How do people feel about the complexity of the posts?

[Eliza Lacrimosa]

But, if I had done nothing but focus on that struggle, without inserting any actual action (a la my second post in round one), then it would be (appropriately) dinged for being "filler."

I hate filler. I hate it more than anything else in the world in these contests. Filler is nothing more than people not getting what they want.

Why would it be appropriately dinged for filler? Because you're focusing on character development? That's idiocy, in my honest opinion. I'm sorry if I'm getting a little passionate, but I think given the restraints of the contest and time frames, it is impossible to create filler.

Ack, I didn't explain that correctly. What I meant was, if I had spent two posts in a row doing nothing but character interaction without contributing to the plotline, then I would be guilty of filler.

Sorry for the confusion. :p

(And, don't be ashamed to get passionate, Syccy. It just proves you care!)

[Stonewall]

Not quite "enough said". Rystan was a fantastic writer and very good at being concise. She also was featured heavily in other writers' posts because the character was fun to write and it was easy to write her interactions. Now, take Damask. He isn't featured heavily in others' posts (like, say, Revel is). I have to make up that gap in my posts, or else I will suffer from a lack of face-time. Mind, a good deal of that comes from my being either part of a small group or off as a hostage, but birds are notoriously hard to work into "normal" situations as well.

That is actually a really good point, and was one of the things in QBV that tended to skew reader attention. Ashpaw appeared frequently in other peoples posts, and because of his constant screen time, was eventually considered a "main" character; whereas Reese only shows up in someone's post other than mine roughly three times in the entire story (and I think only has dialogue in two of those posts. I'll have to check) and was eventually considered a "minor" character. To combat this, to put it one way, lack of pushing my character from other means (I'm also in a grand total of none of the plot votes), I had to pretty much push myself, inventing a metric ton of NPC's to serve as conversation pieces to permit the character development I wanted. Also as a part of this, my posts were a bit longer than others because I had to try harder to make myself percieved as a main player (and in the process, had to occasionally beat the reader over the head with the message I was trying to convey. I win no points for subtlety).

Tying all this is, yes, the sea of NPC's and plot points can sometimes seem a bit overwhelming, and it can be easy to get lost, but it isn't necessarily pointless, and may be the only way the author can develop a character in the period of a week, especially with the threat of death looming in the background.

[Jarrtail]

True, and character development is as important as advancing the plot. It's just a matter of finding the right amount of each.

[Opal]

Hmm, I think there's an appropriate amount of NPCs this round. Even if there weren't, I can't comment, seeing as I created roughly half the NPCs in MM. :P

[Sparrowhawk]

I think the plot has been manageable so far, but I also think I am getting NPC weasels and stoats confused. I can't tell who's Nivard and who's... not. This is likely more the fault of my speed-reading than the contestants, though.

[shorestar]

I suppose part of what prompted my post is that while I was waiting for this contest to begin I re-read ROCS:2, the contest I participated in.

The posts in this contest were frequently quite short - many far less than 1000 words - but authors frequently made 3+ posts per week.

I was impressed at the way people really helped you get inside their character's heads, and let their character's personality influence their writing style. You didn't often have to ask "Who was the main character here?" or look at the name of the poster to tell who had written a post. Wolcnum's posts were often almost rambling and very whimsical. Kirill's had a more methodical air, filled with philosophical pondering and elaborate similies. Throttle's were frequently filled with short, almost staccato, sentences, complementing the shrew's air of paranoia.

I got similarly strong "feels" of most of the characters here from their application posts. And I've seen some authors continue that feel to some extent in their posts, but in an extremely watered-down way.

Regrettably, I misunderstood that no voting would take place until Week 1 was concluded... so I was incredibly surprised to read Su's death post (I didn't vote for anyone).

I was also very regretful.

Reading through, I wasn't sure who I would vote off, but I felt Revel, Su, and Eliza had done the best jobs of not "genericizing" their posts. The other seven writers were in a clump for me, with no clear frontrunners or lollygaggers - I had considered voting for each of the other seven. I didn't feel a lot of individuality from their writing.

I understand the incredibly difficult position you guys were put in, and why you were so anxious to move things forward and get out of it, but I feel a lot of very large sacrifices were made in the name of "moving the plot forward."

Post length doesn't matter to me one whit, but quality does, and the strength of your portrayal of your character does. If I can actually find the voting for this next week, these are the factors that will influence my vote.

[Sycamore]

But, if I had done nothing but focus on that struggle, without inserting any actual action (a la my second post in round one), then it would be (appropriately) dinged for being "filler."

