New Themed Contest

[tickledkitty]

I have to say I like the idea of a summertime-themed contest too.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I hate the idea of choosing a category, That would be anathema to those of us who would never write in certain cats.

Why is Starrkers fussing when she grabs her roast turkey and twinkly light spruce tree and goes down the beach for a Xmas barbie? Aussie cards have snowmen on them!

Pulling everyone's thoughts together, why not be a bit general and go for 'Getting Away'. This covers summer or winter hols ~(antipodeans - skiing in the Blue Mountains), charity work in Africa and so on. Just have to be away from your home country or region.

Seriously, a raft of stories about getting it off with Dad in the cabin by the lake would not help.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Seriously, a raft of stories about getting it off with Dad in the cabin by the lake would not help.

OMG, Elle. Visions of Necrophelia

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Seriously, a raft of stories about getting it off with Dad in the cabin by the lake would not help.

Trudging off to get the mop to wipe up the coffee spew...Thanks Elle...

 

[DesertPirate]

Trudging off to get the mop to wipe up the coffee spew...Thanks Elle...

Damn, can I borrow your mop?

 

[3113]

I think Elfin's got it right: Travel stories! and the theme has to be about someone leaving their home and going somewhere else, experiencing a different place/culture/environment. Starting a story "I drove my car to the lake," would be a cheat unless the whole story was about how different life is at the lake as compared to where the person drove from.

That would cover the "Summer Vacation" idea without stepping on any Southern Hemisphere toes. And it really opens the door to our international appeal. Anywhere you go, there is erotica!

So instead of going with Dad for a vacation on the lake, you can visit Dad at the cabin on the lake

 

[DeeZire]

I like Travel better than Summer. Out here in the Southwest, we have summer nine months out of the year, so it does get old.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I think Elfin's got it right: Travel stories! and the theme has to be about someone leaving their home and going somewhere else, experiencing a different place/culture/environment. Starting a story "I drove my car to the lake," would be a cheat unless the whole story was about how different life is at the lake as compared to where the person drove from.

That would cover the "Summer Vacation" idea without stepping on any Southern Hemisphere toes. And it really opens the door to our international appeal. Anywhere you go, there is erotica!

So instead of going with Dad for a vacation on the lake, you can visit Dad at the cabin on the lake

Thanks, pal! With drk and Jenny I had enough of irony. You just put the boot in.

Serious, though, the change - vacation in its widest sense - has a place. Harry Dick washes up in Uzbekistan, scouries tries a tad of incest in Iran.

Stories going through the Panama Canal, up Table Mountain. Just the joy of being away from the daily grind and the all too familiar condo or subdivision.

Imagine Rumple and Og on a naked beach in the Madagascan rain forest. Now that's erotic fantasy.

 

[fifty5]

Would anyone outside the UK get "August Wank Holiday"? (A typo on August Bank Holiday.)

If so, the rules could just be:
1. Happened in August
2. Must contain a non-penetration orgasm.

 

[sr71plt]

Would anyone outside the UK get "August Wank Holiday"? (A typo on August Bank Holiday.)

If so, the rules could just be:
1. Happened in August
2. Must contain a non-penetration orgasm.

Um, no. Wouldn't have a clue.

I'm a little amused that people are still struggling over a theme category. There's little evidence the entrants to the contests pay a bit attention to whatever the theme was supposed to be.

 

[scouries]

bullshit!!!!!!!

QUOTE: While I don't have much interest in personally entering contests, I do care about the site. One doesn't have to have a horse in the running to be interested in the race.

[size=+2]I do care about the site[/size] Sounds good moonman but I’m sorry in the context of this thread it’s bullshit and you know it.

From everything you’ve posted in the past you’re a self professed opponent of the contest system here at LITEROTICA. I understand and actually agree with some of the points you’ve made.

But my dear man, you don’t show your “care for the site” by adding another contest to a series of contests you yourself don’t believe in. Instead you show your care for the site by working to improve the contest system as it now exists, the system you yourself are so disparaging of. If you’re so “interested in the race” let’s hear what you’d like to see. Let’s see you fighting and arguing for what you believe in!

So can the bull. If this is some ass kissing exercise for you fine, doesn’t bother me at all. But at least try to be honest – that’s the trait of yours I’ve always admired in the past.

jim

 

[DeeZire]

I'm a little amused that people are still struggling over a theme category. There's little evidence the entrants to the contests pay a bit attention to whatever the theme was supposed to be.

SR - I think it's possible to over-think the boundaries of the theme. Here is a quote from the announcement of the Earth Day contest:

(Quote) Story must have an Earth Day theme - environmentalism, nature, outdoors, etc. (Quote)

This could be interpreted as saying that a story which takes place outdoors would satisfy the theme requirement. The problem arises if you interpret the 'dash' in the quoted sentence as an 'and', meaning the story must take place outdoors, AND also be all about Earth Day.

