The official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2019 Support Thread

[SimonDoom]

It's for the Halloween story contest though so I'm pretty sure a lot of them are going to be dealing with the supernatural though.

And look at how well erotic couplings turned out for me. I still got only those 4 votes on my Summer Lovin' story



I don't know, that encounter with the demon gets really romantic and sweet by the end.

It is about a man wading through dark forces of evil in hopes of sharing the knowledge of how to defeat them and the sex he has along the way. I don't know if it's particularly scary but it is a trip down the nefarious end of things.

I have no idea what that those last two sentences mean. I think you need to crystalize exactly what your story is about, and in particular what its particular erotic appeal is, and then pick the category.

Think in terms of the category audience. What are they looking for? Which audience will be most receptive to your story? No one can answer that for you until you've got a very clear idea about your story.

 

[MichaelGH]

I have no idea what that those last two sentences mean. I think you need to crystalize exactly what your story is about, and in particular what its particular erotic appeal is, and then pick the category.

Think in terms of the category audience. What are they looking for? Which audience will be most receptive to your story? No one can answer that for you until you've got a very clear idea about your story.

To be a bit more clear it stars a guy who summons demons to try and figure out how to defeat them. And then make a record of how to defeat those demons so that the rest of the world can learn from them. The demons represent something that is close to the sexual experience. The first represents a devotion to simply the physical stimuli that occurs during sex and finding oneself a slave to the sensations that occur. The second wants to foster distrust and the third hopes to appeal to egocentrism in hopes of keeping people apart.

It's basically three stories in one so it's a little unwieldy to describe as a whole but that's the general gist. The erotic appeal would be in processing the darker aspects of sex that can attach themselves to one in the hopes that after the ordeal one can have more abundant sex.

I don't really want to place myself as an authority on what each category is (I'm asking for help defining a category for a reason) but for readers of Sci-Fi and Fantasy I would assume there would be more of an escapist bent. Like imagining a better world where the type of sex they want to have could flourish.

I don't think I've gone to this side of the pond but for Erotic Horror I would assume there's an element of domination in it. Like a chance to experience the more terrifying parts of sex through a story and a chance to uphold these fears. I would assume it would end in defeat.

MIne's more of a trip through the fantastical to get back to reality with the lessons learned from the trip in tow. I'm sure there are parts of any fantasy story with darkness to juxtapose against the more utopian aspects but mine would diverge in regards to the whole escapism aspect, at least a little. There's going to be some escapism for sure but also applicable life lessons. Mine would diverge from erotic horror in regards to the whole intimidating aspect. There are beings that are intimidating but they're overcome, not dominating forces. And also given the fact that my story's not particularly scary.

Again these are all just my conceptions and I take no authority in them being accurate.

 

[ChloeTzang]

SF and Fantasy for sure then. There’s nowhere else it’d fit here

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

My story just went live. And that with a full week to spare... Much better than my Nude Day submission, which was a day before the deadline I think. So now it's time to grab something to eat and to anxiously refresh the page to see how it's doing.

 

[oggbashan]

As I expected, one of my seven entries is attracting more trolls than the other six and has been consistently rated below 3.5:

https://www.literotica.com/s/hijab

Anon didn't like it:

This had nothing to with a fetish of any kind.

Although it's a well written story, it doesn't deal with fetish & it barely even qualifies for the summer contest entry.

I think he (presumably he) is wrong on both counts but there is no point arguing with an anon.

 

[SimonDoom]

To be a bit more clear it stars a guy who summons demons to try and figure out how to defeat them. And then make a record of how to defeat those demons so that the rest of the world can learn from them. The demons represent something that is close to the sexual experience. The first represents a devotion to simply the physical stimuli that occurs during sex and finding oneself a slave to the sensations that occur. The second wants to foster distrust and the third hopes to appeal to egocentrism in hopes of keeping people apart.

It's basically three stories in one so it's a little unwieldy to describe as a whole but that's the general gist. The erotic appeal would be in processing the darker aspects of sex that can attach themselves to one in the hopes that after the ordeal one can have more abundant sex.

I don't really want to place myself as an authority on what each category is (I'm asking for help defining a category for a reason) but for readers of Sci-Fi and Fantasy I would assume there would be more of an escapist bent. Like imagining a better world where the type of sex they want to have could flourish.

I don't think I've gone to this side of the pond but for Erotic Horror I would assume there's an element of domination in it. Like a chance to experience the more terrifying parts of sex through a story and a chance to uphold these fears. I would assume it would end in defeat.

MIne's more of a trip through the fantastical to get back to reality with the lessons learned from the trip in tow. I'm sure there are parts of any fantasy story with darkness to juxtapose against the more utopian aspects but mine would diverge in regards to the whole escapism aspect, at least a little. There's going to be some escapism for sure but also applicable life lessons. Mine would diverge from erotic horror in regards to the whole intimidating aspect. There are beings that are intimidating but they're overcome, not dominating forces. And also given the fact that my story's not particularly scary.

