2010 Survivor Literotica: Plotting & Planning

[CrimsonMaiden]

It's that time again to discuss the upcoming contest for the next year. I just got the greenlight from Laurel, so here we go!

The stated objective of all editions of Survivor Literotica Contest is "To write as many new and original stories in as many different categories listed on the main story index in the course of the year as possible." The changes to the rules this year were to try to address and refocus on these objectives. New stories. Original stories. Different categories. With this in mind, here were the four key changes for 2009:

1. Multi-chaptered stories were not allowed.

2. There was a submission cap for all categories. This was intended to help keep balance within the contest and give everyone an equal chance.

3. Immunities did not count for points and could be used for each cap level in a category.

4. In addition to the 35 regular categories, there was a bonus category: Special Contests.


For those of you who participated in the 2009 Survivor Literotica Contest, for those who did in previous editions, or are planning to enter in 2010, what did you think of these changes? Did they do what we hoped they would? Did it level the playing field so more authors stood a chance of finishing in the top places? Did disallowing chapter stories help with the problem of stories being written for categories where they didn't really belong or being put in an erotic category when there was no erotic content?

Furthermore, feel free to talk about all the usual Planning & Plotting themes: What do you think is positive and negative about the contest? Any other ideas for improving any aspect? Any other adjustments to the rules that you think ought to be made? Any comments or questions at all?

 

[Boxlicker101]

Generally speaking, I liked the rules that were implemented in 2009. They emphasized variety and versatility. In the past, I have seen people pile up fifty or sixty or more "stories" in single categories, none of them worth reading by themselves. Sometimes they were of minimal length and frequently they were claimed to be chapters of ongoing stories. Currently, the only chaptered stories allowed for points must be in either Chain Stories or Novels & Novellas. This is reasonable, because either of these categories must, by necessity, be in chapters.

Currently, we are required to fill each category with three items or an immunity before we can add anything to any category. This is a good rule, because it promotes variety, but I would like to see one exception made to it, and that is in Novels/Novellas. I believe that readers prefer to have more than three chapters of an ongoing story per year, so I suggest this: If the third item in the category is a chapter of an ongoing story, more chapters of that same story, each at least 7,500 words can be added and included in the score. There might be an upper limit, but it would be more than three.

I would also like to thank Crimson Maiden, both for her work as a moderator and for posting her current AV.

 

[OnlyByMoonlight]

Survivor

I have not competed in a survivor contest, though I have followed Survivor 2009 closely and plan to enter Survivor '10.

Overall I thought the new rules were very good and did achieve what you intended, and that the changes that were implemented in '09 should, for the most part, be permanent.

I think the caps were a good idea, though I think instead of there being 3 cap levels there should only be 2 (3 stories, then 3 stories and after you've posted 6 stories in all categories you can post as many more as you want) . I don't think there should be a cap for the total number of submissions. In other words, if you fill all of your caps, I think you should still be able to post more stories thus allowing you to get more points. As it is set up now there is only a finite number of points one could get due to the caps (at least thats how I understand it). This would also be a kind of reward or bonus for those authors who submitted the most stories.


Also, though I may be alone on this, I think the Text/Poetry with Audio categories should be optional (meaning you don't have to post in them to fill your caps) because many (including myself) would have to purchase a microphone/recorder and/or software specifically to do that and that could become expensive and thus penalize contestants who are under financial constraints. (This could also go for the Illustrated categories, though I think authors would have greater access to scanners than microphones and with pics/photos there are other ways to get them on your computer than scanning.)

I think the addition of the Contest categories was a good thing, and maybe there could be another way to get bonus points as well.

Also, I think perhaps a finite number of chaptered submissions should be allowed (say a total of 5 for all categories) , since sometimes when one sits down to write a story it can easily become too long and need to be broken up. (And also since there is a "Story Series" section on the main page) Plus I think chaptered stories are some of the best and would like to see more of them on the site.

Also, maybe there could be bonus points for Volunteer Editing, or something like editing 3 or 5 stories from one category could count towards one's cap, or editing a certain number of stories gets you a bonus point.

Just some suggestions. Hope I made sense. And overall good job.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

I'm not ignoring what y'all have posted. I will comment further when I am not in so much pain.

 

[Sean Renaud]

Over all I liked the changes.

Maybe I misunderstood how the Novels/Novellas worked. I thought that needed to be three separate stories, not that it was the exception to the chapter rule. For example I have Muses which assuming it all gets posted on time (it should) is thirteen chapters long. but I listed it as a single story, because it is a single story. Did I misunderstand here?

