FAWC6

OK, I am going to break my rule now! (I know, exciting, isn't it! I occasionally do break the rules; after all, it's not as bad as breaking a finger nail.) Although there are likely to be some stories here which are not 'safe sex', I am going to publish the link to the full list of Friendly Anonymous Writing Challenge stories, so you can access what is bound to be a cohort of extremely strong stories. Some of the best writers have always participated in the FAWCs, and this will be a particularly memorable list as we are taking part to commemorate our friend slyc_willie, who set up the FAWCs.

NB I haven't been able to assign a rating to these stories as I haven't read them yet myself. Past competition entries have gone right across the range from 0 to XXX. Check them out, vote and see if you can guess who wrote which one. (I provide the full list of participating authors at the end of my blogpost.)

The FAWC was a friendly challenge in which any writer could take part. There were no cash prizes, just the fun of writing to the set question, although the winner did get a virtual trophy designed by BuckyDuckman. slyc_willie thought up cool challenges, such as: 'write a story about a writer', or when he posted a picture and we all had to write stories about the same picture; it was amazing how different the stories were.

My favourite was when he gave us all a 'freebie' of four words and we had to write a story
using those four words. That's the one we have reprised in FAWC6 in his memory, and I certainly have had a lot of fun with it. Initially there's the despair of seeing no way the words can possibly fit together, but in a curious twist, trying to write to this kind of challenge sets your subconscious free. You can sometimes end up writing something more meaningful because you are just busy trying to get your words into the story. The ideas you are most interested in float into the story more naturally.

The stories are listed here, have a read, see if you can guess who the author is - comment and vote.

We were shocked and dismayed when a message was posted in Literotica's Authors' Hangout to let us know slyc_willie had suddenly passed away due to a pulmonary embolism. slyc was a model for how to take part in Authors' Hangout, which can sometimes be a bit of a roughhouse. He not only set up writerly threads and the FAWCs. He also took part and commented whenever others put up interesting threads about writing. He paid little attention to trolling, just responding to serious or fun posts. He dipped in and out as he wished, sometimes he would be gone for quite a while, then he would be back to write about how he was fretting over a story with a beer in one hand. Or to tell us about the fantastic sex he had just had with his wife (jammy bastard), whom he met at a Literotica convention and whom he adored.

slyc_willie's Hot stories covered practically the whole range of genres, from Loving Wives and Incest to Non-erotic Poetry and Sci Fi and Fantasy, and can be found on Literotica here. He also published with Excessica under the name Gabriel Daemon.

Many writers say we wrote our best stories in the FAWC and I read some absolute crackers. Patient Lee's Lost Agnes (now available on Amazon Kindle) is a tour de force of writing; a master-class in realism which uses the unusual and harsh world of sea-fishing to tell a tender tale of gay male sex. MSTarot's The Golden Ring again draws on a strong background world, this time of wrestling, in which is set a meditation on the nature of success in life. I've always been fond too of SaxonHart's curious tale Curse of "The Bitch", in which terror is keenly conveyed for a character on the run. I've not been able to review those stories before, as they aren't safe sex, although I have reviewed FAWC stories here and here.

I knew everyone would guess which was my story as soon as I mentioned the word 'condom', so I always had an extra challenge to get round. This would push me to write about diverse kinds of sex. Very often now, I look back and think how much I learnt from writing the entries to this or that FAWC.

We miss slyc_willie: his pragmatic wicked sense of humour and his inventive challenges. slyc was like bacon: hot, salty and sweet - if it's not going to Heaven, you'd rather be in the other place.

List of participants in FAWC6. 
(A big thank you to _Lynn_ for organising the competition.)
Gorza
legerdemer
patientlee
MSTarot
MagicaPractica
Saxon_Hart
PennLady
sheablue
xelliebabex
NaokoSmith
litfan10
Tx Tall Tales