Announcing our Elements competition

Quote by LordCephius

Have you noticed more readers finding these competition entries? My story has three times more views than most of my comp entries! Maybe it's the 'mainstream' category I chose. 😈

Yup. I think it’s a really great theme with a lot of reader appeal.

Quote by LordCephius

Have you noticed more readers finding these competition entries? My story has three times more views than most of my comp entries! Maybe it's the 'mainstream' category I chose.

Competitions get a fairly high number of reads because entrants tend to read each other's for support. But yes the category can make quite a difference to reader volume, depending on how many are watching it.

I find it interesting that, besides the people who follow me, how different account names crop up on the Likes list when I venture into a new category. It's like some people gravitate towards one thing they particularly enjoy and don't stray much. So, as authors, something you may be proud of gets relatively low views if it's in a non-mainstream category. Such is the nature of Lush.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith
So, as authors, something you may be proud of gets relatively low views if it's in a non-mainstream category. Such is the nature of Lush.

Yup. The story I have been most proud of has (despite the RR), after nearly 5 years, a grand score of (wait for it...) - 10 votes and 2189 reads. That'll teach me to publish in 'Novels' with tags of 'fantasy', 'history' and 'legend' lol... With an even lower score for Part 2, I lost the will to continue. Still trying to convert it to an actual novel, but never seem to find the time.

One day...

Out of curiosity, how many entries have there been?

Quote by Mandapanda2025

Out of curiosity, how many entries have there been?

53 by my count. Somewhat lower than usual, but there may be a flurry near the end.

Quote by kistinspencil

53 by my count. Somewhat lower than usual, but there may be a flurry near the end.

I hope that just means a late made rush, and isn't some term for something I've never heard of. Always a worry in here,,,

' Her flurry shone in the moonlit sky, as the tentacled beast slithered toward her' etc. etc.

53 is not bad, to my eye, esp. with 9 days left. Low for here but it's also open to longer, more involved stories and not everyone can do 3000 words in short order. I got kind of lucky that I hit on a good idea and managed to wrangle time to work on it before I skittled off to (somewhat) warmer parts of the Earth. The high numbers in some comps are because they are Flash and those are easier to "bash out" even if they sometimes need more judicious editing to fit the limit.

Quote by kistinspencil
53 by my count. Somewhat lower than usual,

Or the disallowance of AI entries has put some off, perhaps...?

Quote by TheShyThespian

Or the disallowance of AI entries has put some off, perhaps...?

One can only hope.

Quote by TheShyThespian

Or the disallowance of AI entries has put some off, perhaps...?

Frankly, I haven't a clue what an Ai story looks like, much less reads like. Why don't we capture one for educational purposes and put it on display (in a cage, of course) in the Forum, (clearly labeled as potentially dangerous)

Quote by Piquet

Frankly, I haven't a clue what an Ai story looks like much less reads like. Why don't we capture one and put it on display (in a cage of course) in the Forum, (clearly labled as potentially dangerous) for educational purposes?

"Robots In Lust" written by Claude G. P. T. or something.🤣

Quote by Piquet

Frankly, I haven't a clue what an Ai story looks like much less reads like. Why don't we capture one and put it on display (in a cage of course) in the Forum, (clearly labled as potentially dangerous) for educational purposes?

My only worry remains how many people end up knowing far more about cattle breeding than they'll ever need to, with the searches for AI that must happen. Hopefully, they won't try to breed from what you hope to cage in this way.

Quote by TheShyThespian

Or the disallowance of AI entries has put some off, perhaps...?

Ding ding ding

I think the Elements theme is a good one for competition first-timers. A broad word count range, and I believe you can sneak an “element” into most stories. 😀

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Competitions get a fairly high number of reads because entrants tend to read each other's for support. But yes the category can make quite a difference to reader volume, depending on how many are watching it.

I find it interesting that, besides the people who follow me, how different account names crop up on the Likes list when I venture into a new category. It's like some people gravitate towards one thing they particularly enjoy and don't stray much. So, as authors, something you may be proud of gets relatively low views if it's in a non-mainstream category. Such is the nature of Lush.

I don’t stress too much about numbers. Happy to have people read and enjoy. What in my opinion are my best stories, don’t have high figures. My least favourite which are in a popular category, are much higher. As you say such is the nature of Lush.

