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Post by TinDogPodcast on Jul 18, 2016 9:42:09 GMT
Ok.
Serious question.
My next book. Steampunk turn of the century. Altered earth thing...
Should or even "could " I write it in both first person... as say a diary type entry. AND third person non narrator voice?
Ie.
Oh dear, sweet and probably attractive reader...
AND.
The stars were a constant reminder of home for the old man...
OR
Should I just choose one and go for it?
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Post by acousticwolf on Jul 18, 2016 10:09:13 GMT
Ok. Serious question. My next book. Steampunk turn of the century. Altered earth thing... Should or even "could " I write it in both first person... as say a diary type entry. AND third person non narrator voice? Ie. Oh dear, sweet and probably attractive reader... AND. The stars were a constant reminder of home for the old man... OR Should I just choose one and go for it? We all have our own preferences, so I would say choose what feels best and go for it ... Cheers Tony
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Post by TinDogPodcast on Jul 18, 2016 10:22:27 GMT
Maybe a mix. But with a leaning towards 3rd person.
Like a Greek chorus.
Anyway...
I don't want to hyjack the tread.
Back to the moaning...
Oh it should have been me!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2016 18:30:19 GMT
Here's mine. Due to it not winning, I thought you might all want to see.
Interview With A Murderer - Synopsis
We open with Citizen Jeremy Simpson. He has a wife and three children. He works as the prime Presenter and Executive Producer of the recently launched Moon News . It currently isn’t standing out amongst the other news channels, despite being professionally funded several big names, that is until today, when the turnaround is about to occur. “The Axinus Murders” is a story that has taken the world by storm with murders occurring every twelve hours. People either irrelevant or relevant have been skinless, dead and barely identifiable, with their teeth and eyes gouged out. There is no link between them. There all in random places around New London. There’s no link between the places. Nobody can be linked to the crimes even. Until now. Citizen Doctor, as he refers to himself, has no I.D. No next of kin. No birth date. No parents. He is the prime suspect now. It’s almost certain it's him. For one, he found two of the bodies and reported them to the police. And for the latest body, he was found with it. And, since his capture, there have been no further murders. He’s a strange person, as well. Where’s a certain despicable attire of a multicoloured scarf, long brown coat and a fedora. It seems almost too good to be true. Almost. For Citizen Jeremy Simpson it just makes a good enough story and, because this will be the first interview with him, the network may well go to the forefront of the papers. He’s arrived in the studio and has had his makeup put on. He’s ready. Now just to wait for Citizen Doctor. The man arrives, barging past people telling him to put on the makeup. Jeremy is overwhelmed by his sudden and relatively eccentric appearance. He can’t think of anything to say and for the first time in his life starts to stutter after the man asks him how he is. Very suddenly, Jeremy notices the time and stares directly into the monitor waiting for the magic words. And the magic words, “Lights! Camera! Action!”, arrive and the interview begins. The first obvious questions arrive, like who are you, but when the question “why did you do it” comes up, the Doctor starts to deny it. He tells him of how he’s a time traveller from the planet Gallifrey and that he isn’t a human. Jeremy can barely keep his temper. He wants it to be serious. The man should just confess and tell him of how he enjoys the murder. Would be better if he went into detail. He’d get some serious press there, but now he was about to be made fun of by every newspaper in existence. Ignoring the Doctor’s previous comments, he asks “do you enjoy mutilating the bodies?” The Doctor replies by telling him that skinning someone is the most sickening thing that you could ever do. And says that it has never been proven that he’s the killer. Citizen Jeremy remembers that the Doctor has only been accused but, unless he comes forth with evidence that it isn’t him in two days time, he will be executed. The Doctor continues by telling Jeremy he’s a despicable man and so is his media enterprise, so Citizen Jeremy asks why he came on the show. To which the Doctor reveals that he’s come to reveal his evidence on the most apt avenue possible: the killer’s enterprise. Jeremy soon realises the Doctor is accusing him and requests evidence. The Doctor shows Jeremy’s medical records revealing that he was experimented on as a child to a point where his personality was split between a smart businessman and a violent ape. The ape side has been kept hidden and been held back by medical pills for years, but now has itself found a way to unleash it. He then reveals the ape’s fingerprints which match the murderer’s. The Doctor walks away as the Police enter the seen and arrest Jeremy. It is at the moment the Doctor has dematerialised, that Jeremy turns into the ape…
