Quote by kistinspencil

But isn't the joy of writing and being read the real reason why we are here? That is what is so often said in response to those standing below the golden podiums, looking up and wondering. Or is it more truly the unspoken contest? Is further proof needed, just so everyone understands their place?

An excellent point and I don't necessarily disagree. I was thinking it more from a consistency perspective, there are numerous other cumulative counts for authorship and other badges so it just seems logical. If its interpreted as everyone understanding their place then no, its a bad idea. Personally I'd be quite happy if all I had was a single Author badge.

Thought it might be a nice feature if an author's profile included a cumulative count beside the appropriate badge similar to numerous other badges such as Author badge.

Frosted pink lipstick

Smears across her parted lips

A pearl drop glistens

My advice would be to split the existing 5000 and 4200 in approximately half. You'll get more readers (ignoring factors for subject/tags/writing quality) as you'll find in WannabeWordsmith's link to a similar thread.

If the story and writing intrigue me enough the length becomes irrelevant but if I haven't read the author before I might ignore a story of 4-5K in favour of a shorter one.

Huge congrats to WannabeWordsmith for the win and to Amusebouche & Ascendent for their podium finishes. All three stories were exceptionally well done and creative! Congrats to the rest of the top 15; I found the quality of writing in this Comp was really exceptional. Big thanks to the Mods and judges, that was a LOT of stories to comb through. Special thanx to the lovely Jen for stickhandling this one and putting up with our (meaning mostly sprite) misbehaviours.

Quote by sprite

points to feet, makes massaging motions, waits...

I have an idea that will keep you off your feet. 😋

I'd describe my process as undisciplined. A story might start with a single phrase/sentence or a picture in my head but they don't always come out in a complete and coherent order.

1 - Write a first draft (often with big gaps)

2 - 2nd draft (now I'm editing too but typically filling in where there are big gaps, I yellow hilite anything I don't like and don't have an immediate fix for, could be a word or even multiple paragraphs)

3 - 3rd draft/Finetuning - (for a short story of 2500 or less this is likely final, for longer stories the draft/edit process repeats a few times)

Outlines: I rarely use them and usually only for longer stories after I start them and I need to keep track of timeline or certain details

I don't use grammarly but I do use WORD spellcheck about 50% of the time when I actually remember.

Some stories I barely edit others get changed radically.

Congrats to MC1982, James Llewellen and Cliff_edger! Tons of great entries. Nice little surprise to find myself on the prize list. Huge thanx to Kimmi for running these and also to Piquet and whoever else added to the prize pool. Promise to pay this forward.

Sarah. I think I'll call her Sarah

Remind me, what's "MAGA" stand for?

Murdering Americans is Great Again?

Something like that....

Quote by Hasabrain2

As men age, their prostate gets larger and larger. The most commonly prescribed medication is Finasteride.

Good news: Finasteride slows the growth and reduces the risk of prostate cancer.

Bad news: Because Finasteride messes with hormones, some guys get "boobs".

Well that's not entirely bad news...😋

Quote by Seeker4

Then it becomes a question of who is brave enough to have a character called "sprite" 😬😋

lol sprite would be my first choice.😈

Quote by paddlingincognito

I just realized that I hit 100 followers over the weekend! Started looking at my story stats. I joined Lush 67 days ago. I’ve published 8 stories (well, four “real” stories, one of which was spread across five chapters). And I’ve had almost 25,000 reads. I know that doesn’t sound like much. But I am feeling very humbled right now. 😊

Congrats! That's pretty impressive given your short time here. I don't think I even have 50 followers after 10 years. lol Maybe I should write more.

Apparently heeding my own advice I'm at 11,000 words plus on my Wife Lovers love story and that's mostly to just string the timeline together and set the stage for the actual dirty bits. And build the characters. Still no sex except a few scorching kisses. This may end up on SS.

They should have a Comp where all the story characters have to have the names of a current Mod. 🤣😈🤣

Coffee please.

I often struggle with identifying the best category. I'm currently working on a Wife Lovers that is more Love Story but we'll see what happens. Some good advice on tags above, I'm a bit lazy about it but usually add a few tags I think will bring in readers. For stuff like IF, certain bdsm, watersports, etc if the story is not in that category I would almost certainly add the tags or even a warning in the author's notes.

Shouldn't worry about your looks too much I wanted to kiss you the second I saw your pics.

Feeling 'dark, depraved or seeking thrills' or pushing boundaries here is perfectly normal. Most or many of us have had our thoughts and behaviours shaped by our respective experiences and cultures. More often than not these treat sex as some subject and that desires are wrong. Its idiotic. Sex is like breathing.

I would just say protect yourself, don't do anything you are not comfortable with and explore Lush....Life is an exploration after all

I've spent a full day in bed for sex but never without reason.

HYE kept " a little black book " for the purposes of tracking conquests or potential future booty calls?

How odd, I'm also a PM often with IT crossover but I'm taking a hiatus after my last few projects. The hours were nuts and I got sick of arguing with people all day. Not sure what I'm going to do next. Toss up between male model and rodeo clown.

