Pink Orchid 2024: Story Event for Women-Centric Erotica - Official Support Thread

[MillieDynamite]

Don't rush me, I just opened it up.

You don't have to rush it; you have until the end of February to submit. In fact, it's a good idea not to rush any story. Just curious; did you read the FF story I posted on your thread as a sample? Not that you have to do it in any particular way, just thought you might find it interesting. It's a prequel to a story, and it has a sequel of its own:

https://classic.literotica.com/s/playtime-for-amanda-and-lucy

 

[gunhilltrain]

Don't rush me, I just opened it up.

I meant he shouldn't rush writing his own story. He wrote: "I began writing a story (FF) for this challenge this morning. . . If I can keep it constrained enough I may even be able to finish it." I just meant to tell him to take it easy since he was already worried (I think) about finishing it.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I knew what you meant, but I had your story open and was reading it. I took a break and found the exchange and fucked with you, which, as you know, I have a propensity to do.

I meant he shouldn't rush writing his own story. He wrote: "I began writing a story (FF) for this challenge this morning. . . If I can keep it constrained enough I may even be able to finish it." I just meant to tell him to take it easy since he was already worried (I think) about finishing it.

 

[ArdentHemingway]

don't have to rush it;

Rather the opposite. I generally take a long time (years in some cases) to finish a story.
Pretty much every year as Nude Day comes around, I tell myself, "oh, yeah, this is the year I finish that story!"
Then I miss that and Summer Loving comes around, and I tell myself, "oh, yeah, this is the year I finish that story!"
This year, I finally cut one off after the first section and submitted it. I never began the second section, and I _almost_ finished the third section two or three years ago.
I have some longish unfinished stories. I have written basically _nothing_ for going on three years. When the words don't flow, they cannot be forced.
Until the last month anyway. Now I have two new stories in the works and ideas for a couple more (which I probably won't get to).

Furthermore, I'm a firm believer of letting a story sit a while then re-read it and see whether or not it makes sense. Then maybe get a beta reader, etc.

Anyway, I have now interrupted one story to begin writing a story for Pink Orchid (1200 words so far today, which is good progress for me) -- my choice, my problem if I don't get back to the other. This one I intend to have take place all in one day rather than keep adding more and more to it -- the problem being that it may just kinda end with no conclusion. I may be able to make it a section of another story; I decided to include a character from the story I interrupted.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Say what? That's like 40 minutes of work.

Anyway, I have now interrupted one story to begin writing a story for Pink Orchid (1200 words so far today, which is good progress for me) -- my choice, my problem if I don't get back to the other. This one I intend to have take place all in one day rather than keep adding more and more to it -- the problem being that it may just kinda end with no conclusion. I may be able to make it a section of another story; I decided to include a character from the story I interrupted.

 

[ArdentHemingway]

like 40 minutes of work

Must be nice.

Added: I don't touch type and I've been writing on my phone -- one finger (swype) and auto-corrupt. I frequently go back to re-read what the editor thought I meant. Most writing sessions begin with reading again from the beginning, editing as I go.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Well, I didn't say they were good words.

Must be nice.

 

[AchtungNight]

“Beijing Streakers” was originally a Nude Day story for me. There’s still a joke in there about it since I ended up pushing it back for historical accuracy. And an uncooperative muse.

 

[ArdentHemingway]

did you read the FF story I posted on your thread as a sample?

Sorry, I forgot to respond to that in my earlier response.

I began reading them both enough to see that they were well-written but not the sort of writing I enjoy. Unsure what it was about them (especially the first one). Maybe I just don't like reading someone's journal/diary, though that shouldn't really matter, and in fact one of my longer (unfinished) stories is essentially a man's journal.
I think I just wasn't engaged and it felt too much like a ton of exposition? It is making me re-read some of my writing to see if I'm doing the same thing, but I doubt I can judge my own writing in that regard. Beta reading should help with that I guess.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Sorry, I forgot to respond to that in my earlier response.

I began reading them both enough to see that they were well-written but not the sort of writing I enjoy. Unsure what it was about them (especially the first one). Maybe I just don't like reading someone's journal/diary, though that shouldn't really matter, and in fact one of my longer (unfinished) stories is essentially a man's journal.
I think I just wasn't engaged and it felt too much like a ton of exposition? It is making me re-read some of my writing to see if I'm doing the same thing, but I doubt I can judge my own writing in that regard. Beta reading should help with that I guess.

