Official Support Thread - 5th Annual 750 Word Project

[SomaSlave]

My latest, "Mercy or Toes?" dropped this morning. It's another BDSM story, but is a bit more light-hearted than my previous effort. It, too, is based on actual events. Now to decide whether to work on another 750 Word story, or start my next story (a multichapter BDSM love story). I already have the last line written ("No limits, Mistress.").

I'm surprised at how well, relatively speaking, the BDSM stories are doing. Frankly, I expected better for "A Kiss," but it may not have had enough sex to be considered an Erotic Coupling, even though it's most assuredly an erotic coupling.

Live and learn...

 

[FifthEstate]

Favorites are nice, 5s are better - the two don't go together

Yes…apparently so for this exercise. My story has the most non LW or IT ’s (It’s IR) but it’s getting trashed on ️ ratings. I would prefer the other way around.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

It's time for a betting pool. Guess the number of items that will be on the March 1 list of 750s. The level of involvement I've seen (especially multiple entries by numerous authors) prompts me to what might be a wild extreme: I choose 200. If you want to look up the lists from previous years and count them, go ahead, but I think that's no fun.

Bonus question: How far down in the alphabet will the first screen go, without scrolling? Picking 'A' isn't good enough, go at least three letters deep (including spaces). I choose 'A_R.' (YMMV, depending on whether the list is shown on a phone, tablet, or computer, and one's browser and font choice.)

The only thing at stake here is bragging rights. There might still be time to write a 750 about a betting pool of 750s.

 

[KeithD]

It's time for a betting pool. Guess the number of items that will be on the March 1 list of 750s. The level of involvement I've seen (especially multiple entries by numerous authors) prompts me to what might be a wild extreme: I choose 200. If you want to look up the lists from previous years and count them, go ahead, but I think that's no fun.

Bonus question: How far down in the alphabet will the first screen go, without scrolling? Picking 'A' isn't good enough, go at least three letters deep (including spaces). I choose 'A_R.' (YMMV, depending on whether the list is shown on a phone, tablet, or computer, and one's browser and font choice.)

The only thing at stake here is bragging rights. There might still be time to write a 750 about a betting pool of 750s.

I was thinking of the number of entries myself last night as I was reviewing my #10, now submitted. I don't think 200 is far off but I was also wondering how many authors would be entering. Not as many as for a themed contest, I don't think.

I don't think the new list is listed in alpha order, so I don't know what the "bonus question" is based on.

 

[Duleigh]

Bonus question: How far down in the alphabet will the first screen go, without scrolling? Picking 'A' isn't good enough, go at least three letters deep (including spaces).

Don't forget, my entries start with numbers (just to keep them separate on my Works page). My final entry for 2023 is up, my first "story" for the Humor and Satire category:

750-5 Meanwhile, Up in Heaven

 

[alohadave]

I submitted my second one. I was inspired by the heart//beats challenge.

I wrote a tribal wedding ceremony that has a chant and it was pretty close to 750 by itself, so I worked it to 750.

The interesting bit for me is that I used ChatGPT for the lyrics. I left a note for Laurel, to be open about it. We'll see if she accepts it or not.

I guess it was okay, and it's live: https://literotica.com/s/tribal-wedding-ceremony

 

[Duleigh]

It's nice, but you missed 750, even with the intro you were at 736 words so I'm surprised it got posted.

 

[alohadave]

It's nice, but you missed 750, even with the intro you were at 736 words so I'm surprised it got posted.

I bet it's from the formatting. The line breaks in the verses and choruses are probably throwing the count off. The word count came to 750 in google docs before any formatting.

 

[Duleigh]

Interesting, I threw it in to MS Word and came up with 758 words. I wonder what Laurel's website is doing, usually her machine counts the other way.

 

[XerXesXu]

Interesting, I threw it in to MS Word and came up with 758 words. I wonder what Laurel's website is doing, usually her machine counts the other way.

I got 750 exactly in Word. Even Word on different computers, it seems, differ in their word count. When I pasted it into Draft - New Story - it also came to 750.

 

[Duleigh]

I got 750 exactly in Word. Even Word on different computers, it seems, differ in their word count. When I pasted it into Draft - New Story - it also came to 250.

I included the 8 word intro and came up with 758

 

[SomaSlave]

Story #4 is in the pending queue: Stress Relief. It's a quirky little tale and the first Literotica story tagged "Buddy Rich"

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

I've started tracking daily view counts on my 750, to see if that increases after the March 1 list posting. My hunch is that the list won't change much, because the list will be very long and many readers seem displeased with 750s. The story is also in Pink Orchid, however, so I'll keep the daily tracking until March 8 or later.

