[2020] Voting for the 8th Mini-Poll - Multi-Week Prompts

[Peter]

Personally, I'm fine with it the way it's worded. If it ends up on our list, I would definitely do three books in the same genre written by authors from different countries to see how they compare, but I don't think that needs to be specified in the prompt. I'm free to do it that way, but if someone else wants to do same genre set in different countries, that's an option for them too. Both ways would be interesting - using authors from different countries would be interesting to see how different real world geographical or cultural areas approach similar themes in writing, while different settings would be interesting to see how those settings may affect the characters or plot.

This year seems to have a lot of focus the very specific wording of each prompt and the intent behind it. I'm really curious as why because I've been a member of this group from the outset and I don't remember us ever being this hyper-focused on the semantics behind each prompt. We've always just left it up to each individual member to interpret the prompt the way they see fit, which often leads to creative or unique ways of approaching them, and discussions that stem from looking at the prompts from different perspectives. I'm just curious about why this shift in focus came around and why we are looking to nail down the exact meaning of each prompt this year. From my perspective, it makes the list a lot more rigid and less flexible to individual tastes, reading preferences, or even outside the box ways of approaching the list. I like having the potential to interpret the prompts in my own way, and I really enjoy seeing how other people approach them in their own way.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I agree with you Peter... to me, the intentions behind the prompt should be stated clearly when you suggest the prompt -- anything that changes the meaning of the prompt after it's been suggested and seconded then goes against what people have already voted for (especially if you're limiting the prompt further, like in the case of the same genre/different country prompt).

I will say that I often wish for clarity in the prompts though... some of them come out so wordy or convoluted that I think making it more streamlined/clearer (like with the identities prompt this round) without changing the intent is ok and something we should be doing to make the prompts more approachable.

[dalex]

I question prompts that I don't understand, like it seems something important is missing in the wording.

"Three books in the same genre from different countries."

WHAT is from different countries? The authors? The settings? Something else?

It's not that I don't know how to interpret it. It's that I don't understand what the prompt even means.

I'm just asking the original suggester agree to some word editing to make the prompt say what they meant it to say. I don't want to change the entire prompt.

For example, several polls ago there was the prompt - "A crime fiction book." I wanted to know if the original suggester meant "a book from the crime fiction genre" or "a book in which a crime occurs." Most people were going into the voting assuming it meant "a book in which a crime occurs" but the original suggester said that what they'd meant the prompt to be was "a book from the crime fiction genre." That change in wording could have totally changed the voting outcome.

[Ellie]

Well I'm confused, people were suggesting changing the wording of the prompt I suggested to something different from my intent. I'm fine with how it is, but someone suggested rewording it to what I meant in the first place so I said fine. Really I'm fine with it as is but I didn't want it changed it to suggest it's a setting prompt if the current wording wasn't making sense.

I do sometimes worry my wording is a UK/US misunderstanding. I'm constantly discovering things that are said different in US English than UK English.

[Peter]

I totally agree and we've had discussions about clarifying or reducing the wordiness of prompts since we started creating our own list. You're completely right, some ideas come in and are convoluted, vague, or just unclear. Clarity is great. It just seems this year we are going beyond clarity into the realm of semantics. I'm just curious as to why, because I've always thought the flexibility of being able to have some individual interpretation in the prompts has been one of our strengths. With regard to the 3 books/same genre/different counties prompt I just see determining how to take the "different countries" part as a personal choice and not one that really needs to be clarified. Just do it the way it works for you.

[Nadine in NY]

I think we are picky about meaning and wording every year, but it’s more noticeable this year because we have this one day waiting period before voting.

[Peter]

Nadine wrote: "I think we are picky about meaning and wording every year, but it’s more noticeable this year because we have this one day waiting period before voting."

That's a good observation. I hadn't thought of that, but there is more discussion before the voting now.

[°~Amy~°]

Nadine wrote: "I think we are picky about meaning and wording every year, but it’s more noticeable this year because we have this one day waiting period before voting."

