Alternative endings

[Zenith77]

Sister to @OpenMouth 's Do you ever write stories in your head, do you ever write alternative endings?

When I say 'endings' I don't mean the last three paragraphs, but a whole 'nuther chapter that takes the story in a completely new direction.

One of my favourite fantasies stories is one I often return to in my head, totally replacing the published chapter that follows (with it's happy ending) with a far darker, more perverted alternative. One day I may even get around to writing it... the bits of it that Lit would allow. Elements of that thought-process have made it into other stories I've written, so I'll have to replace them with something else if I ever do. Not acceptable to repeat yourself, after all.

Do you ever write alternative endings? Did you do so because you wanted to, or because of a suggestion from a fan or a comment? Do they make it in to publication, and if so how are they received in comparison to the 'original'?

 

[gunhilltrain]

Sister to @OpenMouth 's Do you ever write stories in your head, do you ever write alternative endings?

When I say 'endings' I don't mean the last three paragraphs, but a whole 'nuther chapter that takes the story in a completely new direction.

One of my favourite fantasies stories is one I often return to in my head, totally replacing the published chapter that follows (with it's happy ending) with a far darker, more perverted alternative. One day I may even get around to writing it... the bits of it that Lit would allow. Elements of that thought-process have made it into other stories I've written, so I'll have to replace them with something else if I ever do. Not acceptable to repeat yourself, after all.

Do you ever write alternative endings? Did you do so because you wanted to, or because of a suggestion from a fan or a comment? Do they make it in to publication, and if so how are they received in comparison to the 'original'?

Well, it is acceptable to repeat yourself. I've certainly done it, and no one has called me out yet. I did end a story differently because of a reader comment, although it took me a year to run into the guy's (I think it was a guy) statement again. I did replace the previous version.

A true alternative ending, on the same site? I haven't really done that yet. Although, if you think of one, why not? You'd have to give it a slightly different title (or an entirely different one). Probably you would want to have a disclaimer to tell the readers what you've done and have a link to the original, assuming that you keep that version.

 

[Djmac1031]

I wrote a story awhile back called A Karen Gets Her Comeuppance.

https://literotica.com/s/a-karen-gets-her-comeuppance

It was supposed to be a lighthearted, satirical, humorous piece, but as it progressed, it wound up getting rather...dark.

By the time I'd finished, I'd realized what I'd actually written was a Non Con story.

Which I'm not a huge fan of.

Then I stumbled on an idea that changed the entire narrative.

I wrote that "alternative ending" and published it along with the original, informing readers they could stop reading at the end of the original OR continue on for the alternate ending.

Only time I've ever felt the need to do that, though.

 

[Bazzle]

I have a story coming out tomorrow where the story splits in two. There are two different routes for the protagonists. BUT lit won't internal links...so it will format really strange!

B

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have a story coming out tomorrow where the story splits in two. There are two different routes for the protagonists. BUT lit won't internal links...so it will format really strange!

B

Yes, you can link from one story to another, I've done it many times.

You need to submit both stories together, with a note to Laurel in both, explaining what you want to do. She can join them with internal links to each other. You write the link sentence text, and she inserts the links. The stories need to submitted one after the other, with a clear explanation.

My story The Hyacinth House does this - the click will take you to the last page, scroll down. You should be able to copy the link code, to see how the html is constructed.

 

[NotWise]

I've never written an alt ending, and my direction now makes it unlikely I will. I'm inclined to endings that are built as the story progresses, so that a different ending would require a substantial rewrite--possibly all the way back to the opening of the story. An alt ending would be pretty badly tacked on and probably evident even to the readers.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yes, you can link from one story to another, I've done it many times.

You need to submit both stories together, with a note to Laurel in both, explaining what you want to do. She can join them with internal links to each other. You write the link sentence text, and she inserts the links. The stories need to submitted one after the other, with a clear explanation.

My story The Hyacinth House does this - the click will take you to the last page, scroll down. You should be able to copy the link code, to see how the html is constructed.

I don't know a lot of HTML, but I can write the code for a link. I've never asked Laurel to do it for me. That is a vestige of my attempts to become a graphic designer years ago.

So I've never submitted two such stories at the same time. Sometimes months or even years go by, and I have something new that needs to be linked to an older story.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Sister to @OpenMouth 's Do you ever write stories in your head, do you ever write alternative endings?

When I say 'endings' I don't mean the last three paragraphs, but a whole 'nuther chapter that takes the story in a completely new direction.

One of my favourite fantasies stories is one I often return to in my head, totally replacing the published chapter that follows (with it's happy ending) with a far darker, more perverted alternative. One day I may even get around to writing it... the bits of it that Lit would allow. Elements of that thought-process have made it into other stories I've written, so I'll have to replace them with something else if I ever do. Not acceptable to repeat yourself, after all.

Do you ever write alternative endings? Did you do so because you wanted to, or because of a suggestion from a fan or a comment? Do they make it in to publication, and if so how are they received in comparison to the 'original'?

I think I get what you mean. I can be a bit undisciplined, and I may have different versions on different sites, or even on the same site. At least I try for some consistency, and I never ask readers to go to another site. In fact, I never mention where else I am. Thus, each group is in their own little box and they seem happy enough.

Now that I think about it, I did mention that some new submissions on Lit were once somewhere else (they still are) and that they were changed for Lit. (About a year had passed.) So far no one has asked me where they came from or what is different.

 

[ronde]

Sister to @OpenMouth 's Do you ever write stories in your head, do you ever write alternative endings?

When I say 'endings' I don't mean the last three paragraphs, but a whole 'nuther chapter that takes the story in a completely new direction.

One of my favourite fantasies stories is one I often return to in my head, totally replacing the published chapter that follows (with it's happy ending) with a far darker, more perverted alternative. One day I may even get around to writing it... the bits of it that Lit would allow. Elements of that thought-process have made it into other stories I've written, so I'll have to replace them with something else if I ever do. Not acceptable to repeat yourself, after all.

Do you ever write alternative endings? Did you do so because you wanted to, or because of a suggestion from a fan or a comment? Do they make it in to publication, and if so how are they received in comparison to the 'original'?

Since I've never figured out how to write a believable plot without knowing how the story is going to end up, I've never written an alternate ending. There have been times when the ending I planned got diverted into another direction by the characters, but it's always just one ending. I'm not sure how I'd write a plot that could split at some point and allow more than one ending.

I have written a few stories with multiple chapters, but the ending of one always sets up the next and the next, while the same characters appear, always has its own plot and single ending.

 

[Seadog777]

Do you ever write alternative endings? Did you do so because you wanted to, or because of a suggestion from a fan or a comment? Do they make it in to publication, and if so how are they received in comparison to the 'original'?

I have emailed and asked permission from quite a few authors about doing my own "alternate ending" to their stories.

I've never heard back from a single one.

My personal opinion is that you DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, write an alternate ending without the permission of the original author.

 

[Zenith77]

I have emailed and asked permission from quite a few authors about doing my own "alternate ending" to their stories.

I've never heard back from a single one.

My personal opinion is that you DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, write an alternate ending without the permission of the original author.

Well, quite, but I kinda meant for your own works.

Like this:
Series goes Chapter A, Chapter B, Chapter C, but instead you have an alternative idea and you want to make it go:
Chapter A, Chapter B, Chapter C2.

 

[Seadog777]

Well, quite, but I kinda meant for your own works.

Like this:
Series goes Chapter A, Chapter B, Chapter C, but instead you have an alternative idea and you want to make it go:
Chapter A, Chapter B, Chapter C2.

An author ends their story exactly the way they want.
Otherwise, they wouldn't publish it.
So for me, the answer is no.

The closest that I can relate to this, is that I'll spend a few days mulling around how I want a story to end.

 

[Zenith77]

An author ends their story exactly the way they want.
Otherwise, they wouldn't publish it.

Yeah, but I mean after you've published the first ending, you come along and publish an alternative. Weeks later, for argument's sake.

So you end up with a series listing like this:
Chapter A
Chapter B
Chapter C
Chapter C2 (alternative ending).

 

[Seadog777]

Yeah, but I mean after you've published the first ending, you come along and publish an alternative. Weeks later, for argument's sake.

No.
I spend a lot of time figuring out the ending that I want to publish.
What I have done before, is take the ending that I came up with afterwards, and then use it in another story though.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The way that I view my writing, a different ending would be a different story.

Nothing alternative about it. I would consider myself indecisive and not committed to the story if there were different options for the ending by the time I got to that point.

Some believe that starting a story is the hardest part. I believe the ending one is the hardest part, and I don't shy away from the challenge.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The way that I view my writing, a different ending would be a different story.

Nothing alternative about it. I would consider myself indecisive and not committed to the story if there were different options for the ending by the time I got to that point.

Some believe that starting a story is the hardest part. I believe the ending one is the hardest part, and I don't shy away from the challenge.

Agree. A different ending is a different story, so I'd write a new one. And in so doing, I'd change the rest of it, to avoid repeating myself.

 

[onehitwanda]

I write my endings second, once I've written maybe one to two thousands words that give me a good feel for who the characters are. That's not to say the endings are immutable; they just give me a mark to steer for. So alternate endings might happen, but only one of them gets published and then I move on.

 

[Bazzle]

Yes, you can link from one story to another, I've done it many times.

You need to submit both stories together, with a note to Laurel in both, explaining what you want to do. She can join them with internal links to each other. You write the link sentence text, and she inserts the links. The stories need to submitted one after the other, with a clear explanation.

My story The Hyacinth House does this - the click will take you to the last page, scroll down. You should be able to copy the link code, to see how the html is constructed.

Oh I know you can link between separate stories...but you can't internally hyperlink between pages.

I would love to give the reader the click here to jump to x, but it can't be done. So its linear.

https://www.literotica.com/s/moths-to-a-flame-1

About halfway through the protagonists find something interesting about their tobacco...it was written as two options...

Hey ho!

B

 

[ElectricBlue]

Oh I know you can link between separate stories...but you can't internally hyperlink between pages.

I would love to give the reader the click here to jump to x, but it can't be done. So its linear.

https://www.literotica.com/s/moths-to-a-flame-1

About halfway through the protagonists find something interesting about their tobacco...it was written as two options...

Hey ho!

B

Worth investigating - each page has its own url address, so it might be possible to link to a specific page. Would need good coordination, and a fair guess as to where the page breaks are, in terms of the 3750 word increments.

 

[Bazzle]

Worth investigating - each page has its own url address, so it might be possible to link to a specific page. Would need good coordination, and a fair guess as to where the page breaks are, in terms of the 3750 word increments.

I have spoken to Laurel about it. Unfortunately it was a negative. I thought it might have been positive.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I have spoken to Laurel about it. Unfortunately it was a negative. I thought it might have been positive.

I don't have anything pending that I could use to test this, but to EB's point, a URL link to a page other than the first one in a story shouldn't be an issue within a different story.

Similar hyperlinks being equal, if it isn't possible here, it is likely due to Laurel or her system rejecting any that route externally or include anything other than the story title, such as the word "page".

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't have anything pending that I could use to test this, but to EB's point, a URL link to a page other than the first one in a story shouldn't be an issue within a different story.

Similar hyperlinks being equal, if it isn't possible here, it is likely due to Laurel or her system rejecting any that route externally or include anything other than the story title, such as the word "page".

Could be too complicated, or she doesn't want to start a precedent (just thought of that aspect, myself).

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Could be too complicated, or she doesn't want to start a precedent (just thought of that aspect, myself).

No argument. I was just pondering the ways that the hyperlink restrictions would be implemented. Most likely manual intervention on Laurel's part.

 

[djrip]

I wrote a story awhile back called A Karen Gets Her Comeuppance.

https://literotica.com/s/a-karen-gets-her-comeuppance

It was supposed to be a lighthearted, satirical, humorous piece, but as it progressed, it wound up getting rather...dark.

By the time I'd finished, I'd realized what I'd actually written was a Non Con story.

Which I'm not a huge fan of.

Then I stumbled on an idea that changed the entire narrative.

I wrote that "alternative ending" and published it along with the original, informing readers they could stop reading at the end of the original OR continue on for the alternate ending.

Only time I've ever felt the need to do that, though.

This illustrates well a thought I had the other day when Em was making me feel awful about having written a non-con story.

Every non-con story (that doesn't go too far with violence) is just a couple of paragraphs away from being a non-con role play scenario. You just add "we're just kidding!" to the end, basically. Same with humiliating cuckold scenarios. As I came to understand talking to NTH, these are things people want to fantasize about or incorporate into play, and, where in RL they would have to pretend, in fiction they can go all the way and imagine it's real.

I've only tried out one non-con story, and I felt I was writing for the audience of people who have fantasies about being ravished without consent. I think of it like, if they were going to roleplay, within the context of that roleplay there is a story where what's happening is real. That's the scenario the people pretend is actually happening when they roleplay. And that is the level where the story exists - it's a fiction that treats as real the scenario someone might want to imagine when roleplaying.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

This illustrates well a thought I had the other day when Em was making me feel awful about having written a non-con story.

Every non-con story (that doesn't go too far with violence) is just a couple of paragraphs away from being a non-con role play scenario.

So a few things:

1) I actually have a plan to create a Patreon where all of my happy endings get dark ones, and vice versa. I have no idea if that'll be popular, but I'm gonna try it one of these days.

2) My noncon stories (while never violent) could basically  never end with "We're just kidding." I mean, I suppose I could write literally anything, but I always start with absurd premises which separate my story from reality... long before the noncon starts. Twisting back to, "it's all pretend!" would require such a mental lurch, that no reasonable reader would be happy.

3) Why would you feel bad about writing a noncon story? Should Steven King feel bad for all the characters he's murdered in his novels? It's fiction. I feel like writing mostly noncon makes me a pariah in these forums, but I can't bring myself to care. Real life rape is evil, but fortunately these are words on a computer screen, and no more evil than all the fictional murders that millions of players commit in GTA.

[EDIT] For clarification, I'm not suggesting that anyone should enjoy noncon. If you don't, then you don't. That's perfectly fine. But the idea of shaming a person for what they write on here... Oof. I'm not a fan of that.