You really won't like The Battle of the Crater, the original story that spawned those! I guess I wentt full Geek mode on that with a ton of details about the Civil War, filmmaking, and a lot of other stuff.

The problem is that most fiction, including a first-person account, is written in the past tense. They are describing things that have already happened, presumably after the story in the book is over. It may or may not be clear how much time has passed since then; that may not even be important. Look at a novel or one of the stories here, and you'll see it. In this random new story:

https://classic.literotica.com/s/breakfast-in-bed-44

the female narrator doesn't give much exposition but she's definitely using the past tense.

However, movies (and TV shows) give the illusion that whatever is going on is happening right now, even if it's about ancient Rome. It's harder to convey that in writing, although it's possible. I'm trying to remember something written in the present tense.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I knew what you meant, but I had your story open and was reading it. I took a break and found the exchange and fucked with you, which, as you know, I have a propensity to do.

That's okay, writing forum posts is often messy. Like sometimes (many times) I don't read all of the entries and then I find that I wrote something already covered earlier.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Must be nice.

Added: I don't touch type and I've been writing on my phone -- one finger (swype) and auto-corrupt. I frequently go back to re-read what the editor thought I meant. Most writing sessions begin with reading again from the beginning, editing as I go.

I couldn't stand writing on a phone. For one thing, the buttons are too small. My eyes at age 68 aren't that great. And there isn't enough screen space to properly see what I'm doing.

1,200 words in a day is fine. Some author (Faulkner?) said that when you start getting tired, losing focus, then stop and get back to it the next day.

 

[ArdentHemingway]

1,200 words in a day is fine.

I think Ian Fleming aimed to write 1500 words in the morning and then maybe he looked it over in the afternoon? He said something like that in a Playboy interview I read once.

I couldn't stand writing on a phone

It's frustrating, but it allowed me to write surreptitiously in the office and re-read/edit while my wife was shopping, etc. Many benefits. I can't type on a laptop keyboard, so either the phone or a full desktop setup.

I am very near-sighted, but good eyesight isn't required on the phone because the editor will do whatever it damned well wants to no matter what you do.

 

[ArdentHemingway]

a first-person account

I tend not to write those.
One such story (the first section at least, as yet unfinished) I have is written from a father's POV, but the second section can't be because it focuses on his daughter and her boyfriend. Therefore it will be third-person if I ever get to it, which I probably won't.
As I mentioned in the other thread, I _really_ don't want to write first-person from a woman's POV. I can recognize from what I read that you are superior to me at that skill.

I have another first-person story with a rather bizarre format which I suspect many readers will consider too unusual.
Oh, and another I began in 2009 if I recall correctly which is simply dreadful beyond repair.

written in the past tense. They are describing things that have already happened, presumably after the story in the book is over.

Yes, In understand that.

If you haven't read it already, I recommend Emergence by David R. Palmer as an example of what I consider to be an excellent first-person from a girl's POV story written by a man. It is, in the main, a journal of a 12yo girl thrown into a post-apocalyptic world alone. The turmoil I stirred up recently had me thinking about it as an example of a story in which the main character _must_ be female for certain thematic elements to be viable.

I have always been of the opinion that gender plays very little role in most adventure/fantasy stories -- from Bilbo and Frodo Baggins to Luke Skywalker; they're basically "default gender" for such stories going back millennia.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It's frustrating, but it allowed me to write surreptitiously in the office and re-read/edit while my wife was shopping, etc. Many benefits. I can't type on a laptop keyboard, so either the phone or a full desktop setup.

Do you mean your wife would try to read over your shoulder or ask you what you were doing? When I was married (that was a while ago) my wife didn't care what I was working on. It was basically a journal that I was doing. I did have passwords on it. I think the program back then was WordPerfect, which in some ways was better than MS Word.

 

[ArdentHemingway]

No, I just mean, for instance while holding stuff for her while she is in a dressing room trying stuff on.
I think she would not be pleased with some stuff I write, though she seems to have some idea of my fantasies.

The story I'm working on for Pink Orchid _might_ be something I could have her read, if it turns out tame enough, but because she's not a lesbian (she's hetero-flexible) she may also feel unqualified to judge how closely my characters are modeled.

Hmm, having the stories on my phone means they're protected as well as everything else on my phone. Then I copy them off to a disk on my PC and I doubt she could find them if she tried.

