Green Room

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

so, besides the suddenly mighty twirlandswirl - who else caught your interest this week?

Comments

Honestly

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

It feels good to not have to concern myself over deadlines and such that aren't garnering me money (something I'm waiting to actually hear word on, hopefully soon).

I'm giving myself a headache over a simple "Hi, here's what's happened lately" entry. Imagine the pain of an lj idol entry.

Although I do appreciate the sentiments of Gary and also, of course of everyone who supported me in this for reals, from my old friends to the new friends made here (it would be unfair to list anyone, lest I miss someone).

Everyone keep kicking ass, I'll be here watching. I'll still be writing too, so if you care, keep an eye out!

[techempage.livejournal.com]

Good luck everyone, it was a hell of a ride.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

As I mentioned earlier, oberonia.

Interesting fact: this is the round I've voted for more than half of the entries I read !

[tryslora]

I thought spydielives's entry was a fabulous one.

Re: Honestly

[pseudonymjones.livejournal.com]

You are no longer a Contestant, you are a normal person.

Welcome back into the fold!

[twirlandswirl.livejournal.com]

/me is mighty!

I'm just as surprised as everyone else, ha! I hope I can keep it up!

[twirlandswirl.livejournal.com]

I'll miss your userpic. :(

Oh... and you, too. ;)

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

My eye was caught by a lot of very harsh, very honest and very brave people... I'm terrible at names, but I left a comment to say so so they know who they are haha

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

and obviously there were a lot of people taken with *your* entry, which was nice to see since you've been in my personal top ten for, oh, hmmm... I'd say most weeks since early on in the competition.

[gnomeangel.livejournal.com]

i'm sorry to see you go - you wrote a really strong entry.

i hope you play the home game.

Re: Honestly

[gnomeangel.livejournal.com]

*dang*

sorry to see you go.... hope you play the home game and *good luck* with the paid writing!!!

[zebrapix.livejournal.com]

And you were concerned about getting the boot.

Silly rabbit. :)

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

I'm glad about that :) I noticed I've been hanging a bit in the upper middle, but I do have a supportive FL ;)

And I'm glad about that, as - I don't know if you remember - when I put up my poll about whether or not to participate, your vote swayed me hehe

[twirlandswirl.livejournal.com]

I keep fluctuating... it's stressful!

watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[shalanna.livejournal.com]

It's got to be fun to be high-profile here, although it can work against you sometimes (viz. what happened to popfiend as the leader.)

I wonder, though, whether a good strategy is to just remain inconspicuous and near the bottom third of the crowd. It's like the lobster who's in the back of the tank at Seafood'n'EatIt, the one who just kind of swipes at the glass with one claw, as if to say, "Don't mind me . . . just cleanin' up a little 'round here . . . nothin' to see here, just the janitorial staff . . . reach for someone else." It works often enough that I think it's a good strategy. You're not up at the top attracting attention (some of which is bound to be negative, out of jealousy or just the luck o' the draw), but you're not at the very bottom every time *until they notice you*.

This strategy has worked well for me since I got out of college and joined the ranks of the Invisible People.

I thought many of the entries were good. I was expecting at least one photo essay (and we did get photos from Oberonia, but I was thinking a "my life" essay . . . I think I've seen one of those in the open topics entries.) I find myself drawn in by a distinctive voice more than by the content of a post, unless the content pushes one of my buttons (but that's because I'm weird.) Y'all probably already know this: the more emotion you reference in a post, the more people tend to respond; an intellectual or analytical entry doesn't resonate with as many voters as an entry describing some crisis you went through. The voters you DO get if you do an analytical/think-y entry are more special, though. *grin*

I would like to note that many people have friends-only journals. (Unless you've had a lot of spam or a stalker, I have trouble understanding why so many people need to limit their platforms that way. My journal is the forum that I don't have, as I can't get published by New York and seem to be cursed in the attempt, and so my journal readers are the only ones I'll ever have. I hope I never have to go friends-only. Again, my strategy of being invisible helps here, because mostly none but other writers seek me out.) This means that if I decide I'd like to read more of some journals, and even sometimes when I try to read an entry to vote on, I don't get in. I wonder whether it wouldn't be worth it to some to create a separate LJIdol journal? Then you could continue to limit access to your personal entries, yet not have to worry about access for the voting period. Just a thought.

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

just a couple thoughts, the sticking to the middle strategy is an interesting one and honestly I won't know until the end if it's a good one. Heck, I won't know then either - if it *keeps* working then it's a good one. I've noticed welfy has been holding back - not entry wise but vote wise for quite a few weeks. But then again, I've *noticed* that welfy has been holding back, so is it a good strategy? Again, I won't know until the end.

That said - there were a couple people who have been falling in the middle that when they voted in the contestant only vote I *had to look to make sure they were in the contest*. That's NOT GOOD. At this point, I should know who you are. I should have an opinion about you. It's not a good sign that there are some that I haven't formed one on yet.

