Winter Holiday 2024 Contest Support and Seasonal Story Discussion Thread

[Inkent]

But just hearing you all talk about strategies for winning and all the number infatuations, really gets me longing for a little "Blue W" to add to my short list of achievements. That's all.

In my eyes, you've created the basis for a winning story ripe for pulling intro almost any competition - the hot writer desperate to win the competition at any cost Now go grab that Blue W!

 

[FreyaGersemi]

I am so stealing that idea!!!! And, of course, ruining it with my standard insanity.

 

[Inkent]

I'll swop you some 'angst' style for some of your 'insanity' style! Now, go write that story, al long as I'm not the character that loses his nuts in your quest to get the blue W .It already sounds like a super dooper Halloween theme, I've not even looked at the compo list for next year near to see what else you can do with it...

 

[DukeofPaducah]

I agree! Although I don't have a strict outline that is immobile and unyielding, I have a very clear idea in my head and go from there. Sometimes it swerves a bit, but I am always in control. I think about every word that I type.

In life, I just wing it, but not when I have complete control. In my stories, I rule with an iron fist!!

Ach du Lieber! Mein kind of fraulein!

 

[secretLace]

LW is a hard crowd. I think my 1973 Adult Movie Becomes 3D Reality got away lightly at 4.21. BTW that is not a seasonal story.

That reminds me to change the category for an old story of mine that ccurrently sits in the Loving Wives category. Back then I thought Loving Wife was a category for stories of Loving Wifes... Ahh to young and Naive again

 

[Actingup]

She often doesn't publish on [American] Sundays.

For the non-Americans around here who are planning on their stories getting posted over the next week, remember that Thursday is Thanksgiving Day here in the States. That's a big-deal holiday with big-deal travel headaches both before and after. I have no idea how (or whether) Laurel celebrates Thanksgiving, nor whether she travels for it, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are some submission delays next week!

Thanks for the heads up on that. That must be why we're getting deluged with Black Friday ads (which really gets up my nose here, as Black Friday in Australia has traditionally referred to a bushfire disaster in 1939 - but I digress....). One day I'll write a story in which a whole lot of executives get their payback for stomping their mass marketing over local cultural norms....

 

[AlexFourways]

Duleigh, any chance of a new competition for next year? It's only open to to those with the a username that includes ooh I duno, I'll pick one randomly, say FreyaGersemi.

How about a challenge where the Author has to have a pen name that is also the full name of one of their characters and they have to have an encounter with another similar pen name character, but both remaining true to their published characters.

Now I can't imagine who could enter that - but I would be willing to give it a try
?

 

[Actingup]

How about a challenge where the Author has to have a pen name that is also the full name of one of their characters and they have to have an encounter with another similar pen name character, but both remaining true to their published characters.

Now I can't imagine who could enter that - but I would be willing to give it a try
?

So some kind of flag game where the author that leaves the greatest number of highly satisfied peers wins the prize? Or do the peers have to be ground into the dust (preferably after being satisfied)?

It could be done as a game within a game maybe. Choose a high profile competition (eg Nude Day) and set up some side rules for bragging rights - the highest ranked story that happens to also follow the side rules.

 

[Rustyoznail]

How about a challenge where the Author has to have a pen name that is also the full name of one of their characters and they have to have an encounter with another similar pen name character, but both remaining true to their published characters.

Now I can't imagine who could enter that - but I would be willing to give it a try
?

I registered a pen name for the characters in one of my stories who wrote a story here in my story. Just in case they decide to actually do that.

Does that count?

 

[AlexFourways]

I registered a pen name for the characters in one of my stories who wrote a story here in my story. Just in case they decide to actually do that.

Does that count?

But was the story published under the relevant full character name account, or another one. Also I have just realised that I have disqualified myself as Alex 'Fourways' is really Alex Hughes. Or would people allow that?
BTW It was meant as an attempt at humour, not to set a harerunning! Or kite flying!