 

[ArdentHemingway]

breakfast-in-bed-44

I'm sorry, but no, I could barely get through the first three paragraphs. It didn't grab me; all I see is exposition. I'm perfectly willing to accept that that's just me.
It doesn't help that the claim that, "Everyone has a friend like Allie ... we've all got one", doesn't hold true for me. I'm gone.
Maybe something like, "I have been friends with Allie for a long time. Of course she has her flaws, for instance she...", and so forth. It seems more natural (organic?) to me.
The writing -- spelling, grammar, punctuation -- is all top notch from what I see. Putting it way above many other stories.

I understand that such early parts of the story is setting the scene for the story, but it should still be engaging. Why do I can about the scene of a story I don't read?

While not first-person POV, The Hobbit and The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy begin with exposition*. Yet they grab me (and a great many other readers).
For that matter, Genesis (RSV and KJV?) I would say begins with exposition.

* There is a very real possibility that I don't define exposition quite as others might, I don't know, maybe it's a term which doesn't truly apply to the written word. I'll have a look.

On the other hand, I was watching a Youtube video a few weeks ago in which an author was talking about how to write. He said that a story should begin with a hook, something to engage the reader right away so he keeps reading. Fair enough. But the next day, I was reading a book (a NYT Best Seller dontcha know) and was saddened to see that basically the first chapter was more like the third chapter -- to get that hook. What I think happened was that the author wrote chapters 1-2-3-4- but his editor/publisher/whoever reordered it to 3-1-2-4- (or similar) because chapters 1 and 2 just are not as engaging as chapter 3. The technique was effective, but that's kind of beside the point.

Similar to that, last night I rewatched Across the Universe. The first few seconds actually happen much later in the story chronologically, but it gets a hook into the viewer, sets a mood. I watched with the director's commentary and she said that they did that to tell the viewer what to expect. The scene immediately following is very different and some viewers might not get engaged by it.
That brings to mind works such as Romeo and Juliet -- someone comes out and tells the audience, "this is a story about star-crossed lovers", bam! It's still exposition, but it engages the audience.

 

[Trionyx]

I think Ian Fleming aimed to write 1500 words in the morning and then maybe he looked it over in the afternoon? He said something like that in a Playboy interview I read once.

You actually read the articles in Playboy?

 

[AchtungNight]

You actually read the articles in Playboy?

They’re often the most interesting part. Insights into a personality are very valuable information!

 

[MelissaBaby]

I have always been of the opinion that gender plays very little role in most adventure/fantasy stories -- from Bilbo and Frodo Baggins to Luke Skywalker; they're basically "default gender" for such stories going back millennia.

Those examples seem like pretty obvious surrogates for a young adult male audience to me. Can you provide any examples that are not of recent creation, to a character who is depicted as female but fits into this idea of "default gender"?

 

[Lifestyle66]

However, movies (and TV shows) give the illusion that whatever is going on is happening right now, even if it's about ancient Rome. It's harder to convey that in writing, although it's possible. I'm trying to remember something written in the present tense.

My latest story just posted "The Morning After an Epoch Night", and I have the MC thinking and acting in the present tense (what they're doing in the morning), with flashbacks to the previous evening.

My stories have a strong female lead. But the audience for this challenge and thread usually find her TOO strong and overbearing. And they find undercurrents of misogyny, even though the MFC is really in control, doing only what she wants.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm sorry, but no, I could barely get through the first three paragraphs. It didn't grab me; all I see is exposition. I'm perfectly willing to accept that that's just me.
It doesn't help that the claim that, "Everyone has a friend like Allie ... we've all got one", doesn't hold true for me. I'm gone.
Maybe something like, "I have been friends with Allie for a long time. Of course she has her flaws, for instance she...", and so forth. It seems more natural (organic?) to me.
The writing -- spelling, grammar, punctuation -- is all top notch from what I see. Putting it way above many other stories.

I understand that such early parts of the story is setting the scene for the story, but it should still be engaging. Why do I can about the scene of a story I don't read?

While not first-person POV, The Hobbit and The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy begin with exposition*. Yet they grab me (and a great many other readers).
For that matter, Genesis (RSV and KJV?) I would say begins with exposition.

* There is a very real possibility that I don't define exposition quite as others might, I don't know, maybe it's a term which doesn't truly apply to the written word. I'll have a look.

