Ten years ago I started running writing contests.
The original plan was for a quarterly contest. However, interest in contest waned quickly and after two contests failed to get the minimum number of submissions (6), I cut down on the number of contests per year, and for the last few years I've done only the Halloween one.
So my question is, do you guys think that I should have more contests?
The only regular contest I remember is the Halloween one, and usually I'm not interested in doing Halloween stories, so I ignore them. As to the others, by the time I notice the alerts and when they're due by, I don't think I've enough time to write a story and put it through me editors in time to meet the story deadline. Thus I usually don't even consider them.
However, if I have something done or almost done when a contest is announced and I think it fits, I'll put it in. On the down side: the last two times I had something suitable at the same time as a contest was going they didn't meet the contest conditions as one case my story was no sex and the story condition required sex, and in the other case the story size limit meant my story didn't qualify.
The sex requirement was removed few years ago.
The upper size limit was removed also and now we only have a minimum size.
What would be a good lead time for the contest? Currently, I try for 45 days from announcement to deadline. Would it make sense for longer lead time?
What would be a good lead time for the contest?
I would suggest doubling the lead time, with a reminder each month. Three months gives most authors time to write even if they are busy with other stories.
Whilst I understand the ease of picking Halloween as a competition theme. You might consider trying two competitions a year, maybe a summer and winter, but change the theme each time, or at least give more leeway in story focus, that may well garner you more participants, if, like EB says, Halloween isn't an attractive theme.
Halloween isn't an attractive theme.
I tried Valentine's Day and Christmas. Both failed.
One would think Valentine's Day would work, but no.
I'll start giving 3 months lead. We'll see.
I tried Valentine's Day and Christmas. Both failed.
Themes not specific to a holiday might work better.
For example, rather than Halloween as the theme for the contest story, a more generic ghost/monster story theme.
I would suggest doubling the lead time, with a reminder each month. Three months gives most authors time to write even if they are busy with other stories.
I agree, but I'd also suggest broadening the contest theme, to something general, say: Romance, just so most authors are likely to have something nearly ready to post, which they could easily slide into the contest.
There are a broad array of similar broadly themed contests, especially if you only request interesting samples (i.e. action adventure, military engagements, betrayals, etc.). I think making it easier to authors to submit their up-and-coming stories would end up producing a LOT more submissions than limiting how often you hold the contests.
I agree, but I'd also suggest broadening the contest theme, to something general, say: Romance, just so most authors are likely to have something nearly ready to post, which they could easily slide into the contest.
You did't read the second paragraph of my post then.
You did't read the second paragraph of my post then.
I did, but I was drawing a distinction between your "broad" categories and my "general" (non-specific) categories. I think the problem before was, NO ONE ever says "Hey, it's Valentines, let my stop by StoriesOnLine and see what Valentine's erotica they have available today, so using those as the basis of a contest is probably a mistake. But requesting story openings on a general basis (ex: "Romantic" or "Heartbreak", but not limited to Genre, as in "military") would be incredibly easy to act on.
It's a subtle distinction, but a notable when when considering story submissions.
Currently, I try for 45 days from announcement to deadline. Would it make sense for longer lead time?
Usually, a new story takes me anywhere from four or five weeks to several years to complete, then it takes about four weeks to get through the editorial process. So the minimum, for me, would run at eight weeks, but can got quite a bit more as a lot depends on my heath at the time.
It would be a few years ago since I last seriously looked at entering a contest. Most of my stories run from 40,000 words to 100,000 words.
From 2015 to to 2020 I was in a high stress situation which had some very serious health outcomes that I'm still recovering from, so new stories are taking a lot longer to write than they used to. At the moment I've over 600,000 words tied up in 35 stories I'm working on that cover many different genres etc. While most have been started in the last couple of years some of them go back as far as 2009 and still aren't finished due to real life issues breaking my chain of thought on them.
If there was a long term schedule of contests listing what subjects you were planning for the next several months it would help with planning in that I could concentrate on something that would suit a contest as the contest date neared.
