Announcing our Elements competition

Got my first full draft done! Yay, that's like 5% of the work! The journey of three thousand steps begins with the first ... uh, shitty three thousand steps.

I also have the cover done (without AI this time), though I want to keep my plans secret for now. I will say that the story involves all four elements, Fire playing a disproportionate role.

EDIT, 3/21: Story complete and submitted!

Quote by Shyexhibitionist

I must be the odd one out here. I haven’t a clue how to use AI. MY covers are either my own pics or pictures I’ve found with my pal Safari. 🤣

Perchance AI Image Generator is ridicu-easy to use. You need to create a free account and do a per-session PG-13 filter override to generate NSFW images; otherwise, you don't even need to do that.

Quote by KimmiBeGood
My cat’s shown me her tail when I read it aloud, so doing lots of adjusting.

Cats are very discerning literary critics, eh. ,😸

Some refinement today but I think I have it basically the way I want. Still have 50-60 words of wiggle room if I need them. Probably won't get to a cover until the weekend but I know what I basically want.

Quote by techgoddess

You're not alone! Commas will be the death of me someday! LOL.

'Grammar is the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit' will always be my favourite, and I don't care how much of an old-fashioned fossil that makes me sound!

Quote by JustForYou

'Grammar is the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit' will always be my favourite, and I don't care how much of an old-fashioned fossil that makes me sound!

Oo, I like that one, too. But, um, I am probably in fossil territory as well. Getting up there, anyhow.🥺

No story. No art. No clue.
I do have commas aplenty. I'm storing them up just in case.

Did you hear about the writer who spent several years in a comma as a result of not using a spell-checker?

Ack! I can already tell this word count max limit is gonna do me in LOL -deep meditative breath- I got this, pray for me y'all. Once I broke the 10k word count mark twice in a month last year or so, its been harder to condense my ideas into a shorter word count I'll just have to write the whole story out for what it is and then just go trimming the fat off it once it's done, yknow more than spaces and tweaking commas, but also those pesky conjunctions and such, LOL

Quote by LuceDevlin
trimming the fat off it once it's done, yknow ... those pesky conjunctions and such

Well it worked for James Ellroy...

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Well it worked for James Ellroy...

which worked? trimming conjunctions or commas and spaces ?

Quote by LuceDevlin
trimming conjunctions

Trimming every unnecessary word.

I tried that once. I ended up with my classic one-word story: Fuck. And the ungrateful bastards who run the publishing industry fail to recognize it's brilliance to this day.🤪

Quote by LuceDevlin
Ack! I can already tell this word count max limit is gonna do me in LOL -deep meditative breath- I got this, pray for me y'all. Once I broke the 10k word count mark twice in a month last year or so, its been harder to condense my ideas into a shorter word count I'll just have to write the whole story out for what it is and then just go trimming the fat off it once it's done, yknow more than spaces and tweaking commas, but also those pesky conjunctions and such, LOL

Same. 2500 words is just enough to introduce the characters, provide a bit of context, and begin to establish their relationship.... 'Oh shit! There's supposed to be sex in this thing!...' Then I try to cram all the action (plus some sort of conclusion) into the last 500 words or so, fail miserably, and scrap the entire thing. As you said, "Ack!"

I'm guessing we'll see a lot of fire and water. I enjoy being contrary, so I chose what I think will be the least common element. Woke up at 3:45AM and started writing.

Update: Entry submitted about 12 hours later. My issue was that I've gotten used to writing micros, and I had to embellish a 300-word story with another 300 words. Kind of like this photo: double the Elements!

Groaner but I did like the Honda Element. Looked seriously at it at one point.

My entry is "staged", i.e. set up in drafts with one-liner written, tags assigned, cover image attached. Doesn't mean it will go up soon. I often do this to check out how the cover looks but then spend a few more days editing.

Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know

Same. 2500 words is just enough to introduce the characters, provide a bit of context, and begin to establish their relationship.... 'Oh shit! There's supposed to be sex in this thing!...' Then I try to cram all the action (plus some sort of conclusion) into the last 500 words or so, fail miserably, and scrap the entire thing. As you said, "Ack!"

Yeah I had to shelf my original idea cos it would have taken like another 5k words to do, so got something to enter, working on cover art now.

Quote by Chet_Morton

I'm guessing we'll see a lot of fire and water.

I hope so! That'll make my fart-fetish 'wind' story really stand out!

I also don't use AI for my covers. Internet searches for the best images and then GIMP, a powerful image editor that is offered free, to combine images and add text.

I was not too sure if I would be entering this one, as my mind was set on writing a story in one of the two genres (Trans and Supernatural) I have left to write in to complete my omnium badge. However, I like shiny things, and an Element's badge would look good on my profile wall. So, as I have the Supernatural story already written, at least in my head, it's going to have to be in the trans genre. Combined the two, and with it, two badges! 🙄😈

Now, it is just down to finding the time! 🙄😜

See, and absolutely no Ai required !

Quote by Piquet

See, and absolutely no Ai required !

You didn't even use a calculator to figure out that someone born in 1968 would turn 58 in 2026! 🧮

In! Blowing Smoke

Quote by wxt55uk

I was not too sure if I would be entering this one, as my mind was set on writing a story in one of the two genres (Trans and Supernatural) I have left to write in to complete my omnium badge. However, I like shiny things, and an Element's badge would look good on my profile wall. So, as I have the Supernatural story already written, at least in my head, it's going to have to be in the trans genre. Combined the two, and with it, two badges! 🙄😈

Now, it is just down to finding the time! 🙄😜

That's smart, I have 7?? categories left for Omnium but the stories are already planned for each of them some of them are partially posted in my drafts. finding the time to do the story justice is a whole thing. I often have to make notes cos otherwise I forget where I was going with the story, but I did duplicate category for this one.

Quote by joe71

In! Blowing Smoke

Read it Lushies and Lushites. You won't be disappointed. Well worth your time.

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/masturbation/the-wetter-the-better

A story within a story of my story ended up in a competition I wasn't going to enter, but I guess it's out there and available for people to look at, if they wish, which is just the same as it being a story in non-competition season. I suppose.

Still trying to think of an idea that fits 'steampunk', my last genre for omnium (I think). Crickets, so far! 😢

Quote by MC1982

Still trying to think of an idea that fits 'steampunk', my last genre for omnium (I think). Crickets, so far! 😢

Until I joined this thread, I thought Omnium was a washing powder.

Quote by Piquet

Until I joined this thread, I thought Omnium was a washing powder.

I thought it was the sound made with an exploring tongue!

Quote by JustForYou

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/masturbation/the-wetter-the-better

A story within a story of my story ended up in a competition I wasn't going to enter, but I guess it's out there and available for people to look at, if they wish, which is just the same as it being a story in non-competition season. I suppose.

Lushies, Lushites, and Lushettes, READ IT. Worth your time. You won't be disappointed. I promise.

😘 Aww, thank you. That's very kind of you. Hopefully raises a smile or two out there. That really is my primary objective always.