Depending on the story, I may create a backstory that the reader will never see. Essentially explaining why the character is the way they are, and try to do it in a way that makes sense. And in at least one instance, that evolved into a complete story in itself.
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Mushroom0311
3 days ago
Straight Male, 60
0 miles · Oregon
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Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by laura
Pffffft removing pool ladders is for rookies. There's so much you can do with them now. Freezing to death in winter, starvation, woo-hooing to death if you're old enough.
Much of which was not there in 2000. And as a player with 15 minutes in the game, I did not know that yet.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by laura
Killing Sims and dinosaurs.
Sims, as in The Sims?
*laugh*
Oh, the memories. I still remember when I first bought that game. An overseas edition, from Thailand. I spent quite a lot of time making a family, building a house, and doing all the things I should have done.
The first "day" I took the game off pause,, the family (mom, dad, 2 kids) walked into the house, then mom went into the kitchen to cook dinner. Stove caught fire, and she died. The first freaking 10 minutes of my game!
Needless to say, everybody was borked. The father would not go to work, the kids would not go to school, they just stood around that urn of ashes all day and cried. They were broke, starving, and would do nothing but cry and sleep.
I finally had them all get into the pool, removed the ladder, and killed them all so I could make and move in a new family.
I still play The Sims on occasion, but even 20 years later my very first 15 minutes playing sticks with me to this day.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Buz
It doesn't have to, but it just does, and will.
OK, now this will likely piss some off, but I feel like I have to say this regardless of what some may think.
Are you not a "moderator"? Seems to me that if I am not mistaken, the definition of such is as follows:
an arbitrator or mediator.
a person who moderates an internet forum or online discussion.
So not to be impertinent, but is that not part of your very job, to keep discussions and conversations on-track, topical, and to prevent bullying and disrespect? To keep debates civil, and be impartial unless you are imputing as an individual?
Because this may likely get me booted, but I have to admit I have seen damned near little to none of that here. I see myself calling a person on being completely incorrect and wrong factually, and am told I am being a "bully". Then I have seen yet another actually call me an "asshole", and moderators basically nodding in agreement then telling me again I have to be "more polite".
Then I see you dragging a topic off-topic, and almost encouraging others to do the exact same thing.
Meanwhile, I look at the red title below your name, and wonder what in the hell it is there for, if it is not to do exactly what it says, and "moderate".
Just now, you say it "does and will". Is it not your very job under that title to help ensure that such does not happen? Or is it only a shiny badge you wear, that maybe gives you the right to lord over others who refuse to bow down to your might?
TO be honest, I expect to be booted and banned, and I largely do not care anymore. The irony is, more often than not as I have said I support what many of you say, even if not to the fanatical belief you all seem to demand. I am a moderate, yet it has been made obviously clear to me that even "moderates" are not welcome in here, and must be excised. And laughingly, I only came to the forums to hopefully network with other authors, to see if we could help each other out. Even in creating this thread, my hope was to see if I could make "peaceful contact" with others, without all the political garbage that many seem to bring everywhere they go, and create some civil conversation without animosity.
But others seem to drag it with them wherever they go. I see some purposefully smarting off to "moderators", and nothing is done. Yet I call one on an actually incorrect fact, and get a strong dressing down that I am violating rules here.
As I said, I expect this to vanish very quickly, for how dare I say that the Emperor has no clothes".
But I suggest you and others look into what being a "moderator" means, and actually do your damned job. I actually fall on the left-of-center politically, yet I laugh as I am almost constantly considered to be "Far-right". I create on purpose a thread with the intent of reconciliation and civil discussion, and see outright attacks, moderators telling users to keep it civil, being ignored, and then it just continues. And finally, moderators saying things will go out of control, while it is in their power (and their very job) to keep that from happening.
In closing, you said "It will". But I say, is it not your very job to prevent that from happening?
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Magical_felix
That's why it's not a think tank topic. What debate is there to be had besides "no you're not an expert at that".
Like, what is the debate?
Once again, the very description:
Adult Swim - discussions and debate of a more serious and heavyweight nature
Not everything has to be a debate, or an argument. At least, not to most people.
And ultimately, this is a message area on a site about stories. And quite a few of us are also writers.
More than once, people have come to me because of my knowledge of things like the military or "vintage computers", because they wanted some information they simply did not have. And I have called upon similar individuals in the past. I even once for a story had a question about a comic book character, and one of the other posters was a self-proclaimed "comic book geek", so I knew I was able to get answers from him.
Not all of us live our lives based on arguments and politics.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Magical_felix
This is not a think tank topic.
