Competition: Variations on a theme 2 (Jude)

pickarooney · 04-05-2010 08:32AM

It's extremely close at this stage with a very interesting pattern emerging, which I won't go into detail about now. For info, there was a problem with Bungy Girl's vote not registering so there are five stories who each have one extra vote than is currently displaying. If it's not sorted out I'll add these by hand at the close of voting.

Oryx · 04-05-2010 12:53PM

I know I said I wouldnt, but I got to share something that popped into my head on the way to work. Youre looking for ideas, and I wondered if this might springboard someones imagination onto a plan for next month.

I thought about a reworking of nursery rhymes/fairytales. Hey diddle diddle, three pigs, little red riding hood, beauty and the beast etc. You give the story the traditional title, but do your own tale, be that a modern story or a skewed version of the original.

Not a perfect plan, but an idea that might get yall thinking.

pickarooney · 04-05-2010 01:34PM

That's not bad at all... at all.

Also Starring LeVar Burton · 04-05-2010 02:22PM

I like the sounds of that... what are the odds there'll be a lot more sex in the fairytales than ever before, should we go with that idea?

Mr E · 04-05-2010 02:34PM

That's brilliant. Lots of scope for variety.

Just looking down through the list, there is a every chance that all stories will be based on different tales.
(Don't just look at English - most famous fairy tales were German, Greek, Norwegian and others.....)

ToasterSparks · 04-05-2010 02:39PM

I like that idea! Should we maybe pick a selection of nursery rhymes/fairytales to choose from, or leave it entirely up to the writer?

If we were to go with this, I'd prefer to have nursery rhymes/fairytales that were recognisable rather than some obscure ones I'd never heard of. Otherwise I'll be off searching for the story online for ages, read that, then come back to read the entries!

Mr E · 04-05-2010 02:43PM

ToasterSparks wrote: »

I'd prefer to have nursery rhymes/fairytales that were recognisable rather than some obscure ones I'd never heard of....

Awww... I wanted to see what CaptainNegative does with Bushy Bride.

You're probably right though.

DingosAteMyBaby · 04-05-2010 02:53PM

Definitely kickstarted my imagination anyway. It's been 2 minutes and I already have a rapunzel-esque idea:)

pickarooney · 04-05-2010 03:10PM

I think this is a winner. We'll give it a few days to get more feedback and then sort out the details. We might do something to ensure everyone does a different story, e.g. P.M. the story you want to do and I'll OK it if it hasn't already been picked?

Oryx · 04-05-2010 03:34PM

I feel a little guilty for yet again being the one to suggest, but I did think it was too good an idea to waste. How about you put up a list of stories we can use, and if someone picks one, they cross it out, or put their name next it or something? Like people post on the challenge lists in a/r/t. I dont see a problem with having a story chosen more than once, but if its visible on a list youd tend to avoid it anyway if its already chosen?

Also Starring LeVar Burton · 04-05-2010 03:45PM

Mr E wrote: »

Awww... I wanted to see what CaptainNegative does with Bushy Bride.

Well I'm not all that familiar with the fairytale, apart from the Synopsis I just read, but my version would've been filthy, that's for sure... Think 'The Brady Bunch' meets 'The Aristocrats' joke meets 'Cannibal Holocaust'...

And Samuel L. Jackson would've definitely made an appearance... "I'm sick of these motherf**king snakes in this motherf**king pit!!!"

Also Starring LeVar Burton · 04-05-2010 03:50PM

Oryx wrote: »

How about you put up a list of stories we can use, and if someone picks one, they cross it out, or put their name next it or something? Like people post on the challenge lists in a/r/t. I dont see a problem with having a story chosen more than once, but if its visible on a list youd tend to avoid it anyway if its already chosen?

Only problem there would be that then we'd know who's doing what story and what I love about the competition is not knowing who's writing what...
What if over the next few days we were to compile a shortlist of fairytales and for the competition we'll have to choose from 4 or 5 fairytales to write on - at least that way there's a choice, but it won't be too broad a choice and it means we'll more than likely get a couple of versions of different fairytales, which I think would be cool... Dunno... what do people think of that idea?

pickarooney · 04-05-2010 03:51PM

Oryx wrote: »

I feel a little guilty for yet again being the one to suggest, but I did think it was too good an idea to waste. How about you put up a list of stories we can use, and if someone picks one, they cross it out, or put their name next it or something? Like people post on the challenge lists in a/r/t. I dont see a problem with having a story chosen more than once, but if its visible on a list youd tend to avoid it anyway if its already chosen?

I don't really want to mess with the anonymous format, but I could put up a list and cross them off as people claim them by PM.

Oryx · 04-05-2010 04:37PM

Doh... Never thought of the anonymity.

Sounds good pickarooney, now to think of a story....

pickarooney · 04-05-2010 04:54PM

If anyone has a link to a good list of well-known fairy tales, put it up.
I must have made up at least a thousand of these in the last year or so and can no longer tell the 'real' ones from the invented ones.
I won't accept any bids on individual stories until voting closes on this month's one though.

