Reminders, some business, and calling all volunteers!

[pipisafoat]

First of all, your entries are due in approximately 48 hours from time of posting, at 10 pm GMT (5 pm EST) on Monday, February 28. Begin your entry with the words 'It was a dark and stormy night'!
This week's TnT is still up for discussion if you're so inclined - stop in the name of grammar!

Next, we have some questions for you all to take a peek at. Since this community exists for you, we want to be sure we're giving you what you need. As always, if there's something you think of that we haven't asked for specifically, go ahead and let us know! We always like new ideas.

Poll #6120 Community Input

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11

View Respondents

I prefer to be reminded of contests the following amount of time before deadline each week:

View Answers

24 hours/1 day
2 (20.0%)

36 hours/1.5 days
2 (20.0%)

48 hours/2 days
6 (60.0%)

Other (Please comment)
0 (0.0%)

I enjoy the following types of prompts:

View Answers

Word ("ink")
8 (72.7%)

Phrase ("tulips in the garden")
10 (90.9%)

Task ("begin with 'it was a dark and stormy night'")
10 (90.9%)

Picture
7 (63.6%)

Video
0 (0.0%)

Audio
2 (18.2%)

Other (Please comment)
0 (0.0%)

I have health and/or accessibility issues that would limit my participation if the community did the following:

View Answers

I find myself incapable of a totally serious poll. Enjoy.

View Answers

I like to click things!
8 (72.7%)

I am wearing pajamas!
5 (45.5%)

My mouth is full!
5 (45.5%)

Is this a serious question?
2 (18.2%)

Finally, I'd like to highlight some of the ways you can get involved here besides the obvious writing and voting. We do have an editing team, led by the fearless azuire. If you'd like to join, you can comment here or send Azuire a PM - just let us know how many entries you'd like to edit per week, as a maximum, and we'd be glad to get you going! You are also welcome to offer up any contest topics, TnT ideas, or if there are any international writing contests/scholarships/opportunities for publication that you know of.

Anything we forgot? Any poll answers you'd like to explain? I love comments. (I'm also especially curious what your mouth might be full of. Delicious food is something I like to talk about.)

Comments

[silverflight8]

I am eating honey nut cheerios, if that's what you wanted ;) I don't really like watching videos (and I share the study, so I really don't play them very often) and same goes for audio, which is why I didn't check them off.

*plans to write*

[pipisafoat]

yum. I am eating cold spaghetti with nothing on it. With my fingers. And wondering where I put my cough drops because my roommate complains that I sound like a dying elephant.

Makes sense to me. And that's not something I'd really thought of. Thoughts on pictures?

[ar]

I can probably work with most types of prompts if I make myself (lol), but I prefer premise- or task-based prompts. Premises are my absolute favourite, but the fact that it was a task prompt this week is what got me to participate. ♥

[pipisafoat]

I'm not entirely sure I follow - what do you mean by a premise-based prompt?

[ar]

Something with a specific premise, basically. A character has dinner with a complete stranger. One morning, the sun doesn't rise. The god(s) of a people appear to them. Things like that. The way I'd differentiate from a task-based prompt is that task-based seems to imply something that's more about the format of the story or very small details within the story? So you might ask people to write in second person or include exactly one murder and two teacups.

[silverflight8]

Ooh, yeah, that's really neat. Those breed ideas really well. If that metaphor makes sense.

[pipisafoat]

Ah. I see. Yes. Excellent idea, excellent point, and yes, let's do this. :D


eta: do you mind if we use some of your specific examples as prompts in the future? we will, of course, credit you with them. (also feel free to throw more this way aaaaaaany time. i love these.)
(i also love teacups. maybe i should have tea! that's a great idea.)

[ar]

Oh, perfectly fine! Then I might get to write them. :D and I can try and come up with a list of premises for you later, sure.

[firesign10]

Very nice idea!

[ex_pippin880]

Ah, yes! I asked for more of those sorts of prompts last year but I think pipisafoat forgot.

[pipisafoat]

*slightly befuddled noise*

um, yes, that seems to be the case. *headdesk* pls feel free to remind in future. am not always so much with the brain.

[ex_pippin880]

Due to timezone shenanigans I usually see reminders in the morning when I catch up on my flists and forget about them by the arvo/evening.

Though this constant humidity* has made my brain into soup so I don't think that being reminded every five minutes would help. :p

*It hasn't been under 21°C (70°F) since the 13th. I think the last non-humid day was... early January? 24°/70% humidity at 2am bluh

[pipisafoat]

soup brains, yummy.

(where are all my theoretical zombie icons. still being theoretical, i suppose. hmph.)

[ex_pippin880]

soup is not even a FOOD I certainly don't want it sloshing around in there! :[

[pipisafoat]

BLASHPHEMY SOUP IS DELCIOUSNESS.

holy crap i am really out of it today.can't spell anything. somehwt amazed i am somehow still breathing. *flails inexplicably*

HI HOW ARE YOu

[ex_pippin880]

Haha. I'm always really out of it. I think the last time I could consistently think well was high school, 10 years ago? Insomnia and depression combo lol~~~

I woke up at half past eleven and it is now almost twelve twenty and I haven't eaten yet.

And it is hot and humid and I slept like shit but goddamn was that morning dream interesting even by my standards.

p.s. soup is not a food :p

[pipisafoat]

me too. only not quite ten years. but i would even take back to a year ago. before Various Meds and resulting Total Wackiness Of Brain completely killed all brain cells. (and i am planning to go back to school soon, oh god what am i thinking.)

anyway i do that all the time, wake up and then doze or read or ... read ... or get caught up on dw and sometimes don't get breakfast until a million years later and then it's been so long since i ate that i have issues being upright. but now i keep snacks beside my bed. yes. and yay morning dreams, BEST.

SOUP. it's the food that can encompass nearly every other food that exists. it's like. magic food. or something.
(but this sourdough bread i keep eating now is basically the best thing ever.)

[ex_pippin880]

:(

I'm not even on any meds. I just. Sleeping and resting. They are difficult.

This summer has been pretty killer, though. Uusally I can get a couple hours of usable lucidity to write or whatever, even if it's at 1am, but in this constant humidity I'm mostly too wiped out to even cross stitch or game, let alone create sentences and paragraphs.

[pipisafoat]

I'm not anymore because everything fucked me up so bad I couldn't add 10 + 5 and could barely spell my own name. Oh, and hallucinat

um, oversharing much, nobody needs this. especially since it is the past mostly by now.

anyway! humidity is killer indeed. i totally understand. *kicks vaguely at weather* hey you! knock it off! let my username-cousin alone!

[ex_pippin880]

Oh, I've gotten hallucinations while driving. Luckily nothing major. I also tend to get hypnagogic hallucinations when I'm stressed.

Someone I knew was all "oh man it must be ~~so fun~~ to hallucinate when you're going to sleep ~~I wish I could experience it~~" and I just stared at her because some nights I had seriously contemplated whether stabbing my eardrums would stop me from repeatedly hearing my mobile phone's ringtone (even though I had switched it off).

~*~*~brains~*~*~

[pipisafoat]

only hallucinating sucks monkey balls and, and, and, stuff. I

stuff.

well that was very wordful. *headdesk* perhaps I quit while i'm ahead or whatever. i should sleep anyway. (silly time zones) *waves*

[ex_pippin880]

nini! I hope to-morrow's okay. :)