As for the LJ Idol only journal - it's been done. thedemko did it for this season, and brujah did it for Season two. I think it hurt the former, but didn't seem to have much of an impact on the latter. So the usefulness game wise is up in the air.

[zebrapix.livejournal.com]

Wow. I did NOT see that coming. I feel slightly guilty now because you were always a strong competitor.

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[zebrapix.livejournal.com]

There's really no need to pull out the stops for a win because there isn't a prize at the top proportionate to the zoink of being in the bottom 2 or 3. So even this far in the game, the only motivator is to get something in that keeps you out of the bottom five.

When we get to the top 25, THEN I think you'll start seeing vote totals in the triple-digits.

[zebrapix.livejournal.com]

You usually have a strong entry and a very appealing style. Its no wonder you rank so high. I look forward to your stuff.

[zebrapix.livejournal.com]

Well, i think you caught everyone's attention. I think you'll even out, now, and stay strong if you keep producing like this week.

[zebrapix.livejournal.com]

Congrats, Gnome. That was a nail-biter.

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

fair enough, but I also think it's good to get your name out there as someone worth watching. the more "buzz" there is, the better chance you have especially if you don't have a giant friends list of potential votes.
*for me* and I'm ultimtately only one vote, it's all about the narrative - how did you get to the top 25? did you coast? did you fight?

[gnomeangel.livejournal.com]

*thanks*

i'm *really* surprised it played out this way, but i guess that's the beauty of lj idol.

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[johnmill79.livejournal.com]

I agree with the idea of this probably being my only major forum. Almost everything I write is public, unless it's something that I feel extremely uncomfortable having everyone know about. I like to fantasize about big-time writers stumbling onto my stuff, and trying to imagine who all might read it. I certainly welcome any and everybody to do so. It does surprise me that so many folks feel the need to go friends only, but I guess each person has his or her own set of priorities.

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

my own journal is friends only, I changed it after a troll. Oddly enough though the *most* personal stuff is still public and everything that has happened in my life since is friends only!
*shrug* go figure!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten that! Glad I tipped the scales and you decided to participate!

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[shalanna.livejournal.com]

(especially those knotted breads--the twisted ones--that's gotta hurt)

This week's vote was for contestants only, wasn't it? Well, I got more votes than I normally get when it's an open vote. *grin* I already know that my friendslist doesn't DO polls and memes . . . they just don't, in general, and they don't like to link over to something just to vote. So the more contestants-only votes, the better. (grin)

What the number of votes increasing means is that the game is working for me for the reasons I joined--I'm getting wider exposure, building more relationships (readers/mutual friendslist joining), and being heard. Since that was kind of the point, I'm already winning. ;)

[shannon-elaine.livejournal.com]

*mwah*

your entry this week was awesome by the way. I tried to comment but LJ was timing out left and right for some reason the other day and I gave up.

[techempage.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the compliment.

However, this is entirely my fault. I shouldn't have let myself get into the position where I would end up at sudden death.

I put very little effort into the majority of my early entries.

I didn't call on my friends list to help.

I was saving that for when I really needed it. I fell asleep at the wheel though and didn't do either of those two things until it was too late. (Not that my friends list could have helped me this week.)

Had I done either of those last week, I probably wouldn't have ended up in the death match, unless I was the one being challenged.

Such is life. Watch out for me next season though. I tend not to repeat my mistakes.

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[gnomeangel.livejournal.com]

i second that emotion. if it wasn't for this contest i wouldn't be having half the fun i am now and it's because of the people that are participating - in whatever capacity.

it's awesome.

/gush

[marjory.livejournal.com]

oberonia certainly does rock...

[marjory.livejournal.com]

So it's not just me that happens to...

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Actually *your* vote (the main event rather than the death match) was an open vote. So it wasn't just contestants. People actually came out to vote for you. Some were probably from your friends list, and others were just people who enjoyed your entry and wanted to see you stick around!

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

Thank you !!! :)

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

Well almost everyone was for, but I expected that more or less cause I have quite some former participants/watchers around ... but when I saw you took the time to pass by, I couldn't resist ;)

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad, and very likewise!

Re: watch out for the baked goods--they look cranky

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

mine is mostly friends only for similar reasons... my (at the time) 16 yr old son's 17 yr old girlfriend kept reading and commenting in a 'oh you're my bestest girlfriend' kind of way that was just a tad creepy. That and another really annoying little weasel...

Just wasn't worth the bile.

So I started locking up posts. But I've been doing less and less of that of late... thanks in part to therealljidol ... and the nut bars have been quiet, so it's been a good thing.

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Wow. Thanks.

That means a lot to me. I am not sure how I am going to manage writing this week though. My "transformation" isn't going as well as I would like.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I've released next week's topic to one person who will be out of town... so anyone else who wants it ahead of time email me at clauderainsrm@gmail.com

Keep in mind though that if you are voted out, or end up in a challenge as a result of this week's voting, any advantage of having the new topic ahead of anyone not paying attention to the Green Room will be lost!