therealljidol | Nov. 5th, 2022

A few words from

There’s a couple things that I need to say before we get started:

d0gs has dropped from the competition. It’s definitely a huge blow and I hope that everything will be in a better place soon.

I’ve written out various versions of the second part a few times. Some were longer and more involved than others. But they all boiled down to the same thing - be decent to each other. We are a community. Yes. It’s a competition. And never forget that part of it. But ultimately everyone is here to share their writing and get something out of the process. Once you forget that, you’ve already lost.

One entry is going to do better than another entry. It happens. In the end, only one person is going to win. It may not be the person you are rooting for right now. If it’s not, maybe you should go back and reread their stuff. Because clearly you are missing something! Or, heck, maybe other people just have different taste than you do. That happens too. It’s OK.

I’ve noticed over the years that the closer we get to the end, the more the tension starts to ramp up and people aren’t at their best when they are under tension. Take a breath. Now take another. Are you proud of the work you’ve been doing? Good. You should be. Write it. Share it. Go to someone else’s work and give them constructive feedback. Or just let them know that they “rock” - that works too.

Share the work you love - as well as your own.

That’s how this community gets to grow, and continue doing what we do here.

This post is sponsored by “Pulp Fiction”, which taught us all that it’s important to be like Fonzie. “Be cool”

Go be Fonzie with each other.

With that drop, that means it’s only the lowest 2 votes that will receive strikes. It also gets us one person closer to the Top 5.

The poll closes Tuesday November 8th at 9pm ET. Good luck to everyone!