The 2023 Geek Pride Story Event: Official Support Page

[gunhilltrain]

I've got to submit this thing this afternoon. I can't stand reading it anymore.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I've got to submit this thing this afternoon. I can't stand reading it anymore.

Same. I'm on the last scene. So close, but so far away.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yes, forget about print book oriented formatting.

You can see the Lit house style - it's a common font, left justified, right ragged, no indents. Do two para returns at the end of each paragraph, and that gets the spacing right (regardless of your docx para spacing set up).

I'd keep the use of bold, italics, underline to a minimum, because when they go wrong, they can do so spectacularly - usually when you don't close the html and it rolls over a page break. You need to code the html yourself, to be sure.

I use 3750 words as a typical Lit page length. It's approximate, plus or minus fifty words or so.

For absolutely fool proof loads, I always copy paste into the Lit Form, and Preview. What you then see is what you get - and you can edit within the form, if you spot glitches.

If it's your first story, be patient. Your text will be scrutinised more closely for content compliance - check the stickies above - and may take up to a week, sometimes.

Good luck, enjoy writing, and yes, you will drive yourself nuts checking your scores. The novelty does wear off after a while, but we all still do it.

I'm trying to keep track of all the advice we have been giving this person. First of all, closing the HMTL tags: it won't go spectacularly wrong if you just check the story in the submission box. First in so-called editing mode - "make changes" - just look at the tags and make sure they are closed. Second, in "preview mode" - an approximation I guess of what the story will look like - if the tags are not closed the mistake will absolutely show up there.

So what's your name - do you understand this Eisenloewe? If you do, you will not have trouble using HTML tags. If you don't understand it, well . . .

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yes, forget about print book oriented formatting.

You can see the Lit house style - it's a common font, left justified, right ragged, no indents. Do two para returns at the end of each paragraph, and that gets the spacing right (regardless of your docx para spacing set up).

I'd keep the use of bold, italics, underline to a minimum, because when they go wrong, they can do so spectacularly - usually when you don't close the html and it rolls over a page break. You need to code the html yourself, to be sure.

I use 3750 words as a typical Lit page length. It's approximate, plus or minus fifty words or so.

For absolutely fool proof loads, I always copy paste into the Lit Form, and Preview. What you then see is what you get - and you can edit within the form, if you spot glitches.

If it's your first story, be patient. Your text will be scrutinised more closely for content compliance - check the stickies above - and may take up to a week, sometimes.

Good luck, enjoy writing, and yes, you will drive yourself nuts checking your scores. The novelty does wear off after a while, but we all still do it.

The second paragraph - common font, left justified, two paragraph returns - yes, all good advice.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Those links at the bottom of the page are site auto-generated. I believe each page on the site holds about 3,500 words then your content spills onto another page and a link is born. Some authors are better than others at figuring out where the page break is going to be, but I'm always surprised how many site pages my story will take up. My geek pride story went over 51K words so I'm guessing I'll see 15 pages, it's always a surprise to me

You cannot link to anything outside of the Literotica environment. If I put a link in my story it will go back to the story event page or maybe another associated story, but site moderators will pounce on links to anything outside of literotica. Besides, if you haven't posted a chapter yet, how do you know what the address for that chapter will be?

Also, in contests you can't enter a chapter from a story that isn't part of the contest. If you're building a universe and have many stand-alone stories in that universe a stand alone story is fine, but you can't drop a chapter from an existing story in. This doesn't rule out a multi chapter story if they are all put in the event but to keep from raising the moderators blood pressure it may be wise to put all the chapters in one entry

Duliegh, I'll let you advise on him on this. I don't want to add to any confusion.

 

[Duleigh]

Duliegh, I'll let you advise on him on this. I don't want to add to any confusion.

I think he'll get it soon as he gets a story or 20 out there, he's just experiencing the growing pains we all went through.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Just been discussing appts with the doctor. "I'm sure something's happening on the 25th..."
Ah, this deadline. Not a crisis!

"This is no social crisis, this is you having fun."

 

[gunhilltrain]

I think he'll get it soon as he gets a story or 20 out there, he's just experiencing the growing pains we all went through.

Yeah, and the site slowly changes things too. The new "series function" - I should "end" an existing series, but if it's been up for a while, the readers should be able to figure to out from the context. I see that in my most recent series ending chapter, I do have a note saying that's it's over, but the plot will continue in a new series. (A new girlfriend, in other words.) Of course, I haven't written that one yet. I'm a little messy with these things.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Same. I'm on the last scene. So close, but so far away.

Actually, I finished "principle photography" at least two weeks ago, but I keep doing "pick-up shots." That's got to end.

