How To Fairly Judge 32 Stories?

Oh, hell, why don't you both take a bow--it undoubtedly took considerable work to implement the contest technically but thinking it up and "nagging" (encouraging) people obviously took some effort too.

I've read most of the stories and there are lots of diverse 'takes' on how the subject of spanking can be incorporated into a story about summer vacation.

I'd venture that the 1,200-1,500 word range would work in order to create shorter stories but still allow for substancial plot and character development... --C.K.

Yes, taking the time to read them all is a challenge. But, it's a challenge that is very rewarding with so many wonderful stories! I have to smile at the requests for even smaller word limits ... be careful what you wish for, the next contest will be spanking haiku!

If we decide to hold some future contests one possibility might be to sub-divide into, say, 3 separate sub-contests based on word-length .. I'm not sure whether that would simply be confusing for some people but perhaps it's one solution. Anyway, once the dust has settled, perhaps we can all debate where to go from here?

It would certainly be a challenge to write to a short word limit, but that's half the fun.

I have read them all but I know some got more attention than others because I read when I was tired. A great contest though and I second (third, forth etc) my hearty congratulations to Katie B and Februs for their hard work, and everyone who entered - it's been fun reading.

I agree with GABBS ... thank-yous all around to Katie B and Februs for making this contest (and other things) happen!

First entry for the Haiku contest (should get the most views then!):

Paddle, strap and cane
Spank and swish to pain and bliss.
Thank God for bottoms.

And Great Gratitude to Februs and Katie B in equal measure (or to be sub-divided as deemed most fair) for the Contest and the Library (whose facilities are fantastic - have you tried "Latest" and then "Browse"? It's a real library!)

Sub-dividing contests by word length seems a bit confusing ... and I'd still feel the obligation to read every story! I think it would be nice to have a story contest with a serious restriction on word length: writing a good short-short story is a *real* challenge, and I'd love to have a go at it.

I admit I have difficulties with word limits.

Partly because the worlds we write about - where spankings happening at the drop of the hat - isn't the real world so we have to set the scene. Even real world happenings, well, we need a few words to explain how the relationship works for the spanking to make sense.

Then we need to build characters. More to tell a story. Oh, and somehow include spanking action in the story.

"A girl went into a bar and got spanked." - technically that's a spanking story, but it doesn't give us more than the starting. Who was the girl? What kind of bar was it? Why was she spanked?

Maybe the bar has been busted for serving underage drinkers who sneak over from a nearby college, so the retired marine who runs it has declared that underage drinkers in his bar are minors who need a loco parentis to spank them, so the girl borrows her little sister's ID to visit the bar... Because she's a law student and planning a court challenge? A journalism student who wants a big story? A girl who wants to know what a punishment (as opposed to a fun) spanking feels like? Or she's the owner's girlfriend (or niece, or cousin) and she's helping him save his bar.

Whatever the story, we need to know about the bar, about the girl, about the situation that makes it possible for her to be spanked. All of that takes words, but the resulting story would be more enjoyable than "A girl went into a bar and got spanked.".

Goodgulf
PS: If anyone wants to take the bar idea and run with it, go for it. I've got too many stories on the go to add another one to the list.

@ Goodgulf: I agree that telling a good story in few words is *really hard*.

But I've been poking around ... search for type "story" with max 500 words, and you'll find well over 500 stories which match. They are not all great, but the best ones make me drip with envy!

Two new favorites of mine: "The Train" and "Big Girl" by Flogmaster.

As an experiment I tried to do a 500 word story - I ended up with one at 645 (The Look - it's on this site).

500 words - that general gives you an episode, not a complete story. I've seen some master wordsmiths do very short stories - Lovecraft and King have both done horror stories that were only a page or three long, and Neil Gaiman did a hundred work Christmas story - but a story with a setting (or settings), characters, and plot...

Then again, I tend to use a lot of waste words. I write sentences like:
"Um, well, then her mom grabbed her and, um, er took her to that bench and er, um, well, um, she hauled her over her lap." Marie stammered out as she fought off a blush.

There are seven or eight words that don't need to be there, but they set the tone. You know the speaker is nervous, uncomfortable, embarrassed.

"Then her mom grabbed her and took her to that bench and she hauled her over her lap." Marie said nervously as she fought off a blush.
- that has fewer words, but I've had to tell you that she was nervous where the Um, er, showed you that she was nervous.

Goodgulf