Quote by Shyexhibitionist

I don’t stress too much about numbers. Happy to have people read and enjoy. What in my opinion are my best stories, don’t have high figures. My least favourite which are in a popular category, are much higher. As you say such is the nature of Lush.

And it also seems that, regardless of how well-written you think your story might be, sequels are always going to have fewer views and likes than the previous part. But this obviously isn't a factor for competition entries

It took me a while, after writing almost 7,000 words, to re-tailor this down to the required <=3,000 words, but I made it!

The Water Snake

"I loved the way her tits and ass looked … and the way she asked if I wanted to fuck …"

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

It took me a while, after writing almost 7,000 words, to re-tailor this down to the required <=3,000 words, but I made it!

The Water Snake

"I loved the way her tits and ass looked … and the way she asked if I wanted to fuck …"

i just counted. you have 3001 words. please delete one.

🤣🤣🤣 love it!

Quote by sprite

i just counted. you have 3001 words. please delete one.

No you didn't, and no it doesn't.

So THERE!

This is a poem and not in the competition, but hits the theme using all four elements, and I love what the author did. If interested, it’s short, but well-chosen words, imo.

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/love-poems/consumed-3

I make it that with a few days to go, we are up to 60 competition entries. 😀

Still time for a few more. 😜😈

Is that not fewer than normal?

Quote by Shyexhibitionist

Is that not fewer than normal?

I would say, in general, yes.

IMHO, this is a good theme and for those who have not entered a competition before, a good one to start with, as fitting an "element" into a general story is fairly easy to do. 🙄😀

Of course, there have been more taxing competition themes like the "Whodunnit" one, which had fewer entries.

Quote by wxt55uk

I would say, in general, yes.

IMHO, this is a good theme and for those who have not entered a competition before, a good one to start with, as fitting an "element" into a general story is fairly easy to do. 🙄😀

Of course, there have been more taxing competitions like the "Whodunnit" one that had fewer entries.

The overlords/overladies of smut who have the final say on a theme do have the added complication that we can be a contrary lot when it comes to how they're received. It's a task I'd run a mile from, but they came up with a cracker this time, in my opinion.

Perhaps the number of entrants to a competition who haven't done so previously is as enlightening as the entry figures? E

Quote by Shyexhibitionist

Is that not fewer than normal?

We have probably rejected nearly half that number of AI entries.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

We have probably rejected nearly half that number of AI entries.

What a waste of time and brain cells for the story mods weeding out the wannabe writers! Excluding the site's only not-a-wannabe WannabeWordsmith of course 😉

Quote by Mit
What a waste of time and brain cells for the story mods weeding out the wannabe writers!

It is a ballache we could do without, and the more people who help us encourage fellow authors to explore their own voice the better. I'd like to see the site evolve to make AI stories an unwelcome guest, offering them accommodation on a dingy, stained mattress in the basement with no windows and a single locked door before we herd them towards the shredder in the corner. We're getting there.

As a team, we're becoming really good at spotting AI—as you'd expect when we have seen thousands upon thousands of identikit stories in the exact same voice, battering the queue for the last year or so.

P.S. I don't want to derail this comp thread into another AI discussion so this is just informational.

Quote by Mit

the site's only not-a-wannabe WannabeWordsmith of course 😉

Hehe, too kind. Thank you.

I wonder about the mentality of those submitting AI generated material. Jen et al. have not exactly been subtle or unclear about the site's stance on AI, both in this comp and in general. I see no way they could plead ignorance.

Do the people who submit them anyway think they are somehow the one that will slip through?

Or the one so good it will inspire a change to the rule?

Or do they see it as a protest against the no AI rule? Wear the team down sort of thing.

Anyhow, we have 60 human entries and a few days to go. That's pretty good, really. Wish I had the time and energy to read more but between vacation with limited Internet and illness, I have only scratched the surface.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

We have probably rejected nearly half that number of AI entries.

That is really grim. I keep banging on about this, but where is the pride/satisfaction in that? No wonder the queue is so crowded. How the Mods cope is beyond my comprehension. I really hope these fakes get booted off the site, but no doubt they will just create another account. Sign of the times sadly 😞