The Official (Mostly) Literotica April Fool's Day Contest Support Thread!!!

[Djmac1031]

No, I should have been clearer: I enjoyed writing them, but not necessarily by comparison with other kinds of stories.

I agree: it's a sign.

I get ya.

I tried writing a story for the first Pink Orchid event.

About halfway through, I realized it wasn't working. I'm all for female empowerment stories. Just not sure I'm the guy to be writing them.

Plus I feel I already write strong, positive female characters without an agenda in mind to portray them as such.

And my story felt like an agenda, not a REAL story.

 

[Voboy]

Plus I feel I already write strong, positive female characters without an agenda in mind to portray them as such.

This is precisely why I don't do that event. Over half my stories would probably fit into that theme.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

This is precisely why I don't do that event. Over half my stories would probably fit into that theme.

I must say that I find that theme somewhat offensive for the exact reason you mentioned. It's mere existence is a statement aimed at the male writers here (which I assume make the clear majority of Lit authors?). Like, Here's one event where you have to write about women with agency, thus assuming we are all being mostly sexist pigs in our writing. Like it's meant to educate us to be better. It is condescending in its core, although whoever came up with the idea probably had good intentions.

 

[Djmac1031]

although whoever came up with the idea probably had good intentions.

I'm not gonna judge the intentions of whoever came up with that contest, although I think if they really wanted to celebrate women in erotica they'd limit the contest to women writers.

Although how they verify that on an anonymous writing site would be next to impossible of course.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm not gonna judge the intentions of whoever came up with that contest, although I think if they really wanted to celebrate women in erotica they'd limit the contest to women writers.

Although how they verify that on an anonymous writing site would be next to impossible of course.

That doesn't follow. That would be about women who write, but I don't see how it then becomes a celebration of anything meaningful. That's a bit like saying only women can write women, only men can write men, which is obviously bollocks.

But I agree the point made by others - I don't need a themed anthology to prompt me to write women (who would always fit within the theme), because they're the women I write, regardless.

And I don't need a seal of approval from anyone - there's a degree of smug superiority about the whole thing, which I don't think was the intent, but it's there in the underlying narrative.

 

[Djmac1031]

That doesn't follow. That would be about women who write, but I don't see how it then becomes a celebration of anything meaningful. That's a bit like saying only women can write women, only men can write men, which is obviously bollocks

Oh agreed. And I didn't mean to imply I felt that.

Bottom line; I'm all for stories that empower women, or contain empowered women, etc.

And if the Pink Orchid contest inspires someone to write one, great.

But to me, there's a difference between a themed contest and one with an agenda.

You wrote about a "strong woman" for a contest entry? Great job.

The question is, is that the ONLY time you write "strong women?"

I'm sure it's not, at least for most of us.

If it is, maybe we need to ask ourselves why?

OK, I'll get off the soapbox now .

 

[lovecraft68]

Oh agreed. And I didn't mean to imply I felt that.

Bottom line; I'm all for stories that empower women, or contain empowered women, etc.

And if the Pink Orchid contest inspires someone to write one, great.

But to me, there's a difference between a themed contest and one with an agenda.

You wrote about a "strong woman" for a contest entry? Great job.

The question is, is that the ONLY time you write "strong women?"

I'm sure it's not, at least for most of us.

If it is, maybe we need to ask ourselves why?

OK, I'll get off the soapbox now .

Heh...I think you hopped up on mine for the moment. I've been vocal about the hypocrisy of some of the 'ahem' men who went running into the PO event with all their fake white night 'yay girl power' crap.

Like you said if you need a contest to do that, well, that should tell you something. I write bad ass-and sometimes crazy killer bad ass-women all the time so its par for the course for me. I pass on the event because I see female empowerment not as a challenge or theme, but a cause, and there's some there who's presence makes a mockery of it, and I won't be part of it.

Okay, you can have it back.

 

[NotWise]

And I don't need a seal of approval from anyone - there's a degree of smug superiority about the whole thing, which I don't think was the intent, but it's there in the underlying narrative.

That's baffling. I don't even see how you'd get that impression.

