The seed from which your story grew

[EmilyMiller]

I think we've established that tentacle monsters . . .

Sorry, I just heard the slamming of brakes on the Bronx River Parkway, but not that sound of metal crunching on metal. Often when that happens Engine 62 and Ladder 39 are the first to respond to get people out of the wreckage. Nothing happened this time.

So tentacle monsters, like vampires, centaurs, werewolves, and many others don't require a scientific explanation. They just are.

Mine has a “scientific” explanation and there is nothing you can do to stop me offering it

Em

 

[gunhilltrain]

Mine has a “scientific” explanation and there is nothing you can do to stop me offering it

Em

That's fine. Like Godzilla and other monsters always had an explanation, usually related to something atomic. The Japanese, being traumatized by being nuked twice, invented that trope I think.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Recent inspiration - what might I do for Geek Pride? What sort of geeking do I like? Board games, as in the boardgamegeek website. How might a game become erotic? Obviously there's potential rewards for a winner, but there was that time we played a resource-swapping game and someone offered her partner a blow job to go with the relevant card.

My partner claimed that wasn't fair.

First bloke retorted, in the most louche voice, that it was perfectly fair - he'd accept a blow job from anyone at the table...

I'm extrapolating from there.

 

[ronde]

About half of my stories were inspired by a person I've known or a situation in which I found myself. Most of the rest have come from reading about some event and then wondering how and why that event happened. Some have come from songs and especially country/western songs. They all tell a story. All I do is flesh out the story a little with how and why the characters in the song did what they did.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's fine. Like Godzilla and other monsters always had an explanation, usually related to something atomic. The Japanese, being traumatized by being nuked twice, invented that trope I think.

No, proper (kinda) scientific explanation. Probably with way too much exposition.

Em

 

[gunhilltrain]

No, proper (kinda) scientific explanation. Probably with way too much exposition.

Em

Hey, the Godzilla explanation was enough for me. King Kong is the one that is baffling, because there is no explanation. Yet I've always wondered how that got him from a pier on the Hudson River (I assume) to a theater around Times Square without anyone noticing.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Hey, the Godzilla explanation was enough for me. King Kong is the one that is baffling, because there is no explanation. Yet I've always wondered how that got him from a pier on the Hudson River (I assume) to a theater around Times Square without anyone noticing.

The magic of movies.

Em

 

[gunhilltrain]

The magic of movies.

Em

It's still fun to imagine him knocked out on animal tranquilizers (a lot of that), being strapped down to a trailer big enough to hold him, and then having him towed (how many tractors needed?) down 42nd or 57th, the two streets wide enough for that. It would have to be done at night, and they wold need the permission of the police department and various other agencies to close the streets. Seems like a plot hole to me.

 

[CyranoJ]

Pick one (or more) of your stories and tell us about the moment its seed was planted. What sparked the idea? An image that popped into your mind? A "what if" scenario? A song lyric? A dream? A conversation you overheard? A character idea you had to bring to life?

This isn't really a process thread (e.g., planners vs. pantsers). I just like hearing how specific stories got their start. If you're so inclined, I'd also love to hear about how your story grew from a seed into its final form.

The seed for "Strange Hunger" started from meeting a person on another, specifically kink-focused site who described having an IRL passive rape fetish. (Those were the specific words they used, so I won't dilute it into saying "passive noncon fetish.") Basically this was a person who liked to pretend to be raped and went to venues -- such as "adult theaters" -- where they could find people to satisfy that fetish. And as they described it, it was absolutely a fetish, not just a kink. It was something they needed in order to have a truly satisfying orgasm.

It seemed that they had a husband there protecting them at all times and they described the men who satisfied said fetish as "preeving trolls," the first time I'd ever heard that term. And they seemed to have otherwise led a fairly privileged and secure life.

The story spun out of a few questions that came to mind in reading their accounts. What would this fetish look like for someone who grew up when "adult theatres" were mostly a thing of the past? What would it look like from the vantage point of someone who didn't have the kind of secure existence from which my source had explored the fetish? Perhaps a runaway? And how would someone acquire such a fetish (my source was unspecific as to where their own fetish came from but I expect the story would probably be dark)?

