Green Room - Week 43 - Day 4

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

The final entries of the season are due tonight: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/849591.html

Which means we will soon to focusing on the final vote.

Before we get there though - what was your favorite part of the season? Who are you glad to have the chance to meet/interact with that you wouldn't have if it wasn't for being a part of Idol?

Comments

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

Who are you glad to have the chance to meet/interact with that you wouldn't have if it wasn't for being a part of Idol?

You, Gary.

;P

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

:)

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

I feel like I was a lot more connected to Idol this go-around. I met and friended a lot of really neat people, and I've enjoyed reading everyone...it's been a much better experience, overall, than Season 8 was for me, just because I felt more involved. Special shoutouts to icaruslived and fodschwazzle, both of whom definitely influenced my writing this past year. :)

My favorite point in terms of my writing was the first few weeks—most of my favorites out of what I did came from then. As far as the overall competition? I loved reading the intersections, and seeing how people worked together.

I was definitely ready for my run to be over when it was, and I think that's part of what's helped me stay positive. This season has been suuuuuuper long, but that worked well for me, and I was happy to make it as far and do as much as I did. I'm still amazed I didn't have to drop! :D

[fodschwazzle.livejournal.com]

You've definitely influenced me as well. Aspects of your writing are still technically mystifying to me--how a narrative can grab hold of the audience's emotions every time even while genre skipping, most of all.

Inspirational comments certainly helped as well.

[swirlsofblue.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed meeting and talking to theun4givables and n3m3sis43

It was awesome getting to do the intersection with bleodswean and I got a lot out of the experience.

There are too many things to list, lots of little things that make up the community. Just knowing that at the end of a long day there'll be a green room to read or comment or discuss things, is lovely.

Having the opportunity to write such variety and rise up to the challenges. Original fiction itself is out of my comfort zone and that I got to really explore and figure myself out as a writer.

Having the opportunity to read such amazing pieces.

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks. <3

We really do come as a set, don't we? lol

Getting to explore is the best part of Idol, tbh. I played with a lot of things/styles/pieces I wouldn't have normally done -- including a lot of nonfiction. :)

[swirlsofblue.livejournal.com]

<3

Lol yes ;).

IKR, especially when said exploration makes you go to crazy places.

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

Collect all... two! xD

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

Awww. *blushes*

I'm really glad we met, too. You're one of my very favorite new Idol friends from this season. Hopefully I will manage to pay better attention to LJ than I have been so we can continue to get to know each other. xD

Idol is what taught me how to do original fiction (or fiction at all, really) as well. Up until season 8 I'd never really written any.

[swirlsofblue.livejournal.com]

Aww, now I'm blushing too! Thank you :). Yay!

ETA: I think you probably pay way more attention to LJ than I do. I hardly ever even post things that aren't fiction. Though I might try to change that.

Wow, you've become so awesome at writing so quickly!

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

I don't tend to feel awesome at writing, but I'm going to try the thing called accepting a compliment and say thank you. <3

Becoming friends with other people who write has taught me a lot, including the fact that many people who write really good stuff are just as neurotic about their writing as I am.

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

I think my favorite point was the Gatekeeper round. It was a different sort of interaction than something I'd done before. Or, alternately, being roped into proper judging duty for the first Quick-Fire, for the other side of the coin. There's a more active writing dialectic during those weeks.

Oddly, I was thinking this morning that I hadn't availed myself of Idol enough ... that I hadn't interacted with anyone (or maybe enough) people. Probably more for a lack of intersections and my usual sort of "commentator's guilt" than anything else. ;-) Since there are a lot folks I've met this season who I've enjoyed reading and with whom I've enjoyed conversing. Won't single it out to any one person -- chances are, if you're not sure, you're on the list.

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

You hadn't been through a gatekeeper round before? Lucky you. ;P

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

It is, admittedly, a charmed life I lead. But I'd been wondering about it since ... what, Season 3? So it was sort of an Idol Bucket-list item.

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

Well then! You can safely cross it off your list. :)

They're sort of interesting. It's odd to see who makes it versus who doesn't—sometimes, people whose writing you will have enjoyed throughout the competition won't make it through, for whatever reason.

And...there's a feeling of pride in being one of the ones to make it through. Like, wow, people who are doing this for a living like my piece enough to push me through.

It's a nice boost. :)

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I can relate to that "pride" bit - but for me it's "people who are doing this for a living like what I'm doing/like ME enough to take the time to do this, because I asked". :)

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

I run into that a lot with the startup stuff.

It's always always always an awesome feeling. :)

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

Yep, crossed it off moments after the results were announced. Actually, I think the only item left on said list is Hell Week. (It's a strange list, and I'm pretty sure I'm unique for the order in which they've been crossed off.)

