600!?

[Sycamore]

The correct response was:

WHAT?! 9000??!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMHTK15Pik&feature=related

[Orion]

You know, that was actually my first thought when I saw this post title, Syc. XD

[Cairn Destop]

My first application for QB-2 weighed in at 3,735 words.  Needless to say, it needed trimming.  If yours is at 9,000 words, here is another trick for reducing that word count.

Go through the story and imagine yourself a movie director.  Ask yourself how many scenes are in this thing.  You should come up with quite a few.  Now write a short summary of each scene.  (No more than one sentence.)  Ask yourself which scene showed off your character best.  Discard everything else.

I did that with my mouse and wound up with a scene of 600 words.  Then came the editing as the contest rules said 500 words.



I just realized something.  If you have an application that long and you get into this contest, I can see somebody setting a new all-time high for word count.  god help us all.

:hamster:

[Cricket Argyll]

Who does have the honor of overall highest word count? Is it Inny? I bet it's Inny, you verbose little stoat.

[Balmafula]

It could be Nallmian... he definitely had the longest posts in MM, anyway, and even more so than Tieri!

[Cairn Destop]

Thalon Brusk of QB-5 had a post of 6,815 words.  If anyone can verify that somebody else wrote a longer one, this is the record.  If there is somebody longer than that, it becomes a QB record.

[The Jerk]

Hrm, well, Stonewall had one that was over 8000 in MM, but I don't know if it counts, since he wasn't technically a contestant.  >.>

[Dozystoat]

Who does have the honor of overall highest word count? Is it Inny? I bet it's Inny, you verbose little stoat.

I had it ... once. Ending of RV3. 5,370-something words. Longest post ... at the time.

*sobs over his tarnished medal*

[Cairn Destop]

Let me impart a bit of wisdom garnered through another writing site.  Reading on the computer is an eye strain.  Those who want the most impact with their chapters keep their material between 1500 and 2500 words.  Over that and the readers tend to speed read or skim your posts.  The shorter, the better.

If you check it out, the most effective writer in QB-2 was Rystan and she averaged less than 2000 words.

[Sycamore]

If I had combined all my week nine posts together into one for QBV, it would have been 11,992 words. I could have done it, too, since Meadowbrook was on her own that week and wasn't affecting any character other than the NPCs she brought with her.

So be thankful I split it up!

[Dozystoat]

Out of sheer boredom, I tallied up my wordcounts from RV3. The results:

1 2002
2 1818
3 1587
4 2096
5 1318 (NPC-only post)
6 2364
7 2748
8 2086
9 2536 (NPC-only/Battle recounting)
10 3334
11 2153
12 1866
13 2072
14 2069
15 2842
15 5406

This is counting all the ~ ~ ~ I used to seperate parts. Word counts each ~ as a word unto itself, so actual word counts were slightly less.

Total: 38297

Counting Theo's death post (2211), 40508.

So only the final post of the whole story was a real whopper. The 3334 one was mostly dialogue, which was quick and, I hope, interesting to read. I remember it very, very well. I finished it around 3 AM. For the rest, it seemed I was aiming for 2,000 words a post, give or take depending on what had to be written.

And there's what rather breaks the 1500-2500 rule: The post has to be enough to get a scene across. And sometimes, you just can't fit what needs to be fit in that amount of time. I wasn't being purposely verbose in that last post - it was just how it turned out after I had squeezed everything in. So, while I very VERY much agree with keeping things short (because I myself am blind as a bat and have the concentration of a caffeinated least weasel), I'd have to add that sometimes - but only sometimes - it is necessary to ignore how long a post is in favour of getting the scene across right.

Back to the 600!? topic ...

I hope judges aren't going to be jerks about adverbs! Because, seriously. In squishing as much information as possible into the limit, there is going to be a ferretload of adverbs in everyone's apps. Otherwise, the space used up to avoid them is detracting from space better spent saying something of actual importance about the character.

And I, for one, am going to be ticked if I lose out to someone who, instead of putting forth an interesting beastie, wowed the judges with flowery prose.

[Balmafula]

I agree with you on adverbs; they really aren't that big of a deal, although I do try to cut out as many "-ly" adverbs as I can.  This is mostly in the "cutting out words to make it just 600" phase of writing, though.

[Cairn Destop]

I hope I didn't imply that there is a "rule" regarding the length of any writing.  Even on the other site, there are works exceeding the 2500 word count.  Even I break that rule with some of my story chapters.  My comment is intended as a "rule of thumb," or guideline.

Chapters, or postings in these writings contests, should be long enough to be effective.  If you can impart your information in a thousand words, then the chapter begins lossing its "wow factor" with every unnecessary word.  By the same token, the reverse is true.  Leaving something out of a chapter will have readers noticing the logic holes, which is just as bad.  The trick is knowing when to stop.

That word count is the other site's recommended length for its prose contests.  There is no penalty for exceeding that limit or writing fewer words.  It is just a suggested length that has proven effective over time.

To repeat what Balmafula implies, adverbs are not evil.  One can use them in their chapters or their applications.  My suggestion was made with the idea of culling the work down to the contest limit of 600 words. 

There are two camps of thinking regarding the adverb.  Some say they are like a fine spice.  Used judiciously, they can enhance ones writings.  Done to excess, they highlight the weakened verbs the author used.  One is good, the other is to be avoided.  That is my feeling.

The other camp considers the adverb to be a crutch.  They feel a writer should have a better command of the written word.  To them, the adverb is a satanic invention and should be avoided with a religious fervor.  That is an extreme.  And a foolish one, in my opinion.

Still, there is one thing in favor of the adverb purge.  It does reduce the word count.  At this stage, that is the important thing.  So if your application exceeds the allowance, such a purge could be useful.  But having an adverb  shouldn't disqualify a person.  I'm sure our judges feel the same way.  At least that is my hope.

[Wolverine]

I'm a proud member of camp number one, Cairn.

My personal thought is that it doesn't matter if you use adverbs or not. If it flows better to have them, have them. If you don't give the judges anything to get hung up on, they won't. (In theory.)  :P

[Stonewall]

And I, for one, am going to be ticked if I lose out to someone who, instead of putting forth an interesting beastie, wowed the judges with flowery prose.

Rest assured; for my part, I am indefinately more interested in the character then your use of adverbs.