End of the (Writing) Road

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

So, the results came back in for the Get-Together's Writing Contest, and my entry, in a word, sucked. I didn't even rank in the top half of the contest. Can't really blame the judges for this, because everything they said about the work was true. So, I'm gonna have to go out on a limb and blame Bernie Madoff my rapidly fading skills, not to mention motivation, for writing this sort of stuff. As a famous movie character once said, 'I'm getting too old for this..." well, you know the rest.

So, needless to say, my entry for the contest will remain between me and the judges... it will not see the light of day on the site. And I'm officially hanging up my hat. Clearly I've lost all the skills for writing fan fiction that I used to have (though some of the Sppf nutjobs will tell you I never had any skills to begin with :P). I've seen some of the comments on what was horrible about the story, but at this point I wouldn't even know how to begin correcting them.

But I'm not out of the writing business entirely... it's just that my future works are probably not best suited for PC... take for example what I consider to be my finest piece of work ever written - a short piece affectionately titled, "Quality Suites Delivers Excellence."

Spoiler:

I stayed at this hotel as a mini-vacation during Spring Break. I had read mostly positive comments on the hotel and it is currently a Choice Hotels Gold Award property, which prompted me to choose it.

The property isn't brand new, but is fairly modern (three floor interior corridor). There is some minor cosmetic wear and tear, but nothing major that should affect your stay. There's an indoor pool and workout room in the hotel, though I didn't use either. An IHOP is within walking distance, as well as a Rite Aid. You may or not feel comfortable walking to the nearby Carolina Place Mall, though it is doable. There are no sidewalks on the same side of the road as the hotel - it's across the street.

My room was 318, a King suite. The rooms have a nice layout, with a "living" area with desk, sofa, and TV separated from the sleeping area by the bathroom and kitchenette (with microwave, refrigerator, and sink). There's also a makeup area with mirror and light between the living and sleeping spaces. It's not two separate rooms, but it is a spacious mini-suite that offers plenty of room.

There are two large flat-panel TV's, one in the living room and the other in the sleeping area. Two telephones, as well. The wireless internet signal was strong, but it would have to reconnect at irregular intervals. Everything was clean and in good working order, and the nice, comfortable bed was most appreciated. You can hear a fair bit of noise from the hallway, though it wasn't a problem at night.

The hotel serves up a nice breakfast bar with hot items. The staff, including Marcus and Steven, were very helpful and courteous. I was able to take advantage of a special offer - stay two nights during mid-week and get the third night free, and the front desk was able to seamlessly extend my stay. I paid $94.99 per night for two nights, which would have been a good value on its own, but getting the third night free turned it into a relative bargain for what I paid.

The Quality Suites Pineville did indeed live up to its Gold Award status, and I would definitely choose to stay there again when in the area.

So expect all my future writing endeavors to be pieces like this one, as this old-timer's skills have become so rusty it's an embarrassment. I'll still be active on other parts of the forum, so look for me there!

Peace!

 

[bobandbill]

Being said judge to write the comments I fear you're being far too hard on yourself - as you mentioned you wrote it up in a very short time (on the due date and all early in the morning) and all in all it was a decent entry, it just needed some expansion and some tinkering with a bit of the plot is all. That, and the scores between most of the entries were very close (what with a few tied results and all to boot) as well so I wouldn't say that you've lost it or anything. Certainly didn't 'suck', I assure you. (Heck 69/90 is far from sucking in my books and it's not liked we tried to give top marks either at every opportunity).

 

[Bay]

Sorry to hear you're not going to be doing Pokemon fanfiction writing anymore. It didn't suck as I quite like it a lot, just that some polishing will do wonders. I actually commend you for able to write it decently in such a short amount of time. I know if I tried to write something under a time limit it'll be all rushed.

I do admit that I know how you feel over writing skills fading away, bleh. Sometimes I also think I'm getting too old for this, but in the end I'm still writing because I enjoy it a lot. Now, to get back to Pokemon fanfiction writing. >.>;

Wish you luck over what you plan to do next!

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Well, regardless, I don't believe I'll be writing again. This one was merely a case of entering solely for the sake of entering *something*; I sure as hell didn't enjoy writing it and felt like I was forcing myself to write. And I still have no idea how I would fix it up if I wanted to; maybe somehow include Bernie Madoff in a subplot or something where the characters buy a used car? I dunno.... someone help me out here xD

I figure I'm better suited to writing hotel commentary anyway; that way I don't have to worry about stuff like plot and character development, just the cleanliness of the rooms and how good the continental breakfast was :P

And since said fan fiction is dead and buried... hopefully nobody has to lay eyes on that mess again xD

 

[moonlightning]

This is so sad! It's a shame to see a great writer go (In my opinion anyway). You know how much I enjoyed LITS and ACI so It's natural for me to feel a little down when you say it's dead and buried. I'm not trying to talk you out of it or anything, I'm just saying thanks for all of the stuff you did write. You really inspired me and you were the main reason I started writing in the first place.

Well, your stories still live on. I forced my friend KJT to read LITS and he's always raving about it like I used to rave about it to him. Don't feel bad for stopping, you've already contributed so much more than most people ever do.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Thanks, but my decision is really more a matter of me not having any good ideas to write about... I've pretty much already fleshed out Lisa's character and any more works would be just random missions or stuff like "Lisa looks for a new car" xD

So probably better for me to quit now before I write something that's truly embarrassing xD And glad to hear your friend enjoyed my story! Be sure to recommend it too all of them lol