Announcing our Free Spirit competition

Quote by Ensorceled

You should reward those who comment and vote on every story.

Do you mean like this?

Quote by Ensorceled

You should reward those who comment and vote on every story.

And the poor shortlister who has to choose from all these stories. I can't imagine....

Quote by KimmiBeGood

And the poor shortlister who has to choose from all these stories. I can't imagine....

I definitely feel for the judges on this one! There are so many excellent stories in this comp, that narrowing the field will be an exercise in frustration.

Quote by krystalg

Do you mean like this?

Now THAT is motivation! It's hard to get too excited about Lush coins, until they start accepting them down at the dispensary.

Late question, but the entry says "should be between 600 and 2000 words long" for length. Is 2000 a hard cap or a guide? Mine's at about 2500 words and I'm trying to figure out how much of an axe I need to take to it.

Hard cap. Maybe 5 or 10 words over to cater for any dividers being counted as "words" or hyphenated words or standalone punctuation like em-dashes being miscounted (pro tip: if you use em-dashes, don't put spaces either side so they're not counted as separate words). But no more than a tiny handful over the limit please.

The limit is there as a challenge, so get that word-machete sharpened!

A cautionary tale about word limits:

I have switched from Google Docs to LibreOffice Writer as my primary writing tool. As I was wrapping up an early draft of my comp entry that I thought was right on, or close to, the 2K, I did a Select All to copy the text over to Lush. And the word count went down by like 20-odd. After some poking around, I realized that, unlike MS Word and Google Docs, LibreOffice counts words in the header by default and I stash title, category, tags, etc. in the header precisely so they won't get counted. The Select All did not include the header and thus was giving me the correct count. So I actually had more wiggle room than I thought as I went on to the next draft.

Lesson learned: if you do writing with word count limits, make sure you actually know how your word processor counts words.🙄

Yeah. Each piece of software has different ways of deciding what constitutes a "word". For the avoidance of doubt, we go by the word counter in the Lush story editing panel. Your word processor of choice may vary.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Yeah. Each piece of software has different ways of deciding what constitutes a "word". For the avoidance of doubt, we go by the word counter in the Lush story editing panel. Your word processor of choice may vary.

It was actually the Lush counter that first had me scratching my head since it was showing lower than LibreOffice. Once I figured out the issue, LibreOffice and the Lush editor are generally fairly close.

I have audio of my story up, if anyone is interested. Thanks to Natalya (IMPURETHOUGHTS) for suggesting Vocaroo.

https://www.lushstories.com/forum/self-promotion-and-marketing/me-reading-my-story-tintinnabulation

Quote by Seeker4

It was actually the Lush counter that first had me scratching my head since it was showing lower than LibreOffice. Once I figured out the issue, LibreOffice and the Lush editor are generally fairly close.

I use a very old version of MS Word (2010) as it was the last version I used when I worked in an office. It's word count is the same as here. There are a few other advantages, it is very easy to use, copy/paste into Lush preserves all the formatting and it has a vocal readback function which is essential for editing.

You can pick up licenses for less than 10 euros too.

Quote by AmuseBouche
You can pick up licenses for less than 10 euros too.

LibreOffice is open source, so free. And I am contemplating dumping MS entirely and moving to a Linux OS at which point MS Office ceases to be an option. 😊

53 fab entries so far in this Free Spirit competition, and still 12 days to go until the closing date. Plenty of time to pull your storytelling socks up.

Remember also that this is a special contest where krystalg and simplyjohn have generously clubbed together and pledged a cache of Lush coins to each of the shortlisted entries that don't make the podium.

You can't be in with a chance to win if you don't enter, so dust off your word processors and get scribblin' on the theme.

And if you haven't read, voted and commented on all your favourite naughty tales in the comp, there's time to make amends. Publishing stories is nerve racking enough; competitions moreso. Please support the authors and show them love for their craft.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Remember also that this is a special contest where krystalg and simplyjohn have generously clubbed together and pledged a cache of Lush coins to each of the shortlisted entries that don't make the podium.

Only because she sent me pics of her garden gnomes. 😇

Quote by AmuseBouche

I use a very old version of MS Word (2010) as it was the last version I used when I worked in an office. It's word count is the same as here. There are a few other advantages, it is very easy to use, copy/paste into Lush preserves all the formatting and it has a vocal readback function which is essential for editing.

You can pick up licenses for less than 10 euros too.

I got 2019 MS Office for $150. I used it so much at work I really prefer it to OfficeLibre (I thought their review/comments a little glitchy - odd gray spaces showing up). Plus, I frikkin LOVE Excel.

Ooh, three more entries! I think you should give a free like, or a coin, to every comment left on a comp entry.

Quote by Seeker4

So many comp entries, so little time. I will get to as many as I can but won't promise to get to them all.

I don't like to read anything until I have my entry in. But wow... there are so many to read. I have now read a few and commented (maybe 20%) but I am with you @Seeker4. There is no way I going to have time to read them all.

Is this a record number of competition entries?

Good luck with the judging, I expect to see an extension to the winner's announcement date coming. 🙄😊

After 5 days of whittling, I succeeded in getting my story down from over 3000 words to the comp limit. So now I can finally start reading other entries. It's a short limit, so this shouldn't take too lo— oh.

Quote by wxt55uk
Is this a record number of competition entries?

