Halloween Support Thread

[sirhugs]

Selena, that can cut both ways. Just ask any survivor of the "Loving Wives" category.

Shang, I've read all the AH stories (I think) except for those by Honey and Elf which I'm about to tackle (oh, that I could do the same to the author's). Wish I could have gotten to some of the others, but I'm also on two non-Lit critique sites that have been busy so.... The thing is, I've been really pleased at the quality of the writing. Sure some are better than others, but so far I haven't found a clunker among all those AH stories.

I've tried to leave a C on every story I've R & V on. If you don't have one of my PC's let me know and I'll try to atone for my inequities.

Rumple Foreskin

did you skip me cause I dojn't allow PCs?

 

[Guest]

sits up from the blankets knowing she was missed and waves her hand alittle then slumps back down into the blankets again and listens trying to drift back to sleep

 

[dreampilot79]

I tried to read and vote on them all.. but alas... the sheer bulk... I have read every story by everyone in this thread.. but.. I have fallen down on the rest.

If one throws out the one really miserable story I wrote for the nude day contest... these have the lowest score of any I've written before.... Another Halloween Party has a 4.39 (the only story besides the aforementioned junker) with a score under 4.4.... lets see 147 votes 28 comments (a mail box full of hate mail that exceeds the public comments) and 24,315 views.

Aftermath has a 4.41 with 51 votes and 15,479 views... 8 public comments... and not a single feedback (think disallowing annon caused that).

Guess I need to wait for the next one.. No threat for either the top or the bottom... mired in the middle.

Good luck to the rest of ya!

 

[cloudy]

Dreampilot - I've gotten the same thing, though I suppose for different reasons. It's the lowest rated story I have, but tons of reads and votes.

*shrug*

No biggie....just in it for the fun this time, anyway.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

sits up from the blankets knowing she was missed and waves her hand alittle then slumps back down into the blankets again and listens trying to drift back to sleep

hope the leg isn't too sore.

 

[Black Tulip]

did you skip me cause I dojn't allow PCs?

I know I voted for you.

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/magie/widdsch.gif

 

[Extreme Bohunk]

You missed mine.

So? I'm a whore for comments.

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/magie/widdsch.gif

Nope, read yours very early, when you were having trouble w/ the pictures.

 

[Guest]

is it over yet?

 

[Selena_Kitt]

is it over yet?

I don't know, I have my hands over my eyes!

 

[Honey123]

Well...this is my story for Halloween - I doubt I will be winning anything for it

On 10-17 it was at 4.80 with 51 votes and 3821 reads with 17 comments....

as of today 10/26 only 8 days later it's at

Rate - 4.65 / Vote - 68 / Reads - 4575 / Comments - 20


Did the last 17 people who read the story actually not like it? I am not good at computing, so someone tell me what those people voted?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I don't know. This contest's very disappointing.

I tried something new with "Leaves," and really put myself into it. I was reading a lot of contemporary mainstream horror fantasy and wanted to try something similar. I still think it's one of the best things I've ever written, but the score is miserable and the number of reads is very low: 3100. I've had some nice PC's by people I really respect, but very little feedback. Really feels like shouting into a hole in the ground. You can't help it when people don't like it, but it's bad when it doesn't even get read.

My other story's similar. It was hard to write and I had to rush it to get it in under the wire, so the ending is weak, but I was so excited about the premise: that vampires aren't sexy lotharios in capes, but sad and miserable vermin who hang around humans because they envy their ability to love and feel. It only has 2100 reads. It has a beautiful metaphor where she comes just as the train plunges into a tunnel that I thought was great. Gave me chills as I was writing it.

Ah well.

--Zoot

 

[Boxlicker101]

Well...this is my story for Halloween - I doubt I will be winning anything for it

On 10-17 it was at 4.80 with 51 votes and 3821 reads with 17 comments....

as of today 10/26 only 8 days later it's at

Rate - 4.65 / Vote - 68 / Reads - 4575 / Comments - 20


Did the last 17 people who read the story actually not like it? I am not good at computing, so someone tell me what those people voted?

Assuming no troll votes were deleted, which is probably a false assumption, the votes of those 17 people totaled 71. This could be fourteen votes of "4" and three votes of "5" or it could be some other combination. More likely the latter because you probably got some one-bombs, for no good reason. There's really no way to telll, though.

 

[Honey123]

Assuming no troll votes were deleted, which is probably a false assumption, the votes of those 17 people totaled 71. This could be fourteen votes of "4" and three votes of "5" or it could be some other combination. More likely the latter because you probably got some one-bombs, for no good reason. There's really no way to telll, though.

Well, I'll agree probably the 4's and 5's - since the last few reads had the temp meter at 100% --- although I do understand that that means nothing..someone could give you a 1 and a 100% in the heat meter....

I guess in my mind, everytime you got a 4 or 5, the score would go up..not down...

 

[hugo_sam]

Honey and DR.

I back checked and I did vote and PC on your stories. Dr. I found I had missed one of yours in PC, but I corrected that. I enjoyed all three. I can offer no explaination as to your numbers: I. I'm too new and inexperienced to offer any sage understanding.
2. I throughly enjoyed your stories and found them well done.

Best of luck for the future days of the contect.!

Hugo

 

[oggbashan]

Experimenting and the Last Place (tm) Contest.

The Halloween Contest is a good one for trying experimental writing because being weird is acceptable this time. However, experiments can fail. Even if they do they can inform your writing for the future.

There are some very interesting concepts in the entries. Whether they were experiments or not the overall impression is that the contestants have tried hard to produce a different view of Halloween. Is that necessarily popular? That is the crux of the contest. A good well written erotic but conventional story is more likely to be rated highly (except for the trolls' activities) than an equally good story that is unconventional.

