Everyday Mormon Writer is reporting that four of the stories in the Four Centuries of Mormon Stories Contest are within three votes of the top position and all of the stories are within ten votes. This means that if you haven’t voted yet, you really should make your voice heard — because it will count. And since voting closes at the end of the day Tuesday, Nov. 6, this weekend is your bet for making it happen.
With that in mind, I have a method for you that will make it easier to decide and vote. It’s the same method that I suggested for the Mormon Lit Blitz but updated for this contest:
First: open up your email program, create a new message, type VOTE in the subject line, and then the numbers 1-4 (each on its own line).
Second: click on this link. If you have a lot of browser tabs open, you might want to close them first or open a new browser window.
Third: Scroll down and right click on each of the contest entries, which are linked to from the post I linked to in the second step. You should now have 12 open tabs. Click on each one and read as far as your interest is captured — or just skim. If you like what you read, go on to the next tab. If you don’t like it or have “meh” feelings, close the tab. That entry is now out of contention. Do this with each open tab. Try to get down to at least six or seven in your first read through. If in the end you don’t have it down to four, click on the tabs, re-skim, read deeper if you want to. If you are having a hard time making a decision, take a deep breath or two and just go with your gut.
Fourth: Now that you have your final four, click through them real quick and think about which ones you responded to the most strongly. If your browser allows you to do this (and most should) begin re-arranging the four tabs with the piece you like most to the left and the one you like least to the right. Keep re-arranging until the order feels right. The moment you feel like it feels right STOP and go immediately to the next step. If you don’t, there’s a danger you’ll second-guess yourself and then the process will drag out. Don’t let that happen.
Fifth: Type the name or title in your email in the order in which your tabs are arranged (left to right slots into 1 through 4). Copy and paste this email address into the “To:” field: everydaymormon@gmail.com. Hit send. And you’re done.
Congratulations and thank you for your support of Mormon literature!
A Motley Vision 