 

[MargotPayge]

I see you finishing and submitting. Do you have anyone edit?
I haven't found anyone yet, and this is my first story submission at ever. I want it to be right.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I see you finishing and submitting. Do you have anyone edit?
I haven't found anyone yet, and this is my first story submission at ever. I want it to be right.

I think editors can be hard to find. There's the Editors Forum as a first place to look, but even then, folk can struggle. I self edit, always have, always will. Here are a few tips that work for me, they might or might not work for others:

- I do a rolling edit: before I start a new writing session, I read over the last, fixing typos, tweaking the text, but most importantly, getting the pace and flow of the narrative back into my head. I always write sequentially, so that's essential for me.

- change the colour, font, and font size frequently. That makes the eye see the text differently, typos and mistakes can be seen more easily.

- run your spell check through every now and then. If you have writing tics, use "find" and fix them. For example, I used "and then", "just", many other unnecessary filler words far too often, so I now hunt them down, ruthlessly.

- Homonyms - know them all, catch them! It's its, they're there, their effect when you don't know can be awkward. They're the worst ones, but every author has their own pets.

- use grammar checkers if you must, but don't rely on them. Learn good grammar yourself, it's better in the long run.

- Likewise, punctuation and dialogue, learn your basics and get them right. Don't do what some people do, who say, "It's okay, it's an amateur site, you can get by not knowing this stuff, they're just grammar Nazis."

- Aim higher than that, take your time, and guess what!? Those comments go away. Woodcutters use sharp axes, carpenters use sharp saws - it's glaringly obvious when your basic tools are blunt. Most readers are tolerant of the occasional goof, but when they're constant, it's a back click, gone, story time is over.

- write the next story, don't futz with the last one over and over. By that I mean, know when to stop - end the story, end the endless editing cycles, end the agony. Submit the damn thing; it's written, you've done your best, let it walk on its own two feet. The next one will always be better.

- enjoy what you're doing. If you're not enjoying the process, why do it?

 

[MediocreAuthor]

I see you finishing and submitting. Do you have anyone edit?
I haven't found anyone yet, and this is my first story submission at ever. I want it to be right.

I'll give you a big tip that I use to decent effect. Listen to your story through a text to speech program. There are a few free ones. Your ears will pick up tiny errors that your eyes (or a spell checker) never would. But homophones will still fuck ya. Lol (I know that in Eldritch Pact, I spelled it "Eldridge" once... FML)

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I mean, know when to stop - end the story, end the endless editing cycles, end the agony. Submit the damn thing; it's written, you've done your best, let it walk on its own two feet. The next one will always be better.

- enjoy what you're doing. If you're not enjoying the process, why do it?

Sound advice. One thing I enjoy about posting on Lit is stories don't have to be edited to perfection - I can stick them up when I feel I can't be arsed to tweak any more. I get paid the same either way.

I'll post mine on Sun evening or Monday, come what may. I think I'm nervous because I'm going for Humour - it's one thing when people don't have the same sexual interests, but a bit different if they think you're not funny. I have no idea what people will think, but I suspect a few readers will appreciate truly awful puns...

 

[gunhilltrain]

change the colour, font, and font size frequently. That makes the eye see the text differently, typos and mistakes can be seen more easily.

I've done this a few times based on suggestions people have made here. Probably works, but I've sometimes just not had the time to keep changing it. I'll try it again, at the point just before the file is to go into the submission box.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Sound advice. One thing I enjoy about posting on Lit is stories don't have to be edited to perfection - I can stick them up when I feel I can't be arsed to tweak any more. I get paid the same either way.

I'll post mine on Sun evening or Monday, come what may. I think I'm nervous because I'm going for Humour - it's one thing when people don't have the same sexual interests, but a bit different if they think you're not funny. I have no idea what people will think, but I suspect a few readers will appreciate truly awful puns...

Since it's an event, it feels like opening weekend for a big movie. As screenwriter William Goldman wrote in his 1983 book about Hollywood, "Nobody knows anything."

"Goldman points out that every Hollywood studio but one passed on Raiders of the Lost Ark, which became one of the most successful films in history. Around the same time, all the executives involved with The Island, a 1980 movie with a Peter Benchley script and starring Michael Caine, thought it was a can’t-miss project. Upon release, The Island sank without a trace."

 

[Rustyoznail]

I see you finishing and submitting. Do you have anyone edit?
I haven't found anyone yet, and this is my first story submission at ever. I want it to be right.