Again these are all just my conceptions and I take no authority in them being accurate.

It doesn't sound like a horror story if it's emphasis isn't on horror, scariness, dread, suspense, etc. Seems like the choice is between Sci Fi/Fantasy and Nonhuman.

Does the protagonist actually have sex with the demons, and if so, is that the major focus of the story? If so, it sounds like a Nonhuman story. If not, it's more fantasy.

 

[LupusDei]

Having a look at the HTML source of one of their stories, each line seems to have two <br> tags following it for a new line, which makes me suspect that the file size limit LupusDei proposed is very plausible. After all compared to stories like mine that generally have longer paragraphs, that's quite a lot more <br> tags, so that would be a larger file size to show less actual text.

Well, the byte counts I saw in my cursory exploration seemed to suggest that said 20kb are cut before the converter replace newlines with <br> tags (increasing the text size by 2 or 3 bytes per newline). Sure, a lot of white space still decreases the world count per page. I conjectured that formatting (such as italics or bold) will figure in the 20kb, 'costing' a word or two per case (at least 7 additional characters).

 

[NotWise]

Well, the byte counts I saw in my cursory exploration seemed to suggest that said 20kb are cut before the converter replace newlines with <br> tags (increasing the text size by 2 or 3 bytes per newline). Sure, a lot of white space still decreases the world count per page. I conjectured that formatting (such as italics or bold) will figure in the 20kb, 'costing' a word or two per case (at least 7 additional characters).

I think I can confirm at least some of this. I have copies of several stories that are formatted in HTML as they would be on Lit, but without the page breaks. I opened one in gedit and counted the characters in the first page. Including all <br>s, there were 20612 characters. I think that might be consistent with breaking the page at the end of the first paragraph before 20kb characters then adding in the <br>s.

I also counted the page sizes using LibreOffice Writer, and the complete pages came in at 20011, 19915, 19927 and 20085 characters, which doesn't include all the HTML code. In terms of words, the pages were 3896, 3819, 3819, and 3781 words.

From that, it looks like ~20,000 characters might be the most consistent predictor of a page break.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Well, the byte counts I saw in my cursory exploration seemed to suggest that said 20kb are cut before the converter replace newlines with <br> tags (increasing the text size by 2 or 3 bytes per newline). Sure, a lot of white space still decreases the world count per page. I conjectured that formatting (such as italics or bold) will figure in the 20kb, 'costing' a word or two per case (at least 7 additional characters).

You’re talking in Latvian, right?

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

Bit early, but now that my summer story is posted I instantly got an idea for Halloween. I was wondering though, does it need to be scary? Or be Halloween-themed (parties, trick-or-treating, costumes, etc.)? My story idea features werewolves, but not in a particularly scary way. They're closely related to the horror genre though, but mine aren't intended to be very scary, maybe slightly unsettling at most. I was wondering if that would be enough to qualify for the contest?

 

[SimonDoom]

Bit early, but now that my summer story is posted I instantly got an idea for Halloween. I was wondering though, does it need to be scary? Or be Halloween-themed (parties, trick-or-treating, costumes, etc.)? My story idea features werewolves, but not in a particularly scary way. They're closely related to the horror genre though, but mine aren't intended to be very scary, maybe slightly unsettling at most. I was wondering if that would be enough to qualify for the contest?

The general rule with contests seems to be that a loose connection with the theme is sufficient. If it's related to Halloween, it's fine even if it's not scary. So -- don't worry about it. Make sure you establish some kind of connection to the holiday and/or subject matter and you'll be fine.

 

[MichaelGH]

It doesn't sound like a horror story if it's emphasis isn't on horror, scariness, dread, suspense, etc. Seems like the choice is between Sci Fi/Fantasy and Nonhuman.

Does the protagonist actually have sex with the demons, and if so, is that the major focus of the story? If so, it sounds like a Nonhuman story. If not, it's more fantasy.

Yes but I would be hesitant to call it a main focus. But I would also be reticent to call it a non trivial portion of the story either.

 

[NotWise]

Bit early, but now that my summer story is posted I instantly got an idea for Halloween. I was wondering though, does it need to be scary?

Actual Halloween isn't very scary (at least here), unless you're somehow terrified by seven-year-olds expecting candy. The writers who do base a horror episode around Halloween are just makin' up goofy stuff.

 

[oggbashan]

Actual Halloween isn't very scary (at least here), unless you're somehow terrified by seven-year-olds expecting candy. The writers who do base a horror episode around Halloween are just makin' up goofy stuff.

I resent that. I don't like Halloween as a commercial nonsense imported from America but I like writing goofy stuff for the contest.

 

[SimonDoom]

just makin' up goofy stuff.

Isn't that what this site is all about?

 

[PennameWombat]

I know we're all discussing the Halloween context and Ogg has submitted about two thousand Summer Lovin entries while I've just, moments ago, finally managed to submit my own, single, lone Summer Lovin entry. I was late working out my theme and then a stay in the hospital intervened.

All well now, but, late. Hopefully it'll get turned around quickly and a few people will read it.

