2000 words and nothing has happened

[FlippinBirds]

The second story that I am writing for LE is so far over 2000 words. Which for me just starting it at like 4am Dec 10th isn't bad lol. But, whatever, I'm noticing a problem with this current one, nothing has happened, aside from describing the outfit and their abs. I can get very wordy and tediously draw shit out. I've been like this all my life.

Now for y'all writers here. Would you go back and find a place or two where I could do some scene tweaking to add, at least, some oral or something? Or would you just go with the flow and see what happens?

At least I didn't get to wordy here, or I'd be banned from the boards.

Happy writing

 

[AlinaX]

It can feel forced to just wedge sex into places. But also, sometimes a developing story meanders off in a direction that lacks real impact. When I sense this happening, which it does, often, I stop and start at the beginning again. What's written may still be of value, may even be part of the final story, but maybe not.

Go back. Do something different. Introduce someone new. Something.

 

[StillStunned]

Be very wary of infodumping. You might care about your characters and what they're wearing and how fit they are, but your readers don't. You have to get them invested first. Show some character or conflict, through dialogue or action. Something that will hook the reader.

Once you have their attention, you can feed in the information. Bear in mind, though, that most readers will gloss over detailed descriptions - particularly if it's just a list of "they were wearing this that looked like that and matched with their such-and-such". Unless you're an absolute master of prose, and can make the reader *want* to keep reading, the reader will just form a picture in their own mind and stick to that.

And paradoxically, that makes the reader more invested. They've had to work for it, they've put some effort into creating an image, and they'll be more reluctant to just let that go.

Most importantly: write what you want to write, and remember that all of us here are amateurs sharing advice based on our own personal experiences and preferences. It's your story, and the one person whose opinion really matters is you.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[StillStunned]

Another tip: This is Literotica, and readers generally expect the hot stuff sooner or later. If it doesn't happen sooner, at least make it clear that it *will* happen.

If there's no sex within the first 500 words or so, I like to include some dirty thoughts or a glimpse of naked flesh, or something like that. It lets the reader know that they'll get the good stuff if they're patient.

 

[lovecraft68]

I've gone pages without any 'action' happening. As long as you can keep the reader interested, its fine. Word count vs amount of smut isn't something you should be concerned over

 

[AlinaX]

True for stories too.

 

[SimonDoom]

You don't have to worry about the fact that there's no sex in the first 2000 pages. But if "nothing" has truly happened, then it might be worth revisiting and revising your beginning. If so far it's nothing but description, then maybe it's worth revising.

I like to jump right into the story. Have your main character doing something and as soon as possible set up the story, whatever it is. You say you've described an outfit and abs. That's the only clue you've given. So I assume you are writing about a character who is working out, perhaps at a gym. I assume this has something to do with the story. It SHOULD, or you may be wasting the reader's time.

What is the story about? Get going on the story soon.

So, for example, let's say my story is about a love-starved woman who meets a guy at a gym. I might start with her having a conversation with her best friend in the locker room, putting on her gym outfit and telling her friend about her love-starved condition. I can use the conversation as a way of setting up the "need" of the story and ALSO to have the friend comment on the main character's hot body. Maybe she asks her about the new gym outfit. Then they go from the locker room to the gym, and our main character sees the new guy at the gym, who is to be her love interest for the story.

I can use this setup to gradually describe the outfit and the abs and the main character's looks, rather than just dumping a big block of description on the reader.

 

[StillStunned]

What is the story about? Get going on the story soon.

Orson Scott Card gives the tip of starting any story as close to the triggering event as possible. I suppose some lead-in is necessary to give the reader an idea of the setting or characters, but overall I think it's very sound advice.

 

[FlippinBirds]

Appreciate everyone responding, and with respectful advice!

SimonDoom, I don't know what it's about yet. I started writing and this is what I've ended up with lol.

I'm going to go through it after a few days and see if I can tweak a few areas with some teasing or a full on manatee orgy. Which btw, no manatees have shown up yet lol

I'll ruminate with Spotify a few days and get back to it.

