"Guess-the-Author" Analysis and Critiques

Great to see a new round, and although it's a shame that some missed out because it was full those other authors can hopefully take part next time.

Author #1

I enjoyed the raid of the settlement, it was a good action packed start - but maybe this could have opened the piece? As it is, Olaf's back story could have followed, and this would perhaps have been more gripping for the reader.

The discovery of the child was a nice twist, but I have two suggestions of how this could have been fleshed out. The piece didn't feel overly long, so I feel a little more time could have been sent here. If the search for the source of the noise had been prolonged a touch the suspense could have built more, as it is the source was discovered a touch too quickly I felt. Secondly, if a little more of Olaf's back story had been threshed out, we might have drawn a more direct connection between the child that survived a raid and the King, helping to explain his seemingly sudden decision. The fact that he lacked an heir, or maybe had already lost one, would have played well here.

All that being said, I really enjoyed the piece

As to the author, I'm not sure why but something about it suggests GreatUberGeek to me - I'm not convinced about this though!

Reminder to myself: Finish comments and post before next weekend.
Reminder to myself2: Don't make such decisions when you are going to be away all next weekend. Well, thankfully Coz is giving us more time to comment.

Bit over two weeks in and some good response. I hope to see some more in the next week or so. I think a reveal is usually best after at least four weeks so there is still time to get them posted. Our writAARs appreciate it, no doubt. Allow me to say thank you for them at this time. I am sure they are itching to respond to their feedback. They'll get their chance.

EDIT - I should also mention that this thread has now passed the SolAARium as the 6th most viewed thread in this General Discussion area, all time. Our four major weekly awards and the Inkwell get more traffic, but it says something that GtA is still working all these years later (over a decade) and still enjoyed. There are far too many people to thank for that in one post, but those of you that participate are the driving force. Well done!

It's been a week since my last post and no new reviews. There is a week left to get them in and make no mistake, our writAARs crave some feedback. Please let them know what you thought of their work.

And I do plan on another round after this, but I hope this one will let others know the chance to write in this fashion is worthwhile. I even have a topic ready, but I need to know those that submit will be supported. Let's see some thoughts typed out.

I shall be reviewing the other entry next week, should that be alright. The last few weeks have been somewhat busy, so I've been shirt of time to devote to GtA. I'd very much encourage you to continue with another round though, coz! I'd certainly support it.

No worries, Denss (and any others that wish to comment) - I will be holding the reveal until the first of June. Bit more time there to get those critiques in. Let's hear what you have to say.

OK, folks. It's go time if there are comments to be made. These folks wrote hoping to get some feedback and we've been some few weeks without any such thing. I was made to think members were interested in this project but this type of reception is not giving me such warm thoughts. Few days left to get those critiques in and then we'll see if another round is warranted.

Right then, time to finally do my critique for entry number one.

As mentioned by others, I think my overriding impression upon a first read was that of brevity. As has been said, it felt very much as if we were given only the bare bones of – or perhaps the introduction to – a wider story. We were told why the raiders were targeting Worms (although this could have perhaps been a conclusion given to us through implication rather than the more explicit, almost history-book opening) but we know, or are shown, very little besides. Some background information on the characters would have been nice. The fire that killed the parents was intriguing. This could definitely have been fleshed out – even if not necessarily via dialogue. I got the initial impression from this that Finn and Olaf were brothers, though I guess then that would have been mentioned, and it is possible for an entire village to burn down...

That said, it is said that Finn is Olaf's most trusted friend. I didn't feel this wholly came across. Something about the continual use of "my king" or a variant thereof, as well as the aspect of hierarchy between them ("Are you questioning my decision?" was an example I found more jarring) gave the impression more that he was some sort of retainer. Even with royalty, I always tend to imagine that very close friends would be able to dispense with such formalities – though that might just be me.

With that, however, I should say that the piece itself was very well written. The grammar all seemed fine, as did the spelling. I noted "armorless", so I'm temped to say that the author isn't British, thought that's about as close as I can call this one. Overall, a solid piece which deserved to be fleshed out more. A fine entry.