I hate filler. I hate it more than anything else in the world in these contests. Filler is nothing more than people not getting what they want.

Why would it be appropriately dinged for filler? Because you're focusing on character development? That's idiocy, in my honest opinion. I'm sorry if I'm getting a little passionate, but I think given the restraints of the contest and time frames, it is impossible to create filler.

Ack, I didn't explain that correctly. What I meant was, if I had spent two posts in a row doing nothing but character interaction without contributing to the plotline, then I would be guilty of filler.

Sorry for the confusion. :p

(And, don't be ashamed to get passionate, Syccy. It just proves you care!)

I disagree. You would be guilty if character development and not progressing the plot.

[shorestar]

I disagree. You would be guilty if character development and not progressing the plot.

What is plot? In a videogame, you'd be right. Things need to happen! There needs to be action!

In a book?

The action in the climax of Ella Enchanted, for example, is entirely internal. Have you read The Time Traveler's Wife? There is almost no action in that book, as action is traditionally thought of. It's simply a story of the internal journey taken by two people.

If you don't care about the characters, "action" is just people moving around and not plot at all.

[Damask the Minstrel]

Plot is -anything-  happening, technically. I move to the couch, it's plot. I don't eat the pizza, it's plot. I angst over a lost love, it's emo, but still plot.

What matters is -meaningful- plot. I'd say Eliza does do that.

[Opal]

Hrm, I hope other people weren't too confused by the voting. Perhaps I should've made that more clear that week one was just extra long with voting at the end of it. I did leave it open for over two days though and we seemed to have a pretty good turnout, so hopefully most people had a chance to vote at least. >_<

[shorestar]

Hrm, I hope other people weren't too confused by the voting. Perhaps I should've made that more clear that week one was just extra long with voting at the end of it. I did leave it open for over two days though and we seemed to have a pretty good turnout, so hopefully most people had a chance to vote at least. >_<

It would be nice if it was up for longer than 2 days, especially if those 2 days are weekend days.  If that request isn't too unreasonable. :)

[Opal]

Hrm, I dunno, two days (well, more like two and a half, really, since voting starts as soon as the last planned post goes up) is a pretty long time, and the story basically gets put on hold for all of it (technically people still can post during that time, but usually no one does). Would it help if I just said at the beginning of the week when the next voting period will be (barring any unforeseen circumstances, of course)? (It'll be the 25th-27th this time, btw.)

[Sycamore]

Reading through, I wasn't sure who I would vote off, but I felt Revel, Su, and Eliza had done the best jobs of not "genericizing" their posts. The other seven writers were in a clump for me, with no clear frontrunners or lollygaggers - I had considered voting for each of the other seven. I didn't feel a lot of individuality from their writing.

I understand the incredibly difficult position you guys were put in, and why you were so anxious to move things forward and get out of it, but I feel a lot of very large sacrifices were made in the name of "moving the plot forward."

Post length doesn't matter to me one whit, but quality does, and the strength of your portrayal of your character does. If I can actually find the voting for this next week, these are the factors that will influence my vote.

Shorey, forgive me if I misinterpreted what you are trying to get across, but I don't think its fair to dock writers based on their style. Some just don't go for the "Omniscient First Person View" I think it's called. Whatever it is where it's first person through a third person lens. Revel's writing - I'll just say that.

Some are more technical than others. Take Damask, for instance. I may not get a good idea of the bird through the prose, but his first paragraph? I fell in love with it. I understand some didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but I know what I like and I liked that. And if I want to know who Damask is, I'll check out the way he interacts with characters and speaks. That'll tell me well enough.

While some of the characters you mentioned might do a fine job in the get-to-know-me-through-my-prose department (I'm not trying to sound condescending), they might not do a very good job at progressing the plot. Not necessarily being unable to get it done, but unable to do it in an effective manner. I don't know if I should give examples, so I won't unless asked.

Point is, I'm getting the impression that you're telling these kids how to write, and that's silly. You like your authors and you can feel miffed when they're voted off, but I wouldn't poo-poo the others because it's different from what you want to see.

[shorestar]

Oh, really? I think voting was open continuously during ROCS, so I am more used to that. If the etiquette is different here I can understand.... and yes, announcing the voting times would help a lot... Maybe in a stickied post?

[Damask the Minstrel]

... I don't think it was, Shorey. I seem to remember it being tied to the end of the week. 24 hr-type. And here you only get one vote, I'm assuming linked to your IP.