Which of your stories…?

[Bodington]

If you get to nominate just one story that someone unfamiliar with your work reads, what would it be and why?

I write mostly novels, and one of them is titled “Vivian travels to Estonia” containing 13 chapters. The plot sees the female MC while vacationing in Estonia, meets a dairy farmer and has three dates on successive nights. On the third night he proposes marriage to her despite such a short acquaintanceship and she accepts. Chapter 7 is titled: “Vivian contemplates Eino's proposal”. This chapter spells out how he convinces her to marry him and I believe the argument he uses is rationale enough to make the plot plausible. Link:

https://literotica.com/s/vivian-travels-to-estonia-ch-07

 

[stickygirl]

1. I’ve always been a decent writer, ever since school, but before submitting work to Lit, I’d never presented it to an audience.
2. Comfort zone? No, I’d feel a fraud unless I could write within my experience.
3. I’ve read one or two that were very hot. Others I’ve read that were so good that I felt like giving up.
4. I have a great idea atm. It’s huge and I’m waiting for my subconscious to join the dots for me.
5. Not regretted, but a couple were not appropriate for Lit so I deleted them. They’re going to be part of #4 and it won’t be porn. EB still has parts in a story we worked on together but that’s okay, lover x
6. One or two here. Some authors work is like drinking water because it flows so easily, others are like trying to swallow nails. Joanne Harrison is water, but too many nail writers to list.
7. Goalposts is a good example of where I’m going: it’s honest, touching and could almost be true. Maybe it is?
8. An older story of mine has garnered a lot of favourable comments and it’s my only one in first person. I wrote it for a friend here at Lit, called Letter to Max.

 

[Jordaninlove]

I have a story im dying to bring to life but i need an author

 

[EmilyMiller]

I have a story im dying to bring to life but i need an author

Hi hun,

To be honest, you are unlikely to find an author who is interested, unless it is a super-compelling idea. Or you want to commission the work (i.e. pay for it to be written). Authors normally have a bunch of their own ideas to work on.

I have only done this sort of thing once, and it was for someone who was a long term fan of my stories. He had a great idea, explained clearly why he thought I would be the person to write it (based on my stories), and was happy to give me total control. I’m not sure that those things come together that often,

Not trying to be negative, just realistic.

Em

 

[ChloeTzang]

Wow. This one made me think. That's something I don't try to hard to do. LOL

• Was there a story (or maybe a run of a few) which made you think: “hang on, I can actually write a bit”?

My first story on Lit. Hayley's Party. It got a little red heart right out the gate, and a lot of views and comments, and I thought to myself wow, I can do this, so I went on and wrote the next few chapters. No plot. Only a vague idea of the plot, dialog, characterization, but it got me started.

• Was there a story which took you out of your comfort zone? If so, why and what was the outcome?

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - that took me right out of my comfort zone, writing about a Thai bargirl in Bangkok. Partly researching the sex industry in Bangkok and the lifestyle and what brings girls into the sex industry, and then the sex industry itself in somewhere like Thailand, the pervasiveness of drugs like meth, and the slow drift downhill for many of the girls.

• Have you ever read a story here (or anywhere) that really inspired you to write or to get better at writing?

Oh god. Quite a few. Georgette Heyer's regency romances. I just wish I could do plots like her. Sci Fi from John Ringo, David Drake and Tom Kratman for action, plot, story and dialog. The Miles Vorkosigan novels. A lot of Robert Heinlein. I love those. Some of the old historical novels - Julian, by Gore Vidal. Anthony Adverse. Shogun. Wallace Breem's Eagle in the Snow. Rosemary Sutcliffe and all her Roman-Britain era novels. Mary Renault and the Alexander trilogy. The Longships - a great novel about the Vikings. There's a lot more than those, but I love the way they can bring a period and culture and people to life and writing stories in a historical setting, as well as writing Sci-Fi, is something I really want to get a lot better at. Huginn's Yule, One Night in Xanadu, and Tales from Old Shanghai were my own stab at historicals.