I agree with this statement 100%. I think we were given an opportunity to discuss different ways to interpret prompts but what is happening is that prompts themselves are being nitpicked and changed. Once the suggestion period is over, I think the wording of the prompts should be set in stone, but that's just my opinion.

[Chrissy]

Oftentimes, “streamlining” wording changes the prompt. I’m feeling that way about the suggestions and complaints about the one I suggested (about identities). I actually thought about my wording for a while before posting, and I’m not claiming it is perfect but it says what I meant for it to say.

[Avery]

I think I prefer the cutesy categorical suggestions. Beauty/Brains/Brawn, seasons, 5 senses, deck of cards, and binary opposites. There are so many options, and they just seem fun for me.

While I like it, I'm really disappointed to see the Four Elements of Astrology (fire, earth, water, air) prompt on the list since it was just on the 2018 list. There's so many other options that are just as good to have a repeat so soon.

As far as prompts I really don't like: Two Books from Different Genres that are Connected - This really just feels like such a free choice. To me, it's just saying read 2 books and find any connection. Also, we already have the first book in a series as a prompt, so I don't want duology. I tried really hard yesterday to find books that would work on my TBR for both of the country prompts, but was surprised when I couldn't find anything, or realized it was too time-consuming and just not fun to research where the author was from if it wasn't stated in the bio/summary.

[Ellie]

Avery wrote: "I think I prefer the cutesy categorical suggestions. Beauty/Brains/Brawn, seasons, 5 senses, deck of cards, and binary opposites. There are so many options, and they just seem fun for me..."

There's definitely a split in the group over this, but I feel maybe the more connected prompts are going to encourage people not to vote for no multi-week prompt at all. I 67% love Beauty/Brains/Brawn but I'm stuck on brawn.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

For Brawn, I feel like I will probably go with a long book, especially since we already have the Olympics prompt that could cover a sports book. Also, I just need a push to read a long book lol.

[dalex]

Synonyms for brawn - robustness, toughness, powerfulness, mightiness

So I’m thinking you could do something about emotional strength or abuse of power or something instead of muscles or sports or whatever.

[Avery]

Emily wrote: "For Brawn, I feel like I will probably go with a long book, especially since we already have the Olympics prompt that could cover a sports book. Also, I just need a push to read a long book lol."

True about already having an Olympic prompt. I was just looking up synonyms for brawn when dalex commented. It could be about inner strength, or maybe just a super challenging book for you to get through. Themes of power, dominance, etc.

Besides high page counts, what about like a physically large book like the illustrated books for Harry Potter.

Characters who are seen as "tough boys" or very strong-willed. Instead of athletes, what about super-heroes, veterans, or firefighters?

[Peter]

The idea I was considering was maybe a strong animal. There are a couple books on my TBR list that have an animal in the title often associated to strength.

The Night Tiger
Bearskin
The Dragon Republic

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Mythological books would also work -- books about strong gods.

[Katie]

We're trying a new poll platform this time. If anyone has any issues with it, please let us know. It is in Google Docs, and I'm unable to access Google Docs currently, so I can't make any updates to prompt wordings. I think if any prompt wins that needs rewording, there is also an opportunity for it at that time. I just don't want people to think I'm ignoring all of the discussion, haha.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Just voted and it all went smoothly! I hope the capabilities of Google forms helps y'all with figuring out the votes!

I ended up going 3 up 3 down, narrowing it from 6 up 6 down.

My top three were Beauty, Brains, Brawn; PRIDE; and the binary. I really like two week prompts, so I'm hoping that this last one gets in.

[Jillian]

Voting went smoothly here too. 4 up and 2 down.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Voting worked fine for me. 3 up, 3 down, though honestly I don't think I really hated any of the suggestions. It was more about which ones I was least inspired by.

[Liz]

I would honestly be fine with any of these choices. No matter what wins (if a multi-prompt makes it through at all), I know there are plenty of great book options to meet any of them. I ended up voting 6 up.

[°~Amy~°]

I'm going to be one of, or maybe the only bad guy to vote against a multi week at all.

