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Apparently you were not the only one. The deadline has come on gone, and I am very sad to say there was not a single submission. Back to the drawing board, folks.
Will we be continuing with the same theme? Cause I do have some good ideas for that. :) Thanks again for restarting this, coz.
 
I was on the fence because I wrote for the last topic. I'm willing to contribute though to keep this going. I thoroughly enjoyed the comments I received last time.
 
I appreciate both of you for your comments but after two weeks, a forum announcement and still no submissions, it seems as if it might be best to let this thing sleep for a bit longer. Clearly absence has not yet made the heart grow fonder. Perhaps it will in 2015. Here is to hoping.
 
It's been a year and change and perhaps that absence has made the heart grow fonder? Anyone interested in seeing this come back? I'm willing to run it again if so. Speak now or forever hold your peace. ;)
 
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I'm always interested in seeing GTA... which unfortunately betrays that I'm also (almost) always interested in writing for it. :D
 
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You know I'll always take an interest in some form.
 
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I'm interested, and I have some time on my hands.
 
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Interested depending on the subject to write about (no, I have no ideas).
 
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Outstanding to see some eagerness for this to return! :cool:

In keeping with much of the discussion we had back in 2014, I think it would be best to hold maybe two rounds this year. Perhaps we will aim for the next round in the coming month. In the meantime, let's continue to gauge interest and certainly offer up any suggestions to consider as we move forward or ask questions regarding the project itself. Maybe build a bit of anticipation as well. ;)

And I will start mulling topics. Might take me that long to come up with a fresh one. Let's see where we can go.
 
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Hmm. It's close to spring, so why not do something that goes nicely with the season, or at least a good contrast. Maybe a tale of a spring battle?
 
Just pinging this one to test for signs of life.
 
I'll add another ping to the mix. Still up for supporting this, as ever.
 
This is an interesting concept, but I'm not sure you can mark me as interested: I'm unsure on whether I would be able to respect deadlines and write enough good pieces. What kind of timespans was it in the past?
 
This is an interesting concept, but I'm not sure you can mark me as interested: I'm unsure on whether I would be able to respect deadlines and write enough good pieces. What kind of timespans was it in the past?

From memory, we've run over a month before. And if the plan is to have it biannual this time around I don't see why it couldn't be long still if need be.

As for your other concern, I really wouldn't worry. This isn't meant to be an exhibition of perfect writing, rather somewhere people can share work and receive feedback.
 
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Thanks for the continuing interest, fellas. I've been meaning to get over here and then March got ultra busy so I have not had the chance. I'm still mulling topics though I think I have one. I'll unveil it and the round proper soon but thought for right now a small primer on this project might be in order for newer folks come on board or interested since inception or since the last round ended.

So, what is Guess the Author?

It was and is a project started over a decade ago to share anonymous writing and gain critique of that work without fear of popularity, politics or favoritism entering into that consideration. As a side note, it also has allowed in the past a fun game of possibly trying to guess which forumite wrote the pieces entered. This portion has always been secondary, the name of the thread notwithstanding. And with the size of the current forum, it is likely impossible but not discouraged, to be sure.

How does it work?

In the past, we have run it in a number of ways, but usually it was head up by someone who would put out a call for writers, giving them a topic and perhaps other considerations as well as a deadline for submission. Once entries were gathered, the project leader posts the submissions without naming the writers. Forum members are then given a period of time to critique said work - what was done well, what perhaps wasn't, how well did the writer adhere to the topic, what might be improved in the future and any other number of ways to discuss the work. Nothing mean. Just simply honest intellectual critique. It was and is hoped that feedback to this thread will help a writer improve their craft. Oh yeah...and you can try and guess the author too if you want. ;)

If you are new to the thread and perhaps interested, you might wish to go back through some of the previous rounds in this thread to get a feel for how it has been done before.

What will be different this time around?

Given that some rounds have worked better than others and after a number of suggestions offered during and since the last round, I have decided as stated to try and run it maybe twice this year. If this round goes well, we can hope to run another near the end of the year. Hopefully that will assist in helping it become something to look forward to.

As it will be held less often, I am open to increasing the writers accepted. In the past, it has usually been capped at 4. I think we might be able to run perhaps 6 submissions now if a proper word limit is imposed and I am thinking 1500 words appropriate. Please feel free to suggest up or down on that number in the next few days (and on either subject) so we are all at least close to agreement. Further, I think it acceptable to increase slightly the prep time for submission and critique time for those wishing to do so since it will only be twice a year at most. No, not months...but a slight increase.

Anything else to know?

Not really but as always, I hope in picking topics to make them as accessible to writers of any of the games and what ever genre one wishes to write in is always acceptable. In truth, I have always wished to leave the decisions on how best to write a submission as open and free as possible. Stricter rules now has only come due to repeated suggestion and warranted desire to help the project run as smoothly and effectively as possible. There are a lot of old hats that love to participate in this either as writer or critic and I hope that as we once more lift off the ground, some new hats might jump on board to have some fun and perhaps gain some useful knowledge on writing. Also, it is fun to interact and get to know one another. And sometimes, even to write. :)


Stay tuned for the moment as a finalize a topic. And as always, please feel free to offer any suggestions.
 
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I'm a bit curious on how the writing piece is related to the games. From what I can see in the previous rounds, it wasn't too obvious what game was used for what story.
 
I'm a bit curious on how the writing piece is related to the games. From what I can see in the previous rounds, it wasn't too obvious what game was used for what story.
Unless the rules for a given round specify it, no link to Paradox games - or games at all - are required. All that is required is that it is a piece of writing that fits the chosen topic.

That said, many AAR writers prefer to write in historical settings even where not required by the topic or the rules for the round, and doing that, or going even further and basing it on an outcome of a PDS game played, is entirely acceptable.

Or you might get - to be altogether too self-promoting for a moment - something like this, an entry related to a Mount and Blade AAR of mine, set in some hypothetical future after the empire created in that AAR had fallen but interest in it remained. (Which AAR was abandoned when it go too silly even for me, but that's another story.) There have been other equally obscure references from other writers amongst earlier entries, but I don't have links to them, so you'll just have to read the entire thread and its predecessor thread and see if you can spot them.
 
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