 

[AlinaX]

Orson Scott Card gives the tip of starting any story as close to the triggering event as possible. I suppose some lead-in is necessary to give the reader an idea of the setting or characters, but overall I think it's very sound advice.

Her breath was warm against the tip of my cock, finally, after months of teasing and denial, of whispered promises, when the doorbell rang.

 

[StillStunned]

Her breath was warm against the tip of my cock, finally, after months of teasing and denial, of whispered promises, when the doorbell rang.

Over the doorstep floated a giant cartoon phallus. It bounced and spun around, and blinked its large eyes. "Hi, I'm Sucky! It looks like you're trying to have oral sex! Would you like some help?"

 

[SimonDoom]

Appreciate everyone responding, and with respectful advice!

SimonDoom, I don't know what it's about yet. I started writing and this is what I've ended up with lol.

I'm going to go through it after a few days and see if I can tweak a few areas with some teasing or a full on manatee orgy. Which btw, no manatees have shown up yet lol

I'll ruminate with Spotify a few days and get back to it.

OK. I can understand your dilemma. Everybody does it differently, but I NEVER write a single word without starting with an idea for the story, so every word is headed somewhere. I have literally never just sat down and started writing words without a pretty good idea of where the story was going.

 

[AlinaX]

I have, but it usually goes nowhere fast.

 

[StillStunned]

But those pieces of text can always be mined later for use in other stories.

@FlippinBirds If you're looking for inspiration, try looking up some of the Writing Exercises we've had here over the past six months or so. They give a prompt, and anyone who wants replies to the thread with a short snippet.

Here are a couple:
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/writing-exercises-5-write-a-kink-you-dont-have.1612111/
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/writing-exercise-no-6-a-party-from-the-past.1613730/
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/writing-exercise-8-fairy-tales.1618774/
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/writing-exercise-10-in-the-dungeon.1622864/

Several of these have resulted in full-blown stories. They're an easy way to try out various styles and themes, without committing to anything.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Orson Scott Card gives the tip of starting any story as close to the triggering event as possible. I suppose some lead-in is necessary to give the reader an idea of the setting or characters, but overall I think it's very sound advice.

There's always in media res.

Her hand was warm and soft as it grasped my balls. I was smiling right up until she squeezed, just hard enough that she could feel my entire body go tense. And then a little harder.

This is the curse of the overthinker. I am compelled to write the same scene from her PoV now.

Cindy, you won't believe this, but the idiot let me tie him down on the bed and gag him! He was as hard as stone when I was done, he loved it, right up until I grabbed his balls and started squeezing.

-Annie

 

[OffNSFW]

If this is your first draft, don't worry too much about what to include or exclude. Get it on the page as it comes. That said, if you find yourself working on the same scene or two endlessly and you're starting to lose interest, you might be stuck on a story that's dying on the page. It happens, and, in fact, it's a good thing to be able to notice as early as possible. I have folders full of abandoned stories where I was in love with the idea but not the writing of it.

If you do get moving again, and you end up with a complete draft, some editing might be necessary for pacing and flow. If you have long passages of description, look for one or two standout details and just use those. That's what will spark the reader's imagination. Lean on stuff that reveals character and stuff that moves things along.

My personal rules of thumb are: if you read it out loud to yourself and it reads well for you, it'll read well for someone else. And if it's exciting for you to write, it'll be exciting for them to read.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

The second story that I am writing for LE is so far over 2000 words. Which for me just starting it at like 4am Dec 10th isn't bad lol. But, whatever, I'm noticing a problem with this current one, nothing has happened, aside from describing the outfit and their abs. I can get very wordy and tediously draw shit out. I've been like this all my life.

Now for y'all writers here. Would you go back and find a place or two where I could do some scene tweaking to add, at least, some oral or something? Or would you just go with the flow and see what happens?

At least I didn't get to wordy here, or I'd be banned from the boards.

Happy writing

I'll just offer my story Mary Janes is just over 21K words and the first sex scene begins about 19750 words in. It's definitely a slow burn, but it's also rated 4.83 with just over 1K votes and 85.6k views.

