theorbiters:

Okay. I thought the same too.
Nice work once again. And pls, forgive all of us for our outbursts.

*shrugs* more outburst, more traffic...besides, can't begrudge some fellows their 5 seconds of limelight.

Fatalveli:

@whitemosquito, we will be looking forward to another fair next stage.

modified it for you.

laykorn:
I think whitemosquito from the beginning should have added as a rule that no one should challenge a judge's decision. If anybody knows they won't be able to keep to the rule, they should stay off. This is sheer disrepect to people who volunteered their time, effort and even data to judge this challenge. If I were a judge, I go done vex commot.

Next time you're doing this, don't forget to add it as a rule. "Don't criticise any judge's decisions."
Ayamlaykorn

Friend of Red,
howdy?

Though I shan't add it as a rule, thanks. My judges know that sentiments expressed on the thread are the sole opinion of the person commenting, never mine. Even if the judges' decisions are challenged, only I can rescind it, and I won't. They were all chosen specifically because I trust their judgement. I still pat myself on the back for choosing them. *smile*

chrisviral:


And I already planned the number of shirts I was going to buy from this money...

Mtcheeeeeew
Here I was thinking in the future, I will be the second Nigerian to get a nobel price (Shey na wetin dem dey call) in writing after wole..
Mtcheeeeew!

Thanks for crushing my dreams

Prepare for the next Challenge.

theorbiters:


Just a suggestion. Why don't u just modify those that didn't make the next stage.

Just seeing this.

No, I don't think that'll be fair to Challengers. Besides, something tells me I may need to refer to some entries for later...
Anyway, I've heard from the judges. Theyve already begun sef, So no sweat.

To all Challengers,

I apologize if I said anything that has been miscontrued to mean that I criticized any entry. Lol. I should probably have waited for the moderations to begin. Hehe.
Any 'criticism' I gave was on the mode of submission of entries, and NOT on your potential as writers.

EVERY ONE OF YOU possess the ability to tell a tale, in varying degrees. Some told it better than others, it's a pity the rules couldn't be bent....
Once again, the judges and I will respond to any questions, polite protestations you have.

I look forward to seeing you all take up the next Challenge.
Thank you for participating.

@DarryOsh, you've spoken well.
Yes, admittedly, I'm guilty of making vile comments to those who antagonize the judges.

You see, people have a problem; they throw insults, make poorly verified accusations and call it criticism. I, in turn, have two problems with that.
One, the insults are unimaginative. Lol.
Two, The judges are doing this out of passion and because I asked them to. I have EXPLICIT FAITH in their deisions.You can understand why I will rise to their defense any time.
All who had a legitimate grouse and presented it in a reasonable manner have been answered in kind.

Having said that, ppl are entitled to their perceptions,I can't help how they 'perceive' me. Lol. For me, the most important thing is that the Challenge serves it's purpose and both Challengers and Judges are willing to do it all over again.
Thank you.

@martin92, Thanks jere. I am also a judge, of sorts. Lol. I oversee all the submissions by the judges.*tongue out*

Kuzaku:


Chai, see how your comment is making my teeth show. Thanks for the clarification, whitey.

No, I'm not a Jw lol

Oh, Okay.
And I meant every word. Shared your story too. Nice one.

Kuzaku:


I think it's high time I speak.

I depicted African culture in the mention of 'jollof rice'. Everyone knows Nigerians favour 'jollof rice' during celebrations and Christmas and New Year is not exccluded. Also, the mention of 'celebrations through your room's window'. In all my years as a Nigerian male,m almost everyone I know invites people to their home for a christmnas feast where 'jollof rice' and other dishes are served. I rest my case.

Kuzaku, that was a nice piece. I personally relate with...but jollof rice doesn't depict AFRICAN culture. Nigerian urban culture, perhaps but not traditional African culture. Jollof rice is not an African traditional dish.

