Second annual Crime and Punishment story event - the 2024 Story Event Official Support Thread

I've still got my story from last year to finish. I'm quite in love with it so I'm looking forward to getting back to it. It's called Butterflies and Bullets and it will be firmly entrenched in the LW category. I can already hear the trolls gnashing their teeth.
 
My entry is coming along. It looks like it will be the first of a sporadic series of standalone stories about the cases the FMC handles with a backstory that will be told over several stories explaining how she ended up doing what she does.
 
I just saw this today, and I am very excited about participating in this event. The last time, I wrote a story that was part of my Iron Crowbar series. Did that work for y'all, or would you rather see a more standalone story? Either way, I'm looking forward to writing a story and reading your entries.
 
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I just saw this today, and I am very excited about participating in this event. The last time, I wrote a story that was part of my Iron Crowbar series. Did that work for y'all, or would you rather see a more standalone story? Either way, I'm looking forward to writing a story and reading your entries.
Shoukd be okay, provided you don't need to read the whole series to understand what's going. Stand-alone ish, or at least, self-contained.
 
Shoukd be okay, provided you don't need to read the whole series to understand what's going. Stand-alone ish, or at least, self-contained.
Agreed; it will be standalone so that anyone can read it and not have any knowledge gaps. And I'll develop existing characters in a way that will support the story being a standalone.
 
Might have something in mind for this. We shall see!
 
I might give it a try, my story from last year was wildly popular. I may have some more mafia in me.
 
I have a couple of finished stories designated for this . . . but it's still too far away to think about much.
 
Write a story which involves a crime or criminal element
Would police investigative work do? (e.g. cop tracking down siblings that committed bank robbery)
As in, can I focus on the "punishment" part, rather than the crime?

'Cause there was an idea I was going to write anyway, might as well try to fit it with the challenge deadlines.
 
Would police investigative work do? (e.g. cop tracking down siblings that committed bank robbery)
As in, can I focus on the "punishment" part, rather than the crime?

'Cause there was an idea I was going to write anyway, might as well try to fit it with the challenge deadlines.
Absolutely. Crime and/or punishment might be a more accurate description.
 
"False allegations of sexual harassment" between a man and a woman in the workplace, is a crime, isn't it?
Maybe not in every country in the world but, let's say, it would be understandable to most Anglophone readers, right?
I could develop a story of my own about "co-workers" by adding details about the "punishment" of the crime....
my doubt, is whether the evil clever woman💃 who deliberately lies to the Judge in Court👩‍⚖️🏛️, commits a crime serious enough for this Literotica Event.
 
"False allegations of sexual harassment" between a man and a woman in the workplace, is a crime, isn't it?
Maybe not in every country in the world but, let's say, it would be understandable to most Anglophone readers, right?
I could develop a story of my own about "co-workers" by adding details about the "punishment" of the crime....
my doubt, is whether the evil clever woman💃 who deliberately lies to the Judge in Court👩‍⚖️🏛️, commits a crime serious enough for this Literotica Event.
I'd say it definitely qualifies as "criminal element." I don't suppose the intention behind the rules are to adjudicate the exact category between misdemeanors, felonies, or law-defined crimes. However, I'd say that you do need some involvement of actual law enforcement; if the case is resolved fully within the confines of the workplace, then this feels like going too far in the On The Job event direction :)

The "punishment" part doesn't seem necessary, though. The name of this event comes from the famous novel by Dostoyevsky where the main theme is the nagging conscience of the main character after he murders an innocent woman. It has little to do with, say, an American detective noir story, even though I'm pretty sure it would be a perfectly fine entry to this event.
 
Thank You! moreover, I would have a draft of another short story, containing both a "bad" thing and punishment.
The bad thing is a mother neglecting her 19-year-old son. She puts career before affection, and brags about it. With the result that her son no longer loves her.
The son becomes the lover of his mom's best friend, and he and she together plan a Punishment for the neglectful mother. It is not a "court room" punishment, but punishment nonetheless. However, I might add a women police patrol, which are always nice to see (the uniform, the handcuffs...)👮‍♀️👮‍♀️👮‍♀️.
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I have the Punishment, but I don't know if her negligence is acceptable as Crime.
 
I've still got my story from last year to finish. I'm quite in love with it so I'm looking forward to getting back to it. It's called Butterflies and Bullets and it will be firmly entrenched in the LW category. I can already hear the trolls gnashing their teeth.
Well I posted this in Feb and now it's freaking May already. I'd better get cracking on this.
 
90 days and counting...

Looks like I will have some time tomorrow to work on my story. If I can finish the first draft, I'll be in a good place to think about starting a second story I have had on the back burner since last year.
 
Looks like my story will be done early so maybe I will have two stories for the event.
 
So, apparently, I should've written the sequel to The Case of the Rich Man's Wife first. Seeing that Crime and Punishment is later than the Ode to Mickey Spillane event, I don't have time to polish The Case of the Shooting Star and get a good rewrite on it by the end of July. Well, at least I have my health and Veneagence Is Its Own Reward, which is a prequel to Veneagence Is Mine, last year's entry in Crime and Punishment.
 
I have a story that is in editing and should be ready for this event. It’s quite long, probably 26 or 27 Lit pages long. For readability, is it okay to break it into three (admittedly unequal lengths)? And it sounds like they would need to all be posted on the same day since the event is staged for a single day? Is that correct?
 
Don't be afraid of long submissions. They often do quite well here.

Speaking for myself, I'd be VERY likely to read a 25-page Lit novella and VERY unlikely to want to get invested into a multi-part tale.
 
I have a story that is in editing and should be ready for this event. It’s quite long, probably 26 or 27 Lit pages long. For readability, is it okay to break it into three (admittedly unequal lengths)? And it sounds like they would need to all be posted on the same day since the event is staged for a single day? Is that correct?
It is a story event and not a contest, so the rules are not that strict. You can post in three (or more) segments. The submission window is almost three weeks, so you don't have to submit all three parts at once. Just remember to follow the submission guidelines in the top post, and get all three parts in before the window closes. Good luck!
 
Don't be afraid of long submissions. They often do quite well here.

Speaking for myself, I'd be VERY likely to read a 25-page Lit novella and VERY unlikely to want to get invested into a multi-part tale.
My entry will be over 42,000 words. Probably 12 Lit. pages.
 
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