50

It's so easy to say 'this is the last one'

  • It's so easy to say 'this is the last one' when you're still holding it and haven't eaten it yet.
  • Like the last cigarrete.Or the last sip of a milk-shake.Or the last subway train...
  • my opportunity to show Jen how I felt before graduation was dwindling. I'd suffered my silent desire long enough, so after I crossed the stage & shook the Principle's hand I turned
  • thrice more, performing a perfect triple axle. I stuck the landing. "I WANT TO BE A BALLERINA" I shouted to the crowded auditorium, and to Jen. Silence, followed by
  • constructive criticism and polite discussion. "Perhaps you should keep your hands closer to your chest," a frenchman suggested. I respected his opinion and calmly removed my tu
  • xedo from its respective coat hanger. "Very well then", I managed to chortle, between expulsions of gaseous queefs from my mouth. What happened then was remarkable, revolting. I
  • did the mash. I did the monster mash. The doctor in the lab was totally surprised. The monster mash when done properly requires a heavy amount of
  • booze to be drunk enough to do it
  • with finesse, class and flair. Wait--this time I would do it without being drunk! I checked my wig, hung the bell from my tragus, straightened my fishnets, closed my eyes and
  • tugged my ear like Carol Burnett then wiggled my left pinkie then my right, spritzed lemon juice on my tongue, but by the time I got through all this I was ten minutes behind.
Started
2012-05-04 00:39:55
Finished
2012-05-06 02:58:49

30 Comments

  1. Avatar

    Bad. May 06 2012 @ 04:45

    I totally misspelled axel. I don't know how I feel about that.
  2. Avatar

    SlimWhitman May 06 2012 @ 06:27

    Bad Axel! Bad!
  3. Avatar

    Bad. May 06 2012 @ 06:38

    When the timer turns red, I just panic and all proofreading goes out the window.
  4. Avatar

    SlimWhitman May 06 2012 @ 09:38

    That's what the "Try again" link is for. The timer frees up folds that are not being worked on. At least that's how I see it. Gotta respect your fold quality if you use only 4 min on all of them.
  5. Avatar

    Bad. May 06 2012 @ 09:44

    On occasion I'll just press my browser's back button if I'm almost finished but just don't make it, but I do try my best to abide by the timer when I fold. It's a part of the game for me. Certainly no disrespect to anyone who doesn't, though.
  6. Avatar

    Bad. May 06 2012 @ 10:04

    I actually just noticed the "Try Again" button existed- what a nice feature!
  7. Avatar

    mensaque May 06 2012 @ 15:54

    I've lost count on how many times I had to find the same fold and start again...and sometimes I had something really good going on and then...time's up and I loose track of my thoughts!English is not my first language and I often loose precious seconds correcting my spelling,or else I'm almost finished and still with 30something seconds to spare and something goes wrong!The fold goes away steeling me the right to end it properly!Where's this magic button you talked about?
  8. Avatar

    mensaque May 06 2012 @ 15:56

    PS.:Can't believe how fast this story got finished!Most of them take months...
  9. Avatar

    mensaque May 06 2012 @ 16:00

    PS.#2:Has anyone noticed the "steeling"?It was suposed to be "stealing".See what I mean?
  10. Avatar

    Zetawilk May 06 2012 @ 16:16

    What "Try Again" button?
  11. Avatar

    Bad. May 06 2012 @ 17:25

    http://i.imgur.com/sfzYl.png I circled it in red for you, it pops up if the time expires on a fold that contains text.
  12. Avatar

    Boognish May 06 2012 @ 17:27

    Good job guys. "Tuxedo" was really the only word I could think of to finish the letters "Tu".
  13. Avatar

    Bad. May 06 2012 @ 17:30

    I THINK the intended setup was tutu, but I got a kick out of where you took it.
  14. Avatar

    m80 May 06 2012 @ 17:36

    Further to mensaque's comment, would anybody care to share opinions/observations as to why some stories move faster than others?
  15. Avatar

    Zetawilk May 06 2012 @ 17:39

    Fortuitous conditions. Most people use the "latest stories". Drinking on Friday night. Not having a boyfriend on Saturday night.
  16. Avatar