The prompts also said in NARRATIVE and PLOTTING. So, it's not just enough to merely mention it, you have to weave it into the story. Hope you understand? Your grammar, syntax et al were on point tho, especially your narrative consistency. I particularly noted that. I appreciate writers who know their tenses.
Weldone.
Im hoping you'll take up the next Challenge..
Btw, are you a Jw?

Lol.
I was expecting this..and I haven't been disappointed.....

SirChotas, The first stage of moderation was about PLAGIARISM CHECKS and ADHERENCE TO RULES/PROMPTS.
Mobsync's entry was captivating, loved the imagery, even shared it amongst my followers... but the rules clearly said: Write about the Promise/excitement of the New year + include the African culture..The entry showed neither of these.
Same with kuzaku's.
All the entries that made the longlist are entries that MET THE RULES/GUIDELINES..that includes the Zulu story.
With all due respect, you're guilty of the same thing they did. You didn't read the fxcking rules.

@kaya09, I dont care for your tone.
For someone who claims to be sensitive to arrogance, you're coming off as a very snotty fellow,and an empty headed one at that. Your opinions about me doesn't affect the price of crayfish in China, So I really dont give a fxk.
What I would not tolerate is the insipid manner you talk down to the judges..From the bipolar trash you've been spewing since you discovered the comment button on this thread, you obviously know Jack about Literature; even a kindergarten student will write circles around your head. As far as artistic expression or appreciation is concerned, you can't hold a candle to anyone of the judges.
But hey, na where your sense reach, you don do reach...
Watch your attitude. And this is me saying it nicely.



To everyone else,
Yes, this thread was created for comments and feedback..doesn't mean we should be vile about it.. Please.

Lol. Interesting. This thread seems to have attracted an ignoramus.

@ theorbiters; thanks for having my back. *smile*
@martin92, smh4u...*smile*

Repo, you've got pings.

Thanks everyone..
Larry and Repo, kisses. Many thanks. My phone just went blind, woulda called. Still gonna thank you properly. Silly samsung. Msstchew.

Royver, yuzedo, would you prefer I repost all the entries again? That is, entries that made the first stage?
*really hoping you guys say no o*

Moderations for the Second stage will begin tomorrow with Royver and Yuzedo doing the honors.
Entries shall be judged on technical grounds:

Narrative/descriptive consistencies
Syntax, lexis and structure
Plot, context/concept correctness
Grammatical, punctuational errors and typos

Moderations will run for a week, and the shortlist will be produced on Monday,26th January 2015.


Please stay tuned, it gets even more interesting.

Hello everyone!!
It's been exciting and entertaining reading through each entry. What raw creativity! All entries were special, they spoke to me in several ways; while some made me sober, others saw me giggling into my palm. Still some others caused me to pause and daydream, till my colleagues called me back to earth. Lol.
One thing about all of them though- I learned something new or was reminded of something old. I truly enjoyed the read.

Moderations for the first stage were successful and on behalf of the judges, I present to you, in no particular order of merit, the Champions for the first stage:

Chiamaka's dilemma by spacefreak
Grief of a Zulu muse by OMA4U
Picture in the frame by mrfils
Yepala's price by eillo
Biodun b Awesomeb1783
The hottest dawn by ruffhandu
The wedding test by drachel
An encounter with the masquerades by martin92
When we think we are right by Lionize
The masquerade by the rock5555
A touch of hope by bhenedikt
The checklist by sammoe
New year gifts for the poor by Simonhabby
Waiting for the morning by theorbiters
The crossover dance by swifayo
New year's eve in Umuoka by EverestdeBliu
Tales of Sule by phate4rmercury
Afulu by anakadrian
Blinded by clarity by adjain
The new year resolution by divepen
Hunting festival by Silas1475
Running from the future by pureivory

For those that did not make it through this stage, please, do not give up writing. You all have something special, its a pity we were constrained by the rules. I look forward to seeing you pick up the next Challenge...whenever that comes.
Hugs and weldone!

Larrysun, Repogirl and I will be happy to meet you on the comment thread and explain our decisions.
Thank you for participating. 'Preciate it truly.

