So, why did the winners win?

[RJHubbard53]

For me, the best way to learn is to study others and what makes them successful or unsuccessful. So I'm not asking why you voted for whom you voted but why, in general, made this set of stories "winners"?

I voted mainly on story. I'm not impressed by flourishy prose; in fact, I find it obnoxious. I like a good story and even in horror fiction, I get irritated when the story doesn't make sense. Anyway, I didn't originally vote for many of the final 10 so I wonder what I'm missing... help me out!

thanks

RJ

[JJ123]

I struggle with this, and I'm not certain what the answer is. I tend to agree: story is key, above all. But if there isn't at least a little poety to the prose, what will an editor think? Should the voice be totally flat and full of reportage, or should it have something to it, even if it's merely a juvenile, cocky, posturing attitude?

To specifically answer you question, I can't necessarily say what factors went into the final selection. I think concept came into play with some of them, solid yarn-spinning in others. Yet, a couple of my favorites didn't make it. "Red Rings of Death" was really good; I was surprised it didn't make the final cut. But I salute the winners nevertheless...

[C.W. LaSart]

I counted 7 of the final 11 that I personally voted for in their own groups. For me, there were a lot of things I take into consideration: story-it has to grab me, style-I do a lot of editing so I notice mistakes-sorry, but at this level there is no room for mistakes, and format-I know most people will groan about this, but we were instructed on how to do paragraph breaks and if it wasn't done, I didn't read it. No one wants to go blind trying to read. Some of you will be pissed about this and say it's not fair, but let's face it, the publishing industry isn't fair. This is an important lesson that you MUST learn, you need to submit things in the correct format. This will vary from publisher to publisher, but they will state what they want. If they request a 12 pt Times New Roman done in an RTF format and you submit a 14 pt Courier in word doc, they will toss it out unread. I know that for many of you, this was your first submission and I applaud you for taking the step, this is much harder than letting a faceless editor read your story. But I never lost sight of the fact that the winners would be published alongside some serious professionals, and I subsequently went for what I felt was the most professionally written story, both creatively and technically. I really enjoyed reading the stories and look forward to the possibilities of more contests. Though I don't necessarily plan to participate, I will most definitely want to be in on the votes. Good luck to all on their writing, and thanks to those that thought my story was good enough to make it!

[srboone]

I voted based on the strength of emotional response I got from a story. In that vein, more than three sections in a story of this size causes the response I get from a story to be relegated to the final section; so if it comes down to a story that terrifies me, horrifies me, repulses me, thrills me, etc for the 5-10 minutes it takes to read; or sets me up simply for a last second payoff (especially if that payoff is predictable, but even if it isn't), I will go with the former every time.

I will say, that all 11 stories in the final round are very good; only 3 of the ones I voted for originally made the cut, but I tried to look at each one in the finals from a fresh perspective. And the one I ultimately voted for was not one I voted for in the first round.

Weird, I know, but a story that makes you want to read it a second time, and then find something new in it the second time round speaks volumes to me.

[Craig Wallwork]

It's very subjective, RJ. And I can understand your frustration. I've been there. Not in this contest, but when I've been told about how great a novel is, and then when i buy that novel, only to read it and think it's average at best, it makes me question literature on a grander scale. There will always be stories/novels published that are not to everyone's liking. What captures the attention of one person will turn off the next. The final 11 were there because the people here saw something in them. That may be, like Squire mentioned, something that pulls them in on a emotional level, or perhaps it was far-reaching, by which I mean, it could be re-read and still have an impact.

There were some stories that I felt should have been in the final but didn't make it. There were some in the final that I think were lower in the pecking order that should have been higher. Why that is is because of preference. Nothing against Nikita, but I believe, and maybe I'm wrong, that story got instant attention, and more "reads" in the first round because of the title. it was a GREAT title. It pulled you in, which meant people remembered it, and read it, and if you got a reader, and the story was good, then the chances are they were going to read it again in the final stage and vote. some stories had average title, mine included, but the stories were outstanding - and no, I'm not referring to mine there.

No one can be bitter about this because everyone had a choice to vote or not to vote. Like you, RJ, you didn't vote. If the stories were that bad, no one would have voted, or if they did, each story may have had only 1 vote to show for it. It didn't go down that way. The people spoke and the best won out.

[RJHubbard53]

perhaps my post was written poorly as I am not bitter, Craig. I actually did vote; I voted for a story titled 13.

I never said that these stories were not good. What I'm trying to figure out is what makes them good since apparently, the once I voted for in the original vote were not the ones that made it to the final round. I'm wondering what I am missing that others are seeing. I believe it comes down to, as you stated, subjectivity.

sorry if my post came off as bitter or alluded that the finalists didnt deserve it, that was certainly not the intent. I enjoyed all the stories in the final round; all were deserving.

[Craig Wallwork]

Thanks, RJ.

I think, and i'll add this now before i forget, a name has swayed me into reading a story too. Not the title of the story, you understand, but the name of the author. C.W. pulled me in right away, so did Draven. MLD, too. For a long time I believed a name can help you get noticed and was thinking of writing under a pseudonym. But i had quite a few stories published by that time, which meant my theory was wrong, and also, I didn't want to lose any kudos I may have gleaned in the process of being published. it's strange how the mind works.