Mr E · 04-05-2010 05:49PM

Cinderella
The Three Little Pigs
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
The Gingerbread Man
The Emperor's New Clothes
Sleeping Beauty
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
Beauty and the Beast
Hansel and Gretel
Jack and the Beanstalk
Rumplestiltskin
Thumbelina
Rapunzel
The Frog Prince
The Little Mermaid
Tom Thumb
Puss In Boots
Three Billy Goats Gruff

Pickarooney - when the time comes, you can edit this post and grab the links.

Have I missed any?

Also Starring LeVar Burton · 04-05-2010 06:03PM

Excellent Mr E - they're the best fairytales and the well known ones...

ToasterSparks · 04-05-2010 06:07PM

They're perfect Mr.E!

---

I'm loving all the great comments on the voting page. Feel like a bit of a comment slut - hanging around the voting page all day waiting for someone to say something about my story!

Mr E · 04-05-2010 06:16PM

ToasterSparks wrote: »

I'm loving all the great comments on the voting page. Feel like a bit of a comment slut - hanging around the voting page all day waiting for someone to say someone about my story!

Subscribe to the thread instead, and you'll get an instant email when someone adds a new post to the thread.

Just above the First Post, there is a thread tools menu. Drop that down, select "Subscribe to this thread", and "Instant Notification By Email" on the screen that comes up.

You'll only get one email until you've visited the site, so don't worry about getting floods of them if the thread gets busy.

Also Starring LeVar Burton · 04-05-2010 06:25PM

ToasterSparks wrote: »

I'm loving all the great comments on the voting page. Feel like a bit of a comment slut - hanging around the voting page all day waiting for someone to say something about my story!

Its a great thread - I'd love to see more people voting and leaving feedback... Can't wait to find out who wrote what...

ToasterSparks · 04-05-2010 07:06PM

Mr E wrote: »

Subscribe to the thread instead, and you'll get an instant email when someone adds a new post to the thread.

Just above the First Post, there is a thread tools menu. Drop that down, select "Subscribe to this thread", and "Instant Notification By Email" on the screen that comes up.

You'll only get one email until you've visited the site, so don't worry about getting floods of them if the thread gets busy.

Oh yeah, I know how to do all that stuff, thanks! I'm not refreshing the page every two minutes or anything, but I'm clicking onto Creative Writing all day to see what's new. There's a few new threads popping up too, so I think the Competition was good publicity for the forum!

Also Starring LeVar Burton · 04-05-2010 07:15PM

ToasterSparks wrote: »

Oh yeah, I know how to do all that stuff, thanks! I'm not refreshing the page every two minutes or anything, but I'm clicking onto Creative Writing all day to see what's new. There's a few new threads popping up too, so I think the Competition was good publicity for the forum!

I agree... I know I've shown more interest in the forum anyway... There's some good peeps floating around the Creative Writing Forum...

angelll · 04-05-2010 07:23PM

I think ye should pick snow white for the next competition

(And it's nothing to do with the fact that we did the rewritten fairytale idea in my creative writing class and that's the one i picked

)

Antilles · 04-05-2010 09:25PM

Sounds good, I'd just be worried that the revamped fairytales thing has been done to death with Shrek, Hoodwinked, Princess & the Frog etc.

pickarooney · 04-05-2010 10:25PM

Mr E wrote: »

Just above the First Post, there is a thread tools menu. Drop that down, select "Subscribe to this thread", and "Instant Notification By Email" on the screen that comes up.

I read that as "instant gratification..." first time.

I don't know if fairytales have been done to death. It's not a completely original concept, but there's a lot of potential.

Mr E · 04-05-2010 10:32PM

Its up to the writers to elevate the story above the mundane.
After the last 2 challenges, I have little doubt that we're in for a treat.

davyjose · 05-05-2010 09:57AM

So we're giving up the original competition idea after 2 rounds?

pickarooney · 05-05-2010 10:23AM

davyjose wrote: »

So we're giving up the original competition idea after 2 rounds?

How do you mean?

davyjose · 05-05-2010 10:42AM

pickarooney wrote: »

How do you mean?

Well, the variations on a theme idea, gave us a skeleton for a story, which we could then treat however way we liked. We could vary the setting, the era, the style, the beginning, and the ending.

In rewriting another story, we're limited to that plot. It's not a terrible idea, but it's a departure from variations on a theme to variations on a plot.

I have it in my head that there are going to be 10-15 smartly presented, but ultimately similar, modern-day versions of fairytales. That doesn't excite me, I'm afraid.

It also strikes me as more of a writing exercise, than a challenging competition. I'll go with the flow on this, but I'm a small bit disappointed.

Oryx · 05-05-2010 10:57AM

davyjose, Im not used to writing challenges or exercises. and I didnt see a great deal of difference in the two types of idea. I only suggested it tho, and Im sure if we got together and threw in a few theme ideas as before and chose the one we agree on, that would work too. Its really up to pickarooney what way we do this.

Competition: Variations on a theme 2 (Jude)

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