Why Do You Write Forewords or Afterwords?

[pink_silk_glove]

I only use it in order to preempt complaints about how slowly I get to anything overtly sexual.

I can understand how some people might think that a commitment to reading 4-5k words is roughly equivalent to having a date order something that only lists "market price" on the dinner menu.

So if they expected at least a blowjob or something more tangible by the end of the chapter, I think its fair to warn them in advance that they are at least 2-3 more chapters away from anything more than a hug or a quick peek down the blouse.

It also forewarns those who were looking for a quick release that their complaints will be mocked relentlessly and/or their comment deleted if they choose to proceed.

Translation: I know that you won't like what I wrote, so don't downvote me and don't leave negative comments because I as the author already know that it's boring or otherwise sub-par.

That may not be what you mean to say but that is essentially what you are telling the readers with your disclaimer.

 

[Paul_Chance]

I've always thought giving background of one sort or the other for stories--in forewords or afterwords--would be of interest to readers, and I do include such discussion a lot in the introductions to published short story anthologies, but I've never seen evidence that Literotica readers care. I've employed them occasionally, but never saw responses here.

There have been a few anthologies of short stories (Harlan Ellison pops to mind) where I have really enjoyed reading the after-notes. In his case, they're more about what he was thinking when he wrote a specific story, not so much about the story itself.

That might be a good subject for a Review & Essay. Sort of a curated anthology of an authors work, much as an anthology is built outside of Lit. Sort of "The Essential @KeithD". For those prolific authors with hundreds of tales, that might be a good idea.

A person could also take the approach of curating a collection of their favorite stories that way. LOL - I have a friend who is a reader for a small university journal and she jokingly refers to her job as "I read crap so you don't have to".

 

[Paul_Chance]

I seldom provide author notes other than to advise readers of the length of a story before they get too invested in it.

Now, I do frequently use a frame story as a prologue, and occasionally an epilogue as a cliffhanger to the next related story. These are both part of the story, however, and not simply me speaking to the readers.

I agree with you.

I think a prologue to frame a story (especially a serialized story) and an epilogue to tease the next chapter are part of the story and are not what I would consider a forward or an afterword.

 

[Paul_Chance]

Sometimes. I like to upfront recognize editing by others and again at the end for the same. If the story is for an event I note that upfront.

I don't consider anything about a score issue.

Sometimes I feel like it; sometimes I don't.
Why? Because ... do I really need permission or a reason that pleases you?

Sharing credit by recognizing your beta readers/editors is a good thing. Acknowledging when we're not the only one who worked on a project is valuable, especially if we can use it to guide readers to other authors.

 

[Paul_Chance]

I often do both.

A foreword in erotica I think is important. For instance, if you're not into cuckold stories, you would avoid the LW category, but if you're reading a sci-fi story, you'd probably appreciate a heads-up that it features cuckoldry. Categories like sci-fi/fantasy, fan-fic, and a couple of others, can hide all sorts of stuff. If it happens in space or Narnia it usually goes in sci-fi/fantasy by default. I use the forward in such categories to remind readers to check the tags and make sure they are cool with the content.

At the end, I add an Author's Note thanking the reader for stopping by, and then mention whether there will be a future chapter or mention any other stories they might find the characters used again.

This, overall, I think is a good use of a foreword. I hadn't considered the it as a way to resolve category confusion and to tip the reader off to things that might be obscured by the general nature of categories here.

 

[Stimtheone]

Sometimes I feel like explaining myself in some way. Why did this take so long, a statement which might become outdated after any who waited for it are satisfied with it. Explaining the notion that you might need to read other work to make better sense of what you are about to read, but if someone needs to explain that you should read chapter 1, 2, and 3 before you tackle 4, then I doubt such people can breathe without assistance. Other times there are just things I want to tell people.

 

[Imstillfun]

Another thread sparked a bit of curiosity in me.

If you write forewords and afterwords, why do you do it?

If you're opposed to doing it, or if you've simply never done it, why?

I am open to it, I've just never done it.

I start and end my stories with ‘Authors notes’. This is my only way to communicate with my readers.

 

[Paul_Chance]

Sometimes I feel like explaining myself in some way. Why did this take so long, a statement which might become outdated after any who waited for it are satisfied with it. Explaining the notion that you might need to read other work to make better sense of what you are about to read, but if someone needs to explain that you should read chapter 1, 2, and 3 before you tackle 4, then I doubt such people can breathe without assistance. Other times there are just things I want to tell people.

In the endless search for greater reader engagement, I consider that as a good use of an afterword (or a Review & Essay) you could link to at the end of the story. I think there is a community of readers that would enjoy that. Sort of the classic back cover blurb you'd see on a paperback.

 

[Stimtheone]

In the endless search for greater reader engagement, I consider that as a good use of an afterword (or a Review & Essay) you could link to at the end of the story. I think there is a community of readers that would enjoy that. Sort of the classic back cover blurb you'd see on a paperback.

