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MockingQuantum posted:I'm glad I jumped back in this week even though I'm pretty certain my entry is a load of hot poop you and me both and probably other people too! mine really could used another editorial pass oh well too late now :o shwinnebego fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Apr 1, 2024 |
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Apr 1, 2024 03:38
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I just wanna thank Thunderdome for existing, lmao. I had the genre beaten out of me in high school/college creative writing ("does this HAVE to be set in space? Does this NEED to have magic? Romances are stupid and boring, you should write something serious!" etc) until all I turned in was homogenized, "well written", incredibly boring contemporary adult fiction slop that my profs loved but everyone else seemed to hate, so I'm kicking my inner voice that says poo poo like "journal style?? why are you writing like a teenager trying to sound cool?" because it's serving nobody. Thanks. 
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Apr 21, 2024 16:13
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you can include weird stuff in literary fiction but only provided you stash it in between a bunch of unbearable stuff about tennis statistics and heroin addicts who for some reason all act like alcoholics otherwise if you wanna be really literary you just have to write about university professors having affairs with much younger students, and how emotionally difficult it is for the professor
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Apr 21, 2024 16:44
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Lieutenant Dan posted:I just wanna thank Thunderdome for existing, lmao. I had the genre beaten out of me in high school/college creative writing ("does this HAVE to be set in space? Does this NEED to have magic? Romances are stupid and boring, you should write something serious!" etc) until all I turned in was homogenized, "well written", incredibly boring contemporary adult fiction slop that my profs loved but everyone else seemed to hate, so I'm kicking my inner voice that says poo poo like "journal style?? why are you writing like a teenager trying to sound cool?" because it's serving nobody. Thanks. Very same. It's probably very obvious from the subject of my story this week. 
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Apr 22, 2024 00:41
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Just wanted to post this here so as not to clutter up the main thread. I listened to every song as they came in and wrote down what my own vibe from it was. Waited until now to post because I didn't want my own opinion to color anyone's work. Some of this is probably weird and/or oddly specific. 1: Celebrants - Nickel Creek Celebratory (of course), convivial, remembering a struggle/battle, possibly bracing for one ahead 2: Cult of Dionysus - The Orion Experience 1970s televangelists, a montage of said televangelists spending their stolen money on expensive stuff 3: Remusat - Barbara Nostalgic, black and white, a bar 4: Sourdoire Valley Song - The Mountain Goats Calm, simple, wistful. The main theme to the protagonist's peaceful little village at the beginning of an RPG (one that gets destroyed twenty minutes in). 5: Take on Me - A-Ha (live version) Remembrance, funeral, rain, tender 6: You Might Think - The Cars Silly, heartfelt, pleading 7: Hollywood Swinging - Kool & The Gang Shoes with goldfish in them, bright lights, big cars, sunshine, relaxed, stylish, big drat deal 8: King of Carrot Flowers Pt 1 - Neutral Milk Hotel Unusual, reminiscent, blase', 9: Red Rock Riviera - Sea Power A harm long past, echoes, cold, the end (but not the end wished for), things seen as if through fog 10: Knights of Cydonia - Muse The cavalry is coming, western, showdown, 11: Feel the Lightning - Dan Deacon trance, depressed computer, futuristic, young, gritty 12: My Name is Mudd - Primus Dirty, aggrieved, undead
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Apr 30, 2024 17:57
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Ok I'll end my jihad on quotation marks, can you tell I just finished reading All the Pretty Horses and Child of God?