Adult Swim - discussions and debate of a more serious and heavyweight nature
Wow, that is right there in the description of this area. And since I am addressing this in a serious and not mocking or insulting tone, I would think it would apply.
Advanced Wordsmith
This came up recently, so I thought it would be interesting to see what areas of special expertise some of us may have. Something you are familiar enough with to be considered a "subject matter expert" in.
For myself, that is probably primarily military topics. As in, that has been my career for over 20 years. First enlisting when President Reagan was in his first term, and still serving today under my seventh President. In two branches of service, four countries, and on bases of all 4 branches of service. Infantry, Missile Defense, and Computers were my main areas of specialization there, but also security, weapons and urban combat techniques, supply, logistics, as well as working in field hospitals.
And as a large believer in what George Santayana said about learning from history. As such, I am an expert in WWII history, but also well researched on other things from the Neolithic to late 20th century. Human Migrations and how one civilization forcing another to move has been a particular interest there. I believe in the axiom that what has happened before will happen again, and try to spot trends in past events to see what may happen in the future.
Computers is another one, comes from having a mother that was a programmer in the 1960's and growing up with the things. Still very active in this field, but the demand has largely died as people ditch computers for other devices. Finally closed my store 3 years ago when all people brought in for me to fix were cheap netbooks that were not even worth fixing in the first place.
And a bit more esoteric, being a DJ. Started that professionally in 1981, everything from skating rinks and teen dance clubs to more modern dance clubs and even strip clubs in five states and two other countries. Want to know what it was like trying to use a guitar mixer before the "modern DJ mixer" came out, or the best way to match tempo and do the old-school "DJ Music Wave" along with transitions between genres, feel free to ask. I no longer do it as hearing damage (permanent tinnitus) prevents me from perusing this professionally anymore, but I still keep my finger on the equipment and trends from personal interest.
And as a side into that, broadcasting. Mostly at a small defunct UHF TV station in the LA area, but doing it for many years (mostly as a show lead, researcher, and equipment operator). One thing about working at a small TV station, not many people there so everybody gets to do almost anything. "Hey, there is a 30 minute hole in the schedule, wanna do a show?" "Hey, we got nothing scheduled from midnight to 2 in the morning. Go drag one of those public domain horror movies out of the archive, you got an hour to make and film the skits and sketches to open and close it with."
What kind of expertise do others in here have, and would be interested in sharing? Either for helping background in writing stories, or just to learn more about different things.
For myself, that is probably primarily military topics. As in, that has been my career for over 20 years. First enlisting when President Reagan was in his first term, and still serving today under my seventh President. In two branches of service, four countries, and on bases of all 4 branches of service. Infantry, Missile Defense, and Computers were my main areas of specialization there, but also security, weapons and urban combat techniques, supply, logistics, as well as working in field hospitals.
And as a large believer in what George Santayana said about learning from history. As such, I am an expert in WWII history, but also well researched on other things from the Neolithic to late 20th century. Human Migrations and how one civilization forcing another to move has been a particular interest there. I believe in the axiom that what has happened before will happen again, and try to spot trends in past events to see what may happen in the future.
Computers is another one, comes from having a mother that was a programmer in the 1960's and growing up with the things. Still very active in this field, but the demand has largely died as people ditch computers for other devices. Finally closed my store 3 years ago when all people brought in for me to fix were cheap netbooks that were not even worth fixing in the first place.
And a bit more esoteric, being a DJ. Started that professionally in 1981, everything from skating rinks and teen dance clubs to more modern dance clubs and even strip clubs in five states and two other countries. Want to know what it was like trying to use a guitar mixer before the "modern DJ mixer" came out, or the best way to match tempo and do the old-school "DJ Music Wave" along with transitions between genres, feel free to ask. I no longer do it as hearing damage (permanent tinnitus) prevents me from perusing this professionally anymore, but I still keep my finger on the equipment and trends from personal interest.
And as a side into that, broadcasting. Mostly at a small defunct UHF TV station in the LA area, but doing it for many years (mostly as a show lead, researcher, and equipment operator). One thing about working at a small TV station, not many people there so everybody gets to do almost anything. "Hey, there is a 30 minute hole in the schedule, wanna do a show?" "Hey, we got nothing scheduled from midnight to 2 in the morning. Go drag one of those public domain horror movies out of the archive, you got an hour to make and film the skits and sketches to open and close it with."
What kind of expertise do others in here have, and would be interested in sharing? Either for helping background in writing stories, or just to learn more about different things.
Advanced Wordsmith
I can write as either one. But that all depends on the story I am trying to tell.
There really is no firm rule in my writing, it mostly depends on the point of view I am trying to capture. I even had one where the POV character changed genders, and that was interesting because I had them first appear as male, and even describe scenes with an "old boyfriend", that left many confused as they were told from the female perspective by a male (at that time) narrator.