I think the Masturbation competition in 2020 had over a hundred entries. The Quick and Risqué one in 2021 might have had close to that too, I think, although the word limit was half of this one.

Quote by StarBelliedBoy

I think the Masturbation competition in 2020 had over a hundred entries. The Quick and Risqué one in 2021 might have had close to that too, I think, although the word limit was half of this one.

The Masturbation comp was perfectly timed with the Covid lockdown too. 😊

Quote by KimmiBeGood

The Masturbation comp was perfectly timed with the Covid lockdown too. 😊

That's pretty funny.

It's a really readable group of entries. There are a BUNCH of good ones (I have like 5 favorites at this point) and they're all short!

Quote by wxt55uk

I don't like to read anything until I have my entry in. But wow... there are so many to read. I have now read a few and commented (maybe 20%) but I am with you @Seeker4. There is no way I going to have time to read them all.

Is this a record number of competition entries?

Good luck with the judging, I expect to see an extension to the winner's announcement date coming. 🙄😊

I believe I have read, liked, and commented on all the comp stories (riding out the hurricane gave me time to do a lot of reading). If I missed any of y'all's stories, let me know, and I will make every effort to get to it ASAP.

I can't even imagine trying to be a judge in this comp; so many wonderful and varied takes on the theme!

Wow, what a competition! I’ve been on here less than four years, but this has got to be the best one I have seen. I suspect the word limit forced a lot of writers to take things up a notch (as it did for me) and put an extra polish on their prose while they distilled their tales down to their one-ton-of-words essences.

I am blown away not only by the quality and sexiness of the writing, but by the level of creativity and originality of many of the entries, far surpassing my own humble entry.

The moderators have an impossible job picking winners here … but I’m not a moderator. While I Liked and commented on the lion’s share of contest entries, I did find some Favorites (literally added to my Favorites list) that spoke to me in some way. Here is my personal, very subjective top ten list:

1. Couldn’t, Wouldn’t, Shouldn’t. by CuriousAnnie

2. Kiss Him by Dronette56

3. A Precious Gift by TheShyThespian

4. Nature Loves You by toreador

5. Summer Love by techgoddess

6. Freedom by TonyaL

7. Tintinnabulation by Ensorceled

8. His First Summer of Love by NishasWorld

9. Call Me Zoe by Chris21235

10. The Phone Rings by PrincessC

To be clear, this is not a ranking of what I think are the ten best stories. They are all extraordinary, as are many of the others submitted. These are just the ten that resonate with me the most.

Good list Joe. I won't put one up, but you've got most of my faves on here.

I agree this is one of the best comps I've ever seen here. SO MANY strong stories. If you haven't at least go read the stories Joe has listed before the comp closes next week. Really nice crop.

I have just submitted my entry... 'Give it to me baby for a gin and tonic and a bag of cheese and onion crisps' (free spirit) only to be told entries are closed. Have the dates been changed?

Quote by simplyjohn

I have just submitted my entry... 'Give it to me baby for a gin and tonic and a bag of cheese and onion crisps' (free spirit) only to be told entries are closed. Have the dates been changed?

Sorry to hear you missed the deadline.

The dates haven't changed. The closing date for entries was always August 31st and September 11th for announcement of the winner, though it wouldn’t surprise me if the second date was pushed back due to the high number of quality entries.

Quote by wxt55uk
Sorry to hear you missed the deadline.

The dates haven't changed. The closing date for entries was always August 31st and September 11th for announcement of the winner, though it wouldn’t surprise me if the second date was pushed back due to the high number of quality entries.

LOL. I think this is just John's droll humour. Though now he's got me wanting to see how a story with that title plays out.😋

I’m guessing one reason the comp is so good this time around might be the 2000 word limit. It opens up the comp to people who might not have the the time or masochism to pound out and edit a 5000 word story. And it forces those of us who can get windy into short concise storytelling. It sorta evens out the playing field. Maybe shorter maximum lengths are something to consider. Only occasionally let the reins out with longer comps. Anyway, just a thought.

Quote by Ensorceled
it forces those of us who can get windy into short concise storytelling

Indeed. My upcoming story uses an opening that I considered for the comp but couldn't flesh out at the time. It has merrily blasted through 2K words. I think I know how I would trim it, but I think it is better with a bit flesh on the bones so to speak.

Quote by Ensorceled

I’m guessing one reason the comp is so good this time around might be the 2000 word limit. It opens up the comp to people who might not have the the time or masochism to pound out and edit a 5000 word story. And it forces those of us who can get windy into short concise storytelling. It sorta evens out the playing field. Maybe shorter maximum lengths are something to consider. Only occasionally let the reins out with longer comps. Anyway, just a thought.

I agree, although even an extra 500 words would have made a difference to mine. But the entries I’ve read have been great, and all with a different interpretation of a nice, broad theme. X

Quote by NishasWorld
an extra 500 words would have made a difference to mine

Ditto. I hankered after that tiny bit more leeway to tell the story I really wanted to tell, instead of having to clip it, to the piece's detriment. Guess I could have gone with something different entirely, with narrower scope, but I'm a sucker for punishment.

Anyway, yours turned out magnificently.

Fearless Leader (aka Jen), any ETA on comp results? I know the pile of entrants wanna know, so I’ll be the impatient one who asks. 😀 Maybe get a spanking out of being a pest.