And it's true, they bring a much different perspective than the general voting crowd or the contestants-only votes. In a way, I think I trust them a bit more, because they have the appearance of being a bit more impartial. And, of course, their expertise lends a certain credence to their opinions, which doesn't hurt. :-)

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

...Hell Week. I see. Unique, definitely. ;P

In theory they should be totally impartial, yup, and I'd say that they are. :)

And...yeah. Better opinions &etc! Closest I can get to asking a professional editor whether or not I suck, at this point. ;P

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't think they are "impartial".

They all have biases, the same way that everyone else does.


But I do my best to balance those out by who I select.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Just felt the need to point that out. Because I know there is often the "myth of impartiality" when it comes to writing panels. When in reality it's less "they are impartial" and more of "you don't happen to know what biases they have". :)

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

True!

I guess I like thinking more that they don't know me as a writer—so they might be disinclined to like what I write because they don't like the genre or whatnot, but not because they dislike me. :)

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

I'm a little mad there wasn't a Hell Week this season. Final full season and no Hell Week? Really?!!! Think of the poor newbies who were deprived of that breakdown-inducing wonderful experience!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I re-upped on my contract to another full season. So they have another chance.

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

Wait, what? Is there an estimated timeframe for this season? I have to plan ahead so I can make sure I've got time set aside to quit three times during a single season really throw myself into it if I play.

Also, yay. xD

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I've committed to at least 1 mini season and a full season. Sometime between this summer (for the mini) to 2016. Mostly it was my love of the idea of being able to say that I've been doing this for a full decade. :)

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

Well, yay! I'm almost for sure on board for the mini-season, because it doesn't require a million weeks of commitment. The Exhibits last summer also looked like a lot of fun and I was sorry I didn't participate in them--well, mostly didn't.

That is really impressive--an entire decade of Idol.

[fodschwazzle.livejournal.com]

10 is a good number, Gary.

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

All the same, I'm pretty sure it was a conspiracy. Maybe Moon Bears.

[bleodswean.livejournal.com]

I am a deeply sentimental person and I'm in the grip of a seriously maudlin sadness about Season 9 drawing to its end. *clings*

[gratefuladdict.livejournal.com]

Can I just add how much stronger that feeling has been for me this weekend as I've re-read all of your entries, and Kori's, and my own?

Can we have a group hug when this is over??

[suesniffsglue.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of this ferociously!

[talon.livejournal.com]

I've read some most excellent writing this season — as I do every season! The writing has led to new friends, and new people that I follow, reading their non-idol work (or, in some cases, hoping to read their non-idol work =P).

[snarkerdoodle.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to have "met" everyone who participated (just as I am every year) -- every single person helps make each season what it is. Even when things devolve into negativity every once in a while (which actually, IMO, happens far less frequently here at Idol than in other places), that's still something that's part of this thing called "LJ Idol", so it's all good. :)

[suesniffsglue.livejournal.com]

I have had such a difficult time this season being an active member, and for that I am both sorely regretful as well as humbled and thankful to still be in the competition. In previous years, I participated as actively as I could, and that was such a rewarding thing. This time around, my absence from green rooms and work rooms was noted sorely by my own sense of loss. My job doesn't allow for much time spent on a computer, and by the day's end or early morning, I always felt I missed so much.

So for that reason, I dove as deeply as I could into the entries and made an effort to build relationships with others through our work. I am so incredibly thankful for the connections forged through our craft. There have been several people who supported me here, and that meant the world to me. I am thankful for the opportunity to read each person who participated. This companionship through writing is a big thing for a loner like myself--my extroversion is abundant in every aspect of my life but my art. I don't mix my work with pleasure often, and it's been delightful to do so this past year. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Seeing more of my husband, rayaso's, humor at work was real delight for me. I am SO glad I persuaded him and bleodswean and tsuki_no_bara to try Idol this round.

I really enjoyed meeting the writing of several new-to-me people, including waltzmatildah, watching_ships, fodschwazzle, icaruslived, i_17bingo, beeker121, elledanger, penpusher, gratefuladdict, and suesniffsglue. Plus, all of the great people I'd met in earlier rounds who came back and wrote more!

I'll miss the community and our get-togethers, and I feel the same sense of melancholy as many other people, knowing that this season will soon be over.

Every season is slightly different, as are the people. The 'flavors' are something unique and wonderful, and never quite the same again.

[gratefuladdict.livejournal.com]

♥

[elledanger.livejournal.com]

Awww, thank you so much, and the feeling is likewise. xx

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i think my favorite part of lji was that i wrote more last year than i have in a looooong time. but also i got introduced to a lot of people through their entries and their green room posts, and i got to know bleodswean who i never would have met otherwise. and now i can add halfshellvenus to my list of enablers. :D