Interview With A Murderer Excerpt Nineteenth Day. Sixth Month. TwoThousandAndNinetyNinth Animo Domini Year. It would be a day to remember for Citizen Jeremy Simpson. His news channel, Moon News, which he both presented and produced. He’d had a latenight last night as usual. He’d only had one meal, though, he normally had two. This was, of course, due to the announcement of the prime suspect in “The Axinus Murders”. His wife disapproved of the fact he was barely at home these days. He had three children, two of which worked for him, the other in her final year at school. He spent most days at the office (normally up until 6 o’clock, that was), then a brief errand generally involving getting some people smashed (up until 6:45, everytime), went home for a bit (normally up until 9 o’clock), checked the office (always up until 1 in the morning) and finally got the people he wanted to please hammered in the local pub (always up until 6 in the morning). Moon News , at present, wasn’t getting as many viewers as he’d wanted, despite some big names funding it. Despite it only just launching, he was disappointed about how he wasn’t getting as much press as he wanted about it. That was all about to change tonight with his idea for a great new programme on the channel. All he’d put on it so far was a looped news report, until a new story came in and quickly edited it. Now it was about to change with the broadcast of Interview With A Murder. It was to be an interview with the prime suspect of “The Axinus Murders”. He’d come up with it overnight and had already told the press. The announcement had appeared on News websites as, on average, the third highest news story. That meant to him that he would get record viewers and also, when the interview was released, it would became the highest story. The suspect, known as Citizen Doctor, had already accepted without any Ts or Cs. That was good. The broadcast would be just what he needed to boost his channel’s viewership. The murders themselves were horrific and, perhaps, worse than the infamous Jack The Ripper’s. The story had taken the world by storm and horrified almost everyone who’d read about what it was, which was unceremoniously disturbing. It began with the victim being skinned alive. Piece by piece. It was done to a precise detail with not a single piece of flesh remaining. Then the eyes were gouged out. At the murder scene the eyes were missing, thus it was generally presumed that the eyes had been eaten. The teeth, too, had been ripped from the flesh they lay on. They were also missing, making it hard to identify the body. But they always did. Eventually. The first victim, the namesake of the murders, Axinus took one week to identify. After the bodies were identified the police discovered there was no link between the murders. They were all in different places around New England and the people had nothing in common. Most of them had never even met each other. Nobody had linked anyone to the killer, until now, making this suspect being the criminal more likely.
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Post by doctorkernow on Jul 19, 2016 19:08:25 GMT
Hi fellow Whovians, Big Finish fans who reside in the Divergent Universe. The Final Decision has been made, the die is cast... to lose is to win and he who wins shall lose. It was all part of Briggs's trap; to see who wanted their name in lights and put them ought of the way. He knew that to have to write and write and write is a privilege not something to do purely to gain fame, fortune and acclaim.
So he devised a clever stratagem. He named it after a dear friend who left the Who World far far too early. It would probably have amused Paul Spragg that Mr. Briggs and Mr Atikins would have to wade through piles and piles of mediocrity to find that one pearl of script to add to a Short Trips collect.
Umm guys... the disappointment on this thread is so upsetting you can almost reach out and touch it. I don't know how to tell you this but my hamster showed me an email he received in his cutemail account. "Dear Houdini Hamster, we are delighted to inform you that your idea "Doctor Who and the Gerbils from Mars" made us laugh out loud. Well done, we will be in touch. Enjoy your cucumber and brocolli, best wishes, Mr I ATKINS BIG FINISH.
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Post by TinDogPodcast on Jul 19, 2016 22:34:41 GMT
Congratulations Mr Hamster.
I look forward to the introduction of the sonic cheek pouches.
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Tony Jones
Chancellery Guard
Professor Chronotis
Still rockin' along!
Likes: 2,132
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Post by Tony Jones on Jul 20, 2016 5:09:35 GMT
I assume the normal Big Finish lunch will be adapted to suit Houdini's diet. I assume there will be a whole range of rodent based release to follow, including Dorian Gray, Hamster Hunter and Torchwood: The Twitching Nose?
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Post by TinDogPodcast on Jul 20, 2016 5:56:20 GMT
I do like the torchwood one.
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Post by coffeeaddict on Jul 20, 2016 11:32:26 GMT
I'm thinking he shows up in a future Benny box set and is found to be the hamster from which we get the Pakhar's.
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Jul 20, 2016 20:32:03 GMT
Well, congrats to the lucky someone out there. Hopefully, if their ST is really something special, we may yet hear more from them yet...
So moving onto to next year, and based on your experiences and thoughts with this year's contest, what are some things you'd change about the rules, prizes or other miscellany, besides being the winner or the stuff they obviously can't alter because copyright?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2016 20:55:58 GMT
I'd make it so that each person can only send in one entry, everyone taking part should put in the piece they have most confidence in.
