Hi,
I think something that many novice writers trip up on is thinking that their first draft should be perfect. You might think your work is a bit slow so far, but keep going with it. First get the ideas down on the page. Then you can take a step back and try to figure out why it's coming across slow.
You might find, as WCB suggests, that you're not starting it in the right place. Look for where the story itself actually starts, it might not be where you thought it was.
How's it going since you posted the message?
For me it depends on two things:
1) How they approach me and whether it shows any indication that they have, for example, read one of my stories, or looked at my profile.
"Hi, will you be my mistress" tends to come up a lot. That will get you nowhere. "Hi, I read your story and I really liked it," may be more successful. "Hi, I'm so-and-so, I really liked the way you portrayed x-character, what do you think about y-interesting topic of discussion," will get you an express reply.
2) Whether their profile shows them to be interested in... well anything really. Besides sex, we all get that one, I need to know what ELSE.
So if your profile shows cock pics and interests are listed as "tits" and "creampies" then you will be ignored. If they list something real, great. If it lists things I like too, even better. And it helps if it shows that you have posted a comment on a story or on the forum within the activity list's memory.
Ahh, hang on, all of the above applies to people with pictures too. So I guess the short answer to your question is no, not at all.
Although, lack of avatar pic tends to go hand in hand with tossers who want to cam with sluts. It's a stereotype, but an accurate one, unfortunately. Does it really take much effort to run a google image search and pick something?
So your boyfriend has disappeared and hasn't called or contacted you in any way in a week, with no warning or indication as to why he was going, where or for how long. And you want to know if he doesn't want to talk to you or has something to hide.
My short answer: "No shit, Sherlock."
I don't think even the crappiest of self centered men think they can simply up sticks and leave for a week without any explanation at all.
But, that doesn't necessarily mean the end of the relationship or that there is someone else involved. Some men don't like to be seen when they are vulnerable, so it may be entirely unrelated.
Treating you like this is unacceptable, though. Unfortunately, with no way of contacting him, all you can really do is wait. It won't do you any good to dwell on what the answer might be.
If he is contacting his parents you could try talking reasonably and rationally with them in the hopes that when he next contacts them they will pass your messages on. Try to keep calm and just focus on the fact you are worried about him and want him to treat you with respect.
Good luck. Give it some time and see what happens.
Hi Orion,
Welcome to Lush. I've read your latest story (Nicky, My Babysitter) and I think you've got a lot of potential. There's nothing wrong with your spelling and grammar. The mods here are quite thorough when they check and don't let things through if they're not up to standard in that department.
But, getting published isn't all about the grammar. It's not all about content either. Somewhere between those two you have technique and structure and it's those which turn you from someone who can come up with a story and construct sentences into a good writer. If you'd like some extra feedback I'd be happy to pass on some of my limited experience. There's also a lot of great advice on this forum for starters, especially in Morgan Hawke's board.
Regarding finding a market for your work, try searching the web as Nic suggests. Start building up a list of blogs and markets as you come across them and you'll start to get a feel for what's out there. Network. Word of mouth can be a great way of finding leads. A lot of publishers advertise calls for submissions for short stories, so you might find you want to write something to their specific requirements as a way of getting your foot in the door.
If you're looking to write novel length stories then consider looking into finding an agent as a lot of publishers won't consider you unless you have one.
There are quite a few published authors here, so you could look to see who they are published with as a place to start.
Hope that helps.
Mo
xxx
You already have tonnes of tricks up your sleeve, any more and the poor girl won't know what hit her, lol.
Kim's right though, experimenting together is the key. Personally I think if you go straight for the unexpected or unusual you're less likely to be in her good books and more likely to scare her off. It might make for one fantastic night, but it's not going to build the trust and security you need to make something last.
For me, here's a couple:
- confidence is the biggest turn on ever. A guy who knows what he wants and how he wants it.
- being somewhere other than the bedroom. On the couch always feels like playing naughty teenagers.