• Was there ever a story where you felt you had a great idea, but were unable to bring it to life the way you wanted? Maybe due to inexperience, or lack of time.

Hmmmmm. Not yet. Time is always the issue. I have an enormous backlog of ideas for stories.

• Is there any story you have regretted writing, or even had removed from Lit? If so, why?

Nope. I've never regretted writing a single one, altho I do want to go back and rewrite and improve every single story. LOL. I am not a perfectionist and it shows.

• Is there any author, Lit or otherwise, whose style you wish you could emulate (not copy, but maybe do some things they do)?

I actually try and do this with writers I admire. I look at their style and the way they write, their approach to dialog and characterization, and try to emulate that and work it in to my own stories. I'm doing it with plots now, to try and improve my own plotting because I'm really not goof at all at anything more than a simple linear approach.

• If you get to nominate just one story that someone unfamiliar with your work reads, what would it be and why? Note this may not be what you view as your best story. It might be your most accessible for example.

Tales from Old Shanghai Why? It's the one I enjoyed writing the most, and I really enjoy the story and the setting. It's one I plan to go back and seriously rewrite and expand.

• Is there any story you have written which is totally different to your normal types of stories? If so, how and why did you write it?

LOL. All my Unity Mitford stories. They're far more dystopian Sci-Fi than anything else, and the sex in a couple of them is just superfluous. In the last couple of stories I just eliminated the sex completely.

 

[grenefire]

Have you ever read a story here (or anywhere) that really inspired you to write or to get better at writing?

The Daniel and Sara series by Rabbitman55 pushed me to try writing again. The way the author described the love and sex between the father and daughter was inspired.

https://literotica.com/s/daniel-and-sara-pt-01

Silkstockinglover’s stories also were a major factor in allowing myself to put my fantasies out in the world. In particular her “Cheerleaders Mom” story.

https://literotica.com/s/cheerleaders-mom-a-power-shift

If you get to nominate just one story that someone unfamiliar with your work reads, what would it be and why? Note this may not be what you view as your best story. It might be your most accessible for example.

I would say “mom’s hidden outfit” is the story that gives the clearest flavor of what my work is like. It demonstrates my interest in mother/daughter lesbian relationships, as well as my interest in latex.


https://literotica.com/s/moms-hidden-box


Is there any story you have written which is totally different to your normal types of stories? If so, how and why did you write it?

“Rivkah’s Awakening” is probably the story that is most different from my other works. I wanted to try my hand at writing a coming of age lesbian romance. It is about a religious woman discovering a new side of herself and coming to grips with her burgeoning sexuality.
https://literotica.com/s/rivkahs-awakening

 

[WyreBendr0417]

1. I don't read much on Lit anymore since I began writing a couple of years ago, but the story that was the impetus for me to try writing is 'Lusting for Grandmother' by ffarkus.

https://literotica.com/s/lusting-for-grandmother

At that time, I wasn't inspired to write I/T stories, even though I enjoyed reading them. It simply made me want to try writing. The I/T bug hit me later after I read 'A Mother's Worry' by MrHereWriting.

https://literotica.com/s/a-mothers-worry

2. The story that took me out of my comfort zone was only my third published, and I suppose it fared better than I thought it would. I got the wild idea to write a first-person female narrative. (I'm not a female) I don't know why, but I knew the idea would haunt me until I tried, so I wrote it just to get it out of my system. I have no ambition to, now, but I may revisit that style again in the future.

https://literotica.com/s/a-dirty-little-affair

5. I've never had a story removed or regretted writing one. I've only regretted not doing a better job of writing some of them.

7. I'd have to pick either of two stories for someone unfamiliar with my work to read. I feel the same way about both of them, and that is, that I think I brought a lot more to them than I originally thought I was capable of. Both are personal favorites. I suppose the order in which I would nominate them is,

https://literotica.com/s/scratching-an-itch-10

https://literotica.com/s/jerry-and-londy-a-lifelong-bond

Both are I/T stories, but in 'Scratching An Itch', the incest was an afterthought about halfway through the story. I think it worked out rather well for not being in the original idea.

