Official Support Thread - 5th Annual 750 Word Project

[TheRedChamber]

I did a quick one in December that is sitting waiting.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Thx Duleigh.
I did three a couple of years ago, and enjoyed the exercise. Put one in LW; that was fun...

 

[Omenainen]

I’ll most likely do one. No idea yet what about or which category. I’ve done these before and always had fun, so why not do it again

 

[JGittes]

I just finished one in anticipation for this event.

My question is this: should I add a disclaimer at the beginning or end clarifying it's for the 750 word project so readers understand what's going on? Because not many of them may be aware of it.

Something like "This is part of a challenge to write a complete story using only 750 words. Please rate if you enjoyed it."

And again just to be sure, said disclaimer would NOT count towards the 750 words of the story itself, correct?

It won't matter anyway. No matter how many tags and author notes I've put on my stories, no one reads them.

 

[JGittes]

...

I'm just trying to keep the conversation on track, so a new writer doesn't get confused

You've given yourself an impossible task. Keeping the AH group on track is like herding a gaggle of hybrid cat-rhinoceros - es. They'll mill around aimlessly, ignoring you until they charge.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I thought, "Nah, no way can I get a story to 750". When mine are usually 12-20k, but then I got an idea. I couldn't sleep and banged it out in a couple of hours. My first foray into the IT category. It features characters from an earlier story, but I think it stands on its own, just fine. It was much more fun than I expected. I'm looking forward to reading all the entries.

I will include a brief author's note, and see how it goes.

 

[Duleigh]

Second story is DONE! written in Second Person Perspective. I've never done that before; it wasn't as bad as I expected.
Two down, one to go.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Just wrote one in the last hour. Can you do slow burn in 750 words?

 

[Duleigh]

Official Ruling from Laurel - Kitty Mama​

I just got this ruling on Prologues from Laurel:

Prologues are absolutely allowed so long as they aren't part of the story.

Content Note: This is a fun little story for the 750 words event.

would be fine

Note: this story is about a couple at a dry cleaners having an argument. The action starts when an attractive employee offers to help them while another customer is waiting and then blahblah more plot points here in an attempt to tell the story in more than 750 words etc

would not be fine.

 

[FifthEstate]

I've never entered a Lit contest or writers challenge, but I busted one out for this!

Is something like this okay for the intro? "This is a very different story for me. Those who know my work, know most of my stories are long detail-filled tales across multiple chapters. But for the first time, I decided to join a Literotica author contest which just so happens to be the 750 Word Project Contest. All entries must be exactly 750 words—no more, no less—which is not many when you consider my average chapter story is 15,000+. It’s a quick fun read. Please judge it based on the contest criteria, not what your typical expectations would be for a story in this category."

 

[Rob_Royale]

I've never entered a Lit contest or writers challenge, but I busted one out for this!

Is something like this okay for the intro? "This is a very different story for me. Those who know my work, know most of my stories are long detail-filled tales across multiple chapters. But for the first time, I decided to join a Literotica author contest which just so happens to be the 750 Word Project Contest. All entries must be exactly 750 words—no more, no less—which is not many when you consider my average chapter story is 15,000+. It’s a quick fun read. Please judge it based on the contest criteria, not what your typical expectations would be for a story in this category."

Read post #38 on this thread.

 

[FifthEstate]

If you are being held captive by your readers, blink twice.

Easy to say for someone who has no readers...

 

[FifthEstate]

If you expect readers to rate your story based on the criteria of a challenge they never asked for, you should be prepared for disappointment.

I guess this is maybe the only challenge lots of readers seriously despise, because it clogs the story lists with far too many, far too short story fragments. Also because several authors see it as a challenge to bring out more than one experiment.

Makes sense. And yes I expected as much.

 

[KeithD]

I've never entered a Lit contest or writers challenge, but I busted one out for this!

Is something like this okay for the intro? "This is a very different story for me. Those who know my work, know most of my stories are long detail-filled tales across multiple chapters. But for the first time, I decided to join a Literotica author contest which just so happens to be the 750 Word Project Contest. All entries must be exactly 750 words—no more, no less—which is not many when you consider my average chapter story is 15,000+. It’s a quick fun read. Please judge it based on the contest criteria, not what your typical expectations would be for a story in this category."

Comes across as too needy for me. It's just a writing exercise.

 

[Voboy]

I've never entered a Lit contest or writers challenge, but I busted one out for this!