The April Fools contest support thread seems like an odd venue to discuss the Pink Orchid event. You guys must find the April Fools contest to be ultimately boring.

@Omenainen is about nine hours off from the US times, so I'll add what I can. She can correct me later.

The contest was started as a reaction to O's experience as a beta reader and voluntary critic. She got tired of reading stories in which female characters did not have agency, and did not make rational decisions about their own lives, or even about their own sexuality.

It isn't hard to write a rational female character with agency. Lots of us think we do it. It isn't hard to write to the event theme which, if I were to boil it down to a single statement, is "a rational woman makes a significant decision."

The problem is that many of us who think we write about rational women with agency actually don't. The most frequent problem comes up with sex in any form, when the rational woman with agency inexplicably becomes a fantasy sex object there to stroke a male ego.

That isn't your story? So next year you can prove it.

I think there is an agenda to the event. Don't all of the writing events have agendas? They're there to get us to think and work out of our comfort zone: write the most compact story publishable, turn a geek into an erotic subject, write noir, on and on. Why is "write a rational woman making a significant decision" a challenge you can't stand?

I wrote a story for the first event. It was easy to create the character and only a little bit more difficult to write about the character making a significant decision. We're all told that our stories need conflict to be interesting. For the Pink Orchid Event, the woman needs to resolve that conflict for herself. That's about all there is to it.

This year I had a story I wrote for a different event, but I thought I might submit it for Pink Orchid. The female character was perfect, but the story was not. The woman got into a situation and depended on her boyfriend to help her out of it.

So, I didn't submit the story to the event. I also didn't complain about the event because of it. It isn't Omenainen's problem if I can't write the story.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

That's baffling. I don't even see how you'd get that impression.

The April Fools contest support thread seems like an odd venue to discuss the Pink Orchid event. You guys must find the April Fools contest to be ultimately boring.

@Omenainen is about nine hours off from the US times, so I'll add what I can. She can correct me later.

The contest was started as a reaction to O's experience as a beta reader and voluntary critic. She got tired of reading stories in which female characters did not have agency, and did not make rational decisions about their own lives, or even about their own sexuality.

It isn't hard to write a rational female character with agency. Lots of us think we do it. It isn't hard to write to the event theme which, if I were to boil it down to a single statement, is "a rational woman makes a significant decision."

The problem is that many of us who think we write about rational women with agency actually don't. The most frequent problem comes up with sex in any form, when the rational woman with agency inexplicably becomes a fantasy sex object there to stroke a male ego.

That isn't your story? So next year you can prove it.

I think there is an agenda to the event. Don't all of the writing events have agendas? They're there to get us to think and work out of our comfort zone: write the most compact story publishable, turn a geek into an erotic subject, write noir, on and on. Why is "write a rational woman making a significant decision" a challenge you can't stand?

I wrote a story for the first event. It was easy to create the character and only a little bit more difficult to write about the character making a significant decision. We're all told that our stories need conflict to be interesting. For the Pink Orchid Event, the woman needs to resolve that conflict for herself. That's about all there is to it.

This year I had a story I wrote for a different event, but I thought I might submit it for Pink Orchid. The female character was perfect, but the story was not. The woman got into a situation and depended on her boyfriend to help her out of it.

So, I didn't submit the story to the event. I also didn't complain about the event because of it. It isn't Omenainen's problem if I can't write the story.

I think you are missing our point here. I had no idea who came up with the Event, but I stated that it was probably done out of good intentions. If you do not see it as condescending then that is you, but there are plenty of those who do see it as such, and for good reason, regardless of the intentions of the person who came up with it. In its very core resides the belief that we (male authors) write women without agency, women who only follow and react, and are basically there only to serve male fantasies. If there is no such belief, then this event is just silly, as it has absolutely no reason to exist. But if there is such belief in its core, then it is very much condescending, unless of course that belief represents the truth. I do not doubt there are authors out there who write women without agency. Maybe there are plenty of them even. Are they a majority? I hope not and I believe not. I have read plenty of stories here that have women with agency, women who know what they want, women with power, dominant women. Maybe we simply read different kind of stories on Lit?
Anyway, the reason you mentioned - that Omenainen (whom you mention as the creator of this event?) based her(?) opinion on the stories she had read in her review thread is kind of silly to be honest. You realize how many stories this site has? Let's say she has read and reviewed a hundred of them... a thousand even, as unlikely as that is. Is that enough to draw a proper conclusion about how male authors write women?
You are right about one thing though. This isn't the place to discuss that topic and yeah, I apologize to the people who are here just to post about April's Fools contest. Truth be told, I haven't seen a single thread that doesn't completely derail from the original topic already on page two, but still that doesn't make it right.