God bless you right back theorbiters.

modified

While I appreciate the desire to share something that has inspired you with others, this is plagiarism.. Merely Including the source of the stories doesnt make it better especially since said source is on nairaland. Why not just point ppl towards the source itself? Use the share button if you follow Son of Issachar. Or else, obtain his express permission.
This is wrong.

Caracta:
Easy now whitemosquito.

Reviews should come later on...i think.

Let the judges decide.

Each entry can be reviewed (if possible). I believe the aim of the competition is to learn and develop the writing skill.

There is no winner. There is no loser. There should be an outline of rules flouted and the reason(s) the contestant didn't (or did) get the prize. I believe the judges can handle that pretty well (with constructive criticisms).

It's ok sweetheart. You've done well. Sheathe your sword and breathe easy.

Good job everyone.

That's exactly what I had planned....
But who won't take umbrage at someone second guessing my motives, hinting at foul play, throwing false accusations and vague implications?
This is the first contest I've ever organised/participated in, I've even bent over backwards so as to accommodate popular demand... then some fellow walks in and makes a sweeping generalization - nl contest rules are always refined.
Honestly Caracta, that got my goat.

Father, give me grace.

@ oahray, My judges are well aware of the interpretation of the rules, if you or some or other with a 'higher stake in the matter' failed to understand it, that's your myopia to treat.
I never bashed anyone's entry or condemned their creativity. If you had taken your colored lenses off for a minute, to objectively read through the entries, you would clearly see that certain ones are 360 degrees off topic. Entertaining, but off topic.
It's interesting that you finally agree that what is tragic can become exciting and vice versa. I wonder where you got that idea from....let's see...oh okay, THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING ALL THE WHILE.

THIS is the last I will respond to you on this matter. Feel free to drive up traffic on the thread though.

And yes, my hiss. MSSSSSTTCCCCHHEEEWWWWWW!!!

@spacefreak, I'll see what I can do about writing a piece. No promises though.

Bhenehdikt:
hahahahahaha!...whitey,u suppose undastand na,wen money dey involved,man fit forget rules...but nothing spoil sha.
Wen will the first phase end? @whitemosquito

Forget the rules, be prepared to forget the money too o. Yea, nothing spoil...just my goodwill towards contestants. Lol....
Hopefully on or before the 19th. You know im not paying the judges, gotta be sensitive to not putting too much pressure on them....

chrisviral:


For some people, the promise of the new year is pregnancy and HIV
It doesn't always have to be a good promise or excitement, lol, abi no be for nigerian culture wey I hear say 10 people died on the 1st

This theme E hard gan oooo

Chris, the theme was the easiest I came up with. Now I'm wondering how the other themes would have been received. The one wey nearly provoke me na where person talk say nl contest rules are refined at will..Like wtf?
A promise, no matter how you choose to see it, is positive.

@theorbiters, yea, everyone should just relax and see the entries that make the first stage.

...nl contest rules are refined at will...mssstchew.

spacefreak:


"2 Only one submission per entry. Each submission must be a prose written in any theme of your choice, (comedy, romance, tragedy etc)."

What I quoted above was your number 2 rule on the main thread. Im not a fan of arguments, I know when Im wrong and when Im right. You wrote clearly that the theme should be totally the writer's choice. Now you saying the story MUST have a happy ending. In that case a tragedy is a no no contrary to what I quote above. I might be wrong though. I would still love to read a piece written by you.

Ewo. Wahala wa o. Oya, please, also quote where I said all stories "must have a happy ending".

Why do you ppl like arguments?
I said if it starts out as a tragedy it should have a twist that causes it to end on a happy note. You said all tragedies have unpleasant endings, now you've turned around to admit that there are tragicomedies. Oh, you knew that did you?

@ spacefreak, the rules said write any theme of your choice, true. But I DIDN'T SAY WRITE TRAGEDIES. I gave EXAMPLES of different themes, eg Romance, comedy etc.
Further prompts said 'weave it around the promise and excitement of the New year. Common sense would tell you that whatever story you produce should be happy/hopeful.
Sir, if you were expecting me to spell it out for you as in Queens Premier, then you aren't qualified for the Challenge.

