I am nearing the end of my duties as runner of my first contest; this post will mark the completion of them. It will not mark the beginning of another because I need a break. Kudos to anyone who starts a new contest as soon as they've wrapped one up. It's a lot of work.
There was one thing about doing this that I loved enough to want to do it again - reading your entries. I marveled at the many different directions you all took, and I am so grateful you took the time to write your own interpretations of the stage I had set for you.
Writing the announcement posts take a bit of time, I'd say at least two hours each. Reading all the entries takes a lot of time as I had to read them all twice. At 5 minutes a pop average, I figure I spent a good three hours this week just reading them all and commenting on them.
But I spent the most time trying to choose the winners! This is a terrible task. I actually graded all of your entries for cleverness, the quality of the writing, originality, and that little extra something. I gave extra points for brevity because as I mentioned in my first post, I like 'em short.
All told, I'd say running this contest took me well over ten hours of work this week! So think of that the next time you tell someone they should run a contest, and give generous upvotes when they do. I know I will.
I will run this contest again, but the post will be made through @freewritehouse's community and under its auspices, so keep an eye on @freewritehouse for contest details. Better yet, join the community! The hive number is #hive-161155.
Rewards
These have been changed for a few reasons that I won't get into here.
Each non-winning entry will receive one STEEM from me.
My three top picks will receive one SBD from me.
@freewritehouse will receive 20 you-know-whats from me.
The Winners
I loved @librepensadora's very unusual take on the prompt. This involved a fabulous dream, and ended with an important question. I hope you will all go read El Sandwich.
I was likewise enchanted by @felixgarciap's very short but well crafted story of compassion that brought a natural end to the situation. That you can find in Eternity.
For the third winner I chose @phil-glaz's also compassionate story of love and sacrifice, which I have titled A Change Of Dresses.
An honorable mention goes to @agmoore, who hates to win so I didn't do that to her, but I do want you all to read her story if you haven't already, because in truth, if there were a grand prize awarded in this contest, she would have received it for No Escape.
Congratulations to all the winners and participants.
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Dear @owasco,
Thank you. All those hours!!!
I really appreciate your estimation of my story. I rushed from a science post so I could put my imagination to work. Thanks for that. Also, I'm thinking of putting together a short story (really short) compilation. Now I have another story.
You are very generous. If I haven't joined @freewritehouse yet, I will now. My writing is slow and deliberate. For me, part of the fun is editing, refining the piece so it says exactly what I want. So, I hope I fit in the community.
Thank you, for your gift of time, inspiration and Steem.
With respect,
AG
Edit: I forgot to congratulate the winners. Congratulations! I'm slowly working my way through the stories. I did read @felixgarciap's and was also impressed. A well-deserved prize.
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WeWrites are a different animal from freewrites. I took days writing mine, and I always have for the wewrites. And besides that, @freewritehouse rules loosey goosey. Many people "cheat" and we still love them up good.
It took me 20 minutes just to send out the prizes! And I'm not done because I have to wait three days to have enough to send freewritehouse's you-know-whats.
I loved your story. Have you read "The Girls"?
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I joined! The hard part now is writing. Even if I don't I can support.
Just looked up "The Girls". I can see how that relates to my story. My granddaughter is 15. I think of how much she wants to please her peers. Every now and then I see her assert independence from them, and I'm relieved. But still...worry is there. Anybody can be ensnared.
Thanks for the recommendation. And thanks for your kind words.
Keep writing, and be well.
AG
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A new an illustrious member of the freewriters! woot!
Try a freewrite sometime if you haven't. They can be an awesome rush. They can also be an incredible bomb. I think my very best five minute freewrite ever was this one and I used the most dangerous writing app to write it. I spent very little time after those five minutes polishing - it had come out nearly perfect the first time through. The prompt was "grumpy granny".
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Congratulations to the winners!
