Challenge Dear Diary Challenge 2016|December discussion and mini-challenge now up

I'm relieved now!

 

Congrats to divapilot, Kahara and Ewok_Slayer! And thank you to everyone who voted and read my fic, it's an honour!

The first two entries of my 2016 offering - better late than never?

And Let the Shadows Fall Behind You

 

*re-reads first page of this thread several times before seeing it*

Um, the January mini-challenge is New starts, yes?

 

yes it is

 

I guess I've got that part covered.

 

This is just to apologise again for not reviewing everyone's diaries yet I caught up on most of the SW fics and I'm getting started on the NSWFF side now, but I'm still postponing reviews because I don't want to fall too far behind on reading. I promise I'll be reviewing asap -- these are fantastic diaries!

PS: Jedi_Lover Falcon earlybird-obi-wan Double apology because it might be a while until I get around to reading yours -- I need to read all the previous instalments first and that's going to take time.

 

Gah, freelance writing ate my soul for the latter half of January. But I put myself back on track with my diary.

 

Yo, New entry is up for Face Behind the Helmet. Enjoy! Is it possible for the title in the contents page be updated so that CheckSix is listed as an author?

 

Did someone kidnap the Sock?

Also, my story is updated!

Watching Death: The Secret Journal of Praetor Ordo

 

sorry guys been sick for over a week now. And I have church books to audit, it's been kind of busy, I'll get around to updating the index when I find some time.

 

Index has been updated

sorry about the wait. It's been a rough couple of weeks

 

Reminder When you update your fic please pm the sock. Do not post it in this thread.

Also please don't tag the sock. Tags are kept no more then three days tops and it doesn't matter if you have had the chance to check them or not. They are automatically deleted within three days of the tag.

Thank you

 

Index is updated

Let me know if I missed anything.

I chose half asleep for May's challenge. When you're half asleep and your not really thinking straight and it slowly becomes obvious to everyone else. The brain can be slow on the uptake.

Have fun

 

Hello all!

We know this is a popular challenge so we don't want it to slip through the cracks! The current host is no longer able to maintain the thread so we are looking for a volunteer to keep it up. The thread could also be hosted by more than one person if two people want to do it together.
We'd ask that you keep the same rules for this year as that is what people already expect, but you will be allowed to adjust the rules next year if there is a way you think will work better for you.

Please PM Bri and myself if you are interested.

Thanks!

Edit: Hosts have been found! Thanks!

 

Somebody needs to break the silence, so...why not me?

This was long, long, long overdue! Good luck to the new hosts, can't wait to see the positive changes, as I bet they have 'em in store.

 

Hi to everyone,

This is @Pandora and @Kahara, your new co-hosts. We're going to be maintaining the challenge and index, since, as mentioned by Mav, we've unfortunately lost Falcon as thread host here. (Thanks for keeping this thread for years up through 2016, Falcon. As participants in the challenge -- past in Kahara's case and present in Pandora's -- we appreciate your work.)

We're working to have the index back up to date as soon as possible. Things will hopefully be back up and running as usual in a little while.

Okay, now for a couple of other announcements:

1) Everyone who fell behind in their posts will get a warning PM with the usual 7 days after receiving to catch up, regardless of how long it's been since their last update. Everyone who didn't already drop out before the last update to the index has this chance, so please make the most of it if you want to get back in the game!

2) Not only will we be providing an optional Mini Challenge to incorporate into your diaries if you wish (as before), but there will also be a discussion question in the thread monthly. If anyone has something they'd like to see as a discussion question, please contact the sock or one of the thread hosts and we'll probably use it at some point.

Thanks for reading, and we'll do our best to get back to you on any questions. Please do ask if you have any.

 

Thanks for volunteering, Pandora and Kahara!

 

Ewok Poet: Thank you for being the one to break open the silence.

Jedi_Lover: You're welcome!

-----

The index has been updated, and the warning PMs have been sent out. Let us know if you spy any remaining issues.

 

I have some suggestions. Would the two of you prefer me to list them here - they are nothing private, really - for the sake of transparency, or message you? Some are purely cosmetic.

 

Ewok Poet:

We're fine with either of those ways. So basically, just go with whichever you're most comfortable with.

 

You know, the way this thread used to be, I was almost scared to post in it. Relieved now!

So, here are my suggestions:

- Hunting for typos, barely-clarified things in the introductory posts. I assume you're already doing that, but I thought I'd say it, anyway.

- That said, the rules 4, 5 and 8 could be clearer.

- Writing the dates in the YY-MM-DD format as MM-DD-YY can be confusing to our side of the pond and DD-MM-YY can be confusing to your side of the pond, when one is reading in a hurry.

I have a discussion suggestion, too; but I'll go ahead and add that to my existing convo with the sock.

 

Hi Ewok Poet.

While we've been fixing some things, if you (and/or anyone reading) notice an error in the posts please let us know. That stuff can be really easy to miss -- and really annoying if you're the one who does notice.

Sure, can you help pinpoint some of the things that are a little confusing about those rules? We can definitely look for things that are confusing to us, but not everyone sees the same stuff. Again, for anybody who sees something weird in the way the rules are written, let us know and we'll do our best.

That sounds reasonable, although we're going to put it up for consideration. So...