So I'm at the pharmacy earlier and the pharma assistant was a really pretty young woman so I complimented her, on her nails which were also very pretty. (And yes it was absolutely pre-meditated flirting lol) Of course she liked that and we chatted a bit before I ran off to do a few errands while the pharma filled my order. At pick up I dealt with someone else but as I left she popped up from behind the counter and gave me the BEST fucking smile I have ever seen. Made my day. Have a feeling my next story may feature a pharmacy.

Also working on a Wife Lovers that's at 8700 words and only has about 500 words of sex so far. Seems to be a bad habit of mine....and who knows, it just might be a true story encompassing an affair that lasted nearly 4 years.

Oh yeah a belated Happy New Year everyone!

OMG. So this is what love feels like....

You're the best Kimmi. My entry:

I crushed my few remaining cigarettes, lighters, matches, everything, deep into the trash; deliberately beneath the buffet’s soggy debris. I stepped out in to the crisp silence of 2026 craving that first chilled breath of fresh air. She emerged from the shadows, short black dress revealing her sensual curves. I’d been watching her all night.

“If you have a light I’ll give you the best blowjob of your life.” Lips shimmering red. “While I smoke.”

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Morning, Rumpies Kimmi has a new year’s request for the Canadians in the bar… could you… would you… please… keep your arctic vortex shit to yourselves!

Thank you

Tsk Tsk, poor Canadians always getting blamed for everything. In your neck of the woods cold weather is almost certainly brought to you by a Colorado Low. Our weather comes UP from the US. I will let you borrow my snowblower though. Canadians are the BEST neighbours.

Been storming here since last night but really just normal winter for us. Seems pretty minor compared to Kat's neck of the woods and dealing with hurricanes.

Pumped out 6800 words so far today for what was intended to be a Wife Lovers story. Approximately 2 paragraphs describe a steamy kiss and that's it for the sex so far. I might be doing it wrong. Having fun with it though. Maybe it will end up on the bluesite. Or more likely abandoned to the Heap of Shame.

Coffee please. I need to be alert in case I stir up trouble. Accidentally of course.

Mmmmm Hope Sandoval, her voice creeps into my soul, outstanding choice fuzzy.

Quote by 1OGHMNW

To my Lush friends who are over the pond. This is the markings on a casserole crock I got from my Mom’s stuff after she passed away years ago. Just wondering if anyone knows anything thing about this marking. Tia

I think that logo is from Denby, a British stoneware manufacturer. No expert but the age and condition would be a factor in value. Unless its very old probably worth a few hundred dollars max, probably less. The company is still in business.

Quote by sprite

i love playing you. think you'd have figured it out by now

OMG I can’t believe you! The plan was YOU respond “Not completely wasted …I’m pregnant.”

Then I was supposed to respond “If it’s a girl can we name her Jen?” thus bringing our lovely and charming as fuck Jen into closer orbit to you accomplishing exactly what you begged me to do. Our own perfect little conspiracy. Until you fucking blew it.

Duplicitous wench.

Well played.

Quote by sprite

Just announce me the winner now. it'll save time

WTF? You implied you were a judge not a contestant. All those sexual favours I provided you...completely wasted. I'd never have agreed to the handcuffs otherwise.

I don't think I have much to add and find Kimmi's response is really good along with the others. I've only published about 13 stories here but 2 are EPs and 3 are RRs so I figure I don't totally suck. BUT: I have the exact same problem with my sex scenes. I work pretty hard on editing and use the "FIND" feature in WORD to look for repetitive words or phrases in a story. I try to find unusual words or use words slightly out of context to change it up (E.g I once described a pussy as "her sodden eloquence." lol)

I think challenging yourself helps, write outside your comfort zone in terms of your own experiences and gender because this can really help in finding new ways to describe sex acts. In the movie "Shadows in the Sun" Harvey Keitel's author character is telling Joshua Jackson's character about writing and he tells him to use a typewriter instead of a word processor because it forces you to think about every word. That really resonated with me and I try to write with that always in my mind.

Dialogue is another challenge and I try to keep it to a minimum and use short sentences to keep it simple. I find reading a story aloud, especially dialogue is really helpful.

WHoooooooooooo Happy New Year! (I decided to get an early start.) Cristal please. Had a snowstorm today and its a bit cold at -20 but I went out and cleared the driveway. It was kinda fun. Hope Santa was good to everyone. I always figured Xmas Day was a freebie as far as being naughty because the old fat red bastard would be asleep and the elves are all exhausted. When the cats away...

Damn Ensorceled, no Comp story? Now I feel like Santa skipped my house. I can dig it tho, I had a bastard time getting mine down to 1500 words.

Comp Scoring

I have no insider knowledge as to how this is done but Seeker's post catches most of it I think. The judges do pay attention to things like story flow and story construction. A lot of folks, my self included, have blown their chances by writing stories that don't reflect the Comp theme. You can write the greatest story but if you miss the theme you won't place in a Comp although the theme is usually interpreted very liberally. I've been surprised at how well or badly i might place many times but i have to say this: in every Comp I have seen, the judges do an OUTSTANDING job. Their selections would be difficult to argue although the margins between a first place or 10th place can be extremely thin. I'm sure there is a subjective element, writing is part art after all and as humans we all react differently to words.

Merry Christmas Jen, to you and the mod team! A very well deserved break!

Quote by simplyjohn

Wait wait for me please!! Very nearly done... please!

lol me, during every Comp. Hope you get it in John!