But yes, let me extend my thanks once again for the vote. Too cool of you.

[TerryE]

Personally, I looked at the stories very harshly for an amateur contest. Once the story count got above 70, and I knew time was going to be tight, I went with Caren's method of giving the ones with horrible formatting only a cursory glance. I can understand an editor's frustration; they were difficult to read after a while. I looked at them, but if the first couple paragraphs didn't hook me, I moved on. In the first couple days, I read every story and took detailed critique notes. By the second week, I wanted to get through every story and it came down to a yes, no, or maybe in my notes.

I agree with Craig, half of the appeal of Meat Socks was the title. But Nikita did follow that with an interesting story. I've posted critiques for a few of your stories, and mentioned each time that I can be hyper-critical. That said, I found little things I didn't like with almost every story submitted, even though I liked most of the stories. For me to like the story, I needed some style to the language, not a simple recitation of the facts. The story also needed internal logic, decent grammar, and some originality. Caren had a great story, but my original critique of mentioned that it was the 3rd or 4th story I read that had a doctor or psychiatrist who didn't believe their patient. That's not a weakness of Caren, but had more to do with the order that I read the stories. Also I had just finished reading the comics version of Stephen King's "N", and was feeling similarities to that in all of those doctor stories. Again, something I wouldn't have thought about if I hadn't just finished "N". But things like that can always cloud a reader's judgement. Heck, I even think I subconsciously didn't rate Richard Thomas's "Rudy Jenkins..." story higher because it had some very basic similarities to my story.

I think I voted for 2 of the finalists in the first round, so my taste doesn't agree with the majority either. There were a few "extreme" stories that only repulsed me. I want more than just something shocking. My vote went to "It Roars", just because it was so unique, bizarre, and fun. I usually hate the dream sequence as a story, but at least she told us right off the bat that it was a dream and had fun from there.

[MrRoland]

I tried to go strictly by story, but, like Caren, there were some with no paragraph breaks that I ignored. They were just too difficult for me to read and keep the story interesting to me. Also if I got jarred out of the story by wrong word usage and grammer errors too many times, I lost interest in reading those. There were a few that I voted for in the first round that moved on, not as many as Caren had though.

[C.W. LaSart]

Is Stephen King's "N" the story that you can only get on Kindle? I haven't read it yet and if that's the case, I suppose I never will. I don't have a Kindle :/

[lilbirdy]

I was torn between three stories and ultimately voted for "Meat Socks" for the win. The main reason was that the evil doers were a gleeful and happy-go-lucky group. If you are going to break the rules of a civilized society, I think you should have a good time with it!

[TerryE]

Is Stephen King's "N" the story that you can only get on Kindle? I haven't read it yet and if that's the case, I suppose I never will. I don't have a Kindle :/

Hey Caren, I hope you know I wasn't slamming you or the story as being derivative. "N" was not the Kindle story. I think it was original to the latest collection, Just After Sunset. It was also adapted by Marvel as a video comic on their website, before the book was released, and then adapted again by the same artist and writer to comic book form. It's kinda Lovecraftian and features a man with OCD seeing the things from beyond. The shrink doesn't believe him, but finds himself catching the OCD behaviors like a virus, moreso after the patient's suicide. And King himself, said his story was inspired by Machen's "The Great God Pan".

It's strange how some motifs just seem to latch onto the zeitgeist at the same time. Sometimes it's intentional (like the deep sea monster movies that were made to hit the theaters before James Cameron's "The Abyss") and sometimes just coincidence (like that summer there were 3 or 4 body switching comedies out at the same time). Like I said, there were several stories here that opened with a doctor not believing their patient has something paranormal happening. And they were all very different except for that little hook. And obviously no one had seen the other stories before they were submitted here.

[C.W. LaSart]

LOL-No worries Terry! I wasn't taking it that way at all! Now that you explained it-I did read "N" but had just forgotten. It was the one with all the events having to do with a clearing by the river or something, right? I get what you're saying though. When you get to reading similiar stories, it comes across as cliche. It's funny, when I sat down to write Dr. Johnson's Patient, I had intended for it to be about Sheldon, the patient. But, as often happens with my stories, it took off on it's own and decided to be more about Dr. Johnson and his patronizing attitude. Of course, we can't completely blame him, it would be hard to deal with a Sheldon. I don't know why I was so successful at picking the finalists, but maybe I have a decent view of what is marketable. Now to figure out which one of King's stories was the one only on Kindle.......

[TerryE]

It's funny, when I sat down to write Dr. Johnson's Patient, I had intended for it to be about Sheldon, the patient. But, as often happens with my stories, it took off on it's own and decided to be more about Dr. Johnson and his patronizing attitude. Of course, we can't completely blame him, it would be hard to deal with a Sheldon.

I'm glad you mention that. My only complaint with your story was Dr. Johnson's unprofessional attitude. And, silly me, I didn't get that it was the whole point.

[RJHubbard53]

btw, Ur is the King Kindle story...