My story, (which, I gather, did not satisfy your theme requirements), takes place out in nature, and concludes that it's possible to lower your carbon footprint by staying home and having sex with your siblings instead of driving around from bar to bar, trying to pick up a casual sex partner. This is a perfectly valid application of the Earth Day theme - lowering green house gas emissions - and most of it happens out in the forest. The fact that the story doesn't actually transpire on Earth Day should have no bearing on the relevance to the topic (unless you decide that the 'dash' was actually supposed to be an 'and'.

These contests are not tests, they're an exercise in having fun with writing. Or perhaps I'm only speaking for myself in this regard?

 

[sr71plt]

SR - I think it's possible to over-think the boundaries of the theme. Here is a quote from the announcement of the Earth Day contest:

(Quote) Story must have an Earth Day theme - environmentalism, nature, outdoors, etc. (Quote)

This could be interpreted as saying that a story which takes place outdoors would satisfy the theme requirement. The problem arises if you interpret the 'dash' in the quoted sentence as an 'and', meaning the story must take place outdoors, AND also be all about Earth Day.

My story, (which, I gather, did not satisfy your theme requirements), takes place out in nature, and concludes that it's possible to lower your carbon footprint by staying home and having sex with your siblings instead of driving around from bar to bar, trying to pick up a casual sex partner. This is a perfectly valid application of the Earth Day theme - lowering green house gas emissions - and most of it happens out in the forest. The fact that the story doesn't actually transpire on Earth Day should have no bearing on the relevance to the topic (unless you decide that the 'dash' was actually supposed to be an 'and'.

These contests are not tests, they're an exercise in having fun with writing. Or perhaps I'm only speaking for myself in this regard?

Yep, I read the parameters. It goes on to say that the use shouldn't be incidental. I've kept the site parameters in mind when reading the stories. This is a case where those who write from the theme get extra appreciation and those who don't don't.

You don't know, of course, how I viewed this on your particular story, but since you mentioned it, I noted the theme relation was satisfactory for yours.

Again, anyone wanting to go fishing on this on their individual stories is quite welcome to PM me.

But I don't really agree that a money-award writing contest is just an exercise in having fun with writing. In the real world, when you enter a money-award writing contest, you are expected to construct your story from the ground up to the specifications and theme of the contest. I'd like to think that the money-award contests here are a step above the regular submissions and are meant to help you develop as a writer in the real world (if you want to end up with a check for it).

And that's what I'm trying to do in cajoling writers here to step closer up to the plate in the money-award contests. Doing so will help the site live up to its reputation and justify its massive reader base.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

QUOTE: While I don't have much interest in personally entering contests, I do care about the site. One doesn't have to have a horse in the running to be interested in the race.

[size=+2]I do care about the site[/size] Sounds good moonman but I’m sorry in the context of this thread it’s bullshit and you know it.

From everything you’ve posted in the past you’re a self professed opponent of the contest system here at LITEROTICA. I understand and actually agree with some of the points you’ve made.

But my dear man, you don’t show your “care for the site” by adding another contest to a series of contests you yourself don’t believe in. Instead you show your care for the site by working to improve the contest system as it now exists, the system you yourself are so disparaging of. If you’re so “interested in the race” let’s hear what you’d like to see. Let’s see you fighting and arguing for what you believe in!

So can the bull. If this is some ass kissing exercise for you fine, doesn’t bother me at all. But at least try to be honest – that’s the trait of yours I’ve always admired in the past.

jim

I think you're trying to read a whole lot more into this than there really is. No, I have no desire to enter contests, and yes, I do have issues with how the votes are tallied. But, there are a lot of people here that do enjoy the contests, and a lot of them I consider friends.

To be honest, I really haven't thought of what I would do to change the structure of the current contests.

Back to the subject of this thread, I happened to click on the list of contests and noticed the big gap between Nude Day and Halloween. Being the inquistive person that I am I sent a PM to Laurel asking if they had ever considered adding a contest to fill that gap. Her response was, yes, but she had never come up with a theme. She said to ask around to see if there was any interest, and what ideas we could come up with.

So, that's the short and sweet of it. There is no secret, or hidden agenda. I simply asked a question, got an answer and spread the word.

 

[bluebell]

Travel Tales

Ahem. *nods*

Scouries Day Contest.

Imp, when was the last time I pledged my undying love for your utterly fabulous brain, and all the other delightful bits that make you up?

 

[DesertPirate]

Ahem. *nods*


Imp, when was the last time I pledged my undying love for your utterly fabulous brain, and all the other delightful bits that make you up?

Imp is amazing and gets the point across in a wonderful way

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I like Travel better than Summer. Out here in the Southwest, we have summer nine months out of the year, so it does get old.

Yep, nine months of summer, and three months of, "Do I need a jacket today?"

 

[DesertPirate]

Yep, nine months of summer, and three months of, "Do I need a jacket today?"

