Refusing to answer in order to give someone else the idea that they may have a chance.

But the country starts with the letter "G"

Did I mention that I've more than a passing interest in nation and international politics?

Edit: Sparky told me to just post it so he can put up the next clue.  The question is "What is Guatamala?"  (or however that country spells their name). 

This is the topic for the people who signed up for the Writing Contest #1 , you will make one post, after all entries are recieved, this topic will be closed. I will delete any other posts. This topic will remain open until April 1st, 2007 (or later if Sparky chooses to extend it). Week four will be up on the monday or tuesday. Points for the entire contest will be posted at the end of it.

After all entries are judged, I will post this winner in the topic.

The Entrants are:

- TheGamemannn - Submitted Week 1 & 2, Minimum score for 3, has yet to submit week 4
- Rrael - Submitted Week 1, 2 & 3, Has yet to submit week 4
- Rintaran - Submitted Week 1, 2, & 3, Has yet to submit week 4
- xSpitFire3x - Submitted Week 1, Minimum score for week 2 & 3, Has yet to submit week 4
- daqua_99 - Submitted Week 1, Minimum score for week 2 & 3, Has yet to submit week 4
- OddballTECH - Received minimum score for week 1, 2 & 3, Has yet to submit week 4
- Jacash3492 - Received Minimum Score for Week 1, 2 & 3, Has yet to submit week 4

You will post, for this league a total of Four Entries, the entry periods are as follows

Feb 28 - March 9 - Entry 1
March 10 - March 17 - Entry 2
March 18 - March 24 - Entry 3
March 25 - March 31 - Entry 4

We are currently in week 3 of 4.

Each week you will submit one piece of work. Your entry can be a poem,
a song or a short story (Nothing over a page or two). You will be
marked by 3 judges, one of which is myself and the other two will be
revealed later (they are already chosen ... but they don't know it
yet.).

You will be marked out in three different areas by each
judge. These areas are: Content (5 marks) , Flow (5 marks) and Overall
Impression (5 Marks).

Content, is the piece of work something
original or is the idea stolen, does it create something new or is it
the same thing that we see 20 times a day. Is there substance in this
piece of work? or is it just a bunch of words. All those goes into your
mark for this one

Flow is just the technical aspects of your
piece of work, does it have tons of grammar/spelling mistakes, do the
words seem out of place and all those kinds of things fall into this
category.

Overall is just the impression left on us, the judges,
its not whether we liked it or not, but more of, did it make a point,
did it stir emotion in us, that kind of thing.

Points earned for each work will be announced each weekend.

If you do not post your work one week, you will be given the minimum amount of points in each category.

Also, please note that any pieces of work submitted must be new works and cannot have been posted on the forums already.

If you have any questions, ask Sparky via Private message or on one of his instant messaging programs.

This topic will contain a number of posts about how to be a good editor.  Reading something over and saying it's good is nice, but it doesn't help any of us improve.  I'll posts a number of different editing things here over time, including the method that I used as lead editor for The Emerald Altar webzine.  If you have any peer revising, editing, or conferencing information that you wish to share, feel free to add to this topic.  Otherwise, I would prefer to keep it clear of idle chatter.  Thank-you. 

 ---

Following is a handout that I dug out from one of my writing courses.  It was of some use to our work, and as a writing lounge, I think it may be something useful to keep in mind as we read each others' work. 

The PQP Technique

In conferencing with other students, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are offeringn good, sound advice.  The following technique will assist you in providing some intelligent and useful information which the writer can use in the revision of their work.

The PQP technique requires group members to take a turn reading their drafts aloud as the other students either listen and take notes, or follow along with their own copy.  This oral reading helps the writer to hear the piece in another voice and to independently identify possible changes.  the responders then react to the piece by writing comments on the PQP form.

PQP - Praise, Question, Polish

1. Praise - What is good about the writing?  What should not be changed? Why is it good?

Example: "I loved the way you described the campground. It reminded me of a place we camped.  The detail you provided about the lake at sunse really helped me to picture the setting in my mind."

2. Question - As a reader, what do you not understand?

Example: "Why did you introduce the character of Polly so late in the story? Do you think you might be spending a little too much time describing all the things you did that night? What does indicating the type of cars you all drove have to do with the plot development?"

3. Polish - What specific suggestions for improvement can you make?

Example: "Introduce Polly sooner in the story and provide her with a believable background. Also, get rid of the park Ranger - he's so flat and really doesn't serve any purpose. I think you could probably do without him and not do any damage to the plot." 

Thought some of you may be interested in this.

 http://www.arcpoetry.ca/mag/contests/poem_of_the_year_contest.php