BTW: As Switch says, the prize money isn't a big thing for me, it's the challenge provided I feel I've got time to finish it. The last time I tried to write a contest entry I had an idea and worked flat out on it to do it in a few days, got it edited in time, and failed to meet one of the terms. I ended up posting the story, anyway, just not as part of the contest.
As Switch says, the prize money isn't a big thing for me, it's the challenge provided I feel I've got time to finish it. The last time I tried to write a contest entry I had an idea and worked flat out on it to do it in a few days, got it edited in time, and failed to meet one of the terms. I ended up posting the story, anyway, just not as part of the contest.
Again, a limited general-themed contest would be more productive than a more-restricted content contest. Many of us write horror stories, but very few actually write a halloween specific story.
Plus, if you make it something that virtually anyone can dive into blind, without needing a lot of prep work (ex: romantic or fight scene), you'd likely get more people setting their current projects aside JUST to write for the contest, and it would also be easier to control the submission sizes (to a reasonable level, not that I think you NEED to limit them).
Then again, Lazeez might consider a SOL WriMo themed contest, where you set a specific amount of time to create a story and possibly break it up into pieces (i.e. opening chapters, first 10 chapters, etc.), to open the gates and FORCE authors to stretch themselves BEYOND what they're comfortable with, as well as releasing bits at a time, to keep the reader interest up. Just an idea, do with it what you will.
If there was a long term schedule of contests listing what subjects you were planning for the next several months it would help with planning...
I want to second this. Not that the ANNUAL Halloween contest catches my by surprise, but I still think it would be helpful to have a calendar of upcoming contests going out a year in advance. For the most part I'm not a fast writer so I need plenty of lead time.
As far as this contest, I find myself struggling to come up with a fresh idea. If anyone has any writing prompts to share, I'd appreciate it. Costumed mistaken identity, vengeful ghost, succubus, friendly witches have all been done better by others than I would.
do you guys think that I should have more contests?
I participated in a few contests when they started, but then I stopped. I'm usually working on a novel (or sometimes a short story) and don't write more than one story at a time so I don't have time for the contests, being in the middle of writing something else.
I think they're a good idea, but without author participation they don't work. And just in case you're considering it, increasing the prize money wouldn't change my behavior. For me, it's never about the money. I enjoyed competing.
Perhaps major life changes would make for better stories, or at least more satisfactory conclusions. Things like giving birth (or Happy Birthday!), getting married (or Happy Anniversary!), getting a new job (or getting promoted (or elected) to a better job), finding a new girlfriend (or additional ones to form a harem), possibly getting a divorce (or some other burn the bitch story), a funeral (what is "fun" about a fun eral?) or one of SOL's major ingredients, a do-over story.
The white cliffs of Do-over--
"There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see
There'll be love and laughter
And peace ever after
Tomorrow, when the world is free
The shepherd will tend his sheep
The valley will bloom again
And Jimmy will go to sleep
In his own little room again
There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see
The shepherd will tend his sheep
The valley will bloom again
And Jimmy will go to sleep
In his own little room again
There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Nat Burton / Walter Kent"
There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see
I could see that, as I've had a DoOver story on a slow perk for sometime now. While it's not really enough for a full novel, I could probably dust it off and write up an intriguing introduction (introductory chapter or 5), even if I've got nothing to finish it up with.
interest in contest waned quickly and after two contests failed to get the minimum number of submissions (6)
Maybe Rule #2 scares people off.
2. Stories must be complete, properly edited and formatted, typos will cause the story to be rejected.
"Typos will cause the story to be rejected" is pretty daunting. Even the best edited stories sometimes have a typo.
"Typos will cause the story to be rejected" is pretty daunting. Even the best edited stories sometimes have a typo.
You may be right. I removed the bit about typos.
I like the idea of more contests. I've seen some invitations to write stories based on songs - and the results produced some really good stories. Maybe if you encouraged authors OR readers to suggest themes for the contests? They could be as simple as: (1) the story must begin with a much criticized cliche, such as "It was a dark and stormy night," or (2) a "what if" story in which some historical event turned out a different way, or (3) an unusual setting, such as a story set in the eastern United States during the same time period many authors base popular Westerns on, or (4) a story of a very precise defined length (300 words, for example).
