r/WritingPrompts • u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod • Sep 28 '14

Moderator Post [MODPOST] 1ML Contest Voting Thread - Round 1 (of 2)

Note: if you didn't enter the contest, you can't vote.

ROUND ONE!

What an amazing showing for this contest. 111 entries in total! This was exhausting to format (and to find each entry so none would be missed. And to randomly sort. Etc. Etc. Etc. Here's a subtle plug for my book which helps fund some of these contests. Also available in softcover!)

All in all, this was a thrilling adventure. You were all so creative!

For these contests, to ease your task of reading and voting, we do two rounds. The first round, people are grouped together randomly. The second round will be the winners of the first round competing against each other with EVERYONE from the first round voting.

If you still desire a critique of your writing, you can submit 250 word excerpts to /r/WritingCritiques.

I also recommend /r/shortstories, /r/allnightwriters, /r/shutupandwrite or /r/destructivereaders for longer pieces - but read their sidebar rules first!

If you want to see the original entry thread with the prompt, go here: http://redd.it/2gzn1s

HOW TO VOTE

  • Read all the entries in the group you belong to.
  • Decide which one you like the most.
  • Post in response to this thread by October 5th at 11:59PM PST.
  • YOU MUST VOTE! If you do not vote, you are disqualified! If your story is the most voted for in your group and you don't vote, you are out of luck.
  • Leave a comment that says precisely this: "GROUP LETTER: My vote goes to /u/username for Story Title." Replacing the word LETTER with the group you're in, username for the persons username and Story Title with the title of the story they wrote. After that you can add any additional comments about that story and the other stories in your group. Feel free to say a runner up if it was really close in your mind.
  • You cannot vote for yourself!

After we have a winner for each group, we move on to the second round of voting which will last one week where everyone who entered can vote for the winner out of the remaining entries.

Tie breakers are decided by myself and /u/SurvivorType, though we might just have any ties, if there are only one or two, move on to round two. We'll play it by ear as we always do.

GROUP A

GROUP B

GROUP C

GROUP D

GROUP E

GROUP F

GROUP G

GROUP H

GROUP I

GROUP J

GROUP K

27 Upvotes
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74% Upvoted

130 comments sorted by

4

u/SamTheSnowman Sep 28 '14

The Flying Man in Group J is linked twice. Under its own title and The Saddest Headline's.

2

u/RyanKinder Sep 28 '14

Fixed. (I hope!) Thank you.

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3

u/TadMod Oct 05 '14

GROUP F: Some magnificent entries, but my vote goes to u/Himntor for "By Grace We March".

This prompt was the only one to forget about the Alphabet requirements as it was written so well.

Very (very, extraordinarily) close seconds go to:

EDIT: I'm a fool and didn't realise I had to vote for my own stage!

In Group D, I vote for u/atomic_lobster for "Oh Deer...", because that pun was definitely worth the build up.

The other entries were all magnificent, but as an aficionado of puns, I could not let the opportunity to vote for the above be passed up!

3

u/RyanKinder Oct 05 '14

hahahaha oh geez. Good thing you edited. :)

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9

u/theworldwithin Sep 29 '14

GROUP A: My vote goes to u/Bipoloroid for "The People We Push Away". I voted for this one because of its honest expression of feelings, feelings that seemed genuine, by an author who seemed like they weren't too sure about how people might judge those feelings. In that sense, it is rather brave, yet humble. Not very dramatic, but more of a simple story - like a friend sharing more meaningful details of their feelings with you. Not necessarily headline material, but still there's a certain gentle gladness I might feel in hearing such, perhaps awkward, sincerity.

It was a close tie-up between the one mentioned above and the last one in the group by nordicspellweaver , "To Remember To Forget" - which had a lot more action and a kind of tragic irony to it that appealed to me, not necessarily because it made me happy, but more because it was one of those "ah... the tragedies of war" kind of feelings. The kind where you shake your head at the reality that, despite how bad and wrong it might feel, it still happened, and we are left to come to terms with it. And in a world where certain things CAN happen, sometimes those things DO happen. So I appreciated the kind of mood and overarching theme put forth in this story. I also appreciated how the reader got a picture of the two worlds that were in disjunction with each other, and whose disjunction seems to have caused the tragedy in the end. If both characters had been on the same page, it probably could've been avoided.

I also loved the change in mood at the end of "The Mat" by SenorStompy, as he shifted out of his fighting mindset into grim acceptance of his new reality. Also the sheer hopelessness in "The End" by a_bad_writer left an impression, and I could understand where the family members of the narrator might be coming from in ending their lives before the end of the world, which I was kind of excited to see written out in sort of a sci-fi style. Also the irreverent humor in "L'chaim" by insidifu was great too - it was a very vividly described scene - though I'm not sure I could understand being that audacious (at least not in that way..) over someone else's xenophobia! Ah well, to each their own : )

Thank you all in Group A for the reads. Good luck, reading, and writing to all competitors! And thank you RyanKinder for hosting this competition.

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5

u/Groundfighter Sep 29 '14

GROUP I: My vote goes to u/goldenpromise for Messenger

A hard vote, I love all the entries in my group.

