55-word story, Winners announced!

[Misj']

... The event being depicted is the sale of the shoes, not whatever tragedy or other wild shoe-related adventure preceded it (because that could be any number of things that are merely alluded to, as you said). ...

To be perfectly factual, the sale is not depicted (the sale would be the moment the item was bought or money exchanged hands, not the moment it was put on sale). Even the 'putting it on sale' is not an event that is depicted (because that would be the moment the seller writes this text, or decides to write this text, or mails it to the newspaper to put in their classifieds). The only event that could be argued for is the moment the classifieds were read (with you being the reader). And even that is dubious.

Now I agree that in story-telling and literature a lot of the events can - and should - be alluded (for example: As he walked up to the house he pulled his keys from his pocket. 'Ah, it's good to be home', he thought, sitting down on his couch. Most of the events are alluded to keep the flow). However, if everything is an alluded event, then there is no event. It's just a statement (best word I would find to describe something without narrative), like 'Amsterdam's got it' or 'Happy with Honda' or 'there's an X on my keyboard'.

Or...suddenly everything becomes an event, including my 1-word (two letter) story ('No!'). Since it contains everything you say about the six-words. It's got an event (someone's talking/screaming/yelling) it has a character (words don't just appear out of nothing), it's also pretty uninteresting (unless you fill in all the blanks...which could actually turn in into quite an interesting story). It even alludes a genre (which is totally different form the genre of my three letter story: 'yes...?'). 

In the end I think we simply agree that our requirements for a group of words to be a story is different. I also think we can agree that allusion is not a bad thing (and my apologies if anyone feels that was my opinion). And I also agree with you and LostTrainDude that there is a lot of value in these six words and how they immediately make you think beyond words themselves, and create a sense of drama and even - in a way - a bit of humor. It even shows one of the strengths of the written/spoken word over any other form of story-telling.





ps. Yes, I've actually developed entire stories for both the 'No!' and the 'yes...?' based solely on each word and the way they are presented. The human brain is weird that way

[Andail]

Btw, do you guys want me to just present the three finalists, or do you want to see the full break down of the votes? Don't know if it might be a sensitive thing to some.

[WHAM]

Some stories are going to have zero votes for sure. Personally I don't think that's a problem or a matter to be insulted or offended by. Thus I vote for fully public votes. I'll be pleased to have just one vote anyway.

*crosses fingers*

[Misj']

I agree with Wham. I'm totally fine with getting zero votes and would be proud to get even just one. Plus I find it interesting to see how the stories I voted for fared.

[LostTrainDude]

I totally agree with WHAM and Misj'

[Andail]

Yeah, I can reassure everyone that nobody got zero votes except for myself, hehe. That's what I get for trying to sneak in a story in my own competition

[selmiak]

So #11 was yours!
yes to all that was said, show us the naked truth!
Will you also reveal who wrote which story or is it up to the authors or only after the finals are over?

*also crosses fingers for 2 votes as everyone (except Andail) has at least one it seems*

[Andail]

I will definitely not reveal anything - this activity was based on the premise of anonymity, so let's wait for people to reveal which story they wrote, should they feel like it.
But I can tell you that it's rather even, especially between the top three entries, so a lot can happen before it closes tomorrow

[frenzykitty]

Im very excited to see the results!

[FatCactus]

To be perfectly factual, the sale is not depicted (the sale would be the moment the item was bought or money exchanged hands, not the moment it was put on sale). Even the 'putting it on sale' is not an event that is depicted (because that would be the moment the seller writes this text, or decides to write this text, or mails it to the newspaper to put in their classifieds). The only event that could be argued for is the moment the classifieds were read (with you being the reader). And even that is dubious.

Good point. But we can say that SOMETHING is happening, right? I think that's enough to classify it as a story (which you don't seem to agree with, but that's fine). A good story ... maybe it is, maybe it isn't. So what makes a story a GOOD story? "No!" is a story, but is it a good story? Words are hard.

Anyway, I'd be interested to see the vote breakdown.

