Major new feature preview: Story Series

[sr71plt]

it would be nice if a stand alone sequel could be tied in with previous stories in the same series, even though they aren't really chapters and have different titles.

Technically, "Story Series" doesn't fit at all. Works with chapters aren't technically series; series, technically, are works that can stand alone in that they complete a story but they are works that, when combined with others, serve a greater story. That was how serialization started in newspapers--and then on to radio, and now are seen as continuous programs on TV.

So, technically, the change hasn't really enhanced the linking of story series at all, as far as I can see. Works posted here in chapter numbers already were ordered on the master and individual author lists.

 

[Stella_Omega]

You mean you offered that deferentiation seriously? Oh, my.

husbands are setting their wives up and wandering wives are just making choices?

Men who hate their wives, women who hate their husbands, husbands and wives who get off in tandem on her "infidelity."

Those do seem to be the three most recurring plot points, in my foragings in "loving Wives." Which admittedly have been minuscule.

Do you have other suggestions? I fully admit, I'm dog-tired of the female characters carrying all the burden, which certainly flavors my suggestions. The primary readership seems to be men anyway-- let the men own their own crap.

(f course it's all pretty moot, since no discussion yet has brought about any improvement re; categories.

 

[oggbashan]

Technically, "Story Series" doesn't fit at all. Works with chapters aren't technically series; series, technically, are works that can stand alone in that they complete a story but they are works that, when combined with others, serve a greater story. That was how serialization started in newspapers--and then on to radio, and now are seen as continuous programs on TV.

So, technically, the change hasn't really enhanced the linking of story series at all, as far as I can see. Works posted here in chapter numbers already were ordered on the master and individual author lists.

I have written a couple of series: Shelacta and Flawed Red Silk. Each part can be read independently but together they make up a larger whole, but Shelacta is currently incomplete. Flawed Red Silk was a NaNoWriMo project which I made harder for myself by insisting that I would write the 50,000 words, edit it and get the whole 50k posted on Literotica before the end of the NaNo month. I did it and I am still surprised how well it turned out in that time. I titled it as "chapters" so that it would fit Lit's system but they are really linked stories with a McGuffin in common.

My extended series The Silverbridge Chronicles, if ever completed will be blockbuster length. Only about one third of the planned whole is currently posted and unless the reader follows my introduction (if found) it can be difficult to work out the correct sequence.

Og

 

[sr71plt]

(f course it's all pretty moot, since no discussion yet has brought about any improvement re; categories.

Oh, you don't think a splitting of "group" into something like FF/M and MM/F would be an improvement there for bi writers? Or that offering some separate topical categories under Gay Male and Lesbian as the site already has under straight would be improvement? Those have been part of the discussion on this thread. Well, not part of your discussion, of course.

 

[sr71plt]

I have written a couple of series: Shelacta and Flawed Red Silk. Each part can be read independently but together they make up a larger whole, but Shelacta is currently incomplete. Flawed Red Silk was a NaNoWriMo project which I made harder for myself by insisting that I would write the 50,000 words, edit it and get the whole 50k posted on Literotica before the end of the NaNo month. I did it and I am still surprised how well it turned out in that time. I titled it as "chapters" so that it would fit Lit's system but they are really linked stories with a McGuffin in common.

My extended series The Silverbridge Chronicles, if ever completed will be blockbuster length. Only about one third of the planned whole is currently posted and unless the reader follows my introduction (if found) it can be difficult to work out the correct sequence.

Og

Yes, I find the site pretty limiting in that respect. I write in the Lawrence Durrell mode when I can--standalone stories that interlink with other standalone stories in ways that make a separate mega story of, if you can do it, surprising relevation that, while you are able to appreciate the individual stories, you don't get unless/until you've put them all together.

Here, the linking is done either by internal directions (which I've tried) or ye olde unimaginative chapter 1, chapter 2, etc.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oh, you don't think a splitting of "group" into something like FF/M and MM/F would be an improvement there for bi writers? Or that offering some separate topical categories under Gay Male and Lesbian as the site already has under straight would be improvement? Those have been part of the discussion on this thread. Well, not part of your discussion, of course.