Ah yes the good old days, I remember them well
In NM there is the season of wind
Avg 35 MPH with gusts past 90
Feb. 1 to June 1
One morning found the day befores Tucson front page in my front yard in Las Cruces, NM

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Ah yes the good old days, I remember them well
In NM there is the season of wind
Avg 35 MPH with gusts past 90
Feb. 1 to June 1
One morning found the day befores Tucson front page in my front yard in Las Cruces, NM

Ah yes, air mail, and overnight delivery too

 

[DeeZire]

One morning found the day befores Tucson front page in my front yard in Las Cruces, NM

I was wondering where my paper went.

 

[DeeZire]

...And that's what I'm trying to do in cajoling writers here to step closer up to the plate in the money-award contests. Doing so will help the site live up to its reputation and justify its massive reader base.

I agree with the idea of supporting the theme, but there's so much ambiguity. Take the Halloween contest. Is it supposed to be about dressing up in costumes, or being a witch, or killing people and sucking their blood? That particular contest seems to be a magnet for stories about anything evil. Since when did Halloween become evil? In this respect, your observation of the themes not being supported either rings true, or it points to a looser interpretation of the theme parameters.

Back to Earth Day, your assessment that Jenny's excellent story was in the top three for supporting the theme makes me think that, in your estimation, Earth Day stories should not be about being outside in nature, like the guidelines state, but rather they should be all about the importance of conservation. Granted, that's the point of Earth Day, but that's not what the guidelines call for.

I don't think the readership here is looking for academic approaches erotica. I think they're looking to be entertained. With that in mind, I believe a contest theme should be a jumping off point, not a destination.

 

[sr71plt]

I agree with the idea of supporting the theme, but there's so much ambiguity. Take the Halloween contest. Is it supposed to be about dressing up in costumes, or being a witch, or killing people and sucking their blood? That particular contest seems to be a magnet for stories about anything evil. Since when did Halloween become evil? In this respect, your observation of the themes not being supported either rings true, or it points to a looser interpretation of the theme parameters.

Back to Earth Day, your assessment that Jenny's excellent story was in the top three for supporting the theme makes me think that, in your estimation, Earth Day stories should not be about being outside in nature, like the guidelines state, but rather they should be all about the importance of conservation. Granted, that's the point of Earth Day, but that's not what the guidelines call for.

I don't think the readership here is looking for academic approaches erotica. I think they're looking to be entertained. With that in mind, I believe a contest theme should be a jumping off point, not a destination.

I don't believe I've said anywhere that stories should be on any one possible aspect of a set theme. Certainly not just conservation. There are many takes that can be taken on the Halloween theme (so I don't really understand/agree with what you said about that--hell, in one of my Halloween entries this year, I took off on historical racial prejudice and married it to theme--and got great marks for doing so, incidentally), and there are many takes that can be taken on an Earth Day topic as well.

In my reviews, the extra points go to stories that weave whatever theme aspect they've taken into their stories well and/or that have taken a clever approach (with just having "same old" sex outdoors being really, really tame and cliched on both counts). We're talking here what gets superlative mention, not just what basically meets minimum requirements in an old, tired way.

I just read a contest entry that takes a clever slice at the theme that I never would have thought of--and that is wholly about having sex outdoors and what little mention it makes of conservation is contradictory. It's clever, though, and will get bumped up high in that aspect of the criteria in my next review. I read another one just now that doesn't go beyond saying something happened on Earth Day. It won't get a mention on this aspect of the categories at all.

The whole point of judging contests and pointing to the best stories (albeit subjectively) is to differentiate between the stories on set criteria. I said off the top that I think the most important criteria are writing to theme in a fresh/clever way and achieving an actual story (so little of what gets published here is actually a story--which folks other than me frequently note as well). Writers who want to make a real go of spinning out an entry that's competitive on the basis of quality should appreciate the challenge this sets forth.

I identified Jenny's story as in the top three on theme in the initial batch because it was clearly in the top three of doing something meaningful with the theme topic. The competition on that wasn't even close in that batch. There's nothing clever or fresh in terms of theme about having your sex scene outdoors or going out and hugging a tree before having sex indoors.

There's nothing in the least academic about this. There is creative writing and then there is the hackneyed arrangement of worn out/well worked over phrases and images in a computer file.

I'm not really sure what you are bellyaching about--or why.

 

[DeeZire]

I'm not really sure what you are bellyaching about--or why.

My bellyache was in response to your bellyache, so now we're even, old buddy. Plus, there's no one to talk to around here at 1 AM.

I still think about Jenny's story at the oddest moments, if that's any consolation.

 

[sr71plt]

My bellyache was in response to your bellyache, so now we're even, old buddy. Plus, there's no one to talk to around here at 1 AM.

I still think about Jenny's story at the oddest moments, if that's any consolation.

Ah, but you seem to be making some unfounded assumptions (and personalizing) concerning what I'm bellyaching about.

 

[DeeZire]

Ah, but you seem to be making some unfounded assumptions (and personalizing) concerning what I'm bellyaching about.

I have poor social skills, bad taste, and a deep-seated need to question authority. (Plus, I like to type.) Please don't take it personally.