I'd like to echo the idea of the audio (and possibly illustrated) sections being optional. Illustrated is kicking my ass like right now. It's even more frustrating cus it worked fine the first two times and I got no idea why it came out garbled now.

I'd have to go look at previous years to know for sure, I don't know if this year was really any more competitive than any other year I've watched (though I think it was) It certainly felt more competitive because the score was lower. I remember any one of the top three in previous years having more points now than I think the top three combined have now. So goal accomplished.

If I had a complaint it's that I think immunities should be worth points. Not the full five but maybe three? That way the guy with the most real stories will still win but you don't lose points (particularly in a close race) for getting them. I'm currently considering erasing one of my immunities and writing stories because I'm gonna be down five points because of it.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Over all I liked the changes.

Maybe I misunderstood how the Novels/Novellas worked. I thought that needed to be three separate stories, not that it was the exception to the chapter rule. For example I have Muses which assuming it all gets posted on time (it should) is thirteen chapters long. but I listed it as a single story, because it is a single story. Did I misunderstand here?

You can post three chapters of one novel, as long as each chapter is at least 7,500 words. The first one counts six points and the rest are two points each. To post additional chapters, you need to fill all your categories up to three items or an immunity.

I'd like to echo the idea of the audio (and possibly illustrated) sections being optional. Illustrated is kicking my ass like right now. It's even more frustrating cus it worked fine the first two times and I got no idea why it came out garbled now.

I'd have to go look at previous years to know for sure, I don't know if this year was really any more competitive than any other year I've watched (though I think it was) It certainly felt more competitive because the score was lower. I remember any one of the top three in previous years having more points now than I think the top three combined have now. So goal accomplished.

If I had a complaint it's that I think immunities should be worth points. Not the full five but maybe three? That way the guy with the most real stories will still win but you don't lose points (particularly in a close race) for getting them. I'm currently considering erasing one of my immunities and writing stories because I'm gonna be down five points because of it.

Immunities used to be worth two points. Except for those posted to fill themed contests, stories are worth three points, or six for novellas or novel chapters of at least 7,500 words. Five points would be the score for three stories or poems in one category.

I think it's more competitive this year too, because of the caps and the outlawing of chapters in most categories. In the past, I have seen as many as sixty entries in a single category, all of them minimum length chapters and most of them not worth reading.

 

[Sean Renaud]

I basically support the banning of chapters. I still have my reservations but I support that plan and the caps were brilliant. I think that its kinda weak that we can use multiple chapters for novels though. I mean the point (to me anyway) of labeling something a novel/novella is that most readers don't want to sit for 7500 words so you can break that into say three chapters that are more easily read. Not to go back to huge ass chapters. But that's a personal preference.

Course I don't intend to really compete in 2010. I might get a score card and pay attention to my immunities but I'm tapped out.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I basically support the banning of chapters. I still have my reservations but I support that plan and the caps were brilliant. I think that its kinda weak that we can use multiple chapters for novels though. I mean the point (to me anyway) of labeling something a novel/novella is that most readers don't want to sit for 7500 words so you can break that into say three chapters that are more easily read. Not to go back to huge ass chapters. But that's a personal preference.

Course I don't intend to really compete in 2010. I might get a score card and pay attention to my immunities but I'm tapped out.

There are chapters in two categories - Chain stories, in which the chapters are written by a series of authors and Novels/novellas. Some of ther latter are very long, over 100,000 words, and have to be broken down into chapters. I am working on one myself that is over 50,000 words and is only about half done, and maybe not that much. An individual entry into this category has to be at least 7,500 words, which is why it counts for double the score of other entries. That's pretty long, but I have other stories in other categories that are over 10,000 words. Those in the Angel Jones series, to name some, and some of my group sex stories. Group sex stories tend to be long because I have a lot of people to write about.

 

[wife2hotblk]

I would suggest that the site do away with posting preferences to Survivor stories in the final days. That way it would even the playing field and prevent sandbagging to a degree.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I would suggest that the site do away with posting preferences to Survivor stories in the final days. That way it would even the playing field and prevent sandbagging to a degree.

Oooo that's an interesting addition to the mix. Not a bad idea.

