Picture Story Challenge, August 2011

My buns are not floppy at all, as you will see when I moon at you from the back of a car whizzing past your front window .....

Having read 23 or so stories so far I started with the shortest and work my way upward, and I must admit as the contest goes on my marking likely gets harder but not always. I have never voted lower then a 4 as no matter whether I prefer the gender or not, which in most cases the story is not F/M which is what I prefer - in case you did not notice...LOL.

These contests are nice to win or be very close to winning, but like someone said above they introduce us to authors we may never have read before and that is the best part for me. From what I know of points I gained in one of these contests I never came close and do not expect ever to win, if we enter for the sole purpose of winning then I think we have lost the ability to just enjoy the contest.

Now this being said if you all go back and mark all the F/M stories up to a 10 I may stand a chance if I submitted a story, but I cannot remember if I did or not. Regardless, I would enjoy a F/M story winning regardless of who wrote it, so remember folks...vote all F/M stories a 10...LMAO

Sorry, I couldn't see properly - it was dark. Could you try again in the light?

Although personal preferences (M/F or, a close second, F/F) do influence my vote, I discipline myself (calm - I haven't finished) not to make that the major factor. Some stories are clearly well-written, sensitive and well-thought-out: if because of personal preferences they don't excite me, I still give maybe a 6 or a 7. I mark up stories that use the picture imaginatively and mark down stories only slightly connected to the picture or containing facts that contradict rhe picture. Stories that don't hold my interest get lower marks, and that can apply to M/F stories. For a 9 or a 10, a story must be clever, well-written, surprise me somehow and hit the right buttons for me personally. I do mark as low as 1, especially for stories that seem to have no particular originality or vividness, because otherwise there is little point in having eleven possible marks (or ten without 0). The anonymity of the marking makes that easier as I wouldn't want to offend any one. I do give marks to my own stories, but only after re-reading them, and the mark isn't necessarily a 10!

2/1 favourite Story Number 61, folks!

Barrethunter (just above) described my own voting criteria perfectly, even down to the disciplining myself part! I'll mark down a bit for poor expression, but coherence, originality and imagination, whatever the orientation, get big votes from me.

I have now read all sixty stories and given (provisional) points on a scale from 1 to 10. I don't give 0's as I use 0 as a tag to separate the stories I haven't marked yet from the rest, but otherwise I think it is fair to use the entire scale. The only exception is that last time I gave my own contribution 0 points, but I have since come to understand that such noble selflessness is not common is these parts.

Baretthunter more or less described my procedure, although I try to be even a little stricter with my own preferences. In principle, I see no reason why I shouldn't give 10 points to a clever, well-written M/M story, although they usually don't turn me on. But of course it is impossible to be totally objective — literature is to large extent about feelings.

NEVER COULD VOTE FOR MYSELF. IF 10 POINTS PUTS ME OUT OF THE RUNNING, SO BE IT. BEING AFFLICTED WITH THE "DO IT RIGHT OR NOT AT ALL", THE STORY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED IF IT WERE NOT A 10 IN MY OPINION. WORKING ON HACKING INTO FEBRUS' SOFTWARE TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD.

Hi Masdonnot
If you were a politician running for political office you would of course vote for yourself as would the other cadidates thereby effectively nullifying your vote.
Authors own votes can be nullified in two ways : either by not allowing authors to vote for their own stories -which would probably involve Februs in a lot of wiork; or more pragmatically if every author awards themselves ten points. This then means every story starts with a baseline of ten and completely nullifies any advantage authors my gain by voting for their own stories.
Its simple, logical and effective and as long as every author does it perfectly ethical.
I'm going to do it unless every author agrees not to vote for themselves!
Its the KISS method.

Jim

I was only going to give my own story a '10' because it's the best one in the contest. Oh well.

*yawns* Am glad all this talk (or moaning, conspiracy theories, discussions about who votes what for whom and why) doesn't take away ALL of the fun of a fun contest

Masonnot
Please don't shout as I have a headache and this is, after all, a library

Site Angel (with tongue firmly in cheek)