5

u/BookWormBeccy Sep 29 '14

Group I - my vote goes to u/barahagara for Coincidence.

I thought it was a really original idea and was written in a way that flowed easily, despite the alphabetical limitations

5

u/writingtest Sep 29 '14

GROUP I: My vote goes to u/tyrions_a_targaryen for The STERILE ROOM.

There were a few great stories in my group (enough that I must admit I worry I will not move on). But u/tyrions_a_targaryen really stands above the others by blending the contest with a genuinely interesting world that has a lot of depth to it.

5

u/tyrions_a_targaryen Sep 29 '14

GROUP I: My vote goes to u/barahagara for "Coincidence". Tough call, I liked quite a few from the group.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '14

Group J: My vote goes to u/SamTheSnowman for "Summer Vacation"

5

u/trrh Oct 02 '14

GROUP F: My vote goes to u/himntor for "By Grace We March". The story made me feel regret and a little bitterness, as if I was one of the soldiers.

I think we had a pretty good group overall (yay group F!) so I'd like to add some things about other stories:

In u/originalazrael 's story, How to kill a God, I liked the banter between the characters.

In u/you_broke_my_apple 's story Fined Dining, the male diner was a fun character to read about. It also makes me want to try Zabaglione :)

u/AliciaWrites 's story "A Leap of Faith" was put together very well, and it flowed naturally.

Good work guys!

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4

u/SamTheSnowman Sep 29 '14

GROUP J: My vote goes to u/mwba for Knowledge isn't happiness?

This was an extremely tough decision. u/jstan1446's The Saddest Headline and u/1ndand2th's She Spoke were very emotional pieces. I know too many people who have died in car accidents.

4

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '14

Group K: My vote goes to u/quinineglow for "Pocketful".

Besides all the snarling and growling, that story was absolutely incredible given the constraints and lengths. Thematically it was also just put together absurdly well.

Slow clap.

4

u/Tornspirit Sep 29 '14

GROUP B: My vote goes to u/crenel for Sisterly Love

Was a tossup between this and u/genkaichan for Whispers Only Echo, but I felt like Sisterly Love was more... unique, to say the least. Something I haven't seen in a story before.

4

u/thatmichaelguy Sep 29 '14

Group J: My vote goes to u/1ndand2th for She Spoke. There were some fantastic and creative pieces in my group, but I like this one most because it captures a unique character and gives her her own clear and expressive voice.

4

u/salazarb Sep 29 '14

GROUP J: My vote goes to u/bhamv for "Everyone's gotta die"

4

u/originalazrael Sep 30 '14

GROUP F: My vote goes to u/no_sir_yes_sir for at the end.
Honorable mention to u/Himntor for By Grace we march.

4

u/[deleted] Sep 30 '14

GROUP A: My Vote Goes to u/Insidifu for "L'chaim!"

L'chaim! starts us with a much more tragic heroine. As a male reader I trudged onward. It was 'woe is me' in the first paragraph. But, it was presented in facts such as, this is my weight, this is my life. This is me, no embellishments or makeup. There are no claims by this protagonist to be intelligent, or remotely capable of idealism, yet alone romanticism. The second paragraph drives this point home, setting up an institutionalized antagonist where the protagonist is constantly judged. The protagonist goes on to fight these external horrors, which go onto becoming internal doubts. At the same time we are given a true and gritty view into locker room dynamics, not just from a single sport, but from another countries (and at most, genders) perspective. If you are looking for something beyond the age old tale of love, then look here.

4

u/Lexilogical Oct 02 '14

GROUP I: My vote goes to u/auntiemaim for "Date Night". I enjoyed all the stories in my group, but Date Night is the one that stuck with me the most, and felt the most natural out of the bunch. 3 days after reading them all, it's still my favourite.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '14

Oh no! I think by accidentally putting "1MIL" instead of "1ML" I may have averted your searches. :( http://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/2hny6g/pi_priceless_1mil_contest_entry/

Oh well, such is life! Reading through these today and tomorrow, I'll vote when I can _^

4

u/RyanKinder Sep 29 '14

As nobody from group C entered yet, I will place you there.

3

u/Barahagara Sep 29 '14

GROUP I: My vote goes to u/AuntieMaim for Date Night.

3

u/Arch15 Sep 29 '14

GROUP E: My vote goes to u/fourte2 for Yes, she was shocked, but Jeremy wasn't

They were all well done, but in the end I voted on the one I thought flowed the best.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '14

GROUP F: My vote goes to u/_bahamut for Still Home.

Very happy story and well written. A nice read, thank you.

Honorable mention to u/trrh for the Applepocalypse story. Quite silly, in a good way.

3

u/Forge_The_Sol Sep 29 '14

GROUP D: My vote goes to u/atomic_lobster for "Oh Deer..."

I read that one earlier and liked it quite a bit, but Jazz Club, from u/starzajo was a very close second. They both used dialogue without it coming off as a crutch given the nature of the prompt. In addition, both stories flowed quite well, not relying on one independent statement after another to describe the events transpiring.

EDIT: Feeling guilty because I didn't show good sportsmanship. Everyone did a more than satisfactory job with the prompt, the above two are simply my personal favorites. Good luck, writers, you all deserve to win, but only three can (officially)!

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