F/M Story Challenge 2016

I would not penalize for a last-minute entry. I'll just assume those authors were using all the available time to tweak and fine-tune their entries to produce the best possible product for readers' enjoyment. So those last stories should be the very best of the lot.

It's so great to have so many F/M stories. I'm in danger of my grin getting stuck on my face given how happy I am reading all of these! Sometimes I almost forget how much I love F/M stories, so this is a great little reminder. It's a little embarrassing how jealous I am of several of the men in the stories I've read so far.
Nswitch/thereader0987

Well presumably she would only punish those who fail to meet the deadline. Right?

Ahhhh, I'm not certain, but I'm figuring that a strict taskmistress like 'Miss T' has very high standards which are considerably above the mere assertion that "I just made it in time, yet that's good enough."

"But ma'am, my entry was on time, so why are you unbuckling my belt?...Oh, it was really ready to go ten days earlier, I was just 'fine-tuning' the prose...Oops, those came down in a flash, didn't they?...Trust me, everything was totally under control, no need to pull me forward...Wow, this is an embarrassing position, I hope you're just going to take my temperature...Truly, I never put things off to the last minute, ma'am...Your hair looks fine, you don't need that brush..."

--C.K.

Question about judging -- are there any guidelines about criteria for judging? Are we supposed to try to suspend our personal preferences regarding story lines and judge purely on quality of writing and story telling, or should our own preferences also come into play?

I don't care that much about gender orientation, but there are certain types of stories that I don't like and usually would just stop reading after a few paragraphs. But it feels "unfair" to only vote for stories that reflect the types of spanking situations I prefer reading about.

If you like it, rate it high. Otherwise, rate it low. That's what I'm doing this time.

Normally I take another step - asking how well this story relates to the topic - but this is a very open ended topic. Is a female spanking a male? Then it's completely on topic. If not... If not I don't think the site would have accepted it for the contest.

Some very interesting titles. So far I have rated the 3 I have read from 7 to 9 for as the old country and western song said there ain't no 10! Should I be spanked for that?

As we are unable to enforce the way people vote, we deliberately don't set any criteria for judging. But I think it's fair to say that that the following should be borne in mind:
- relevance to the topic
- writing style: does the story flow well? Is it well-paced and structured, making good use of language and dialogue? Does it hold your attention and make you want to read right to the end? Has the author proofed it and ironed out any mistakes?
- plot and characterization
- originality
- overall enjoyment

I think it would be unfair to give something a low mark simply because it focuses on an orientation that isn't your cup of tea, so try to be objective and reward the author for making an effort re the above. Personal preferences do come into play of course, but the judging shouldn't be taken too seriously - the spirit of the challenges are to encourage people to write and share their material, and encourage readers to participate by reading, voting and commenting on the stories.

Agreed--if you're going to take your role as a reader and voter somewhat seriously, given that this Challenge is primarily supposed to be fun for all participants, I'd venture that you should read through each entry before casting your vote on it. (Keep in mind that "not voting" is effectively a vote of "zero.")

If you end up giving a particular story only a "2" because you had trouble relating to some aspects of it, at least you gave it a fair shot to impress you and awarded its author a touch of credit for his/her effort. Also, there's the possibility that you might start out being 'turned off' by a given entry, only to have an unexpected plot twist change its nature and make it more appealing to you than you'd originally anticipated.

Of course, this type of voting strikes me as inherently subjective, but I do attempt to vote based on the overall quality of the story as its most important aspect.

One factor that I'm certain has at least subconsciously affected my voting in other Challenges, my preference for F/M spanking accounts, obviously won't be a relevant influence in this one...

--C.K.

We are all different, and Flopsy's list above pretty well defines what I try to do. However, like RaisedKilt, a "perfect" story rates a "9". However, I do give the occasional story a "10". The one thing missing from Flopsy's list is emotion. To earn a "10" from Guy, write a "perfect" story that also makes him laugh out loud, or puts a lump in his throat or a tear in his eye.

Like I said, it happens.