Why not have a crowner, since some of the suggestions may be partially forgotten? (Indeed, I only really remember my own and the most recent few, I think.) That way all can be seen side-by-side and voted on.
My Games & Writing
I was under the impression that the beginning and ending lines were specific to each story, not the same across each and every one of them.
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How would that even work?
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The first or the second?
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The one you were thinking about.
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Owner of Dead End
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Wouldn't that just be a normal story?
As for the beginning line and ending line...We should have the judges decide on that? I honestly forgot to think about the 'how' when I threw in this suggestion.
"And you must be Jonathan Joestar!" - Sue
What would be hilarious is if eventually one of our stories gets well-known and people try to search for it by typing in the first sentence, and then they get like twenty different stories.
That made me giggle. It would indeed be funny.
Re: crowner: While usually that wouldn't be a bad idea, crowners are currently non-functional because of the anti-DDoS measures, so that won't work. Someone could look back through the thread and summarize the suggestions in a post, though.
Re: Choosing first and last lines: I can't actually participate in this contest (due to lack of time), but I wouldn't be opposed to coming up with line suggestions which y'all could choose from. I have a large file of saved lines from the NaNoWriMo adoption threads which I could draw from. Or we could have everyone make suggestions and decide by consensus, or let whoever organizes the contest choose, or let the judges co-write them (although I'm not entirely sure how that would work).
edited 29th Mar '13 12:35:40 PM by Nocturna
I think Leradny means that each individual story would have the same starting and ending lines. So if it started with 'It was a dark and stormy night.', then it would have to end with 'It was a dark and stormy night.'
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
I thought that was we were agreeing to all along. Basically, Book Ends.
I got 99 problems and sleep deprivation is 30 of
I love Book Ends. Vashi approves. :)
So...yeah.
Oh. I thought everyone got the same two phrases.
Complicated - because simple is simply too simple.
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I thought everyone got the same two sentences as well, rather than every individual using a single sentence to start and end the story.
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Dapper Gentleman
It seems there was a bit of ambiguity in the phrasing, yes. I also read it as, "Everyone gets the same two sentences to work with; one introductory and one closing; thus, every story starts with the same line and ends with the same line."
I do like that version of the idea. As for how to choose the sentences, we could do it the same way we picked the four objects for the last contest—have every entrant submit one, then choose two from those options.
edited 29th Mar '13 2:57:02 PM by BrotherMycroft
"And every life is a special story of its own." —The Stargazer, Mass Effect 3
Why not both? Everyone has to use the same single sentence at both the beginning and end of their story.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
Welcome, traveller, welcome to Omsk
I think two different lines is better than having the same opening and finishing line.
It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird
But that would make things easier.
Dapper Gentleman
Really? I don't think so, with all due respect. Authors begin and end with the same sentences for plenty of reasons—Arc Words, Ironic Echo, Book Ends, and various combinations thereof—but trying to create a truly original and outstanding story with predetermined lines in it is quite a challenge. This does depend, of course, on the lines that are chosen, but I can't imagine it being any easier than it was to work a Game Boy into my story.
edited 29th Mar '13 5:38:45 PM by BrotherMycroft
"And every life is a special story of its own." —The Stargazer, Mass Effect 3
I should have potholed to sarcasm mode.
" Everyone gets the same two sentences to work with; one introductory and one closing; thus, every story starts with the same line and ends with the same line "
I really like this idea! (Honestly it's what I thought everyone was talking about)
I thought of a title for the contest if this is what we go with: It's About the Journey Because we all start in the same place (sentence) and end in the same place but we take different paths to get there.
edited 29th Mar '13 6:01:42 PM by HistoryMaker
Narg. :/
All right, then, what would be generally preferred by others here: should I comb through the thread and make a list, or are enough people sufficiently settled on one of the two versions of the current suggestion to go with that? I don't mind going through the thread, but I'll warn that it may take a little time, and it might be worth someone checking that I don't miss anything.
I think by acclamation the last and most frequently discussed idea about the sentences has carried the day.
Dapper Gentleman
(Wanders into the thread and pokes at it tentatively with a stick)...Well, then. Shall we proceed?
"And every life is a special story of its own." —The Stargazer, Mass Effect 3
Who picks the sentences?
Well, in addition to that prompt, we will need to find someone who can come up with the beginning and ending lines.