First off, please allow me to apologize for the length of time it has taken to make the reveal on our last round. I promised a beginning of June reveal and here we are in August. Granted, we have not seen much of a clamor to see those names, but regardless, it is unfair to keep our anonymous writers mysterious for so long. Entirely my fault for reasons best left for my psychiatrist to analyze.


And now, let us see those names:

Author #1: blklizard

Author #2: Seelmeister


Authors, it is now time to respond to your feedback should you wish (and remember at this late date that you wrote these pieces.) For the rest of the community, please congratulate our writAARs for their efforts. Thanks as always for following this project and perhaps even playing along.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone that provided me with suggestions and advices. I understand that I have many areas I need to improve upon and your feedback will make me a slightly better writer.

Avernite said:

I have a minor complaint, which sadly arises all too often in GtA: the story is rather thin

In other words, it could use more tension.

the only minor nitpick being that Olaf, Ragnaar and Finn are names I would expet on vikings raiding the Carolingians, not on Germans raiding the Romans. They just sound a bit too Scandinavian.

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I apologize for the length of my piece. I wasn't entirely sure what was an acceptable length and decided to use the length normally seen in the updates for my AARs. I can see how information appear to be missing since, in my AARs, the plot progresses with new information in each new update.

I'm afraid I'm still working on creating a plot and other basic aspects of a story. Tensions and other touches to the stories are things I plan to work on in the future once I feel I got a good grasp on my current focuses.

I can understand your complaint about the names. It is my fault that there isn't any clear indication of the period in which the story was taking place. I was thinking of an alternative timeline where Scandinavian tribes invaded Germany and created a nation capable of fighting the Romans. Lacking this information, it's quite easy to give the misleading idea of me failing to give the Germanic tribes the identity they deserve.

Seelmeister said:

I enjoyed the raid of the settlement, it was a good action packed start - but maybe this could have opened the piece?

The piece didn't feel overly long, so I feel a little more time could have been sent here. If the search for the source of the noise had been prolonged a touch the suspense could have built more, as it is the source was discovered a touch too quickly I felt. Secondly, if a little more of Olaf's back story had been threshed out, we might have drawn a more direct connection between the child that survived a raid and the King, helping to explain his seemingly sudden decision. The fact that he lacked an heir, or maybe had already lost one, would have played well here.

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I was debating about the opening of the story and thought some background knowledge would have been good. I will admit I'm not too familiar in creating a stand alone piece since my AAR updates rely on one update reinforcing another to create an overall picture.

Now that you mentioned these things, I do regret not thinking about adding those things. I was worried about adding too much information (thus extending the piece to unreasonable lengths) which was why so much wasn't fleshed out. If I had a chance to do a similar piece, I will take these advices into account.

DensleyBlair said:

As has been said, it felt very much as if we were given only the bare bones of – or perhaps the introduction to – a wider story... The fire that killed the parents was intriguing. This could definitely have been fleshed out – even if not necessarily via dialogue. I got the initial impression from this that Finn and Olaf were brothers, though I guess then that would have been mentioned,...

Even with royalty, I always tend to imagine that very close friends would be able to dispense with such formalities – though that might just be me.

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I guess this piece is best described as a brief look into a wider story. It's a bit hard for me to differ too much from my AAR updates. I'm not too good with description which was why I resorted to dialogue. I seem to lack the way with words to create the imagery to attract readers. I wasn't trying to indicate that the two characters are brothers but I guess I didn't do a good job with the misleading dialogue. They have became close friends because a tragic fire took the lives of both their parents (but the information provided said otherwise ).

I felt that formalities, in this story, were more for show than anything else. A king leading the "barbarians" mustn't show weakness and allowing someone else treat him as an equal (by calling him by his name) was unacceptable.

