests and this month is no different. I'm 800 words into a story for:
I'm loving it, but that always makes me nervous because I tend to write for myself, first, and I know I'm a weird reader. I love this contest and am so glad I'm in a place where I can pick it up and go with it. I also mean to enter this one before its deadline:
Weird, how the fact that I only need a sentence or two for that one still makes it hard to get in an entry. Maybe because you can only do one entry, and you have all month. Puts weird pressure on the whole thing, which can be great! I am also still refining the 2024 round of my contest:
I've changed little details about the "equipment" and "crew" bits you'll only see once the contest opens so many times. I only post prompts and requirements that make me wish I could enter the contest myself, and it makes for some weird second-guessing of the details. I completely forgot to ask Schnujo's NOT Doing NaNoWriMo if she could include the contest in "The Contest Challenge" this year, so I'm afraid we might not have as good a turnout as during the years when we're in the Contest Challenge. But don't forget to check out what's highlighted there each month, and see what you might be able to enter for extra goodies. I have many other thoughts for what might be going on this year--maybe a one-off contest, and some outlandish writing and reading goals. Maybe a return to being as visibly active on the site as I was in 2020. Ha! (Kidding, on that last one, but you should also note that "visibly" bit. I'm active all the time; it's just that usually only the "WYRM" folks [and a few others] know that to be true.) |
I have to log off, but will try to remember to check tonight when I'm allowed on the internet again. Feel free to send me an email reminder to check space available in "The Contest Challenge" .  |
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