Winter Holiday 2024 Support Thread

[FreyaGersemi]

Why would you use tags to find the contest stories? The contest page makes this year's stories pretty accessible.

Because you can view stats like rating score and views. These are not (and rightly so) available on the contest entry page.

 

[NotWise]

Because you can view stats like rating score and views. These are not (and rightly so) available on the contest entry page.

OK. The tags save you one click.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

OK. The tags save you one click.

One click to get to the story, then one click back. Then repeat for all of the stories. Then an author can see where they stand in the contest.

I was just giving a possible answer to your question about why someone might use the tags, that's all.

 

[AlexFourways]

Why would you use tags to find the contest stories? The contest page makes this year's stories pretty accessible.

In addition to what has said.
Partly because it has been suggested that authors put that tag in.
Secondly, a reader might fancy looking for 'Valentines Day' stories and using that search will find all tagged stories, irrespective of year. I'd rather tag and be found than not and be missed. There are a maximum of 10 TAGs avaliable so shouldn't be a problem. YMMV

 

[NotWise]

Curiosity is a reason for tracking your standing, but the final sweeps change the standings so much that your standing during the contest is usually not your standing after the contest. Then, as soon as the results are announced, the standings change again.

I kindof expected Laurel to add the stock contest tag to mine, but she didn't. In the past she's added the tag where I already had 10 tags, so she bumped one of my tags to do it. For stories in author-sponsored events, I'll use the event tag. The event page may not appear for a long time after the stories are posted, and the tag is a way for the participants to find other stories in the event. That's not essential in the contests since the contest page is up the whole time.

This time around I used all 10 tags, including "holiday" and "christmas", so maybe that's why she didn't add the contest tag.

She's also prone to adding "romance" to my tags, and at least once she bumped one of my own tags to add it. This time I added it myself.

 

[Not2Pervy]

Not2Pervy's Temptation Road Trip is doing fine despite starting at the end of Summer with a quick conclusion that 'just happens' to be when the male MC returns home at Christmas. (final few paragraphs after 6 pages) so 'Go For IT!'
Mine The Druid's Winter Solstice Gift doesn't happen at Christmas* either, because they hadn't invented it in 2600BCE!

*I have read, more than once, that based on when the census was undertaken, when people would have the time for travel and the sheep still being on the hillside we should be celebrating Christmas at the end of October. But Yule and Saturnalia were already times of celebration (cf my story for why) and the Church thought that it is easier to rebrand than to abolish them! [I reserve the right to be (proved) wrong. YMMV et al]

Probably nobody cares, but I don’t think it’s quite accurate to characterize my story as one that simply had a holiday ending tacked on. There is a heavy theme of the importance of family, and repeated references to Christmas as key in the character’s lives and family development. Also important events occur at Thanksgiving, not only at Christmas.

 

[Erozetta]

One click to get to the story, then one click back. Then repeat for all of the stories. Then an author can see where they stand in the contest.

I was just giving a possible answer to your question about why someone might use the tags, that's all.

The downside to this is using the tag and sorting by score gives people the top stories to vote down. If your story isn't tagged it could run high the whole contest because it's a lot of work to click through every story and the bombers are lazy.