Most of "Strange Hunger" spun out of my answers to those questions. Excepting a final sequence when the story's protagonist encounters a setting specifically predicated on using a pitch-black environment and hand-picked clientele to create an anonymous and safe-ish environment for "preeving." That part of the story is directly an adaptation of one of my source's stories; my contribution to it is basically the specificity of my character's perspective and that I'm describing it in my own way.

The story ends with an unresolved question: what's more important to the protagonist? This fetish, the "strange hunger" of the title, or her existing relationships? I leave that up in the air, for the most part, but after observing the character's trajectory through the story, I don't feel like it's in too much doubt which path they'll choose. Any fetish that puts your mind and body at that much risk has to be powerful.

 

[Dearelliot]

My last story, the idea for it was created by me thinking back to a time when I was in the Army in the occupation of Berlin during the 50s. A story about a German lady named Liz, an unsuccessful prostitute I lived with in a room over a bar, near my duty post. Some of it was true, but a lot of it was well embellished.

The characters were all real people I knew, just not quite as sexually dominant as I portrayed them in my story. I did add in an affair I had at the time with my aunt, again well embellished. I had a lot of fun writing about it, moving the characters around, touching on some real-life experiences, and adding to the story what I would've liked to have happened.
I did return to Berlin maybe 12 years later and did run into Liz again, but under different circumstances and not very interesting.

 

[Rustyoznail]

My ideas come from many places. The Pink Orchid one, https://literotica.com/s/hit-me-harder, grew from a karate fight training session. The first line of the story is practically word for word what my trainer said to me.

The idea for It's a washout came from some very wet camping trips Bec and I have had over the years. Not with my sister...

The 750 word stories, Keeping up with the Ruston-White's and Keeping Up at Cambridge were interesting. I had the idea for the former after watching "Keeping Up Appearances" the week before. Stickygirl made a comment about girls at an elite riding school riding a Sybian. I took that idea and changed the girl to their son. In the TV show, there's a strong suggestion that Hyacinth is oblivious to her son being gay.

And finally, The Leinyere Farmer's Daughter with the tag line "So, two salesbeing's autolandau broke down near a farm..." Obviously, it's a play on the old salesman/farmer's daughter joke(s) set in the world of Leinyere.

 

[Lifestyle66]

My stories come from a swirling mass of information and story ideas in my mind, which seems to combine in a logical series when prompted.

For example, my wife previously went on semi-annual business trips at a time when I was reading Loving Wives (cheating wives) stories. She described her favorite happy hour bar at her hotel, and her favorite bartender and some of the other patrons there. I came up with a story idea of giving her a "hall pass" to play during one of her trips (she never did though). And I intended to eventually use that brief story in my "Lifestyle" series about a swinger couple.

Then when I saw the Amorous Goods 2022 author challenge, someone in the forums here mentioned writing a story about a hot wife anklet. I thought "Hmmm. A wife sitting at a bar with a hot wife anklet?" So, I dusted off that hall pass story and expanded upon it. I created the pair of magic anklets, and the husband buys one as a gift for his wife before her next trip. But how and why were the anklets made: a witch's club in NYC (based on an old movie) described their origin. And I just massaged it all into "Amorous Goods: The Anklet Pair", a 17K word story with my favorite MC swinger couple who trust each other.

So, the "seed" for that final story was another author mentioning writing about a hot wife anklet.

 

[TxRad]

Most of my stories came from a single picture.

 

[tenyari]

My 'Naked Alien Girl' series. A new story for which just went out about 10 minutes ago.

There are two seeds to this. One goes back to around 2004-2008, the other goes back to about a year ago.

