caption-writing tips

These days it’s not fashionable to moan about poor English. But when it comes to caption writing, I think it’s essential to get things right. As Davie says, errors are very distracting and they undermine the cleverness of any wit. Fluent writing is a joy to read and is a better way to showcase your wit.

Mks u lk fckn stpd

On another site, I used to mention that it's only courtesy to get the grammar right - I often have to read a submission at least twice to understand what the author is trying to say, which, as you say, kills a joke stone dead. However, people get very uptight about this (and spelling errors), and start talking about dyslexics even when there aren't any involved.

Seems to be the favorite defense of a person who can't admit to a spelling mistake. I know what you mean. I've seen it myself.

The other problem I see very often is... the bizarre... ... use of the ellipses where it isn't needed...

I don't think that one can put too much emphasis on the importance of commas in a caption. Since we're all reading these jokes, we can't really use "comedic timing". Commas will give the reader a natural pause so that he "hears" the proper timing in his head.
This is, to say, don't go over, board with, the commas. Sometimes, less, is more.
Unless you're doing a William Shatner joke.

Pimp my anything, Synchronized anything, captions that end with ".. not what he expected.", the Priceless mastercard bit, Extreme anything, superglued anything.

Sounds like a good idea to me, and it would look 'neater' to compiled in one place.

Edit: ' X and Y on acid' seems to be another such one.

the most sincere form of flattery. A good caption will start a trend and before long wind up a cliche. Often an idea bubbles up and you're not conscious of where it came from until you come across a similar caption posted previously.

Another caption site I posted on had no limit on the amount of submissions. On that site, I loved using the cliches (after doing my more original captions), and it was good fun for all of us.
They usually only got a moderate amount of votes, but they were fun to read. This site seems to limit captions though, so it would probably be wise to avoid the cliches like the plague here.
Erm... anyway, no point in wasting valuable captions on something you know will only get a chuckle at the most, right?

Not submitting a caption makes me feel I've failed. The trick is to accept that I have. Not easy with an ego like mine.

But it's worth the restraint. I've never regretted walking away, but I have often looked back and wondered what i was thinking with some captions - particularly if someone else has already written a cracker.

...maybe God just posts more of them onto the site?

Come off it - how often have you walked away, thought about it, come up with a great caption, and then found someone else has submitted it?

...and well put too.

Inspect back alleys? Amuse yourself? Screw the down votes? Bang on? Get your mind out of the gutter, guys! I'll screw the down votes, but first they have to buy me dinner and get me drunk.

Is this the one you mean Eileen? Keith

I agree with Eileen(for once!)

ONCE YOU'VE THOUGHT OF A CAPTION, SLEEP ON IT. THE CHANCES ARE, YOU'LL IMPROVE IT NEXT DAY.

I like to get the reader to have to imagine someone out of frame by use of 'Voice off'

i AGREE,i TEND TO GO FOR THE WEIRD SLANT FIRST,THEN THE IMMEDIATE RESPONSE LAST

I think it best to be positive or be neutral and refrain from negative voting altogether. Too many use the down votes to boost their standing on the list or get the edge to be the caption with the photo or be vindictive. And so much of what is considered good or bad is a matter of taste which can really be across the map.

I'm not the most tolerant person on the planet, but I came to the same conclusion as Eileen. I only use 'thumbs up' now. But I agree with your point about keeping the site moving, so I might have to reconsider.

What should I do if I log in and find one really good caption, three OK ones, ten mediocre ones and five terrible ones?

Maybe this is a thought for a way to upgrade the site: we could award captions a score from 0 to 5.

In my opinion, negative voting is useful.

Firstly it discourages people from adding ill-thought-out, offensive or spam captions as they will be voted down and become less visible. I would prefer that bad captioneers are actively discouraged from the site, even if it means losing visitors in the short term. Overall quality is my number one priority. Quality breeds quality.

Secondly, negative voting means that new captions enter at the middle position on the "pile" as opposed to the bottom where they might not be so readily seen.

...and I really appreciate the opportunity to contribute.

Chris makes some more good points that I hadn't really considered.

I'm too much of an internet moron to know how much hassle it would be to change the voting system. If we can find a better way to encourage better use of the current system, that may well be a better solution.

[edit: did I just say better that many times?]

Quality is important, so I'll happily do my bit. How about if there's some clear guidance on what criteria you could use to vote 'up', 'down' or abstain? This tips page will help people too, probably.

Another thought: if the policing was down to me I'd be less democratic and just delete the crap captions, so credit to Chris for finding a more equitable way. I'm happy to support this and (hesitantly) gave a thumbs down to a couple of captions today.

for negative voting now.. but I still think it should be used for those captions that are glaringly bad/offensive/lame and NOT toward someone's sincere effort that you just happen to deem not up to snuff. Like Ryan said somewhere here - too liberal negative voting has a discouraging and inhibiting effect on creativity and the quality of future captions by that captioneer.

I see the need of the negative vote to get rid of offensive, rude or spamming captions, however, rather than having a + and - captions, why not have just a + option and then an option saying if something is offensive or rude, for admin. like Chris to check. Either this or just make everyone aware that the negative tool is for insulting or spamming captions, rather than for tactical voting and for sheer fun, then spamming or insulting ones can be deleted whilst those which have no reason to be negatively voted don't then get a negativ score.

Thanks, Ryan M.

..the tip with the fewest votes and located at the bottom of the list has the MOST comments and happens to be about being too liberal with negative votes and too stingy with thumbs ups! Everyone seems to be afraid to credit a good caption with a vote for fear someone will get the jump on them and some vote a decent caption down because they don't get the joke. The association or subtlety is lost on them.

Say out loud what what you see, say inside what you see,write and edit.If you edit more than four times it's too contrived and probably not funny

Read the tips page.