I do have a plan to post an Open Letter talking about the Empire Series as a whole. It's done already, but I want to finish the current series before that.

Heck, I keep thinking that maybe I should seek some feedback for it over here before I send it over, just to make sure it is the right idea. Well, the concept seems to be approved, but I was thinking of someone actually checking it before I post it.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Sort of the classic back cover blurb you'd see on a paperback.

Except that blurb would be on a book, not a 5k or 10k story. With a novel or novella or even a collection of shorts, a blurb can let the potential reader have an idea what they might be getting into for the next 60k - 100k words or more. But with shorts it's difficult to blurb without spoiling something. The average person can read 10k in under an hour anyways, 5k in 20-30 minutes, it's not that much of a commitment considering that one has a scroll wheel on their mouse. How much warning do they need? How lazy are the readers?

 

[KeithD]

That might be a good subject for a Review & Essay. Sort of a curated anthology of an authors work, much as an anthology is built outside of Lit. Sort of "The Essential @KeithD". For those prolific authors with hundreds of tales, that might be a good idea.

At my publisher's request, I wrote two year's worth of blog entries that do this essentially by topic, for instance going beyond my comfort zone to learn what sounding was all about (I have an essay here in the sr71plt account depicting that--https://www.literotica.com/s/experiencing-gm-partnered-sounding) and referencing that essay and various stories in which I've included sounding.

A few of the blog pieces got published, but then my publisher ran into medical problems and those stopped. I have such discussion I've written by topic. Maybe I'll dredge them up and submit them as essays here--someday. The problem with that is that GM is tolerated here, but the interest in getting backgrounders on GM stories doesn't seem to be here much.

 

[ronde]

I write prologues to get the background of the story established. I think it helps put the reader "into" the story before I start introducing characters when doing it through my characters would take up a lot of text that could better be used for writing the story. I've also used a prologue to explain that while my story may seem to criticize or praise the politics of the time, it's one possible scenario out of many that are possible and is of my own invention.

I usually write a epilogue, though I don't usually call it as such. I just write what eventually happens to my characters after the events of the story. If I do write a formal epilogue, it's to explain what transpired after the events in which the characters participated, but doesn't directly involve them, like this one -

Epilogue

Combat veterans don't expect other people to understand why they don't talk about their days in combat or why they have tears in their eyes when they hear the pimple-faced high school trumpet player play "Taps" at the annual Memorial Day Service in every city and town across the US.

There's a reason they don't talk about combat. They've been where people should never have to go, seen what people should never have to see, and done things people should never have to do. Those who were lucky came back and they don't talk about it because they're trying hard to forget. None of them will ever be able to forget. A lot of them haven't yet come to grips with why they came back and others didn't.

There's another reason that brings tears to their eyes and causes them to stand at attention while the mournful notes of "Taps" render everything silent except the tweeting of the birds and the sigh of the breeze. They're remembering the men and women who didn't get to come home. In all wars they're young - still just boys and girls, really - too young to buy a drink in a bar and too young to vote, but not too young to die for their country.

They made the ultimate sacrifice, and the ones who did come back can't forget those who made that sacrifice. We can't afford to forget them either. We should be ashamed of ourselves if we ever do.

 

[Paul_Chance]

At my publisher's request, I wrote two year's worth of blog entries that do this essentially by topic, for instance going beyond my comfort zone to learn what sounding was all about (I have an essay here in the sr71plt account depicting that--https://www.literotica.com/s/experiencing-gm-partnered-sounding) and referencing that essay and various stories in which I've included sounding.

A few of the blog pieces got published, but then my publisher ran into medical problems and those stopped. I have such discussion I've written by topic. Maybe I'll dredge them up and submit them as essays here--someday. The problem with that is that GM is tolerated here, but the interest in getting backgrounders on GM stories doesn't seem to be here much.

Yeah, I think in terms of readership, it would definitely be a niche audience that is interested or cares about what the author thinks, maybe 10 percent or less. Still it would be a nice thing to do for those who are engaged.

Outside of Lit, the publishing world in a tough place. I've written several technical/professional full length works that died on the vine - projects the lost their advocates in a publisher, projects that lost funding midway through, entire publishing houses that got swallowed up by other publishers.

 

[AG31]

That is neither a foreword, a warning nor a disclaimer.

????? What is it, then????

 

[marx810]

So, initially... I never did forewords. I figured, if I'm writing in NC, the reader should know what they're getting into. I then realized after very polarizing comments on both sides that this is not the case. People have their own expectations of what they expect in a tag. When I do a NC story, it tends to be as mental as it is physical and when I break down a character, I literarily tear away at their soul and not everyone reading in those sections is prepared for that.

Most expected a happy ending. And I can totally understand that, but if I do a happy ending in an effed up story, that shit is earned.