I did then vote for 4 that I could at least work with, Beauty/Brains/Brawn, Pride flag, 5 senses and same genre from different countries.

Two that I absolutely would not want are books connected "in some way" (that's just way too vague) and the memoir/biography of an author (I'm not interested in memoirs or biographies).

I am very interested to see how the voting turns out. Is it Wednesday yet? lol

[Zaz]

The suggestions were pretty good! Luckily, it wasn't too much difficult for me to choose the ones I wanted to vote for, as some were really standing out.

I picked the 3B, the own voices, the 5 senses, the 3 identities and Past, Present, Future.
I'm not sure I really want the 3 identities, because I'll have difficulties to find something I'm not really familiar with, except religion (and I don't like reading books about this topic).
No ideas either for Past, Present, Future, as I don't know what link I could choose for it, but maybe a city or country could work nicely.

[Jill]

The vote site was fine for me and I am in the Uk. Just thought I'd say.
I put yes to multi-week but it isn't that I particularly want one, just that it will hurry things along quicker.

[Steve]

°~Amy~° wrote: "I'm going to be one of, or maybe the only bad guy to vote against a multi week at all.

I did then vote for 4 that I could at least work with, Beauty/Brains/Brawn, Pride flag, 5 senses and same ge..."

I’m voting against it, too, but yes, we seem to be in a minority here!

[Jillian]

Jill wrote: "The vote site was fine for me and I am in the Uk. Just thought I'd say.
I put yes to multi-week but it isn't that I particularly want one, just that it will hurry things along quicker."

I am the same way. I'd be okay without a multi-week prompt but I want to see 2-4 new prompts this week.

[Steve]

Jillian wrote: "Jill wrote: "The vote site was fine for me and I am in the Uk. Just thought I'd say.
I put yes to multi-week but it isn't that I particularly want one, just that it will hurry things along quicker..."

I wonder if next year it might be better to vote on whether we want a multi week prompt in a separate poll. It seems some people are thinking “well I may as well vote for it anyway since we’re taking a week on it.”

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I generally don’t care one way or another about multi-week prompts, so, for me, the options make a difference. I would have probably voted yes if it were on its own poll, but no if I saw the suggestions and weren’t thrilled with them. That’s why the mods did it this way this year... people who are not inclined to want multi-week may change their mind if they liked the prompts.

[Jillian]

I wanted to see what the prompts were before voting. I’d have been fine not having one but I did not want to automatically disqualify them in case there were some great ideas.

I find the multi-week discussion interesting since I’m somewhat neutral on having it or not. I am glad there were a few that I really liked and most I would be okay if they make.

[dalex]

°~Amy~° wrote: "Two that I absolutely would not want are books connected "in some way" (that's just way too vague) and the memoir/biography of an author (I'm not interested in memoirs or biographies). "

The prompt about an author can be a novel. It doesn't have to be a memoir or biography.

"A memoir, biography, OR NOVELIZATION of the life of an author and a book by that author"

[Joan]

This was a fun vote. I hit submit but it didn’t seem to take. I hit it again and it did the same thing. I’m not sure if I voted twice or not at all.

[Rachel]

I'm in the minority too. I voted no (although it took me about half an hour to make up my mind) too, because it's not particularly important to me to have a multi-week prompt on the final list. I could live with any of the ones suggested here, but there weren't really any that jumped out at me as something that I absolutely needed to see on the list.

I ended up choosing 3 up and 3 down, and surprisingly enough, my own "5 senses" suggestion didn't even make my own top 3. I decided not to vote for it because I liked the idea better if it incorporated all 5 senses, and since I already voted for the original version of this prompt as a single week, it's already on my personal rejects challenge anyway and I have the freedom to stretch it to cover all 5.

I voted for Beauty, Brains & Brawn because I really liked that one last year too, and I think of all the prompts here, that is the one that I am most strongly invested in. I also voted for the PRIDE flag because it fit several of the books I was already planning on reading, and I liked that it was own voices, which made it a little more potentially challenging than the other diverse prompt that was suggested. I also voted for the Past, Present, Future prompt because I like themes where the prompts are connected but not necessarily the books, and this one has the potential to work either way.