A year ago I'm in the middle of chapter 5 or 6 of an upcoming story (working title: Villains) which basically takes my 'naked people' theme and puts in together with 'super powers' but is the story of the people the world thinks are the Villains...
- In the middle of that chapter I'm watching videos on modern Mexico, thinking of my own experiences visiting there, and some stray thought reminds me of all of those "Aliens living among us" movies where the Aliens are either secretly monsters ( V ), or being oppressed in refugee camps, and so on.. all while I'm watching a bunch of physicists and 'space futurists' talk about the likely nature of actual first contact (mostly splitting between Neil DeGrasse Tyson, PBS Space Time, and Isaac Arthur).

All of that jumbles into the thought that... I need a write a story that blends this all together, along with my usual themes, and uses erotic comedy to show what under the hood is a more realistic take: not an invasion or oppression, but a peaceful contact.

At some point a small core cast popped into my head. The leads of a romance after hearing the a reference to show 'how I met your mother' or something...

And then I just started writing...

That gave me the seeds for 'How I Met My Naked Alien Girlfriend' and the prequel to it, 'First Contact'.

Yet before either of those was done, I happened upon a writer's challenge for a 2000 work 'enforced nudity' story. So I wrote the story of the granddaughter of my main story's protagonist, in 'Nun-thing to Worry About'.

The fuller story for that just went out a few minutes ago:

https://literotica.com/s/jacarandas-naked-college-journey-ch-01
Synopsis: A century into the future, Jacaranda becomes the first 'Naked Alien Girl' to attend Blanke Schande University - a prestigious yet highly over-sexualized school where all women are nude. Jacaranda's story began in my short story 'Nun-thing to worry about'. This tale is the larger story of her naked adventures and journey of sexual exploration.

As for the 2004-08 seed... I was involved in a shared universe where I started to see the entire thing as extremely toxic. I left in a way that left me with extreme writer's block. But put the idea in my head of... 'why can't I just make a story that has the 'nude in public' theme but on a happy comedic tone with uplifting themes...? I just had to wait for my writer's block to end before I could do it.

 

[GrushaVashnadze]

Pick one (or more) of your stories and tell us about the moment its seed was planted. What sparked the idea?

First I sat thinking "what if..." What if there were a world where the pursuit of sexual pleasure were the highest social aspiration? where fucking were the go-to pastime for everyone, everywhere, any time? where being a good fucker were an essential part of a decent education? where sluttishness were the mark of true class? Sounds like the perfect porn fantasy, doesn't it?

But then I sat thinking "then what?" What would happen to love, in a society where there was no more commitment? What would it do to our young people, growing up in a society where there was no such thing as fidelity? And how would society treat those who demur against this vision of society?

Enter Alison, eighteen years old, daughter of a butt-plug magnate, born "with a silver dildo in her mouth", winner of the prize for Best Assfucker in the North Cuntshire Fuck Championships, recently accepted on the highly prestigious National Diploma in Fucking course at the Royal Academy of Fucking in London (course director: Prof. E. J. Cuntslicker, Fellow of the Royal Society of Fuckers). All's well, until she meets Rob, an "Undesirable" by law whose parents have been expelled from the "Enlightened" lands - and who falls in love with her. Whither now? Find out in Alison Goes to London...

 

[Bramblethorn]

Pick one (or more) of your stories and tell us about the moment its seed was planted. What sparked the idea? An image that popped into your mind? A "what if" scenario? A song lyric? A dream? A conversation you overheard? A character idea you had to bring to life?

My stories don't usually have just one seed. It's more of a polymerisation thing: I have a zillion tiny ideas floating around in my head, and every so often two of them bump together and fit together nicely, and gradually they clump together into a critical mass and then I have to write the damn thing.

But some of those seeds:

- My partner was eating in a café and overheard a young woman talking with an older man, outlining the ground rules for their sugar-daddy relationship. That seemed like something that would be interesting to write in a story, and that became part of Red Scarf.

- Getting annoyed by clichés in fiction about autism and about sex work, and wanting to write something that dealt with those topics without getting into the clichés. (Red Scarf again.)