The people on this forum, if invited, would probably have hundreds or thousands of ideas for themes.
One thing I've seen mentioned by many is finishing an unfinished story. An author could write the beginning of a story, and others invited to finish it.
An author could write the beginning of a story, and others invited to finish it.
I recall two very different stories that used a short story by oyster50 as the first chapter.
"It was a dark and stormy night,"
I'm in!
So am I, cut it's so dark, I can't even find my keyboard!
"It was a dark and stormy night,"
That literally is the first line of a story I started for the Halloween contest four years ago. I've never managed to get it past the second page. If I get lucky, maybe I'll get it finished in time for NEXT year's contest.
I can agree that 'song' related competitions may be good. Say pick a well known artist/group and write a story based on a song title. when I first started reading this thread my first thought was a song based on the metal group 'Helloween' to make Halloween more 'interesting'. I probably listen to a far wider range of music than most, basically anything from the past hundred years and 'classical' too. Though some of it is pretty damn obscure, how many can say they listen to German Heavy Acapella Metal? Wikiepedia is an excellent source of information on who does what song if you just want something simple that everyone can use. But I digress. look at some popular artists who have lasted more than a decade and they have more than enough song titles to give flexibility in song title choice from which to generate a germ of an idea for a fresh story. I'd say allow artists who do covers as most don't have the time to find the 'original' artists for every song they come across. though Second hand songs is an excellent resource that I often use for tracking down such information and finding new and interesting alternate versions. Even if a popular song is the theme, a cover's interpretation may give many different ideas for people to turn into unique works. I'm sure the strolling bones have enough titles up their sleeves for a good story or two. Mother's little helper, anyone?
I can agree that 'song' related competitions may be good. Say pick a well known artist/group and write a story based on a song title.
Actually, I'd push to make it more 'generic' again, especially since we have such a wide variety of ages in both readers and authors. Personally, I'd just at a chance to just pick a random song, and would pick the little played Billie Holliday's "Strange Fruit" (1939), rather than anything readers would ever recognize, but then, I've always been odd, picking quirky stories that no one else would ever choose to write. But then, I was always heavily into the early Blues and late Jazz pieces popular in both Chicago and Manhattan. But I seriously doubt anyone would remember the title, context of background of the song! But I cry EVERY time I hear it, even know 50 or so years later!
especially since we have such a wide variety of ages
My short story "Last Kiss" was written for a wattpad contest where they gave me the name of a song to write a short story from. I actually had an "in" with one of the organizers of the contest so I got to choose my own song. However, I was thinking of the J Frank Wilson version of "Last Kiss." I lucked out because the kids on wattpad never heard of that group but they knew of Pearl Jam's version which they didn't even know was a remake.
Of course its a cover. though I've never heard the original I've always known it was a cover. Pearl Jam did it nearly 40 years later, but I collect those sorts of things. I have a Blue Grass cover of War Pigs, now that's interesting.
But yer letting the contestants choose their own song from either an artist or maybe style. leave a fair amount of room for interpretation. Maybe even set it to songs from a decade.
Not saying my idea is better than anyone else's but it allows a lot of room for creativity and a lot of 'runs' of the competition without it going 'stale' too quickly.
I enjoyed The Knocker Contest
https://storiesonline.net/contest/The-Knocker
Aroslav has described "National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)", and I have not searched the possibility of reading results of the contest. If it does not conflict with the owners of that event, is there a possibility of a ... cross-promotion? ...tie in? ...or? (I'm not a writer.)
NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is not a contest like SOL's Halloween contest. It's a challenge for someone to write 50,000 words in a month. It's a self-motivation challenge. Anyone who writes the 50k words is a winner even if what they write is crap.
Aroslav has described "National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)", and I have not searched the possibility of reading results of the contest.
NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge and they do not publish finished stories as it's designed to encourage people to write, not to complete a story. The aim is to write 50,000 words during the month and you don't have to complete the story to do so. Everyone who participates and reaches the 50,000 word target gets a picture saying they completed the challenge, and that's all.
