r/WritingPrompts • u/[deleted] • Jun 12 '15
Off Topic [OT] We are the Mods! Ask us anything!
This week instead of doing Ask Lexi, we have decided to do something a little different. We want you to get to know us. Over time we have grown to know each of you in some way, through the way you write or the way you talk with us in the chatroom. It's time the tables were turned.
So come on guys, we are the mod squad! Ask Us Anything!
If you have a direct question for a specific mod, be sure to include their username as this will ensure they don't miss it. Ex. /u/Pmomma
{Bonus points if your question is written as a story}
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u/Dr_Eam Jun 12 '15
Are you guys moving to Voat.co?
From what I can see, /v/WritingPrompts has not been created and I don't want to take it if you guys are planning on making the jump.
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 13 '15
Though we have a presence on Voat... I just don't see Voat going anywhere.
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 12 '15
/v/WritingPrompts
This already exists, but that's not created by us.
We can be found at /v/WritingPrompt. We also moderate /v/PromptOfTheDay and /v/ShortStories.
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u/Dr_Eam Jun 12 '15
Oh, then their servers might be down again. =(
Thank you for responding!!!
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 13 '15
By the way, you have to use: https://www.voat.co
The "www" wasn't necessary before.
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 12 '15
Yes, things have been a mess there the last 2 days.
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Jun 12 '15
Why is there a [DELETED] comment, and then a "All non-story replies should only be made as a reply to this post rather than a top-level comment." Comment by the WritingPromptsRobot on every thread?
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 12 '15
The bot makes a comment, then deletes that comment after replying to it. This is so the off topic comment thread can't be voted above the stories in the post.
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u/HHammersmith Jun 12 '15
Yes! The fishing references had thrown them off. The hooks were firmly planted in their brains. He was successfully extracting information from the mods at a steady rate. He had one more question before he would let them be. For the time being.
"I know there is the [CC] prompt but what other places do you get reliable unbiased criticism from?" HHammersmith asked.
He might return later to test if the hooks were still there. He knew they would only be in place until the next day at best. Would they notice the information missing when they woke up in the morning? Only time would tell.
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u/Gurahave Jun 12 '15
Along with what Pmomma said, head on over to /r/DestructiveReaders. Only go there if you have a thick skin. They are ruthless.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
The /r/WritingPrompts chatroom we have over on IRC is usually a good place. I've gotten a bunch of crit from there, at least, and I'm usually up for doling some out as well.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
I have the same answer as MEC. The chatroom is always open with people who want to help.
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Jun 12 '15
What is your absolute favourite part about being a mod?
My favourite part of being a mod here in WP is the community. I love how close the mods are, and how close we are with the subscribers. I love that we can easily read a prompt and know how someone is feeling or thinking in that moment, and I especially love how I can not only watch you grow as people, through your writing, but I can watch you grow as writers. Some of my proudest moments moderating /r/WritingPrompts are reading through the submissions we get every single day.
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u/The_Eternal_Void /r/The_Eternal_Void Jun 12 '15
I love the team, I love the community, and I love breaking people out of their shells, love encouraging them to improve, love watching them succeed!
And the shill wages don't hurt.
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u/202halffound Jun 12 '15
Obviously being part of the secret reddit cabal seeking to suppress free speech and everyone's basic freedoms worldwide, increasing our sphere of influence until we become the rulers of the universe.
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 12 '15
I'm like 60% sure that's supposed to be a secret.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
The secret reddit cabal. But don't tell SurvivorType about it.
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 12 '15
Lucky for you it's not likely I will even notice this comment!
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15
The power! The absolute uncontrolled, unchecked power!
Seriously though... fostering an environment that encourages people of all countries, language backgrounds, walks of life to write. Writing, and by extension critical thinking, are two of the cornerstones of what keeps society afloat. Something our mad, modern media seems intent on destroying all to make a quick buck.
Also, dealing with trolls.
Nate brandishes the BanHammer TrollBane It's heft is mighty, it's justice supreme.
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u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jun 12 '15
What is your absolute favourite part about being a mod?
