Write It Do It B/C

[Phenylethylamine]

I haven't actually read the rules for this year, but it doesn't seem that anything has really changed besides the wording. There was never any rule against single letters, although again, if they were short for something they had to be defined either at the beginning or at the first usage. I'd guess that they put it in to specify that describing the shape of the structure with a letter it resembled is acceptable, which had been in question before. However, it's not really a change to the rules as such.

[xxwintercandyxx]

I haven't actually read the rules for this year, but it doesn't seem that anything has really changed besides the wording.

There was never any rule against single letters, although again, if they were short for something they had to be defined either at the beginning or at the first usage.

I'd guess that they put it in to specify that describing the shape of the structure with a letter it resembled is acceptable, which had been in question before. However, it's not really a change to the rules as such.

so does that mean that single letters dont have to be defined this year?

[Phenylethylamine]

I haven't actually read the rules for this year, but it doesn't seem that anything has really changed besides the wording.

There was never any rule against single letters, although again, if they were short for something they had to be defined either at the beginning or at the first usage.

I'd guess that they put it in to specify that describing the shape of the structure with a letter it resembled is acceptable, which had been in question before. However, it's not really a change to the rules as such.

so does that mean that single letters dont have to be defined this year?

Single letters, if they are used as an abbreviation, DO have to be defined just like any other abbreviation.

The only thing this 'new' rule applies to, I believe, is saying that the structure looks like a certain letter. You've always been able to letter your steps, or assign letters to the pieces (as long as you specified which was which, obviously), should you so choose. I'm not entirely sure why they decided to add this to the rules, after 25 years of not needing to specify... As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't change anything except possibly the way that a few picky judges interpret the rules.

[Flavorflav]

The addition was added more for clarify that writing "...in the shape of an L" was okay.

Does that really clarify it? While it says we can use single letters, I believe it doesn't say we can use them as a symbol for what the object looks like. I think the only thing this changes is people can now "letter" their steps (I choose to number...).

If someone has the answer, post it please.

You can use a single letter to describe the shape if the object is in the shape of the letter. you CANNOT draw the general shape of the object as stated and the rules and you also CANNOT indent your writing so that the paragraph is in the shape of the object. I have not done this but people from the team my Middle School sci O coach use to coach had people do that. than again that was also in Colorado but still don't tempt the judges. Single letters also can save time, like using 'u' for 'you', 'c' for 'see' just simple shorthand

I would be very careful about that. U is a word that means shaped like the letter "u," and it was always legal to use words; however, some judges didn't seem to realize that this usage was legitimate and that, I believe, is why they put it in the rules. On the other hand, "u" does not in accepted usage mean "you," and therefore could easily be interpreted as an illegal code.

[lyoung]

Are you allowed to give related pieces a section name. So if the blue lego is attached to the white lego could you say that is section A and later on say attach section A to the green lego?

[Phenylethylamine]

Are you allowed to give related pieces a section name. So if the blue lego is attached to the white lego could you say that is section A and later on say attach section A to the green lego?

Yes, since by how you described it, you would previously have defined "section A" as meaning the blue lego plus the white lego. Any abbreviation (that uses only the allowed characters) is legal if defined either at the beginning of the writing or at the first usage.

[Faythe]

I love this event.
I got first at states two years ago.
Last year wasn't so hot because i had a bad partner.
BUT I SHALL SUCEED THIS YEAR!

[SSAteam22]

any advice for me and my partner? we are new to write it do it.

[Paradox21]

any advice for me and my partner? we are new to write it do it.

Practice, practice, practice. Both people should try writing to see who is better. It is also helpful to have the writer do it occasionally because it will help them better understand how they have to write. Go over your writing with your partner to discuss how the doer may have misinterpreted things so you can fix it in the future. Be descriptive, but concise. Develop a system of coordinates (like north, south, east, west, up, down; or times on a clock face and up and down). Read your rules, to make sure you will not be penalized for anything.

[Phenylethylamine]

any advice for me and my partner? we are new to write it do it.

Practice, practice, practice. Both people should try writing to see who is better. It is also helpful to have the writer do it occasionally because it will help them better understand how they have to write. Go over your writing with your partner to discuss how the doer may have misinterpreted things so you can fix it in the future. Be descriptive, but concise. Develop a system of coordinates (like north, south, east, west, up, down; or times on a clock face and up and down). Read your rules, to make sure you will not be penalized for anything.

You may want to also establish a system for specific materials (e.g., calling the raised bumps on Legos 'dots', or the connecting pieces of K'nex 'snowflakes'- which might not be the best idea, since it's a pretty long word to write, but it's pretty intuitive and I've been using it successfully for a few years lol- or defining which space on a Tinker Toy connecter to place a peg in using clock directions as mentioned above).
Also, the most important thing is not to see how many words you can leave out; that won't make you write much faster, since you'll be thinking about leaving out the words. Write as if you're taking notes. Words like 'the' can be left out, but you don't have to leave them out, in that you may write them in when you're writing really fast almost without noticing. Abbreviations can be helpful, but again, if you forget to abbreviate, no big deal. Writing will go faster if you write the way it comes naturally to you; what works for someone else may not work for you. Grammar isn't evil, but isn't necessary either (although you do want to avoid ambiguity).
In addition, having the Writer build a few times can be useful to make them realize what they would want written, but let me make this very, very clear: Although there is some overlap, 'writing' and 'doing' are very different skills. The Writer and the Doer are by no means interchangeable unless both are very versatile or each have equal experience on the two parts. I have seen this mistake made time and again by overzealous coaches and captains trying to fit partners into one of those annoying split time slots that WIDI often ends up with.
However, if you've only been writing, you should try building, and vice versa; for all you know, you'll be better at the other. However, don't do this a week before the competition, and certainly don't assume that because you're a good Writer you'll be a good Doer (or the other way around). Don't let your coaches/captains assume this either.