I had participated for a few years, but gave up several years ago when they changed there system such that it was almost impossible to participate unless you were using MS Windows or Apple mac as there software didn't support ordinary Unix or Linux after the changes. I was also getting fed up by then with all of the crap emails about participating and asking for money, so it was a no brainer to quit.
Everyone who participates and reaches the 50,000 word target gets a picture saying they completed the challenge, and that's all.
What's so tough about that - asks the man who has averaged over 61,000 words per month each and every month for the last 28 months in a row. And I can back it up, with 1.74 million words posted on SOL since August of 2019, and starting the first story 3 months before beginning posting. (Yeah, I'm feeling a little obnoxious tonight - I may have had an adult beverage.)
What's so tough about that - asks the man who has averaged over 61,000 words per month each and every month for the last 28 months in a row. And I can back it up, with 1.74 million words posted on SOL since August of 2019, and starting the first story 3 months before beginning posting. (Yeah, I'm feeling a little obnoxious tonight - I may have had an adult beverage.)
Not to rain on your parade - 12.5 million words since 2015 (1.7 million words per year, 140K words per month).
Yeah, I'm feeling even more obnoxious due to stupid tech problems at Chez Loucks today that cost me four hours of writing time.
1.7 million words per year, 140K words per month
The novel I just published is 136,000 words. It took me over a year to write. So you write more in a month than I write in a year.
Were you also working a full time job outside the home?
:)
Seriously, though, from what I've seen regarding this writing challenge is that it's basically a participation trophy. People like you and me simply destroy things like this.
from what I've seen regarding this writing challenge is that it's basically a participation trophy.
Not at all. It's intended to get someone to write 50K words in a month. That's all. The idea is you can't edit a blank page. It's not intended for those who don't have the problem.
Aroslav has described "National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)", and I have not searched the possibility of reading results of the contest. If it does not conflict with the owners of that event, is there a possibility of a ... cross-promotion? ...tie in? ...or? (I'm not a writer.)
That's actually an excellent idea, because the entire NaNoWriMo context is focused in getting more non-authors into writing, and the general idea is to write as much as possible, within a limited framework, without taking the time to limit, conceptualize or plot out the tale (as those all fall under the rubric of "editing", which comes after the initial writing of a story).
Thus, it fits perfectly for a site dedicated to amateurs writing stories for amateur readers to enjoy and comment on.
Instead of (or in addition to) contests, how about festivals? No losers, just a gathering of stories on a common theme. One problem with contests is that they are competitive, and some people (such as myself) believe that cooperation and celebration is better than competition against one's peers.
How about quickies? Years ago we had a couple of Bradley Stoke Flash Stroke festivals. The story had to fit on one computer screen, which was defined as 18 lines (including blank lines) with no more than 60 or maybe it was 80 characters per line.
Another quickie possibility: on the first day of each month announce the theme of a flash event, with submissions due within a very limited time, for example 48 hours. Themes could be quite broad. Romance. Or specific. A specific song. Or quirky. Soap. Elephants. Mauve.
We've had some fun festivals in which the requirement was to write a story based on a painting.
I suspect there would be more participation if the minimum length were not so high. These days four thousand words exceeds my interest level both for writing and reading. I'd do one thousand or two thousand or maybe even three. The ideal length for a Halloween story is 666 words.
The ideal length for a Halloween story is 666 words.
Now THAT would be a challenging contest!
Now THAT would be a challenging contest!
I believe there are various internet challenges to write 'complete' stories in 50, 80, 90, 100 etc words.
I might be able to think of several SOL authors who wouldn't do very well in those ;-)
AJ
I believe there are various internet challenges to write 'complete' stories in 50, 80, 90, 100 etc words.
I might be able to think of several SOL authors who wouldn't do very well in those ;-)
True, but I'm sure a lot of authors here on SOL can write an entertaining Halloween scene in 666 words.
I'm sure a lot of authors here on SOL can write an entertaining Halloween scene in 666 words
Not my kettle of fish. IMO a good Halloween story deserves a decent build-up so that when when the antagonist finally says, "Boo", it makes the readers jump out of their seats.
