The Numbers Game

So I have always been obsessed with numbers. It is probably my obsessive-compulsive disorder but playing around with numbers has always been fun for me. This is my first year participating in the Literotica Survivor Contest and I want to share with everyone some easy suggestions for getting as many points as possible. I'm sure we could get into a discussion on the ethics of these suggestions but that is best left for another day.

Suggestions

#1 Put in a number for immunity. You might not win. You don't have to accept the immunity if you do win but it helps you out if there are 1-2 categories that you simple can't deal with. For me both the audio and illustrated poetry and story categories are out for me. Another big suggestion is to write stories that are between 750-1000 words. Why you ask? Well stories have to be at least 750 to be posted on Literotica and it's pretty easy to write a good story with a beginning, middle, and an end in under 1000 words. As another author said "why write a 1500 word story when you can write two 750 word stories and get double the points."

#2 Pick 10 easy categories that all have the same theme. I'm a woman and prefer the sappy romantic stories so I would pick Romance, Erotic Couplings, Mature, Incest/Taboo Lesbian Sex, Gay Male, Toys and Masturbating, First Time, Anal, and Fetish. All those categories can have "romantic" type stories in them. So if you write one story for each category you will have earned 30 points plus a 5-point bonus for filling 10 categories.

#3 Pick 10 not so easy categories that fall into the same theme. Pick a theme you are comfortable writing about. Maybe choose a character type, or location. You will earn 30 more points and 10 bonus points for a total of 75 points.

#4 Then I would suggest going on a poetry-writing spree. Walk around outside, have some sex, watch some porn, do something that you can write about. Poems can be short or long but don't write overly long poems. Remember there is no length requirement but if you write a bunch of 3 word poems you will probably be laughed at. You can only write 10 poems per category so if you fill up all the poetry categories with the maximum number you will have 48 points for a total of 123 points.

#5 Take a short break from writing. You should probably leave your computer and go mingle with real people. Getting up and changing your clothes and having a shower would also be a good thing. Now that you have taken a break you have a few options. You have 11 categories left to fill. If you choose to use and are lucky enough to win immunity then you have even less. Maybe pick 6 of the harder categories and challenge yourself to write one story per category for the next week. Rest on Sunday since that is a day of rest. Of course in filling up 6 more categories with one story each you have earned anther 18 points plus 15 bonus points for filling up 30 categories so your points total is now 156.

#6 So now you have 5 categories left. If you can fill those categories with stories go right ahead. If in December you are unlucky and have won no immunities you might need to write something for some of them but let's hope you're lucky.

#7 Now that you have maxed out as many points as possible go back to those 10 more favorite categories and write some chapter stories. Try for one a day for a week. That way you can write short stories (under 1000 words remember) and at the same time get used to writing longer stories for when November rolls around. If you do this for one month you will have earned another 24 points for a total of 180.

#7 Participate in the National Novel Writing Month Contest. All you have to do is write a 50000-word novel and if you are smart and split it up right you can either fill it in the novels category and earn 18 points for 7 chapters or fill up your favorite category and earn another 50 points. Either way you have earned between 198-230 points.

#8 You need to make sure you have at least 10 stories in every category. Go back and fill up those categories with stories. Ask around for suggestions if you are running out of ideas. This will earn you 5 extra points for each category for a total of 175 points. Adding together the points from before gives you a grand total of between 373-405 points.

So is 373-405 points enough to win? Maybe. Yes. No. Does it really matter though? If you follow through with these suggestions you will have spent a great year writing lots of stories and poems, which is the main goal of the Survivor, contest -- right?