Content guidelines question: Celebrities, prostitution, places and events similar to real ones

[mildlyaroused]

Whoa. You’re calling Taylor’s success into question? Dude, that is a no-no on many levels far as I’m concerned. People in general, celebrities or otherwise, have the right to the accolades their art has earned.

They're not calling her success into question. The issue they're describing is a real thing that happens in the real world.

How does a B-tier awards show get publicity? Well, it gets an A-tier celebrity involved.

Why would the A-tier celebrity care enough to participate? Well, the award show promises to give them the top award.

Everybody wins. Yay corruption!!!

It happens in the real world, so it's a good thing to write about. It's not an accusation on Taylor Swift specifically.

 

[AchtungNight]

They're not calling her success into question. The issue they're describing is a real thing that happens in the real world.

How does a B-tier awards show get publicity? Well, it gets an A-tier celebrity involved.

Why would the A-tier celebrity care enough to participate? Well, the award show promises to give them the top award.

Everybody wins. Yay corruption!!!

It happens in the real world, so it's a good thing to write about. It's not an accusation on Taylor Swift specifically.

I have mentioned corruption in my stories. But I’m not making it clear it’s the norm. Taylor should fire the publicist in question, at the least.

 

[ElectricBlue]

As is, part of me thought, "It takes a while to get to the good stuff." But, I also thought it set up a lot of the rest of the story.

That's part of the point of what I'm asking - is all of that set up really necessary? If it is, start the story earlier.

But when you look at these "preambles" closely, they very often (nearly always) don't have much to do with the story being told. They're not relevant to "being now." Indeed, they often get in the way of the story.

 

[ChimilDetin]

They're not calling her success into question. The issue they're describing is a real thing that happens in the real world.

How does a B-tier awards show get publicity? Well, it gets an A-tier celebrity involved.

Why would the A-tier celebrity care enough to participate? Well, the award show promises to give them the top award.

Everybody wins. Yay corruption!!!

It happens in the real world, so it's a good thing to write about. It's not an accusation on Taylor Swift specifically.

I thought it was pretty commonly accepted that lower-tier awards shows will show favor to those who can actually be there. The VMAs come to mind immediately. The many spins on the CMAs as well, and the Critic's Choice awards, and the ESPYs, and ...

If anything, I'd make the case some shows where Swift was deserving of awards instead gave them to folks who could be there to accept/perform instead. It's a two-way street. But with some of these shows where the voting criteria are more opaque, it's easy to cast an askew eye. Plus, when stories come out about Swift not looking pleased at an awards show when she didn't win, or her Kanye experience, such a thing is the kind of thing a publicist would say, if only to be reassuring.

For better or worse, the ultimate measure of success, at the end of the day, is either self-satisfaction or sales, depending on what you're after.

That's part of the point of what I'm asking - is all of that set up really necessary? If it is, start the story earlier.

But when you look at these "preambles" closely, they very often (nearly always) don't have much to do with the story being told. They're not relevant to "being now." Indeed, they often get in the way of the story.

Yeah. I would have liked someone to look at what I had to maybe decide if I could get where I wanted to go faster. But I'm not going to waste more people's time on this than I have already, myself included.

That said, I do think some picture-painting never hurts. I told the story of Travis' injury from the broadcast perspective to sell the idea that the entire nation had just seen both Kelce loaded into the ambulance with an air cast on and wondered, of course, what was going through Swift's mind, not even really thinking about the wager. The broadcasters, Nantz and Romo, make a point to acknowledge that many must be wondering as they show Donna and Taylor leaving the box.

Nonetheless, though, this discussion has been enlightening. It's enjoyable speaking with open-minded authors with interesting perspectives.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That said, I do think some picture-painting never hurts.

Painting the picture is essential, but that's not what info-dumps do. They're more like a newspaper report written by a very ordinary journalist, that should be buried just before the real-estate ads, where no-one reads them unless they buying a house. And they're not helpful for that, either.

Whereas the vivid portrayal of character, using all five senses, that's essential - otherwise you just have cardboard cut-outs, and that's probably an even worse sin.

 

[ChimilDetin]

Painting the picture is essential, but that's not what info-dumps do. They're more like a newspaper report written by a very ordinary journalist, that should be buried just before the real-estate ads, where no-one reads them unless they buying a house. And they're not helpful for that, either.

Whereas the vivid portrayal of character, using all five senses, that's essential - otherwise you just have cardboard cut-outs, and that's probably an even worse sin.

I think I might know what you're talking about now: Stories where there's a "cast list" at the start. No narrative to introduce the characters, just a laundry list of who will be in the story and pertinent background info. The story takes off more like a rocket with that as the launchpad than from a rolling start where you start getting the picture from actual exposition.

I sometimes have to remind myself that, when I search for some reading here, I normally filter out any stories here that don't have the "Hot" or "Editor's Choice" label (go ahead and knock me for that if you want; I only have so much time for erotica so I want what time I spend on it to be worthwhile). I don't think a lot of the stories here with those labels have that sort of opening.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I sometimes have to remind myself that, when I search for some reading here, I normally filter out any stories here that don't have the "Hot" or "Editor's Choice" label (go ahead and knock me for that if you want; I only have so much time for erotica so I want what time I spend on it to be worthwhile). I don't think a lot of the stories here with those labels have that sort of opening.

You're right, they generally don't. Editor's Choices are very rare, but a high scoring Red H, up past 6.60 or 6.70, is usually going to be decent writing - where the score is indicative of something.

 

[Bramblethorn]

You're right, they generally don't. Editor's Choices are very rare, but a high scoring Red H, up past 6.60 or 6.70, is usually going to be decent writing - where the score is indicative of something.

6.60 is a very good score indeed ;-)