Do authors ever read other entries before they submit their own?
If they do:
a) Has it ever put you off submitting your story because of the quality of the other competitors?
Or
b) Inspired you to enter when you had no real intention of doing so.
Is there an etiquette with regard to this?
I tend to not read them while I am writing. However, that has more to do with the fact I have very little free time, and if I'm currently writing/editing a story, I try to use my free time on that.
I enjoy the contests, and enjoy seeing the different directions people take their stories.
I tend to look at the challenge for the competition, come up with an idea, and write it. I'll read some of the competition afterwards but I generally try to focus on writing my own entry first. At least with the two comps I've entered to date.
I try to avoid reading others beforehand. I mean, can you imagine reading like one of the better ones and then submitting your own entry (which now seems poor and pathetic)? I would just get thrown off.
Whenever I entered a competition, I made it a point not to read the other entries. Looking back, I suppose it didn't matter much.
I try to read ever y one and I also comment on virtually every one I read. There have been a couple that I didn't comment on but they were so bad I couldn't think of anything nice to say. Actually there have been only two of those and I did wonder why they were accepted.
That comment about wondering why it was accepted was made on either my first or second submission. It pissed me off for about 5 minutes then my mind took over from my ego. That's probably one of the best comments made to me. I love the praise but I desperately want the negative stuff too. That's what makes me better. I was going to rewrite the early ones but have decided to leave them as-is. Then everyone can see the growth, including me.
Thanks to everyone on this site. Especially the moderators because they give of their time to give us a place to do this. Most accept anything offered and a great deal of that is pure crap. It's a very thankless job most of the time so I take my time to thank them profusely whether it's accepted or rejected.
To: the Moderators
Thank you for doing what you do.
Paul
I've only entered one competition so far but when I enter another one, I will look to see if any of My friends are entered in it yet. If so I would back off - I don't want to compete against My friends. Other than that, I don't have any "etiquette" rules I don't think. And no I don't read the other entries before I submit My own.
This is only the 2nd I've entered and I did so only because I had the inspiration to write something I felt worthy. I enjoy seeing other strong entries because I love seeing others pushing themselves. The craft as a whole benefits from such efforts.
I usually try to read all the entries as they're posted, although I've been off my game in the last two competitions (I'm struggling with another project). I try and limit it to two stories each day before I press on with my own. I'm a great procrastinator.
I actually find them a little inspiring. Not so much from an I-must-rip-them-off perspective, but more of getting me into the mindset of writing erotica. They get the juices flowing, so to speak, filling my brain with the imagery that helps me write my own story.
They don't put me off at all. Granted, during the Quickie Competition I got a little miffed that so many heavy hitters came out of the woodwork to submit a story. But other than accepting I wasn't really in with a chance, I pressed on, if only to keep them honest. This time around, the similar theme and superior skill of Sitting has me clenching a little, but bugger it! I'm still in.
I write for me. While I have the lofty goal of placing, then eventually winning a Lush competition, I'm running my own race.
Good luck, everyone.
My latest story is a racy little piece about what happens when someone cute from work invites you over to watch Netflix and Chill. I will not read the other entries until I have posted mine or decided not to enter. After I have posted I will read most, if not all, of the other entries. The past few 'short story' competitions I have had no trouble reading all of the other entries.
At times I get inspiration for other projects from reading other stories, but they are usually novels I have in hand. Rarely have I had inspiration from a story I have read here. I feel that is too close to plagiarism for my taste.
...I thought that maybe a new life, a different life, wouldn’t be so bad. But where the hell did I put the receipt, and could you return something that was over twenty years old? Where do you go to get a new life when your old one has you so puzzled you don’t know how to fix it? Wish I knew.
-Anita Blake (Laurell K. Hamilton)
I just post it up. If I read stories, it's as a reader. If I write stories, I write as an author. They don't meet in the middle or overlap.
One big happy family is my preferred approach to writing.
