The official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2019 Support Thread

[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.

 

[TxRad]

The first vote on my last story for the contest was a 2. It had been up for less than three minutes.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I probably would. Also it’s not like I have much else to add regarding my Summer Lovin’ story.

I agree. You might as well Ogg. There's a lot of Halloween talk now, and there's only a couple of days left of the Summer comp.

Cheers

 

[TxRad]

I agree. You might as well Ogg. There's a lot of Halloween talk now, and there's only a couple of days left of the Summer comp.

Cheers

There is like a 3 day left for submission and 10 days left on voting and the 3 days of congratulating the winners and bitching about the trolls. Not to mention the sweep talk around the end of things.

Since Halloween ain't anywhere near my favorite contest, I may or may not have an entry but start the thread Ogg so we can continue the Summer business in this one.

My next two votes were a 4 and a five. but the score is like 3.6. Poor troll, he thinks he's smart but her ain't.

 

[Voboy]

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.

The funny bit is that my own Winter Contest plot bunny just hatched a few days ago.

 

[tomlitilia]

The first vote on my last story for the contest was a 2. It had been up for less than three minutes.

I had a lot of low votes in the beging too. The aim seems to be to keep stories below the red H while on the first page of new stories. I must say that the contest hasn't led to much extra attention after the first week, which is unlike previous contest entries I've had.

 

[MichaelGH]

Well finished what I had originally planned to write for Halloween contest, the first 3 parts at around 30k words. I have two more parts planned so I might try to submit the entire thing but I only have a gist of what those two parts will entail and am not sure if I’m going to get the most opportunities to write this month.

 

[PennameWombat]

The first vote on my last story for the contest was a 2. It had been up for less than three minutes.

I'm late adding my 2 cents here but I had the same experience. I noticed my one and only entry had been posted within the hour (sparrow fart AM US times Monday morning) and when I looked it had a single rating.

A 2. That was one dedicated troll^h^h^h^h^h reader

The usual pangs of authorial doubt. Could I have done better? Was it the characters? I admit, there are a tiny number of typos that made it through in my rush to get it in (and my um, temporary difficulties in concentration). Fortunately due to my recent surgery I have access to pharmaceutical substances which, um, are meant to minimize misery On the other hand, scotch works too...

Just back after dealing with all that now my story is at 4.52 with 42 ratings and 7 favorites, one of my better received tales overall. I'm not going to win but suddenly my authorial doubt is at least back to normal, i.e., I'm only kinda useless at this writing thing...

https://literotica.com/s/the-princess-and-the-queen

 

[NotWise]

I'm late adding my 2 cents here but I had the same experience. I noticed my one and only entry had been posted within the hour (sparrow fart AM US times Monday morning) and when I looked it had a single rating.

A 2. That was one dedicated troll^h^h^h^h^h reader

My stories almost always start low, whether for a contest or not, and no matter where the score ends up. I'm not sure how I'd feel if they started high.

It looks like I will get a story into the contest, though I may hold onto it until the 6th.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

I'm still new at this, so please forgive me if this is already well known: Are there negativist readers who vote 2 instead of 1, in the belief that a sweep won't get rid of a 2?

 

[KeithD]

I'm still new at this, so please forgive me if this is already well known: Are there negativist readers who vote 2 instead of 1, in the belief that a sweep won't get rid of a 2?

.Yes.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

1. It doesn’t work.

2. Laurel discourages discussing sweeps and such as it encourages the trolls and gives them ideas.

 

[Javahead]

.Yes.

I'm very frustrated - I probably won't make it. Close, but unless I write all night tonight, I don't think it's possible.

What I get for being overly ambitious (plot and character heavy, and choosing a story line that required lots of sex scenes with multiple partners).

It's structured as prologue/setup, two weeks of very detailed day-by-day, epilogue. With the some of the most detailed scenes set up in the last few days. I got the prologue, epilogue, and all but the final 3 days done (87K words so far).

Somehow, even though they're all plotted out, I don't think I'll get those last 3 days and ~10-15K words out tonight. And even if I pull it off, it leaves essentially no time for self-edits.