Anyone who really, really wants to stick with a MM-DD-YY format for dates in the index, let us know by post or PM. Otherwise, we'll go with the YY-MM-DD system. (Also, we're leaning towards going back to writing out the names of the months. It seems to be easier to skim-read that way, even if slightly more time-consuming. Anyone with opinions on that, likewise let us know.)

Okay, good to have discussion suggestions. We've got a topic for this month, but next month is a blank so far.

Thanks for writing in here.

 

The month names are even better!

As for the other thing - I am not the champion of being coherent and up to point, but I can try and explain...

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

 

September 2016 - Discussion & Mini Challenge

Hi, this is Kahara. I'll be presenting the topics for this month. Hope you enjoy these. Remember to write in if you have an idea for a future challenge or discussion that you'd like to see.

Discussion: Diary Keepers

All the main characters of these stories have something in common: they keep diaries. (Stating the obvious here, I know ) In a way, it's also something they have in common with their authors. They are writers, even if not for an audience. So, here are some questions to dig into that part of writing a character's diary.

Don't feel like you have to go point by point if you comment. There are a lot of pieces to this because I felt like it might spark more thoughts. If less is better, let me know and we'll keep it shorter next time.

Why did your character decide to keep a diary? Have they always kept one (is there embarrassing old evidence? ), or is it a new development? Is some event or problem driving their choice to journal their daily life?

How are they keeping this diary? Are they going archaic with pen and whatever one uses for paper, typing into a device, recording their voice, using video-like technology, or something else? Do they stick to words or use other media as well?

What's their writing style like? Do they go into cinematic detail, describing everything and recording full conversations? Do they prefer to go the other way and stick to summarizing the facts as briefly as possible? Just to be clear, I personally think both of these are fine ways to keep a diary. But each says something different about the character keeping the diary. What personality, professional, cultural, or other factors are influencing your character's way of recording events?

What do they choose to talk about in their diary? Is writing a way to remember, or is it also about understanding the present? Or even making decisions about the future? Are some topics easier than others or do they tend to spill all once they get started? Is there any case where they are hiding something that they don't reveal in their diary, and if so then why? Are there important things that the author and/or audience know that the character does not?

Mini Challenge: Hobbies

Show or mention something that your character does for entertainment in their spare time. Do they have an artistic side? Are they into sports? Outdoor hiking and climbing? Music? Technological gadgets and games? Knitting? Collecting things? Reading/watching/telling stories of some kind? Cheating at sabacc? (Bad Jedi, no cookie! Everyone who isn't a Jedi... okay, they're probably also not getting a cookie.)

 

Why did your character decide to keep a diary? Have they always kept one (is there embarrassing old evidence? ), or is it a new development? Is some event or problem driving their choice to journal their daily life?
Lil fled his home planet, Sacorria, for yet-to-be-disclosed reasons. He did not get to say goodbye to the love of his life, Ranni, so he records messages to her in order to feel like they're still together. He's aware that these messages will most likely never reach her, which makes the whole experience far sadder than a common diary.

How are they keeping this diary? Are they going archaic with pen and whatever one uses for paper, typing into a device, recording their voice, using video-like technology, or something else? Do they stick to words or use other media as well?
Lil is recording his voice. His device does use text input, but only for Galactic Location and time. My idea is that the GFFA does not rely on the visual aspect of things as much as we do - e.g. they would prefer original Twitter to what it is now. Our culture is annoyingly visual!

What's their writing style like? Do they go into cinematic detail, describing everything and recording full conversations? Do they prefer to go the other way and stick to summarizing the facts as briefly as possible? Just to be clear, I personally think both of these are fine ways to keep a diary. But each says something different about the character keeping the diary. What personality, professional, cultural, or other factors are influencing your character's way of recording events?
Lil's style of writing is, well, a bunch of speech patterns. It's a stream of consciousness type of a thing and moods, words used et cetera may vary from one entry to another. He's intoxicated in entries 1 and 9 and it's not pretty. In the entry 35, he appears to be meditating, in a way. The tone of his entries is influenced by where he is and whom he is hanging out with. His Drall entries are somewhat dull, his entries on Vagran are very, very vivid.

I am not a huge fan of conversations in diaries, I think conversations are for first person stories. It seems somewhat unnatural to me that a character can recall the entire dialogue like that and given that not all diary keepers are going to be talented writers or speakers, I cannot see how they would be capable of it. I see diaries with dialogues as first person stories.

Lil did have dialogue in one or two places, but in that case, he was cheating - he would write down what happened and read it into his recorder.

And diaries with dialogue often make good first person stories, by the way.

I am not sure if my stance on this would change if I was writing a diary that was not "live".

What do they choose to talk about in their diary? Is writing a way to remember, or is it also about understanding the present? Or even making decisions about the future? Are some topics easier than others or do they tend to spill all once they get started? Is there any case where they are hiding something that they don't reveal in their diary, and if so then why? Are there important things that the author and/or audience know that the character does not?
Lil talks about whatever comes to his mind. There are some passages reminiscing the past on Sacorria (usually including rants against the Sacorrian Triad), some depicting the customs of the planets he's visiting...but most of the time, he's talking about beings he meets and how he connects to them. Most recently, it's been the Caraway-Kaeni family of Anaslinea-Hoc, Vagran.

It's also worth noticing that I have three characters who accidentally recorded their reactions at the end of some of Lil's messages. One of them seems to be in possession of the recording device, one of them close to this individual and one, whom the speaker doesn't seem to like, further away.