 

[Actingup]

But was the story published under the relevant full character name account, or another one. Also I have just realised that I have disqualified myself as Alex 'Fourways' is really Alex Hughes. Or would people allow that?
BTW It was meant as an attempt at humour, not to set a harerunning! Or kite flying!

Given the age of this site, I'm sure all this stuff has been done before, but it's still a fun exploration.

 

[secretLace]

My first entry, "Snowed Incest" is live!

At the age of 21, James was forced to become the legal guardian of his sister Savannah, who is seven years younger, after their parents were killed in an accident. Years later, James takes her to a cabin they visited once in the past for her 18th birthday, which also happens to be Christmas Day. The trip begins innocently enough, but a few hours after Savannah turns 18, James comes to realize to significance of that milestone.

Comments and feedback are welcome, thanks to those who have already read and voted so far! If you haven't read it yet, I hope you enjoy!

liked it. It really had a good heart <3

 

[DukeofPaducah]

Do you think this is a viable premise, or is it too sad?

 

[AlexFourways]

Do you think this is a viable premise, or is it too sad?

It depends on the inspiration it give you.
I wrote a story inspired by the song "I Step off the Train"* which is very sad. I told why she was looking for the guy "who has dissapeared somewhere" then took it to a resoution of finding eachother again.
The Stats are OK for me 4.44/70 6 favourites 2.9k views and 7 reading lists. Probably would be hot if it wasn't for a misunderstanding about Microsoft being a small computer company, as I meant the comuters were small, not the company. (The father of the male MC worked for a mainframe computer company)
I don't regret a single keystroke and if it motivates you, write it for you, and let the reader's resposnse go over your head. But remember, this is LitErotica, not Hallmark or Mills and Boon, so put is some good sex scenes - sometimes that can be the pivot point in the plot, for you as a writer (and the characters) if not the readers. YMMV

*Everything but the Girl

 

[Actingup]

ProWritingAid is an incredible FREE editing software that I've been using along with Microsoft word but it works with many other things. It provides Red, Blue, and Orange lines (They're all straight) Red is, of course, a spelling error. Unfortunately the dictionary in Microsoft Word is more robust so it takes a few documents of adding new words to the dictionary to get it up to speed. A blue line is a grammatical error pointing out a problem with punctuation, verb usage, nouns etc. It's really a game changer. The orange line is mostly suggestions on improved sentence structure and suggestions on wording. ProWritingAid hated the word huge and an orange line will appear offering enormous and several other options.

My downfall is improper tense and comma placement. It's fairly good at pointing out my habit of using present tense when past tense is needed but it is incredible with my worst sin - comma splices. (That's when two complete sentences are spliced together with a comma. it really annoys some readers)

I like ProWritingAid much better than word's built in editor, and it's far superior to Grammarly. It's the first grammar software that I liked so much I bought a subscription.

Testing it out. I should have known not to try writing 'manhood'.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

Testing it out. I should have known not to try writing 'manhood'.

Thank you for testing it! I will continue to work unprowritingaiderly.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Anybody else seeing their Holiday story sitting in Pending for multiple days? Maybe I've gotten spoiled but this is the first time in years that my new story didn't have a date for publishing within 48 hours of submitting it ...

 

[Justplainjeff]

View attachment 2412204​

Take it from a dog from Buffalo, nothing beats the winter! Skiing, toboganning, tubing, ice skating... families gathered togeather in warmth, making love in front of a crackling fire by the light of a decorated tree... The theme coveres all of the winter holidays/events/activities from the end of November to the end of January. Some ideas are... winter holiday traditions (dreidles, gift giving, etc.), cold weather (snow, ice, thunder snow), holiday mythology (Santa, Father Christmas, Hogfather, Hanukkah Harry, elves) holiday relocation - running off to Florida, Spain, Australia, Aspen, Jackson Hole

STARTS: November 11
CLOSES: December 6
WINNERS ANNOUNCED: December 13

Further rules will be posted as they become available.