There really is no firm rule in my writing, it mostly depends on the point of view I am trying to capture. I even had one where the POV character changed genders, and that was interesting because I had them first appear as male, and even describe scenes with an "old boyfriend", that left many confused as they were told from the female perspective by a male (at that time) narrator.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by DMBFFF
and an additional caution to being too derivative:
I have to admit, that had me laughing entirely too much.
Three years ago, I started writing what turned into a massive story, ultimately ending at over 7 megs over 4 books and hundreds of chapters. And it started in 1981 in Los Angeles, where the main character was a massive D&D fanatic who ultimately got into publishing his own adventures. And as I was the same back then (minus the publishing), they were based on a world of his own creation. And as I wrote these fictional "games within a story", I loved tweaking the noses of a great many of the tropes that populate fantasy games, especially of that era.
Like the "Great Beard Debate". Yes, a real thing among D&D players back then. Because somebody realized that the rules of the game literally said "All dwarves have a beard". Which by definition even includes female dwarves. Go to a game convention back then, and you had actual camps where some said all females had beards to help disguise them from enemies because the rules said "all dwarves", and others saying that was silly and was not to be taken literally. I even included things like having an evil Cleric of Surtr giving a mission to a fallen Paladin as a way to redeem themselves. I had a lot of fun in creating those "fictional games", purposefully turning most of the D&D tropes on their head on purpose.
And yes, I had a lot of fun doing that. Over the decades I have played so many pen and paper RPGs that now I laugh at most of the games I am invited to join. All largely clones of each other, almost no originality and as bad as any of the pulp stories that clog bookshelves like Mack Bolan, Longarm, and Doc Savage. Formulaic, little originality, and ultimately boring. Hell, the last one I joined had most of the players shocked because I said I was playing a "Vanilla Ranger". No ultra-special selective sub-class with a page of feats and special abilities, just a generic Ranger. They thought I was an idiot.
Meanwhile, I laugh at the need for such things. "I am not a Thief, I am an acrobat-juggler-footpad subclass"! Yea, a prize to everybody, everybody is special and everybody wins.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by BlkSugarbaby
Ok but i was reading the definition of what Lush considers a fantasy story and it reads - "The fantasy genre does not necessarily have any grounding in reality, and is more concerned with magic and myth. This can encompass everything from historical Arthurian tales of court intrigue, to epic battles for empires and crusades against the forces of darkness." So if I write a story based in Camelot is that not fanfic?
The story i want to write is a fantasy based in the Dungeons and Dragons world of The Forgotten Realms.
You have to remember that D&D itself was sued almost out of business early on for the exact same problem.
The original game had very different mechanics than it does today. Barbarians based almost entirely with Conan as the mold. Elves and Hobbits based on the Tolkien model (elves were tall and thin), the alignments were Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic.
Hence, the Howard and Tolkien estates sued them, as did Michael Moorcock. They struck all the references to Barbarians in what became known as "1st Edition AD&D", changed Hobbits to Halflings, and added in Good and Evil in addition to Law and Chaos. But still blew it when they added in a great many works into their first Deities and Demigods book. Including such mythos as Michael Moorcock, H. P. Lovecraft, and Fritz Leiber's Nehwon series. Once again quickly sued, and a second printing was rushed out that removed them.
I always encourage people in both writing stories as well as creating games to make their own universe. Yes, D&D gave us the Forgotten Relms universe. But do not forget, it also gave us the worlds of Belgarion by David Eddings, and the Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist. Both of which were based on campaigns that the authors had created for D&D. And in an interesting turn for those that know the industry, Feist created Midkemia Press, a company that created universal game supplements. In the 1980's the best known of these was "Cities", which was then licensed by another company and used to a game supplement for the "Thieves World" game supplement, based on a book series of that name.
I would encourage you to just use the "basics", and keep it universal and entirely your own. In over 25 years of writing, I have only written a single "fan fic". And that was over 2 decades ago, a crossover between DC and Marvel characters. And in the last few years, I actually started writing a superhero series based on an old Champions campaign I ran in the 1980's (two books finished along with several shorts, a third still being written). And the world has some similarities with DC, and the grittiness of Marvel. But it is unquestionably my own creation.
You can even see this as some cities are like Marvel and are real life cities (Los Angeles, Sacramento, etc). While others are entirely fictional (Compass City, River City, Gemstone) as are the cities in the DC universe.
