Creative Side Projects

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

I thought it would be fun to make "passports" for some of my characters while I wait to get out of pending jail and it's been a lot of fun boiling them to the bureaucratic essentials.

It's been surprisingly effective at making me think about how they relate to the world. I realised one character, for example, probably only got a passport after a family crisis while another had to travel without one, which raises the question of how they got through customs. The document is also quite a good snapshot that gives me something to refer back to when I need a reminder of a character's basics.

Now, I realise this little activity means I'm not actually doing any writing, but sometimes I find these side quests just as fulfilling.

What little projects have you pursued because of your writing?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I won't call is anything to do with passports, although I like that idea. Research for some of my stories has led me down some pretty twisty rabbit holes. I emerge hours later to find another morning.evening has vanished with nothing on paper.

 

[Imstillfun]

When I write a story it just flows from me, fully formed, in a matter of hours. Maybe spread over a day or 3. Sometimes, for fun, I work with my husband and create AI pictures to go with the story. I wish I could publish them. They’re really fun and sexy.

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

When I write a story it just flows from me, fully formed, in a matter of hours. Maybe spread over a day or 3. Sometimes, for fun, I work with my husband and create AI pictures to go with the story. I wish I could publish them. They’re really fun and sexy.

Do you not feel that any kind of reference image, whether AI or not, is a bit anxiety provoking? I've occasionally used pictures of places and people to inspire me, but it can begin to feel very limiting.

 

[Imstillfun]

Do you not feel that any kind of reference image, whether AI or not, is a bit anxiety provoking? I've occasionally used pictures of places and people to inspire me, but it can begin to feel very limiting.

I’ve got a picture in my head when I start, so creating that image is just fun.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

It fizzled out, but I did make a mini zine and made it look like a phone book for an escort where she had written down her clients and their numbers, with a client rating score, list of kinks, and a personal opinion. A pretty cool tactile anchor that put me in her headspace all the time.

 

[MrPixel]

I created a real website with a logo a few years ago, though just a landing page, for the fictional hotel at the core of my Off Campus series. Also created a name, logo and service uniform concept for the hotel's coffee shop when it was "decided" to go head-to-head with Starbuck's, but with sexy baristas.

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

It fizzled out, but I did make a mini zine and made it look like a phone book for an escort where she had written down her clients and their numbers, with a client rating score, list of kinks, and a personal opinion. A pretty cool tactile anchor that put me in her headspace all the time.

That sounds awesome! I can imagine that must've really helped the writing process.

I created a real website with a logo a few years ago, though just a landing page, for the fictional hotel at the core of my Off Campus series. Also created a name, logo and service uniform concept for the hotel's coffee shop when it was "decided" to go head-to-head with Starbuck's, but with sexy baristas.

This is brilliant.

 

[THBGato]

I create playlists on you tube of the music that features in the story and/or inspired me. In a recent story I had the characters actually play it...

One step I considered taking, but never went through with, was that I considered making a Literotica profile as a character, have them post a question in the forum to a dilemma they were facing, then hyperlink to the thread from the story. Would have been so meta!

 

[yowser]

About a year ago I got the urge to squander my meager Adobe skills (sure hate being forced into a subscription model) on a Literotica 'Map' of my stories. Kept me busy at odd times for a couple weeks.

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/litworld.1626847/page-2#post-100817156

 

[TheLobster]

Would have been so meta!

If I did that, I’d be scared they’d start complaining about the low effort and quality with which they were written.

 

[redgarters]

I wrote a song that the FMC performs in one of my stories. Published it on Spotify under the character's name and put it in the story playlist.

 

[PennyThompson]

I spent an unfortunate amount of time creating a Pinterest mood board to help decide what to do with a character's outfit for an upcoming story, which led to me having a bit of a personal epiphany about how and why I dress, which I am now grappling with

 

[PennyThompson]

I wrote a song that the FMC performs in one of my stories. Published it on Spotify under the character's name and put it in the story playlist.

