Halloween contest question.

[tomlitilia]

Too early, you say? I'm a slow writer with little time for it, is my reply.

Anyway... I'm not interested in writing scary stuff, and not so keen on halloween traditions and mascerade parties. But the themes also include costumes. How far can that theme be pushed, in your experience. I have a vague idea about exploring erotic power dynamics between two women -- one a business woman, the othere her house kerper -- by them gradually dressing more according to their roles. Too far fetched for the halloween crowd? It's more about uniforms than costumes, admiddedly.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't think the submissions editor checked for theme, so it would be up to the individual readers to accept the story as on theme and rate accordingly--and there's no telling what the readers will do. Some may not pay attention to theme at all.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

my experience is the feedback suffers if one strays too far from theme. not saying don't do it, just putting my personal experience out there.

 

[oggbashan]

Too early, you say? I'm a slow writer with little time for it, is my reply.

Anyway... I'm not interested in writing scary stuff, and not so keen on halloween traditions and mascerade parties. But the themes also include costumes. How far can that theme be pushed, in your experience. I have a vague idea about exploring erotic power dynamics between two women -- one a business woman, the othere her house kerper -- by them gradually dressing more according to their roles. Too far fetched for the halloween crowd? It's more about uniforms than costumes, admiddedly.

I don't like Trick or Treat Halloween. It didn't exist in my UK childhood and now it is far too commercial or an excuse for very anti-social behaviour. We had bobbing for apples - more like Harvest Festival and then Guy Fawkes Day on 5th November.

BUT - the stories I have written for the Halloween Contest have usually involved ghosts and/or costumes. They sometimes get down voted - all my new stories can be - but also adverse comments that I wasn't on theme.

You can push the theme a little, but what you are suggesting could be bashed for omitting the theme entirely.

 

[PuckIt]

Too early, you say? I'm a slow writer with little time for it, is my reply.

Anyway... I'm not interested in writing scary stuff, and not so keen on halloween traditions and mascerade parties. But the themes also include costumes. How far can that theme be pushed, in your experience. I have a vague idea about exploring erotic power dynamics between two women -- one a business woman, the othere her house kerper -- by them gradually dressing more according to their roles. Too far fetched for the halloween crowd? It's more about uniforms than costumes, admiddedly.

Make it happen Oct. 31. Make the only reason they were wearing the costume that particular day. (A lost wager? Getting "too into" the costumes two friends chose?) Toss in an interruption or two from little crumb catchers knocking on the door to shake them down for candy and I doubt even the most rabid fanatic would ding you for being off theme.

Nothing wrong with your original idea at all for just normal submission (pun intended). But, yeah, I think you would probably get slammed by roughly forty to forty-five percent of the contest readers as off theme.

And nothing wrong with THAT if you go into it with your eyes wide open. We can duel it out for Oggs bottom of the barrel prize.

 

[LeandraNyx]

Deleted

 

[8letters]

Too early, you say? I'm a slow writer with little time for it, is my reply.

Anyway... I'm not interested in writing scary stuff, and not so keen on halloween traditions and mascerade parties. But the themes also include costumes. How far can that theme be pushed, in your experience. I have a vague idea about exploring erotic power dynamics between two women -- one a business woman, the othere her house kerper -- by them gradually dressing more according to their roles. Too far fetched for the halloween crowd? It's more about uniforms than costumes, admiddedly.

There are two advantages to submitting a story for a contest - it gets more reads for stories in less popular categories and if the story wins, it has more "legs" because it'll appear regularly in the list of contest winners for your category.

If you get some negative comments and some down votes, is that worth the extra reads you get for being in the contest?

 

[sr71plt]

If you get some negative comments and some down votes, is that worth the extra reads you get for being in the contest?

With even a 4 being a down vote in this system, down votes are going to work hard against you in terms of winning the contest, so courting down votes and talking about the effect of winning at the same time probably is a nonstarter.

 

[tomlitilia]

Thanks everyone for your two cents. Prob not ideal fit for the Halloween contest, and I don't want to squeeze it into a box it won't benefit from.

 

[Hypoxia]

Thanks everyone for your two cents. Prob not ideal fit for the Halloween contest, and I don't want to squeeze it into a box it won't benefit from.

Could it be a quirky Valentine contest entry?.

 

[tomlitilia]

Could it be a quirky Valentine contest entry?.

Possibly. Lesbian anal domination romance. Could work.

 

[Kethandra]

Thanks everyone for your two cents. Prob not ideal fit for the Halloween contest, and I don't want to squeeze it into a box it won't benefit from.

Another thing that seems to help is an 'Author's note' or Intro explaining the entry.

"This is an entry in the Halloween contest. It does not concern the holiday itself but does involve costumes and blah blah blah"

I have found that contest readers who feel 'tricked' or 'misled' by an entry are more likely to comment negatively or vote down. If they know up front there is no Trick or Treat Halloween involved, they won't be looking for it if they continue reading, and may simply not read it if that is all they want.

Then again, there is the infamous Christmas story that did well in the Halloween contest a couple years back.....