I'd have an automatic reply so everyone will find out when they haven't won instead of having people live in hope.
I'd have two winners. One chosen by Big Finish. Then they pick the top five out of the remaining entries. Those five have the synopsis and sample chapter posted to the Big Finish site and then people vote on their favourite and that also gets recorded. But restrict voting to those who have purchased from the site before the date the poll starts. That way there can be no multi-voting and BF can be sure the second winner is being chosen by regular listeners, but they'll still have had enough input to make sure the quality control remains high.
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Tony Jones
Chancellery Guard
Professor Chronotis
Still rockin' along!
Likes: 2,132
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Post by Tony Jones on Jul 21, 2016 6:57:10 GMT
Nice idea on the vote
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Post by chrisscorkscrew on Jul 21, 2016 8:00:06 GMT
I'd make it so that each person can only send in one entry, everyone taking part should put in the piece they have most confidence in. I'd have an automatic reply so everyone will find out when they haven't won instead of having people live in hope. I'd have two winners. One chosen by Big Finish. Then they pick the top five out of the remaining entries. Those five have the synopsis and sample chapter posted to the Big Finish site and then people vote on their favourite and that also gets recorded. But restrict voting to those who have purchased from the site before the date the poll starts. That way there can be no multi-voting and BF can be sure the second winner is being chosen by regular listeners, but they'll still have had enough input to make sure the quality control remains high. I totally agree about the one entry per person as, whilst some people submit excellent and thoughtful multiple entries, it opens the way for other people to send through every single snatch of idea they have without concentrating their thoughts on one of them and could torpedo their chances through sheer enthusiasm.
I like the idea of automatic replies. I'd have them sent when the entry is submitted (to confirm receipt), and a standard e-mail for everyone in the top 100, as apart from the lucky people who got a personalised e-mail, most of us have no idea if we were even close to winning with our entry.
I'd also like to see more opportunities for the people who nearly won - the top five idea is a good one - but really I'd just like to see Big Finish accept as many for Short Trip publication as justify it. It would even benefit them as most of the prospective authors wouldn't ask for a fee - being part of the DW universe is enough!
Chriss C.
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dorney
Big Finish Creative Team
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Post by dorney on Jul 21, 2016 9:11:20 GMT
I'd make it so that each person can only send in one entry, everyone taking part should put in the piece they have most confidence in. I'd have an automatic reply so everyone will find out when they haven't won instead of having people live in hope. I'd have two winners. One chosen by Big Finish. Then they pick the top five out of the remaining entries. Those five have the synopsis and sample chapter posted to the Big Finish site and then people vote on their favourite and that also gets recorded. But restrict voting to those who have purchased from the site before the date the poll starts. That way there can be no multi-voting and BF can be sure the second winner is being chosen by regular listeners, but they'll still have had enough input to make sure the quality control remains high. I totally agree about the one entry per person as, whilst some people submit excellent and thoughtful multiple entries, it opens the way for other people to send through every single snatch of idea they have without concentrating their thoughts on one of them and could torpedo their chances through sheer enthusiasm.
I like the idea of automatic replies. I'd have them sent when the entry is submitted (to confirm receipt), and a standard e-mail for everyone in the top 100, as apart from the lucky people who got a personalised e-mail, most of us have no idea if we were even close to winning with our entry.
I'd also like to see more opportunities for the people who nearly won - the top five idea is a good one - but really I'd just like to see Big Finish accept as many for Short Trip publication as justify it. It would even benefit them as most of the prospective authors wouldn't ask for a fee - being part of the DW universe is enough!
Chriss C.
I don't think an automated reply for the rejected could work - I mean, you'd have to send out a rejection before reading the stories - and I'd say that the email to people in the top 100 appears to have been what happened this time! Speaking as someone who has to deal with rejection relatively regularly, its always best to assume you haven't got it and forget about it rather than waiting hopefully.
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Post by chrisscorkscrew on Jul 21, 2016 9:32:09 GMT
I totally agree about the one entry per person as, whilst some people submit excellent and thoughtful multiple entries, it opens the way for other people to send through every single snatch of idea they have without concentrating their thoughts on one of them and could torpedo their chances through sheer enthusiasm.
I like the idea of automatic replies. I'd have them sent when the entry is submitted (to confirm receipt), and a standard e-mail for everyone in the top 100, as apart from the lucky people who got a personalised e-mail, most of us have no idea if we were even close to winning with our entry.
I'd also like to see more opportunities for the people who nearly won - the top five idea is a good one - but really I'd just like to see Big Finish accept as many for Short Trip publication as justify it. It would even benefit them as most of the prospective authors wouldn't ask for a fee - being part of the DW universe is enough!
