The odd one out

[StillStunned]

We've had a few threads here about our best stories, and our worst. There have been threads in the past about our most representative stories - the one you'd recommend to people to read to get a feel for who you are as a writer.

But what about the ones that would completely wrong-foot a new follower? Someone who stumbles across your story, enjoys it, and decides to read the rest of your work, only to find that there's no similarity.

Let's stick to writing aspects, not subject matter. If someone reads your hugely popular tale of brother-sister incest, they might be disappointed to find that all your other stories are May-to-December romances with some hardcore anal. But let's assume that there's nothing obvious to distinguish that one story from the others. No humorous titles to indicate parody, no category flags, that kind of thing.

Mine, for example, would be Upstream. I wrote it in a deliberate attempt to try something different, and most of the feedback has been about the lyrical and descriptive style. Anyone who thought, "Golly, that StillStunned chap has a magical way with words, and lucky me, he has dozens of stories for me to enjoy!" - well, they'd be disappointed. Mostly I write a sparse style, and I don't do much in the way of description. I enjoyed writing it, but I doubt I'll do much of it again.

So how about you? What's your "If I ever get offered a contract by a publisher, I hope it's not based on *this* one" story?

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Got to go with Consequence to Recompence. Almost all of my stories are uplifting happy ending kind of things in the transgender space.
This one is a dark story of control, manipulation, and gaslighting with the MC in what is effectively a death spiral being coordinated by his/her ex wife.
While it reconciles in an acceptable way. It's not my traditional harlequinesque happy ending.
To be honest, I almost published it under an ALT just for this reason.

 

[NoTalentHack]

AI Era: Medusa's Daugher. Femdom body horror mind control revenge story told in first-person present.

Of those, only "first-person" and "revenge" really show up in any other story I've written thus far.

 

[AG31]

Not a one, I'm afraid. All my stories, although a few stray in content, have the same voice. My fantasy voice.

 

[big_cane_sugar]

Not a one, I'm afraid. All my stories, although a few stray in content, have the same voice. My fantasy voice.

I was thinking this too. Some of my stories are worse or better but I don't know if any stand out in this way.

 

[iwatchus]

My WIP for the Crime and Punishment event is definitely one sense of oddball for me, because it is 5.5K of bad jokes, one after the other.

My SF&F stories (for no particular reason) lack any real depth of character, really more popcorn, so are very out of step with anything else If have written. Dolls is really just a long setup for its punchline.

Not surprisingly this set is 6 of my 7 shortest stories, joined by my very first story.

I created an alt, somewhat as a joke, but I am using it to write very different stories, more mood pieces. All of my stories focus on character first and then story, often to the expense of the writing, which is much harder for me. I am trying to use my alt to write more mood pieces, focusing more on the wordsmithing with minimal worry about plot. Both stories there so far use the same pair of characters (FMC + MMC in my novel, FMC is the presumed author, using her pseudonym from the novel).

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

Let's stick to writing aspects, not subject matter. If someone reads your hugely popular tale of brother-sister incest, they might be disappointed to find that all your other stories are May-to-December romances with some hardcore anal. But let's assume that there's nothing obvious to distinguish that one story from the others. No humorous titles to indicate parody, no category flags, that kind of thing.

So how about you? What's your "If I ever get offered a contract by a publisher, I hope it's not based on *this* one" story?

Probably the two stories of mine that are most unlike my usual style are The King's Demons which I wrote for the Pandemonium event last year, and my upcoming entry for the Dark Fairy Tales event. I wonder what the common link between those events is...

Both of them have been enjoyable to write but are nothing like my other stories. And they've also been the most work: having to look up a lot in the dictionary or on Wikipedia.

 

[StillStunned]

Probably the two stories of mine that are most unlike my usual style are The King's Demons which I wrote for the Pandemonium event last year, and my upcoming entry for the Dark Fairy Tales event. I wonder what the common link between those events is...

One day people here will remember me, and say to themselves, "I didn't realise it at the time, but Stunned was an inspiration. He forced me to stretch my wings and taught me to fly!"

 

[big_cane_sugar]

One day people here will remember me, and say to themselves, "I didn't realise it at the time, but Stunned was an inspiration. He forced me to stretch my wings and taught me to fly!"

