Welcome!

[advection]

This is an open-participation, multi-writer version of the five-things meme that (as far as we know) started making the rounds in August 2006. (We'd love to credit whoever started it, if anybody knows.)

The original meme went something like this:

Post a topic, list, category, whatever, in my comments section. (Examples: "Five Jobs Walter Harriman

Comments

[becky_monster]

Got a bit of a problem here. Responding to one of the prompts and... If I get this sucker in under 3,000 words, it's going to be a bit of a miracle!
I have a muse who likes to chat;)

I have kinda guessed that it won't fit into one comment - so what would be the best thing to do? Multiple comments or one with a brief explaination as to what each 'thing' is and then a link to a web page where the full monty is?

Also, what's the deadline? And can we share on personal LJ's etc after each deadline?
Sorry for being so stoopid but need to know;)

Thanks for your help and thanks for running this - it's great fun!

[advection]

What an excellent 'problem' to have! Yay. *g*

I'd say go for multiple comments, since part of the fun is getting to read everybody's responses all on one page without having to click away and come back. Post a comment that includes your #1, then post the rest in replies to that comment, so it's all in one becky_monster thread

[advection]

Post a comment that includes your #1, then post the rest in replies to that comment -- I now understand that that won't work, since apparently you can't reply to a screened comment even if it's your own comment. Your solution worked great, tho -- thanks for persevering. Did it work out OK for you, leaving the response here in the comm for a bit and then re-posting in your journal? It was perfect from the comm's point of view, so I hope you were satisfied with it too. :-)

[green_grrl]

This is so cool -- I'm bursting to read all the responses! Perhaps I am having an especially hard time this week because my dad is visiting, which has cut down reading/writing time to practically nil, but there are SO MANY great responses to read and comment on, and new prompts are already up! Would you consider a monthly format of three weeks to write, one week to read, before the next set of prompts goes up? The prompts are such siren temptresses away from other writing, too, though perhaps that is my own willpower problem. ;-)

[advection]

Aggh, I reset the comm default to screen comments and missed changing the setting on this post and yours got screened. Quick reply here to unscreen it ... more later ...

[advection]

The poll's up now and I saw that you took it, but I never replied here to say that as a writer-participant I'm having similar issues, so let me say now that it's not just you. *g* And thanks again for raising the question! We were discussing it in email when a very generous anonymous donation of paid LJ time came our way and we became able to do a poll. As I type this it's neck-and-neck ...

[green_grrl]

Neck and neck?! *chews nails* ;-)

I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one. I still need to get over and read properly -- after the visit was the dvd_commentary deadline. But I finally got my commentaries on your stories up! :-) Perhaps now I can read the 5 Things and check out new prompts...

[sef1029]

When I tried to reply to my own comment because I went over the word limit, LJ told me I wasn't authorized to reply. So I ended up doing separate comments in the "Daniel fantasies" topic. I hope that's OK.

[advection]

Ah, interesting! Hadn't foreseen that issue with the screened comments -- should have logged out and tested it. Now that I look back, I see that becky_monster had to do the same thing with her round-one response.

It's totally OK just the way you did it, and thanks for the heads-up!

And big yay for a two-comment response to that prompt. *g*

Due date?

[anonymous]

So I'm confused. What *is* the due date for the current batch of prompts?

Re: Due date?

[advection]

We were just discussing that in email, as it happens. The current batch of prompts say in the boilerplate that they'll be screened 'for a week,' which makes the due date today (Monday, October 2nd).

We're planning to unscreen the responses tonight, and then make a decision about the timing of the next cycle based on the results of the poll.

You can always post responses after the unscreening.

I didn't realize I hadn't updated the post above this -- thanks! Have done it now (and am reposting this comment).

[chillin13]

Are 'comments' the same things as 'replies'? I'm thinking they are, but this is all new to me and I actually wrote one of these "5" things and want to make sure I post it correctly. So, I just go to the place/thread where you described what the 5 things should be and click on reply and put my 5 things there? Sorry if this all seems so elementary, but I'm one of those old dogs trying to learn new tricks...

Also, since you are screening the responses [which I just learned today means nobody, but you, can see our responses until you release them, right?] then do you notify us that you received what we did and that we did it correctly? I'm sure that's not needed for most people, but I want to make sure I do this correctly [refer to "old dog" statement above].

Oh, look, I have to click on the "Post Comment" button. But I had to click on "Reply" to type this. So, I guess I'm right that they are the same thing. I think they did this on purpose to confuse me. :-)

[starglyph]

I'm glad you wrote something!

You're right about everything. Just put your list in the 'message' box, like you did this question. Your 'reply' (list) to the 'comment' (prompt) will be added and you'll get an automatic 'your comment was posted successfully' message from lj.

We don't look at the lists either, so can't tell you if it worked, but unlesss your list exceeds the lj limits, there's no problem. If your list is very long, simply put the following parts in a new 'reply'

Hope I didn't confuse you further. :)

[chillin13]

Thanks for answering my questions and, no, you didn't confuse me further. You've really helped. Plus, I've been reading a bunch of the 5 things in the past couple days, so I think [hope?] I have it figured out.

The lists are quite fun and I'm anxious for reactions, if any, to mine, and to read the ideas of others.