who hates word limits? (1 Viewer)

[Webdoggy]

who else got burned by that crap word limit?
seriously, 5000 words for that much work is a joke.
i could have easily done 10. but instead ended up cutting all of the nice 'soft' joining bits out and now my work reads like a punch in the face.
i was so cut to find that when i still felt that it was too breif, i had to chop 1500 words!
anyway, i had 6 months to do it and was still up until 2:30 the night before i had to hand it in. what an achivement... that will be all i remember about it.

 

[still ill]

just to make you feel better by replying...
i did short story and had an 8000 word limit, on the night before it was due i had 8900, i had to spend hours culling stuff i thought was important

 

[AsyLum]

hehe i was in the fortunate position to complete at 6000 words

 

[narrator]

Originally posted by AsyLum
hehe i was in the fortunate position to complete at 6000 words

i dispise you AsyLum, but hey, at least i cut mine down

 

[Melkcrate]

Yeah I did a shot story and the word limit sure did suck. Even though our 8000 word limit rips the one for essays, it's still not enough to represent a year's work.

<quote>i was so cut</quote> Hahah you can so tell that we are all from NSW here by the way ppl talk.

 

[Daemontreu]

I did an extended poem, so I was glad when my word limit came up. There's only so long I can crap on for before I start repeating myself (he he he). And I was right up to the limit. Well, close anyway.

But I can imagine how the short story limit would be a bitch. Just stories I write in my spare time (nuh, don't ask, so sad) are way over that.

 

[Leap]

I edited mine down to just under the word limit, then the teacher told me that it doesn't matter if its a few hundred words over and told me to add more.

 

[Daemontreu]

Originally posted by Leap
I edited mine down to just under the word limit, then the teacher told me that it doesn't matter if its a few hundred words over and told me to add more.

It doesn't matter if it's over by a little? We were never told that. Well, I mean I'm guessing their not going to sit there and count every word - or get some spiffy machine to do it, but still... would have been nice to know.

Ah well. Teachers, what can you do?

 

[spin spin sugar]

i wish i had more for the reflection statement

 

[Daemontreu]

Originally posted by spin spin sugar
i wish i had more for the reflection statement

I know. So much to say in such a short space. Had to cut out a heap o' good stuff.

 

[rosie rose]

here, here
(v. meaningful reply, i know)

 

[sparkles]

length of essays.

Im going to try to hold my tongue, but come on guys, really. You do realise that there are a number of good reasons to have a word limit - both for you and the marker, dont you?

For starters word limits help the student realise what is neede - not what they would like to include but what is really, really, really necessary.

If this doesnt convince you.. think about uni students. We have word limits too you know. If you think 5000 words is bad - try 500. It makes things much more difficult

*smile*

 

[MiuMiu]

I think I went over by 700 words. I don't really care, I hated my major work and just wanted to finish it. Although I like word counts cos it means I can stop writing!!

I hate word counts in things like legal though. I could go on forever in legal....

 

[Grey Council]

lol, sparkles is a teacher. Just so the rest of you know that its 'us' vs 'her kind' (english teachers).

Just joking. Seriously though, think about it for a while. Its better for us that there is a word limit. In a short story there is no room for anything that doesnt directly contribute to your conclusion/ending. In a novel, people tend to waffle, and the story sometimes drifts, even with professional writers.

For the teachers marking it, having like, what, 2000 short stories/reflection statements and whatever else to mark in a short period of time... isnt really fun. By the time they are half way through, they are prolly in a bad mood, and words seem to merge together. What really finishes it all off is the fact that all papers are double marked (two different people mark each essay). They start to lose their ability to distinguish between good works and bad works. hehe, thats why some of the worst books ive read in my life have won international awards (its my opinion anyway).

I suppose there are other reasons as well, but I cant be bothered mentioning em (aka nothing else comes to mind). heehee, 4u english better be worth it. I started in the holidays just finished, but my short story was sounding SSOOO bad, I got depressed, and I havent looked at it for over a week now. :S

 

[AsyLum]

Originally posted by AsyLum
hehe i was in the fortunate position to complete at 6000 words

<-- testament to ultimate po-mo

 

[Enlightened_One]

Word limits are the most lowdown, foul and dirty insults that can
be given to a writer. Honestly, how many decent bloody works
have lost some of aura because they've had to be shortened.

Word limits simply limit the greatness of a work of art.

P.S Once I had me some fun, back when I was a wee little year
nine brat. The history teacher set an essay, and nerdy ol' me
wrote about ten pages more than everybody else's two.
After that she put word limits on.


Unite together and ban word limits for the good of all writers out there