LJ Idol "You Can't Get Rid of Me That Easily" Post
So I was out of town starting Thursday afternoon and got back late late last night. I checked the LJ Idol doings and discovered that I had been eliminated from contention while I was out of town.
Well, that's kind of a kick in the balls.
So, a little FAQ, because I always wanted to do a FAQ but I don't actually have anybody contacting me with frequently asked questions. :)
Q. How does it feel to be eliminated from the competition?
A. How the hell do you think it feels? No, I kid. Well, mostly. I always put my best work out there, so I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me. But LJ Idol is part talent exhibition and part social media; if you are less active in the social media aspect of the competition (frequent comments, beta reading, visiting the Green Room and Work Room -- all of which I did rarely, if ever), I think you are less likely to hit the top 10. Or the top 20, as it turns out. So, although I am disappointed, I can't really say I'm surprised, either.
Q. What will you do now?
A. I'm going to Disneyland!........wait, no, that's not right either. Do? I'll be doing the same thing I have been all along during this competition. As I said back in the very beginning, I entered this as a way to reignite my creative fires and to take inspiration from the posted topics. The competitive aspect of it was just that: another aspect, but not the reason I was into this. Of course, since it was and is a competition, I was in it to win it. I don't do anything halfway, as I said a few weeks ago. I believed, and still believe, in the strength of my work. It spoke for itself for thirty-odd weeks and I intend to let it keep speaking for itself. So I'll be continuing to post entries that match the posted topics right up until this "season" ends.
Q. I loved your stuff this season! I'm sorry you were eliminated.
A. Hey, thanks. I really appreciate your saying so! But that's not really a question.
Q. Oops. Sorry. Um, did you have any favorites of your own this season?
A. Oh, sure. Plenty of them. I won't single any of them out, though, because there are a hell of a lot of talented writers that participated in this season's running and I think picking out anyone in particular does a disservice to the ones that I fail to mention. Several of my favorites have actually been eliminated already, unfairly, in some cases, I thought, but then again -- competition. There will always be eliminations, and some of them I won't care for.
If you've participated this season, and I've enjoyed your work, rest assured I have let you know about it, through a comment or an email or both. Or by just "following" you using Livejournal's "friend" feature.
Q. Why didn't you comment on others' work very often?
A. Several reasons. The biggest reason is that I am not a fan of drive-by commenting. Reading all the entries in each week's offerings (which I did every single time) is one thing; leaving comments on every entry just to say "I've been here" is not something I cared to do. I am one of those people who only wants to chime in on a discussion if I've really got something to add to it, so I would only leave comments if I felt the feedback was useful or there was really something there for me to say. A simple "I liked this" isn't good enough for me.
And of course there's the "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" thing, too. There were plenty of entries out there that I just didn't care for. Sometimes the subject matter, sometimes grammar and spelling mistakes, but sometimes I just didn't care for the writer's style. Opinions differ, people differ, so it's inevitable that I would not like everything. But what's the point in telling someone "Sorry, I just don't care for your style"? All that does is hurt feelings, and there are enough of those in the world already. Better to keep quiet unless I had constructive feedback to offer.
Q. "Just didn't care for their style", hmm? Don't pull many punches, do you?
A. I didn't go into this looking to make friends (although, surprisingly, I do seem to have picked up a few). I sometimes wrote on topics I knew would be likely to annoy people, not because I wanted to annoy them, but because that was what I happened to want to write about. Additionally, I have always been outspoken and completely truthful in my dealings with everyone. Not one positive comment has been insincere; every single bit of feedback on others' work has been straight from the heart and completely honest. Like I said already, I don't do anything halfway.
Q. How come you never used trigger warnings for stuff you wrote?
A. I feel my work speaks for itself, and if it doesn't, it should. 99.9% of the time, I refused to write about the reasons or inspiration behind a piece except when I felt it was warranted. Likewise, I do not feel it's my job to warn people that they may be offended or hurt by reading something I write. You don't see things like that on newspaper stories, magazine articles, or novels. If you don't care for something I created, I'm not forcing you to read it. Go elsewhere with my blessing; I know quite well that my style isn't for everyone.