Yes, absolutely! I think those changes would be a massive improvement!

As things stand now, almost nothing I write fits comfortably anywhere on lit. Lesbians don't like it when my women pull out the chains and hot wax. Men don't like it when my lesbians are actually lesbians. My interracial novel-that-never-ended wasn't fetishistic enough for interracial, and my black male protag is bisexual besides....

I was talking about the ugliest section. I deleted two marriages from my plots in order to avoid being shoved into that cesspit.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Technically, "Story Series" doesn't fit at all. Works with chapters aren't technically series; series, technically, are works that can stand alone in that they complete a story but they are works that, when combined with others, serve a greater story. That was how serialization started in newspapers--and then on to radio, and now are seen as continuous programs on TV.

So, technically, the change hasn't really enhanced the linking of story series at all, as far as I can see. Works posted here in chapter numbers already were ordered on the master and individual author lists.

A series is not ther same as a serial. The latter is a continuing story, such as episodes on a soap opera or chapters in a work of fiction in a book or in magazines or anywhere else. A series is a sttring of stand alone stories involving the same central character(s)

The Angel series or the Marian and Ryan series I mentioned are both series; each story starts and has a finish and makes sense by itself, but would probably be better if read consecutively because of the references to previous episodes. These are both listed as Chapter 1, chapter 2, etc. although they shouldn't be, because they are not chapters of a single story. If you go to any of these stories, you will see a list of related stories, which is, I believe, a good idea. I would like to see this expanded because I have other series that do not have similar names. I would like to be able to include in the "related stories" window, all the stories in the series, even though they do not have similar names. Not every story in a series is in the same category but that shouldn't make any difference.

 

[sr71plt]

I think if you had anything close to the range of category choices on Lit. that straight story writers do, you'd reach a fan base for what you write. Now they have to have the perseverance to take pot luck.

To a large extent it isn't that just a certain kind of reader comes to Lit.--but that the ease or lack thereof of zeroing in on perfered story types is controlled by the category offerings.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

Just to clarify about series that span more than one category. They aren't just listed in the category that the first chapter is in. They are listed (from what I've seen with mine) in *every* category the series appears in.

 

[sr71plt]

A series is not ther same as a serial. The latter is a continuing story, such as episodes on a soap opera or chapters in a work of fiction in a book or in magazines or anywhere else. A series is a sttring of stand alone stories involving the same central character(s)

That would be your opinion (which you certainly can have). Mine comes from the jargon inside the commercial publishing industry.

In either case, thread specific, neither the existing listing structure nor the "Story Series" enhancement do the trick on related standalone stories within whatever you choose to call it--series or serials.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I think if you had anything close to the range of category choices on Lit. that straight story writers do, you'd reach a fan base for what you write. Now they have to have the perseverance to take pot luck.

To a large extent it isn't that just a certain kind of reader comes to Lit.--but that the ease or lack thereof of zeroing in on perfered story types is controlled by the category offerings.

Yup.

 

[sr71plt]

Just to clarify about series that span more than one category. They aren't just listed in the category that the first chapter is in. They are listed (from what I've seen with mine) in *every* category the series appears in.

Thanks. That was one of my (posed) questions. That's a bit of an enhancement over the preexsiting category lists (although not something that can be readily seen on the individual profile story list).

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

I like the new series idea, especially since the stories appear in every category that the chapters hit. Cool.

Only, I don't like the font...too plain.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Oh, you don't think a splitting of "group" into something like FF/M and MM/F would be an improvement there for bi writers? Or that offering some separate topical categories under Gay Male and Lesbian as the site already has under straight would be improvement? Those have been part of the discussion on this thread. Well, not part of your discussion, of course.

I would be reluctant to expand the number of categories by too much. In the Group Sex divisions you suggest, there would be another one - of one women taking on a group of men, or vice-versa, with no bisexual action going on. That would be making one category of about 11,000 stories into three small ones.

I do believe the LW category should be divided, because it is highly misleading. If you dodn't know better, you would think it consisted of marital sex only. Maybe call it "Adultery" and transfer the swinger type story into Group Sex.

