Pondering which path to take

[PennLady]

So I'm working on a story, which I had thought I most post under an alt but probably won't (I post on other sites and don't feel like making alts for them as well). Anyway, thinking about that got me thinking about this:

I'm not sure how the story will go, although I think the ending will roughly be the same. It'll be a matter of the willingness of the protagonist. If the protag is unwilling, I'm pretty sure one site will reject it. So I find myself wondering if I can, or would, write the story so it's acceptable to that site.

I don't think so, because I've never done something like that before. And the story is still a WIP so even if it ends up okay for that site, it will be because that's the way I wanted to write the story.

So I wondered if anyone else let such factors influence a story? I don't think it's a bad thing if you do. I know I haven't provided any context or other info here (although I could but I was trying to keep it general) about my specific story, but I'm not talking about non-con sex here. I'm talking about a decision to stay somewhere, and whether the protag would be made to stay, or decide to stay.

Just curious.

 

[Darkniciad]

When I have a story that fits on one site, but doesn't on one or more others, I just run with it for the site in question.

Don't compromise the story for the sake of a site's rules. There's always another site that will accept it as it is. If there's only one site where it will fly, consider it a bit of repayment to the site that publishes you for free. I tend to purposely write stories that will be exclusive on each site I post at for that reason.

It just sounds like that's influencing you quite a bit, even if you say it isn't

 

[sr71plt]

Yes, I've had stories run off in directions I didn't think appropriate for the targeted audience. That's how I got into writing erotica in the first place. I let a scene in a mainstream mystery get away from me and I pulled it and wrote the scene up as my first written erotica piece. I've just recently gone back on a story in review and realized that it only worked the way written if there was an underage element in it. So, I've rewritten it, because I don't have anywhere to post underage. The story I'm writing today was set up to be incest. I'm doing a simple "adopted cousin" fix to it so I can fit it in an anthology and still say there's no incest in it. I don't think it's a powerful without that family relationship, but I think it's still a good story well worth reading with a larger theme to it.

How important is that element to the story? If it's a strong story without that element, I say go ahead and bend it--there's a lot of that going on in professional writing. If it can't stand without that element, so ahead and write it and only post it where it's permitted.

 

[PennLady]

When I have a story that fits on one site, but doesn't on one or more others, I just run with it for the site in question.

Don't compromise the story for the sake of a site's rules. There's always another site that will accept it as it is. If there's only one site where it will fly, consider it a bit of repayment to the site that publishes you for free. I tend to purposely write stories that will be exclusive on each site I post at for that reason.

It just sounds like that's influencing you quite a bit, even if you say it isn't

Well, I can't say I'm not keeping that in mind as I go along. But honestly, I'm probably one-third or halfway through and I'm just not sure how it will go. And most of the sites I publish on are free, or have a free component (i.e., stories available for free for a certain amount of time, things like that), not counting the stories I have e-published.

I'm also kind of adapting/changing a myth in this WIP and my ending would be different from the original no matter how I do it.

The story probably won't go over as well as some others no matter where I post it. That happens with ones like this for me.

 

[PennLady]

How important is that element to the story? If it's a strong story without that element, I say go ahead and bend it--there's a lot of that going on in professional writing. If it can't stand without that element, so ahead and write it and only post it where it's permitted.

I'm really not sure yet how important this element is. It's the ending, so of course I want it to be the right ending but I'm not quite sure which would be the stronger ending yet. Rather, it's about the best way to get to the ending. As I said, it's a question of whether the protagonist will stay willingly or not.

I was thinking this might work for the summer contest, so I have time to think on it but since I've been working on it I thought I'd toss it out there. And it wasn't until I was musing on posting it that I realized the willing element could keep it off the one site.

 

[sr71plt]

There's not just one "right" ending for a story.

 

[PennLady]

There's not just one "right" ending for a story.

For me there tends to be a preferred ending, or what I tend to think of as the "right" ending. I know like my happy endings, but I'd rather even a sad one to a happy one that feels forced. I'm not sure what will be the right/proper/correct one for this story yet. I think it will depend on how closely I follow the myth I'm using as a framework, and I'm undecided on that as well.

 

[TxRad]

My second mainstream novel had a strong love interest in it. Strong enough that she became the main characters wife and she still is after all this time. Just for the fun of it and to make it more interesting to me while writing it, I wrote it the way I would a Lit novel, sex scenes and all.

I sent it to my editor as it was and sat back waiting for the explosion.

I got two replies, one the official explosion and the second a note thanking me for the addition to her secret files.

I edited the sex scenes out for the most part and faded some to black but i still have a copy of the original. One day when the mainstream novel is out of date, I might just post that original manuscript here.

Having to edit and make changes is an everyday occurrence in the real world.

 

[PennLady]

Having to edit and make changes is an everyday occurrence in the real world.

Oh, I understand that. And if I decide want to keep the unwillingness, well, then, I just won't post it on that site; them's the rules. It just made me wonder if the story would be better or worse if I changed that element, and would I want to change it to post there, etc. I realize there are outside influences and practical things to consider.

 

[Handley_Page]

I'm not sure how the story will go, although I think the ending will roughly be the same. It'll be a matter of the willingness of the protagonist. If the protag is unwilling, I'm pretty sure one site will reject it. So I find myself wondering if I can, or would, write the story so it's acceptable to that site.

. . . . I'm talking about a decision to stay somewhere, and whether the protag would be made to stay, or decide to stay.

Just curious.

Surely this is a 'shade' of willing':

There's a subtle difference between 'Reluctant',
(disinclined, averse, etc..) and
and
'Unwilling',
(Not intending or desiring to, unintentional, grudging).

Just a thought.

 

[PennLady]

Surely this is a 'shade' of willing':

There's a subtle difference between 'Reluctant',
(disinclined, averse, etc..) and
and
'Unwilling',
(Not intending or desiring to, unintentional, grudging).

Just a thought.

True, but I think at this other site, even a reluctant agreement to stay might get the story rejected. They have a very low bar on violence and things like that. They rejected a story I did about a guy who "captured" women with his camera because he was in effect kidnapping them -- there was no sexual violence or anything like that, but they still rejected it. They also rejected my story "Facing the Past" mostly b/c of a flashback scene where the heroine's brother begins to assault her.

So if I have any reluctance in the protag at all in this story in the final decision, I just won't submit it there.

 

[Handley_Page]

Ah, the freedom of the Author . . . .