Thank you @owasco for your time, talent, and energy,
hosting and judging this contest - and I can attest to the number of hours it takes to do justice to the entries, having hosted and judged half a dozen contests of my own at Steemit. No surprise it's been a long time since the last one. :) @agmoore, it's true, we don't follow the rules here. Nobody has to post their freewrites; nobody has to publish the first draft only, the stream-of-conscious rush that comes out in the five minutes; and nobody penalizes you if you dust off the first draft, polish and expand/revise. We're here to encourage writers to WRITE, especially those who may freeze up and not write at all because it's too hard to live with ourselves on reading our sh*tty first drafts. (We do not acknowledge those who write polished gems in a mere five minutes.)
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Oh yes we do! (and I know you jest) I've written a bunch of them in my not so humble opinion! And @felt.buzz is a master at it.
One trick to knowing if stories got done in five minutes (or thereabouts) is in their lengths - my true five minute freewrites have never contained more than 200 words. And there is a lot of value in being able to write a contained story in 200 words or less. For my next wewrite contest, I might make an even lower word limit, cuz I thought quite a few of the entries could have been told in far fewer words.
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Word limits have their merits!
It's surprising how much we can cut out and still have the core of the story intact.
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Another factor in judging: how many comments does a story inspire? @librepensadora's "El Sandwich" led to a dozen commenters or more, and replies to their comments, which made this perhaps the most discussed and thought-provoking of all the entries.
And of course I love the charitable endings - everyone knows I prefer forgiveness and redemption to revenge and mayhem. :)
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Yes I agree. I hoped to read the comments to help me judge, but I just did not have that kind of time. @librepensadora's was a great story though. I really loved it and knew it was one of my top three as soon as I had finished it.
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Thank you very much for your support dear @owasco, you have certainly revived FreeWriteHouse with your contest, I already see the effort and dedication.
Grateful for the comments. Thank you very much for the prize, at the same time I congratulate the other winning participants and those who did not win this time but I know that they also put effort and time to participate.
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You are such a kind man. Thank you for your wonderful story where everything turns out in a very natural way, with goodness and love.
And thanks for keeping it so short!!!
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Thanks for all you did @owasco and for a wonderful contest and your generosity with the prizes. 💕
Congrats to the winners! Great work.
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Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, my dear friend @owasco
This is the first time I have participated in a writing contest and it seemed great. I am happy. Thank you very much for creating these kind of opportunities for those of us who are starting in this world.
Thank you all for your nice comments.
I read the proposals of all the other participants and I loved them. I congratulate all those who, like me, received the great news of obtaining an award-winning place. And, to those who did not reach the top, I encourage them to continue, because they can also achieve it.
Thank you very much and I hope you will invite me again to future challenges.
A big hug for all
Hola, Hola, Hola, Hola, Hola, mi querida amiga @owasco
Es la primera vez que participo en un concurso sobre escritura y me pareció genial. Estoy feliz. Muchas gracias por crear este tipo de oportunidades para los que estamos comenzando en este mundo.
Gracias a todos, por sus lindos comentarios.
Leí las propuestas de todos los demás participantes y me encantaron. Felicito a todos los que, como yo, recibieron la gran noticia de obtener un lugar premiado. Y, a quienes no llegaron hasta arriba, los animo a continuar, porque también lo pueden lograr.
Mil gracias y espero que me vuelvan a invitar a futuros retos.
Un gran abrazo para todos
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It was my pleasure! I loved your story. @freewritehouse gives us many opportunities to write, and you'll get many supportive friends and followers. Please join the community! #hive-161155. Every day, our leader @mariannewest provides us with a prompt to freewrite to (rules are loose - no pressure to follow them) and here is today's https://steempeak.com/hive-161155/@mariannewest/day-857-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-you-need-help
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Hi, friend @owasco I'm going to register in that community. We will see each other again
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Congratulations to the winners and the hostess. It was a successful and very enjoyable Wewrite.
Very good, @owasco!
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Wow, truly admire your dedication @owasco. Hugs! ((:
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Thanks! This was a great effort on your side! Thank you for it!
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It was my pleasure. I saw your post about continuing the contest. I support that. Will try to get back to it tomorrow.
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Sure. Your participation will be greatly appreciated. No one reads my posts. )))
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Thank you so much!!
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