Live and learn. I've enjoyed writing it, and I like the story itself (deliberately more than a bit over-the-top, but fun to write) but I think I've learned a lot on what NOT to do on the way. Including.

1) Don't go overboard on plotting every single minor detail. Focus! I wanted to try something a lot longer than my previous stories (1-2 Literotica pages) I threw everything into the plot but the kitchen sink (oops! there it is!) and it shows.

2) Know yourself as a writer. If you typically take 3-5K words to do X, figure that if you want a 12-15K story you'd better not have more than 3 or 4 instances of X in the story. I was shooting for a 30-40K word story, but I put in far too much. So I've got what looks to be an ~100K word novel.

3) Detailed sex scenes that are (hopefully) non-repetitive and non-boring are a LOT of work. Don't put more in than you need. And put them in where they logically fit, and they'll do the most good for the story you're trying to tell.

4) Detailed characterization is a lot of work. Don't add more minor characters than needed, and don't fall in love them enough you feel compelled to flesh them out more. Current running count: two main characters, 6 very detailed recurring minor characters who have their own sub-plots.

5) Start contest entries earlier. Much earlier.

Anyhow, thanks for letting me vent. I'll probably take a week or two to clean everything up after I get it done, then go looking for first readers & editors to point out all the things I missed.

But I did get one big thing right this time: Don't publish the first chapter until the whole story is done. Whether I end up posting it as a 30+ Literotica page chunk or a series of chapters, I shouldn't leave any readers hanging (all two of them?) hanging.

 

[KeithD]

I'm very frustrated - I probably won't make it. Close, but unless I write all night tonight, I don't think it's possible.

When it's ready, publish it to the regular file.

 

[Seanathon]

It has been a while since I visited here (and even longer since I wrote anything). Glad to see the contests are still going strong with many of the same names taking part. Now to go read some of the entries, best of luck to all!

 

[NotWise]

Mine is submitted. I'm a little surprised it made it, but the end came up on me faster than I thought it would.

Maybe I'll take a break now and write without a deadline.

 

[PennameWombat]

<snip>Maybe I'll take a break now and write without a deadline.

I haven't specifics of where I read this phrase, it's not my original but I like it: "I love deadlines. They make such a nice, whooshing sound as they fly past you."

I've done many kinds of work to deadlines but never before fiction writing (other than a couple of workshops or short-courses.) I've now made a few here, I think my Summer Lovin story was sub-optimal, not in the conception or plot but there's a few typos and clumsy bits that working around the deadline and temporary medical limits meant I just ignored.

Otherwise that whooshing sound would've meant it didn't get submitted. I wanted to hit the deadline as much to prove to myself I could as any other reason because this story was very hard to come to grips with the Summer theme. I have never in my life accorded summer vacations or the like any special place. I always tended to be the one who hung around in the office in the summer so everyone else could leave. In return, my vacations were less bothered by crowds. And I don't like beaches and the water...

 

[Rustyoznail]

I haven't specifics of where I read this phrase, it's not my original but I like it: "I love deadlines. They make such a nice, whooshing sound as they fly past you."

A quote from the sorely missed Douglas Adams...

 

[ChloeTzang]

When it's ready, publish it to the regular file.

That’s what I’m going to do. Not a chance I’ll make this deadline so I’d rather miss it and do a good job on the story than rush and submit something that’s not as good as it could be. Best of luck to everyone who has stories entered.

 

[Javahead]

That’s what I’m going to do. Not a chance I’ll make this deadline so I’d rather miss it and do a good job on the story than rush and submit something that’s not as good as it could be. Best of luck to everyone who has stories entered.

The one you're working on is "No Tan Lines", right? Definitely looking forward to it. And the others you've teased us with.

Considering all the other things that you've mentioned going on in your life this summer, I'm impressed you've got a story even nearly done.

 

[HeyAll]

What's the latest anyone has ever submitted a contest story? Is a day or two over, okay?

 

[KeithD]

What's the latest anyone has ever submitted a contest story? Is a day or two over, okay?

I think the midnight U.S. EST time on the deadline day provided is a hard requirement. It should be. A contest should strictly follow the rules it gives.