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The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

So I have been writing on my WIP tonight -- I set aside the last of the grading -- and I have gotten to the sad part. One of the major characters, the first one I bonded to as an author, dies this chapter. It was a known plot point when I had like a six line outline, so I have known this is coming. But it's also the first sustained death scene I have ever written. (I did have one supporting character commit suicide, but that was seen from afar.) Kind of a downer. In a chapter that is purely character development, with this one plot point.

Next chapter they get back to fighting monsters. And my two main characters can actually start thinking about the romance part of the story.
 
It was a dark and stormy night. The waves were high and choppy. Within sight of shore, the good ship Crime And Punishment Story Event was dashed against some rocks and began to sink. Most of the passengers made it to shore, and their stories went live last Monday. Some were thought lost at sea, and many threads were started in their honor.

But our tale of melancholy does not end here, for several of those thought banished to the deep began to crawl out of the water onto the shores of Halloween Contest island. Neither fully dead nor alive, neither fully Crime and Punishment nor Halloween, they were something else. Something sinister and sexy.

I think I'm repurposing my still-Pending C&P story for the Halloween contest. It seems like all the cool kids are doing it, so I'm adjusting my orthodontic headgear, fixing the duct tape holding my nerdy glasses together, and making sure my story takes place on Halloween so that it qualifies. It's my first contest, so I am terrified.
 
TheRedLantern said:
It was a dark and stormy night. The waves were high and choppy. Within sight of shore, the good ship Crime And Punishment Story Event was dashed against some rocks and began to sink. Most of the passengers made it to shore, and their stories went live last Monday. Some were thought lost at sea, and many threads were started in their honor.

But our tale of melancholy does not end here, for several of those thought banished to the deep began to crawl out of the water onto the shores of Halloween Contest island. Neither fully dead nor alive, neither fully Crime and Punishment nor Halloween, they were something else. Something sinister and sexy.

I think I'm repurposing my still-Pending C&P story for the Halloween contest. It seems like all the cool kids are doing it, so I'm adjusting my orthodontic headgear, fixing the duct tape holding my nerdy glasses together, and making sure my story takes place on Halloween so that it qualifies. It's my first contest, so I am terrified.
Click to expand...
Take a deep breath. And another sip of coffee.
Contests are easy. There is really no downside and they attract a lot of new readers to your story, some of whom will be drawn into the universe of your back catalogue.
 
It's another beautiful sunny morning and I wish I could enjoy it. I had a restless night, not being able to find a comfortable position that cause spikes of pain shoot up my back. Other than that, I feel fine but had to sit and wait two hours for AAA to show up when my battery died. So I needed to spend $200 for a new battery.

Anyway, there's a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is whistling. There are donuts and muffins on the counter along with some remaining cornbread. It's pumpkin picking time and maybe I'll make a pumpkin pie to share with y'all.

I'll be over in the corner wincing with pain as I try to write through my back pain issues. My Muse is laughing at me, telling me that authors must suffer for their work and that it is about time I did so ...
 
sirhugs said:
Take a deep breath. And another sip of coffee.
Contests are easy. There is really no downside and they attract a lot of new readers to your story, some of whom will be drawn into the universe of your back catalogue.
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I appreciate the encouragement! ChloeTzang had said similar things to me.

I get nervous before submitting anything, and this is my first writing contest ever. I've been writing my whole life, but rarely sharing it before I came to Lit a few months ago, and I'm still really nervous to do so. My expectation was that I wouldn't enter a contest for at least a year or two, but Chloe and I wrote our stories for the Crime and Punishment event, both got stuck in Pending at the end, and she decided to resubmit hers for the Halloween Contest so I'm doing whatever she does.
 
TheRedLantern said:
I appreciate the encouragement! ChloeTzang had said similar things to me.

I get nervous before submitting anything, and this is my first writing contest ever. I've been writing my whole life, but rarely sharing it before I came to Lit a few months ago, and I'm still really nervous to do so. My expectation was that I wouldn't enter a contest for at least a year or two, but Chloe and I wrote our stories for the Crime and Punishment event, both got stuck in Pending at the end, and she decided to resubmit hers for the Halloween Contest so I'm doing whatever she does.
Click to expand...
Don't think of a Lit contest as "writing contest." The contests aren't juried, and the readers vote on whether they liked your story, not so much on the quality of your writing. A lit contest is more of a popularity contest.

That said, other contestants read the contest page pretty rigorously. There's even a small number of regular readers who take the contest seriously and vote for quality writing. A contest story can get more literary comments than usual.
 
NotWise said:
Don't think of a Lit contest as "writing contest." The contests aren't juried, and the readers vote on whether they liked your story, not so much on the quality of your writing. A lit contest is more of a popularity contest
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Wait, are you saying that if I don't do well in a Lit contest it's because YOU GUYS DON'T LIKE ME?!?!?! :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

Goes to cupcakewarehouse.com and places a bulk order
 
TRL - That first time is always worrisome, but you'll be fine. And, no matter what the score, you will have gained new readers, and that's nothing to sneeze at.

I'm kind of celebrating, for for the first time in a month, I've managed to do some actual writing. Maybemaybemaybe I'll have something for Halloween. Fingers crossed.
 
Last night, at my folks' house, we watched The Last Stop in Yuma County. This movie is a great NeoNoir Modern Western... Give it a watch, y'all, it's on Paramount+ (and probably elsewhere).
 
It always made me think of snake charmers. I hate snakes.

Seriously, one of my friends in high school played oboe. He was one of the two or three most musically talented people in the school. He is also the one I mentioned in another thread that played with Muddy Waters a few years later. Played well, the oboe has a hauntingly beautiful sound. Played poorly, it is painful. Even more so than most instruments.
 
MrPixel said:
Had to Google 'em. That generational thing.

Why do rock musicians and especially guitarists get such adulation while we oboists just get "Huh? What?"

Don't answer that.
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I always just think of the duck when I think of the oboe because in school we used to listen to this old recording of Peter and the Wolf (which also happened to introduce students to the various instruments). So like, rock on duck man?
 
stickygirl said:
Oh I dunno. It always sounded like a strangled to me
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A strangled what?
iwatchus said:
It always made me think of snake charmers. I hate snakes.

Seriously, one of my friends in high school played oboe. He was one of the two or three most musically talented people in the school. He is also the one I mentioned in another thread that played with Muddy Waters a few years later. Played well, the oboe has a hauntingly beautiful sound. Played poorly, it is painful. Even more so than most instruments.
Click to expand...
Ooh, I love snakes. I should get back to one of my ten different ideas about a girl and a snake-blank one of these days.
 
TheRedLantern said:
I appreciate the encouragement! ChloeTzang had said similar things to me.

I get nervous before submitting anything, and this is my first writing contest ever. I've been writing my whole life, but rarely sharing it before I came to Lit a few months ago, and I'm still really nervous to do so. My expectation was that I wouldn't enter a contest for at least a year or two, but Chloe and I wrote our stories for the Crime and Punishment event, both got stuck in Pending at the end, and she decided to resubmit hers for the Halloween Contest so I'm doing whatever she does.
Click to expand...
I too am worried about the health of the site, but there's nothing we can do about that. For the contest, the only person you must please is yourself. If the story says everything you want it to say, and it looks and sounds right (I use Read Aloud to check my work) just hit submit and walk away. We all go through 'separation anxiety' whenever we post a story, but that's part of the job. Hang in there and come tell us how it went.
 
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