Gay Male is all gay, as is Lesbian. Erotic Coupling and Anal have to be straight. T/M would be either straight or involve only one person. Any other category could involve either gay or straight sex. Incest can just as well be a mother and daughter as a father and a daughter, or it could be two sisters instead of a brother and a sister. First Time could be the first gay experience. Celebrity could be a famous gay person and another person of the same gender. TS could be M to F or F to M and could involve either gay or straight sex.

Except for the first five categories I mentioned, any of the 27 categories about sex stories could be either gay or straight or both in the same story.

Except for the four I mentioned above,

 

[sr71plt]

I would be reluctant to expand the number of categories by too much. In the Group Sex divisions you suggest, there would be another one - of one women taking on a group of men, or vice-versa, with no bisexual action going on. That would be making one category of about 11,000 stories into three small ones.

OK, I'm game. Let's reduce the straight categories by half and expand to the bi, gay male, and lesbian categories to some sort of balance.

You are still speaking from an almost total lack of knowledge or experience in how the nonstraight stories fare from the category system here.

But then, it's not unusual for you to speak from a lack of knowledge or experience on the topic.

 

[Boxlicker101]

OK, I'm game. Let's reduce the straight categories by half and expand to the bi, gay male, and lesbian categories to some sort of balance.

You are still speaking from an almost total lack of knowledge or experience in how the nonstraight stories fare from the category system here.

But then, it's not unusual for you to speak from a lack of knowledge or experience on the topic.

Are you actually suggesting we should break the Incest category into Gay Incest and Straight Incest? And break the Celebrity category the same way? Likewise for Interracial and Romance and Erotic Horror and Satire and Novels, etc.?

There are 29 categories of stories. (and four categories of poetry and two of essays) One of these is non-erotic, so I guess we can forget about that. Five of those categories must, of necessity be either gay or straght or neither: Gay Male, Lesbian, Anal, E/C and T/M. That leaves 24 categories of stories that could be either gay or straight. Are you suggesting we should break those 24 into 48? Why not 72, so each of those categories would be divided into gay, lesbian and straight?

Novels and Novella might constitute a special problem, because those long stories may include all three kinds of sex. Maybe post each chapter in one of three different categories. Either that or go by the predominant kind of sex in the story as a whole, although that might not become evident until a couple of chapters have been posted.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Gay Male is all gay, as is Lesbian. Erotic Coupling and Anal have to be straight. T/M would be either straight or involve only one person. Any other category could involve either gay or straight sex. Incest can just as well be a mother and daughter as a father and a daughter, or it could be two sisters instead of a brother and a sister. First Time could be the first gay experience. Celebrity could be a famous gay person and another person of the same gender. TS could be M to F or F to M and could involve either gay or straight sex.

Except for the first five categories I mentioned, any of the 27 categories about sex stories could be either gay or straight or both in the same story.

Except for the four I mentioned above,

Why should Erotic coupling only be straight? are couplings between safe-sex pairs somehow non-erotic?

Why should Anal only be straight? Dykes like anal as much as any straight guy does, and so do gay men.

I dont bother with incest anyway, but are there actually gay incest stories in that cat-- or do those go into gay male instead? I'm inclined to think so. Homophobia is rampant in lit readership and trumps pretty much everything else. It doesn't matter as far as the categories are concerned that some gay men might not want to read incest, however gay it is written. Oh, but wait a minute-- you think "gay incest" means only women.

In other words, yes. Let's offer gay, lesbian, and straight subsections in most categories.

 

[sr71plt]

Yes, what Stella posted, Box. It's significant that you can't seem to get that into your head.

 

[Darkniciad]

I've always said that the only way to break up LW to alleviate the war going on there is to turn the current category into an archive, and just start all the new cats fresh. Let active authors move their old stories to the new categories if they wish. The logistics of actually breaking up the old category are simply too huge to delve into.

We really do need at least a Bi-Male category. Not an ideal solution, but at least that presents a place where Bi-Male stories can find a home. They don't really have one at all now.

As to the series feature, it really is going to require author interaction for this to become truly useful. When an author can designate stand-alone stories with titles that aren't connected as part of a larger series, then we're getting somewhere helpful to both authors and readers.