Oahray:
lol. Tragedies can have happy endings with some tweaking?

Funny thing about NL contest rules, they are usually ambiguous, and get refined at will, often too late. Not all promises get fulfilled, and not every excitement end with mirth.

Yes sir, a tragedy can have a happy ending in the context I used. What I meant was, if your story starts out as a tragedy( a ritualist kidnapped a little child and cut her head off) towards the end you must establish the excitement of the new year (the ritual worked, he made bags of money and went on to become a Chief or politician or whatever)

The rules were not ambiguous, were never refined at my will. The only time the rules were tweaked was at the insistence of contestants themselves. It wasnt my initial idea. I take exception to whatever you are implying, sir. However, I shan't make the mistake I made once upon a time. So, I ask you straight up. What are you implying?

*modified*

I'm not trying to belittle anyone's gifts or talents, neither am I trying to trivialize anyone's efforts. Everyone has interpreted the rules to the best of their knowledge. It's the different colours of threads that make a fabric beautiful...

So, lemme rush a disclaimer, If I have said anything that can be construed in two ways - one negative , the other positive - please, rest assured that I mean it in the most positive and respectful way possible. I appreciate everyone's efforts, contestants and judges alike and I'm excited that The Challenge received this much attention.
It's one thing to cook a meal, and another to have people ready to sample it...

Thank you for participating, truly. I hope more than anything that we ALL learn as MUCH AS WE CAN, accepting corrections with an open and sincere mind.

And the same, should I call it nonchalance or negligence, was displayed in the entries. Typos, tensal errors, misspellings...when you're submitting for the purpose of a competition? When you're work will be analyzed and scrutinized? In depth?

That's just sad.

Some of the entries I posted, I had to clean up and arrange, which strictly speaking, is wrong.
Entries without titles...when I specifically stated, TWICE- in the general guidelines and again when I dropped my mail address- that all entries should carry titles and monikers. I had to attach ppl's monikers to their entries.

Some addressed the SUBJECT of the mail as the title of their entry. So, how am I supposed to know what youre submitting FOR? What if I was running two separate competitions simultaneously? You don't leave things to chance like that.
The SUBJECT should have been The White Mosquito Flash fiction....blah blah, while the BODY OF YOUR MAIL SHOULD CARRY YOUR TITLE. If you were attaching files, same thing. Your title should be contained in your file.

Some people saved their files as "yeah" or "aha". Like really? When I opened them, they contained titles only or titles and monikers, no White Mosquito Challenge anywhere in the entire mail. Na wa.

Then the arrangement style was just...painful. Some people wrote like they were writing letters to themselves or perhaps their girl/boy friends. Some used fonts that my laptop didnt even recognise.

As far as arrangement or presentation of entries is concerned, very few people impressed me. One of such was mobsync; he/she included the nl profile URL for his/her moniker as well as the title. Beautiful. Over and above call of duty; well thought out.

I choose to believe that a lot of us didn't take the Challenge seriously. After all, some people even said they were in it for "fun", "to while away time", since the prizes offered were paltry for those of them that use "laptops to browse".

All well and good. There's nothing wrong with doing things for fun. Infact one of the purposes of the Challenge was to entertain. I haven't lacked that since I created the first Challenge post; there's been a bevy of entertainment, especially on this comment thread.

However, we say that we are writers. Writing is technical. Deliberate. Careful.
If there's anything I want anyone to take away from this competition, it's this: BE DELIBERATE. Work your craft. Yes, you have a gift of imagination. Yes, you have creative expression. But that's where it ends. Writing itself is a SKILL, NOT A GIFT. You have to WORK IT. Learn it. Hone it.

And not just for writing alone. It's a life skill. Being deliberate, that is. Whatever you choose to do, as long as you have chosen to expend time and effort to do it, DO IT WELL.