- Thinking about how we carry around little simulacra of our loved ones in our heads - the thing that tells me "Jane would love this book, I should tell her about it" - and about how those simulacra can diverge from the people they're modelled on, and about how part of grief is the conversations that one has with those simulacra after their originals are gone. (Loss Function, also influenced by one of the earlier AI-writing threads here.)

- A dream where I woke up with an echo of very intense emotion that I couldn't easily describe, and wanting to somehow convey that. (Magnum Innominandum.)

 

[ElectricBlue]

Cafes. Those ephemeral relationships one has with the counter staff of the city or suburban cafe one goes to regularly each morning in the city for a year, four seasons; or every third day on the way back home from somewhere down the hill. Or the people you see on the regular commute, or waiting in line for their coffee, and you see her long blonde hair and admire her legs, and after five weeks you find out her name is Laura and she works in Education. She'll be happy to chat in the mornings, but won't go out for lunch, but will still have a friendly smile the next day. Everyday people living everyday lives. Or the girl who wore your white knitted jumper, forty years ago, when you both lived in college.

 

[PennameWombat]

”Mel’s Universe” (2/3 of my posted stories) grew out of a passing and resolutely non-sexual encounter in Guadalajara, Mexico, a long time ago, with a tall brunette and her shorter blonde friend. Her name wasn’t Mel (Melanie) and only the appearances of Mel and Shelly came from that seed. That merged with a long-ago dream that involved radio-controlled planes. No, really.

My recent Valentine’s Day story, The Way to a Man’s Heart, came from me thinking about some way to work an actual human heart into a Valentine’s Day story. It seemed a serial killer and a dead victim’s revenge tale was the ticket.

A dream was the seed for Through the Woods, but was nothing more than a couple in a wooded park, along a river and in a decaying city. Another dream about a M and F who ‘missed’ the first time around and meet again a decade later, with some complications included, is the seed for Maddy Moo Cow, my first ever April Fool’s entry. Dreams never translate directly, it’s only snippets that need lots of construction.

Aliens, nanotech, AI, demons, angels and accountancy are all seeds that always float around and often fall into my stories.

 

[MrPixel]

Oh, gosh... I was reminded Tuesday night of my "seed" for Orchestra Practice, an Autumn-Spring romp I threw together for the 750-word event. The model-beautiful young woman is real, and reminded everybody of this at rehearsal this week by wearing a tight crop-top (albeit with lightly padded bra) and yoga leggings with a waistline 'V' designed to emphasize her navel. I'm surprised the vocals professor didn't send her home, her outfit was so provocative. She doesn't play viola, by the way, but another instrument that allows her to otherwise blend into being "one of the band", compared to my role on oboe, which puts me front-and-center maybe more often than I would prefer.

And to answer the other question about reality versus fantasy... she looks through me as we pass in the hallway just like any attractive 20-something woman is going to. I've been not acclimating to that for, gosh, 20-25 years.

 

[Duleigh]

Back in '21 I wrote what I thought (and still think) was a truly original take on A Christmas Carol, I titled it A Krissymas Karole after two characters in the story. I had decided to merge A Christmas Carol with It's a Wonderful Life until I discovered that they're the same story. It was planned to be dropped on the 2021 winter holiday contest as my triumphant return having not posted a story since '08... but I missed the contest deadline and decided to wait for the 2022 contest.

Because I had so much fun writing A Krissymas Karole, I wrote a short stroker by taking 2 characters from A Krissymas Karole and put them in a "spy thriller" in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg titled A Serendipitous Liaison, which received very low page views but good scores. I learned one very important lesson from that story - don't use fancy words in the title. Readers trip over each other to get away from stories with a fancy word in the title.

But because I had so much fun writing A Serendipitous Liaison and I had an outline for a couple as they fell in love and grew together in A Krissymas Karole, I began to write the story of Don Campbell and Lanh Nguyen, two high school nerds that found love and eventually tragedy together. I titled the story after my original idea, We're a Wonderful Wife, and it grew, and it grew and it grew and it edged closer to its climax in A Krissymas Karole.