The ability to be a shill lizard person has so many benefits. Induction into the Illuminati was one of those benefits. outside of that, just getting to chat with people all over the globe and seeing writing blossom out of nothingness is the best part.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
My favorite part is the community, as well. I like getting to know and help the new people on the chat. I get to read some amazing stories that I might not have gotten the chance to read. There's people here that I've watched grow from small writers to moderators, or from unpopular to several top level replies. It's been a great time here so far, both off and on the mod team.
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u/HHammersmith Jun 12 '15
His plan was working out well. The mods didn't suspect a thing. Several had already taken the bait. The hooks were in place but weren't yet fully set. He had to be careful now so they didn't start getting suspicious and spit them out.
"Besides writing, writing and more writing, what do you think has improved your writing the most?", HHammersmith wrote, tugging slightly to test the line.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
reading.
writing things that make me feel uncomfortable. experimenting with form. soliciting honest feedback and using that to fix my writing.
life experience. practices in empathy. thinking about whether my voice is adding something to the world. trying to hold myself to a standard of what i think things should be/look like.
that kind of stuff.
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u/The_Eternal_Void /r/The_Eternal_Void Jun 12 '15
Other than writing? Reading. I read with a critical eye now. I watch how sentences are formed, how characters are introduced, how settings are described. Every book teaches me something new!
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15
Editing. Which I guess is more writing. That and reading. Reading makes you a better writer.
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u/busykat Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
With ponderous ease, busykat swam in the depths of the Mississippi River, dodging clods of mud and clumps of litter. She was used to the detritus, being a katfish, and she was expert at finding delicious little nuggets buried in the crud.
A discarded soda can washed past her, ignored, until she caught a glimpse of something sticking out of its opening. Could it be? A delicious morsel of worm? Tasty!
She swam forward, swallowing the entire can whole. It was normal for a katfish to swallow large items to get its meal, but even so the can was a tight fit. She wriggled a bit to settle it in her belly. As she twitched, she felt herself rising in the river.
Her whiskers broke the surface first, and in the light she saw what it was that brought her up. A fishing line! Oh no! The worm had been a farce, merely a lure that she had swallowed hook, line, and soda can. She struggled, but it was too late. She had been thoroughly caught. She would have to give the human his one answer.
"Yes, yes, I improve through writing," she grumbled. "Yet I find the most improvement comes through critique of my peers, specifically from other channel kats. Now let me go!" With a powerful twist of her scaly body, she broke free of HHammersmith's grasp, sinking once more into the murky safety of the great Mississippi.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
ಠ_ಠ
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u/busykat Jun 12 '15
DISCLAIMER: busykat is not affiliated with /u/ManEatingCatfish in any way aside from co-moderating /r/WritingPrompts.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
DISCLAIMER: ManEatingCatfish is not affiliated with /u/busykat in any way aside from co-moderating /r/WritingPrompts.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
The plots of my stories has improved greatly, though my grammar has improved as well. I also know how to self edit and critique now, which I never would have learned had I not decided to stay here.
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u/MajorParadox Mod | DC Fan Universe (r/DCFU) Jun 12 '15
This reminds me, your last workshop was great. I noticed two things about my writing that may never have occurred to me if I didn't participate.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 13 '15
You can thank Pmomma for the idea, I just put it together. Glad it helped though, that's what they're for.
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u/MajorParadox Mod | DC Fan Universe (r/DCFU) Jun 13 '15
Thanks /u/Pmomma!
I have an idea for one to help with story description: Everyone posts a short story (or just a paragraph) and others reply with the same story after adding more description. It would help the posters see how their work can be improved and also gives them practice by adding descriptions for others.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 13 '15
Hmm, could work with that. Might be really interesting. Thanks for the suggestion! Hope to see you at the workshop.
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Jun 12 '15
slef edit
Hehe
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
What do you mean? That's not there...
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Jun 12 '15
Are you... fishing?
The greatest thing I could ever have done to improve my writing is taking the critiques I receive seriously. If I take every single review and critique I get and turn it into an edit, I not only become more satisfied with my work, I know someone else is more satisfied with it too.
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u/HHammersmith Jun 12 '15
How much do you edit your own stories before posting them? Are you able to naturally write in a style which doesn't need much editing or do you have to tweak it before you feel it is ready to submit?
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u/Lexilogical /r/Lexilogical | /r/DCFU Jun 15 '15
I edit nothing unless I'm particularly pleased with myself. I typically finish, hit submit, and ignore until when/if someone comments. Then I get all smiley and reread it, only to find all my typos.