As it is, it's a new way to find stories in a category that takes up a little less time than scrolling through the gargantuan category listings where every chapter is listed individually, ignoring one-offs ( but also long stories submitted as single entries ). It serves a purpose -- just not a huge one IMO.

More of my thoughts about chaptered stories in This Thread

 

[Boxlicker101]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxlicker101
Gay Male is all gay, as is Lesbian. Erotic Coupling and Anal have to be straight. T/M would be either straight or involve only one person. Any other category could involve either gay or straight sex. Incest can just as well be a mother and daughter as a father and a daughter, or it could be two sisters instead of a brother and a sister. First Time could be the first gay experience. Celebrity could be a famous gay person and another person of the same gender. TS could be M to F or F to M and could involve either gay or straight sex.

Except for the first five categories I mentioned, any of the 27 categories about sex stories could be either gay or straight or both in the same story.

Except for the four I mentioned above,

Why should Erotic coupling only be straight? are couplings between safe-sex pairs somehow non-erotic?

Why should Anal only be straight? Dykes like anal as much as any straight guy does, and so do gay men.

I dont bother with incest anyway, but are there actually gay incest stories in that cat-- or do those go into gay male instead? I'm inclined to think so. Homophobia is rampant in lit readership and trumps pretty much everything else. It doesn't matter as far as the categories are concerned that some gay men might not want to read incest, however gay it is written. Oh, but wait a minute-- you think "gay incest" means only women.

In other words, yes. Let's offer gay, lesbian, and straight subsections in most categories.

E/C involves one man and one woman. If there is a third person, it is in group Sex. If it is two men, it is Gay Male and if it is two women, it is Lesbian.

A story about anal sex involving two men would be in the Gay Sex category. Such a story about two women would be in the Lesbian category. Anal activity is frequently included in a Group Sex story, which might be in the Group Sex category or, depending on how prominent it is in the story, it might be anal. Either way, it would either involve a man and woman or be in either Gay Male of Lesbian.

I have never seen a story of incest between two men, but I see no reason why there couldn't be one about two brothers who are roommates. I have actually written a story about a woman and her niece: http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=400519
There may be others; I haven't looked for them or for any gay incest stories.

 

[Darkniciad]

Put a story where a woman and two men all get touchie-feelie with each other in the group sex category and watch what happens. It will get blasted by people saying "keep the gay shit in the gay category!"

Put the same story in the GM category, and it will get blasted for having a woman involved.

Bi-Female can fly in several places. Bi-Male has no home as things stand.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oh, Box, you give "linear thought process" a whole new dimension. One dimension. Even flatter, and even shorter.

 

[sr71plt]

E/C involves one man and one woman.

To repeat what Stella said, why? What is there in exotic coupling that says it has to be one man and one woman? Your stubborn blindness is incredible (but typical of you, I'm afraid).

And what--other than your obtuseness--makes you think that male-male incest (cousins, father/son, brothers) would be any different in concept from male-female (or female-female) or any less arousing to a segment of the readership? There's absolutely nothing in the gender aspect of this that supports one being either more conducive to storytelling or even more prevalent in real life over the other.

If you don't see such stories here, it's because the categories and the reader's commenting pattern inside those categories throw up barriers to them here. The story possibilities/files on these topics are floating all over the Internet.

Blind, blind, blind.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I just went to my public index and it already has some of the stories grouped into series. (or serials) There are some errors of omission and inclusion,m and I will have to point them out, but there is no hurry. Not all the groups are complete; I will be adding more to some of them, and I will have to figure out how to do that, or see to it that it is done.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I've always said that the only way to break up LW to alleviate the war going on there is to turn the current category into an archive, and just start all the new cats fresh. Let active authors move their old stories to the new categories if they wish. The logistics of actually breaking up the old category are simply too huge to delve into.

yes! and breaking up the old category is hardly necessary, either.

We really do need at least a Bi-Male category. Not an ideal solution, but at least that presents a place where Bi-Male stories can find a home. They don't really have one at all now.

Nor lesbian BDSM, or gay male BDSM. Or Bi BDSM.

It's a very hetero-default site.