 

[Sean Renaud]

I don't think that would really prevent sand bagging. Granted I've not observed every year but it seems like most years there are only a few places that come December are actually in competition. Like I could potentially win this year. I don't expect to but I could win. But for me to place out of the top 2 is unlikely unless you've been SUPER sandbagging and for me to place outside of the top 5. Well Hastings would have to become involved. Bastard. I hate that guy.

Besides on average stories get posted in two to three days as is in my experience. If you're gonna sandbag you're gonna super dump Christmas Eve and it won't make a difference. What I would say is maybe there should be a limit for the number of stories that can be dropped on a single day. Say ten. Its high enough that its unlikely to bother anybody but low enough that someone can't say sign up on January not submit anything until mid december and then just drop three hundred stories over two weeks. But I don't think that's ever happened so who cares.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I don't think that would really prevent sand bagging. Granted I've not observed every year but it seems like most years there are only a few places that come December are actually in competition. Like I could potentially win this year. I don't expect to but I could win. But for me to place out of the top 2 is unlikely unless you've been SUPER sandbagging and for me to place outside of the top 5. Well Hastings would have to become involved. Bastard. I hate that guy.

Besides on average stories get posted in two to three days as is in my experience. If you're gonna sandbag you're gonna super dump Christmas Eve and it won't make a difference. What I would say is maybe there should be a limit for the number of stories that can be dropped on a single day. Say ten. Its high enough that its unlikely to bother anybody but low enough that someone can't say sign up on January not submit anything until mid december and then just drop three hundred stories over two weeks. But I don't think that's ever happened so who cares.

I don't think it would make much difference in sandbagging or not either. It doesn't make much differece whether you post all your stories to your scorecard on the last day of the year or on Christmas Eve or whatever. The idea is that they are added during the end of the contest.

When sandbagging is mentioned, it is usually adding a large number of stories to the scorecard late in the year. They might have been posted to the site throughout the year, just not added to the author's score. Something like that happened two years ago. One author entered the contest in December and posted a whole pile of stories to his scorecard and finished high in the money. I don't remember if he won or not, but that was a classic case of sandbagging, and the reason why the entry date is now in October or earlier.

If you want to look for sandbagging like that, you can. Just check on the index of every author in the contest and see who has a large number of items posted in 2009 but not added to ther scorecards. Personally, I have better ways to spend my time than doing that.

 

[OnlyByMoonlight]

chapters

I agree with wife. I think if you decide to take a gamble and sandbag by posting stories you've had ready for a while then you should run the risk that they don't get posted in time. Personally I think sandbagging not a nice thing to do to the editors, especially since you would be drowning them with extra work during the holidays!

(Though I've already posted once in this thread about this) i thought since more people have talked about chapters I'd reiterate what I think since the more I think about it the more I like the idea: there should either be a limited number of chaptered submissions allowed or a category devoted to that since there is a "Story Series" section on the main page, but I do definatly think there should be a cap on it. Its one thing to have three chapters of something because the story needed to tie up a loose end, or ran long, or you got super inspired writing the first one that you got a great idea for two more. However, its another thing all together to have 5 or 6 chapters of the same idea simply because you couldn't come up with another idea for that category.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I agree with wife. I think if you decide to take a gamble and sandbag by posting stories you've had ready for a while then you should run the risk that they don't get posted in time. Personally I think sandbagging not a nice thing to do to the editors, especially since you would be drowning them with extra work during the holidays!

(Though I've already posted once in this thread about this) i thought since more people have talked about chapters I'd reiterate what I think since the more I think about it the more I like the idea: there should either be a limited number of chaptered submissions allowed or a category devoted to that since there is a "Story Series" section on the main page, but I do definatly think there should be a cap on it. Its one thing to have three chapters of something because the story needed to tie up a loose end, or ran long, or you got super inspired writing the first one that you got a great idea for two more. However, its another thing all together to have 5 or 6 chapters of the same idea simply because you couldn't come up with another idea for that category.

There already are a limited number of chaptered stories: Chain stories, where the chapters are written by different authors, and Novels/Novellas. Chapters used to be allowed, but this was abused by people, one in particular, who would write rambling, pointless stories broken up into numerous chapters of about 800 words each. Each of these used to count as an entry, and this is why chapters were almost eliminated this year.

It's perfectly OK to write a story that comes to an end and to write a sequel for that story, and this is a common practice. It's usually a good idea to include a note at the beginning of a sequel pointing out that some of the referenced events occurred in other stories. You can write all the sequels you want, and they don't even have to all be in the same category.