Long story short, I just err on the side of caution and make sure people know shit's gonna go down if you keep reading. Don't get mad at me lol.

As for afterwords, I tend to just use those as a way to talk to my audience Kevin Smith-style about my writing process and so on and so forth. This is also very polarizing. People hate it and people love it. But I always find the people who hate it hilarious because I always say you don't have to read it. It's just my thoughts. But people still feel the need to let me know how much it takes them out of the story. But eh, I write because I enjoy it and I do those because I enjoy talking about my process.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

So, initially... I never did forewords. I figured, if I'm writing in NC, the reader should know what they're getting into. I then realized after very polarizing comments on both sides that this is not the case. People have their own expectations of what they expect in a tag. When I do a NC story, it tends to be as mental as it is physical and when I break down a character, I literarily tear away at their soul and not everyone reading in those sections is prepared for that.

Most expected a happy ending. And I can totally understand that, but if I do a happy ending in an effed up story, that shit is earned.

Long story short, I just err on the side of caution and make sure people know shit's gonna go down if you keep reading. Don't get mad at me lol.

Yup, protecting the score and pre-empting negative feedback. What you're saying is: "Let me just give you a little bit of spoiler here so that you don't downvote me." So whether you realize it or not, you are prioritizing your score and feedback over your actual story telling.

 

[marx810]

Yup, protecting the score and pre-empting negative feedback. What you're saying is: "Let me just give you a little bit of spoiler here so that you don't downvote me." So whether you realize it or not, you are prioritizing your score and feedback over your actual story telling.

Oh I fully know that I'm doing that, which is why I originally made a point of not doing it. But feedback and score are important, so what can ya do?

 

[RachelPost]

Now, of course I write forwards. I am not sure if I right backwards it would make sense. "ytterp era sdaehder." See what I mean. . Oh, that's not what you what talking about. Sorry, not sorry.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Oh I fully know that I'm doing that, which is why I originally made a point of not doing it. But feedback and score are important, so what can ya do?

I write to tell stories. You write for accolades. You do you.

Since scores on lit are absolutely no indication of quality of work, the scores are meaningless to me. Lit is full of countless 4.7s and up that suck hard so a Red H means nothing to me, and if anyone else thinks that a good score reflects well on the quality of your work you are fooling yourself.

Feedback is important, absolutely, but negative feedback is at least as important and I'd even argue more important than positive feedback. Positive feedback will not motivate one to change and improve. So if you are actively trying to pre-empt negative feedback I would advise you that you are not doing yourself any favors in regards to improving your skills. But then again popularity and praise has nothing to do with skills so if that's what you want, keep at it the way that you are.

 

[bestkeptsecret678]

I’m more into it lately, and have done both; as a personal comment on WTF I was thinking. If I were in a conversation with someone, before or after they read it, what would I want to say to them.

I also do some 2nd person female perspective which warrants a heads up, since that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

 

[marx810]

I write to tell stories. You write for accolades. You do you.

Since scores on lit are absolutely no indication of quality of work, the scores are meaningless to me. Lit is full of countless 4.7s and up that suck hard so a Red H means nothing to me, and if anyone else thinks that a good score reflects well on the quality of your work you are fooling yourself.

Feedback is important, absolutely, but negative feedback is at least as important and I'd even argue more important than positive feedback. Positive feedback will not motivate one to change and improve. So if you are actively trying to pre-empt negative feedback I would advise you that you are not doing yourself any favors in regards to improving your skills. But then again popularity and praise has nothing to do with skills so if that's what you want, keep at it the way that you are.

Saying that I write for accolades and not for the joy of writing is a... slight leap based on what I said. But in the interest of explaining myself better, I have no problem with negative feedback. Especially if it's constructive. I agree with everything you said on that front. Constructive criticism is how you get better.

What I try to avoid with warning readers early on is someone reading a story they don't want to read. I do slightly wish that reluctance and noncon were different categories because they are very different things but that's not the case. When you write something edgy, there's always going to be people who get triggered but I try to minimize that if I can. And if someone goes into one of my noncon stories assuming it'll be on the reluctance side of the spectrum, they're going to be in for a bad time.

 

[Seadog777]

I write exactly what is in my head.

Forewards, afterwards, or whateverwords.

If people don't like it, they can go pound sand in lightning storm.

Write for yourself, not others.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I write exactly what is in my head.

Forewards, afterwards, or whateverwords.

If people don't like it, they can go pound sand in lightning storm.

Write for yourself, not others.

The irony of that is that the disclaimers and warnings are there purely out of a concern for audience reaction, which means that the author is writing for others and not for himself.

 

[Seadog777]

The irony of that is that the disclaimers and warnings are there purely out of a concern for audience reaction, which means that the author is writing for others and not for himself.

I do not put disclaimers or warnings in my stories.

I know that some do though.