Links please!!

 

[THBGato]

I wrote a song that the FMC performs in one of my stories. Published it on Spotify under the character's name and put it in the story playlist.

Links please!!

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-last-song-she-wrote

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

I spent an unfortunate amount of time creating a Pinterest mood board to help decide what to do with a character's outfit for an upcoming story, which led to me having a bit of a personal epiphany about how and why I dress, which I am now grappling with

Love using Pinterest for stories!

My copy of this book has also been very useful for dressing/undressing characters: fashionary.org/products/fashionpedia

 

[redgarters]

PennyThompson said:
Links please!!

The story: The Last Song She Wrote
The song: Two Cups on the Counter

I obviously used an AI tool to get the female voice to match the story, but otherwise it's my original song. Please don't hate me too much for it.

 

[MrPixel]

Also created a name, logo and service uniform concept for the hotel's coffee shop when it was "decided" to go head-to-head with Starbuck's, but with sexy baristas.

I should mention that I also registered the domain for the fictional hotel's coffee shop. It's presently a "coming soon" parking page and nothing more.

Problem I have with saying more about it including publishing the story is the concept, name, trade dress, and logo are very possibly marketable. It's a coffee shop equivalent to Hooter's. Might fall flat because of the sexist nature of Hooter's has been impacting the franchise, but at the moment it's a creative property I might want to protect.

All from a Literotica story.

 

[StillStunned]

When I get creative as a side project of writing, *everyone* gets to enjoy it: What I Wrote and Why 2024 - The Stories

(For those who weren't around at the time: I started a thread called "What I Wrote And Why" to describe my process in writing one of my stories. Several other writers followed suit. Laurel thought this was such a good idea that she asked us to organise a full-on challenge.)

(My legal team have advised me to mention that @EmilyMiller first coined the acronym WIWAW.)

 

[EmilyMiller]

(My legal team have advised me to mention that @EmilyMiller first coined the acronym WIWAW.)

I assume my royalty check is en route as per normal

 

[TheLobster]

Problem I have with saying more about it including publishing the story is the concept, name, trade dress, and logo are very possibly marketable.

I assume you’ve done this, but just in case: if you ever publish the story or publicize the domain in any way, make sure you have WHOIS privacy active on it. Otherwise anyone who knows how to type three letters in a *nix terminal will get whatever you gave the domain provider as your name and physical address.

 

[MrPixel]

I assume you’ve done this, but just in case: if you ever publish the story or publicize the domain in any way, make sure you have WHOIS privacy active on it. Otherwise anyone who knows how to type three letters in a *nix terminal will get whatever you gave the domain provider as your name and physical address.

Done. My registrar provides that privacy service by default.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I spent an unfortunate amount of time creating a Pinterest mood board to help decide what to do with a character's outfit for an upcoming story, which led to me having a bit of a personal epiphany about how and why I dress, which I am now grappling with

I've done this with D&D! I've collected plenty portraits and turned them into my NPCs!

 

[SmilingLez]

I guess I do the opposite. As a poet I'm always writing free verse. In between, I decided to dabble with free verse/flash fiction and flash fiction/free verse hybrids. So while my stories remain in pending purgatory, I continue to write my free verse and experiment with different forms of poetry (tanka, haiku, choka, triolet, clerihew, Higgeldy-piggeldy etc.)

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I should mention that I also registered the domain for the fictional hotel's coffee shop. It's presently a "coming soon" parking page and nothing more.

Problem I have with saying more about it including publishing the story is the concept, name, trade dress, and logo are very possibly marketable. It's a coffee shop equivalent to Hooter's. Might fall flat because of the sexist nature of Hooter's has been impacting the franchise, but at the moment it's a creative property I might want to protect.

All from a Literotica story.

I sometimes question whether I should have registered the fictitious name for the consulting company in my first novel. Five years after I published it, a woman started her consulting company under the same name.