Is something like this okay for the intro? "This is a very different story for me. Those who know my work, know most of my stories are long detail-filled tales across multiple chapters. But for the first time, I decided to join a Literotica author contest which just so happens to be the 750 Word Project Contest. All entries must be exactly 750 words—no more, no less—which is not many when you consider my average chapter story is 15,000+. It’s a quick fun read. Please judge it based on the contest criteria, not what your typical expectations would be for a story in this category."

It isn’t a contest.

WAAAAY too long-winded for me.

 

[FifthEstate]

Points noted.

 

[Duleigh]

I've never entered a Lit contest or writers challenge, but I busted one out for this!

Is something like this okay for the intro? "This is a very different story for me. Those who know my work, know most of my stories are long detail-filled tales across multiple chapters. But for the first time, I decided to join a Literotica author contest which just so happens to be the 750 Word Project Contest. All entries must be exactly 750 words—no more, no less—which is not many when you consider my average chapter story is 15,000+. It’s a quick fun read. Please judge it based on the contest criteria, not what your typical expectations would be for a story in this category."

It's not a contest. It's just a challenge.

BTW- my typical chapter length is 25,000 words and longer, it's kind of hard to put on the brakes.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've never entered a Lit contest or writers challenge, but I busted one out for this!

Is something like this okay for the intro? "This is a very different story for me. Those who know my work, know most of my stories are long detail-filled tales across multiple chapters. But for the first time, I decided to join a Literotica author contest which just so happens to be the 750 Word Project Contest. All entries must be exactly 750 words—no more, no less—which is not many when you consider my average chapter story is 15,000+. It’s a quick fun read. Please judge it based on the contest criteria, not what your typical expectations would be for a story in this category."

Too long, especially considering the story itself is only 750 words.

Honestly? I've done 7 or so of these things, and I've offered modest disclaimers, and it doesn't matter. Some people don't like stories this short and will complain. Seriously. I've had comments to the effect that it would have been a better story if it had been longer. You can't win with some people and you shouldn't even try.

I wouldn't bother if I were you.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I tend to write very long, myself. I did not get any blowback for doing a shortie for the event.

And really, don't overthink it. I just thought up a good dirty joke and told it the best I could in 750 words. It made #1 on the Humor and Satire top list for the month.

 

[ElectricBlue]

750 word stories get lower scores, but so what? It's not as if you spent hours writing it. It's a writers' challenge first and foremost, readers can make what they will of it - it's not as if you're giving them a critical challenge of their judgement.

Besides, you can always take the attitude, "If you're so bloody clever, where's yours?"

 

[FifthEstate]

750 word stories get lower scores, but so what? It's not as if you spent hours writing it. It's a writers' challenge first and foremost, readers can make what they will of it - it's not as if you're giving them a critical challenge of their judgement.

Besides, you can always take the attitude, "If you're so bloody clever, where's yours?"

I tend to write very long, myself. I did not get any blowback for doing a shortie for the event.

And really, don't overthink it. I just thought up a good dirty joke and told it the best I could in 750 words. It made #1 on the Humor and Satire top list for the month.

Cool. The story is already written and surprisingly it's not too bad. It'll be fun one way or another.

 

[Duleigh]

I tend to write very long, myself. I did not get any blowback for doing a shortie for the event.

And really, don't overthink it. I just thought up a good dirty joke and told it the best I could in 750 words. It made #1 on the Humor and Satire top list for the month.

Sounds like another challenge inside a challenge
I challenged myself to write three 750 word stories, one in the first, one in the second, and one in the third person perspective (I wonder if any readers pick up on that)

Now- 750 word dirty jokes, I love it.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Ok, I've been thinking about this for a while now...And I decided today to bite the bullet and do it!

I have my 750 word story. I hope nobody minds the complete lack of sex in it...but I think it's a good one. (I actually had to add to it to get it up to 750...lol)

Do we wait til February to submit? I feel like we should be waiting..

 

[KeithD]

Ok, I've been thinking about this for a while now...And I decided today to bite the bullet and do it!

I have my 750 word story. I hope nobody minds the complete lack of sex in it...but I think it's a good one. (I actually had to add to it to get it up to 750...lol)

Do we wait til February to submit? I feel like we should be waiting..

I'm waiting. Laurel has enough on her plate not to have yet another "to do" list floating around.

 

[GrantBricksly]

I'm waiting. Laurel has enough on her plate not to have yet another "to do" list floating around.

Smart. And good point. She is amazing though. My V-day story posted this morning, but I had uploaded the wrong story. When I figured out what happened, I re-submitted, and she had the stories swapped out in less than 30 minutes!

Yea, I'll wait. Let her and her admins take care of the V-day stuff for now.