 

[Mastered_again]

There have been many threads about stories. Best. Worst. Ones that mean the most to you. And so on. I know, because I’ve started some of them. This question maybe has some things in common with older threads, but I’m trying to tease out some other stuff.

Please include links, so people can easily get to your work:


Was there ever a story where you felt you had a great idea, but were unable to bring it to life the way you wanted? Maybe due to inexperience, or lack of time

For sure my most recent story. I tried to show a quantum shift in the narrators point of view, owing to the previous chapter.
Also tried to show that her actions have consequences.
The general assessment is that I got heavy handed about and upon reflection, I did. Live and learn. But I'm not going to let it prevent me from completing the remainder, some of which is written, the rest outlined and living mostly in my head

https://literotica.com/s/proclivities-pt-10

Mrs. M

 

[Devinter]

Great thread. Will definitely check out some of the other author's contributions and recommendations.

1. Was there a story (or maybe a run of a few) which made you think: “hang on, I can actually write a bit”?
Yes - Although not that is posted on Lit. I won a rather prestigious award for a story I wrote in my native language of Swedish. My writing in English is certainly not as good, as I lack the vocabulary and make many grammatical mistakes.

Although, Anything for You was briefly ranked number 1 in the Fetish Category of All Times. Which is quite ironic because I accidentally uploaded the version BEFORE I had fixed the spelling mistakes. There's probably ten or so errors in there. Hurts my soul. Is it perfectly written? No, absolutely not. But it seems to get people off. That's got to be a victory as well, since this is Lit after all.

2. Was there a story which took you out of your comfort zone? If so, why and what was the outcome?
I try to push the envelope with many of the stories that I've posted here on the website and quite a few has taken me out of my comfort zone, if only slightly. Though in the grand scheme of things I am quite open-minded to other people's kinks and desires. Sometimes it's just difficult for me to understand them. Just recently for example, I wrote about a clown fetish on a whim after reading a post here on the forums. In reality, I find clowns quite creepy.

3. Have you ever read a story here (or anywhere) that really inspired you to write or to get better at writing?
Out of the stories here on the website, Molly's Obsession by @LessThanAWord comes to mind. It's a very straight-forward story but the way the author paints such a vivid picture with their words really impressed me. One day I hope to be able to invoke similar erotic emotions with such grace.

4. Was there ever a story where you felt you had a great idea, but were unable to bring it to life the way you wanted? Maybe due to inexperience, or lack of time.
According to my "Unpublished/Abandoned" folder, over 60 times. Perhaps not all of them were great ideas, to be fair - but they didn't turn out the way I wanted them. About half of them are actually complete, and the other half was dropped before I got to the finish line.

5. Is there any story you have regretted writing, or even had removed from Lit? If so, why?
This question is difficult to answer. Regret is a complicated emotion. There's a whole bunch that I am rather ashamed of, including the first story I ever uploaded to the site, Pleasant Nightmares - It's.. Uhm.. A difficult one to swallow. Pun very much intended. Yet I keep getting PMs of people asking for more in the same vein.

6. Is there any author, Lit or otherwise, whose style you wish you could emulate (not copy, but maybe do some things they do)?
No - I want to forge my own, unique path. However, I take inspiration from just about everything I read. If I had to name one piece of work that I wish I was CAPABLE of emulating, I would say "The Magus" by John Fowles. The 1965 version in particular. That book is a wild ride and a half. It's almost like it switches genres ten times before you get to the end of it, and it's a complete chaotic mess, yet somehow it works.

7. If you get to nominate just one story that someone unfamiliar with your work reads, what would it be and why? Note this may not be what you view as your best story. It might be your most accessible for example.
Please Remember Me Tomorrow is the one I am most proud of, but it's written in a different style compared to most of my other work, and is therefore a poor representation of what I usually produce. That being said, at least I'm not ashamed of this one. Haha.

