Comfort level??

I'm trying to write a story for the first time. I'm definitely outside my comfort level. I just keep telling myself that I don't have to post it when I'm done if I find it too disappointing. My backup plan is to ask someone here to write it from an outline. I really think the idea is a good one, I just don't have much confidence in my writing ability yet.

ssalo

 

Been there, done that, have the t-shirt. All I am able to do with my poor scribblings is picture in my mind something happening, then write it down and try to flesh it out. That is probably why my stories are so short - small mind.

I sincerely want to encourage you to keep trying. Ellen helped me a lot with encouragement and with proofing for me some of my earlier paragraphs. She pointed out some of the traps I was falling into so I could avoid them for the rest of the story. Big help.

Don't give up.
Don

 

I never outline, never plot, just write. I usually visualize a location and situation. When I start writing, I have no idea what my characters look like, or what they are going to do. They guide me, I don't have a say in the matter.

The best lesson I was taught by lubutt17 is to write with your senses. When your character is doing something, what do they see and hear? When writing a love scene, what do they taste, feel, smell and hear? If they are standing on a beach, describe what they are experiencing. I've made myself remember this each and every time I sit down to write.

Most importantly? Have fun and write from the heart.

 

I know exactly what you mean.

I am not here to critique others. In fact, I do not even vote. Although I started the Story Review thread, the reviews that I, myself, have written have all been 10/10's. And yet, I do categorize the writers here, just like everyone else. But, I do not do it like most.

I do not typecast the contributors by their preferred subject matter, as so many do. Instead, I typecast them by a combination of their craft and their tolerance for thought. There is a subtle difference at play, and it is worth a bit of digression.

For instance, there is currently an active thread on this board called Pedophilia? It has been started by a contributing writer who deigns to question the mindset of people who would write about sex between adults and children. On the one hand, I am willing to cut him a bit of slack. In a place such as this, stories about pedophilia no doubt attract pedophiles. This place is a magnet, to the point where the moderators don't do much here, anymore, apart from scour the pix/vid forum for underage sex. (I am convinced that the pedophilia will eventually shut the storyboard down.) Anyway, that is the point that I think the thread owner is trying to make. On the other hand, he sometimes appears to cross a fine line by impugning the mindset of skilled writers who would engage their craft in verboten ideas, such as pedophilia or incest.

I see his point, that some of the pedo trash showing up on this forum is both semi-literate and either pseudo-biographical, or the expression of the authors' (hopefully) unrequited fantasies. Trash of that sort isn't fiction. It is either a cry for help, or a cry for clap-irons.

However, I would hope he is not meaning to paint skilled writers with the same brush, and I would hope that he would have respect for the right of skilled authors to express themselves as the imperatives of the story require. Take, for example, poor JAT, who tends to get drawn into such debates, since his own stories flirt with subject matter that strikes a nerve. Or DC, who writes about incest, and vehemently defends the
rights of authors to do so.

Some contributors to this site have the stomach to write about absolutely anything that serves the story, and they have the skill to pull it off with aplomb.

Other contributors are negatively judgmental of whatever kink they themselves happen to abhor. It is like the old joke about speeders on the highway: anyone going slower than me is a grandfather, and should retire his license; anyone going faster is a fucking lunatic who should have his license confiscated. It's the same with porn. Some people - and supposed "writers" among them, come here for filth, and yet have the temerity to judge my filth as less worthy of acceptance than their own.

Then, there are writers who fall into the middle: the ones who respect and espouse the notion of freedom of expression, but have difficulty writing about subject matter that they, themselves, would never wish to experience.

How to explain this, without getting into another tangent about incest or pedophillia? Okay. I hate writing about myself, but here's an example, which would hit home with anyone who has read my books: I am asked, constantly, whether I am a mathematics professor at Harvard or MIT (if you have ever read my filth, you would know why). Answer? none of the above. I am only okay at math. Yet, the main character of Nascent, a teen math prodigy, must "work well," because most of my readers are convinced that I am a mathematician. Thus, this is a non-sexual, non-fetish, non-impulse-oriented instance of a case where I have strayed far out of my own personal comfort zone and created a character that works, psychologically.

So, that is how I judge, and it is how I categorize the authentic authors, who most likely do this for a living in their real lives, from the "false" authors, who have been turned on by some porn story or other and take it upon themselves to try their hands at the craft. Mind you, this is not a qualitative judgment. A great many of the "amateur stories" are very good, skillwise, and very hot! Yet, it is easy to identify the amateurs by their tendency to confine themselves to a narrow topical comfort zone. And all too often, they betray themselves as amateurs, when they question the mindsets and motives of any other writer whose subject matter happens to fall outside of their own comfort level.

So, here are the three categories, in a nutshell:

Most likely professional authors: tend to judge other writers by skill, and not subject matter. They almost never judge subject matter, unless the story is blatantly gratuitous or semi-autobiographical. (Regrettably, far too many of the stories here at XNXX fall into that category, and this will inevitably get the story board shut down....)

Could be professional authors, or can be, if they want to be: have the right mindset with respect to subject matter and the principle of freedom of expression. But, they have difficulty with writing outside of their sphere of personal experience, and pulling it off.