Q. Do you plan to publish anything you wrote? (this was, incidentally, a question I did actually get from a few people).
A. I have a couple of novels which are bouncing around various publishers. They haven't been accepted yet, but I intend to keep trying. The stuff I wrote here, on the other hand, isn't the sort of thing that really has a ready audience. So, no, I don't really intend to try and publish any of it anywhere. Thanks for the confidence, though.
Q. Is this where we do the credit roll?
A. Yes, sort of. I'd like to thank the Academy.....er, the LJ Idol community, for welcoming me so warmly, despite my curmudgeonly outward demeanor and my general refusal to participate in Green Room and Work Room shenanigans. I'd like to single out my partners during the Intersection Weeks: copyright1983, m_malcontent, and xreesex, all of whom were talented, able and willing partners and were great for bouncing ideas off of. I'd like to thank each and every one of the people who took time to send me a message about how they liked a piece, whether it was done through commenting (as most were), emails, or in one particularly memorable case, a text message (and I'd still like to know how the hell you found out my phone number....you must tell me about that sometime). I would like to thank each of you individually but that really would make this credit roll unbearably long. You all know who you are, though.
Q. Can I add you as a Livejournal "friend"?
A. Of course. If you like my work enough to want to read it regularly, who am I to argue with that? I don't object at all. Conversely, I don't hate you if you choose not to follow my work. Again, go with my blessing!
Q. Anything else to say?
A. Sure. I went into this thing thinking it was (by reputation) a drama-llama thing, for divas and people who thought much more highly of their talents than was deserved. There was some of that, to be sure, but the vast majority of the writings I saw were really surprisingly good. There are at least ten or fifteen people in this competition (and I won't name names) who are creating professional-level work, and I will be continuing to follow their stuff long after this season is finished.
And a final thank you to Gary, who runs this whole thing. I imagine this is a hell of a lot of work for very little reward. Maybe running things is its own reward; I don't know. But thank you all the same, for providing points of interest, stimulating discussions, and above all providing the topics that got people writing each week.
Because in the end, it doesn't matter where inspiration comes from -- if the writing is good, then it makes everything worthwhile.
cheers,
Phil
Well, that's kind of a kick in the balls.
So, a little FAQ, because I always wanted to do a FAQ but I don't actually have anybody contacting me with frequently asked questions. :)
Q. How does it feel to be eliminated from the competition?
A. How the hell do you think it feels? No, I kid. Well, mostly. I always put my best work out there, so I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me. But LJ Idol is part talent exhibition and part social media; if you are less active in the social media aspect of the competition (frequent comments, beta reading, visiting the Green Room and Work Room -- all of which I did rarely, if ever), I think you are less likely to hit the top 10. Or the top 20, as it turns out. So, although I am disappointed, I can't really say I'm surprised, either.
Q. What will you do now?
A. I'm going to Disneyland!........wait, no, that's not right either. Do? I'll be doing the same thing I have been all along during this competition. As I said back in the very beginning, I entered this as a way to reignite my creative fires and to take inspiration from the posted topics. The competitive aspect of it was just that: another aspect, but not the reason I was into this. Of course, since it was and is a competition, I was in it to win it. I don't do anything halfway, as I said a few weeks ago. I believed, and still believe, in the strength of my work. It spoke for itself for thirty-odd weeks and I intend to let it keep speaking for itself. So I'll be continuing to post entries that match the posted topics right up until this "season" ends.
Q. I loved your stuff this season! I'm sorry you were eliminated.
A. Hey, thanks. I really appreciate your saying so! But that's not really a question.
Q. Oops. Sorry. Um, did you have any favorites of your own this season?
A. Oh, sure. Plenty of them. I won't single any of them out, though, because there are a hell of a lot of talented writers that participated in this season's running and I think picking out anyone in particular does a disservice to the ones that I fail to mention. Several of my favorites have actually been eliminated already, unfairly, in some cases, I thought, but then again -- competition. There will always be eliminations, and some of them I won't care for.
If you've participated this season, and I've enjoyed your work, rest assured I have let you know about it, through a comment or an email or both. Or by just "following" you using Livejournal's "friend" feature.