I downvoted the biography/memoir/novelization because even though it included a fiction option, I'm still not very interested in reading about an author's life. I also downvoted the two books connected in some way because it was too vague and seemed liked a freebie to me. And I also downvoted the books from the same genre published 50 years apart, just because that doesn't fit well with what I'm currently interested in reading.

[°~Amy~°]

dalex wrote: "°~Amy~° wrote: "Two that I absolutely would not want are books connected "in some way" (that's just way too vague) and the memoir/biography of an author (I'm not interested in memoirs or biographie..."

I honestly can not think of one author that I would want to read a novel ABOUT either. Sorry!

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Joan wrote: "This was a fun vote. I hit submit but it didn’t seem to take. I hit it again and it did the same thing. I’m not sure if I voted twice or not at all."

We can check the results for your GR profile! That’s definitely a benefit of the new question :)

[Chinook]

I actually bought the book I’d use for my biography about an author because I think I’d like to read it regardless.

[Nadine in NY]

I voted yesterday, but I was so focused on how to use my six votes that I can’t remember if I voted YES to a multi-prompt!!

This was a tough vote. I like a lot of these.

[Sophie]

Joan wrote: "This was a fun vote. I hit submit but it didn’t seem to take. I hit it again and it did the same thing. I’m not sure if I voted twice or not at all."

I checked the results and there’s nothing with your profile name on the spreadsheet could you try again please? If it still doesn’t work, please send me your answer via PM, so I can enter them manually (and send you a printscreen to show you I didn’t cheat haha)

[Serendipity]

Just voted and I thought it was a shame we had to vote yes or no as to whether or not we wanted a multi-week prompt. I wanted to skip that since I really don't care one way or another. Since I did have an opinion of prompts I liked or didn't I had to vote but no idea whether I ticked yes or no!

[Ellie]

Thanks for the suggestions on what to do with "brawn", I think I could go with something to do with a powerful animal. I still have to vote as I've so been busy this weekend I haven't thought about the voting at all. Haha!

As I'm planning to do a rejects challenge, I'm happy we have the round of suggestions and voting so even multi-week gets voted out, I can still do them.

I'm thinking of going for 3Bs, Past/Present/Future, Pride flag, genre/country and there's either one or two I want to downvote.

[Kat]

I voted to have a multi week prompt as I like it in theory. However, the last two years have been very uninspiring for me so it does depend what comes out as the winner. I'm hoping for a shorter link than four weeks as that can be a lot when you don't like the winner. There are some great 2/3 week ones so fingers crossed.

[Edie]

Kat wrote: "I voted to have a multi week prompt as I like it in theory. However, the last two years have been very uninspiring for me so it does depend what comes out as the winner. I'm hoping for a shorter li..."

I also don't care for 4 week prompts and used a couple downvotes on them.

[Pam]

I don’t remember how I voted but I don’t like the 4 week prompts (too many) or the ones that are too easy, like 3 years in a row. I could live with any of them, though, so it was a tough vote for me. I don’t even have a guess which one will win!

[Angie]

I've got no clue what will win this time around. I know I voted for Past, Present, and Future, as I have some fun ideas about that one. I think I also voted for published 50 years apart. I would be happy with most of them, though.

I did downvote the four elements prompt because we just had it last year, and I voted down the three countries touching prompt because we already have a fair few setting prompts.

I could work with both of those if they went through, though.

[Joanne]

The only one I downvoted was a book about an author and a book by that author. I upvoted 5 others I liked but I could find options for any prompt that wins I think.

[Joan]

Sophie wrote: "Joan wrote: "This was a fun vote. I hit submit but it didn’t seem to take. I hit it again and it did the same thing. I’m not sure if I voted twice or not at all."

I checked the results and there’s..."

I submitted on a computer this time. I think the problem was that I couldn't see the linking my profile part on my phone. I'm pretty sure it took this time.

[Katie]

Yep Joan, your vote took this time.