 

[MrPixel]

the first Literotica story tagged "Buddy Rich"

I'll be sure to read it. My music career began in Southern California, and my ears were burnt off on a few occasions by peers complaining how badly Rich treated his orchestra members.

 

[KeithD]

I think an interesting follow-on exercise to this one would be for the authors who have written works to the "exactly 750-word" exercise to now take and rework them as the basis of a fuller short story.

 

[SomaSlave]

I think an interesting follow-on exercise to this one would be for the authors who have written works to the "exactly 750-word" exercise to now take and rework them as the basis of a fuller short story.

Actually, I was thinking of doing that for at least two of my stories. I didn't know if that would be considered cheating. One might even be worked into a series I'm outlining.

 

[KeithD]

One of the works I did for the current exercise (I did 11; hope I'm done with that now. Are you listening, muse?) was excerpted out of the chaptered series of mine posting on Literotica currently.

 

[AlinaX]

New challenge: take the longest story you've published here, and show it's possible to trim it down to 750 words.

 

[MrPixel]

New challenge: take the longest story you've published here, and show it's possible to trim it down to 750 words.

Ugh. Sounds like a book report to me.

 

[MrPixel]

Geez. I just knocked out another one. This one needs to simmer for 24 hours and I'll upload it then.

These 750-word projects are fun! LitE quickies! (Was it good for you?)

 

[SomaSlave]

New challenge: take the longest story you've published here, and show it's possible to trim it down to 750 words.

Sounds like a trick challenge: if it's possible to trim a story down to 750 words, shouldn't it have been that short to begin with?

 

[KeithD]

Sounds like a trick challenge: if it's possible to trim a story down to 750 words, shouldn't it have been that short to begin with?

No, usually a story's key hook can be given in a few sentences. If you pitch books before writing them to mainstream publishers, you have to do this anyway. You lose a lot of side strings but if a basic set up (dilemma), working it out (conflict), and wrapping it up (resolution) are there, it's a story--and still the essence of the longer version.

Ted picked Julie up from a bar where she's dancing. They fucked in the backseat of his Jaguar. Since fuck came before talk, Ted only found out Julie was his stepsister later.

That's a story. It could have taken 5,000 words to make the same point. It's only 32 words. But it still contains some detail (e.g., what does the one work "Jaguar" tell us about Ted?). It could be pared down even further and still be a story, but with 718 more words available to you in this version (why's Ted in such a bar? Why is Julie? Why does she so easily go from dancing the pole to the back of some stranger's car? What's Ted's story on why he can drive a Jag? What's Ted looking for to be doing this? Why don't they know they're related? What are they going to do about being related?), you provide a lot more enrichment and unique story. Just be succinct in doing so and make every word count.

There's an arc to whether it can be a good story and this doesn't only favor more words. As some point the work gets overburdened by two much detail, especially if it doesn't serve the storyline, and no longer is a good story.

 

[Duleigh]

No, usually a story's key hook can be given in a few sentences. If you pitch books before writing them to mainstream publishers, you have to do this anyway. You lose a lot of side strings but if a basic set up (dilemma), working it out (conflict), and wrapping it up (resolution) are there, it's a story--and still the essence of the longer version.

Ted picked Julie up from a bar where she's dancing. They fucked in the backseat of his Jaguar. Since fuck came before talk, Ted only found out Julie was his stepsister later.

That's a story. It could have taken 5,000 words to make the same point. It's only 32 words. But it still contains some detail (e.g., what does the one work "Jaguar" tell us about Ted?). It could be pared down even further and still be a story.

There's an arc to whether it can be a good story and this doesn't only favor more words. As some point the work gets overburdened by two much detail, especially if it doesn't serve the storyline, and no longer is a good story.

Jaguar = broke. It costs a fortune to keep those fragile things running (I know several XKE owners, still my favorite flavor of Jag)

 

[KeithD]

Jaguar = broke. It costs a fortune to keep those fragile things running (I know several XKE owners, still my favorite flavor of Jag)

Yep, it's not just the cost of the Jag. It's the cost of the upkeep and of the additional car you need to use while the Jag is in the shop. But it's a Jag.

 

[Duleigh]

I think an interesting follow-on exercise to this one would be for the authors who have written works to the "exactly 750-word" exercise to now take and rework them as the basis of a fuller short story.

I love this story idea! I have one or two that could easily grow into a mid-size story, and one could easily fit into a story that's already 300,000 words long.