AJ
I'm sure a lot of authors here on SOL can write an entertaining Halloween scene in 666 words
Not my kettle of fish.
A LOT of writing groups and teachers use that technique, as they specifically want you NOT to think in terms of plotting and pacing, but want authors to focus on interesting premises, accurately capturing isolated events and telling a complete picture in a short, manageable passage. As such, it would benefit everyone, whether establish author or complete newbie!
True, but I'm sure a lot of authors here on SOL can write an entertaining Halloween scene in 666 words.
Such a short story would be better posted in this forum wouldn't it?
Such a short story would be better posted in this forum wouldn't it?
No.
Very short stories are perfectly acceptable except as an author's debut contribution.
AJ
Such a short story would be better posted in this forum wouldn't it?
That would imply that every flash story or poem should be posted in the forum. I don't think the number of words disqualifies a story from being posted as a story.
I'm sure a lot of authors here on SOL can write an entertaining Halloween scene in 666 words.
Since you asked so nicely ...
Although the score suggests it's not very entertaining.
I assume the story size and date of posting mean it won't interfere with SOL's Halloween contest.
AJ
Since you asked so nicely ...
Although the score suggests it's not very entertaining.
Thank you, you see, it's possible :)
That the score is not very high is probably because it's only a scene (ok, two scenes by location). You can extend it for the Halloween contest ;)
You can extend it for the Halloween contest ;)
I don't think that would work. Anyone who read the short story would realise I was the author of the longer version, thus enabling them to 1-bomb it.
Besides, I'm halfway through writing the next chapter of 'The Sixth Button'. It's not going to be ready by Sunday and I'm already feeling guilty about it.
AJ
It's been over an hour and Keet's latest post in this topic hasn't appeared yet.
And someone 1-bombed my 666 word 'Halloween Party' story.
AJ
It's been over an hour and Keet's latest post in this topic hasn't appeared yet.
I think I finally got it fixed. (yes, I did say that before)
Keet uses the anonymous site. SOL and the anonymous site use separate cache repositories (each domain uses its own repository to avoid cross site cache collision). So when Keet posts using the anonymous site, the thread's cache files were getting cleared from the anonymous site's cache only, but have to expire on SOL before they're refreshed (TTL is 2 hours for the forum threads).
I had to redesign the caching bits to be able to clear a file's cache across sites on post/edit.
It was an interesting problem to solve for code used across multiple sites and embedded into multiple CMSs.
Let's see if I actually solved the issue or yet again failed like before.
Thank you, and well done on the diagnostic work - that certainly fits the symptoms.
AJ
And someone 1-bombed my 666 word 'Halloween Party' story.
That person is an ass. It was a pretty good flash fiction story. It's hard to write a story that short and still be a story.
Btw, SOL says it's 692 words so I copied and pasted the story into Word and Word says it's 666 words.
Btw, SOL says it's 692 words so I copied and pasted the story into Word and Word says it's 666 words.
LibreOffice agrees to 666 words :)
If I include the title and synopsis I get 683. No idea how SOL gets 692.
That person is an ass.
Not necessarily. I've amended the story description to make it clear that the story was written to a 666 word target because I've had requests for expansions/continuations.
It was a pretty good flash fiction story.
Coming from you that means a lot. Thank you.
SPOILER
Naturally I spotted a pretty major flaw after submission. How can it be 1st POV when the protagonist ends up in Hell? ;-)
/SPOILER
AJ
I kind of like that "flaw." But if it bothers you, change it to third person. Or to make it more interesting, change it to first person present. (Or first person future.)
How can it be 1st POV when the protagonist ends up in Hell? ;-)
They are telling the next damned soul over how they ended up in Hell?
They are telling the next damned soul over how they ended up in Hell?
As our resident BDSM expert, I have a question for you. Does torture necessarily mean BDSM? The SOL tag is listed under BDSM but I have a hard time thinking of eg the waterboarding of Iraqi insurgents as BDSM.
AJ
As our resident BDSM expert, I have a question for you. Does torture necessarily mean BDSM?
I would say no. For torture to qualify as BDSM play it would have to be for the sexual arousal/gratification of one or both parties.