But I would encourage you to follow a similar model. I started as many writers do by writing a "Bible". A document which outlines my newly created universe, and the rules it would follow. And basic descriptions of the city. And I then went from there, sometimes making changes to the Bible as I went. And that is a common thing done, especially in a shared universe where multiple authors will write of the same universe. I actually opened up and published the Bible, and have since had three other authors write stories in this created universe.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by curvygalore
There is no need to provide proof.Unless a story is obviously plagiarised, it's assumed when a story is submitted on Lush that it's the author's own work. Hope that's helpful!
This is where it turns into a real issue.
Multiple times, I have found my stories for sale on Amazon, and was able to get them removed after telling them I was the original author. And I used my posting the story in the 1990's on ASSTR as my proof. The archive is easy to access, and includes the header information to show it was even submitted by the same email I still use today.
But now, they do not even respond when I find one of my stories being sold, and have largely given up.
There is not much plagiarism, but what I do find bothers me a lot. There are many places on Amazon that sell stories that they had simply downloaded from some erotica site. Sometimes changing the title, sometimes not. And always the author information and claiming it as their own work. And in the last few years, Amazon does not even seem to care.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by seeker4
It was an archive of posts from an unmoderated Usenet group so no shock there.
Actually, it was moderated. But only to keep out the spam posts that flooded many USENET groups into worthlessness decades ago.
This is why the archive is of the group known as "ASSM", for Alt.sex.stories.moderated.
However, there was no moderation for content or quality. Simply to keep the obvious commercial spam out.
And 25 years or so ago, it was how most of us published our works. Sites like this came along much later, and did not exist at that time. However, it is interesting as an archive. And shows what the early erotica was like when many of us made the first jump from BBS systems to the Internet.
And a lot of us who later became more well known started there. Anne Douglas being one of the most well known.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by VioletVixen
Mr. Mushroom,
First, I must say I love your avatar.
Also, thanks for the advice. One of the things I've enjoyed since coming here is seeing all the different authors' styles. There's a lot to learn and a lot to aspire to be. I don't know if I want to overlay a large message over what I'm writing yet, and it's nice to read your take on tackling long multi-chapter stories.
Now back to the drawing board!
Thank you for that. Actually it is one I found that combines my entire name here. "Mushroom", a nickname I got in the military. And "0311", the MOS code in the Marines for Infantry. I found that, and it just seemed to fit.
As far as large stories, it all depends on what you mean by that definition. In here, I am not sure if any really qualify like that. Most seem to at most fall under "vignette" than actual large stories. Until a few years ago, my longest was about 300k in 11 chapters. And that took me about 4 months to write.
But I would caution most people against any kind of "deep message", simply because then you have a real risk of alienating readers. Myself, I am what I jokingly call a "militant moderate", and do not really care for either side "preaching" to me. However, that does not mean that I create stories without messages. My one "Sally the Welder" very much has one (and yes it is there on purpose). But it is simple and subtle. Nothing more than simply "Get along with others despite differences, and do not let prejudices interfere with love". Yep, that's it. Hard to find any but the most radical hatemonger that would have an issue with that, and I do not care to appeal to them in the first place.
But start to "push messages", and no matter what it is, you are going to alienate and push away those who otherwise might enjoy your stories. Myself, I am just a story teller. And most of my characters really have no real apparent "political bent", because that is not what I am trying to write about. At the absolute most, I occasionally lapse into things like compromise and reconciliation and not giving into extreme philosophies. Once again, rather bland and vanilla that few object to unless they are themselves and extremist who wants everybody to share their beliefs.
But if you want to tackle longer stories, first you have to decide what your ultimate goal is, and how long you want to take to get there. 100k? 300k? 2 megs?
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Meggsy
I know I get more "comments" from males than females and to go a bit further, most are over 50.
This is probably because more males actually "read" the stories.
The reason? Probably more males need sexual stimulation than females.
I would say in my life I have been asked for sex far more often by males than I have asked males.
Well, I will not deny that there is probably an element of that.
Myself, I simply read stories as stories. The gender of who wrote it does not matter, I enjoy the story as the art it is intended to be.
And you might be surprised. Mandy decades ago I took part in a survey (circa 2--8), which was done as part of a Masters thesis. And as part of the results she shared, the majority of men tended to gravitate towards movies, where women had a greater tendency to gravitate to the written word. Kinda like how men decades ago got Playboy, gals picked up "romance novels".
Myself, I do not comment often, simply because I am aware that far to many women have been harassed. But I do comment if I particularly enjoyed a story, normally in the comments where all can see. And yea, seen over the years that a lot of guys are not real bright when they are thinking of sex.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by LucaByDesign
I put the passages through the Gender Analyser (link below) and it scored 7/10. The site does say it has a 70% accuracy rating, so that fits.