 

[Voboy]

The problem is that many of us who think we write about rational women with agency actually don't. The most frequent problem comes up with sex in any form, when the rational woman with agency inexplicably becomes a fantasy sex object there to stroke a male ego.

That isn't your story? So next year you can prove it.

Well, you're right. This isn't the place to discuss it.

But holy shit, this excerpt... and you wonder why people detect condescension... "prove it?" Lol. Really? MAY I please prove it? Thank you so much!!!!

 

[Djmac1031]

Gonna just say this and then yeah, jump off the derailing lol.

I have no issues with the Pink Orchid contest existing, why it was created, who created it, or their intentions behind it.

And I absolutely acknowledge there's more than a fair share of stories here where the women amount to nothing more than large tits and several holes for the male character to fill.

I personally don't get off on those stories. And I try my best not to write them. Id like to hope that even in my simplest spank stories, that the female characters have a little more merit than that.

And I'm also sure if someone were to review my stories they'd probably find an example of where I failed at that.

Anyway. Write for a contest. Write just to write. Write for an agenda, or despite one.

I'm honestly not here to judge anyone for what they write or why.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's baffling. I don't even see how you'd get that impression.

The April Fools contest support thread seems like an odd venue to discuss the Pink Orchid event. You guys must find the April Fools contest to be ultimately boring.

I responded to a post in a thread. To be honest, I didn't pay attention to the thread it was in.

The contest was started as a reaction to O's experience as a beta reader and voluntary critic. She got tired of reading stories in which female characters did not have agency, and did not make rational decisions about their own lives, or even about their own sexuality.

It isn't hard to write a rational female character with agency. Lots of us think we do it. It isn't hard to write to the event theme which, if I were to boil it down to a single statement, is "a rational woman makes a significant decision."

The problem is that many of us who think we write about rational women with agency actually don't. The most frequent problem comes up with sex in any form, when the rational woman with agency inexplicably becomes a fantasy sex object there to stroke a male ego.

NotWise, why are you "explaining" all this? I know the background just as much as you do.

That isn't your story? So next year you can prove it.

Why should I prove anything in an event? My stories speak for themselves, always did, always will. They can be read anytime, and the women I write can be seen through whatever lens anyone has, and judged accordingly.

I write with an unashamed male gaze, but anyone who knows my content would find it hard, I think, to find any of my female characters without minds of their own.

I think there is an agenda to the event. Don't all of the writing events have agendas? They're there to get us to think and work out of our comfort zone: write the most compact story publishable, turn a geek into an erotic subject, write noir, on and on. Why is "write a rational woman making a significant decision" a challenge you can't stand?

Where did I ever say "I can't stand this event"? Oh, that's right, never. Stop putting words in my mouth.

I wrote a story for the first event. It was easy to create the character and only a little bit more difficult to write about the character making a significant decision. We're all told that our stories need conflict to be interesting. For the Pink Orchid Event, the woman needs to resolve that conflict for herself. That's about all there is to it.

This year I had a story I wrote for a different event, but I thought I might submit it for Pink Orchid. The female character was perfect, but the story was not. The woman got into a situation and depended on her boyfriend to help her out of it.

So, I didn't submit the story to the event. I also didn't complain about the event because of it. It isn't Omenainen's problem if I can't write the story.

I'm not complaining about the event, merely observing that in my opinion (which I assume I'm allowed) that the agenda behind it, after a while, became a little overstated. But then, I've been hearing these debates in one form or another since about 1969, with my father and older sister arguing at the dinner table - before many of these folk were born, so these matters are not new.

