New Formulas

[Cruel2BKind]

I was accused by (what I suspect was) a single author of being very formulaic in many of my stories, so lately, I've been trying to switch it up a bit. Having more equal relationships between my characters, my first threesome, and a story about demons.

Anyone else trying anything new?

[Safe_Bet]

Originally Posted by Cruel2BKind

Anyone else trying anything new?

I tried this new bitch'in kinda blackish green fingernail polish. It looks cool, but it chips easily.

[PennLady]

I always try to do something a little different in my stories. It may not be major, and it may not always work, but I try. I don't think anyone's ever said I'm formulaic, but I certainly admit that nearly all of my stories have some sort of HEA. I just aim to make the path to the HEA a little different and interesting.

[glynndah]

My Earth Day story will be told from the male point of view, a first for me.

[Neonurotic]

Originally Posted by PennLady

I always try to do something a little different in my stories. It may not be major, and it may not always work, but I try. I don't think anyone's ever said I'm formulaic, but I certainly admit that nearly all of my stories have some sort of HEA. I just aim to make the path to the HEA a little different and interesting.

I think some categories just kind of write themselves for a HEA, but I did an Erotic Horror one knowing the ending wasn't going to be HEA. That category just doesn't seem like it should end like that, like I wouldn't think MC or Reluc would either.

[sr71plt]

My goodness, Safe_Bet Usurper is admitting to be a chippy.

She's been gone for a while. In prison, I presume.

[TE999]

I'm posting a multi-chapter story; the last one was in 2007. The chapters are longer as well; approx four Lit pages as opposed to my usual two.

My readers seem to like it so far.

Here's a link to Chapter 1: http://www.literotica.com/s/going-goth (shameless plug)

Chapter Three was just posted.

[YDB95]

Most of my stories do have certain common threads, but that's what I like and that's what I'm good at, so I see no reason not to stick to it.

I have done a few different things, like one non-reluctance story (which is my least-popular to date - oh well!) and one with a first-person female perspective (I was sure I'd get ripped to shreds on that one, but it scored quite well). But I think for any erotic story to really work, the author has to find it a turn-on...otherwise, what's the point? The author won't be inspired and it will show. So there are certain things you will never find in any of my stories and certain other things you will almost always find there. I do mix it up a little, of course, but I figure people who like my work will recognize it, and that's fine. I don't think of it as formulaic, but rather doing what I do best.

[Stella_Omega]

Originally Posted by sr71plt

My goodness, Safe_Bet Usurper is admitting to be a chippy.

She's been gone for a while. In prison, I presume.

Careful there, Pilot. You don't want to give the impression that you are some kind of pissy old queen, do you?

Actually she's been working like mad on her business-- and succeeded in her goals. For which, my deep admiration, Amy. I know what that takes.

Anyway.. changing formulas? yeah, maybe. Or going back to some early ones.

[sr71plt]

Careful there, Pilot. You don't want to give the impression that you are some kind of pissy old queen, do you?

Frankly, Miss Scarlett, I don't give a damn what you or the woman who has stolen her dead partner's identify here because she can't stand on her own think.

With her interpersonal "skills" I don't really believe she's made a success out of anything.

[sr71plt]

Deleted -- double post (thanks to the screwy behavior of the forum presentation over the past couple of days.)

[SEVERUSMAX]

Holy double post, Batman!

Watching two old opponents go after each other, fucking hilarious. Where is my popcorn?

Oh, and I agree with Mr. Consonants about Amy's interpersonal skills. Scary idea, agreeing with him over anything. Is it Ragnarok already?

Back on topic, some formulas are excessive, but some are popular because they are fun. They work. Don't mess too much with a good thing.

Or as they say where I'm from "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Reminds me to read some more porn.

[NaokoSmith]

Oh yes, I completely switched genres and style.

I was writing lush fantasy romance, with long long long sentences. Oh alright, they were run-ons.

I got into trying to write safe sex. I felt hypocritical because I've been setting up a review site and one of the criteria for stories to be reviewed on there is that it should be safe sex writing. (I like to read bareback! as it were . I just wanted this site to be somewhere younger readers could go and I felt it was important to make it safe sex.) I was looking for a werewolf story because I know they're popular and then I thought of one myself so I wrote it for a laugh.

It was much more popular than my other stories.

I'm reading and editing other people whose style is very different to mine and I joined an FB writers' group where they gently helped me into the 12 step programme for run-on writers. I got an editor - she really helped me see how to write more clipped attention-keeping sentences.

I love writing the werewolf stories, where I let myself have in-jokes, but I still hanker after my romantic run-ons secretly!

[sethp]

Does anyone have any actual real formulas to share/post?

Such as:

1 description of girl
2. Insert problem
3. Add man with solution


Etc?

Meaning a set structure that always works for a particular genre?

[NaokoSmith]

Originally Posted by sethp

Does anyone have any actual real formulas to share/post?

