I found your Indiana Jones story to be one of your VERY best. Your using actual persons gave us a minds-eye view of the characters. If you omit the exact age of Norma Jean you could easily post your story here on the forum as well. I wondered why you used people from 1916 as the males in your story but your females were from the 1950's and modern times. I suppose because we would have not related as well to Theda Bara or Clara Bow or the lovely Lillian Gish or Paulette Goddard... all beautiful actresses from that era. No matter. Your story was a five star effort and a joy to read.

 

Did you know that you can apparently only vote on around 12 stories in a single day, at least on the sex stories site.. I guess I will have to vote on the rest tomorrow.

I have gone back and commented on all the texts, or am in the process of doing so. Loved all the writing for many different reasons.

 

Comments

For me, I don't see myself in any way as an experienced writer. I'm always trying to learn and improve so any comments are welcomed and encouraged. For me, a comment, rating, review or whatever, means a great deal! The feedback is what makes the writing worthwhile to me. Even if it is negative, I can take it into consideration when writing in the future and try to improve. So thank you to all who have commented on "Short Term Relationship" so far, and I can't wait to read the future comments on it .

Also I have read a couple of the other entries and have enjoyed them very much. I'm going to take my time reading them all though, and I will not be voting because somehow it doesn't feel right being an entrant and all.

 

WebCam,

Please vote, even if it's for yourself. If you cannot support yourself or another author, how should you then expect anyone else to? And yes I am totally trying to guilt you into it. Even so, it's not wrong to cast a vote. There are no rules against it.

 

voting

I appreciate your view, but I am going to stick with it this time . It just doesn't seem right for me to vote. If I vote for someone else's story I am putting myself at a disadvantage, if I vote for myself then that seems unfair to the others. I'll leave the voting up to the other readers .

 

I have never voted for myself and never will. In my opinion, I would rather honor someone whose work I admire. For me, it's not about winning a writing challenge - it's about knowing that I succeeded in meeting that challenge and rejoicing in the creativity that the challenges promote.

 

I agree. It's not about winning, it's about taking part, having fun, and enjoying the experience. I can acknowledge the creativity of the other writers by leaving comments, that way I can be unbiased and fair while still showing my respect for their work.

 

Ack stupid technical writing damn farking thing!... spending all day looking at technical drawings and measuring invisible things all day makes you crazy! *looks at silly engineer* what do you mean you want me to measure the active area of a touch screen... how the hell am I supposed to see that its whole purpose is to be transparent! ARRG...! okay enough about work...

I too have never Voted for myself... well okay once or twice I bumped on of my stories up for ratings but that was before I established fans...
I may vote for someone here soon... not sure yet who...
I have never won a CAW in fact I usually get no votes at all
I got 1 vote for Aftermath... but I think that was all and Jack gave it to me because he liked the theme...

 

That's the one thing I don't like about these Challenges -- the cut-throat competitiveness of some people. We've had at least one Challenge where a writer actively campaigned for votes, sending pm's to everyone and his retarded half-sister saying, "Vote for me!"

We've had others (more, lately, it seems) where sock voting became a problem. I don't think ejls' original idea was to make a big deal out of "winning" or "losing" a Challenge. From things she said early on, and that others of us have repeated, the whole idea of testing oneself or having an adventure at the keyboard is what it's about.

At least for some.

Sure, I'm glad I got to run this edition of the Challenge. It's a validation that someone liked my shit. Cool. That's why we have ratings and comments, too -- they allow us to see what people do and do not like about our writing. Getting the most votes last time also gave me the opportunity to come up with a theme, which, as I'm sure the others who have done it will say, was pretty much fun.

Especially since a group of people came up with stories. Some of the old guard is here, along with a few newcomers. I haven't had the opportunity to read all the entries yet, and I won't vote until I do, but so far, so good.

Please, people -- read all the stories. Some may not be to your taste (romance, incest, bestiality, history) but keep this in mind:

These people put themselves out there, hoping to submit something that you would like.

Think of this as a buffet. Do you load your plate full from the first serving dish?

 

If it's not about winning, which I fully support, then why vote? Or at least, why use a poll? Why not a thread where everyone posts their favorite and perhaps gives a reason why? Or, use a poll but require a post in the poll thread for the vote to count.

There is voting to determine someone to run the next contest, at least that is how I have perceived it. I have chosen not to vote in the past due to personal factors, but have changed my stance on it this time. I would agree that campaigning is completely out of the spirit of the challenge, but there still needs to be someone to run the next one. Online there are only so many ways this can be accomplished. Requiring registered members is a good start, better than the sex site since you can anon vote for stories there, but you can always add additional requirements. And by you I mean whoever is running it at that particular time, not you specifically WSF.