You've already been helping lots of us improve! Don't wait till it's too late to enjoy your glory!

I would stop it at 2:03 if I could lol...

 

[yowser]

A provocative question, Capt. Stunned.

Made me think even. I do a fair amount of experimentation, even trying on different author styles just for my own amusement/edification (Borges and Helen McDonald) or for a challenge (Spillane, ugh) and there tends to be considerable variation amongst my tales.

But probably Moby Quim: Search for the Great White Cunt would qualify. I did a thread some time ago about writing your 'anti-character' musing how far one could go writing a persona quite different from oneself. Two things went wrong with this particular story. Too far removed from my own perspective to represent the MC very well, and stretching too hard in the humor department (Humor and Satire category.)

Best I can say is that I did have fun with it and learned a thing or two.(And it's only one of two Lit stories tagged 'moby dick.)

 

[TiberiusPrime]

This is easy. My 750 word story is unlike anything else I write, but I feel it's the best thing I've written to date.

A Single Purple Rose

 

[gunhilltrain]

We've had a few threads here about our best stories, and our worst. There have been threads in the past about our most representative stories - the one you'd recommend to people to read to get a feel for who you are as a writer.

But what about the ones that would completely wrong-foot a new follower? Someone who stumbles across your story, enjoys it, and decides to read the rest of your work, only to find that there's no similarity.

Let's stick to writing aspects, not subject matter. If someone reads your hugely popular tale of brother-sister incest, they might be disappointed to find that all your other stories are May-to-December romances with some hardcore anal. But let's assume that there's nothing obvious to distinguish that one story from the others. No humorous titles to indicate parody, no category flags, that kind of thing.

Mine, for example, would be Upstream. I wrote it in a deliberate attempt to try something different, and most of the feedback has been about the lyrical and descriptive style. Anyone who thought, "Golly, that StillStunned chap has a magical way with words, and lucky me, he has dozens of stories for me to enjoy!" - well, they'd be disappointed. Mostly I write a sparse style, and I don't do much in the way of description. I enjoyed writing it, but I doubt I'll do much of it again.

So how about you? What's your "If I ever get offered a contract by a publisher, I hope it's not based on *this* one" story?

Well, too bad for the new follower. They're not paying to read the material on this site. It's not a publishing company or movie studio. So the only real benefit for the writers here is that we are not tied to a board of directors or stockholders. Thus the main point is that it we have to opportunity to do what we wish.

It's a good thing that we can, if we want, experiment with different ways of doing things. If I wish to write some non-fiction as a change of pace, then I'll do it. Most of it was pretty well received anyway, so I'll do more of it as I think of something. Odd ones out are worth trying if one has an inspiration for it.

After seven years, still waiting for that contract offer from a publisher. Maybe one is never coming?

 

[Erozetta]

It's not up anymore, but "Thanks, Dad!" is probably my outlier in both content and style, but it also resulted in a commission job, so, apparently I did something right with it.

Content wise, it was a lot of manipulation and mind games that started with an idea of how to actually write something father/daughter without making either the father or daughter the instigator, but more or less fulfilling a curiosity that was presented as a possibility. So, I went with "Daughter's best friend gently coaxes them together because she wants to see if she can."

It's one of the few I've written from the male perspective in first person. (I think I've done three of those, and I'm currently working on a fourth.) Most of my stories are either first female pov or close third.

 

[iwatchus]

One day people here will remember me, and say to themselves, "I didn't realise it at the time, but Stunned was an inspiration. He forced me to stretch my wings and taught me to fly!"

You definitely inspire me to try to improve my writing.

 

[StillStunned]

A rare picture of me:

 

[THBGato]

But what about the ones that would completely wrong-foot a new follower? Someone who stumbles across your story, enjoys it, and decides to read the rest of your work, only to find that there's no similarity.

All my stories are lesbian...except my one gay male story, so I suppose it would be that one. (Though, as it features and expands upon pre-existing characters from a lesbian story, fans who read my work for more than just girls kissing will probably still like it.)

 

[Trionyx]

All but one of my stories so far have featured what could be real life situations/characters except for one. Love Gods describes how the various gods of love (Eros, Cupid and even St. Valentine) competed to determine who could get a lonely bachelor to fall in love with a woman.

