Short or Long?

[Guest]

I am currently working on a story, and have it in the process of editing. When writing this story, I simply wrote. I just wrote, without regard for how others on this site were writing. And looking back at it, I see that it has a long introduction, with sprinkled character development, and not a whole lot of sex. There's buildup but no action. Not for about 7 LIT pages. It reads like a novel, though I am only on chapter one. I don't know if I am going to keep it that way or change it to make it hotter, faster.

Do you, as authors, sometimes find yourself intentionally shortening a story to get to the "good parts"? Or do you believe that writing is in itself the good part? I love character development, but I'm worried about losing the reader on a site where most people don't get to the end of their chosen story before having to wipe off the monitor.

~Paul

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

You'll get a zillion different responses to this question based on each writer's given slant or take on the whole concept of writing and particulary writing on this site. All I can do is give you my point of view, but take it for what it is worth (i.e. just one writer's opinion and nothing more).

I am a patient reader because I have trained myself to be so. Not everyone is patient and they have their own expectations of what a story on an erotica site should be like. I personally write the way I write naturally here, but I also always bear in mind my audience and what they expect/like/need from me. Just keep that in mind and you should be fine.

If your story is a bit long, then that's fine if the story is actually going somewhere. Keep in mind, however, that it is erotica that people are seeking here though.

 

[TxRad]

I can't even write a short grocery list.

Long doesn't seem to be a problem with stories here or getting to the sex right away, either. If what you write is interesting and carries the story forward then it's all well and good. Teasing and building the tension, sexual or otherwise, is always key to keeping readers interested. So build away.

Oh yeah, for the ones that finish before the story ends, that's what the favorites lists are for, to bookmark your place.

 

[sr71plt]

Oh, this was about story length. Bummer.

 

[sr71plt]

Do you, as authors, sometimes find yourself intentionally shortening a story to get to the "good parts"?

No, but I find myself fitting in a gratuitous vignette early on to hold the strokers through until there's another "good" part.

 

[CharleyH]

Do you, as authors, sometimes find yourself intentionally shortening a story to get to the "good parts"?
~Paul

Never.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Once a week I get a pile of books from the library and take notes while I read.

Generally speaking, the best selling writers make something happen PDQ. In the Louis L'Amour story I read last night the tale opens with a woman standing in the door of her cabin with a Winchester pointed at Cochise.

Make something happen now. There's plenty of time to get acquainted...later.

 

[Guest]

No, but I find myself fitting in a gratuitous vignette early on to hold the strokers through until there's another "good" part.

Once a week I get a pile of books from the library and take notes while I read.

Generally speaking, the best selling writers make something happen PDQ. In the Louis L'Amour story I read last night the tale opens with a woman standing in the door of her cabin with a Winchester pointed at Cochise.

Make something happen now. There's plenty of time to get acquainted...later.

I hadn't really thought of working in something at the very beginning. This may be the solution.

Thank you, everyone

 

[Flashlight7.5]

Get to the point

I'm fairly certain it was Raymond Chandler who said, "Come into a scene late and get out early."

Another way of putting it, this time by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., is "Start as close to the end as possible."

Vonnegut also said, "Every sentence must do one of two things - reveal character or advance the action." All else, in my opinion, can be eliminated.

Elmore Leonard said, "Leave out the parts readers tend to skip."

I love throwing my readers into the middle of things and letting them catch up as the story progresses.

 

[mikey2much]

writing is like fractions, you need to reduce them as much as possible

I think that writing is like any other art form, knowing when to stop is very important. In my writing I will spend a few sentences describing the location and sometimes the people. This has to come after you have ‘hooked ‘the reader with something that they are interested in.

I think that the way you do this is what makes the difference between a good writer and a poor writer.

I have yet to make up my mind which of these two categories I belong in.
But I keep trying and I think that I am getting better as I learn to reduce the amount of words needed to make my points.

 

[TE999]

perfect_deb started a thread some time ago entitled 'Grab 'Em By The Balls', which was a contest to see who could come up with the catchiest opening paragraph for a story. There were plenty of entries and many good ones. I forget who won, but it wasn't me.