BDSM is a sex kink. If there's no sexual arousal/gratification aspect it's not BDSM.
For torture to qualify as BDSM play it would have to be for the sexual arousal/gratification of one or both parties.
True, but not totally.
A rapist who gets off on torturing, raping and killing his victims gets arousal and gratification, but it isn't BDSM.
BDSM activities should be SSC or RACK
True, but not totally.
A rapist who gets off on torturing, raping and killing his victims gets arousal and gratification, but it isn't BDSM.
BDSM activities should be SSC or RACK
Agreed, but the original question was on torture without a sexual aspect.
Agreed, but the original question was on torture without a sexual aspect.
Nope, the original question is as follows;
So my question is, do you guys think that I should have more contests?
:)
BDSM activities should be SSC or RACK
I had to look them up because I had no idea what they meant. For those who don't know:
SSC: Safe, Sane and Consensual
RACK: Risk Aware, Consensual Kink
I had to look them up because I had no idea what they meant.
My bad.
To further your knowledge there is also PRICK
Personal Responsibility, Informed, Consensual Kink
My bad.
To further your knowledge there is also PRICK
Personal Responsibility, Informed, Consensual Kink
I'll add it to my list of acronyms encountered on SOL.
Does torture necessarily mean BDSM?
In some of my thrillers, people are tortured to get information. Definitely not BDSM. And sometimes they're tortured to make an example for others not to betray the crime family. Also not BDSM.
Do you use SOL's 'Torture' tag?
Most of my thrillers are on Bookapy, not SOL, so there are no tags.
I probably could have the "torture" tag on "High School Massacre" and "Death of a Hero," both on SOL, but I don't.
In "High School Massacre" the bad guy has his guys smash a guy's body with baseball bats while hanging from the ceiling and then lowers him slowly into a vat of acid. And how the hero kills someone at the end is rather unpleasant for that person.
In "Death of a Hero" the way the hero gets justice is rather painful for two bad guys. I guess it's torture.
I did use "violent" in those two stories.
I did use "violent" in those two stories.
I looked for 'violence' but missed 'violent'. But, in context, I'm not sure it applies.
AJ
SPOILER
Naturally I spotted a pretty major flaw after submission. How can it be 1st POV when the protagonist ends up in Hell? ;-)
/SPOILER
--SPOILER-- 1st-person is fine because it's written in past tense. He's telling the story from hell.
"The Lovely Bones" is written in 1st-person. The second sentence in Chapter 1 starts with "I was murdered when I was fourteen…" So she's telling the story in 1st-person from heaven or wherever she is.
He's telling the story from hell.
Nobody in hell can tell anyone anything since the temperature there is approaching 444.6 Celsius
Which whilst way too hot to allow speech is still considerably cooler than heaven.
:)
Nobody in hell can tell anyone anything since the temperature there is approaching 444.6 Celsius
Which whilst way too hot to allow speech is still considerably cooler than heaven.
Sorry, I'm too stupid/uneducated to understand that. Could you please put me out of my misery.
AJ
Various versions of this can be found scattered around the interwebs;
The temperature of heaven can be rather accurately computed. Our authority is the Bible, Isaiah 30:26 reads,
Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days.
Thus, heaven receives from the moon as much radiation as the earth does from the sun, and in addition seven times seven (forty nine) times as much as the earth does from the sun, or fifty times in all. The light we receive from the moon is one ten-thousandth of the light we receive from the sun, so we can ignore that. With these data we can compute the temperature of heaven: The radiation falling on heaven will heat it to the point where the heat lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation. In other words, heaven loses fifty times as much heat as the earth by radiation. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann fourth power law for radiation
(H/E)4 = 50
where E is the absolute temperature of the earth, 300°K (273+27). This gives H the absolute temperature of heaven, as 798° absolute (525°C).
The exact temperature of hell cannot be computed but it must be less than 444.6°C, the temperature at which brimstone or sulfur changes from a liquid to a gas. Revelations 21:8: But the fearful and unbelieving... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of molten brimstone [sulfur] means that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point, which is 444.6°C. (Above that point, it would be a vapor, not a lake.)