Yea, I take things like that with a huge grain of salt. About the size of Mount Shasta.
I decided to give it a try, and got, let's just say interesting results.
I punched 6 different stories through it. 2 I wrote with a male POV, 2 with a female one, one where the character changes gender as part of a science experiment gone wrong, another as a female POV who dresses as a man.
The results? Every single one came out with the exact same response, also around 7/10 as female.
Unsure what this meant (other than it likely is bogus), I decided to shove 2 more through it. First is one I wrote as a satire of the "kitchen sink" stories, and actually poorly written on purpose. And guess what, it also scored around 7/10. Then one of my first stories, circa 1996. Also, 7 out of 10.
Then finally I took one that is not my own. A rather horrible story from circa 1993, and it came out at around 10% masculine.
So what it looks for, I have absolutely no idea. But I bet it simply analyzes word structure and maybe word uses, which is obviously a horrible way to try and judge things like this as I am obviously male. And every single one of my stories I shoved in came out as being very female.
Then for "shits and giggles", I shoved through 3 stories by well known erotica author Ann Douglas. And according to it, she is male.
So ultimately, about as interesting as those "purity tests" that were all the rage about 25 years ago.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by KimmiBeGood
I was discussing this with a male author yesterday. Just wondered what others think. Do you think female authors typically receive more votes and comments than male authors? If yes, why?
I find the female vs male talent on Lush to be pretty equal. But, like in my recent Flash Fiction story, which was barely more than a micro, I received a lot more votes/comments than the Recommended Reads surrounding me, authored by males. Their stories bested mine in every way, so where were their votes/comments? Just something I have noticed and I think they probably noticed and said, "What the f*ck!" ?
Yea, pretty much.
Of course, a lot of people seem to have issues telling the difference between a written work of fiction, and the author who wrote it.
And it is consistent and has been this way for years, nothing new.
About 20 years ago, there was an early erotica site I was on (it folded around 2003), where some of us ran an experiment. We each grabbed some of our older stories from ASSM and posted them in there, some with obvious male author names, others as obvious female. Out own gender did not matter. And almost universally, the stories posted under female names got more responses, and even generated more email attempts to interact with the author.
And the narrator POV mattered little.
And it is not even unique to this genre. In Sci-Fi for decades, women were not taken seriously and therefore hid their genders. DC Fontanna, CJ Cherryh, CL Moore, L Taylor Hanson, Andre Norton, even JK Rowling.
In Erotica, it just seems to be the opposite.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by VioletVixen
I don't have much experience writing stories and am good at leaving things unfinished.
I think I understand the basic rhythm of intro>rising action>climax>cooldown>hotshower, but what about when you want to be more experimental?
I'm wondering specifically about incorporating flashbacks while still advancing the overall plot.
Specifically, on this website where people often break their longer stories into parts, do you think it's better to have flashback chapters stand-alone or be posted in tandem with a chapter from the present era?
Also, how do those who layer large social issues and themes over the plot plan it out?
Do you decide before you write that you want religion/ politics/ insert a large overarching theme here to be the background noise to all the action in the forefront, or do you find it naturally reveals itself to you while you tinker around with the first draft?
Any advice relating to the above or worldbuilding is appreciated
Much love,
Violet
There are a lot of variables in here. and it all depends on you and what the story is you are trying to tell.
For one, length. Since I tend to look at number of characters rather then words, to give an idea my long form stories can run from around 400k, to over 7 megs. But once again, it depends on the scope of the story I want to tell how long it will ultimately be.
Flashbacks, that is a personal preference. Sometimes I do, sometimes I do not, depends on the story.
Social issues, largely I leave those out. I am telling a story, not giving a political manifesto. I will make general statements, almost always in a very neutral manner.
Writing about religion and politics? Same thing, NOPE. I have no interest in having people get "woke" in reading my stories, that is not my intent in writing. I am just telling a story.
As far as world building, that once again depends on what you are trying to write. For me, 90% of my stories are very much "real world". And also a great many are historical period pieces. I will touch on real world events (WWII, Fall of the Soviet Union), but in the context of the era, and largely neutrally. I also have a more "Fantasy" series, in which super heroes are the main characters. In that one, I carefully planned it all out in advance so that I could keep the things like powers and setting consistent.
As far as the idea of where the story is going, most times I have a pretty good idea when I start. The only exception is the occasion where I write a short story, and the characters keep coming into my mind because they still have a story to tell. In those cases I generally will lay out by the time I have done 5 chapters a storyline that the story will ultimately follow. But I also may deviate it, but I am working towards an eventual goal.