The Last Place (tm) Contest might be won by an unconventional and unpopular story that is still a good example of writing. It can be a success d'estime and a popular failure.

On the 29 October, anyone who thinks they have a chance of winning the accolade of last place should declare their rating and number of votes. Entry is entirely voluntary. You do not have to enter the last place contest if you would rather slink away and hide your head in shame. I will declare my scores to encourage the rest of you to 'fess up but I have declared myself not eligible for the last place contest. My scores will just be a yardstick for everyone else to measure their skill at producing a story that has been lowly rated by the ignorant, unappreciative, unintelligent readers who would not recognise a good story if it came free - which of course it does.

Og

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I tried something new with "Leaves," and really put myself into it. I was reading a lot of contemporary mainstream horror fantasy and wanted to try something similar. I still think it's one of the best things I've ever written, but the score is miserable and the number of reads is very low: 3100. I've had some nice PC's by people I really respect, but very little feedback. Really feels like shouting into a hole in the ground. You can't help it when people don't like it, but it's bad when it doesn't even get read.

Doc, maybe it has more to do with being added so late to the contest?? With soooo many stories, I think people kind of gave up? I think most of the current "leaders" were early entries... could be wrong...

But I know I'm grasping at straws, because I can't think of ANY other reason "Leaves" isn't leading the pack. I checked and realized I PC'd yours but forgot to vote, so I did... hope it helped a little!

I meant what I said, Lit isn't the market for this, it can't be fully appreciated outside the AH, I don't think... it's beyond here... you really should submit it somewhere... I'm not all that familiar with small horror or erotica markets, but there HAS to be a place out there for it, because this is a piece that *should* be appreciated fully... it certainly deserves it, and so do you. It was truly amazing.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I'm still reading stories so I'm not done yet, but with so many to read, am I the only one whose patience runs short? I find myself reading a few paragaphs, and if it seems trite or predictable, or doesn't grab my interest, I pretty quickly lose patience and go on to another one. I'm sure I'm missing some good stories this way, but time is limited, and I can just see all those other stories jumping up and down and waving their hands, shouting, "Read me! Read me!" It's pretty cut-throat.

The real pisser is, that now I finally feel inspired. Now that the contest's closed, I'm suddenly brimming with ideas.

I guess I could always just change my werewolves to Christmas elves and wait for the holidays.

 

[sweetnpetite]

I'm still reading stories so I'm not done yet, but with so many to read, am I the only one whose patience runs short? I find myself reading a few paragaphs, and if it seems trite or predictable, or doesn't grab my interest, I pretty quickly lose patience and go on to another one. I'm sure I'm missing some good stories this way, but time is limited, and I can just see all those other stories jumping up and down and waving their hands, shouting, "Read me! Read me!" It's pretty cut-throat.

That's pretty much the same way publishers read manuscripts, from what they say. And well, face it- the same way we pick out books at a bookstore or booksale. I just moved to a small town with a one room library and I figured I could read every book they have now (exluding new purchases) if I read 1 book every day for something like 60 years. (They had an estemate online of the number of books they carry and I used a calculator. Really ) There's just no way to read everything we want. If heaven is what I want it to be, it will be an infinately large librairy with an infinate amount of time to read everything. Really.

The real pisser is, that now I finally feel inspired. Now that the contest's closed, I'm suddenly brimming with ideas.

I know! Me too. The really smart thing to do would be to write it now while we're inspired and just save it away to revise and post next year. Not that that's gonna happen. Well, I guess it's could.

I guess I could always just change my werewolves to Christmas elves and wait for the holidays.

Scary christmas elves!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sweetnpetite]

finally found a good excuse to use that face, lol.

 

[Guest]

I'm still reading stories so I'm not done yet, but with so many to read, am I the only one whose patience runs short? I find myself reading a few paragaphs, and if it seems trite or predictable, or doesn't grab my interest, I pretty quickly lose patience and go on to another one. I'm sure I'm missing some good stories this way, but time is limited, and I can just see all those other stories jumping up and down and waving their hands, shouting, "Read me! Read me!" It's pretty cut-throat.

The real pisser is, that now I finally feel inspired. Now that the contest's closed, I'm suddenly brimming with ideas.

I guess I could always just change my werewolves to Christmas elves and wait for the holidays.

happy holidays!

(all of them)

 

[oggbashan]

Deferred Gratification

The real pisser is, that now I finally feel inspired. Now that the contest's closed, I'm suddenly brimming with ideas.

I guess I could always just change my werewolves to Christmas elves and wait for the holidays.

You could write them for next year's contest and spend 11 months editing and polishing them so that they appear as sparkling jewels in 2006...

Og

 

[Unsung Muse]

I tried something new with "Leaves,"...

I don't know how I missed "Leaves" before. It's incredible!
Regardless of how it fairs in the contest, you can -- & should be
-- extremely proud of this piece.

 

[Penelope Street]

I'm still reading stories so I'm not done yet, but with so many to read, am I the only one whose patience runs short? I find myself reading a few paragaphs, and if it seems trite or predictable, or doesn't grab my interest, I pretty quickly lose patience and go on to another one.

I'm fickle. A story has about five paragraphs to grab me. Tales from authors I've come to respect may get ten , but if I don't see something interesting by then, I'm gonna move on.

 

[Penelope Street]

The real pisser is, that now I finally feel inspired. Now that the contest's closed, I'm suddenly brimming with ideas.

If you're brimming with ideas, then write; a story worth writing is worth writing with or without a contest.

 

[Guest]

I share your pain doc, I actually wrote a story ahead of time for once, in September. Then I mulled over some changes I wanted to make, but never found time to get back to it.

Yesterday, I pulled it up, and realized it was fine as is, but now too late to submit.

Ah well, I can save it for next year if I resist the urge to submit it anyway as a non-contest story.