It started as an uncertain idea rattling in my head.
Would anybody like it?
Would anybody partner with me to get it done right?
Sure enough, the Creative Copy Challenge has become a wonderfully rewarding experience in far less time than I’d imagined.
Within two days of emailing Sean and David about the idea, we had an awesome looking website up, running and ready to go.
Yet the thought still lingered… Would more than 3 people (family members excluded) like the idea enough to contribute?
To our delighted surprise, seventeen submissions greeted our first challenge, and sixty one overall contributors have contributed to date, leaving 1,042 overall comments and counting.
The group of folks we have in the CCC come from all walks of life and geographic areas. Their talents are awe-inspiring and humbling.
We’re completely and hopelessly addicted to the CCC, and certain we’re not alone.
We’d like to thank everyone for being a part of something so special to David, Sean and me. We hope to keep the magic going for a long, long time.
This brings us to some admin stuff we’d love to get your input on.
Several CCC members thought we should move to three challenges per week. We’re on the fence about this ourselves. Though we’d love another submission, because let’s face it, they are amazing, we’re also concerned some people wouldn’t have enough time to do three per week.
Dave, Sean and I have also thrown around the idea of having two challenges a week, switching from Monday and Thursday, to Monday and Wednesday, followed by a post on Thursday asking the community to vote in the comments for their favorite posts. We would then tally the votes and post the three favorites on Friday with links going back to the author’s website, if applicable.
We would love to get your feedback. We’re ever so slightly concerned that by doing this, we’d turn the CCC into a competitive place and we don’t want that to happen. At the same time, we’d like to give shout outs to those people who have knocked our socks off with amazing material.
We use the term “favorite” to highlight that this is a subjective matter and doesn’t necessarily say anything about writing skill. We may have 80% of us who prefer comedy writing or rhyme, so obviously those types of entries may be “favored.”
This would be our way of gauging what people like most.
Let us know what you think in the comments. We’re super excited about the magic we have going on here and we want to make sure we keep going in the right direction.
Thanks everyone,
David, Sean & Shane
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi guys, I’m obviously addicted, so I’ll do as many challenges as you fling at me. I understand that on the other end the follow up replies and all that goes with maintaining the site might put a serious crimp in your free time. (free time, what’s that?) Anyway, Whatever works best is cool with me. I have no problem with the voting , though I would hope that nobody would feel intimidated or get their feelings hurt. Well, I don’t know what the heck I’m doing checking this site today, but I think it’s dinnertime! bye!!
Hmmm, decisions, decisions.
First of all, thank you for manifesting an inspired idea and creating a challenge for so many people to enjoy. Well done!
Second, the number of challenges per week depend on how well you can moderate everything as the community continues to grow. And, well, life is hectic for everyone so it will come to pass that not everyone can participate every time no matter how many challenges there are. Anyway, I already voted for three while wondering if I could keep up.
Thirdly, I already feel wildly intimidated by the talent here and if there is voting and OMG I never win I fear my ego will turn on me and devour my tiny creative spark with wretched criticism. Having seen how judging works in most events, it really is a matter of preference and who could possibly be objective? If you want to gather the best of the best and make a book, you’ll have to either allow voting or become god-like and wield the power of making the decisions yourselves. Either way, I’ll probably survive.
Thanks for asking!
I have thoroughly enjoyed doing the challenges, and welcome more opportunities to do so, though it is possible that I will not be able to participate every time.
As far as the voting and favorites idea, that is fine with me. I do this for my own enjoyment, but I know it would feel even better if others think my writing is good enough to be a favorite of anyone. I don’t think it matters about it becoming competitive, as those who do this for themselves, like me, will still participate regardless and let the competitors do what they will.
You are the ones that will incur the most work, so I defer to your judgment and will support whatever decisions you make.
Keep up the good work.
I don’t mind three submissions would be bad. I just won’t be able to commit to three a week.
First of all, thanks for sharing this wonderful idea. It has been loads of fun. As a business writer, I don’t get a lot of opportunity to write non-business stuff. This has shown me that I need to take the time for it. I love it!
For me, I wouldn’t be able to submit 3 times a week. So far, I haven’t even done the weekly challenge every week. But, I’m with Margaret, whatever you decide is cool with me and I will participate when I can.
Finally, I like that there is no designation of “favorites.” Like you, I’m in awe of the talent and enjoy all the different spins put on your list. Thanks again for bringing joy!
Hey Guys,
Yes, great job of CCC!
I couple of things — one of the things I noticed is that when I subscribe to comments, I can’t tell who is commenting upon what. The comments come in out of context, so it is hard to follow the conversation. What I suggested was using hash tags to denote the story, so the comment would look something like this:
#SantaClause — Nice third paragraph!
…where the #SantaClause represents that writer’s submission. I think this would work better than the “@” symbol, because that could still be useful in some situations.
#SantaClause — @Joe — thanks, don’t know where it came from, but it works!
Also, I thought it might be good to allow users to set their own category for their piece (maybe even using the same #SantaClause format) so that you could read all the writings of one particular person.
Lastly, I wanted to say that voting for the “best” pieces might make this all too competitive — which is what I think you wanted to avoid. It pains me to say that, because I personally really like the idea of voting for the best submissions. What about a compromise though — two normal, non-competitive ones per week, and maybe one, optional-entry voting “competitions” per month? Not only would this preserve the fun nature of CCC while adding a little bit of competition to it, I think that in the long run, asking everyone to vote once per month instead of twice per week will greatly reduce reader fatigue…
~Graham
Hey everyone. Thanks for the input thus far. Although I still have to chat with Dave and Sean, I think I’ve made up my own mind as to how I’d like to continue.
I believe we should stick to doing things just how we have been doing them. I believe these challenges by themselves are all the “competition” we need right now. I believe two times a week is enough for now too.
I’ll chat with David about the comment emails. I, too, have had some emails where the naming doesn’t match the comments so I’m left wondering what the comment pertains to. That’s a plug-in issue we’ll have to investigate.
Again, I’m having a blast and I hope we can keep this up for many, many moons.
You all rock!
Regards,
Shane
I didn’t get a chance to weigh in yesterday but I have to be honest – as much as I love the thought of someone picking mine as a “favorite”, I’m glad we won’t be voting on faves. I’d hate for it to get too competitive for people like me who are doing this for fun.
Thanks for doing all you’re doing (and David and Sean, too!! ). I had originally wanted three – even four – a week, but I wasn’t thinking about the workload of actually running this site. Two is wonderful! Now, off to challenge #13
Thanks Kool Aid. Now go get ‘um!
I personally cannot do more thatn one a week most times. If I am not busy at work that changes but only off and on.
I certainly like the idea of being able to tell which comments are meant for which story and I like the idea of being able to find a wirter’s other bits.
Rather than voting perhaps a more nuanced response.
I like put in book right now.
I like needs work.
…or some such. As a writer it is good to know when what you create strikes a responsive note in a reader. But I also understand the competitive bug will get to some and if I never got a positive comment I would be discouraged. But we seem to be such a supportive group. I think we all have the option of telling each other when that has happened. Voting is just a quick way to do that.