Thursday, June 29, 2006

Q & A 57 Where's my Guess the Plot?


I'm one of the minions who submitted "guess the plot" summaries filled with brutal eunuchs. Where did they all go? EE, can't you post some of those, maybe in an entry titled "Loser Plot Summaries"? I was hoping to see some good stuff by other minions.

You're referring to plot summaries like:

Dr. Rich Tapestry performs triple-bypass surgery on a brutal eunuch despite suspicions that the eunuch has laid the groundwork for a malpractice lawsuit.

Detective Tom Stevens is thrown into a world of intrigue when he discovers that the collection of Magic: The Gathering cards his son stole is actually the key to an ancient code protected by brutal eunuchs.

Here's the inside scoop on getting into Guess the Plot (which you may do by visiting Evil Editor's Gallimaufry. I usually wait until I have about ten plots. I need five fakes and the real one. The truly witty ones are in. The real one is in. At least one fake that has a chance people will buy it gets in, to satisfy those who want the game to be a challenge. If there are still openings and I can alter any of the fakes to make it truly witty, that one's in. If there are still openings, and I can come up with a good one myself, that one's in.

What's "truly witty," of course, is subjective, but clearly the more often eunuchs and zombies and sorcerers get mentioned, the less funny they become. You've seen how a Saturday Night Live skit will get laughs, and suddenly the same characters appear every week, and by the fourth time you're wondering why no one in the live audience has shot the actors?

Also, new readers find this blog daily, and start from the latest post, and have no idea what's funny about these older jokes, which weren't necessarily old when you submitted your plots, but have become old by the time the query is critiqued. You'll just have to trust Evil Editor to know what's best for his minions.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Woo hoo! With the honorable mention of my "Stolen Magic" plot line included in this post, I think I'm now batting 1000! Brutal eunuchs rule. I aspire to be one, someday.

ver word: jusgder
suggestion: judged

Anonymous said...

jusgder,

Let me get my pruning shears and needle-nosed pliers, and I'll meet ya out back.;)

Anonymous said...

Way to go Jusger! I thought I had a good plot for "Stolen Magic" too but EE must not have liked it. It involved spiky-haired professor Ekru who finds a magical mommy club.

Anonymous said...

One time my family was sitting around gabbing about the ancient Romans, how they had aquaducts and stuff, and my sister said, "And they had eunuchs!" And I laughed because I thought it was a joke about how old UNIX is.

Anonymous said...

Yes, brutal eunuchs rule, but don't forget the vigalante sorcerers! Or should that be the brutal, vigalante, eunuch-turned-zombie sorcerers...?

Can y'all tell I'm a long-time minion? I thought so. :)