Competition Entries should be primarily SOLO efforts

23 Feb 2017

Quote by MsTrib

Personally, all I ever wanted to do was be a part of something that included everybody!

Anyone who knows this site well, or has been around a while, will know that nobody will ever be excluded.

If someone is severely dyslexic for example, of course we would allow them to seek the help of others.

That's very different from someone who can write, asking for editorial help, from more established writers.

Please try banging a different drum. That tune is becoming tiresome.

23 Feb 2017

Quote by nicola

Anyone who knows this site well, or has been around a while, will know that nobody will ever be excluded.

If someone is severely dyslexic for example, of course we would allow them to seek the help of others.

That's very different from someone who can write, asking for editorial help, from more established writers.

Please try banging a different drum. That tune is becoming tiresome.

I understand this completely Nicola. I was referring to collaborative efforts etc.
I personally believe they harm their own chances by overplaying descriptions, details of content etc. Therefore missing the striking power of single word use.
But as someone who has never written anything till October of last year I appreciate, my thoughts may appear rather misguided. But would hope they offer a reasoned contribution to the debate.

23 Feb 2017

This is great. smile

Thank's for the more than fair outcome, Nicola. Big Hugs

Now I can send my draft entry through to sprite Whistle

Best of luck to all those who entered xo

The Duchess of Tart

Please check out my new story, co-written with the amazing Wilful.

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/long-time-coming.aspx

And my latest poem, The Temptation.

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/erotic-poems/the-temptation.aspx

24 Feb 2017

The change to the first post makes this sensible. For me, the bare minimum of finishing a story is to have someone else read it and make sure the multiple passes of self-editing haven't missed anything. That's what my primary editor does for me. He catches one or two little things every time.

I'm assuming that's what "Light editing" means.

I don't know where my more intensive process I used for my Magic of the Wood series and a couple of other stories here and there would fall. Sandwiched in the middle between my self-editing and my main editor, all of those had an impression reader. Her only job was to point out "huh?" moments in the story, ignoring grammar.

The type of commentary coming back would be things of this nature:

"This is a personal observation here. They were touching a squirrel. Now they’re touching food they’re going to eat? And not washing their hands first? That’s gross even if it is fiction."

(Why or how is it obvious? You haven’t given the reader anything to know that yet. That comes next but it isn’t obvious here.)

(Saying the walk ended in the bedroom gives it a different implication than what you’re meaning here.)

I have done extensive editing such as adding new scenes, dropping scenes, dropping peripheral characters and such based on those type of questions, but most of them simply involved a bit of rewording or pulling a bottle of hand sanitizer from someone's purse.

Not sure where that would fall, although it would be pretty much irrelevant to the competitions here, because the shortest story I've ever added that extra step to was 13k words or so.

Good Will ---|--- Three Alarm <= Both almost famous, give them a read and get them one step closer!

24 Feb 2017

Quote by nicola
Updated 22 Feb 2017.

I will amend the standard competition rules, but in the interim, I wanted to make our policy very clear on competitions.

We want competition entries to be solo efforts, as much as possible. That's common sense. They are competitions, after all.

We're intestested in seeing what you have written, warts 'n' all. It's a good way for us to see how far authors have come on, and makes it fairer to all concerned, particularly newer members, who haven't yet established a support network.

With that in mind, and following a lot of discussion amongst our membership and moderation team, we've decided that:

- Proofreading and light editing of competition entries, by friends, is fine.

- Heavy editing and co-writing of competition stories, is disallowed.

If you have any questions which haven't already been raised in the following posts, please let me know.

Feedback is always welcome.

I'm glad I caught this update and I'm quoting it because I think it's important to see the changes made to what Nicola had originally said. Many of us were worried about the "proofreading and light editing" of our comp entries which I won't lie... I've had done on many of my entries by one or two different people (they both catch different typos and other stupid mistakes) and the occasional reader and angel who sends me a PM with a note about a mistake they caught.

Thank you for updating this Nicola. I think you helped put many worried minds at ease... including mine.

Are you sure?