@MargotPayge, I'll have a look. My story hasn't made it for this year, so I've got a bit of time free. Send me a PM, and I'll send you my email.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

Any idea if this event is gonna feature more prominently on the Lit front page? On the Job never got much fanfare, but the Surfing with the Alien was top the list if I remember correctly...

I don't know what's normal for events

 

[Eisenloewe]

I'm trying to keep track of all the advice we have been giving this person. First of all, closing the HMTL tags: it won't go spectacularly wrong if you just check the story in the submission box. First in so-called editing mode - "make changes" - just look at the tags and make sure they are closed. Second, in "preview mode" - an approximation I guess of what the story will look like - if the tags are not closed the mistake will absolutely show up there.

So what's your name - do you understand this Eisenloewe? If you do, you will not have trouble using HTML tags. If you don't understand it, well . . .

Yes, forget about print book oriented formatting.

You can see the Lit house style - it's a common font, left justified, right ragged, no indents. Do two para returns at the end of each paragraph, and that gets the spacing right (regardless of your docx para spacing set up).

I'd keep the use of bold, italics, underline to a minimum, because when they go wrong, they can do so spectacularly - usually when you don't close the html and it rolls over a page break. You need to code the html yourself, to be sure.

I use 3750 words as a typical Lit page length. It's approximate, plus or minus fifty words or so.

For absolutely fool proof loads, I always copy paste into the Lit Form, and Preview. What you then see is what you get - and you can edit within the form, if you spot glitches.

If it's your first story, be patient. Your text will be scrutinised more closely for content compliance - check the stickies above - and may take up to a week, sometimes.

Good luck, enjoy writing, and yes, you will drive yourself nuts checking your scores. The novelty does wear off after a while, but we all still do it.

@gunhilltrain , I think I do get this, even if I haven't actually checked out this preview feature yet because I still have one major part of a scene to finish.

I know HTML tags but I'm not using them directly because I have this drafted in Word. I've taken out paragraph first-line indentations in the Normal style formatting, added 12 pt spacing between paragraphs, which I know isn't the same thing as true carriage returns, so we'll see how that goes in the WYSIWYG preview function when I reach that point. If I have to add an extra carriage return after every paragraph in the .doc, well, that'll be a grind but so it goes.

I do have a considerable amount of italics in my story, so this could get interesting. I get that maybe that's a bad risk for a newbie formatting-wise, but the story really needed it.

But I guess the biggest takeaway is that each story is reviewed individually by a human, not automatically by a computer, so I really need to submit this tonight or tomorrow if I want someone to be able to read a 30k-word story by the go-live date.

 

[gunhilltrain]

@gunhilltrain , I think I do get this, even if I haven't actually checked out this preview feature yet because I still have one major part of a scene to finish.

I know HTML tags but I'm not using them directly because I have this drafted in Word. I've taken out paragraph first-line indentations in the Normal style formatting, added 12 pt spacing between paragraphs, which I know isn't the same thing as true carriage returns, so we'll see how that goes in the WYSIWYG preview function when I reach that point. If I have to add an extra carriage return after every paragraph in the .doc, well, that'll be a grind but so it goes.

I do have a considerable amount of italics in my story, so this could get interesting. I get that maybe that's a bad risk for a newbie formatting-wise, but the story really needed it.

But I guess the biggest takeaway is that each story is reviewed individually by a human, not automatically by a computer, so I really need to submit this tonight or tomorrow if I want someone to be able to read a 30k-word story by the go-live date.

They've got to be using bots because they are allowing submissions up to the day before - the 24th, I think it is. They don't have the staff (like one person!) to actually read them all. So don't freak out; a lot of people are still writing.

Is it in the submission box yet? (I think you called it the "submission wizard," which is another term for the same thing.) Otherwise, it's just a file in your computer. I was going to explain further, but have you gotten that far?

Could somebody else also help him with this?

 

[Eisenloewe]

They've got to be using bots because they are allowing submissions up to the day before - the 24th, I think it is. They don't have the staff (like one person!) to actually read them all. So don't freak out; a lot of people are still writing.

Is it in the submission box yet? (I think you called it the "submission wizard," which is another term for the same thing.) Otherwise, it's just a file in your computer. I was going to explain further, but have you gotten that far?

Could somebody else also help him with this?

Hah! I just realized that the submission box does not allow previews of files uploaded in .doc format (hopefully this includes .docx, since my story is now finished, just over 28k words). I'd have to copy and paste the entire thing, then go through and add HTML tags to recreate all the formatting to create something the preview feature can preview, or just upload my .docx file.