We have then, temperature of heaven, 525°C. Temperature of hell, less than 445°C. Therefore heaven is hotter than hell.
Don't let's stop there - temperature increases with depth approx 25°C per km, so Hell is less than 18km down. Temperature of the atmosphere wonks about but stays below ground level temperature until you get to the thermosphere; I've not found much data, but the best I've found has 525°C at about 160km altitude, well above the Kármán line, so here on Earth we're much closer to Hell than Heaven.
Earth we're much closer to Hell than Heaven.
Indeed, which explains why there is a "Stairway to Heaven" but a "Highway to Hell".
Especially since the early description of Hell's location was a place on the surface, specifically Gehenna.
Whilst the word "Hell" is mentioned several times in the bible it was translated from the words Sheol, Hades, Gehenna or Tartarus. The literal translation of the first two is basically "the grave". Gehenna was an actual place, also know as the Valley of Hinnom, which was a rubbish dump outside Jerusalem, it was the place where people burned their garbage. It was also the place that the bodies of sinners, such as suicides were burnt.
So the actual highway to hell is route 60 that runs north to south through Israel to the West Bank (Beersheba to Nazareth). Parts of the route have seen repeated attacks and hundreds of deaths.
ETA
Tartarus is apparently where fallen angels are imprisoned, so no human soul has ever gone there.
Especially since the early description of Hell's location was a place on the surface, specifically Gehenna.
Heaven is also a place on Earth - we have Belinda Carlisle's expertise to thank for that information ;-)
AJ
SPOILER
Naturally I spotted a pretty major flaw after submission. How can it be 1st POV when the protagonist ends up in Hell? ;-)
/SPOILER
Easy, he posted it on Facebook, the official social media service of Hell.
And someone 1-bombed my 666 word 'Halloween Party' story.
It would be kind of appropriate if your story score was 6.66
:)
It would be kind of appropriate if your story score was 6.66
The effects of the 1-bomber have been diluted, but the story isn't going to reach 6.66 on merit. It would need a concert party and I think management would frown on that :-(
AJ
It would be kind of appropriate if your story score was 6.66
It's just passed 666 downloads :-(
AJ
And someone 1-bombed my 666 word 'Halloween Party' story.
And my 666 word 'Halloween Party II' - votes 1, score 1.00.
AJ
Instead of (or in addition to) contests, how about festivals?
You're right, however, the hard thing about festivals is the recruiting. I don't have the time.
The thing about contests with monetary prizes is that the prize is the motivation and it gets people moving and working and it's easier for me to do.
We have the 'Writing Events' mechanism that allows anybody to organize an event (you can call them whatever you wish, festivals, invitationals, events, etc...) Why don't you try your hand at one and see. In the 'authors/editors' page, click on Events:
https://storiesonline.net/author/events.php
I'm willing to help in advertising it with a site-wide message. But I don't have the time to shepherd it from start to end. I'm way too busy with way too many things to add yet another one to my overflowing plate.
It's best if you wait until after the contest closes the submission period.
We have the 'Writing Events' mechanism that allows anybody to organize an event (you can call them whatever you wish, festivals, invitationals, events, etc...) Why don't you try your hand at one and see. In the 'authors/editors' page, click on Events:
Actually, I wouldn't mind opening it even further, rather than having a specific time-based Festival, we could simply start threads stating a given topic and an associated word limit (hard or soft rule?) and everyone posts their own related creation for others to enjoys (with or without derragory comments).
That would be easier to organize, pull off, and if someone didn't see it on time, they could still add their own entry whenever they did notice it.
pro and con are opposites. Think of progress and congress. So the opposite of a contest would be a protest.
Is the opposite of concrete procreate?
Is the opposite of concubine procubine? Or is that a prickly subject?
AJ
Having considered it, as I've tried to get three new stories off the ground, with only mixed success, I'll have to revise my opinion. Not that I object with what I said, but the stories I prefer vary significantly from those I'm able to write!
I've always preferred the literary 'relationship' genre, not particularly romance stories, but stories dealing with the relations build between the primary characters whether they're man and woman (romantic), 2 guys (non-romantic), or even FF/GG (romantic +more), while for whatever reason, I've always preferred Sci-Fi and Fantasy, which I rarely read anymore since my early 20s!