As for writing a story that starts to run a little long, and you want to break it into chapters: No, unless it is in the Novel/Novella cateegory and each part is at least 7,500 words. Don't be afraid to write more than the minimum length.

 

[OnlyByMoonlight]

It's perfectly OK to write a story that comes to an end and to write a sequel for that story, and this is a common practice. It's usually a good idea to include a note at the beginning of a sequel pointing out that some of the referenced events occurred in other stories. You can write all the sequels you want, and they don't even have to all be in the same category.

I thought each entry had to count as a stand alone story (as in not part of a series or a sequel to a previous story)? I could be mistaken here, though.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I thought each entry had to count as a stand alone story (as in not part of a series or a sequel to a previous story)? I could be mistaken here, though.

As long as each story has a beginning and an end and stands on its own, it is okay. Sequels are quite common. Two examples on my list are the Marian and Ryan series and the Angel Jones series. They are listed as chapters, but they are actually all standalone stories, although they reference previous stories in the series. When I add more to these series, I will have to change the names so they make no reference to chapters.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

The reason the length of a submission to the Novellas category must be 7500 words is because that is the definition of what a novella is. That is also why it is worth more points, because it's a longer word requirement.

Points for immunities can be discussed. That is what this thread is all about. The reason why we eliminated points for immunities this year is because points reward authors for NOT writing, and that's not what this contest is about. The contest is all about writing in every category. If the majority are not happy with the way they were set up to be used (ie, needing one for every cap, no points, etc.) then we can discuss what changes everyone would like to see and try to come up with a consensus.

IE cap levels... I remember someone saying they thought the way it was set up now that there was only an finite number of points you could get. That's not correct. You can continue writing as much as you wish, you just must follow the cap structure. In other words, you can't add stories to cap level 7 of a category unless you have filled cap level 6 for all categories. You could continue to write until cap level 50 (or however far you could get) as long as you fill the previous level for every category before you move on. The only categories that are closed after 10 submissions are the poetry categories. All others are open to however many you can write for them.

IE audio and illustrated. These remain in the contest because they are separate categories in Lit. We have tried to make submissions to audio easier by allowing you to have a friend record your story (used to, it had to be done by the author) since not everyone has the needed equipment. Illustrated is not that difficult since it is fairly easy to either use your own photos or make something in a paint program. Submission of those is simple, because all you have to do is embed (insert) the picture into a word document, along with the story, and upload it. Of course, you always have the option of using immunities for these categories.

 

[Boxlicker101]

The reason the length of a submission to the Novellas category must be 7500 words is because that is the definition of what a novella is. That is also why it is worth more points, because it's a longer word requirement.

Points for immunities can be discussed. That is what this thread is all about. The reason why we eliminated points for immunities this year is because points reward authors for NOT writing, and that's not what this contest is about. The contest is all about writing in every category. If the majority are not happy with the way they were set up to be used (ie, needing one for every cap, no points, etc.) then we can discuss what changes everyone would like to see and try to come up with a consensus.

IE cap levels... I remember someone saying they thought the way it was set up now that there was only an finite number of points you could get. That's not correct. You can continue writing as much as you wish, you just must follow the cap structure. In other words, you can't add stories to cap level 7 of a category unless you have filled cap level 6 for all categories. You could continue to write until cap level 50 (or however far you could get) as long as you fill the previous level for every category before you move on. The only categories that are closed after 10 submissions are the poetry categories. All others are open to however many you can write for them.

IE audio and illustrated. These remain in the contest because they are separate categories in Lit. We have tried to make submissions to audio easier by allowing you to have a friend record your story (used to, it had to be done by the author) since not everyone has the needed equipment. Illustrated is not that difficult since it is fairly easy to either use your own photos or make something in a paint program. Submission of those is simple, because all you have to do is embed (insert) the picture into a word document, along with the story, and upload it. Of course, you always have the option of using immunities for these categories.

I like the cap levels but, as I said before, I prefer the idea of allowing authors to continue posting additional chapters of novels only if they are continuations of the third entry in the first cap. Two alternatives are to go ahead and submit them anyhow, but not count them for score or to hold off on them and only submitt three a year. I'm assuming here that it will be very unusual for anybody to post three entries or an immunity to every category. I believe Bakeboss has done it this year, but nobody else has. To be honest, I don't like either of the alternatives, but I think that, should I be in that position next year, I will continue posting chapters and not counting them.