[Stupot]

I disagree that the baby shoe thing can really be called a story. After all, there is a story behind every classified advert but we're not getting the story, we're getting the chance to buy something.  Maybe this particular entry hints at some sad or poignant reason for the shoes being on sale, or maybe the seller is just reselling them because they were a gift from a family member who didn't do his research about the size of the baby's feet.

What are the basic elements a story needs?
Beginning, middle and end?
Some kind of conflict?
Some kind of character transformation?
A character at all?

Everyone has different definitions of story, and maybe one or two of the above list can be omitted and still result in a decent story, but not all of them. Or else you're just left with an advert for baby shoes.

[WHAM]

Baby shoes can be interperted as implying a lot of story.

It implies a family, thus it implies an underlying love story and a beginning.
It implies a happy occasion, pregnancy, love.
It implies that the family was preparing for the homecoming of the child, buying things like baby shoes for their little one.
Then it implies something darker, the middle of the story...
Death or injury of the child is implied by the need to sell the baby shoes before they were ever worn. Or perhaps merely an economic time of trouble has sent this poor family in a state where their survival hinges on such a simple and small thing as the money that can be gained or lost in selling something like the shoes of their loved child. This is the end of the story, and whatever comes afterwards is left for the reader to speculate.

Thus, in my view, baby shoes has a beginning, a middle and an ending. It also has a pequliar thought-provokin quality, one that elevates the reader's curiosity and makes one speculate and guess. In a way it could be described as a horror story, as it's implications are so dark and we all know that the less a horror story really tells you, the more frightening our minds make it.

EDIT: I am aware that the story can be interperted in a number of ways and the above is purely my own interpertation of the story and should only be read as such. I am not saying who's right or wrong, merely adding my two cents to the conversation about whether or not baby shoes is a story or not.

[Stupot]

Congratulations to authors 4, 6 and 12.

[edit]
Are we still being anonymous? I did reveal myself but suddenly thought that if all the non-finalists revealed themselves then it will be easier to guess who the three finalists are.
Okay, since two of the finalists have revealed themselves anyway, mine was story #5. For those interested I voted for 8, 14 and 17.

[WHAM]

Shared first place? Not bad!

EDIT: The bolded winners seem off. The shared first place I can understand, but I think story 17 should be bolded over 16, as it has one more vote.
EDIT EDIT: previous edit is full of "hurr-durr" and "ur I teh dumbz". Please disregard at will.

[Andail]

Wham, the bold entries are your own votes, hehe

This means you voted on your own entry

Anonymity is up to yourselves - I think it's always best to let authors reveal themselves instead of asking around, but do as you please.
I will start up the final round tomorrow. It will only involve the top three writers, and this time around there'll be a theme.

[frenzykitty]

Thanks for the votes everyone I'm #4

[WHAM]

Well darn, I dun goofed. I thought the poll was smartypants enough to update the bolded lines to match the top 3 and didn't notice that they matched my votes.

Spoiler

Also: I most certainly did NOT vote for myself!
As proof I present my votes for public view in order to clear my name of this most scandalous and heinous of evil accusations.

*places a monocle over left eye*



(In case you were wondering, I was story 12. )

[close]

[Andail]

Hehe, ok that's fine.
It seemed in your post that you saw the two shared top stories as bold, which would have meant you voted on your own, so thanks for the clarification!

And congrats btw

[LostTrainDude]

Congratulations everybody!

I don't know if it's a third place but... Thanks to all those who voted my entry (#17)! And also thanks to anyone who did just read it

[Baron]

*places a monocle over left eye*

Hey, that's my schtick!

Congratulations to frenzykitty and WHAM!  I voted 2, 10, 12. 

I think the most compelling aspect of the Baby Shoes story for me is the emotional roller coaster.  What did happen to the baby?  Like WHAM, I believe it was nothing good; surely there's a heart-wrenching story lurking behind the advertisement.  The story has tragedy, desperation, and more than just a little ghoulishness: you know somebody is going to respond to that ad, picking up some new shoes on the cheap by essentially grave-robbing.  Like the best stories, it kinda makes you think....