I just did that with the paragraph breaks based on the advice above, changing the default (Normal) style from 12-point after-paragraph spacing to 0, and doing two hard carriage returns instead to separate paragraphs. That took a while to go through every paragraph in 56 single-spaced pages with a lot of dialogue, though. I dread the timesink of copying and pasting and then adding my own HTML tags. There aren't just a lot of italics. There are a lot of separate instances of italics, not merely a few long blocks.

Once submitted, do authors have editing options? Or if something turns out broken, do you basically have to delete the story entirely and re-upload? Even if so, I might be willing to just take a flyer on uploading the .docx file and forego the ability to preview. Chalk it up as a learning experience if something goes out of kilter.

For now, the .docx file is uploaded, tags are in place, "2023 Literotica Geek Pride Story Event" is in notes to admin, so basically ready to go. I'll sleep on it and then probably upload as-is tomorrow unless something here gives me cold feet.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Hah! I just realized that the submission box does not allow previews of files uploaded in .doc format (hopefully this includes .docx, since my story is now finished, just over 28k words). I'd have to copy and paste the entire thing, then go through and add HTML tags to recreate all the formatting to create something the preview feature can preview, or just upload my .docx file.

I just did that with the paragraph breaks based on the advice above, changing the default (Normal) style from 12-point after-paragraph spacing to 0, and doing two hard carriage returns instead to separate paragraphs. That took a while to go through every paragraph in 56 single-spaced pages with a lot of dialogue, though. I dread the timesink of copying and pasting and then adding my own HTML tags. There aren't just a lot of italics. There are a lot of separate instances of italics, not merely a few long blocks.

Once submitted, do authors have editing options? Or if something turns out broken, do you basically have to delete the story entirely and re-upload? Even if so, I might be willing to just take a flyer on uploading the .docx file and forego the ability to preview. Chalk it up as a learning experience if something goes out of kilter.

For now, the .docx file is uploaded, tags are in place, "2023 Literotica Geek Pride Story Event" is in notes to admin, so basically ready to go. I'll sleep on it and then probably upload as-is tomorrow unless something here gives me cold feet.

Just save it as an .rtf file. Should work.
Failing that, Find & Replace is your friend.
Lit will set any paragraph breaks to its own default size, so I wouldn't worry about formatting.

I have LibreOffice and never got it to play nicely with Lit, so I write on my phone with asterisks to force words into italics. Then a final edit on the PC to put the angle-bracket tags in, then copy and paste into the Lit submission page - so I can check the formatting works.

A couple hundred italics can be replaced by tags fore and aft in a couple minutes.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Once submitted, do authors have editing options? Or if something turns out broken, do you basically have to delete the story entirely and re-upload? Even if so, I might be willing to just take a flyer on uploading the .docx file and forego the ability to preview. Chalk it up as a learning experience if something goes out of kilter.

Yes, you can edit after a story goes live. You resubmit the complete new version, with the same title plus the word EDIT. However, edits get low priority (one - two weeks is typical). All scores and comments remain as was, but nobody knows it's an edit except you.

Unless it's a diabolical cock up, I don't bother. I've got stories with html glitches and some really dumb typos, but only once in a million words has someone commented.

 

[MargotPayge]

I think I just finished. I know there is more to do. And it is just under 6000 words. I don't have time for more. I just saw the challenge a couple weeks ago. I could have made multiple scenes, slowed down the pace and stretched the story timeline over several weeks. That would have gotten the word count up. But It all takes place in a day.
It strains the credibility of the character arc, but makes it hotter to me. Maybe I'm broken.

I am going to let it sit a while more, then do one final pass and submit it.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Just save it as an .rtf file. Should work.
Failing that, Find & Replace is your friend.
Lit will set any paragraph breaks to its own default size, so I wouldn't worry about formatting.

I have LibreOffice and never got it to play nicely with Lit, so I write on my phone with asterisks to force words into italics. Then a final edit on the PC to put the angle-bracket tags in, then copy and paste into the Lit submission page - so I can check the formatting works.

A couple hundred italics can be replaced by tags fore and aft in a couple minutes.

Let me deal with this first, although it's starting to become moot for him. Yeah, I guess .rtf is fine. Paragraphs: yes, let Lit do its default style.

I salute you if you can write on a phone. Even if was younger, the screen is too small and so is the keyboard. I don't use LibreOffice, but that idea of, say, starting with asterisks and then changing to tags seems like too much of a hassle to me. (I know, find and replace.) I just have the tags in from the beginning.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I'm finished, finally. Just have the editing stage to make it through and I'm good to go!
Honestly, having a standalone to submit as well as a collaboration is more than I could've ever hoped for the weekend before this event. Feeling awesome right now, I can't even lie!