this is the first time i had read the story. Excellent ending and masterfully told.
And of course a great poem about our local rags, i read mine cover to cover sadly.
Juliet
I still don't. I do think though, that it must be a tough job choosing what the best writing is this week. Always someone that will snort aloud at the choice. The poem I am sure sounds excellent, but reads badly on the screen. The story (I found) had a charmless over attention to minute detail (which obviously is the point) but it is tedious and overdone. There is nothing else in the piece to prop it up. Gimmicky and pale.
Tony, thanks for this. it's a real honor.
and to everyone, i appreciate reading the differing viewpoints. it enriches all forms of writing.
also, i really loved the poem, which is extra cool for me because most poetry flies right over my head.
thanks again.
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." -- Brendan Francis Behan
I have to say that as the person who cherried both of these pieces I have to agree that they both deserve poem/story of the week for different reasons.
As I said to stacy at the time, it is not particuarly my cup of tea, and there are things wrong with it, but I could see a development in her storytelling abilities, and cherries need to be awarded for that as well as other reasons. Also, I felt this story really worked on an internet format, and it did keep me reading to the end, which is a good sign when you read story after story on here. It stood out, and that's important.
The poem is good. I am certain of that. It does need to be read aloud, but nothing stopping anyone on here doing that.
Obviously poems and stories of the week are subjective, but these two did stand out to me for different reasons, and am glad they got them.
I don't want to sound like a luvvie but I really enjoyed Stacyt's story. I thought it had a satisfying thread of black humour running through it and the pacing was just right. I might - if pushed - suggest cutting back on one or two of the stats (I think less is more for that motif) but overall it really won me over at a time when I've fallen out of love with the short story as a form. I don't agree that it's 'gimmicky', but then I think pizza is quite reasonably stating a viewpoint, which is what this forum's all about. I agree that my poem doesn't work as well on the page as (I hope) it will when read out - fingers crossed I'll be up to the challenge of delivering it as a performance piece!
I enjoyed stacy's piece. I don't have as much time as I'd like to read stories here & rely on recommendations.
Rokkitnite's poem deserved, nay positively demanded the accolade!
Good luck at the Ham-on-Rye festival. God bless your gig & all who sail in her. I know you'll be ace as ever.
*gushes*
jude
"Cacoethes scribendi"
http://www.judesworld.net
I liked both these pieces immensly, is it just me, or are the storys/poems that get picked always the ones that come out a few days before the story/poem of the week is chosen? Unless the piece is an instant classic on the site.
maybe it's just me. But anyway i think stayct has developed her writing so much lately and rokkitnite's piece was brilliant.
Give me the beat boys and free my soul! I wanna getta lost in ya rock n' roll and drift away. Drift away...
I liked both these pieces immensly, is it just me, or are the storys/poems that get picked always the ones that come out a few days before the story/poem of the week is chosen? Unless the piece is an instant classic on the site.
maybe it's just me. But anyway i think stayct has developed her writing so much lately and rokkitnite's piece was brilliant.
Give me the beat boys and free my soul! I wanna getta lost in ya rock n' roll and drift away. Drift away...
Kudos to Rokkit for taking the crit like that. I know it will sound better, I've heard you read. Perhaps I was too harsh on Stacy's piece, still think it's very much overdone.
Mike, yes, you are right.
First of all I look at the recommendations that have come in then I do look at the last week's entries. Sometimes I am reminded of an older piece and go back to that, sometimes I just trawl for hours in the back catalogue. It's very much as the mood takes me.
My judgement may be flawed but I do try to put in as many different styles as I can and to 'spread them around' as much as possible. There are no hard and fast rules.
I think the poem's clearly a performance piece, and the first section will work a lot better live, but I think the 'headlines' bit works extremely well on the page.
As an editor of small literary magazine, I spend far too much of my life dutifully dragging me eyes over hundreds and hundreds of abysmal rhyming poems, written by people who haven't got the faintest idea of either how to generate and control rhyme or of what to use it for.
This is a big contrast to that and the sort of thing that ABC should definitely be flagging up.
Juliet
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." -- Brendan Francis Behan
There's nothing more mind-teasing than the incomprehensible eagerly avowed -
Dennett
Give me the beat boys and free my soul! I wanna getta lost in ya rock n' roll and drift away. Drift away...
Give me the beat boys and free my soul! I wanna getta lost in ya rock n' roll and drift away. Drift away...