 

[NotWise]

EB, I quoted you to start my reply. The rest of what I said was addressed to other people responding on the subject.

 

[Djmac1031]

Truth be told, I haven't seen a single thread that doesn't completely derail from the original topic already on page two, but still that doesn't make it right.

Yeah, that would be me; I was the one who brought it up. Guilty as charged.

 

[TheRedChamber]

TODAY IS DAY OF SUBMISSIONS
THERE ARE 16 ENTRIES ON THE APRIL FOOLS DAY PAGE
@YDB95 and I both have a story sitting in pending, are there any others?
I had a feeling that this would be a lightly populated contest, it follows right on the heels of several other events so I'm happy to see the entries that we have. Are there any potential writers that need an assist? if so, please sing out here.​

No assist needed, but I am currently trying to get one written by the 23rd (minus some days for submission). With an estimate of 20k words and 5k written it should be doable with 1.5k words a day and some time for editing, but it's going to be tight.

I agree with others that this is quite a difficult challenge as it's not the sort of thing you can just look down your ideas list and find something already close. The prank (and in my case counter-prank) needs to be woven into the very basic plot or else you need something inherently funny enough that it's worth writing a story around. It not like say the Summer contest where you can just relocate everything to the beach or whatever.

 

[ElectricBlue]

EB, I quoted you to start my reply. The rest of what I said was addressed to other people responding on the subject.

Ah, okay; acknowledged.

 

[Omenainen]

Well hello! All you “nOt AlL MalE aUthOrs” are welcome to discuss my event in my event thread.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yeah, that would be me; I was the one who brought it up. Guilty as charged.

Its a free speech forum, and as Awkward pointed out, its par for the course. This is supposed to be contest discussion only, but as long as the topic is about lit stories/reactions ideas etc...then the conversation is going to inevitably split off. Otherwise this entire thread would be griping about scores, the "trying to get mine done" the sweeps, and the same comments over and over.

I think the Pink Orchid comment-being its another contest-and comparing it to this isn't off topic by much. Other contests have been mentioned here in comparison to this one. Your comment about 'if that's the only reason you write it" and my follow up of some of the people who enter are making a mockery of it is an issue because this is a forum of people who like to keep their heads down and ignore issues-but also quick to get political at their own convenience. This is an example of people get upset when you hit close to home.

If the Mod sees fit they'll do as they have done in the past and push this discussion into its own thread.

 

[alohadave]

Laurel is on fire today. Submitted at 2am, approved less than 12 hours later. It'll be up tomorrow.

 

[Djmac1031]

So my entry has been up for three days now, and sits at at solid 4.07 with 549 votes.

A very respectable score. And not one of the 18 comments so far has been negative; the readers not only get my twist ending, but enjoyed it.

But I don't think a 4 rating is gonna win me a contest lol.

Since all the feedback has been positive, I can only assume it's not getting 5's because it's too short.

It's all good. It was a fun story to write and I'm glad it's connected with readers. "Good," not ""Great" will have to do.

 

[Duleigh]

WELCOME TO DAY OF SUBMISSIONS
So far we are up to 27 stories, we had a few come up this morning.
If Djmac1031 is an example of voting, everybody should have no problems with eligibility.
Well, except maybe for me, my second story is fighting back every step of the way in editing. That's what happens when you use characters that you love, they expect special treatment, they show up late for editing sessions, they demand their own wardrobe... but I digress.
My second story should break a taboo among [Lit] writers proving that you can prank a disabled person.
Or maybe not. I'm expecting some feedback on this one, I can't wait to see it happen.
​

 

[djrip]

My scrambling is finished. Not too late, I think.

 

[Rbrsara]

This is the first contest I've submitted to. “Goddess” is a story about how one person dealt with his birthday falling on April 1. I'd really appreciate any comments you might have on it. Thanks,

 

[GrantBricksly]

Mine is doing about as well as I expected..votes are coming in slowly..but it is 4 pages long..so I expected that.

 

[alohadave]

If mine makes it to a score of 4 I'll be happy.