Not credible?

[MattblackUK]

I read a story on Literotia and thought: "That's well told, but no way could that happen in real life!"

Some time later I heard a true story that was a real life version of the story I'd thought was far-fetched.

So, never say never!

 

[sr71plt]

Right. In my mainstream espionage novels, for a while my editor would point to something he found not believable and wanted cut out. After I pulled out a newspaper article three times backing up the scenarios, he stopped challenging them. (I had to be able to show that the scenarios already existed in public media to get the manuscripts by the government censors.)

 

[Edward Teach]

The first story I posted on Lit was about a young newlywed seduced on her honeymoon by an older man. I, myself, thought it might be too far fetched to be believed, but then two women wrote to tell me that it had happened to them--one with a complete stranger. She said the older lover was so much better than anyone she had experienced before, including her husband, that it contributed to her leaving her new husband sometime later and further, that the older lover had impregnated her that night, but her husband always thought the child was his. I no longer question the plausibility of a story.

From that same story, I also got an email from a guy asking if I would fuck his young wife, photo attached. I was a newbie then, thought he was yanking my chain, and sent him a smartass reply. I think maybe I would react differently now.

Edward the Believer

 

[johneb87]

The first story I posted on Lit was about a young newlywed seduced on her honeymoon by an older man. I, myself, thought it might be too far fetched to be believed, but then two women wrote to tell me that it had happened to them--one with a complete stranger. She said the older lover was so much better than anyone she had experienced before, including her husband, that it contributed to her leaving her new husband sometime later and further, that the older lover had impregnated her that night, but her husband always thought the child was his. I no longer question the plausibility of a story.

From that same story, I also got an email from a guy asking if I would fuck his young wife, photo attached. I was a newbie then, thought he was yanking my chain, and sent him a smartass reply. I think maybe I would react differently now.

Edward the Believer

Wow! Did his email start with "I don't mean to sound too forward but..."? Though, I would love to know what your reply was.

 

[sr71plt]

I think maybe I would react differently now.

Depending on how good the broad in the photo looked (assuming it really was of his wife).

 

[dr_mabeuse]

From that same story, I also got an email from a guy asking if I would fuck his young wife, photo attached. I was a newbie then, thought he was yanking my chain, and sent him a smartass reply. I think maybe I would react differently now.

Edward the Believer

Was that letter from Mr. Simon Ogobalu, Esq.,the Finance Minister of the National Bank of Zambia?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I read a story on Literotia and thought: "That's well told, but no way could that happen in real life!"

Some time later I heard a true story that was a real life version of the story I'd thought was far-fetched.

So, never say never!

Well that's pretty damned frustrating. Do you think you could give us the particulars maybe? Was it a matter of some man wearing a plaid shirt and a striped jacket to work, or was it something a bit more implausible?

 

[MattblackUK]

Well that's pretty damned frustrating. Do you think you could give us the particulars maybe? Was it a matter of some man wearing a plaid shirt and a striped jacket to work, or was it something a bit more implausible?

Sorry, no. Someone told me something in confidence of the: "You'll never believe what happened to me! variety and I thought: "Oh, bloody hell!"

 

[shewantsmore]

With all the stories on lit there must be some that are either true or got some truth in them.I think nothing is impossible these days

 

[oggbashan]

As authors we have to either get the readers to suspend disbelief and accept the plot, or write as if the story actually happened.

Sometimes that means that the impossible scenarios that occur in real life have to be discounted.

For example, my brother and I live 100 miles or so from London in different directions. We rarely visit Central London now, except to go to a theatre or event. Yet one day we met walking down Oxford Street. The series of coincidences necessary for that to have happened were too far fetched to be believable fiction.

 

[sr71plt]

For example, my brother and I live 100 miles or so from London in different directions. We rarely visit Central London now, except to go to a theatre or event. Yet one day we met walking down Oxford Street. The series of coincidences necessary for that to have happened were too far fetched to be believable fiction.

I think that happens more frequently than anyone realizes--always a shock, but a "fun" one.

