Trifecta was ablaze this week with fiery depictions of everything from passion to rage, from diamonds to light on water. It was quite the spectacle to behold.
When the bombs were all burst we were left blown away by our first place winner's snappy, lyrical and humorous take on the word. Thanks, Uneven Steven, for proving me wrong about my misgivings about Ms. Katy Perry and thanks for being such a good sport about working within the Trifecta rules.
Hey paperbaggrocery storeladynever thinking bout all the plastic bagkids you left ripped and flutteringin your chain linkfencedinworld.Hey mr. card sharkenforeclosen2nd mortgagemanrememberinwhen you werea rocketmanand everybody but mr. welkwas coolwith pimp hat, rainbow star glasseseltoncoloringthat acneconstellationof uncertainty.Boom Boom Boom – that was your heart beatinMoon Moon Moon – just something to get beyondnever thinking you could outshineitand noteven one old greasy spark leftto complainabout your underfundedhopped upspace programto beBoom Boom Boom – don’t you rememberthat was your heart beatinMoon Moon Moon – just something to get beyondnever thinking you could outshineitBoom Boom Boom – listenthat's a kid's heartbeatinno rainbow glassesneededBoom Boom Boom – cover your eyesthey’re fireworksmaking their own starsBoom Boom Boom – they're
fireworks
of shooting starsout shinin theMoon Moon Moon – brighterthan any nightyou could haveevercreated
In second we have Scriptor Obscura, with her perfectly compact portrayal of freedom from two very different sides. Make sure to check out her lovely use of the prompt, if you haven't already. In third, we have the always wonderful, Linda Vernon, who shows us in her particular swingy rhythm that 45 minutes of happiness may just be enough or, at least just how much you get.
Congrats to all our writers. We can't tell you enough how much we enjoy getting to read your work week after week.
A few housekeeping issues before the weekend prompt. First off, we are now on Goodreads. We'd love to hear which books you loved, hated or can't wait to read. Friend us; we love to talk books. The other news is a bit of a teaser. We're shaking Trifecta like it's a Polaroid picture again (hey ya, it's fun) and we want to make sure that you all come on back on Monday for our latest twist on the challenge. This one was your idea; we're just following your lead.
For the weekend challenge, we're playing the ambiguity card again and leaving interpretation up to you. Give us 33-333 words with this as your inspiration:
The world will end in three days.
Good luck and happy weekend. We'll meet you back here first thing Monday morning.
I congratulate the winners this week.
ReplyDeleteI do have a question. Picking the same person to win some many times in a row is quite discouraging, I image, for more entrants than just myself. I don't do this to win, but in the last month I have felt that there is not even a chance. I have been doing another challenge that has no winners and it has inspired less fear and insecurity so I am freer with those posts. You may, and will, obviously continue to choose whatever you all like. I am just curious about how that fits in with the community building portion of your mission? I suspect you have a segment who is starting to feel futile in the sense of attempting to win, not in the sense of the exercise for it's own sake, the challenges have been tops as always.
Hi FKC,
DeleteThanks for your comment. I appreciate where you're coming from, and I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling discouraged. Please know that we value all of our writers and their voices.
The fact that a handful of people have consistently won a few challenges in a row just means, to us, that they've thrown out some incredible words lately. They're on a streak. It's happened before. When it's happened before, we asked ourselves what to do. Do we keep giving top spot to the piece that we thought was "best"? Or do we switch it up to try to keep it fair? In the end, we decided to keep awarding it to the piece that moved us most that week, figuring that the challenge isn't a random lottery. It's not meant to be fair. It's meant to be challenging. And, in the past, we've found that the streak does eventually end on its own.
There are lots and lots of un-judged writing challenges on the internet. Trifecta was actually started as a response to those. We wanted to create a place with a little bit more competition. Given that the prize we give out is an html button, we didn't think we were raising the stakes too much, but we thought maybe some friendly competition would push people to try things they've never tried before. We've heard from others that that has been the case, so we're happy about that.
