Winter Holiday 2024 Contest Support and Seasonal Story Discussion Thread

[FreyaGersemi]

Well, my story was rejected again, despite (or because of) my note explaining how I used Grammarly to edit my story.

So sorry to hear that!

Since this thread has already taken numerous side voyages, I'd like to ask those that use Grammarly, does it actually change/edit what you've written? I mean, I thought it was a spell check that also did punctuation and things like verb tenses and whatnot. Does it do more? Does it actually add words or anything like that? I am completely in the dark about AI. Is Grammarly even AI or is it something else?

Can someone help a clueless young-ish lady out? And at my age, I feel like I should know these things. I'm nowhere near the age where technology scares me. I just know nothing about most of it. Willful ignorance or ennui?

 

[Ellies_adventures]

Well, my story was rejected again, despite (or because of) my note explaining how I used Grammarly to edit my story. So, count me out of the Winter Holiday contest this year. I'll have to rewrite it from scratch since it registers as AI-generated.

Pit one or two typo's in there and resubmit

 

[Ellies_adventures]

I got my story in, the first competition I have entered, and as good an excuse as any to write another story to completion while the other 10 sit in draft. It's a short tale of a cute little panty pinching voyeuristic female elf.
https://www.literotica.com/s/elf-on-the-shelf-1
And funny enough after reading the thread about grammarly, it was the first submission that I have made that hasn't bounced back for re-edit

 

[NotWise]

So sorry to hear that!

Since this thread has already taken numerous side voyages, I'd like to ask those that use Grammarly, does it actually change/edit what you've written? I mean, I thought it was a spell check that also did punctuation and things like verb tenses and whatnot. Does it do more? Does it actually add words or anything like that? I am completely in the dark about AI. Is Grammarly even AI or is it something else?

Can someone help a clueless young-ish lady out? And at my age, I feel like I should know these things. I'm nowhere near the age where technology scares me. I just know nothing about most of it. Willful ignorance or ennui?

Grammarly is a generative AI. I haven't used it, but I understand that it will make style suggestions that you can accept or reject.

There might be a problem for people who've used it in the past. If they learned to write like Grammarly, then even if they don't use the AI for a specific story, that story might still register as being written by AI.

I submitted three samples from my holiday story to an AI detector that checked it against seven(?) different generative AIs. Every sample came back 100% human for every AI. I don't know how good that result is, but it confirmed my humanity, and maybe that needs to be done once in a while.

 

[Morevinila]

So sorry to hear that!

Since this thread has already taken numerous side voyages, I'd like to ask those that use Grammarly, does it actually change/edit what you've written? I mean, I thought it was a spell check that also did punctuation and things like verb tenses and whatnot. Does it do more? Does it actually add words or anything like that? I am completely in the dark about AI. Is Grammarly even AI or is it something else?

Can someone help a clueless young-ish lady out? And at my age, I feel like I should know these things. I'm nowhere near the age where technology scares me. I just know nothing about most of it. Willful ignorance or ennui?

Most AI I had a look at (just testing, I don't use them) not only correct punctuation and grammar but also propose alternative ways of saying what you have written, some even with different tones (business, formal, informal, journalistic inter alia). I think Grammarly is also classified as AI but I may be wrong.

 

[Ellies_adventures]

I just edit directly in LIT where it underlines my mistakes, a bit tedious, but gets the job done. I type the majority of my works on a phone to keep away from the kids prying eyes lol, so there are lots of typos and grammar issues before I open a story in the computer to review

 

[Wineandcheese]

Sometimes the characters do their thing and I just write it down. Other times I have to guide the story to go where I want it to. This time, my characters just stood there and stared at me, and said, “Well, what now, dude?”

I said, “I don’t know — just do something!” So they sat down and spent the whole day watching Christmas movies.

I still think the story can work, but not for this year. I’ll finish it up and hold it for 2025.

 

[Ellies_adventures]

That's frustrating, one of them should change the channel and put on some christmas porn!!

My characters wanted to do way too much and I didn't have the time for it, so I simply told them I was wrapping (pardon the Xmas pun) up the story before it went past submission date

 

[Inkent]

Second one up from me a cataclysmic secret santa which came off reading a Reddit entry where someone gave their boss hiking boots, and unmasked an affair. Seemed worth making a quick read out of it, with a little Literotica Christmas spice added

 

[Actingup]

A bumper crop passed AI filter today - now up to 109.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

A bumper crop passed AI filter today - now up to 109.

This is so interesting (I like graphs!). I wonder what contest has had the most entries and how many entries that was. I'm guessing that contest entries have increased through the years, but by how much? What are the most popular contests? The least? Data is fascinating.

 

[Inkent]

A bumper crop passed AI filter today - now up to 109.

I've one more that's nearly there, not sure I'll make the deadline though! If it does make it, I'll liken myself to the three wise men delivering gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Except I'm far from wise, there's nought golden in my scribes, Frankenstien belongs in the Halloween story section and 'myrrh' sounds like the kinda grunt that leaves my lips when woken from slumber

 

[AlexFourways]

I'm in a rush with my late take on Christmass Rappin' by the Waitresses - the true story. It will be a bit rough around the edges as I won't be able to let give it the sanding and polish she has provided on my recent stories!
But the muse struck and you have to do what the muse says or she-he* may leave you.