One I have been working on for 3 years. And only recently wrote the scene where the main characters finally get together. Kind of a Rom-Com in a way, but where I kept the identity of the female secret until a week ago. However, I knew who she was well over 2.5 years ago, the story largely since then has been setting them both up.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by C_R_R_Crawford
Agree its best practice for the author to acknowledge the feedback. But if the reader has enjoyed the story, its also good manners for them to let the author know!
I almost always respond.
But I also recognize that very few will even take the time to vote on a story.
Around 2,000 reads, 5 votes. In other words, less than 1% can even bother to do that much. And then laughing when the stories that got the most votes almost all are some variant of fetish story. In which the actual story writing and ability is meaningless. Just how well it satisfied the lover of the fetish itself.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by utterchaos
Sounds a bit like Oldboy haha. It's something I'm not into at all so I definitely won't be able to work towards the badge for writing in every genre.
Well, for me it is not my thing either.
But I enjoy creating stories somewhat in the style of the old Twilight Zone series. Especially if I can include a surprise ending.
It's a cookbook. He breaks his glasses when he realizes he has all the time in the world to read, the girl who thinks she is a freak gets plastic surgery, and in the end we see that everybody else is a freak, and she is stunningly beautiful. In order to win a bet that he can remain silent for a year, a man has his vocal cords removed.
Things like that. And I have created a series of stories in that style. And of course in trying to create stories that can achieve such a twist, ends up playing a part as it is a shock twist that most individuals would never willingly do. I am not into that at all, I only have that as the twist at the end. And literally, it is only realized in like the last paragraph or two.
Advanced Wordsmith
One other thing, that I have written into a few different stories.
Accidental .
Now I myself readily admit I find nothing sexy about , and it has never had any kind of interest for me.
But in 2 different stories, because I enjoy "twist endings" I have had what I call "Accidental ". Either where the individuals at the time are not even aware that they are related. Or in another where disguises are involved they do not know who they are actually having sex with. In the latter, I threw in a twist where the male became aware when he saw the female in a different costume the next day, realizing to his horror who he had actually been with the night before.
In these, I consider it a very different sub-genre, because there is no real attraction sexually between the individuals because they are related. Son not chasing after mom, or sister after brother. Just 2 people who have sex, not even being aware until afterwards that they had committed (and only 1 of the 2 may even know that).
Accidental .
Now I myself readily admit I find nothing sexy about , and it has never had any kind of interest for me.
But in 2 different stories, because I enjoy "twist endings" I have had what I call "Accidental ". Either where the individuals at the time are not even aware that they are related. Or in another where disguises are involved they do not know who they are actually having sex with. In the latter, I threw in a twist where the male became aware when he saw the female in a different costume the next day, realizing to his horror who he had actually been with the night before.
In these, I consider it a very different sub-genre, because there is no real attraction sexually between the individuals because they are related. Son not chasing after mom, or sister after brother. Just 2 people who have sex, not even being aware until afterwards that they had committed (and only 1 of the 2 may even know that).
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by utterchaos
I can understand that issue. I actually write the use of condoms and other contraception in my series, but I use the whole protected/unprotected thing because there are kinks and fetishes regarding it.
I do the same thing, and even keep in mind if it is a period piece exactly what would be used, and exactly why.
In my 1940's through early 1980's stories, it is almost universally for reasons of birth control. But then in the mid-1980s (and with "hired entertainment") it is more common for my participants to use them primarily for disease prevention.
And in more than one story, I also put effort into doing more than just "putting it on", as it can be an enjoyable part of foreplay for both individuals. And I have even had characters use alternate means of birth control that many never seem to use. IUDs, diaphragms, even implants and sponges.
But I also quite often write about unprotected sex. But that is primarily between individuals who at that time have more than just a "casual relationship".
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by sprite
also, the category is fantasies. if you send in an story say that it's true, don't be surprised when we send it back.
Does a story specifically say it is only a fantasy?
Just asking for some clarification here, as if I write one but in no way say it is actually true and only a story, is that a "fantasy", or is it considered to be "true"?
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by curvygalore
Personally, it's all about what goes on in my head, not what I have or haven't experienced. I don't think it's much of a spoiler alert to say I'm not actually a male 18th-century vicar!
And it is the exact same thing with me. For me, the vast majority of my stories are simply my trying to tell a tale.
Some of my stories are told in the third person, so they really have no identity at all, they just narrate what happens.
In my first person ones though, it varies greatly. A blind Chinese-American girl, a female robot, a black woman during WWII, a middle aged male computer tech, a middle aged Lesbian in the 1970's, a man in the 22nd century aboard an orbital base near Jupiter. One even features a "Superhero" which is 2 in 1. A female who is Jewish, and as their power can transform into an almost indestructible black male. The challenge there was in writing them both as individuals, with their own thought processes, identities, and beliefs. Even as they shared the same body.
