Home › Challenges › Challenge #2: The First Tear

Challenge #2 Results

Mon, 12/01/2008 - 19:16 — Sovran
    The second Cracked Muggle challenge, "The First Tear," is now complete. The panel of judges voted in two categories: Overall Merit and Novelty.

    The Overall Merit award is based on technical skills, quality of work, and compliance to the spirit of the challenge. The winner in Overall Merit is Widows to the Soul. The author of this story is moshpit.

    The Novelty award is simply that; an award for the author's creativity and range in interpreting the prompt. The winner in Novelty is Write-Off. The author of this story is Melkior.

    Judges for this challenge were Chreechree, Jonathan Avery, and Rhetor.

    Also, MetaFic's users voted for their favorite story among the entries. The Reader's Choice award goes to Widows to the Soul by Moshpit.

    Thanks to all of the authors for entering the challenge. Thanks also to the judges for their service. And finally, thanks to all of the users who read and reviewed the challenge entries.

    Challenge #3, "A Touch of Happiness," will be announced soon. We look forward to seeing more great stories submitted for that challenge.
    ‹ Write-offupChallenge #3: A Touch of Happiness ›

    Comments

    Tue, 12/02/2008 - 04:54 — moshpit
    moshpit's picture

    So out of curiosity, who is

    So out of curiosity, who is surprised by who wrote what? Was keeping submissions "anonymous" actually useful? Or just an extra layer of effort for no tangible gain?

    Tue, 12/02/2008 - 20:05 — melkior
    melkior's picture

    I'd like to know that

    I'd like to know that myself. Maybe it'll mean more when there are more entries. Maybe this challenge?

    Tue, 12/02/2008 - 21:21 — Chatmandu
    Chatmandu's picture

    Surprised at who were the authors?

    No, actually I'm not. Would I have guessed Moshpit and Melkior before they were named? Nope, but then there are times when I actually work at not overthinking things.

    Tue, 12/02/2008 - 22:23 — Miri

    I did try to guess who might have written what,

    but I got it wrong--I thought Josh might have written one of the stories but not the one he did. LOL I didn't think that Dino had written one because of his busy schedule. But really, the fact that the authors were not obvious, at least to me, shows that it's good to stretch the writing muscles and do something different. Or, at least, not obviously any particular writer's work.

    I was interested in the "anonymous author" way of entry as they do on the Phoenix Song Challenges. And I did have an entry started for this, but I got the idea so late in the month that I simply ran out of time to finish it--I spent the last few hours before the deadline unexpectedly taking the youngest members of my family (who I don't get to see that often) out for "Trick or Treating". But I'm going to see if I can go ahead and try to finish it anyway and post it on my blog here.

    Wed, 12/03/2008 - 21:12 — Jonathan_Avery
    Jonathan_Avery's picture

    As a judge for both

    As a judge for both challenges s far, I think I prefer not knowing who the author is. Although I might have a guess at the author, not knowing who it is allows me to focus only on the story and the merits of that story. If I know who the author is there are several issues:

    1. Bias against or for that author's work
    2. I might know the author's style and thus can fill in some of the blanks of the story as I know what the author would mean. This is counter productive to judging a story on its merits
    3. Doesn't allow accusations of favoritism

    -Jonathan

    - A good novel is an indivisible sum; every scene, sequence and passage of a good novel has to involve, contribute to and advance all three of its major attributes: theme, plot, characterization.
    Ayn Rand - The Romantic Manifesto p. 74 (pb 93)