Past & Future Story Challenge 2014

You might possibly have a point if the whole point of the story competitions was just about winning and nothing else. I can't speak for other F/m authors but I am quite happy to be a "lower place winner" and to have participated in what is, when all is said and done, a light hearted event. Not having a go at you Jim but I was worried that those who have put a lot of work into staging the competition for us get the idea that people are not grateful.

To be honoust: I wouldn't read any challenge entry at all if it would be an F/M-only-challenge. After many years in the library it feels okay for me to read the occasional F/M-story and I discovered some which I found quite enjoyable. But 60 in four weeks?

Anyway, wouldn't it be an easy solution to announce the highest ranked F/M-story additionally to the other winners?

Oh no!
Is that how I come across Arthur?
That is so not the case.
If you ( a F/m author who I deeply revere) are happy with the way things are, then so am I.
As for Februs and Flopsy and everyone else...I can't thank them enough for their undying and let's face it unrewarded efforts that make this site the best on the web.
Mati...all I can say is put yourself in my position then!!!
Even more so...your response is to my sentence saying that the site could do with a little more F/M boost...would that be such a bad thing in your opinion?
and as for;
"I wouldn't read any challenge entry at all if it would be an F/M-only-challenge"
I rest my case!

By the way Arthur.
How can an author, so very talented as yourself, be happy with a lower place?
You are right, it is lighthearted, but it is still called a 'Challenge'.
I could never compete against your brilliant writing skills but still fear that even if I submitted my best effort it would never even get close to the top four.
Let's get things in proportion here...I've only submitted five average tales while others like yourself have submitted hundreds.
My point is that we F/m authors and lovers are in a minority and are wasting our time competing against the majority.
Let's concentrate therefore in submitting tales throughout the year and possibly ignoring the challenges.
At least this site allows for ALL...and even guys like us can satisfy our wants without the need to conform or indeed the feeling to compete.

I write F/M, I prefer F/M and if given a choice between any other type stories F/M would always win.

That said, and knowing the chances to 'win' (for a lack of a better word as I try to view this as fun and not a contest ) are slightly less I would not change.

I like the Challenges exactly the way they are based on the following. There are some people who right now never read my and other F/M writers stories because they don't like F/M. In a Challenge at least those readers open the F/M stories because they have no idea about them and start to read. I hope that every time I enter the Challenge at least 2 readers who never read F/M stories before will decide perhaps the stories are not that bad and will continue reading my stories on a regular bases. Getting those 2 or more additional readers makes me and every other F/M writer a winner IMHO.

I will continue entering the Challenges and enjoy all the comments one gets as a great prize just for me. I got over 50 comments out of the last Challenge on my stories and that my friends is enough for me to smile and hardly wait for the next challenge.

Long live the Challenge!!!

CS

I don't think taking the above approach is the way to go at all as it seems to place all the emphasis on aspects such as "competing" and "winning" which really isn't what the challenges are intended to be about and there's only so many times we can say it without beginning to sound like a broken record.

There are numerous reasons the voting shouldn't be taken too seriously, most of which I'm sure I will have mentioned in the past - it's really only intended as a bit of fun and something to encourage participation. The primary purpose of the challenges is to stimulate authors into creating new works of spanking fiction and to "challenge" them to write on a topic which wasn't of their own choosing.

Certainly, in terms of the voting process, stories of a particular spanking orientation which is less popular than others will fare less well in the voting BUT... it's equally true that those stories will be more widely read and also likely to attract more comments than they would have if they weren't part of the challenge. CS has hit the nail on the head in this respect.

I, CS, and other authors of F/M orientation have always had a good turnout in respects to members reading and the comments left. I do however write both orientations of F/M - F/m -- M/F and M/f. When stories are posted new in the LSF we can't see right away what the orientation is unless someone commented, or until the story is validated and a synopsis written. By the way, one of my stories in a challenge was an F/Mm and I was voted a runner up. Babysitting Surprise. I believe it was the one about the vase breaking. There is an easy out. Don't participate if you feel a certain way, or write another orientation for a change. I enjoy writing F/Mm, but I will never stick to it as my only orientation.

I think one of the great things about the challenge is that it's open to all orientations. My personal preference is for F/F, followed by F/M, although if it's well written enough I'll also enjoy a good M/F story. I can't recall exactly what I rated highest in the most recent challenge, but I know for a fact that they weren't all F/F or F/M. It's about the writing, not the orientation. By limiting ourselves to one, then we're running the risk of alienating a significant portion of the readership as well as the contributors. As it stands it's hard enough to get an idea based around a concept or a picture without trying to shoe horn a specific orientation into it.
As others have said the challenges aren't about winning, they're about taking part and being involved. I see them as a little like Nanowrimo where the object is to write 50,000 words in a month, a winner is defined as anyone who can achieve that benchmark in the time specified. With the challenge we're all winners just by virtue of competing.

Well put, Seegee. How true that is.