 

[AwkwardMD]

About 40% of my catalog is angsty wlw stuff. The other 60% is... not, and most of those don't have strong connections to each other. Almost anything out of that 60% might set the wrong tone for any of the rest of it.

I didn't set out to build an audience, unfortunately

 

[EmilyMiller]

But what about the ones that would completely wrong-foot a new follower? Someone who stumbles across your story, enjoys it, and decides to read the rest of your work, only to find that there's no similarity.

I don’t know that I check all your criteria, but this year’s April Fool’s Day entry, April’s Cruel Days, is probably the closest I can think of. First up, I’m as lost as everyone else about what readers want in an AFD story. I tried, I clearly failed.

In some ways it’s very me, it’s an impact play-fest, something I enjoy writing about and have IRL experience of back in the day. But it is unremitting impact play over two days, with the narrator confined to a ‘cell’ in between.

The beginning suggests that the protagonist is a late teen, who has left home after being caught giving a BJ to her bf on her 18th. She meets a couple, who ‘befriend’ her. They are written as being off from the get go.

The whole scenario is off as well, including how the FMC describes her actions and those of the couple. There is more than a suggestion of her being drugged and it then appears she is being held against her will. None of this is remotely in my wheelhouse.

But, I left clues all the way through as to what’s going on. Including the sub-title FFS.

Many people seemed to take it at face value.

 

[gunhilltrain]

About 40% of my catalog is angsty wlw stuff. The other 60% is... not, and most of those don't have strong connections to each other. Almost anything out of that 60% might set the wrong tone for any of the rest of it.

I didn't set out to build an audience, unfortunately

Maybe having a huge audience isn't that important. It's hard to build one here anyway. I suspect many of the readers are flighty, have short attention spans, and are dipping into Lit while they do something else online. We've discussed how views seem to have gone down while submissions have gone up. (Above 180 per day; did I get that right?) Also, it would probably get a bit dull to concentrate on only a few themes that might seem wildly popular.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Maybe having a huge audience isn't that important. It's hard to build one here anyway. I suspect many of the readers are flighty, have short attention spans, and are dipping into Lit while they do something else online. We've discussed how views seem to have gone down while submissions have gone up. (Above 180 per day; did I get that right?) Also, it would probably get a bit dull to concentrate on only a few themes that might seem wildly popular.

Audience isn't why I do what I do, but I've often thought that even my most rabid fans really only like about 50% of what I've produced.

 

[Comshaw]

I'm not sure I could put my finger on just one that would mislead a reader because I have stories in 6 different categories. I'm sure if a reader who limits themselves to one category, say Mature for example and then reads one of mine from Reluctance/Nonconsent or Loving Wives, they might think WTF??? I hope not and I've never had any comments along those lines, but you never know about the audience here.

Comshaw

 

[Areala-chan]

I took it down, but a number of years back, I posted a short horror story to Non-Erotic which did not connect with anyone, probably because it's not what anyone who followed me at the time expected or wanted. Barring that, my 750-word piece is the genuine outlier. But I'm okay with that. I mean, it's 750 words, after all.

 

[MK_Whimsy]

Gosh. The stuff I write covers a diverse set of topics in a variety of different ways, so it's hard to pick any one thing that might stand out. Scale Servicing is the only sci-fi thing I have written, though it's not the only foot fetish story I've written either. So I'm not sure to what extent it would wrong-foot(!) a reader.

 

[StillStunned]

I'm not sure I could put my finger on just one that would mislead a reader because I have stories in 6 different categories. I'm sure if a reader who limits themselves to one category, say Mature for example and then reads one of mine from Reluctance/Nonconsent or Loving Wives, they might think WTF??? I hope not and I've never had any comments along those lines, but you never know about the audience here.

Comshaw

Gosh. The stuff I write covers a diverse set of topics in a variety of different ways, so it's hard to pick any one thing that might stand out. Scale Servicing is the only sci-fi thing I have written, though it's not the only foot fetish story I've written either. So I'm not sure to what extent it would wrong-foot(!) a reader.

I wasn't talking about category, or even content so much, but rather style and tone - things that the reader can't guess by looking at the story details. Like a moody and bitte r 2P POV when all your other stories are lighthearted 3P past tense, or purple prose when your other stories make Samuel Beckett look like Oscar Wilde.