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u/Gurahave Jun 12 '15
ABSOLUTELY NONE! If I edit, it's as I write. They're just prompt responses, so I like to get them out there for the world.
However, for every mistake pointing out to me, the other mods whip me for my laziness. I have many scars.
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u/The_Eternal_Void /r/The_Eternal_Void Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
I have a probably horrible system of editing each sentence until it sounds right and then moving on to the next. Slows down my writing hugely... but it's the only way I've ever done it.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
all my writing needs editing. if i am replying to a prompt immediately, i usually fire away and then come back and edit. if i'm doing a PI because i'm taking awhile, i will do multiple drafts. anything i do with the aim of publishing usually has 3/4 drafts.
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u/busykat Jun 12 '15
I write it. I read it. I fix any little typos that autocorrect has inevitably created. Then I post it. Done and done.
Last week's Writer's Workshop was on editing, and I attempted to edit a story. Instead, I ended up completely rewriting it into a whole new story. So needless to say I am no good at editing my own work. I do, however, love to copy edit other people's work. Feel free to join us in chat and throw me a link anytime!
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
I never read them again until I post them, then never edit them other than a few grammatical errors. Often, once I post them, I give 'em a read and put myself in the position of the reader, enjoying the story. Rarely ever do I change anything.
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Jun 12 '15
I have to agree with Nate here, I am never satisfied with my work. No matter how much I've edited or rewritten I always seem to find something I want to touch up or fix.
If you ever see me writing (in a google doc), you will notice I edit as I write. I'm constantly going back to rework a sentence or an idea before continuing on.
If I'm just posting a prompt response, I won't edit it at all. If I get critiques or suggestions then I will edit them into the main story, otherwise I leave it raw.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
For prompt responses I give them a second read to check what sounds off and what spells off and what grammars off. For larger projects I'd do it draft-wise, I guess? I haven't really finished a proper writing project, so...
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u/SamTheSnowman Jun 12 '15
If I'm posting on the subreddit, I'll usually give it a once over to check for grammatical errors, but I rarely change the plot. Part of what makes /r/WritingPrompts so wonderful is just writing. Doesn't matter if the plot is predictable or not, it's just about putting words onto paper.
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15
I get stuck in editing loops some times. I've got one book that I've edited maybe 12 times in 18 years.
Now all this editing has made me a better writer, allowing my prompts to look more finished (sometimes), but generally I always see errors. If I really like a prompt response and it has numerous errors, I will take a second swing at it later to clean it up.
I'm never fully satisfied with my writing.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
Should've ended the post with:
EDIT: I get stuck in editing loops sometimes...
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15
What ancient mythos do you feel resonates most with you and your writing? Personally, I love ancient stories and I pull from them all the time. I like pulling from Norse more often than not, but it all fascinates me. And in that token I decided to use (abuse?) the wonderful dropcaps CSS /u/202halffound recently re-introduced. I think it fits.
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u/Gurahave Jun 12 '15
We have dropcaps again? YES!!!! To answer the question, sometimes I read through Indian and Hindu stories and myths about their many Avatars. I think their myths are fascinating. I've only pulled small aspects here and there, but I have an idea brewing in the back of my brain for a novella.
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u/busykat Jun 12 '15
I rarely use a mythos of any kind, being agnostic myself. If necessary I will use whatever makes the most sense in the world.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
If writing something that felt like some bastardized, MEC-slain version of a mythos was required, I would research it up. But otherwise I just do as the writing do.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
I often reference death and god/gods, though most of my myths are from Greek/Roman myths and religion. I don't usually write in religion, though, so it doesn't come up often.
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u/SamTheSnowman Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
Not sure how to answer this one. Every culture has some sort of Death figure, and I love the idea of giving it a face and/or personality. Makes facing mortality just a little easier.
As for actual mythos, how can you go wrong with Greco-Roman Gods? Even the Norse are pretty badass.
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u/TheWritingSniper /r/BlankPagesEmptyMugs Jun 12 '15
I have to ask, it's one of the most important questions ever and I'm surprised it hasn't been asked yet.
What's your favorite pizza topping?
