Pause

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to the future of this site. This has required me to give some thought to the past of this site as well.

The condensed version is that while I have really enjoyed reading your responses, I believe my concept really only works with more participants. See, I try to spread the wins around a bit so everyone feels the love and nobody wins more than once a week. But with the same few participating on a regular basis (regardless of how seriously talented, witty, and faithful you have all been), it seems like I'm not always able to choose the "best" option. I'm feeling quite backed into the corner with the concept.

So what to do? Because of the specificity of the concept, I'm not sure. The whole point is to have seven distinct categories and daily winners try to collect all of the badges. If I stop naming winners or do away with the categories, that destroys the concept making this just another writing cue blog.

I'm also at a point off-blog where I'm more slammed than usual (oh, the joys of continuing my education) and could use a breather anywhere I can get it.

For right now, I'm going to put new cues on pause. I will continue naming winners for the remaining cues so if you haven't participated (or want to try again - multiple entries per person is totally acceptable!), go for it!

I'm completely open to suggestions. Please don't give up on the site quite yet. I'll post an update soon.

100th Follower!

Congratulations to Monica Manning, the 100th follower of Seven Days Seven Answers. As such, I am gifting her with a Wildcard win.

Thanks everyone for your support of this blog!

Desperately Seeking Cues

As I've mentioned over on my other blog, I'm going to be heading off for vacation in a few weeks. Since I don't want to strand you here without cues, I'm once again pleading begging selling my soul in exchange for some cue suggestions.

You can use the handy dandy Suggest a Cue form or just email me. Or tweet me. I'm not picky, just let me know. If I use your cue, I'll hook you up with your name in lights, some kind words, and a link to your blog.

Also, I won't be able to name winners in my totally consistent usual haphazard manner for about twelve days so everyone will need to play nice and I'll start catching up winners as soon as I return home.

Thanks in advance!

Amazon $20 Giveaway Winner

By my calculations, I had 73 entries. Given 1-73, Random.org chose:

#24.

And according to my spreadsheet of entries, that is Ryan Ashley Scott (@ryanashleyscott).

Congratulations to Ryan Ashley Scott! The girl with three names and I never know what to call her so I usually go with RAS. And then I think about raspberries. Not the fruit, the plllllllllllllllbt kind. She also has some sort of magical powers over random.org. So drop me an email with the email address you want the $20 Amazon gift certificate sent to and I'll make it happen!

Stay tuned for more giveaways in the future. The next will probably be based on participation so get in the habit now!

Least Favorite Day?

We've been at it for approximately three weeks of cues and two weeks of winners. I'd like to ask you to vote in the poll located in the right sidebar.

Which day is your least favorite?

The poll is anonymous. If you'd like to leave specific information or suggestions in the comments of this post, that would be fantastic. Or you can always feel free to use the Contact Me page.

I'm looking for ways to make this more fun for you, the participants. And also to increase your numbers - cues with only two responses aren't really what I had in mind.

Please be honest but please also be constructive.

Welcome!

Today, I'm officially launching "Seven Days Seven Answers". I'm hoping it turns out to be a lot of fun for everyone involved.

The concept is fairly simple. Each of the seven days has a theme with a cue. You answer the cue in the comments and a winner will be chosen. Accumulate a win on each day and you become an ultimate winner, complete with a prize!

For more information, please read here and let me know if there are questions. Otherwise, Monday's Day One Cue is below - get started!

Free Buttons!

Want a shiny button for your site? There are several below to choose from, along with the HTML code to add it to your blog. (Just add an html/javascript gadget to your layout and paste the code inside) If you have a suggestion or request, just leave it in the comments and I'll see what I can do to accommodate.

Also, if you win a day and want that button for a post or your sidebar, the code for those individual winner badges are on the winner pages.


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Suggest a Cue

Cues and Days

In the News: (Day 1)
This category features news-related prompts.
Sample cues:

• Given a headline, write the story that goes with it.
• Explain an out-of-context quote.
• Write a follow-up story to a recent event.

Checklist (Day 2)
A list of words will be accompanied by a scenario in which to use them.

Now What? (Day 3)
Write what comes next.
Sample cues:

• What happens next in a story or scene?
• Finish a phrase.
• Tell what happens in a situation.

Letters (Day 4)
Given either a first line or a set-up, write a letter appropriate to the situation.

Storytime (Day 5)
When a new story begins, a starting paragraph will be provided. Everyone will write paragraph #2. A winner will be chosen and the next week everyone will write paragraph #3. And so on, building on the previous winners, until we reach a conclusion. That particular cue category lasted for about a month before I decided to replace it.

So I Have This Friend... (Day 5)
Give your best advice to this friend.

A Thousand Words (Day 6)
On this day, a photo will be provided.
Sample cues:

• Explain what happened before (or after) this photo was taken.
• Write a caption.

Take Two (Day 7)
Given a second chance, how would this be different? Rewrite the ending to a book, movie, scene, fable, quote, etc.

Wildcard
This category can be absolutely anything. Absolutely. Anything.

Contact Us

About

What is it?
Seven Days Seven Answers is a daily opportunity for creativity. Each day of the week is assigned a category. A question, scenario, or some sort of prompt will be posted asking for you to respond. Every post will have a winning response which receives an award. The goal is to reach the Winners Circle by collecting a win on each of the seven days (or a combination of days and wildcards) and becoming an Ultimate Winner.

Where do I write?
You can either respond in the comments of the post or in a post on your own blog (provide a link in the comments for that cue).

How do I know if I'm responding correctly?
Cues are deliberately vague and open to interpretation. That's the point! Whatever springs to your mind as an "answer", that's the correct response.

How often can I answer?
Answer every day. Don't answer every day (though you risk making me cry). I don't even mind if you answer multiple times on an entry.

How long do I have to write? When are winners announced?
You can write on old prompts forever if you like. Winners will be announced in approximately one week.

How are winners chosen?
Winners can be chosen by any number of methods.

• I'll pick the entry I like best
• I'll let someone else pick the entry they like best
• Poll
• Random selection
• Eeny meeny miney mo
• Or whatever other method sounds good at the time

How do wildcards work?
Some days, instead of posting a prompt in the regular category, a wildcard will be posted instead. The winning response on that day will receive a special wildcard award which counts towards the "seven awards" on any day the participant is missing.

What do Daily Winners receive?
Daily winners receive their name (and a link to an appropriate website) on the daily winners page. They also receive the right to post the shiny winners button on their website if they want. In addition, winners receive the unwavering respect and serious street cred among their peers. From time to time, there may be small prizes given to a randomly-chosen daily winner.

What about the Ultimate Winners and the Winners Circle?
Winners who have collected wins for all 7 days will also receive their name (and a link) on the Winners Circle page. They may also receive a tangible prize but we'll deal with that when we get there.