    Boognish May 06 2012 @ 17:40

    Not going to church on Sunday.
  17. Avatar

    Bad. May 06 2012 @ 17:44

    The time of day, the writers involved, and whether or not a fold gets added to it before it falls off of the front page may be factors, but these are just guesses. I usually just use the add>random fold option.
  18. Avatar

    m80 May 06 2012 @ 17:49

    True...I'm looking for observation/opinions about the types of folds that people tend to add to, and/or the types that seem to bring things to a screeching halt. Those "oldest" stories were the "latest" at one point, and something stopped their forward motion.
  19. Avatar

    Zetawilk May 06 2012 @ 17:49

    Personally I like to work on old folds. Until I have folded every story I can possibly fold.
  20. Avatar

    Zetawilk May 06 2012 @ 17:58

    Well, perhaps the vague or terse ones require the lest involvement on the reader's part. They can add just about any idea when there are less details to work with. Less complex stories require less attention to these details, and also less risk of misunderstanding. Of course, in some cases people just blatantly ignore the flow of the story. But if the story is allowed to flow without piling too much on, that's a fine line of lubrication to apply. Of course, one can hardly expect too much coherency given the intrinsic nature of the medium.
  21. Avatar

    Zetawilk May 06 2012 @ 18:00

    *Least. In summary, maybe it's all a matter of simplification. That's usually the problem I run into when I find I have to shorten a fold, which is the biggest issue I encounter, personally. It can be difficult to evade the temptation of not becoming too restraining, however. Sorry for the double-post, I tend to never finish an idea, and attempt to cut myself off before it's through. I guess.
  22. Avatar

    mensaque May 06 2012 @ 18:28

    Thanks,for showing us the "magic button",Bad!It apeared to me once,but most times I'm left to my own devices!
  23. Avatar

    Boognish May 06 2012 @ 18:30

    I've only been on this site for a couple of days, but what I've noticed is that it has a lot to do with how open each fold is. In a story like this, there aren't really many factors that stay the same in each fold, and there isn't very much linear progression to it, which allows the writer to be as creative as they want to add on to a chaotic story like this. My kind of story.
  24. Avatar

    SlimWhitman May 07 2012 @ 04:36

    That sums it up very well. Giving a tantalizing amount of detail (but not too much), and letting the next folder have enough freedom to use her/his imagination. If you are curious yourself about how it will continue, that's a good sign. That "tu" leading into "tuxedo" is a nice example.
  25. Avatar

    Zetawilk May 07 2012 @ 05:06

    I can only see the first twenty comments to this story.
  26. Avatar

    SlimWhitman May 07 2012 @ 06:25

    Maybe there is a limit of 20 displayed comments? The second longest comment thread is 18 comments: http://foldingstory.com/86vsf/#comments I'll send FS a note.
  27. Avatar

    noah May 07 2012 @ 07:39

    Hi all. The comments should be showing now. There was a hard display limit of 20 comments for no particular reason, which has been lifted. I'm enjoying the conversation, so keep it up! Thanks for folding.
  28. Avatar

    noah May 07 2012 @ 07:56

    And just a quick clarification of the timer setup. When you click on a story to fold it, the story gets locked for the duration of the timer. Once the four minutes is up, the site will unlock the story and push you back to the main Add page. On the right side of that page—as some of you have found—you will see your line with a Try Again button. You can then copy the text, or simply click the Try Again button. The line you were working on will automatically get placed back into the fold field, and you get another four minutes. While the timer IS intended to move things along, we tried to balance that with not losing a fold if you run out of time.
  29. Avatar

    buddyboy4711 May 07 2012 @ 11:23

    The most important factor in determining whether or not I add to a fold is how far along the story is. I usually like to add to ones that are barely started or in the middle, and leave the twist endings to M(r). Shyamalan (although I do try to end a story every now and then to mix it up). The only folds I consistently avoid are ones with pop culture references that I need some help from my Google tab to understand.
  30. Avatar

    49erFaithful May 07 2012 @ 12:21

    This has to be the quickest turnaround on a story from start to finish that I've ever folded. I don't see anything very different about the story that made that happen, I just think there was a lot of site activity and someone always happened to be ready to add to the previous fold. Once a story gets pushed out of the top 5 that show up under Open Folds on the homepage, I'm sure it's less likely to get added to and I bet this one never (or rarely) did. I most commonly add to a story from those 5 default options unless I want to start a story or go through some older ones. It varies though, sometimes I'll get on a roll from a particular author's personal supply. And I'm no stranger to the Try Again button. Glad everyone knows of that option now because it's obviously useful if you need another couple minutes to work things out. Cheers, -Faithful

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