Not professional authors, and only here to play: these are the "writers" who would have the temerity to categorize DC as a practioner of incest, after having given a cursory skim of his work, or who would brand JAT as a pedophile, or would castigate Lord Exia for his espousal of rape. Not only can they not see past the fact that they are reading fiction, but they have no appreciation for that fact that the notion of freedom of expression is a difficult, hard-won road that confers both liberties and responsibilities. It gives us the liberty to express ourselves. It also imposes the responsibillity that we respect the liberty of others to do so - even when their modes of expression are not compatible (for whatever reason) with ours.

To reuse a no doubt hackneyed analogy: does anyone really suppose that Stephen King is a homicidal psychopath? Or that Michael Crichton was a scientist? Or that Dan Brown is a forensics and symbology expert? Or that Anne Rice communes with vampires in the wee hours?

Sheesh. I've written a goddamned book.

I think my point, ejls, is that you fall into the middle category, at the very least. And as for that murder mystery? You definitely have it in you, to pull it off with aplomb. Go, girl, go!

A.P.

P.S. - pardon typos. Impossible to edit more than one sentence at this ridiculous place.

 

I just wing it, too, and let the character drive me.

That advice about the senses is excellent. Hope I have the sense to remember the scents.

 

Eljs- I was really unhappy about a story that I recently submitted I invite you to read it Shattered Dreams it should be posting fairly soon and really outside of my comfort zone and against all of my personal feelings and morals... I put a teaser up here on the forum... its not particularly long

 

I'd love to read your new story. Be sure to post the link here so we can all find it.

 

Makes me wonder where I fall on that scale.

 

LOL! To repeat, it is not a qualitative judgment! Some of the hottest, freshest stories here have been written by people who are happily and effectively stuck on a narrow rail! If people like to read your stories, keep writing them! And if people don't like to read them? Screw'em! Write anyway! If it is fun to write, then write! And if you find that you have the most fun writing what you like to write, because you like to write it, then write it! Sheesh!

Fun is the only reason my stories are here. And, umm, insomnia.

A.P.

 

Open Letter to Daddycums!!!!

DC:

I am reading Allison and the PD's! For real, this time, with attention. Finally, I have time for an epic novel.

I have commented the first paragraph. For those of you who are wishing that more could be done with the Story Review thread, take note: I have pretty much decided to give Allison and the Primdales a running commentary, in its Comments section. Not every chapter, not by far (they flirth with triple digits). In short, I am on Chapter Two and already having a ball.

If my comments cut to the quick, DC, I beg your pardon. Just calling them as I see them. And I am not putting a lot of thought into it. My comments will be Rorschach blots, and sometimes cruel (I would expect no less from you).

I will not vote until I reach the end. I have never voted on a story at XNXX, and cannot promise that I will do so for this one. I am a writer; not a reader. But, well, oh, never mind.

One more thing: DC's trash is almost as l--o--n--g as my trash, so I will not read this tome in a day. But I will make progress as time allows, and comment at each milestone.

Who knows? I just might become DC's most loathed troll!!!

A.P.

 

From Left Field-

Finger Food for Two:

Measure three cups each of emotional and sexual stress into a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and heat on low. Just before it gets too hot, rub it all over your dinner partner's body. Let them do the same for you, being careful to save out enough to vigorously rub into each other's private parts. You'll both know when you've rubbed it in enough. This is called comfort food and it can be very satisfying.

If it takes a little longer to prepare desert, it's nearly always worth it.

Anyone know any good desert recipes?

ssalo

 

Besides berries and whipped cream? Besides melting ice cream drizzled with Grand Marnier?

If you seriously need a recipe, don't contact the Food Network, pm me.

 

I found your story and am posting the link:

http://stories.xnxx.com/story/24112/The_Slver_Lining_of_a_Blue_Eyed_Dreamer_(1)

 

I'm the same way. I see locations, situations, and characters in my mind, like watching a movie.

I'm really not the one writing the stories; the "movie" writes itself. I'm just the guy who puts them on the screen.

 

Okay I will :excited:

 

Eljs no that wasn't the one I really wanted you to read I have another that should be out by monday maybe? I'll put the link up when I get it.

 

AP:

As long as you're honest with your comments, feel free to be as brutal as you want. I'd prefer if you're tactful about it, but that's not required; any constructive criticism is always welcome. If you don't like it, go ahead and say it. If I were trying to please everyone, I wouldn't write incest stories, would I?

 

DC-

Please don't start trying to please everybody.

ssalo

 

AP:

I've been reading and enjoying your critiques of the early chapters. You raise some good points. From your comments it sounds like you're assuming that Allison is too good to be true. Thus, the supposedly bright characters don't act in a plausible manner because they're not distrustful enough. A fair assumption and a logical deduction.

The big question is whether your assumption is correct. Is Allison really too good to be true? She is definitely manipulative, but is she, ultimately, only interested in what's best for her, or is her scheming actually for the benefit of her new family?

I'm not going to say. You'll just have to read for yourself.

 

Don't worry; I will continue to write for myself, and if anyone enjoys my stories, so much the better.