Such as:

1 description of girl
2. Insert problem
3. Add man with solution


Etc?

Meaning a set structure that always works for a particular genre?

You mean
1 - description of girl
2 - panting
3 - Add man with erection

(snoffle!)

Actually I tried to move away from that too. I wanted to write full on erotica but I didn't want the romance to be in any way a solution to the weregirl's problems. It so rarely is. These weregirls have so many porblems.

I put in a whole pack for her to be friends with. I have a lot of fun telling their stories but the readers are confused at the moment. I'm stuck waiting for my editor to send Chapt 4 back to me, (it's been a while, I hope she's OK). The readers have only had small snippets about the pack. I hope as the new chapters come online, those readers who are confused and uncertain will catch on, settle down and enjoy the story more.

[Stella_Omega]

Originally Posted by sethp

Does anyone have any actual real formulas to share/post?

Such as:

1 description of girl
2. Insert problem
3. Add man with solution


Etc?

Meaning a set structure that always works for a particular genre?

Not so much, but I quote a friend of mine here (with permission)

n 1984, Janice Radway began the analysis of the basic narrative structures beneath a heterosexual romance novel (Reading the Romance): (Keep in mind that—as with any categorizations or definitions—there are always exceptions.)

1. The heroine’s social identity is thrown into question/destroyed.
2. The heroine reacts antagonistically to an aristocratic male.
3. The aristocratic male responds ambiguously to the heroine.
4. The heroine interprets the hero’s behavior as evidence of a purely sexual interest in her.
5. The heroine responds to the hero’s behavior with anger or coldness.
6. The hero retaliates by punishing the heroine.
7. The heroine and hero are physically and/or emotionally separated.
8. The hero treats the heroine tenderly.
9. The heroine responds warmly to the hero’s act of tenderness.
10. The heroine reinterprets the hero’s ambiguous behavior as the product of grievous hurt.
11. The hero proposes/openly declares his love for/demonstrates his unwavering commitment to the heroine with a supreme act of tenderness.
12. The heroine responds sexually and emotionally to the hero.
13. The heroine’s identity is restored.

In 2007, Pamela Regis (A Natural History of the Romance Novel) furthered our understanding of the romance’s conventions by listing “eight essential elements of the Western romance novel”:

1. Society Defined: Scenes that describe the social context within which the story will take place.
2. The Meeting: Scenes that describe the meeting between the romantic protagonists.
3. The Barrier: Scenes that present external or internal reasons why the romantic protagonists cannot . . . [be in] a monogamous relationship with each other.
4. The Attraction: Scenes that develop the reasons why the romantic protagonists should marry.
5. The Declaration: A scene or scenes in which one of the romantic protagonists declares love for the other.
6. Point of Ritual Death: A moment in which a reunion between the romantic protagonists seems impossible; the point in which the happy ending is in jeopardy.
7. The Recognition: A scene or scenes in which the barriers are removed, usually through the recognition of new information.
8. The Betrothal: A scene or scenes in which one of the romantic protagonists ask the other to . . . [commit to a monogamous relationship] with each other.

Dunno if any of that helps...

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Composing the same ol stuff is called STYLE. Change is like faking a Brit accent. That said, progress involves discovery of improvements that are congruent and harmonious with who you are, and dropping what dont work no more...playing with Barbie, say.

My personal challenge, at the moment, is learning how to repair awkward prose, especially any sentence using the adjective MORE with an adverb. I also study lotsa vids to distill what real people do and how they respond in the grips of sex. Black men cant keep their fingers outta cum filled holes, 40 years ago no self respecting black man would eat a pussy. They arent good at it. Females spend too much time groping each other, and they make too much noise kissing. Sounds like lip smacking potato chips. And the final challenge involves depicting sex so the actions come together like perfect geometry or poetry in motion.

[SevenSquared]

I try to make all my stories a bit different and so far I think I have succeeded. However, I guess that doesn't stop me falling into certain literature (not erotic-specific literature) cliches from time to time.

One big one that I always seem to fall into is the 'darkest before dawn' cliche, where the protagonist is taken to the brink where it looks like everything is going wrong for them, but then is suddenly pulled back from the brink at the end with either a happy ending, or at least a neutral one. I try to avoid using Deus Ex Machina, but I guess my stories do tend to flow in that 'up, down, up, down, down, down, up, up , UP, UP!" kind of a way.

[PennLady]

There's a difference, though, between "formulaic" and "formula."

Many genres have a formula -- Stella's examples certainly are familiar to anyone who's read some romance. And I don't think there's anything wrong with writing along those formulas, especially if you do it well. A good story, even if elements are familiar, is a good story.

But then there's being formulaic, which (to me) means you write much the same story each time. Years ago, that was why I stopped reading Dean R. Koontz: I realized his books either had a psycho, or a monster and a psycho as the "bad guys." I got bored, I stopped reading.