I actually identify with almost none of my characters. I am simply telling a story. And part of the enjoyment I have in doing so is when I get comments from people saying that they loved reading it. Because ultimately, I am trying to create emotions in the reader. It may be enjoyment, or even sexual excitement. And in the last year or so I have been learning better how to channel those emotions to the reader.
To me, the highest complement was my most recent one. Where several wrote me saying I had brought tears to their eyes, and I sure as hell was not anything like the narration character, other than having live in the San Francisco Bay Area at one time.
Now granted, most of my earliest stores were almost "Mary Sue" (or "Marty Stu") in style, but I have grown way past that trope today. Looking back at my stories of 25 years ago, most of them were narrated by males in their 30's. Today, my narrator could be anybody. Or still nobody, as maybe 1 in 5 stories is still written in the third person.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Daddy_Bamboo
I wonder if anyone feels similarly? For the experienced authors out there, do you feel like your writing has improved exponentially in relation to the quality/variety of your sexual experiences, or does it have barely any effect on your writing? I want to know if my worries are justified or not.
For me, there is almost no connection at all, to be honest.
I simply write stories, that have to one degree or another an element of sex. And the level and kind of sex is predominantly driven by the story.
In probably about half of my stories, the narration character is female. And I sure as hell have no experience in having sex as a female. I also have had a fairly low number of partners in my life, I can actually count them on a single hand. And my stories may involve a character over a period of time having sex with a dozen other people, or it may be a story only involving 2 people and nobody else. I even have 2 where one of the main characters is not even human, but a robot.
So at least for me, there is absolutely no connection at all between one and the other. And the improvements of my writing in the last 25 years is simply because I have been writing. I am constantly writing, and working on my abilities. For the last year, it has pretty much replaced most of my prior forms of relaxation, other than reading.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Stormdog
As you've seen, you can't tell the story about younger participants even if the narrator is of age. Nobody in sexual situations, whether memoreies or present-day action, can be below the age of 16. I'd suggest doctoring it to make the characters 16 or older at any point that sexual activity commences - tough to do, I know, if you want them to seem real innocent and naive, but them's the rules.
This actually laughingly got me into trouble somewhere else once.
I got a nasty note scathing me, saying during the narration the character was 16 (and their limit was 18). I then told them to read the story again, the main character was actually a robot and not a person, so the age did not really apply.
I fully agree with such rules actually, but find it almost comically silly when taken to extremes. But to grant them for trying, they read the story again and found where I had described that the robot was made about 3 years previously. Nope, publishing denied, underage.
I simply thanked them for their time, and asked if they followed the same rule with other sex toys. As one described somebody buying a vibrator and taking it home to use right away. They did not seem amused when I pointed out that was underaged vibrator.
They also were not amused when I pointed out they allowed animal stories, and I asked if all of the animals were over 18.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Kee
And Mr. Mushroom0311 you had a story published today so it does not look like you've given up. Thanks for hanging in there.
I have not, but it took 9 days. Now I just recognize this is where I park my occasional short stories and nothing else.
Grammarly does sometimes catch tense, but not always. Sometimes in fact I have had it tag one incorrectly, because in a conversation a character will use past tense for one thing, and future for another. And I often find it irritating because it will want me to condense words where it is not appropriate.
"Some time" is not always the same as "sometime". "Good night" is not always the same as "goodnight". The same with "hand shake" or "throw back". They always want to condense them, even when it is not appropriate. 9 times out of 10 when they want me to make a compound word, I ignore it.
"I pulled off the road after my near collision, and when I lifted my arm and could see my handshake."
"I was playing catch with me son, and I turned away and ran the opposite direction so I could throwback the ball over my shoulder."
Nope, just does not read the same at all. In fact, they almost become nonsensical. It is a good tool though, and people need to use their own common sense and realize that their suggestions are not always right.
Advanced Wordsmith
This is a little story I wrote up recently, and felt I should share it in here. And also comment a bit about how it came to be. And a few minor spoilers are below.
In short, it is a romance. As recently I have been wanting to write more "period pieces", one of the decades I had never before written about was the 1940's. Being quite literally one of the "Last of the Baby Boomers" (I was born 4 days before that era ended), it of course had a big influence on when I myself grew up. And always having a love for the music and other things of that era, I spent some time immersing myself into it. Researching clothes, movies, and other things.
And having been both stationed in the Bay Area and having lived there myself I was more than familiar with the landscape. What bases were where, the ships made and where the construction was located. Both of my grandmothers were among those that when their husbands or fiancée went off to war, they went to work to support the effort as they could. One in Seattle, the other in Long Beach.