I voted for Captius entry, Blizzard Blues, because it was the story that appealed to me the most this go around.. I liked all of the stories, for one or another reasons. I felt that most of them were very well written, some to greater or lesser degree than others. However, I had to make a choice about one and went with the one that spoke to me the most. Give a different frame of mind or a different month of the year it could have been any of the other 18 stories that I would have chosen. But the point is, we have to choose one, for some reason.

I actually liked this challenge because I have only read one or two authors that entered this time, and they wrote something out of their normal field which allowed me to view all the entrants with an unbiased eye. Some will have their favorites though, and the very act of having a favorite will pre-dispose that person to choose their favorite. Such is the democratic system. How often has a president been elected because he had really nice hair, and the person voted didn't know anything else about either candidate?

All in all I think that the challenges are great, with excellent writing that encourages the authors to bring their "A" game. And that is what this is about, is it not? If you want the voting more fair, there are many ways to accomplish this. I am of the personal opinion that there is no reason for an author to not vote for their own story. If you cannot support your own story that shows to me a lack of confidence in your ability, not an admission of modesty. There is no prize for winning, it's about supporting the author you feel wrote a story that moved you, or touched you, or that spoke to you the most. And perhaps, for the author, that is their own story. And I am entirely okay with that.

 

No its not about winning at least not for most writers it is about the challenge itself... Can you do what the host asks... is it worth two cents... can you craft a believable story.... And while writers hold a few things back most of the time, can we pull out the stops and left the words flow and fill the mind of the reader effectively... Go back and read some of some of these writers older stuff... ELP is particularly Eloquent, it annoys me greatly but, I respect his skill and abilities and I generally like him as a member of the forum.

Ejls... well she is just crafty what more needs to be said...

Jack is always producing crap that I want to read and enjoy, but he has such a rebid fan base that he really doesn't need praise.

I"m really glad to see so many new writers trying their hand at following the same theme. When we started this... I was in the Middle of my Plane Crash series... now I don't even know how many serials that I have going right now and when I will get to writing them... Ugh this last story has the promise of being a lovely serial.

Make the hurting stop

 

Hand cream sometimes helps.

Just sayin'.

 

Believe it or not, there are some writers that value reader's opinion more than anything else. Accolades from fellow writers are treasured, and even though as of this posting, my entry hasn't received any votes, it doesn't matter to me. I took on the challenge, created something that seems to meet the entry criteria, and I'll let the chips fall where they may.

In the meantime, there's the personal satisfaction of actually having written something, and the pride of accomplishment. Usually all I get to write are rubber checks . . .

Will I vote? Definitely, although there's a lot of material to sift through first. Would I vote for my own entry? In a word, "No". My ego just isn't that big, and personal prejudice can be a big pain in the ass, IMHO.

More than anything else, I appreciate the comments and encouragement of fellow authors (there's 4 or 5 that come to mind). These are the people that know what it takes to create a credible story, and it's their encouragement that inspires newbie authours like myself to push our limits a little further.

That, for me, is what the CAW challenge is all about.

The Gift Of Life (CAW #9)

 

CAW9 reviews

CAW9 reviews​

This is my first CAW involvement and I will start by saying that I think the competition brings out the best in most participants. I have enjoyed elements of all stories with some favourites of course. The following I will not call constructive criticism as I am so new to writing I am not yet comfortable criticising anyone. Rather I will call them likes and dislikes. Here goes........

The Gift – An enjoyable read. Easy to read, but I struggled to identify with the themes and so it was a challenge to stay interested. I was wondering where “The Gift” would occur until the end but I thought it did fit well. Good job =}. FJ
Oh and I just kept trying to picture ‘Boo Radley’ from To Kill A Mockingbird as a gangster throughout the story. :rose:

​

A Gift For Ava – I identify with aspects of all characters in my stories and therefore they are special to me. They become very real and almost feel like real people. I guess this is why I ended up voting for my own story; however I wish I hadn’t and would not do it again just on principal. If I could revote this time, after reading several times I have finally decided that “Mary’s Christmas” would have got my vote and I’ll explain why in the review. FJ

Blizzard Blues – All positives. Well written. Good, warm, believable characters. Great sex and a happy ending that leaves plenty of room for a sequel. Loved it FJ :rose:

Legend of The White Tiger – Lots and lots of awesome sex, almost too much. I laughed at the ending. Great story. FJ :rose:

The Gift of Life – Great story, lovely story and although I could see that last line coming it still made me sad when I read it. Can’t wait for the next part. FJ :rose:

The Gift Giver’s Gift – A nice light hearted read. Amusing but sort of incomplete but I am guessing there will be more parts to it. FJ :rose:

A Hanukah Gift Rated PG – Nice story, it made me smile. I look forward to the continuance. FJ :rose:

Ellen’s Gift – The beginning happened really fast, either Jake is spectacularly lucky or very studly. I did enjoy the rest of the story though and hope Jake has more adventures. FJ :rose:

Gift Unwrapping - I liked the characters and the reverence between them. It was quite a likely first time scenario I just would have liked more detail through the sex. FJ :rose:

Ramadan – I loved the descriptive detail in all areas and especially the sex. I hate not knowing the answer t o the riddle!!! FJ :rose:

Mary’s Christmas – Romantic, sexy, good mix of pain and pleasure. I usually like a lot more in the sex scene but obvious build up of sexual tension between Mary and Nick was so tantalising it almost became part of the sex act itself (well it did for me). I loved it, best of luck. FJ :rose:

Young Indy Jones & the Gift of Wet Pussies – Indiana Jones meet James Bond, cool. A well written and amusing tale. FJ :rose:

Pursuit of the Dessert Goddess – I really enjoyed this one and I think Mr Gallo has new competition in finding Sahara! FJ :rose:

Reaching for the Heavens – I am absolutely hopeless at poetry so here’s what I got out of it. There was Betrayal, anger, loss, resentment, bitterness and finally forgiveness was the gift? FJ :rose:

Megan’s Gift – Awesome! Lots of shocks and lots you could see coming. Easy to like as I could identify with parts of it. The initial reaction of the parents shocked and saddened me which is what made the turnaround (caused by the gift) so touching and heart-warming. FJ :rose:

Round Pegs Go Into Round Holes – Very enjoyable. Great sex scenes. For me the way it was described almost left the characters innocent even after the sex. FJ :rose:

Dark Temptations Part1 – Though I have included mild bestiality in one story it doesn’t do anything for me. Though it was short it still needed a couple of paragraphs to be easier to read. I used to write in full page slabs until some nice and some not so nice people helped me to see it is not good to write like that. = ) FJ :rose:

Short Term Relationship – Can’t identify with the theme, perhaps this has something to do with why I agree with Hawthorne’s comment about too much sex. I am glad you enjoyed writing it; it is awesome when you write something you are happy with. FJ :rose:

The Most Painful Gift – 10/10 for the beginning but the trouble is when you start so hot it is always going to be tough to keep the intensity and interest up. Good luck in the comp =) FJ :rose:

 

I don't normally re-read stories. There is usually one that sticks out. Not this time. They are all so different. It's amazing that we can all take the idea of gift giving and make it our own. I'm so happy that new writers have decided to join in.

Great concept, WSF. Great challenge.

 

You know, I'm all about self-promotion. That's why I have a link to my stories in my signature. I do not promote my individual CAW entry, but instead promote the challenge, also found in my signature. I encourage all the writers to encourage their fans and friends to read each and every story, not just their own. By bringing attention to our writing community, you are supporting everyone. That's the way it should be.

 

There is a noticeable, vast improvement in the quality of the entries in this challenge. I think that, with each CAW, the talent of the writers gets better and better for all to see.

 

Things I've found because of the CAWs . . .

Thanks for the compliment, ELP, but mine just had to improve. It couldn't go the other way! LOL!

Something that getting ready to vote required was to actually read every entry, and in that process, I found myself admitting that there were descriptive methods used by each author that I really liked ("I gotta try that!"), or that raised red flags in my head ("Don't ever try that yourself!"). Not to say that any of them are right or wrong, but I did find inspirations from each story that I hope will give me impetus to improve my own work.

Someone once told me that to be a decent writer, you have to read a lot first, to understand how it's done. From the implications of ELP's comment, I'm beginning to see how he's made that judgement call -- which is another inspiration in itself.

I just wish farmer Joe hadn't done the quick synopsis thing. Now he's got me compelled to read every story ever written by each entrant!! I may never get back to the keyboard before CAW #69!!

 

Well if you read every story from every entrant for every CAW you very well may be for a long sit down... BUT for just this contest... you have plenty of time I don't think the polls close for a while.

*Wonders if Farmer Joe is kicking himself for voting for himself*

Probably not I read his piece and PM'd him about it I think or I left a comment as to what he should look into... typically I'm stealthy like that... as are many of the writers here.

 

Well said.