I've tried different things in my stories. Like glynndah, I wrote a story in first-person, and the narrator was a guy (King's Bay). I wrote an EH story (The Collection, since taken down) which didn't do as well as I'd hoped, and probably should have been sf anyway. That was one that definitely went a formula as well -- perhaps also a strike against it. But it was different for me.

[soflabbwlvr]

I think early on I was falling into a trap of repeating the same type of story over and over. In the last 12-18 months, however, I have experimented with different formats and different genres. As a result I have seen real growth in my writing even though my scores, on average, have gone down. Not every experiment is a success.

That also may explain why I am stuck near the end of my current work in progress. This is one is far and away the most unique story in my catalog, and I am having serious problems with the final act. My beta reader has sent it back twice so far with stinging critiques of that part of the story. In both cases I reverted to earlier form, rather than continued to push the boundary.

[Safe_Bet]

uh, just from a readers stand point...

That's one of the major reasons that a LOT of us stick to / favorite a given writer. Its because we LIKE that formula and want more of it.

For example, I primarily read lesfic. If one of my favorite lesfic writers were to write a story about her heroine getting a bunch of man dick, then she would prolly no longer BE one of my favorites.

Y'all can write whatever you damn well please. Knock yourself out. I WOULD recommend that you do your experimentation under a different pen name though. Otherwise don't be surprised when you start losing your reader base because we expect loyalty in return.

[luvthedesserts]

There is also the “Hallmark Movie,” formula:
They meet.
They grow close.
Thirty minutes before the end, they fight.
Five minutes before the end, they reconcile and smooch.

You could go with the bad guy gets the girl and leaves her knocked up and alone in Reno. The Happily ever after crowd will storm your castle, but hey, it's fun to break hearts.

I agree with Pennlady. There is a difference between “formula” and “formulaic.”
Story formulas do get tediously boring. If you know the ending before you start, why bother? Formulaic writing is all right as long as the writing style is easy to read and fits your tastes. You simply have to find original twists that aren't telegraphed or stretch the boundaries of reality.

Example of too far:

The smart independent vampire slayer who forgets her wooden stakes and needs saved by the five hundred year old stud who feels terrible about all the women he's bedded and decides Miss Perky Tits is the chosen one.

Example of good twist:

“Luke, I'm your father.”

My two cents. Don't bother giving it back. It can't by a damn thing anymore.

[hoo_hoo_boo]

Originally Posted by Cruel2BKind

I was accused by (what I suspect was) a single author of being very formulaic in many of my stories, so lately, I've been trying to switch it up a bit. Having more equal relationships between my characters, my first threesome, and a story about demons.

Anyone else trying anything new?

I have always done things differently, none of my stories are repeats. I can't understand what the point of writing a story without imagination is. I am trying to write humour. It's not easy and here gentle humour isn't accepted. I guess it has to be bawdy and outrageous. If instead of humour, I put it in under another category, it would probably do better. I find though that my stories have some commonalities and I've always worked to eliminate them. I guess it could be called "style". I suspect though that "style" is a reflection of inadequacy. It's odd how these things happen. I'm also told I need to "sex my stories up". I'm not so sure as I think they're sexy enough and well written sex needs context. I'm trying to make my stories less disjointed. I have improved in this regard massively but still have a lot to learn.

[soflabbwlvr]

Originally Posted by Safe_Bet

uh, just from a readers stand point...

That's one of the major reasons that a LOT of us stick to / favorite a given writer. Its because we LIKE that formula and want more of it.

For example, I primarily read lesfic. If one of my favorite lesfic writers were to write a story about her heroine getting a bunch of man dick, then she would prolly no longer BE one of my favorites.

Y'all can write whatever you damn well please. Knock yourself out. I WOULD recommend that you do your experimentation under a different pen name though. Otherwise don't be surprised when you start losing your reader base because we expect loyalty in return.

That's fair. If a writer has found a niche and is comfortable with it and enjoys it, then there is no reason to experiment. But in my case, I outgrew what I had been doing and felt that I was ready to take on new challenges. I'm sure some of the readers of my older stories are not on board with my newer stuff, and newer readers may be confused by the variety in what I am producing now. I'm afraid that's going to continue as my projects for the rest of this year (if I can get the first one finished) will touch a number of different genres.

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Originally Posted by Safe_Bet

uh, just from a readers stand point...

That's one of the major reasons that a LOT of us stick to / favorite a given writer. Its because we LIKE that formula and want more of it.

For example, I primarily read lesfic. If one of my favorite lesfic writers were to write a story about her heroine getting a bunch of man dick, then she would prolly no longer BE one of my favorites.

Y'all can write whatever you damn well please. Knock yourself out. I WOULD recommend that you do your experimentation under a different pen name though. Otherwise don't be surprised when you start losing your reader base because we expect loyalty in return.

Bingo. Well said. If it aint broke dont go monkeying with it. If readers grow weary then its time to fish another hole.