Please don't feel discouraged. Please understand that the editors are just regular people who have their own biases and tastes for things. The writing that moves us may seem less inspiring to someone else. Please take that html button with a grain of salt. The real goal of Trifecta is to get people writing. Competition encourages some people and discourages others. We just wanted to be another option on the internet for people who want to get their words out.
Here's my 2 cents (not that you asked for them. But I'm generous like that.)
DeleteTrifecta has driven more traffic to my blog than any other project I'm engaged in right now to promote my writing. It and Studio 30+ are tied on Google Analytics for how people reach my blog. Jester Queen is a small blog, and the traffic from people coming over to read these challenge pieces means a tremendous amount to me. The blog traffic, the new followers, and the friends I've made count as a win for me every single week.
I agree, JQ - Trifecta has driving more traffic to my site than any other site. It's forced me to write to deadline and to a prompt. Even though I haven't won lately, I KNOW my writing is improved. A win is frosting to an already delicious cake.
DeleteI actually look at it another way. Unlike prompts that may take a more "everybody wins" kind of approach, Trifecta has stood firm on its quality standards and what makes a winning piece. My teenage son has participated in the prompts several times and he is much more motivated by the prospect of winning than I am. I keep telling him to write for the joy of writing. To write for himself alone. That writing IS winning. Getting a gold star is just a bonus. I've been blogging since 2008, but coming from purely a writer's point of view, someone who doesn't keep tabs on blog traffic or any of that stuff, Trifecta, in my mind, has been the most straight-forward, consistent, creativity and writer-driven community I've been part of so far. I don't always prompt, but when I do, I prompt with Trifecta ;-) Okay. That was just lame. LAME. Sorry.
DeleteI'm fairly competitive, and I enjoy the challenge as it is. I may not always comment, but I try to read all the entries; and I have to say that the selection of the winners seems very fair. If I don't get a spot in the winner's circle, I look at my piece compared to the winning pieces and I try to learn something about how I can better my writing. Winning doesn't teach you anything, losing does.
DeleteI know I look to Amanda's pieces for lessons on description. I look to Uneven Steven's pieces for lessons on heart (my writing can be rather cold). I look to Linda Vernon's pieces to learn how to inject humor into my stories. Perhaps it's better, for all of us, to look to our fellow Trifectans as teachers rather than competitors.
By their own admission, the editors have their own tastes and preferences, and that's fine. You can never get away from that. I think that mixing in community-judged challenges is a great way to get other perspectives on who should win the top spot. Having occasional guest judges would be another option with a similar result.
DeleteThankmyounall for your considered replies. First let me apologize for the delay in my reply, it has been a nutty few days around here. Secondly, I have been blogging since 1999 and have had a continuous web presence since 95. I am not here for traffic or some of the other things mentioned. Indeed, my blog is a very huge effort in staying anonymous. I am here to get myself writing a particular story that I have to tell. I figured even if I started doing it 33-333 words at a time, it might inspire putting the while thing on paper.
DeleteThat said, I was just asking out of curious Ty. I thinkmthe answer that best goes with what was in my head is that it is the editor's tastes that decide. I have some lovely comments each week from other participants, but at the end of the week, the editors are looking more at description and less at plot. And I get that, and in no way mean to suggest that the winners are not worthy, because they are amazing writers.
This has been extremely helpful to me. Thanks again to all.
Question - should we include "the world will end in three days" as a quotation in the piece or just riff off of it?
ReplyDeleteHoping it's a riff...hoping it's a riff...
DeleteRiff away, friends.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI like the challenge the way that it stands. If the same person wins, the same person wins. There are streaks in my own writing that rock me to my core. Then it dries up.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure enjoying my time here...glad that I found you.
I like the friendly competition here. My main reason for doing the challenges is to try new things with writing. Sure, the small competitive part of me does get a little disappointed when I don't "win", but I don't take it personally because judging is subjective.
ReplyDeleteI think my writing has improved over the last few months and I have enjoyed this community of writers - both reading their entries and reading their comments on mine.
I'm not a blogger. But I love to write. I may never be as good as some who participate on this site (and there are plenty of fabulous authors about here!), but it just makes me want to get better. ;)
ReplyDelete