Hard cap. Maybe 5 or 10 words over to cater for any dividers being counted as "words" or hyphenated words or standalone punctuation like em-dashes being miscounted (pro tip: if you use em-dashes, don't put spaces either side so they're not counted as separate words). But no more than a tiny handful over the limit please.
The limit is there as a challenge, so get that word-machete sharpened!
Quote by wxt55uk
I have been told that it is not possible to publish a book on Lushstories or link to another site.
Who told you that? At the moment the site doesn't have a reciprocal agreement in place to allow the stories to be published elsewhere in a book format, but there is the Novels category on the site for much longer works (still within the 10K word limit per chapter, to help keep the server happy).
As far as linking goes, you can pimp off-site links in your profile/bio/wall. Just not in stories. It's preferable of course to link to stuff on this site, but as long as you don't take the piss and spam people with external links, if you've written content elsewhere, then by all means promote it from your profile.
I second Audacity. I always use it to edit audio files. The interface is a bit odd to get used to, compared to the intuitiveness of something like Sound Forge, but after that it's pretty simple.
Following on from this topic, I'm curious (as an author) what your favourite word count is when reading.
Are super short stories over before you've had a chance to enjoy yourself? Or do you enjoy the immediacy?
Do shorter stories get you going, or do you prefer to immerse yourself in longer works so you can take your time?
Does it depend on mood or genre? Or author? Or is there a particular length of story you prefer all the time?
Does it make a difference if it's a multi-part piece? Do you like a few shortish chapters published close together, or one long story in a single hit?
Put your thoughts here please, and pick your most often read length of story in the poll.
Thank you.
Quote by Icarus4
What is the limit?
See media centre limits.
Quote by Ensorceled
Is recording it on Vocaroo and putting the link on a promotion thread allowed?
Is it allowed during a comp?
Can't see any reason not to. You can link to stories and versions thereof elsewhere, from the forum and your profile, and this is no different.
If you are using Vocaroo or some third party audio hosting service, and they offer the ability to record locally then upload it, I'd take it. Just in case the service goes sideways. Wouldn't want you to lose all the hard work.
Yeah, not sure what's going on. It's been reported to the development team but they won't be able to tend to until they get into the office in the morning. Probably a disk volume has failed or service has tripped over. Best guess.
Quote by krystalg
read an entry, leave a comment, and post it
What a fantastic idea. I'm in.
Thank you for the write-up Stormdog, and the props from you both.
I'm ecstatic this was nominated and decorated. I'm so proud of this piece. It's generated some amazing comments and I'm appreciative of everyone who has given it the time, especially given it's a tough subject to read.
Thank you so much.
Quote by Ensorceled
I realized I never linked up my story here
Yeah, and it's well worth the read, as are so many others in the competition. I've also got a handful left to read that landed in the last few days. I'll try and stay on top of any others that pile in. Loving the creativity on display, everyone.
Btw, if anybody fancies a drug-fuelled trip to the 60s, then you can always try Tabs by yours truly.
Those are great covers, Kistin. I expect the team will eventually roll out covers more widely across the site... assuming authors adopt them enough to make it worthwhile not looking at a sea of your image here placeholders on story list pages.
Quote by deviantsusie
With the lush cover editor, you can use the external link to link to the url of an image not in your media library and then add the text over the top
True. But I think if you try and save the cover to add it to your story, it won't work if it would exceed the number of images in your membership tier. Not sure.
Hmmm, that's weird. I'll ask if the developers can check this out for you. Thanks for the report.
Quote by joe71
Will have to try the cover designer soon.
It's definitely worth a look, as Susie says. And I think the eventual aim is to increase the available stock image pool.
Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know
A better practice would be to write out the entire story from start to finish and then break it into chunks for publication knowing that it's a complete, coherent, and cohesive finished piec
This.
It's a lot of work but that's what I'm doing with a trilogy. And as I think up later plot twists, I can easily tweak earlier segments that would have otherwise retconned my original ideas.