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May 1, 2024 01:38
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I saw the prompt for week #616 (This week? Last week? Judgement just in.) I saw the prompt and wrote this. I wanted to enter but wasn't sure about my weirdo stuff. Link - https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4050923&pagenumber=16#post539635924 This is what I wrote: The Skies Words - 505 They are. That’s the end of the story. The story begins at some point. When? They don’t know. They don’t care. Did it even begin? Stupid question. They were. They were individuals. Alone. Seeking another person. Not knowing what they were seeking. Seeking something to hold onto. They grasped. Straw? Lifeboat? Reeds... They grasped at reeds. Their basket was made of straw. Their lifeboat. They grasped at reeds. Small baby hands. They grasped at reeds. They danced. They didn’t know they danced. A child. The youth. The energy. They danced. They murdered the youth. ### After the child was murdered they child danced a more a vigorous dance. The child danced a dance that set them apart. They were all apart. They all danced. Some came closer. Some danced away. Some didn’t dance. Some distanced themselves. Some died. They all felt alone. Except for one moment. The moment they danced. They died. ### They worked the fields. They worked the stars. They were one. They knew this was natural. They knew death awaited them, among the skies. So many skies. Not one sky. The skies. They worked the fields. They danced. They survived. They sat beneath the skies. ### They wondered why they were working. They explained why they were working. They didn’t understand why. They knew why. They believed. For a moment they died and lived on. They worked the fields. They didn’t die. They didn’t live on. They were. ### They worked the fields and danced. ### They laughed and cried. Some laughed, some cried. They were. They loved. The river was dry. They died. The river returned. It happened. Again. They didn’t die. They danced and loved, cried. Sat beneath the stars. They worked. They didn’t die. They didn’t care to were. They were. They didn’t know it. ### Something came to them on the river. They saw themselves, they said. They danced a mournful dance. The morning dance. The twilight dance. They danced. They danced. They didn’t know they danced. A child. The youth. The energy. They died as they danced. They celebrated. They celebrated their death. ### They saw the stars, they worked fields. They saw the stars dry up. The saw the fields dry up. The river flowed. And dried. They didn’t see the end of the story. They had thoughts, feelings, dreams. They beat them. That’s the end of the story. ### They river gave them what they needed. The river dried up. They sought out the source of the river. They found none. ### Among the stars, upon a moon, a man lay dying. Far away from them. Some, nearby, had thoughts. Some feelings. Some dreams. They beat them. That’s the end of the story. The story begins at some point. When? They don’t know. They don’t care. Did it even begin? Stupid question. That would get you a beating. They were individuals. Alone. Seeking another person. Not knowing what they were seeking. Seeking something to hold onto. They grasped. Straw? Lifeboat? Reeds... They grasped at reeds.
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May 27, 2024 21:25
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juggalo baby coffin posted:you can include weird stuff in literary fiction but only provided you stash it in between a bunch of unbearable stuff about tennis statistics and heroin addicts who for some reason all act like alcoholics is this just something everyone says to excuse their dislike for a genre they dont even read? Or have you actually read any book about a professor having an affair, because i have read literally nothing but 'literature' and classics for the past six years, perhaps 2-300 'lit' books, and I have in all that time encountered one (1) solitary book which might fit this description (Disgrace by coatzee) - i remain, as ever, very curious where this idea about 'lit' comes from.
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May 27, 2024 23:55
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i think it's because most people have an ex who made "reading infinite jest" their entire personality tbh I love litfic as a writer because it's truly a place to play around with writing mechanics. You can do that I'm genrefic too but it's a lot harder due to the fact that you often (but not always!) need to establish the rules of a secondary setting in a clear and satisfying way
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May 28, 2024 03:17
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derp posted:is this just something everyone says to excuse their dislike for a genre they dont even read? Or have you actually read any book about a professor having an affair,
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May 28, 2024 10:45
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Quick thoughts on my entry for week 616. I cycled through a few different ideas for what the watchman was like. He started off as an evil, rat-hating menace who enjoyed catching and torturing rodents. At some point this one took on a nihilist bent, as the judges seem to have noticed. It wasn't even intentional, it just kinda evolved that way, and the original ending I'd imagined where he gets some comeuppance didn't feel quite right because he became just another part of a cruel universe the rats inhabited. I was basically ready to submit when it occurred to me that, as a part of that universe, the night watchman probably doesn't enjoy what he's doing either; he just does it because it's what he does. And at that point, there felt like just a little inkling of sameness between himself and that rats. I'd planned from the start for the rats to use the dynamite on him, rather than anything non-violent like Reets suggested at the beginning of the story. For some reason I could never reconcile myself to these characters doing it out of anger but more of a muted knowledge of what the world they live in was like, and a sense that this violence was just what comes next. I told myself the next story I wrote would be full of joy. Failed at that (actually there may still be some hope for my story about a mashed potato farmer) and negotiated it down to my next thing for Thunderdome would be full of joy. Still just couldn't bring myself there but the word "joy" pops up a few times because there was an effort, even if it failed. Anyway, just posting this because I read the crit and kinda thought to myself "huh, you're right. How did this end up that way?" Which feels like exactly the point of getting someone else's eyes on something you've written.
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May 28, 2024 12:06
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derp posted:is this just something everyone says to excuse their dislike for a genre they dont even read? Or have you actually read any book about a professor having an affair, because i have read literally nothing but 'literature' and classics for the past six years, perhaps 2-300 'lit' books, and I have in all that time encountered one (1) solitary book which might fit this description (Disgrace by coatzee) - i remain, as ever, very curious where this idea about 'lit' comes from. There are dudes I work with who write books like this Also Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is a sorta trope inversion of this but also literally includes it
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May 28, 2024 16:39
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Quiet Feet posted:Quick thoughts on my entry for week 616. I liked the story, it worked great but for the 'mouse' thing at the end, same as the crit said already. Mouse and rat don't get along irl, but w/e.
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May 29, 2024 04:47
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"Stoner" comes to mind for the bedraggled adulterating professor plot. I really liked Stoner so I'm not sure what that says about me
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May 30, 2024 07:31
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