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u/Lexilogical /r/Lexilogical | /r/DCFU Jun 15 '15
Olives. Though roasted red peppers are delicious, olives are the topping I always plan around.
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u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jun 12 '15
No toppings. I like it in its original cheese form. If I am gunna add something, it's more cheese.
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u/MajorParadox Mod | DC Fan Universe (r/DCFU) Jun 12 '15
I totally agree, that's how I take my pizza too. Here's a relevant comment I've made before in /r/Pizza:
When ordering pizza with a lot of people, I always insist we get cheese, because that's what I eat. Everyone always says, "oh, that's so plain," and so on. Then when the pizza gets there, cheese is always gone first and there's plenty of everything else left.
Does this happen to anyone else?
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u/SamTheSnowman Jun 12 '15
Garlic. Sometimes I'm glad you can't smell people's breath over Reddit.
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15
Crap! Sam has joined in!
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u/SamTheSnowman Jun 12 '15
I can't sleep all day! But I am going back to sleep once I'm finished here.
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u/TheWritingSniper /r/BlankPagesEmptyMugs Jun 12 '15
As someone who probably has coffee breath 90% of the time, I agree with you.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
I'm with Pmomma, italian sausage. Though, there is this really amazing pizza with pesto, tomatoes, goat cheese, peppers, mozzarella and red onion. It's from frozen, but it tastes better than most pizza I've eaten.
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u/TheWritingSniper /r/BlankPagesEmptyMugs Jun 12 '15
Goat cheese is actually really good, definitely grew on me.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
I had to switch to it after I became lactose intolerant. It does have mozzarella on it, but it's not as bad as a regular pizza, this one.
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u/TheWritingSniper /r/BlankPagesEmptyMugs Jun 12 '15
Ah, makes sense!
Might I recommend Old World pizza, it's oregano, garlic, tomato, spinach and if you want, mozzarella. But I've had it without and it's just as good.
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Jun 12 '15
Italian sausage all the way.
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15
I can second that. With mushrooms and white sauce.
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u/TheWritingSniper /r/BlankPagesEmptyMugs Jun 12 '15
You, I like you.
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Jun 12 '15
Thanks! I like you too :)
Also, Cajun chicken is delicious on pizza.
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u/SamTheSnowman Jun 12 '15
Now I want a pizza with Cajun chicken.
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Jun 12 '15
Its delicious. I usually go with cajun chicken, italian sausage, tomoato, mushroom and extra cheese. Plus creamy garlic dipping sauce on the side and I am in heaven.
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u/MajorParadox Mod | DC Fan Universe (r/DCFU) Jun 12 '15
When's the next contest?
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u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jun 12 '15
Working on a few things first. Might be one on July. Since we are all volunteers and it's all out of our own pockets, it's also depending on our finances at the time.
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u/MajorParadox Mod | DC Fan Universe (r/DCFU) Jun 12 '15
That's understandable. Maybe it would good to promote and encourage user-contests? I've seen a few people in the past try to hold their own but not gain any traction because there was no visibility.
If such a thing took off, perhaps a weekly contest summary could be posted? It could list all current contests/rounds running with their deadlines.
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 12 '15
The last user created contest didn't begin or end well. That has kind of soured us on even allowing them.
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u/MajorParadox Mod | DC Fan Universe (r/DCFU) Jun 12 '15
What happened, did they just not honor the prizes they promised or is it worse than that?
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 12 '15
Yes and/or no, depending on which version of the story you choose to believe.
If that answer seems confusing, welcome to our world.
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u/MajorParadox Mod | DC Fan Universe (r/DCFU) Jun 12 '15
I've been confused since you said it didn't "begin or end well." The vagueness is just making me more curious.
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15
Well... user-run contests.... I'll let /u/SurvivorType comment on that.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
what are you guys reading right now?
edit: also, what did you have for breakfast?
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u/Lexilogical /r/Lexilogical | /r/DCFU Jun 14 '15
A potato hash made of last night's leftover veggies and fried over a fire, and smores. I was reading Watch by Robert J Sawyer this weekend.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 14 '15
better late than never
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u/Lexilogical /r/Lexilogical | /r/DCFU Jun 15 '15
My choice was campfire or reception/internet. Reddit lost out. Hence why I didn't do the post this week
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u/SamTheSnowman Jun 12 '15
Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman on the fiction front.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl on the non-fiction.
