Cyberpunk 2077 Forum Short Story Competition - Discussion

[Pinbuckle]

Real quick: I know there isn't much time left in the contest, but I feel almost obligated after reading some of the posts to say something to all the people who are hesitant to submit their story, to those who want to write one, and to those who have already submitted. You are good enough. No matter what you write or have written, it is good enough, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. So whether you're a meticulous self-editor, the one who has trouble getting started, or the one who adds a disclaimer to your story saying, "thanks for the opportunity, but sorry i suck." just remember that what you're creating is art. Not only that, it's your art, the story in your mind, set in this world, and brought to life in words. So start it, finish it, post it, and be proud that you've put a piece of yourself out there for the world to see.

Hope this helps, and I look forward to reading more great stories.

-K

 

[NyteBeastMusic]

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[Tynarious]

Man these stories are pretty engaging, the creativity and imagination that people have is astounding! Their work really invigorates my own imaginings, giving an artistic spark to this theatre nerd! It makes me wish I'd written more into my story. Great work everyone!!!

 

[parasite_avi]

If someone reads through my monstrosity of a 'short story' and finds some time to let me know about any mistakes or things I should have done differently - please do let me know if you have a chance to. English is not my native language, but it is very dear to me, and I've been thinking about committing to writing something entirely in English for a while now, so any feedback will be invaluable!

 

[Sild]

A friendly reminder that submissions will be closed later today at 23:59/11:59 PM CET, in approximately 14h from the time of this post. Wrap things up and best of luck to all participants!

 

[parasite_avi]

It's the first time I'm looking closely at a competition like that, and I gotta say, it's pretty fun to see such a spike of stories posted in the last days of the contest. I mean, first days were not very fruitful, right?

It somehow reminds of my university days when essays, works, theses - all got handled in in the last moments, which was a lot of pain for everyone. But it's actually pretty cool to see that many posts, definitely expected less in the beginning! Glad I got some Cyberpunk 2077 to read before November.

 

[Sild]

a spike of stories posted in the last days of the contest.

I've been told it's pretty normal. It's also a good idea to give yourself extra time to tidy things before it's out there.

It somehow reminds of my university days when essays, works, theses - all got handled in in the last moments, which was a lot of pain for everyone.

You can say that again!

 

[parasite_avi]

It's also a good idea to give yourself extra time to tiny things before it's out there.

I usually never come back to whatever I write because I either do it for fun or to occupy my own head. This is one of the few times I did, and it was in my second language, so the amount of pronouns I've missed. With Russian as my native language, the punctuation is a completely different thing, especially in literature.

It actually does feel easier when you know gotta put commas almost everywhere - new clauses, conditionals, participles, etc. English, though, is way more specific with that and commas often (re)define the meaning of the entire sentence. From a reader's standpoint, that's kinda neat, but from a learner's one - boy that makes my teeth grind.

You can say that again!

Sorry for contributing a large story, too! I hope the entries are at least enjoyable for everyone who has to read through all of them.

 

[Sild]

Sorry for contributing a large story, too! I hope the entries are at least enjoyable for everyone who has to read through all of them.

I meant it was a pain to do it all in the last moments. This time for us moderators it's not an issue as there's a whole week between the closing of submissions and the revealing of the 5 finalists.

 

[parasite_avi]

I meant it was a pain to do it all in the last moments. This time for us moderators it's not an issue as there's a whole week between the closing of submissions and the revealing of the 5 finalists.

Glad to hear that! Good luck with distinguishing and choosing, I expect that be a huge matter of tastes and opinions.

 

[Rawls]

10 hours left ...

 

[Java_The_Hutt]

What was your writing process like?

Things I would like to know about your short story submission.

1: Formulation of concept ideas.

2: Length of time it took to write a short story.

3: Writing process/ (was there any trouble you came across when writing your short story)

4: Final feeling regarding your submissions

1. I wanted to explore heartbreak and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

2. I found out about the competition on Thursday afternoon thanks to Pawel Sasko’s tweet. I started writing immediately and finally submitted my story yesterday morning. So it took me almost 2 days.

3. I have the main characters and themes/concepts I want to explore, then I constantly iterate. So the very first words I had on paper on Thursday are very different to what I finally submitted yesterday. I remove and add stuff all the time.