The reason is the stories I write, not the subject matter. I'll always pick the traditional relationship stories, but I just don't seem to be able to write them, as I can rarely get beyond the first chapter in my many attempts at them without a strong Sci-Fi of Fantasy angle behind the relationships (such as my early Catalyst or Great Death series).
The reason for this is—apparently—because those stories allow me to focus on a global context (i.e. it's not man vs. woman, or a man vs. a woman, but the larger general human conditions of good vs evil, meaning vs. chaos, etc).
So, from that context, I withdrawal my previous comments, as I serious doubt I'll ever be able to quickly dash out a contest entry on any given context with framing it as something grander than two or more random individuals!
I would be interested in 2 to 3 contests a year. I do agree that at least 90 days would be desirable.
Having a tentative schedule a year out, with proposed genre and/or subjects.
Personally, I'd love some sort of an open call for 'Halloween-themed stories' that includes characters from long-running stories. Judging criteria should include accessibility to non-readers of the story.
I'm already toying with doing one-off shorter side stories revolving around characters besides my MC. A 'what we did for Halloween' would be fun. I still might do it (though likely not this year, unless I get inspired - I have a very heavy volunteer commitment in October that will eat a huge amount of my free time).
Ok, so I am really confused here. I've read multiple comments about how many contests or what the theme of a contest might be BUT haven't seen one post here about this contest underway!
For us, we have developed a contest story and have submitted it. No it isn't 100 chapters long, but it meets the guidelines of the set forth rules. "Cousin's Wicca Coven"
Although I haven't seen it posted to the site or a special link to submitted Contest Stories. How many others have already submitted their Contest Story? How many will submit a Contest Story?
The deadline for submissions is October 30th. I believe all the entries will appear on the site, anonymised, shortly after, at which point paid premium members will cast their votes.
AJ
The deadline for submissions is October 30th.
Actually, if you click on that link it says the submissions will close on Oct. 28.
Actually, if you click on that link it says the submissions will close on Oct. 28.
Oops.
"
The Halloween 2021 Contest is open for submissions, until October 30th. [ Dismiss ]
"
AJ
Actually, if you click on that link it says the submissions will close on Oct. 28.
29th.
Fixed the notice on the site.
For us, we have developed a contest story and have submitted it. No it isn't 100 chapters long, but it meets the guidelines of the set forth rules. "Cousin's Wicca Coven"
Contest Rule #11:
Voting will be blind. So, author names will be hidden on the site when voting is open. In order to keep this effective, authors are barred from giving any clues to their identities and hints about which story is theirs. Any author that breaks this rule by revealing which story is theirs, will be disqualified from the contest.
You just disqualified yourselves from the contest.
With the entries now being available I have started to look them over and discovered once more that the page https://storiesonline.net/contest/halloween-2021 is not particularly helpful to the reader.
Ideally, there would be a list with entries along the lines of
Halloween 2021 by (Hidden)
[More Info]
My mother has planned her annual Halloween party, but I don't want to attend. My bitch sister will be there and I am fed up with their constant teasing of me for a little genetic problem I have. Mother begs me to attend. I tell her that I am not putting with any of their stuff. She askes me to be nice for one more party because I am off to college and won't be back. I only promise, it they are nice I will be nice. If not....
Sex Contents: Much Sex | Genre: Erotica
Tags: Ma/Fa, mt/ft, mt/Fa, Fa/Fa, Consensual, BiSexual, Heterosexual, Fiction, Incest, Mother, Son, Sister, Harem, Anal Sex, Oral Sex
Size: 175KB | 35,472 words | Posted: 30/10/2021, 21:26:34
(taking one story at random)
You got a lot of interest in this contest compared to years past. Lots of entries that is. What did you do different this year? Better promotion? Better prize?
Better promotion?
Yes. It's the first year that I plaster 'We're having a contest, you should participate' on the site for a month.
doh, I missed that.
"Luxury" would be one button which opens all of the arrows at once but the existing arrangement is probably sufficient.