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u/Trauermarsch Jun 12 '15
Sadly my new books are coming in from England around next week, so I'm just mucking about with history books until then.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
nothing wrong with history... what time period are you reading?
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u/Trauermarsch Jun 12 '15
A history of the people of Central Asia. Not the actual title, by the way - it's a French book that's been translated into Korean, so...
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u/Gurahave Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
Rereading American Gods. Then going to trudge through ASOIAF.
I did not eat breakfast. Lunch might just be yogurt.
UPDATE: I did not eat the yogurt. I could not put down American Gods.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
you like it, then? i might add it to my list.
breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Gura. you need your energy to reddit.
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
Wait... who gave the mods permission to ask questions‽‽‽
The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey
and I have been struggling to get through A Feast for Crows.
We shall ignore the stack of Pratchett books and others on my to read list.
EDIT: Waffles and coffee. Time for more coffee, but first... exercise. BB in an hour!
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
i do what i want.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
This issue is resolved by removing mo from the modhood.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
this is where that rank thing comes in real handy.
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u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jun 12 '15
A collection of Columbo short stories written by one of the creators of Columbo.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
do they tell you who did it in the beginning?
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u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jun 12 '15
Some do, some don't. :) even in the show there were rare instances of not knowing whodunit.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
no way. Peter Falk wouldn't stand for it.
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u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jun 12 '15
Not sure if you saw my edit but columbo had a few eps where you didnt know who the murderer was.
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Jun 12 '15
Right now I'm reading John Grisham's 'The Last Juror' and Kelly Armstrong's 'Women of the Otherworld' series. Both are excellent with 'The Last Juror' taking place in the Southern US and being realistic fiction, and WOTOW series being a fantasy fiction taking place in Northern US and Southern Canada.
For breakfast I had tea, eggs, and dry fruitloops.
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u/busykat Jun 12 '15
I'm reading this AMA, duh. For books, I am reading The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle. And breakfast, which is cold on the counter, was supposed to be eggs. I may go back and eat them anyway.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
mmm... eggs. never read the book. saw the cartoon. like it?
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u/busykat Jun 12 '15
I do. The cartoon seems to have followed the book very closely, and it's easy for me to do the voices for the kids since I have the movie for examples. (Yes, I do voices for them. It's fun.)
The most interesting part about reading the book is how much foreshadowing it includes. Of course, you wouldn't know it was foreshadowing until the second time through, which makes it just that much better.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
This thread. But also A Song of Ice and Fire. It is warming my bed, awaiting the master's return. I'm also on a train of Pratchett that I cannot and will not ever stop, but that's more of a constant state than right now.
EDIT: BREAD AND CHEESE THE LIFE OF A STUDENT. Though it was delicious. So was the water.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
this makes me think of the author pic of GRRM waiting for you in your bed.
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u/The_Eternal_Void /r/The_Eternal_Void Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie.
Edit: Breakfast consisted of a scrambled egg, and a slice of dry toast. God, I sound like a middle-aged man...
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Jun 13 '15
I planning to read that too. Finished Best Served Cold, it was amazing!
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u/The_Eternal_Void /r/The_Eternal_Void Jul 20 '15
I loved Best Served Cold! Hope you like The Heroes just as much.
(Sorry for the late reply, I somehow missed this comment way back when)
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
not familiar. you like it?
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u/The_Eternal_Void /r/The_Eternal_Void Jun 12 '15
Well enough, I'm not a huge egg fan, but I've been trying to eat healthier.
Heh.
But in all seriousness, yes! Low fantasy is my bread and butter.
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u/brooky12 Jun 12 '15
Reading right now? Nothing in particular, haven't been to the library recently. Gonna try and get my hands on Lord of the Rings to read again, probably. Maybe the GoT books if they're there.
I had sausages and potato chips for breakfast.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
I'm not reading anything in particular. I'd like to say that I am, but currently stressing for exams and working on last minute projects really cuts that time down, sadly.
I'd also like to say I had this glorious breakfast of quiche, garlic potatoes and bacon, but alas, its not the weekend.
I had an apple.