Q. Why didn't you comment on others' work very often?
A. Several reasons. The biggest reason is that I am not a fan of drive-by commenting. Reading all the entries in each week's offerings (which I did every single time) is one thing; leaving comments on every entry just to say "I've been here" is not something I cared to do. I am one of those people who only wants to chime in on a discussion if I've really got something to add to it, so I would only leave comments if I felt the feedback was useful or there was really something there for me to say. A simple "I liked this" isn't good enough for me.
And of course there's the "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" thing, too. There were plenty of entries out there that I just didn't care for. Sometimes the subject matter, sometimes grammar and spelling mistakes, but sometimes I just didn't care for the writer's style. Opinions differ, people differ, so it's inevitable that I would not like everything. But what's the point in telling someone "Sorry, I just don't care for your style"? All that does is hurt feelings, and there are enough of those in the world already. Better to keep quiet unless I had constructive feedback to offer.
Q. "Just didn't care for their style", hmm? Don't pull many punches, do you?
A. I didn't go into this looking to make friends (although, surprisingly, I do seem to have picked up a few). I sometimes wrote on topics I knew would be likely to annoy people, not because I wanted to annoy them, but because that was what I happened to want to write about. Additionally, I have always been outspoken and completely truthful in my dealings with everyone. Not one positive comment has been insincere; every single bit of feedback on others' work has been straight from the heart and completely honest. Like I said already, I don't do anything halfway.
Q. How come you never used trigger warnings for stuff you wrote?
A. I feel my work speaks for itself, and if it doesn't, it should. 99.9% of the time, I refused to write about the reasons or inspiration behind a piece except when I felt it was warranted. Likewise, I do not feel it's my job to warn people that they may be offended or hurt by reading something I write. You don't see things like that on newspaper stories, magazine articles, or novels. If you don't care for something I created, I'm not forcing you to read it. Go elsewhere with my blessing; I know quite well that my style isn't for everyone.
Q. Do you plan to publish anything you wrote? (this was, incidentally, a question I did actually get from a few people).
A. I have a couple of novels which are bouncing around various publishers. They haven't been accepted yet, but I intend to keep trying. The stuff I wrote here, on the other hand, isn't the sort of thing that really has a ready audience. So, no, I don't really intend to try and publish any of it anywhere. Thanks for the confidence, though.
Q. Is this where we do the credit roll?
A. Yes, sort of. I'd like to thank the Academy.....er, the LJ Idol community, for welcoming me so warmly, despite my curmudgeonly outward demeanor and my general refusal to participate in Green Room and Work Room shenanigans. I'd like to single out my partners during the Intersection Weeks: copyright1983, m_malcontent, and xreesex, all of whom were talented, able and willing partners and were great for bouncing ideas off of. I'd like to thank each and every one of the people who took time to send me a message about how they liked a piece, whether it was done through commenting (as most were), emails, or in one particularly memorable case, a text message (and I'd still like to know how the hell you found out my phone number....you must tell me about that sometime). I would like to thank each of you individually but that really would make this credit roll unbearably long. You all know who you are, though.
Q. Can I add you as a Livejournal "friend"?
A. Of course. If you like my work enough to want to read it regularly, who am I to argue with that? I don't object at all. Conversely, I don't hate you if you choose not to follow my work. Again, go with my blessing!
Q. Anything else to say?
A. Sure. I went into this thing thinking it was (by reputation) a drama-llama thing, for divas and people who thought much more highly of their talents than was deserved. There was some of that, to be sure, but the vast majority of the writings I saw were really surprisingly good. There are at least ten or fifteen people in this competition (and I won't name names) who are creating professional-level work, and I will be continuing to follow their stuff long after this season is finished.
And a final thank you to Gary, who runs this whole thing. I imagine this is a hell of a lot of work for very little reward. Maybe running things is its own reward; I don't know. But thank you all the same, for providing points of interest, stimulating discussions, and above all providing the topics that got people writing each week.
Because in the end, it doesn't matter where inspiration comes from -- if the writing is good, then it makes everything worthwhile.
cheers,
Phil