Our Tips for Writers -- What We've Learned

[Rivals_Rapture]

I'd say "new" writers, but really, there is no point in a writer's life where they cannot improve in one way or another.

And so with that said, what are your tips for writing? What have you learned from your first story to your last?

--------------------------------------------------------

Just to start us out, I'll add.

Read your story out loud. Every sentence -- from beginning to end. Errors will be glaring when you force yourself to speak them.

[apenman]

I agree with Rivals_rapture: read aloud or, if your computer has a speech function, use it. It?s a great editing/proofreading tool! You can and will hear those glaring errors.

But here's my tip. If you're blocked or stalled on a part of your story, don't worry about it. It will come to you. I'm often quite pleased with what I wrote today that I couldn't figure out yesterday. Sleep works for me. Again. DON'T obsess on it. The words WILL come.

A.P.

[JB57]

I think the strongest advice I can offer is for the writer to write what interests and excites him/her. Trying to write for other people can be exhausting and demoralizing.

JB57

[apenman]

I think the strongest advice I can offer is for the writer to write what interests and excites him/her. Trying to write for other people can be exhausting and demoralizing.

JB57

Well said JB!

A.P.

[WriteThisWay]

1. Find your voice.
2. Cut out the extra shit, you're not Tolkien.
3. Notice that volume almost always equals mediocre to poor writing, the truly great writers here can take up to a year on a story while those who pump out large volumes typically just write slight variations of the same old shit.
4. Write things you know or you'll embarrass yourself with horrible caricatures of people, locations, dialect, etc.
5. Formatting, punctuation, spelling, etc. all count. If you don't care about your story then I don't care about your story.
6. Don't worry about finishing or posting, just work on the story until it's good.

[kamafight]

1. Find your voice.

never heard that one before. talk about trite and antiquated writing advice.

2. Cut out the extra shit, you're not Tolkien.

not everyone is hemingway/elmore leonard.

4. Write things you know or you'll embarrass yourself with horrible caricatures of people, locations, dialect, etc.

truly hilarious advice. most people on this board are guys and would never know what its like to have breasts or have their breasts/vagina lined up against an opponents breasts/vagina. hahahahhahahhahaha! this is the stuff of fantasy. so my advice is - always write about what you dont know. set the tit/sexfights in interesting places with characters whom you fantasize about.

[kamafight]

do you guys write a story from start to finish? or are there some scenes which you just need to write down before you provide some structure to the whole thing?

[Catharsis]

do you guys write a story from start to finish? or are there some scenes which you just need to write down before you provide some structure to the whole thing?

Primarily start to finish. The flow into and out of each scene is smoother and the tension/excitement level of the text is the right amount. Also, ideas come up while writing earlier parts that affect later parts, like certain character or environment details, and thus those chunks of material have to be reworked with them in mind. Furthermore, if you are trying to avoid overuse of certain words, prewritten chunks may contain words that were used in the paragraphs you wrote to lead up to them, potentially leading to well-written turns of phrase being tossed to avoid repetition. In general, "through-written" sections of story tend to end up better and more satisfying than reworked ones.

There's a bit of part 5 in Four Of A Kind that was written years before the rest of the story was started. It needed an appropriate lead-in, which was easy enough. Once the scene got pasted in, it turned out to be unwieldy. It had been written as an almost self-contained buildup from one tension level to another. There wasn't an obvious direction to go next that fit with the ups and downs of the entire chapter. Two different attempts were made, the story got set aside for a few months, and then a decent continuation was finally found. It's probably not noticable at all due to the polish work done afterward, but that was an object lesson in the effects "jumping ahead" can have on the writing process.

[Rivals_Rapture]

do you guys write a story from start to finish? or are there some scenes which you just need to write down before you provide some structure to the whole thing?

I generally start in the beginning and write all the way to the end, even if there is a certain section that is crystal clear in my mind. In some ways, it's because I need the beginning written, so that I can really feel where the characters are coming from and where I want them to go to.

That being said, there are times where I will be, let's say, halfway through a story, and just have a brain block and can't figure out what to do next. Sometimes in those situations, I'll move onto the next section that I have firmly mapped out in my head and write that -- with the plan of connecting to the two sections later on.

So far, that method has worked to get me over some of my creative humps.

[JB57]

do you guys write a story from start to finish? or are there some scenes which you just need to write down before you provide some structure to the whole thing?

I generally write from start to finish. Sometimes, I have a particular idea or scene that I want to work in that I know will be somewhere in the story, but I let it flow in organically, when it seems to fit.

It's great to see Catharsis' response! One point: I remember when Catharsis wrote "Homewrecker" he explained that he started with an idea of wanting to write a story about two oil-covered women fighting in the backseat of a SUV. That became the basis of the story, or the goal towards which it moved. That made me think of a critical piece of advice for writers: the scenario that you are basing your story around is fundamentally important. When it comes to writing sexfight stories, there is not a great deal you can do differently once you get to the actual sexfight. Thus, the surrounding story -the characters, the setting, the reasons they are fighting - are what make a story distinctive and potentially exciting. So, my advice is never stint on the scenario.

Two other pieces of advice, in keeping with the topic of this thread:

1) As I've explained before, I write by seeing the story in my head and then translating what I see to the page. This can result in very detailed stories. It is not necessary to have very, very detailed stories for them to be erotic - as I've written before, the aforementioned "Homewrecker" is one of my favourite stories but has relatively few details in the sexfight. However, if you do write very detailed stories, be sure to get the details correct. I remember once reading a story where the author did not explain what happened to certain items of clothing on the women who were fighting and that omission took me completely out of the story. Second, be sure your descriptions are accessible. I remember another time reading a story where the author had the characters in a very awkward sexual position and I could not envision exactly what I was supposed to be seeing in my mind.

2) Put effort into the buildup. There is no need to rush your characters into all-out sexual confrontations. A suspenseful sexfight story can be great. Kingofdapirates, for my money, is a master in gradually building up his stories until the reader is hanging on the edge of the seat, waiting for the next part and the final payoff. This takes more effort, but it is usually more rewarding for the writer and the readers.

JB57