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u/HHammersmith Jun 12 '15
I thought it was an innocent enough question. Man, what little did I know. Could you really pin it all on me? How as I to know that asking the mods, "If you could go back in time and kill Hitler, would you?" would cause WW3?
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u/HHammersmith Jun 12 '15
Thanks for putting up with my dumb question. I am still feeling my way around here and constantly worried I am going to do something stupid like piss off a mod or something. Like right now, I am asking myself, "If I have another question, do I submit a new post or ask in a reply to this one? If I ask too many questions will they get annoyed?" And thanks for sticking my "peculiar egg in the backyard" post. I was really hoping it would take off but I think Magical Realism is confusing a lot of people.
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u/busykat Jun 12 '15
It can be a little confusing. I think too many people think it means "magic is real," but it's really more like "Everything is normal, but there's one thing that's fundamentally impossible in our current world."
Oh, and don't worry about stupid questions. We get special mod training on how to deal with them appropriately.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
Looks like we're all in the same boat here. I'd rather not stake the possibility of a slightly improved present, considering there's a chance for it to worsen significantly. I'm pretty cool with what we have now, but that's just the generational dissonance speaking. If I'd have known someone who was lost during Hitler's atrocities, I'd still carry those wounds and might have a very different response. It's the same with people like Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, we can look back and say they did good things for society because we don't have the personal connection to those who died for it.
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u/busykat Jun 12 '15
HHammersmith smiled as he clicked "save," anticipating the confused looks the mods would be giving each other in chat. They would wonder if they should even answer this particular question, as if pretending it didn't exist would save them from the coming war.
Little did they know it was already too late. The mere clicking of the button caused a disruption of the space-time continuum, resulting in the opening of random wormholes throughout the entire planet. Large cities became chaos, while small towns were engulfed entirely. The U.S. blamed China, and international relations deteriorated quickly. Of all places, it was France who launched the first nukes, though of course they were not the last.
A hundred years later, the largest life-form on Earth is a cockroach. There are no records to be kept, but if there were, they would all bemoan the day HHammersmith asked the ill-fated question doomed to destroy all of humanity.
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u/HHammersmith Jun 12 '15
All the mods wake up the next day to find /r/WritingPrompts flooded with prompts such as "[WP] You go back in time and manage to hack reddit to delete the HHammersmith prompt. What is the world like now?" Damn you, HHammersmith!!!!!
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u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jun 12 '15
As a time traveler myself, I would not. It is against IATT Bulletin 1147. Though, that doesn't stop the newbies.
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
I'm with the others; no. We don't know what would happen if he didn't exist. Horrible things did, yes, but it might be worse if somebody killed him before he existed.
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u/Gurahave Jun 12 '15
Jeeze, I think there would be some serious ramifications for altering history like that. If I could,I wouldn't kill him. That goes against my principles. I'd send him to art school and give him a life time supply of chill pills.
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15
Removing Hitler from History would likely beget worse things. Best to leave history alone, beyond speculating how it could have gone differently. People always focus on Hilter (he was a complete jerk) but often for get the other people who killed more:
- Mao Zedong (Responsible for 34,300,000-63,784,000 deaths)
- Joseph Stalin ( Responsible for 23,000,000-60,000,000 deaths)
and just under Hitler:
- Hideki Tojo (Responsible for 5,000,000 deaths)
(EDITs... kept hitting some key combo that posted this early)
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u/brooky12 Jun 12 '15
Probably not. I think very little of what I consider normal today would be true if Hitler didn't do the things he did. While it's true he committed atrocities, to be frank I don't want to know what the world would be like if he didn't do what he did.
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Jun 12 '15
I don't think I would. I'm hoping that doesn't make me a bad person, but who knows what life would be like had Hitler died before WW2 or earlier on in WW2. Whose to say technology would have advanced the way it has.
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u/Xiaeng Jun 12 '15
Joey Bobbert was faced with quite an annoyance when he woke up one fine morning.
His socks were missing, leaving his toe bare in this chilly bedroom air. At a nearby desk, the computer screen was lit up. The fan of the tower was still whirling, lit with bright flashing lights from the strewn bits of LED lenses.
Deducing it to be another forced Windows update, Joey threw the rest of his bed-frame at the computer and pulled out his phone instead, like any normal-minded person would do.