8. Is there any story you have written which is totally different to your normal types of stories? If so, how and why did you write it?
I try to constantly be inventive and try new things. Challenge myself. That's what this is all about for me. I wrote a very odd (unpublished) story about a secret lab that cultivated special flowers with medicinal properties, with an obscure plot that required the characters to frequently have kinky sex on top of flower beds as part of the process. It was a very weird story, where each character was named after a flower, and it had many cult-like elements. It became so strange I never finished it, and likely never will.

 

[burgwad]

Was there ever a story where you felt you had a great idea, but were unable to bring it to life the way you wanted? Maybe due to inexperience, or lack of time.

I have spilled so much blood trying to write a surrealist story in which a twin wakes up in both her own body and her twin brother’s. I have started this piece five or six times, written hundreds of thousands of words spanning genres, vibes, approaches to narration, etc. But ultimately each one peters out as soon as the twins cross that first boundary into self-/twincest. Granted, this is where most doomed projects peter out, but I think the puzzle here runs deeper than mere smut-fatigue.

From a storytelling standpoint, I firmly believe self-cest is fertile soil for the kinds of psychological bologna I love to write. I also think it’s a relatable fantasy, at least to the extent folks commonly crave themselves, and wonder what it might be like to see/touch/taste themselves from outside their own skin.

But fuck me, it is so hard (1) to keep who’s who legible and meaningful, (2) to sustain believable sexual tension, and (3) to couch all this in a fun story that isn’t hideously convoluted/distracting/tonally at odds with the eroticism.

I cannot provide a link because I have never finished, much less published, a single draft of this one.

 

[StillStunned]

Was there a story (or maybe a run of a few) which made you think: “hang on, I can actually write a bit”?

Loads. Then later I reread them and realised that I was kidding myself. Recently though @AwkwardMD wrote a very thoughtful and kind review of one of my stories that had me feeling like I was ten feet tall (instead of the usual 5).

Was there a story which took you out of your comfort zone? If so, why and what was the outcome?

Strangely enough, not my "disturbing as fuck" story Love at First Sight (check the comments). My Halloween submission isn't up yet, but it was definitely much more difficult to write.

Have you ever read a story here (or anywhere) that really inspired you to write or to get better at writing?

I've read so many authors who do things I can only dream of emulating. The historical research of George MacDonald Fraser and Dorothy Dunnett. The understated prose and characterisation of Dorothy Dunnett, Georgette Heyer and Ursula LeGuin. The imagination of Scott Lynch. The compact and powerful storytelling of Robert E. Howard's Conan and Solomon Kane stories. I read their work and all I can think is, "This! This is what I want to achieve!"

Was there ever a story where you felt you had a great idea, but were unable to bring it to life the way you wanted? Maybe due to inexperience, or lack of time.

The dozen story fragments in my Writings folder.

Is there any story you have regretted writing, or even had removed from Lit? If so, why?

The first 21 stories I published here on Lit were strokers about a man who becomes the lover of a Goddess of Love. The characters are essentially my wife and myself. I wrote the stories for our enjoyment, and only published them here at her insistence. Later I started to feel uncomfortable about having "us" out there, and had the stories removed.

Is there any author, Lit or otherwise, whose style you wish you could emulate (not copy, but maybe do some things they do)?

See above. Dorothy Dunnett and Robert E. Howard, mostly.

If you get to nominate just one story that soemone unfamiliar with your work reads, what would it be and why? Note this may not be what you view as your best story. It might be your most accessible for example.

Probably start with the first chapter of my Sword & Sorcery adventure series The Rivals.

Is there any story you have written which is totally different to your normal types of stories? If so, how and why did you write it?

I've tried my hand at a variety of styles. But the standout is probably "Love at First Sight", as noted above. The reader gradually becomes aware that it's not really a love story, or a a standard voyeur/exhibitionist stroker, but (to quote every single commenter) "disturbing as fuck".