But although there is obviously elements of nostalgia in the piece, I also try to prevent some aspects more or less as they were, "warts and all". And there are things that may make some uncomfortable in reading some segments. I also knowingly took some artistic liberty in the writing. During WWII, the US Navy was still mostly segregated. Blacks normally served as either messmen, or as stevedores (dockworkers loading and unloading ships). And not to put any down, after all Doris Miller was such a messman on the USS West Virginia when he won the Medal of Honor. But I did not want some of my characters to be messmen, so I made the choice to put them into supply.
Additionally, I did want to make it as accurate as I could, but blacks were also largely segregated to Carriers and Battleships, occasionally Cruisers. And this was a problem, as the loss of one of those ships was a huge deal during the war. So I had one of the ships be a Destroyer. We lost over 80 of those, so it was not unusual for the loss of a Destroyer to go almost unnoticed when it went down.
And also, realize the year and age at the end. When Sally gives her prayer at the end, it is 1969. Which means that her grandson is of the perfect age where if he also takes up the "Family Tradition", he will likely be in the service in 1989. Just in time for the Gulf War. So while it does try to end on an optimistic note, knowing in realty that her prayer was ultimately not answered in a way she wanted.
In short, it is a romance. As recently I have been wanting to write more "period pieces", one of the decades I had never before written about was the 1940's. Being quite literally one of the "Last of the Baby Boomers" (I was born 4 days before that era ended), it of course had a big influence on when I myself grew up. And always having a love for the music and other things of that era, I spent some time immersing myself into it. Researching clothes, movies, and other things.
And having been both stationed in the Bay Area and having lived there myself I was more than familiar with the landscape. What bases were where, the ships made and where the construction was located. Both of my grandmothers were among those that when their husbands or fiancée went off to war, they went to work to support the effort as they could. One in Seattle, the other in Long Beach.
But although there is obviously elements of nostalgia in the piece, I also try to prevent some aspects more or less as they were, "warts and all". And there are things that may make some uncomfortable in reading some segments. I also knowingly took some artistic liberty in the writing. During WWII, the US Navy was still mostly segregated. Blacks normally served as either messmen, or as stevedores (dockworkers loading and unloading ships). And not to put any down, after all Doris Miller was such a messman on the USS West Virginia when he won the Medal of Honor. But I did not want some of my characters to be messmen, so I made the choice to put them into supply.
Additionally, I did want to make it as accurate as I could, but blacks were also largely segregated to Carriers and Battleships, occasionally Cruisers. And this was a problem, as the loss of one of those ships was a huge deal during the war. So I had one of the ships be a Destroyer. We lost over 80 of those, so it was not unusual for the loss of a Destroyer to go almost unnoticed when it went down.
And also, realize the year and age at the end. When Sally gives her prayer at the end, it is 1969. Which means that her grandson is of the perfect age where if he also takes up the "Family Tradition", he will likely be in the service in 1989. Just in time for the Gulf War. So while it does try to end on an optimistic note, knowing in realty that her prayer was ultimately not answered in a way she wanted.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by DifeTig
Do you like Grammarly?
Well, I can't exactly say I "like" it, 95% of the time all it really wants me to do is move commas around to be honest. But it does help, and it also catches other mistakes I might have made, but missed such as a typo which is also a correct word so just a spell check misses it. And another reread is always a good thing, even if it is mostly just moving commas.
I think on average, depending on narration and style I average from 85-95 when I am done with it. Since in my conversations I often use things like dialects and unusual phrases, and that does give it fits which I always ignore. My characters are real people after all, so of course they do not sound like they are all English Majors. But it is a tool I use every time now, and suggest it even so.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by sprite
threads like these are kind of demoralizing. we work hard to get your stories out, make sure they are something you can be proud of and people can enjoy reading. it's a labor of love. no one is getting paid to do it. often times it takes time away from other things
Trust me, I completely and fully get that. And I try hard to not sound like I am "nagging on" things here. I just said how I saw it, but did not mean to imply anything.
It is what it is, and I intend it only as a comment, not a criticism. After so much, I really take almost nothing personally, unless it has a gun to my head. Things like this? Ultimately, it really is not that important. "Que Sera, Sera" really you might say.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Twisted_Skald
When you say you've been waiting 7 days, are these "Working" days or just calendar ones?
Is there a difference?
You have to realize, I write daily. If I am not adding to my long stories, I am writing short ones, or editing and revising older ones. I think maybe only 2 or 3 days a month for me are not spent writing in some way. And at least for me, finding another outlet to express myself helps with the PTSD and depression. A way for me to step outside of myself and my life, and imagine other things.