Remember to copy and paste the phrase "WINTER HOLIDAY 2024" to the "Notes to Admin" field of the submission (quotes are not needed).

This thread is to SUPPORT and ENCOURAGE authors to enter stories in the 2024 Winter Holiday Contest If you have questions, post them here and someone will answer. It might be me, it might be someone else here but don't be shy. Ask.

If you're a first time writer, or this is the first time you're putting a story in to a contest on Literotica, hey, don't get stressed about it. You don't have to have written anything before to write for this contest. This isn’t a “by invitation only” event it's open to everyone. Don't stress out, nobody is going to get hurt, just give it your best shot and the story with the highest scores win.

New Writers - these events are a chance to hone your skills and get your name out there, and we're here to help, this forum is for you and for the old hands with the skill to help you.

Experienced Writers - this forum is for you to step up and mentor a new generation of writers

We're all here just writing for fun, come join a bunch of other writers doing the same thing. If you're not sure about what to do, how to submit your story, anything at all in fact, just post your questions here. We've all been there and we're a bunch of very helpful people and we like to pass it on.

Speaking of contests, back in early August, Blackrandl1958 mentioned her latest invitational coming December 2nd. Anybody know where it is??

 

[Inkent]

Think I'm having an old duffer moment. Is there a thread around next year's comp list and dates as I cant find one. Like the rest of you, once I set sight on it, I can build next year's social calendar around the writing program

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Anybody else seeing their Holiday story sitting in Pending for multiple days? Maybe I've gotten spoiled but this is the first time in years that my new story didn't have a date for publishing within 48 hours of submitting it ...

I've gotten used to that, too, but mine went in Friday night and hasn't been scheduled yet. With the weekend and lots of entries, I'm really not too surprised.

Speaking of contests...

Jeff, I can't answer your question but I just sent you an email through Lit.

 

[Actingup]

Thank you for testing it! I will continue to work unprowritingaiderly.

I should have said that it does look good and it picked up some things in a report that I’m writing for my day job! It’s just not so highly tuned to amateur smut.

It would be fun to write a version that thinks like Anonymous from Loving Wives.

“You appear to have used an inclusive term. Consider ‘cuck’ or ‘whore’ instead.”

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I like ProWritingAid much better than word's built in editor, and it's far superior to Grammarly. It's the first grammar software that I liked so much I bought a subscription.

Just curious... What do you do when Word and PWA get in a fight over what's correct and what isn't?

 

[FreyaGersemi]

I should have said that it does look good and it picked up some things in a report that I’m writing for my day job! It’s just not so highly tuned to amateur smut.

I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be very happy with a program telling me what to write. Or even suggesting it. This is entirely a me problem, not any perceived issues with the software. Just me.

 

[KathrynLocksley]

I've gotten used to that, too, but mine went in Friday night and hasn't been scheduled yet. With the weekend and lots of entries, I'm really not too surprised.

Is anyone else having trouble with their story eventually getting posted, but not listed on the contest page?

I submitted one on the 16th that went live yesterday (24th), but it's still not listed, and I did copy and paste the phrase into the notes to admin field. From what I can see, none of the listed stories are more recent than the 23rd, so maybe it's another general delay and not just me?

Mine is an audio story, though, and I'm not seeing any audio stories listed, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it. I triple checked that there's no mention of the audio category being excluded in the rules.

 

[yowser]

Is anyone else having trouble with their story eventually getting posted, but not listed on the contest page?

I submitted one on the 16th that went live yesterday (24th), but it's still not listed, and I did copy and paste the phrase into the notes to admin field. From what I can see, none of the listed stories are more recent than the 23rd, so maybe it's another general delay and not just me?

Mine is an audio story, though, and I'm not seeing any audio stories listed, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it. I triple checked that there's no mention of the audio category being excluded in the rules.

If the pattern holds from the last contest (Halloween) it looks like audio gets its own page (https://www.literotica.com/stories/contest.php/halloween-2024-audio) and these don't get listed on the 'main' list. No idea why. You may want to wait, or investigate further...