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We know there are a lot of creative people on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, so we're really curious to see what you guys dream up for this contest. Please give us feedback here. What do you think about using status updates for creative purposes?

I think it's a great idea! Are people allowed to re-tell stories they have written before (just shortened here or there to fit with the status update's character limit)?

I think it's a fine idea. However, did I miss what it is the winner receives? I don't see a mention of it.

Sure, feel free to re-tell a previously written story! The inspiration behind the contest is to use a new medium of technology, the "status update," for creative
storytelling. How the status update figures into your storytelling is up to you!

The winner will receive an Amazon gift certificate, as well as publication on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ as the first status update story contest winner!

Isn't this box for comments that are another type of status updates? So you could limit us to the number of characters you decide and we could maybe maybe use this? Nothing like over 700 words... just say "20 words or less or else"....

Okay, I posted my story. Even though I checked that each line was under 140 characters, it cut two lines short. Other than that, it seemed to work.

I forgot to put ""START STORY: read my submission for the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Status Update Writing Contest"" for my first post! Is that going to disqualify me??

Paula wrote: "I forgot to put ""START STORY: read my submission for the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Status Update Writing Contest"" for my first post! Is that going to disqualify me??"

Paula, don't worry. Those start/stop posts make it easier for us to find and read your story, but we won't disqualify anyone for this minor technicality.

Paula wrote: "I forgot to put ""START STORY: read my submission for the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Status Update Writing Contest"" for my first post! Is that going to disqualify me??"

Well, I started over again after two postings, but you can see where the START STORY is and then I continued after that. Sorry!

I was just preparing for the contest, and I've noticed while looking at other people's submissions that some updates get cut off at less than 140 characters. I see that David also seems to have noticed this issue. Is there a way to avoid this when I start posting my story?

You asked what I think about the contest and here's my answer: I can't stop posting updates! It's addicting. It's a beautiful day outside, and I'm missing it completely. It's evil. And I'm having so much fun.

Maryse, each post is limited to 140 characters. As you type, you will see a number counting down in grey text below the box (for example, 139 characters remaining, and so on). If the countdown turns red, you are out of space (-5 characters).

Can you give examples (links) of posts cut off before 140?

An example would be in Emmy's story, here is the link:
http://www.goodreads.com/user_status/...

and here is a copy/paste of an example of an entry:
"#17 I inhaled deeply, held in his aroma and exhaled the words, ‘the� power� of� love,� slowly enough to make me feel dizzy. “I c"

When I enter that into Microsoft Word without the quotation marks on either end, I get 128 characters including spaces. This is just an example of one, but there are other updates that seem to do this as well. Maybe I'm just not looking at it properly?

Maryse: the reason is that particular entry uses a bunch of characters from microsoft word that actually count as multiple characters.

For instance: �

MS Word counts that as one character, but any ASCII storage system (like our database) counts it as 3. Note that if you just type three dots, it will also count as three - this is just related to special MS Word characters like the triple dot and the quotation marks.

Aren't character encodings are fun!

Ohh! Alright that makes a lot of sense and will be very helpful to know. Thanks!!

Are we allowed to do more than one? That was kind of fun.

Wow! It took a bit of time to figure out how this works, but I got it now. It should be interesting and fun.

Overall I've got to say this contest was a lot of fun and I hope it is repeated again soon so we can all give it another go! I like the idea of the status update as the writing medium, it's a fun challenge :)

I agree, I thought it was fun too. It was a bit of a challenge, but I enjoyed it.

I'm looking forward to reading them!

How do we know who is chosen?

Much as I got a few muddles in mind, it was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to try out our writing skills.. or lack of them (no, not possible when you see how adept everyone is at their comments and reviews)! Great practice, and I'm sure I will know what I'm doing next time! Thanks for thinking it up, it was a lark!
Where cut off sentences are found in mine, it's because my sentences were sometimes too long and had to be posted over two updates, some I shortened so I wouldn't break a sentence, but sometimes it was inevitable. When I wrote my story out ahead of time I didn't realize it would be so hard to fit smoothly. Would love to see all the stories.

Definitely a problem with separating paragraphs. Update doesn't allow for HRts so everything runs in together, I think that must have been a problem with everyone, I can't imagine that I would have been the only one with that problem.

I enjoyed the contest, though it is a bit tedious trying to read the entries. Overall, it was a great idea.

I have discussed this with Jessica, but still believe my original status updates were cut off way before 140 characters. I watched the character count on my first story try, then looked at the posts, and they were cut off.
I redid the story with about one or two short sentences at a time. Very time consuming. I guess I'll find out how this shook out for me and everyone when you show where we can read the stories. OR are you only going to pick a few top stories for reading??? I, personally, want to be able to read many, even if they got "cut off" and then with an explanation from you as to why it was cut off DESPITE posts remaining under 140 characters as the character count noted as we typed.

Jennifer wrote: "How do we know who is chosen? "

This is what I want to know, too.