Well, the minimum on the epilogue is to ensure that people follow the theme properly, and not just end with e. g. "And she lived inflated ever after". The minimum on the inflation itself wasn't my idea, but Pakona felt that the stories shouldn't skip the inflation process entirely, so that they'd appeal to more people.
Prose that Blows 8: NOW OPEN!
It finally happened.
http://prosethatblows.wordpress.com/prose-that-blows-8-epilogue/
Submissions are due by April 20.
Sat, 03/24/2012 - 12:34
#3
RenegadeKamui
Sat, 03/24/2012 - 16:30
#4
When coming up with the rules for the contest, I suppose our assumptions were that for a lot of the writers in this community, the description of the inflation and what caused it were a big part of what made an inflation story so appealing.
If we were to tweak the rules, what exactly would you guys recommend? Omit the 400 word limit from the main plot section and make that part optional altogether?
Sat, 03/24/2012 - 16:52
#5
RenegadeKamui
I wouldn't mind having the option to skip directly to the post-inflation stage, although I don't know if I'd use it. But I assume the relatively generous word limit was designed to accomodate the extra section, and I'd rather have the extra words than not have to write the inflation, personally speaking.
Sun, 03/25/2012 - 17:13
#6
doubleintegral
Pakona and I agreed that the story should include an inflation sequence; after all, we ARE writing inflation stories and we still want them to be at least minimally appealing to that most basic aspect of our fetish. Plus, that gives writers a little extra room to develop characters and explain how the inflatee got into the situation they're in.
We also wanted to give writers the flexibility to balance their stories as they chose while not requiring too much of one or the other. 850 words for the epilogue is almost as many words as some entire contests we've had (and even more than 1-2) so I think that is plenty of room to develop the "aftermath" while still paying attention to the bread and butter.
Tue, 03/27/2012 - 20:32
#7
doubleintegral
Update: the inflation sequence is now OPTIONAL.
Fri, 04/13/2012 - 05:41
#8
Reminder to all writers: The submission deadline is one week from now.
Fri, 04/20/2012 - 18:04
#9
Don't you just hate it when you want to write but just can't find the time or the inspiration? I had a good concept I wanted to develop for this one, too. Oh, well. Looking forward to either reading the submissions or hearing of an extension for entries.
Fri, 04/20/2012 - 20:55
#10
doubleintegral
I think we are going to extend the deadline by a week since we would like to get a few more stories in. Also, if you've already submitted a story and want to make some changes to it then you may do so.
Sat, 04/21/2012 - 17:52
#11
RenegadeKamui
I take it my idea wasn't so popular after all? :/
Sun, 04/22/2012 - 10:47
#12
'Twas a fun idea to run with... just unsure how successful
Mon, 04/23/2012 - 09:08
#13
I imagine it could've been a number of possible things. Maybe it was how we handled your idea or perhaps the time constrants combined with a higher word count.
Mon, 04/23/2012 - 17:18
#14
doubleintegral
It's also possible that people were just too busy to write a story. I didn't get mine finished on time. It happens.
Fri, 04/27/2012 - 17:51
#15
With only two hours to go, and a story just getting into the action, I don't think I'm going to make this one. Anybody have better luck?
Sat, 04/28/2012 - 12:30
#16
doubleintegral
We got 7 entries this time. We have one administrative thing to take care of (Pakona, check your e-mail), and once that's out of the way we will post the stories.
Sun, 04/29/2012 - 19:24
#17
doubleintegral
Stories posted, voting now open until Sunday, May 13.
Mon, 04/30/2012 - 21:05
#18
doubleintegral
IMPORTANT!!!!!!
Like an idiot, I forgot to post one of the stories that was submitted. Only three votes had been cast so far, but in the interest of fairness those votes are being rendered null and void. If you were one of the three that already voted, you will need to vote again
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 17:24
#19
doubleintegral
And the results are up! Once again, it's Rathani and everyone else.
http://prosethatblows.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/prose-that-blows-8-the-results/
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 18:27
#20
RenegadeKamui
I'm grateful to have received so many votes for the funniest story category, although I don't really see how people could interpret my story as "funny". Unless they're just trolling because they think it's so horrible. Still not going to stop me from submitting an extended edition, though.
Also, thanks for putting my story up and doing the vote reset.
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 19:11
#21
I didn't really think of my story as funny either--I don't think anyone was really going for humor this time around.
Thu, 05/17/2012 - 22:49
#22
Inflate123
Funny is apparently in the eye of beholder. I got funny votes for my last PtB story, More Maxine, and I am embarrassed to admit that I did not intend it to be comedy. It was important feedback to get, but I can't say I didn't take a shot to the ego that something I thought would be seen as dark and dangerous actually came off comically cliched. Made me reassess for a bit.
Wed, 05/16/2012 - 11:36
#23
Wow.. I was astounded to learn I'd won the Most Profound Epilogue award. I was afraid that I hadn't really put enough talk or emotion behind the characters to really make the scene work.
But I'm glad that people seemed to like it. Thank you for your votes.
I like the theme. I'd like to suggest one change to the rules, removing the requirement that 400 words must be devoted to the inflation. Since the theme is focused on the aftermath, I can see both stories where you'd want to describe the inflation in detail, and stories where you'd want to gloss over the actual process. It doesn't make sense to require all authors to spend 400 words on something that isn't necessarily important to the story they want to tell--especially for stories that are written for an audience already familiar with inflation, which doesn't need the concept spelled out for them.