* I think that the muse is like Mjölnir** in that it can swing both ways
**Thor's hammer which in my Fanfiction on HHG2TG is sentient, as are all the Aesir's 'technolgy', but bound to their master.

 

[Actingup]

This is so interesting (I like graphs!). I wonder what contest has had the most entries and how many entries that was. I'm guessing that contest entries have increased through the years, but by how much? What are the most popular contests? The least? Data is fascinating.

I just had a quick look for Christmas (sorry... Winter Holidays, which is really weird for me to write because winter holidays are in July here....), going back the past 10 years. The URL is consistent between the years, so for each contest you should be able to just change the year to see previous years. Then I paste the story titles into Excel, and use the Excel COUNTA function to count the stories.

It looks like last year was a bit of an outlier - it's normally around 110. This year is not finished yet - at current trends it will be 140-150.

 

[sack]

I decided to write something a little offbeat this year, a HOW TO non erotic very short story (1,000 words) on how to survive the Winter Holidays if you are single. To the best of my knowledge, this theme has NEVER been explored before in a Winter Holidays contest. My gut feeling is this truly short story will either do very well or completely tank. Time will tell.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

It looks like last year was a bit of an outlier - it's normally around 110. This year is not finished yet - at current trends it will be 140-150.

So, the Winter Holiday Contest has grown slightly (if you average everything out) over the last few years. Unless, of course, this year hits projections. Then the number of entries will have started to rise significantly. Making last year's number not an outlier. Interesting.

 

[Duleigh]

So, the Winter Holiday Contest has grown slightly (if you average everything out) over the last few years.

And I've been hosting the support thread over the past few years... Just sayin'

 

[AlexFourways]

I just had a quick look for Christmas (sorry... Winter Holidays, which is really weird for me to write because winter holidays are in July here....), going back the past 10 years. The URL is consistent between the years, so for each contest you should be able to just change the year to see previous years. Then I paste the story titles into Excel, and use the Excel COUNTA function to count the stories.

It looks like last year was a bit of an outlier - it's normally around 110. This year is not finished yet - at current trends it will be 140-150.

Doing a 'by eye' line fit (you need to [Expand] to see my mutilation] would support the growth of the number of competition entries and would mark 2022 as an outlier. Not sure why there are two values for 2021. Possibly 2023 and this year are at a new level.

 

[secretLace]

Sadly my story came back yesterday with an 'Rejected due to AI' so I might put that on the shelf for this year and try next year instead. I'm not the first here to be caught in the rather wide net of what they use on the site. Not sure what it thought was Ai but I can be bothered to go through it and try and change it enough so that the filter-software will believe Im actually a real boy. Ohh well, the technology will evolve so we don't need the flawed software to try and detect eventual AI or gramar checkers.

 

[DukeofPaducah]

Heyas.
A week to go and I’m stuck in the middle of the pack. I posted to Loving Wives and saw outstanding readership at 30k and nearly 400 votes, along with withering criticism and some actual constructive suggestions.
On a positive note I did pick up more followers, so that’s nice. These contests seem to up the ante as far as drawing looks.
Expect a revision of a previous story from me in the next day or two and I’m working on its companion piece.
I may need a prose prune juice toddy.
I have read most of the stories of those who post here. They are insightful and instructive and helpful in improving my own voice. You all are an interesting group with which to associate.
It does detract from my usual hobbies of peeling potatoes and watching the snow turn to ice, I must confess.
Ta

 

[NotWise]

This is so interesting (I like graphs!). I wonder what contest has had the most entries and how many entries that was. I'm guessing that contest entries have increased through the years, but by how much? What are the most popular contests? The least? Data is fascinating.

When I was paying attention to such things, I think April Fools was the least popular, but several of the contests were about the same at the top. I think those were Halloween, Winter Holiday and Valentine's Day.

The contests and the site as a whole have grown over time. It felt to me like a lot of growth happened during the pandemic. @Actingup's graph supports that, but the effect isn't as large or as clear as I would have guessed.

 

[AlexFourways]

In a fit of madness (FreyaGersemi confirmed I was), starting on Tuesday I have done a fan fiction story behind the song Chrismas Rappin' by the Waitresses. Just submitted it so it won't be classed as AI!
I agonised over Romance, which it is, and Erotic Couplings, which it also is, but there was no wineing and dining, so EC won. I have done my best to get the American English vocabulary right - but might get burned!
Now if instead of just mentioning second base, I had gone for a home run, then I could have gone for Anal and got more readers!

 

[Inkent]

Mmm wonder if I go on the National Lottery web page, it'll do the same thing! May save some of you writing in the thread too!

 

[FreyaGersemi]

Well, that's a weird glitch in the matrix...

 

[AlexFourways]

Mmm wonder if I go on the National Lottery web page, it'll do the same thing! May save some of you writing in the thread too!

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I saw something like that once when ActingUp had posted, so I think it might be a glitch in calculating times and dates from different timezones. Date for me is 29th November, what is it for you?