My father and his uncle (both Americans) passed each other on a hotel staircase in Oslo, Norway, once and didn't say anything because neither realized the other had any reason to be in Norway.

And I once physically stumbled into a brother-in-law in a northern Virginia shopping mall when I thought he was in Florida and he thought I was in Cyprus.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Was that letter from Mr. Simon Ogobalu, Esq.,the Finance Minister of the National Bank of Zambia?

I laughed out loud.

 

[damppanties]

I think that happens more frequently than anyone realizes--always a shock, but a "fun" one.

My father and his uncle (both Americans) passed each other on a hotel staircase in Oslo, Norway, once and didn't say anything because neither realized the other had any reason to be in Norway.

And I once physically stumbled into a brother-in-law in a northern Virginia shopping mall when I thought he was in Florida and he thought I was in Cyprus.

I hope no awkwardness resulted -

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." *shifty eyes* "...nothing."

 

[bashfullyshameless]

The US Army maintains a website hosting all the citations for awards of the Medal of Honor. They relate the situation for which the medal was awarded. If you want to spend some time reading some "that could never happen" stuff that really did happen, Google it up and prepare to gape in disbelief.

 

[Villanueva1]

look good

 

[MatthewVett]

I once had a reader tell me that a character's behavior was unrealistic, but her behavior was based on a real event. It was bizarre, and mildly racist, since the reader's complaint was that a Chinese girl would never be sexually aggressive.

 

[NoCorrelation]

So, what you're saying is that I need to go back to that story about being stuck on a desert island with Alyson Hannigan, Christina Hendricks, Allison Scagliotti, and the vial of virus that made women desperate for sex every 3 days. Right?

What do you mean, I have a type...?

 

[dcrghujuikhjd]

From that same story, I also got an email from a guy asking if I would fuck his young wife, photo attached.
Longchamp Bag
Longchamp Handbags
Longchamp Victoire
Karen Millen One Shoulder
I was a newbie then, thought he was yanking my chain, and sent him a smartass reply. I think maybe I would react differently now.

 

[bzkkrbreat]

Critics Love this Flick

After swimming owing to the doldrums of January releases we in fine take a suitable covering to reccomend on the LAMBScores. Intense Bodies is the first murkiness of 2013 to pass the 3-Lamb target and this week is featured among 2 other releases. Stand Up Guys and Bullet to the Principal both piece seasoned actors, but were you impressed? Encounter out downstairs and don’t forget to reckon your reviews seeking the next print run of the LAMBScores.

 

[Ironiclaconic]

People love books with sparkly vampires, boy wizards, time traveling lovers, women who love watching sports, and men who admit mistakes. I don't think there is a limit to what you can get away with in terms of plausibility. The trick is establishing internal logic early. Introduce the implausible bits right away and that is the premise. The reader will usually accept it without question. But if you establish a different premise and bring in something that violates that logic late in the game, it frustrates the reader because they no longer understand the world you have created.

This is why sci fi films like The Matrix and Terminator, set in the present day, open with a scene that establishes a sci fi premises even if that premise isn't fully explained for another half hour.

 

[Bramblethorn]

People love books with sparkly vampires, boy wizards, time traveling lovers, women who love watching sports, and men who admit mistakes. I don't think there is a limit to what you can get away with in terms of plausibility. The trick is establishing internal logic early. Introduce the implausible bits right away and that is the premise. The reader will usually accept it without question. But if you establish a different premise and bring in something that violates that logic late in the game, it frustrates the reader because they no longer understand the world you have created.

This is why sci fi films like The Matrix and Terminator, set in the present day, open with a scene that establishes a sci fi premises even if that premise isn't fully explained for another half hour.

There are exceptions. "From Dusk Till Dawn" gets a long way in before suddenly becoming a vampire film. But even there, you have advertising to let viewers know it's going to be a vampire film; most books aren't going to have that backup.

I agree that readers generally like to have some sense of what is/isn't in the rules. Annie Wilkes had quite a good and forceful opinion on that, IIRC...