Quote by AmuseBouche
There is no rule book. Is there a real need to make this a linear story?
And this.
Telling stories using flashbacks is a wonderful device to hook people on an act, throw them into a scene, and then reveal how people got there. Reservoir Dogs is a great example of non-linear storytelling.
Quote by joe71
I’m only just getting started using images
Are you using the Lush cover designer, just out of curiosity?
Quote by Ensorceled
Well, my story is collapsing like wet origami.
Yours and mine both, haha. I know there's a story in there somewhere but, man, it's hard to bring it to the surface.
Well if we're doing show n tell, here are three of mine I'm quite pleased with. They normally have elements of the story or at least represent the idea behind the piece. I try to also pick the font and placement to indicate the mood. Featured:
After a brief poetry interlude in the form of Through The Wind And Rain. I'm back with a full length piece (3.7k words) that I've been working on for quite some time.
It's quite different to my usual fare, so apologies to regular readers who are surprised I can write outside my comfort zone, and welcome to new readers who may discover I'm not just a one-trick story pony.
When Yesterdays Fade has been getting some heartfelt reviews, and I'm insanely flattered by each and every one so far. Yes, it's not a comfy subject, but I hope by the end it's uplifting enough to eclipse the bleak portions. Please consider giving it a read and letting me know what you think in the comments. Thank you.
EDIT: I'm hugely honoured that the story earned a coveted Editor's Pick award. Thank you so much to the nominee and the judging panel.
I've had most stuff on hold while I put the finishing touches on When Yesterdays Fade, finally pushing it over the line after over two years of messing about with it, on and off. So my burgeoning pile of one liners and single paragraphs in my To Do One Day folder is groaning.
I am, however, collaborating with MollyDoll on a story which I hope to be able to devote some more time to soon. Fingers crossed.
Quote by deviantsusie
the popular stories stay on the front page for too long. A month seems excessive.
Didn't realize they were there for so long. I'm sure it's changeable. Would weekly rotation be better do you think? I could certainly float the idea.
Quote by deviantsusie
If the reason for the portrait cover has been communicated at the time rather than letting people bitch about it for a year, there’d have been less resistance and people would have more readily been designing covers to suit the new template
I was still hoping we'd be able to use landscape too and the designers would factor in a more flexible layout. It now seems that's not the case and the site is being modelled on other story sites that employ fixed aspect cover images. I don't think it was a deliberate omission in communication.
Now the cover designer has been added, those who don't have graphics packages of their own have the chance to easily add them to their stories.
The popular story carousel is just the first step in using covers more widely across the site. Maybe in future, as adoption of covers becomes more commonplace, the covers will appear alongside the excerpt information in story lists. So don't be too hasty in deleting them
Quote by techgoddess
My platinum badge is gone. I just noticed this today. Not sure why it would disappear. 🙁
Because you're a moderator now. I don't think we have an icon designed yet to overlay our avatars. Maybe one day...
Quote by deviantsusie
love the carousel of cover images on some of the categories
I'll pass that on, thanks. It's work in progress but is definitely a step up.
Quote by deviantsusie
makes me want to go back and redo some recent cover images properly
You and me both! A load of mine from early on haven't even got any covers. Not that they'll ever feature in the Popular lists nowadays, but hey. For completeness I might do it.
Congratulations, ladies. Thank you for all the hard work you put into the site, both administrative and with your writing.
Yeah, this could be a fun theme to play with.
puts on thinking cap
P.S. we know about the broken image on the comp page. Will try and get that fixed tomorrow.
Quote by deviantsusie
when we don’t see a cover pic until we open the story
Don't quote me on this but I assume the reason for enforcing the portrait format is that, one day, the various front page and category story lists might incorporate covers too. Maybe even as a grid with title, one liner and cover pic, like browsing Amazon and other bookseller websites. Who knows.