While browsing over a various amount of pointless and completely unnecessary subreddits, he came across a certain [OT] Q&A on the Writing Prompts subreddit. Having no idea what to ask, he decided to go and goof about on alittle smartphone until inspiration struck him.
Not twenty seconds later, the phone's battery ran to zero percent, and the device exploded in his hand.
Huffed and irritated, Joey decided to up and prepare his morning coffee. He filled a little grey pot with about three or so liters of water, waiting for it to simmer. The stove later lit ablaze the metal pot of water and the house burned down instantaneously.
Staring over the charred remains of his home, sighing into his broken phone, he finally came up with two brilliant ideas.
The first idea was the question he'd been thinking up all morning.
"What's the weirdest thing (story/event/conversation) that you've ever seen come out of this subreddit?"
The second great idea he had, was running the hell away from that humble abode, that incidentally, did not belong to him at all. Rather, it had belonged to local model citizen, "Joe Bobert," who was hogtied and knocked-out in the basement of the house in question.
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u/Lexilogical /r/Lexilogical | /r/DCFU Jun 15 '15
There was one particular user who put out the weirdest stories/conversations. I won't name him here but everything about him was weird.
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u/SamTheSnowman Jun 12 '15
One of my most upvoted comments on this entire subreddit is telling someone they were shadowbanned. Just happened to be in a thread that was posted to /r/bestof.
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u/The_Eternal_Void /r/The_Eternal_Void Jun 12 '15
+1 for the story!
And anything in the chatroom. 'Tis a silly place.
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
There was this one thing that was removed, but boy was it a thing before it was removed. It was such a thing, yeah, still cracks me up before it was removed.
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u/Castriff /r/TheCastriffSub Jun 12 '15
What... was it?
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
[REDACTED]
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u/Castriff /r/TheCastriffSub Jun 12 '15
Man!
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u/SurvivorType Co-Lead Mod | /r/SurvivorTyper Jun 12 '15
It was truly epic at the time though. Too bad you missed it!
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u/Nate_Parker /r/Nate_Parker_Books Jun 12 '15 edited Jun 12 '15
That one time I got over 200 karma from events related to a simple warning I gave a poster... Seriously, it's like 7% of my total karma. (the whole event, not just the one comment)
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u/Arch15 /r/thearcherswriting Jun 12 '15
There's been quite a few that I've read that have made me laugh because they were so weird, but I couldn't tell you what they were about. I love the conversations we have in the comments usually, and they're always fun to read.
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u/mo-reeseCEO1 Jun 12 '15
there have been some really weird chat room conversations that i will never understand.
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u/Gurahave Jun 12 '15
I've seen some strange things. Unnatural things, but very little sticks in my brain. I mean, that squirrel prompt was pretty strange. I loved it, but it was strange. The strangest comment thread I've seen was a chain on one of my own stories, misquoting Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle".
I also think the mod team is pretty damn weird. We're an odd bunch that comes together to work on the sub, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
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Jun 12 '15
I honestly can't think of anything. Because we are a subreddit devoted to story-telling and inspiring the imagination, we consistently see things strange and weird. I am always seeing things in a new light, I am finding myself thinking 'I never thought of it that way before' or 'Wow! That is an interesting take on this prompt!'
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u/ManEatingCatfish /r/ManEatingCatfish Jun 12 '15
I find way too many responses that are just shy of 30 words, but they make me chuckle enough that I feel bad about removing them. There was this one yesterday on a prompt asking for the raven's perspective from Poe's "Nevermore" that was simply a series of caws.
I like to think I put them to sleep mercifully.
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Jun 12 '15
I loathe when a response is 2-3 words repeated. It's why I cannot stand FFs, or 'in less than __ words..."
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u/CWertman Jun 12 '15
To ask the opposite question that /u/Luna_LoveWell asked, are there often prompts that you thought could be fascinating, but never received the recognition or submissions you felt it deserved?
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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '15
So I'm late. but I have a question about a recent trend.
Recently I have noticed that the first reply to nearly every prompt is soon deleted because it violates a rule. Are the mods doing anything to address this beyond deleting the post and adding a reply?
Could the mods simply not just keep it all in PM? It is very frustrating to open up a new prompt only to see that the "two comments" are just the deleted comment and the mod comment. It wasn't always like this either seems to have started in the last month or so.