Chriss C.
I don't think an automated reply for the rejected could work - I mean, you'd have to send out a rejection before reading the stories - and I'd say that the email to people in the top 100 appears to have been what happened this time! Speaking as someone who has to deal with rejection relatively regularly, its always best to assume you haven't got it and forget about it rather than waiting hopefully. I know what you mean about no automated reply possible for the top 100 submissions, but if I can type around 10 e-mail addresses a minute into a BCC column, I don't see why someone at BF (Intern? Work experience person?) couldn't spend 10 minutes tapping 100 e-mail addresses into an almost-but-no-banana e-mail. It would be worth it as it encourages the best quality entrants to resubmit next year rather than lose heart.
I've also had experience of rejection with writing, and the rejection e-mail is almost always preferable to living with a demotivating and disinterested silence.
Chriss C.
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dorney
Big Finish Creative Team
Likes: 3,063
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Post by dorney on Jul 21, 2016 11:16:33 GMT
I don't think an automated reply for the rejected could work - I mean, you'd have to send out a rejection before reading the stories - and I'd say that the email to people in the top 100 appears to have been what happened this time! Speaking as someone who has to deal with rejection relatively regularly, its always best to assume you haven't got it and forget about it rather than waiting hopefully. I know what you mean about no automated reply possible for the top 100 submissions, but if I can type around 10 e-mail addresses a minute into a BCC column, I don't see why someone at BF (Intern? Work experience person?) couldn't spend 10 minutes tapping 100 e-mail addresses into an almost-but-no-banana e-mail. It would be worth it as it encourages the best quality entrants to resubmit next year rather than lose heart.
I've also had experience of rejection with writing, and the rejection e-mail is almost always preferable to living with a demotivating and disinterested silence.
Chriss C.
Yeah, but my point is that Ian's basically already done that, and a bit more personally than with a form email - some indications of what worked, what didn't and so on, which is all potentially really useful.
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Post by TinDogPodcast on Jul 21, 2016 11:35:44 GMT
Right. Do if any of us received an email from Ian.
We can think of ourselves as... runners up.
Of a sort
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Post by chrisscorkscrew on Jul 21, 2016 12:25:31 GMT
I know what you mean about no automated reply possible for the top 100 submissions, but if I can type around 10 e-mail addresses a minute into a BCC column, I don't see why someone at BF (Intern? Work experience person?) couldn't spend 10 minutes tapping 100 e-mail addresses into an almost-but-no-banana e-mail. It would be worth it as it encourages the best quality entrants to resubmit next year rather than lose heart.
I've also had experience of rejection with writing, and the rejection e-mail is almost always preferable to living with a demotivating and disinterested silence.
Chriss C.
Yeah, but my point is that Ian's basically already done that, and a bit more personally than with a form email - some indications of what worked, what didn't and so on, which is all potentially really useful. I think what Ian did was brilliant and kind, and very useful to the people he personally responded to.
What I'd just really, really like to know was whether my submission was in the top half or the bottom half of entries, and if I'm completely wasting my time to think about trying again. A standard rejection response to higher performing entries would be a good indicator of that without being too time consuming which is why I suggested it.
Chriss C.
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Post by escalus5 on Jul 21, 2016 14:14:22 GMT
I like the idea of automatic replies. I'd have them sent when the entry is submitted (to confirm receipt),
Chriss C.
This should be a given for any contest. Really, how hard is it to set up a basic automatic reply to confirm receipt? Otherwise, the contestant is left wondering if the submission ended up in a spam folder and got deleted.
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dorney
Big Finish Creative Team
Likes: 3,063
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Post by dorney on Jul 21, 2016 15:56:27 GMT
Yeah, but my point is that Ian's basically already done that, and a bit more personally than with a form email - some indications of what worked, what didn't and so on, which is all potentially really useful. I think what Ian did was brilliant and kind, and very useful to the people he personally responded to.
What I'd just really, really like to know was whether my submission was in the top half or the bottom half of entries, and if I'm completely wasting my time to think about trying again. A standard rejection response to higher performing entries would be a good indicator of that without being too time consuming which is why I suggested it.
Chriss C.
There's always got to be a cut off on these things, sadly. And beyond a certain point it's going to be really hard to tell which ones are in what half. I think in competitions like these, it's actually always useful to assume one was some way off. Know you're close, and you might push about the same, but if you assume you were far off, you need to push the next one a lot harder and further. That's served me well in the past. And no-one is ever wasting their time thinking about trying again, no matter where they came. Firstly, the more you write, the better you get. And the act of creation is an end to itself. Anyone who entered this has done something amazing.
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