So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Because that novel isn't going to delay itself
Sommer Leigh
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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by Sommer Leigh » June 14th, 2010, 8:48 am

I entered mine. Funny though, I'd edited my first chapter a hundred times before I posted the first 250 words here. As soon as I hit submit I no longer felt even half as confident in it as I once had. I was really shocked by how quickly my confidence changed just by putting the words out there.
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Mira
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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by Mira » June 14th, 2010, 10:03 am

Sommer - I totally know what you mean! I can feel confident, but the moment someone else looks at my work, I totally lose it - and get completely insecure. :)

Glad to hear someone else feels similar!

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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by r louis scott » June 14th, 2010, 10:35 am

Without regard to how people might feel about the contest, I think it's nice to see how the Introduction thread has grown in the last week. I know that I am guilty of limiting my participation here to perhaps a third of the forums and new voices are what forums need to grow and evolve.

As to the contest itself, I toyed with the idea of writing 250 words about how Nathan would generate his random number.

It had to do with multi-sided dice.

I decided against it.

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Mira
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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by Mira » June 14th, 2010, 1:14 pm

R.L. Scott - lol. :)

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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by BCarle » June 14th, 2010, 1:20 pm

Mira wrote:Sommer - I totally know what you mean! I can feel confident, but the moment someone else looks at my work, I totally lose it - and get completely insecure. :)

Glad to hear someone else feels similar!
I posted mine and then sat there thinking, "What the heck did I write? Those aren't even words!" I think I've just looked at my first page one (thousand) too many times. And that's the reason submitting it will help. New eyes. Fresh eyes.

Multi-sided dice, eh? And all the contestants have to fight it out? Better go check my hit points. ;)
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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by r louis scott » June 14th, 2010, 2:09 pm

Nathan checked the door latch for the third time and then returned to the battered wood table. The single bare bulb dangling from its cord still swung in ever decreasing ovals, causing the shadows of the multi-shaped dice to orbit their sources like poorly trained ballet dancers.

The 20-sided die was cool in Nathan’s hand, in sharp contrast to the stifling heat of the closed room. It was a favorite, blue crystal with etched numbers. The white paint had long been rubbed out of the crevices, but that didn’t make any difference. One roll of this die would generate the first component of the coming selection, the page from which the contest winner would be selected.

“I must hurry,” he thought, “before there are any more entries.” There was no such thing as a 21-sided die after all.

A bead of sweat dropped between his shoulder blades and another worked its way down the side of his nose. He relished the tension of the moment.

“So deliciously random. Just like an episode of Lost!”

He tossed the die.

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Emily White
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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by Emily White » June 14th, 2010, 2:22 pm

ddelano wrote:
I wouldn't worry about it. Nathan started the contest for people who follow the blog, not us forumites. I'm more of a reader myself. I come often, but comment rarely. :D

Edit:

I should clarify because it looks like I'm telling you to be inactive. What I meant to say was that you shouldn't feel guilted into participating around the forums. :D
Thanks for that - I have Southern roots, so my guilt issues are naturally huge!!

(OK - I can't seem to figure out exactly to post this the way others do with a quote from the post you're replying to. I'll get there eventually)[/quote]

Haha! It took me forever to figure everything out, too! Actually, I'm still working on it. But I'd be glad to help you with this one. There's a "quote" button right above each comment. :D
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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by Claudie » June 14th, 2010, 2:29 pm

r louis scott wrote:Nathan checked the door latch for the third time and then returned to the battered wood table. The single bare bulb dangling from its cord still swung in ever decreasing ovals, causing the shadows of the multi-shaped dice to orbit their sources like poorly trained ballet dancers.

The 20-sided die was cool in Nathan’s hand, in sharp contrast to the stifling heat of the closed room. It was a favorite, blue crystal with etched numbers. The white paint had long been rubbed out of the crevices, but that didn’t make any difference. One roll of this die would generate the first component of the coming selection, the page from which the contest winner would be selected.

“I must hurry,” he thought, “before there are any more entries.” There was no such thing as a 21-sided die after all.

A bead of sweat dropped between his shoulder blades and another worked its way down the side of his nose. He relished the tension of the moment.

“So deliciously random. Just like an episode of Lost!”

He tossed the die.
Now that's hilarious, although the number of entries is waay past 20. Soon that'll be the number of pages of entries! Odds of being chosen are low, but still better than at the lottery.
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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by knight_tour » June 15th, 2010, 12:14 am

That post gave me a vision of Nathan typing away feverishly in a tiny hot closet with nothing but a small desk and chair for his PC. No air conditioning. A slot in the door for bread and water to be shoved through.

"Three more queries...no...five more queries, and then I'll write my next blog post! Reject! Reject! Hmm...maybe...no, reject!"

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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by aspiring_x » June 15th, 2010, 8:56 am

r louis scott- you rock.

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Ishta
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Re: So who's entering Nathan's first page contest?

Post by Ishta » June 18th, 2010, 11:53 pm

I'm planning to enter, but only once I've written the first page of my YA manuscript. I started writing it from the middle, and I need to go back (now that I've established a tone) and write the beginning.

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