Now, back to discussions of Halloween...

 

[PennameWombat]

Wondering the differences between nonhuman, sci fi & fantasy and erotic horror. My Halloween story has moments of horror but they’re pretty contained from from the actual sex acts. The main character has sexual relations with a demon but also with actual humans. So I’m thinking Sci fi & fantasy, thoughts?

I did Erotic Horror for my Nude Day entry, the lead character was a female-identifying body-stealing alien. She took over a beautiful redheaded woman's body and used it to seduce men and women and absorb their life forces during sex. She also had sex for fun and could hypnotize others to have sex with each other or with her. I put it in Erotic Horror because it did portray her turning people into vegetables and killing and those acts were directly entwined with the sex. I could've used NonCon but that was secondary to the main plot line.

I used NonHuman for my Geek Pride entry because that was about her daughter, who shares lots of her traits but is "mostly but not quite fully" human and unlike her mother isn't a sociopath. So it didn't have the horror element but the character clearly isn't simply human. Other than her though, there was little to make it science fiction or fantasy (in the traditional, elves, wizards, etc. sense).

If the sex and horror aren't entwined directly, NonHuman might fit well.

 

[MichaelGH]

I did Erotic Horror for my Nude Day entry, the lead character was a female-identifying body-stealing alien. She took over a beautiful redheaded woman's body and used it to seduce men and women and absorb their life forces during sex. She also had sex for fun and could hypnotize others to have sex with each other or with her. I put it in Erotic Horror because it did portray her turning people into vegetables and killing and those acts were directly entwined with the sex. I could've used NonCon but that was secondary to the main plot line.

I used NonHuman for my Geek Pride entry because that was about her daughter, who shares lots of her traits but is "mostly but not quite fully" human and unlike her mother isn't a sociopath. So it didn't have the horror element but the character clearly isn't simply human. Other than her though, there was little to make it science fiction or fantasy (in the traditional, elves, wizards, etc. sense).

If the sex and horror aren't entwined directly, NonHuman might fit well.

I think I might just go with Sci Fi & Fantasy. There is mostly human on human sex and if Sex Demons can have a place in the Bible, they sure as hell can have a place in a sci fi and fantasy story.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

I think I might just go with Sci Fi & Fantasy. There is mostly human on human sex and if Sex Demons can have a place in the Bible, they sure as hell can have a place in a sci fi and fantasy story.

Nonhuman would be the other option. Based on what you've shared so far and what others have mentioned about the categories, I think it could possibly fit in both. It's definitely not sci-fi as it's not futuristic, but as it focuses on summoning demons and such that's pretty far in the fantasy realm. But then they are not human either, and it sounds like contemporary fiction, which seems to be common in nonhuman stories... Sometimes the lines between fantasy and nonhuman blur, there's always some fantastical element if you're writing about demons, monsters, aliens or other nonhuman creatures. I guess which of the two you choose depends on if you focus on how alien and different the demons are, or if you delve deep into how the magic he uses works.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I resent that. I don't like Halloween as a commercial nonsense imported from America but I like writing goofy stuff for the contest.

I agree with Ogg. I have no interest in Halloween as a concept. It’s just an excuse for shops to sell cheap plastic crap to kids.

I really don’t even have a vague concept for the comp...

 

[oggbashan]

If we are going to discuss Halloween, should I start the support thread for that?

I don't usually start a support thread until after the closing date for the previous contest but there is no real reason why I should not start it earlier.

PS. The closing date for Summer Lovin is 6 September.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

If we are going to discuss Halloween, should I start the support thread for that?

I don't usually start a support thread until after the closing date for the previous contest but there is no real reason why I should not start it earlier.

I think if you start a Haloween thread, MichaelGH will start writing about the story they've planned for the Winter contest...

So, y'know, whatever floats your boat Ogg.

 

[SimonDoom]

If we are going to discuss Halloween, should I start the support thread for that?

I don't usually start a support thread until after the closing date for the previous contest but there is no real reason why I should not start it earlier.

PS. The closing date for Summer Lovin is 6 September.

For some reason I can never remember where the master calendar/list is for the year's contests. Do you know where it is? What's the first submission date for the Halloween contest?

The Summer Loving contest thread started almost two months before the final deadline for submissions, so it wouldn't be strange to start the Halloween contest thread soon.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

For some reason I can never remember where the master calendar/list is for the year's contests. Do you know where it is? What's the first submission date for the Halloween contest?

The Summer Loving contest thread started almost two months before the final deadline for submissions, so it wouldn't be strange to start the Halloween contest thread soon.

It's a pinned thread in the Author's Hangout: Welcome Authors! Please Read [UPDATED]. Descriptive, I know.

But Halloween starts on October 2nd, according to that thread.

 

[MichaelGH]

I think if you start a Haloween thread, MichaelGH will start writing about the story they've planned for the Winter contest...

I probably would. Also it’s not like I have much else to add regarding my Summer Lovin’ story. Hopefully sex demons fare better than hotels.