I eventually figured out how to avoid the ruling against submitting a chapter of a story in a contest but as I grew closer to the horror of A Krissymas Karole the more I began to hate myself - I couldn't find a way to write about the love and growth of these two characters and eventually kill one of them! As my characters loved and supported each other through their own tragedies that were forecast in A Krissymas Karole a reader asked "Why do you hate these two so much?"

That was it, I couldn't do it. I tore up A Krissymas Karole and re-wrote it into A Krissmas Karole, it lost its edge, but I could live with myself. I saved my characters life, gave the heroine of A Krissmas Karole (her name was Karole, of course) her own happy ending and am now finishing up chapter 14 of We're a Wonderful Wife. My re-written contest entry failed to live up to the title of Erotic Horror, and didn't win the contest, and I still feel the original effort would have scored higher, even my "fan club" would have enjoyed it and held back their uno-bombs, but I love what I ended up with, and now, long after the 2022 contest, the scores for A Krissmas Karole are starting to rise.

And I'm sure my readers are going to love the happy ending that I'm including in the happy ending.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

About three months ago, I read a short story by Dostoyevsky called "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," which describes a desperate man who bought a revolver with the aim of ending his life and for months postponed the decision to do it until one day he puts the revolver on the table and decides that the day has come. At that moment, I knew I had the beginning of a story.

That was a recurring theme in Dostoyevsky's work. In his book Demons(I highly recommend it) there is a character, an engineer named Kirilov who is planning to kill himself to proclaim his independence from god, and he claims it is only man's fear of the painful moment of death that prevents him from doing so. Yet he still struggles with the act itself. An amazing book with more than few amazing and idealistic characters, as one can often find in Dostoyevsky's work.

 

[Duleigh]

One more:
We're a Wonderful Wife and another favorite Stormwatch both come from one seed, Andi's Dream, which I'm going to start posting later this year.

 

[Northstar4695]

I think the most unusual story I have written is The Way Back to the Sea. The seed was not erotic or romantic. It was simply a book I read about a shipwreck.

I was reading a non-fiction account of a shipping accident with vivid first-person descriptions of the horror of that incident. As I was reading it, I felt a strong urge to write a shipwreck into a story. I have some maritime experience previously in life, so I knew I could write it credibly and I thought it would be something unique and compelling. From there, I brainstormed how it could possibly turn into a romance. I dreamed up two maritime cadets who survive the wreck together, bond in their mental and physical recovery, and go on a bit of a journey while they contemplate their future after the traumatic incident. The tone of the story is serious throughout. I felt it would be disrespectful to make something that I was inspired to write based on real-world suffering into something frivolous. It's by far my favorite story I have written, although it is among my least well-read.

 

[yowser]

House of Doors was a riff inspired by two Borges stories, The Library of Babel and The Book of Sand.

Exploring infinitudes in an erotic arena.

 

[ColinPiper]

Excellent topic. I call it "Anatomy of a Story". I'm new and so far only one story published here, but I have others. One is called "Fifteen Love", and was totally inspired by an article I just happened to read in the Sydney Morning Herald while at breakfast in a hotel in Sydney one morning back in Jan 2005. I was in Sydney for a job interview, but something about the article made me forget the job opportunity and just start to take story notes and ideas on the spot. It had such an impact I kept the actual pages (attached). After telling you about it now I guess I'd better post the story on Literotica too. Note it originally took its inspiration from Martina Hingis, was later changed to be influenced by Maria Sharapova for a different site, and now I have an idea to possibly change it again to be influenced by Taylor Swift for Literotica, but no firm decision yet. It involves a hot lady (maybe one of the 3?) finding herself on her own in Bangkok's Shang-ri-la hotel after her career has peaked, and the fun she gets up to with an English guy and a Thai girl in an effort to drown her sorrows now her glory days are gone. Lots of kinky fun, including anal and watersports, but I'll need to check the guidelines of this site to see what's not acceptable, and possibly edit stuff out.

And of course it doesn't have to BE the famous person - maybe just implied...



Oh, I got the job.

*Edit* I've published it now, entitled Love Thirty