LJ Idol Presents:

I hated "the weak force" at first, but the story I wrote for it is still one of my favorites, and

thedaysetup's Flow Chart Awesomeness is still saved in my memories.

So, there is that-- it triggered broad variety. "Twitterpated" drove sappy love stories. Some of them were awesome and not sappy, but still...

From:

I try to be helpful as much as I can be! Thanks!

From:

You are awesome that way! Truly! ♥

From:

Cool beans - I like having you there!

Shall we dance?

From:

I don't think there's been a worse topic than the zombie love story topic in Season 4 (and that came from a competitor, too).

As someone who doesn't like zombie stories, that was a very bad week.

From:

anyonesghost.livejournal.com

Well, in defense of ... well, everyone ... they all do listen to you. They may need to get their frist out of the way first, but they do listen. And because you Speak With Authority From, Yea, Atop The Mountain, folks get nervous when you mumble. ;-)

Of course, sometimes people don't listen regardless, so, meh. Keep doin' what you're doin'.

From:

Aww- Pom Pom kitty! So cute! *\o/*

From:

I don't remember where I came across it, but I was reading something where it was referenced and thought "That's a neat idea".

I read some more up on it and thought that it could be applied to people's lives in interesting ways.

From:

That was a result of someone winning a special power to "come up with the week's topic". So, thank a former fellow contestant for that one.

It happened on one of the worst days of my life - and I got home to find out *that* was the topic... and yet people loved it and it started the "Idol-Zombie" craze.

From:

Speak With Authority From, Yea, Atop The Mountain,

tww-reference
Does that mean we have to go outside and turn around three times and spit?
/tww-reference

From:

anyonesghost.livejournal.com

Which is a fantastic way to do it. :-) --except when one shows up 5 minutes late and finds that Persons A, G, and Q on their dance cards have already been taken for this dance, and then there are rules about a second dance with C, D, and Z, and ... and, well, it's all part of the game, and I wasn't going to spend my time along the far wall waiting for someone to wander by, but it was stressful even for me.

And (I like to think that) I'm fairly mellow, and easy to work with. :-)

This isn't me saying No More Intersections, mind; I had a fantastic time during them. Just contributing my POV.

From:

Yeah, I was in the minority on that, and I hated the Idol zombie phase. But what's new. :P

And I said it was a contestant. I remember who it was. :P

From:

I read some more up on it and thought that it could be applied to people's lives in interesting ways.

As it turned out, it WAS.

Except for those of us who wrote Crack. Because how could you NOT write about subatomic particles in the Quarketerium, once the idea came to you?

From:

Yep. They were in yellow. :)

From:

"What was your favorite parts of the Exhibits (A and B)?"

How long did it take for people to start naming what they *didn't like*? ;)

From:

Both of them

From:

Hey, I followed instructions in my comment.

But when other people bring stuff up, it's fair game, right?

From:

Just be careful of your toes. :)

As previously mentioned, I'm not a good partner.

From:

porn-this-way.livejournal.com

A'ight, question for you and anyone else who might be anti-twist. (And this is a legit curious question, apologies if it comes across as anything else.)

Why Idol? I mean, if a twist free zone is what you want, there are umpteen billion straight up writing competitions and writing circles and writer groups out there, but the reality TV show elements are what make Idol so unique. Most of the Idol debates we have around here, I can at least *see* the other side, even if I think it's horribly misguided and totally wrong :p But wanting to eliminate the major thing that sets Idol apart and makes it unique, I truly can't understand. Why grind crystal into glass?

From:

Because other people ~~tricked~~ sucked me into trying Idol, and I got addicted? ;)

Mainly, I took it up as a challenge to write more original fiction (like, ANY).

But I also love the Green Room aspect (Gary's daily posts are so often comic gold), the quantity and quality of feedback from other writers, AND the chance to see where so many different people take a given topic.

I haven't found any of those three things in any other writing community, let alone all three at once.

From:

People say there are other places.

But if it involves a poll - it wasn't around before Idol. If you see a writing competition/group that uses it, you can usually trace it's origin back to Idol! Which is really kind of scary. :)

From:

Valid points, quite! Of course, "showing up 5 minutes late" isn't relevant if you've pre-selected each other ahead of time, you know?

Like in Week 1, perhaps you and Player A agree to partner up for the first intersection, so when that intersection happens in Week 4, assuming that Player A hasn't yet been voted out, you're all set. Of course, in cases where Player A *has* been voted out, or had to drop due to RL getting in the way, then you're up a creek unless you've already got a back-up settled upon, but there you go. :)

I too am fairly mellow and easy to work with, AFAIK. Which isn't to say that I'm unopinionated about how a story should go, but I'm still easy to deal with and willing to compromise. :)

From:

Why would anyone settle for a second rate site, when Idol is in existence??? :D

From:

Well, first of all, the twists aren't what make Idol what it is. Idol was born on LJ, a community of journals, where people came to write about whatever was on their mind. When I came into Idol, that's also what Idol was about (NOTE WELL I AM NOT SLAMMING FICTION RIGHT NOW. DON"T ANYBODY GET CONFUSED.) It's evolved over time, and the biggest thing is it's still a community - a group of people who interact with each other - in the place where they keep their journals. It's like a club house full of writers in an online apartment complex.

It's gotten to be more about improving writing and more about fiction, and the GRs are less cozy, and there are plusses and minuses about all of those (except maybe the GR thing) but it's still Idol and I still live here and I've invested a lot of myself and my stomach acid and my tears and my blood pressure here. (Plus, don't tell Gary, but I kind of like the guy who runs the thing.)

As to the twists, I'm not completely anti-twist. I think there are some twists that go too far. I am decidedly anti-topsy-turvy. I don't think the person who gets the most votes should be eliminated because someone has that special power. Ever. That's just wrong. I'm not anti-intersection, I'm just anti having them every other freaking week, and the first or second week when no one knows anyone else and there are over 80 people is too early. And that "did I say intersection?" just felt like a lie, and there is nothing I hate more than being lied to. Plus it reminded me of the worst moment in Survivor EVER.

But twists in moderation are fun. I'd be just as happy without them (obviously, as my love for Exhibit A indicates), but there's a difference between not liking all-intersections-all-the-time and being anti-twist.

From: