prey or prize
- Thread starter Sharon78
- Start date
Sean Renaud
The West Coast Pop
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2004
- Posts
- 59,429
Well you're going to need to share a fair bit more than that if you want someone to write this.
Posting ideas here, as far as I know, is fine. the question is, are you requesting help to develop your own story or posting an idea for other authors to pick up and develop their own story from?
From your reference, I'd think you mean the former.
Note: You aren't supposed to post whole stories to the forums, but instead to the website.
My gut feeling about writing about personal experiences is not to do it. Normally personal experiences also include other people who may or may not appreciate having their life detailed. Make enough changes to names and instances and you could still use it and hopefully nobody would recognize it.
People write about their own experiences every day. People who write about their own experiences also get sued every day. Well, maybe not, but it's the stuff that draws in a lot of negative press for everyone involved. Think Alanis Morissette and "You oughta know"
From your reference, I'd think you mean the former.
Note: You aren't supposed to post whole stories to the forums, but instead to the website.
My gut feeling about writing about personal experiences is not to do it. Normally personal experiences also include other people who may or may not appreciate having their life detailed. Make enough changes to names and instances and you could still use it and hopefully nobody would recognize it.
People write about their own experiences every day. People who write about their own experiences also get sued every day. Well, maybe not, but it's the stuff that draws in a lot of negative press for everyone involved. Think Alanis Morissette and "You oughta know"
Just a point or two...
I take it this was addressed to me. It pays to "quote" people (use the button at the lower right corner of each comment) or the plus "+ button next to "quote" to group a bunch of replies at once (click "+ for all comments you wish to reply to then click "quote") so they know who you are talking to.
I followed your first statement, I think. Personally, I don't know of any one author who writes about something outside their realm of experience. It's nearly impossible. Everything everyone writes is using some form of "real life" instances to use as a reference. It simply comes down to how much are you using one specific real life happening, or how many multiple references.
Okay, enough metaphysical. Amityville Horror. Well known story/movie/real life happening. I was alive and living a couple of towns away when it happened. It was talked about on the news and in the newspapers before it ever surfaced as a story and then a movie. The problem is, the author of the story used a fair amount of real life, and a gracious amount of poetic license. Enough real life that the author was sued by the people they wrote about in the story. Then again, the author was sued because of the creative license they used not for displaying the facts! Go figure.
My suggestion would be to drop the "real life" tag line, and just write it as a story. Never mention "real life" or "based on my experiences." That you want to say that probably means it was a significant moment in your life, but saying it is, is only going to mean something to you alone, the reader will or will not make whatever inferences they like and dream it is ALL real life, if they so chose.
I once wrote a non-erotic story and I had people asking me where it was based on because it seemed so idyllic that they wanted to see for themselves what it was like. It was a complete fabrication, sort of like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon.
My point is, people will believe what you write is real (or not) in spite of anything you say, anyway (so it does the reader nothing good saying it is based on "real life").
You might want to familiarize yourself with the rules for submissions, and all that there stuff. It isn't well organized, to me at least, but since it's the rules for the website, you are best advised to adhere to them. It will only help reduce the chance of your story being rejected for breaking said rules. It might also make writing your story easier.
You might want to start with the FAQ's then try the submission guidelines and also realize that there are volunteer editors and all manner of people who volunteer to check your work prior to editing.
There's more to read than just that, but just to give a couple of basic "sign posts" to start from, so to speak.
Look in on the editor's threads and read the "stickys" about how to ask for help there.
Word to the wise, some "pro's" on here get downright snarky. Don't let it get you down and write your story and share it with the world.
If you are looking for some basic help for your ideas, then you should post more specific questions or a better premise of the story to get feedback.
Good luck.
...oh, and that second statement you made? I guess you were saying you were happy I said it was "okay" (I am nobody by the way, just a novice author looking to help) but you were asking should you post all of your ideas for the story???
Well, that is up to you; how much you post (here, in this thread). If you give away too much, and your story is interesting/unique enough for an author to recognize it as a gem in the rough, they may take it and create their own story and beat you to the punch of posting it.
So... only give basics but a little more basics. you might open a couple of older threads to see what others have posted before and get ideas on where to draw the line.
I take it this was addressed to me. It pays to "quote" people (use the button at the lower right corner of each comment) or the plus "+ button next to "quote" to group a bunch of replies at once (click "+ for all comments you wish to reply to then click "quote") so they know who you are talking to.
I followed your first statement, I think. Personally, I don't know of any one author who writes about something outside their realm of experience. It's nearly impossible. Everything everyone writes is using some form of "real life" instances to use as a reference. It simply comes down to how much are you using one specific real life happening, or how many multiple references.
Okay, enough metaphysical. Amityville Horror. Well known story/movie/real life happening. I was alive and living a couple of towns away when it happened. It was talked about on the news and in the newspapers before it ever surfaced as a story and then a movie. The problem is, the author of the story used a fair amount of real life, and a gracious amount of poetic license. Enough real life that the author was sued by the people they wrote about in the story. Then again, the author was sued because of the creative license they used not for displaying the facts! Go figure.
My suggestion would be to drop the "real life" tag line, and just write it as a story. Never mention "real life" or "based on my experiences." That you want to say that probably means it was a significant moment in your life, but saying it is, is only going to mean something to you alone, the reader will or will not make whatever inferences they like and dream it is ALL real life, if they so chose.
I once wrote a non-erotic story and I had people asking me where it was based on because it seemed so idyllic that they wanted to see for themselves what it was like. It was a complete fabrication, sort of like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon.
My point is, people will believe what you write is real (or not) in spite of anything you say, anyway (so it does the reader nothing good saying it is based on "real life").
You might want to familiarize yourself with the rules for submissions, and all that there stuff. It isn't well organized, to me at least, but since it's the rules for the website, you are best advised to adhere to them. It will only help reduce the chance of your story being rejected for breaking said rules. It might also make writing your story easier.
You might want to start with the FAQ's then try the submission guidelines and also realize that there are volunteer editors and all manner of people who volunteer to check your work prior to editing.
There's more to read than just that, but just to give a couple of basic "sign posts" to start from, so to speak.
Look in on the editor's threads and read the "stickys" about how to ask for help there.
Word to the wise, some "pro's" on here get downright snarky. Don't let it get you down and write your story and share it with the world.
If you are looking for some basic help for your ideas, then you should post more specific questions or a better premise of the story to get feedback.
Good luck.
...oh, and that second statement you made? I guess you were saying you were happy I said it was "okay" (I am nobody by the way, just a novice author looking to help) but you were asking should you post all of your ideas for the story???
Well, that is up to you; how much you post (here, in this thread). If you give away too much, and your story is interesting/unique enough for an author to recognize it as a gem in the rough, they may take it and create their own story and beat you to the punch of posting it.
So... only give basics but a little more basics. you might open a couple of older threads to see what others have posted before and get ideas on where to draw the line.
Last edited:
Hypoxia
doesn't watch television
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2013
- Posts
- 28,080
Think hard about how much of your personal history you want to reveal. When writing of real-life experiences, change the names and descriptions of people and places. If you get popular, vast legions of fans will try to decrypt your code-names, heh heh.
Start the story with an Author's Note: THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. THIS STORY DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE AUTHOR. ALL DEPICTED SEX INVOLVES PERSONS OF AGE 18+. NO CATTLE WERE ABUSED WHILE WRITING THIS STORY. YOUR CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IS WELCOME.
Remember, a writer is a liar with a keyboard. Be imaginative.
Start the story with an Author's Note: THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. THIS STORY DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE AUTHOR. ALL DEPICTED SEX INVOLVES PERSONS OF AGE 18+. NO CATTLE WERE ABUSED WHILE WRITING THIS STORY. YOUR CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IS WELCOME.
Remember, a writer is a liar with a keyboard. Be imaginative.
sirhugs
Riding to the Rescue
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2002
- Posts
- 40,575
All of my stories contain a bit of me, but some contain much more fiction than others. None are entirely true fact, though some are more closely based in fact- those I embroider with the colours of my imagination. I ALWAYS alter the names to protect the innocents...and the not so innocent 
Hypoxia
doesn't watch television
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2013
- Posts
- 28,080
All of my stories contain a bit of me, but some contain much more fiction than others. None are entirely true fact, though some are more closely based in fact- those I embroider with the colours of my imagination. I ALWAYS alter the names to protect the innocents...and the not so innocent
Some of the scenes I write (especially in 'journal' pieces) are straight reporting with ONLY the names changed. I don't write about the real me, but most of the people inhabiting my submissions were or are real live humans. Many details derive from my personal observations and experiences, and are included in others' accounts to give a "ring of truth".
An epiphany: Writing a multi-source "personal experience" story is like assembling a collage. Clip out vignettes from various images and glue them onto the main picture, which is itself built from various clippings pasted together. (That main picture must always be edited, lest it overwhelm with irrelevant details.) Shift those clippings around to change timelines as needed. Who came first, the dom or the sub? Was she exposed under stadium lights or in broad daylight? Manipulate the story fragments for your desired effect. It's all raw feedstock for the authoring machine.