I have never posted an illustrated story, but I probably could. I have posted illustrated poems. Audible poems are not much of a hassle, but audible stories are a pain in the ass. For one thing, recording them in one-minute bites is a chore, but one I have done. The biggest problem is submitting them, because a 2,000 word story, which is quite short, is a huge file to upload, even if you can use somel program to shrink it. What I have done is to split the story into two or three or more recordings and submit them separately. I believe I have two audible stories, and that's how I did them. Audible poems arer simple because they are much shorter.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

I have never posted an illustrated story, but I probably could. I have posted illustrated poems. Audible poems are not much of a hassle, but audible stories are a pain in the ass. For one thing, recording them in one-minute bites is a chore, but one I have done. The biggest problem is submitting them, because a 2,000 word story, which is quite short, is a huge file to upload, even if you can use somel program to shrink it. What I have done is to split the story into two or three or more recordings and submit them separately. I believe I have two audible stories, and that's how I did them. Audible poems arer simple because they are much shorter.

Why are you recording them in one minute bites? There's a free audio program called Audacity that allows you to record the story in its entirety. Once you have the file completed (and I think it has to be saved in a certain format) then you simply use the file upload feature at Lit (which you can find by looking in the Media section of the FAQ).

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

I liked the changes that were implemented this year. Unfortunately, I had to all but throw in the towel on the Survivor contests due to my health issues and partial hospitalization for two months. Anyway, the caps make it more challenging and interesting.

 

[OnlyByMoonlight]

Perhaps contestants could get a couple of bonus points for posting a certain number of entries in a month as an incentive to keep scorecards up to date and help prevent sandbagging. Say 2 points for posting 10 submissions in a month, each month adding up to 24 extra possible points.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxlicker101
I have never posted an illustrated story, but I probably could. I have posted illustrated poems. Audible poems are not much of a hassle, but audible stories are a pain in the ass. For one thing, recording them in one-minute bites is a chore, but one I have done. The biggest problem is submitting them, because a 2,000 word story, which is quite short, is a huge file to upload, even if you can use somel program to shrink it. What I have done is to split the story into two or three or more recordings and submit them separately. I believe I have two audible stories, and that's how I did them. Audible poems arer simple because they are much shorter.

Why are you recording them in one minute bites? There's a free audio program called Audacity that allows you to record the story in its entirety. Once you have the file completed (and I think it has to be saved in a certain format) then you simply use the file upload feature at Lit (which you can find by looking in the Media section of the FAQ).

The last audible story I submitted was about a year and a half ago. Since then, I have bought a new computer which will record longer. I just tested it, and it recorded for over two minutes, and I don't know how long it would actually go.

Even so, uploading is still a hassle. The story is just under 2,700 words, which is small, but I had to break it into three segments to upload it. I have two different mailboxes, and neither of them woukld do it with any fewer attachments.

Even so,m I just might write and audibly record a story next year. Since you are asking for suggestions, it might be a good thing to allow extra points for multi-media submissions, including audible and illustrsated stories and poems. After all, there is more to such submissions than to most others.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

The last audible story I submitted was about a year and a half ago. Since then, I have bought a new computer which will record longer. I just tested it, and it recorded for over two minutes, and I don't know how long it would actually go.

Even so, uploading is still a hassle. The story is just under 2,700 words, which is small, but I had to break it into three segments to upload it. I have two different mailboxes, and neither of them woukld do it with any fewer attachments.

Even so,m I just might write and audibly record a story next year. Since you are asking for suggestions, it might be a good thing to allow extra points for multi-media submissions, including audible and illustrsated stories and poems. After all, there is more to such submissions than to most others.

Box, you don't have to split it up and send it by email. There's a file upload on the site that allows you to send the entire file at once. That uploads the file directly to Lit's server. Just make sure you use the email you are registered with at Lit in the "Who are the files from?" box and put that it's an audio file that goes with the submission titled (whatever you submission is) in the "Write a comment" box.

There's a bulk uploader so you can actually send more than one file at a time (I've used it to submit several audio poems' audio files at once.)

 

[Sean Renaud]

I still find Illustrated to be frustrating. I mean I have two that have been pending for I think ten days at this point. It's nuts. I haven't even tried audio.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I still find Illustrated to be frustrating. I mean I have two that have been pending for I think ten days at this point. It's nuts. I haven't even tried audio.

Both of them, and illustrated or audible poems too, take longer than most things. Sometimes mine have taken as long as three weeks before being posted. I don't know why they take so long.