4. I honestly don’t know if people will like it or not. I am very critical of my own work, with anything creative, and usually think the stuff I put out is bad. Even if my writing isn’t good, I think I’m satisfied with my submission and the way I explored the concepts I wanted to explore. This was just for fun and I enjoyed writing it.

 

[parasite_avi]

Forget what I said before in this thread, now THAT'S a lot of submissions in the last moments!

Goodluck everyone! Again, especially good luck to the ones who will have to through the entries, they just don't (didn't) stop coming.

In the meantime, why don't participants tell us why they went for the size they went?

 

[Tynarious]

In the meantime, why don't participants tell us why they went for the size they went?

To be honest, I may have taken the words "short story" a bit too literal, as I had quite a substantial more planned to write. But with "short story" in mind, I decided to try and go for a engaging short "Side Mission" type of plot with a tonne of action and fun. Hence the colours and high octane descriptions.

Though had I taken in consideration the actual character limit, I would have definitely expanded the piece.
FUN FACT: I wrote my piece in the style of a play script, because...you know...theatre nerd here.

Regardless, I had a blast writing it, and I hope everyone else had a great time with their pieces as well!!!

 

[maxzorazon]

To be honest, I may have taken the words "short story" a bit too literal

Talking about this... I did not have much time
Time to read the other essays now

 

[parasite_avi]

To be honest, I may have taken the words "short story" a bit too literal, as I had quite a substantial more planned to write. But with "short story" in mind, I decided to try and go for a engaging short "Side Mission" type of plot with a tonne of action and fun. Hence the colours and high octane descriptions.

Though had I taken in consideration the actual character limit, I would have definitely expanded the piece.
FUN FACT: I wrote my piece in the style of a play script, because...you know...theatre nerd here.

Regardless, I had a blast writing it, and I hope everyone else had a great time with their pieces as well!!!

Haven't gotten to yours yet, but it already sounds like a solid choice for the limit given! I've said earlier somewhere around here, but not everyone is going to make a compelling, deep, thought-provoking and exposing short story. There's a reason why novelists are more popular, after all.

I always saw short story as a perfect genre for action and side mission vibe because it allows both reader and writer to have their piece of amusement and fun in a very sufficient manner without the dedication a novel may require. You really do have to be careful with your words and their quantity when you're writing a short story.

My piece was probably the biggest short story I went for in my entire life. I've definitely written larger things, but it was lots easier because I was never limited like that. I kinda feel like I dragged it, but over the years I've noticed one thing - yourself alone is not enough to judge a piece. I still feel like I did drag it, a lot, but if someone points it out - that's the solid proof, not my worries.

How often do you read through a finished piece, by the way? I'm a compulsive writer and tend to make my stories best when I try to take it easy and focus on major mistakes of any kind exclusively. Otherwise, the damn thing never gets done or simply stagnates!

 

[Tynarious]

I kinda feel like I dragged it, but over the years I've noticed one thing - yourself alone is not enough to judge a piece. I still feel like I did drag it, a lot, but if someone points it out - that's the solid proof, not my worries.

How often do you read through a finished piece, by the way? I'm a compulsive writer and tend to make my stories best when I try to take it easy and focus on major mistakes of any kind exclusively. Otherwise, the damn thing never gets done or simply stagnates!

It's the age old saying; an artist is their own worst critic. But even still, I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, art is subjective after all, it's unfortunately the truth that we as artists have to live with if we plan to make a career out of what we do. Trust me mate, I can fill an entire estate with the amount of rejection messages I've received, and that was for paid gigs. This is something fun to stretch your artistic wings with, so think of it in that light!!!

When it comes to how many times I read through; I usually write the draft, fix issues, then re-read a couple more times. But we're all human so I still miss things often, so I'll have a mate of mine give it a look through for assurance, then fix whatever they notice, and give it another read through. But even then, again, we're just human. So after that much, for my sanity's sake I just pitch it to the company, (or in this case, post it on the forum) just to get it over with. Then what happens, happens.

Post automatically merged: Jul 28, 2020

Talking about this... I did not have much time
Time to read the other essays now

I'll say this mate, I would have never thought of doing a haiku. Good onya!

 

[otieleman]

It was tough to not write in Dutch, my native tongue, so I hope my story 'Hunt for Eve' wasn't too bad. I really enjoyed writing it. I also think many of the other submissions where great and maybe CD Project Red will use them for a little side quest in the future.