We have had a chance for the latest authors to respond to their feedback. We have also, I hope, had a chance to think if we want to see this project move forward. GtA was started over a decade ago and over the years, I have run it from time to time, as have other brave souls. Those that have been around for a while have seen it both thrive and go silent, nearly equally since its inception. When it works, it really works. When it doesn't, it can be a major drag for those writAARs that have put forth their work for critique. I started this back up last year in the hopes that it might have a bit of a renaissance. At first it seemed that it did, but as always happens, it started to tail off. I responded initially by allowing more time and then by losing sight personally as to how to move forward. I readily take full responsibility for not pushing the project over the last few months and really must apologize to those writAARs once more! But I would like to see if we cannot try as a community to keep this going as it is a project I think very worthy for this writing environment that we like to inhabit and enjoy.

Thus, I would like to see if we might try another round with perhaps a twist. It occurs to me that perhaps some of the seeming disinterest might be the topics suggested. In that thinking, I would like to open the floor for a week or so as to a topic that others might think interesting to read. It might provide some interest in the project, and to be sure, after a decade I find it difficult to come up with something we have not done before in some way, shape or form. So the floor is open for a topic.

Further, I would like to ask the community to please offer any and all suggestions as to how to improve this project for 2014. If you wish to see it continue, what might make it work better, more efficiently or effective while maintaining the original goal? It was originally conceived to provide valuable constructive criticism for writers learning the craft in a blind fashion. Guessing the Author has always been secondary (perhaps a flaw with the thread name, but I am loathe to change it at this late date.) I am certainly willing to continue running the initiative if there is interest. But I must admit, it is hard to do when there is little interest to be found. I feel poorly for those putting out the work and getting little response. For those that have written on this forum before, I am sure you can appreciate that sentiment.

GtA has a proud heritage and I would like to see it continue. That cannot happen without you, as writAAR or commentAAR. If you are interested in moving forward with what this thread is about, please respond to one or both of the questions above. That response will let me know if it is worth it to continue. And not worth it for me (I cannot say I don't care because I do, but I always have other things to do as the last few months suggest) but worth it for this community. As always, this forum is what you want it to be as long as you are willing to speak up.

So speak up.

Thanks for restarting this, coz1! The idea of the AARlanders introducing the topics would work, in my opinion, and I for one am eager to try that out. I apologize for not getting a story or critique in last time, but I'll definitely try this time!

My only suggestion is that you need to be far stricter on the length. People will be far more likely to read and hence comment, if the pieces aren't too long.

Wyvern said:

My only suggestion is that you need to be far stricter on the length. People will be far more likely to read and hence comment, if the pieces aren't too long.

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All I'd say to that is that shorter pieces can stifle plot development, so we'd need to find a happy medium. Otherwise a word limit could be a good idea.

I'll offer some more thoughts when I'm in a less tired state, but I'm definitely up for helping!

DensleyBlair said:

All I'd say to that is that shorter pieces can stifle plot development, so we'd need to find a happy medium. Otherwise a word limit could be a good idea.

I'll offer some more thoughts when I'm in a less tired state, but I'm definitely up for helping!

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Very true. A longer piece gives the author more freedom, but we had some excessively long pieces that I at least had a hard time finishing (ok I didn't finish reading some of them), and that is a problem, especially if you want to up the readership and hence up the likelihood of getting feedback. Anyway, a word limit or guidance would be a good idea.

I am somewhat interested in this project, as I wish to examine my skills as a writer, but I must ask, do I have to be an aar writer to enter?

Dr.Livingstone said:

I am somewhat interested in this project, as I wish to examine my skills as a writer, but I must ask, do I have to be an aar writer to enter?

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No, not that I've ever been aware. You just need to get your piece in before the deadline usually.

Dr.Livingstone said:

I am somewhat interested in this project, as I wish to examine my skills as a writer, but I must ask, do I have to be an aar writer to enter?

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Denss is correct. This project is for anyone wishing to participate as long as it follows the guidelines.

Great to see some feedback.

DensleyBlair said:

No, not that I've ever been aware. You just need to get your piece in before the deadline usually.

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coz1 said:

Denss is correct. This project is for anyone wishing to participate as long as it follows the guidelines.

Great to see some feedback.

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Thanks for the information!

On the topic of word limit, I am curious what you folks think would be an appropriate number, one that allows for development but does not overwhelm the reader? I think it is a good idea but unsure what the proper limit should be.

And still looking for potential topics.