The point being, no matter how long a story is, if you don't grab the readers attention in the first few paragraphs, odds are they'll hit the back button.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

But I keep trying and I think that I am getting better as I learn to reduce the amount of words needed to make my points.


And some writers are so talented you never want their words to end.

 

[ChrissieLecker]

The "work in something at the very beginning" approach is what I usually do too. A creative writing book I once read put it along the lines of "give a promise to the reader early on and come back to it later to fulfill it". That is, if you do work in a scene with a cliffy, make sure it doesn't go over the top and keeps the readers' focus on the main storyline.

 

[sr71plt]

That is, if you do work in a scene with a cliffy, make sure it doesn't go over the top and keeps the readers' focus on the main storyline.

I don't think they had the stroke end of erotica in mind with this guidance. You can (will get better ratings if you do) go over the edge at the beginning (and the middle and the end).

 

[driphoney]

I don't think they had the stroke end of erotica in mind with this guidance. You can (will get better ratings if you do) go over the edge at the beginning (and the middle and the end).

 

[lisa123414]

I am currently working on a story, and have it in the process of editing. When writing this story, I simply wrote. I just wrote, without regard for how others on this site were writing. And looking back at it, I see that it has a long introduction, with sprinkled character development, and not a whole lot of sex. There's buildup but no action. Not for about 7 LIT pages. It reads like a novel, though I am only on chapter one. I don't know if I am going to keep it that way or change it to make it hotter, faster.

Do you, as authors, sometimes find yourself intentionally shortening a story to get to the "good parts"? Or do you believe that writing is in itself the good part? I love character development, but I'm worried about losing the reader on a site where most people don't get to the end of their chosen story before having to wipe off the monitor.

~Paul

Steven King takes fucking forever to get to where he is going with a story and yet is one of the most successful writers on the planet, so I suppose you need to ask yourself, how high are you aiming?

(First response to this was "Both, as in "Skirts should be short and dicks should be long.""

Okay, had a break from wrapping presents, now it is back to the grindstone.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Steven King takes fucking forever to get to where he is going with a story and yet is one of the most successful writers on the planet, so I suppose you need to ask yourself, how high are you aiming?

(First response to this was "Both, as in "Skirts should be short and dicks should be long.""

Okay, had a break from wrapping presents, now it is back to the grindstone.

But he didnt back in the beginning; with CARRIE and the next half dozen or so he moved quickly. Once he became St. Stevie he slowed down.

Some of his later books are masterpieces if they were edited correctly. ITis the best example. The book begs for a competent editor.

 

[Guest]

...
so I suppose you need to ask yourself, how high are you aiming?

Fair question. When I write though, I tend to take forever to get there myself. But because I am trying to publish here, and hone my skills, I had to ask the question. Like most of us here, if I could become a successful and published author (to the point where I could make money from it), I would.

Writing for LIT, however does not seem to be like writing for print. So do I need to tailor a more concise style for here and save the novelization for later? Or should I just run with the novel style here, and say "damn the consequences"?

~Paul

(and, incidentally, I love the middle body of King's works, but not the early or newest ones)

 

[Guest]

So I started shortening my story (even wrote a second version), and I hate it.

 

[ChrissieLecker]

Steven King takes fucking forever to get to where he is going with a story and yet is one of the most successful writers on the planet, so I suppose you need to ask yourself, how high are you aiming?

Hehe, when I give private lessons in German lit I always take snippets from King with me as examples for really, really bad writing. He may be a storyteller, but he's far from being a good writer - and IMHO he has become too repetitive in his last works to even grant him the title of a storyteller anymore.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Saint Stevie sells lotsa books and no one has the balls to square him away on his crappy writing.

 

[ChrissieLecker]

So I started shortening my story (even wrote a second version), and I hate it.

Just an idea: instead of shortening it, why not develop a second - maybe a little less intense - storyline involving your characters that may happen at the same time, and work that into the main story?