On the other hand, I was watching a Youtube video a few weeks ago in which an author was talking about how to write. He said that a story should begin with a hook, something to engage the reader right away so he keeps reading. Fair enough. But the next day, I was reading a book (a NYT Best Seller dontcha know) and was saddened to see that basically the first chapter was more like the third chapter -- to get that hook. What I think happened was that the author wrote chapters 1-2-3-4- but his editor/publisher/whoever reordered it to 3-1-2-4- (or similar) because chapters 1 and 2 just are not as engaging as chapter 3. The technique was effective, but that's kind of beside the point.

Similar to that, last night I rewatched Across the Universe. The first few seconds actually happen much later in the story chronologically, but it gets a hook into the viewer, sets a mood. I watched with the director's commentary and she said that they did that to tell the viewer what to expect. The scene immediately following is very different and some viewers might not get engaged by it.
That brings to mind works such as Romeo and Juliet -- someone comes out and tells the audience, "this is a story about star-crossed lovers", bam! It's still exposition, but it engages the audience.

I'm still trying to get my head together this morning, so I can't to deal with most of this right now. I didn't actually read breakfast-in-bed-44. I only read about four lines to see if she used past tense. I admit, I hardly ever read anything on this site, thus freeing me from any obligation to comment on it. Maybe I should read your stuff to see how you do it.

I haven't read any of the works you cited. I could mention works I've read, but that it a problem on AH - people talk past each other because they have different experiences that may not match up. There are at least two threads on these boards (one not on AH) about movie quotes and scenes, but I don't know them and people don't know what I'm talking about. Part of it is that at 68 I'm inevitably losing touch with much of pop culture.

Since you mentioned that YouTube video, could you send me the link to it so I can have my own view of it?

 

[AchtungNight]

My advice on gender roles is to mix things up a bit. Don’t force any gender into a particular position.

Take GI Joe as an example. Duke is field leader, but he can send out Flint or Lady Jaye for scouting. Meanwhile there’s all sorts of other people on the team too. Get a new soldier in the team, say, a black female demolition expert trying to find her role. Call her Blastcap. She hooks up with the above three characters while finding her way, all on her own initiative. Flint and Lady Jaye are already a couple and she doesn’t like being a regular third wheel, so she concentrates on romancing Duke. Scarlet, Snake Eyes, Roadblock, and other Joes can be interesting side seductions. Look up the characters if you need physical descriptions. And of course if the writer prefers, they can get Blast Cap on a spy mission with Lady Jaye where they have to seduce Baroness, Zartan, and other Cobra goons for information. If you must involve the bad guys.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Rather the opposite. I generally take a long time (years in some cases) to finish a story.
Pretty much every year as Nude Day comes around, I tell myself, "oh, yeah, this is the year I finish that story!"
Then I miss that and Summer Loving comes around, and I tell myself, "oh, yeah, this is the year I finish that story!"
This year, I finally cut one off after the first section and submitted it. I never began the second section, and I _almost_ finished the third section two or three years ago.
I have some longish unfinished stories. I have written basically _nothing_ for going on three years. When the words don't flow, they cannot be forced.
Until the last month anyway. Now I have two new stories in the works and ideas for a couple more (which I probably won't get to).

Furthermore, I'm a firm believer of letting a story sit a while then re-read it and see whether or not it makes sense. Then maybe get a beta reader, etc.

Anyway, I have now interrupted one story to begin writing a story for Pink Orchid (1200 words so far today, which is good progress for me) -- my choice, my problem if I don't get back to the other. This one I intend to have take place all in one day rather than keep adding more and more to it -- the problem being that it may just kinda end with no conclusion. I may be able to make it a section of another story; I decided to include a character from the story I interrupted.

I realize that you have two threads going here and you basically asked the same thing. You've gotten dozens of responses. Get a beta reader if you think that will help, but writing is really a solitary activity. You can only learn by doing it. Then you have to submit it. If you really think it sucks in a year, you can rewrite it and put it on another site. Or put it on this site with a different title. I admit, I've got some "semi-duplicates" on here, but no one has noticed. Only once did I remove the old one and simply replace it with the new version.

Go forth and type.

 

[ArdentHemingway]

examples that are not of recent creation, to a character who is depicted as female

No, not really, probably because the push for more gender equality or neutrality is more recent.
Would Alice in Wonderland count? I don't really think so, very likely she must be female for the story to work.

surrogates for a young adult male audience to me

Yes, considering that "back in the day" perhaps women weren't encouraged to read (or write, or think).
And perhaps adventure stories such as Treasure Island were a way to begin early recruitment of sailors.

But things are improving. Slowly.
I finally got around to reading The Hunger Games this summer, but Katniss doesn't qualify as "default gender" either.