As others have said, just write the story. Don't force things. It will be fine.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Sex rarely happens within the first two thousand words of anything I write.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Over the doorstep floated a giant cartoon phallus. It bounced and spun around, and blinked its large eyes. "Hi, I'm Sucky! It looks like you're trying to have oral sex! Would you like some help?"

Recently I read a published novel where one of the protagonists fucks Clippy.

 

[Britva415]

The second story that I am writing for LE is so far over 2000 words. Which for me just starting it at like 4am Dec 10th isn't bad lol. But, whatever, I'm noticing a problem with this current one, nothing has happened, aside from describing the outfit and their abs. I can get very wordy and tediously draw shit out. I've been like this all my life.

Now for y'all writers here. Would you go back and find a place or two where I could do some scene tweaking to add, at least, some oral or something? Or would you just go with the flow and see what happens?

At least I didn't get to wordy here, or I'd be banned from the boards.

Happy writing

I’d start over with a completely blank page, and write down what’s supposed to happen. As in, write it happening. Then, later, see if any of your first-draft stuff needs to be dropped in to that.

 

[gunhilltrain]

But those pieces of text can always be mined later for use in other stories.

@FlippinBirds If you're looking for inspiration, try looking up some of the Writing Exercises we've had here over the past six months or so. They give a prompt, and anyone who wants replies to the thread with a short snippet.

Here are a couple:
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/writing-exercises-5-write-a-kink-you-dont-have.1612111/
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/writing-exercise-no-6-a-party-from-the-past.1613730/
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/writing-exercise-8-fairy-tales.1618774/
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/writing-exercise-10-in-the-dungeon.1622864/

Several of these have resulted in full-blown stories. They're an easy way to try out various styles and themes, without committing to anything.

So @FlippinBirds that is not you in your avatar. With all due respect to @StillStunned, you don't have to have explicit sex in a story. You can even describe a non-fiction event, probably from your own life experiences if you wish. Anyway, one of @StillStunned's snippets inspired me to write a story (4,200 words or something) that seemed to go pretty well.

If you ask, "How do I write?" you'll get a lot of answers about what they do. Knowing what we do is not going to be that useful for what you should do. There's something about writing (or any creative endeavor perhaps) that is intuitive and may be just below the level of consciousness. Thus I'm not sure what I should advise you to do at this point. Maybe start with that character with the abs and ask, "Who is this person and what are they doing with their life?"

 

[gunhilltrain]

I’d start over with a completely blank page, and write down what’s supposed to happen. As in, write it happening. Then, later, see if any of your first-draft stuff needs to be dropped in to that.

Yes, starting with a list of notes - almost bullet points perhaps - can be helpful. It you get something promising, you can start writing the story below them in the same file. You'll at least have some idea of where you want to go.

 

[mildlyaroused]

It's hard to say. In the story I'm currently writing, nothing erotic happens for almost 16k words, but that first portion of the narrative is there to carefully guide my characters into a plausible I/T scenario. One of my published Lit stories has no eroticism for the first ~10k words, and it was received well (4.74 stars, 52,000 views).

2k words without sex shouldn't be an issue at all. What matters is whether those words actually serve the story and will engage readers. If you're just describing outfits or providing exposition, you might be better to rework them, but if they're serving the narrative and providing build-up, I'd keep them. Generally speaking, it's best to spread exposition out over the narrative. Do the clothes they're wearing actually matter for the scene you're writing?

 

[Britva415]

Yes, starting with a list of notes - almost bullet points perhaps - can be helpful. It you get something promising, you can start writing the story below them in the same file. You'll at least have some idea of where you want to go.

That does sound helpful. But it wasn’t what I (for one) was trying to convey.

write down what’s supposed to happen. As in, write it happening.

Write it happening. As in, start telling the story, start the narration of the action. Write it without all the peripheral stuff which isn’t action.

Then see whether any of the other 2000 words of not-action have a place in that. And if so, go ahead and drop’em in.

 

[Blind_Justice]

2000 words without sex? How about 15k without? I tend to write long chapters and after doing this for the past 13 years, I know that my readers have enough patience to read a long stretch without people fucking like rabbits. Or, to put it another way - my character and world building is probably better than my generally awkward sex scenes.