Almost a day off...

[alexpgp]

I had every intention of putting a dent in the 10K-word PowerPoint monstrosity, but couldn't bring myself to sit down with a serious enough attitude.

More work came in, however, so I made myself busy with that. A birth certificate (primarily an exercise is deciphering penmanship), and a bunch of fairly short reports that I wanted to print, but the cartridge I bought recently has gone dry after perhaps 100 pages of not awfully intensive use, so I spent some time recharging it with a kit that has the right words on the carton, but whose plastic hardware didn't quite match the dimensions of the cartridge that needs refilling.

The first test page came out looking slightly better than the first, but if I keep printing test pages, then I'll really be out of ink!

I'm starting to have second thoughts about my choice of LJ Idol subject for the week, but there is nothing to be done. I'll be very surprised to see a strong showing when time comes to vote, but then again, it could just be the insecurity talking.

Cheers...

Comments

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

As it is my first time through LJ Idol, I'm going through a learning curve. Fortunately for me, I watched emo_snal do it last year and I learned a few things by observing him.

What I've learned from myself is that all that matters is that you not come in last. In this case, "good enough" is good enough.

After that you begin to second guess yourself. For those lessons, you really just have to squirrel them away until the next round. For example, I thought my last one was much too long to attract enough attention. So the next time I wrote, I kept it brief.

From emo_snal I also observed the necessity of being friendly to the other participants, as they are the ones who vote on your submission. I read one today that I really wanted to comment, "Euww," but I didn't because of this lesson in reciprocal complimenting. Though, frankly, I really wonder how long that particular person will last. But still, euww.

My personal rules for engagement are:
1/ Have a good hook
2/ Write well, without grammatical mistakes
3/ Have a clincher ending

If someone can't manage those basic requirements, they don't get my vote.

Unfortunately, at this point, there are sooo many entries that it is virtually impossible to really evaluate all of them.

I also decided that I wouldn't get too wrapped up in this. It seems obvious that some people do.

Good luck. It also seems obvious that returnees from last year already have their fans. And I am one of yours!

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

I saw your comment last night as I was putting my head on the pillow, and thus was able to use rack time to think about what you said.

You are correct about the nature of the competition. Last season, I realized it was an embodiment of the old story in which two acquaintances go hiking in the woods and manage to run across a particularly aggressive grizzly bear, which turns in their direction, roars, and starts running at them.

"We're screwed," said one fellow, turning to his companion, who was on one knee energetically tying his shoe. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready to run," said his companion.

"It's no use," said the fellow, "bears can easily outrun humans. We're screwed."

"I don't have to outrun the bear," said his companion, regaining his feet and turning to flee. "I just have to outrun you."

On the other hand, second-guessing is the nature of the beast, I think. I've looked back at some of the items I wrote last season and wonder: what possessed me?

For guidance, I've been using Elmore Leonard's 10 rules for writing (probably not the exact title), which is an amazingly short work (I'd be surprised to learn it was any longer than 1,000 words), but which makes its points all the more effectively for its brevity. They indirectly address your rules 1 and 3 (e.g., Elmore says, "avoid writing stuff that readers tend to skip").

In addition, whenever possible, I try very hard to keep a positive outlook (I'm not into this for the hangover, y'know?) and hew to a memoir-like format.

As it turns out, overnight, it occurred to me that the comments to my essay this week are qualitatively different from what I have experienced in the past, in that quite a number of comments have gone beyond the (wholly appreciated) format of "I like this, especially how you did X" to relate aspects of how art has affected the commenter. This is, I think, a Good Thing™.

Thanks for your comment; it got me thinking, which is always a good thing.

Cheers...