- when it's unexpected and unplanned but importantly not my idea.
Any woman would be lucky to have you, Vance, and any that don't hold on with both hands once they have you is a crazy fool.
Okay, so several people have already suggested that perhaps you need to make more effort or assumed you're not considering her needs or feelings, but I've been in a similar position where I want more than my partner is inclined to give. I know what it's like to be the one who tries and still gets shot down. After a while, you stop trying, because what's the point?
I'm not condoning cheating though. Believe it or not, talking sometimes works. Not always instantly, but it's always a good start.
Have you actually approached your wife and simply explained how you're feeling, asked her views and listened?
You say the fact that she is not satisfying your needs is your problem not hers but I think if the situation were reversed, a man would be expected to satisfy his wife's needs and might feel inferior or even be stigmatised if he couldn't/didn't want to.
Women aren't a completely different species and shouldn't have a different set of rules in my opinion. If she loves you as much as you love her, one would hope she would care about the fact you have needs and try to satisfy them.
Even if she has made you feel like you cannot bring this sort of subject up to talk about it, you owe her the chance to understand the situation and do something about it before you go seeking your kicks elsewhere.
Talk to her. Good luck.
I wrote a story about a virgin couple aged 23 (guy) and 20 (girl), and someone commented on the story to say it seemed unlikely.
I lost my virginity quite early, but, after that one time, I then wasn't with anyone till I was 18. I could quite easily imagine if things had worked out differently I could have still been a virgin in my 20s. It didn't happen that way for me, but it doesn't seem unlikely at all.
I definitely agree there is too much stigma and/or status attached to being a virgin.
Only you can be the judge of how much is too much. Inspiration drives us to write, so as long as you feel inspired, and you have the time to devote to it, keep going. Better to be prolific than suffer from writer's block.
One question to ask yourself is whether you are satisfied with the quality of your writing. Do you think you could produce something better if you took more time over it? Do you want to improve the quality or are you happy with it as it is?
I don't get as much time to sit and read stories as I would like, so I can't say I keep up to date with even my favourite authors here.
From the looks of the numbers of votes and comments you have on your stories, you're certainly reaching readers and making an impression. I have no doubt you have some fans out there.
Have you checked to see if you have any followers?
If it was some time ago that you saw this story it may no longer be here. The stories are tied to the members' accounts and if they delete their account the stories are removed from the site. Blackmail and forced sex are against site guidelines and so it is also possible that the story may have been flagged and deleted.
As Gurlyboy says, there is a search function. If you can remember the title or a line from the story that may help. Good luck.
Is it a No No for a male author to write a first person as if he is a female?
There are no hard and fast rules. If a story is well written it speaks for itself and the gender of the writer should be irrelevant.
Is it a turn off or doesn't it matter?
That's all about the reader's opinions. Write what you want to write, someone will like it. You will never please everyone.
I like making females my main character, what am i supposed to do?
I suggest you stop thinking about your characters as "a male" or "a female" and start thinking of them as individuals. You don't need to know what "a woman" would do or think in the situation you're writing, only what your character would do. If you can nail that, you'll create convincing characters regardless of gender.
Good luck.
I write a lot of things, mainly speculative fiction (i.e sci/fi, fantasy, paranormal, supernatural etc), often with a romantic element, but also other genres (anything from silly kids stories to sappy poetry to dark horror, anything really). My erotic writing has been confined to short stories, while I have written (or at least started) a number of non-erotic novels.
I'm on Stories Space as MissAdventure.
Not sure I've seen this one mentioned before:
I have a private album and I received some comments on the photos within. However, when I click on the link in the notification email or the link in the black box pop up, I get a 404 error.
I thought that might be the case. I found it strange that only one of my stories was affected, but I understand now. The anonymous votes remain (like little ghosts of v1) only until you receive a further vote after the switch.
Hmm, probably shouldn't let it get out that the next vote on a popular story will likely slash it's vote count by a third, it'll become a whole new way to vote people down, literally, lol.
