Disappointments

[estragon]

Two writers whose works I enjoyed came up short, IMO, with their latest.

Surely Wilder, whose Perils of Plagiarism series was super, let me down with the last in the series. Too much more-of-the-same, as if he was marking time. He really has a great character in Terry, but I felt his latest portrait of her was flat, and the sex is same-again. Hope he comes out swinging in the next chapter.

HoHumMum, a newcomer, had written a really good incest piece about a mother and her injured son. I quibbled it, and hoped for the next. The latest started really well, mum/son, really got hot with an exhibitionist flavor, but the ending really crashed. I got the feeling the writer wanted to find an ending, and gave us a real turn-off. Too bad, because the technicals were strong (I could find only three quibbles) and the story was going really well into the last fence, when it got unglued.

Writers, keep writing! I know you can do better (and you have done before).

 

[estragon]

A Personal Disappointment

I wrote and published a "Celebrities" story called "Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!" about a university reunion, 85%, or thereabouts, of which was true. I tried for a light and funny touch; it was a sexual fantasy, starring a recent grad who had won some Gold medals at an international competition. For rowing. Stroke, indeed.

No comments or feedback, of course, but the trolls came in at their usual low level and bombed it. 869 views and a 2.67 score.

In my own defense, it isn't that bad.

 

[sethp]

Regarding your first post, I to am having trouble with my story endings. How to end a story? I think better feedback replacing "The ending sucked" is needed. How so? "It was rushed" Where should it have gone. I'm rambling.

 

[lovecraft68]

Regarding your first post, I to am having trouble with my story endings. How to end a story? I think better feedback replacing "The ending sucked" is needed. How so? "It was rushed" Where should it have gone. I'm rambling.

There is a couple of expressions that always come to mind when I haere about struggles with an ending.

The first one is don't start what you can't finish. If you do not have your ending firmly in mind don't start.

The other is I am going to paraphrase the first rule of magic "Don;t call up what thou canst put back down" another words do not build something up to the point no ending would suffice once again this goes back to if you do not a have a good start and an ending already in mind don't attempt it.

I am 32 chapters into a 40 chapter series. The ending was written after chapter 10. I have admittedly taken some wrong turns in the series but the fact that the ending is firmly in place has given me the ability to steer it back on course.

 

[lovecraft68]

I wrote and published a "Celebrities" story called "Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!" about a university reunion, 85%, or thereabouts, of which was true. I tried for a light and funny touch; it was a sexual fantasy, starring a recent grad who had won some Gold medals at an international competition. For rowing. Stroke, indeed.

No comments or feedback, of course, but the trolls came in at their usual low level and bombed it. 869 views and a 2.67 score.

In my own defense, it isn't that bad.

unfortunately with that low of a view vote total it really only takes a couple of 1 votes to get a score down that low. In the end if you feel it was good then take consolation in that.

 

[sr71plt]

unfortunately with that low of a view vote total it really only takes a couple of 1 votes to get a score down that low. In the end if you feel it was good then take consolation in that.

Not much of a celebrity, which wouldn't amuse readers looking for something more like Taylor Swift, and the writing is too dense, I would think, for readers of this category to wade through. Could use an editor on such things as numbers, too, as in the inconsistency of this sentence: "This time one showed up with his 30 year old wife and ten year old son:" On a whole, a little too "nose up hoo, hoo, hoo," for the target audience. The "celebrity" category isn't for the literary sophisticate, I don't think. Pretty dense and jolly prose even for the sophisticate.

 

[_Lynn_]

There is a couple of expressions that always come to mind when I haere about struggles with an ending.

The first one is don't start what you can't finish. If you do not have your ending firmly in mind don't start.

The other is I am going to paraphrase the first rule of magic "Don;t call up what thou canst put back down" another words do not build something up to the point no ending would suffice once again this goes back to if you do not a have a good start and an ending already in mind don't attempt it.

I am 32 chapters into a 40 chapter series. The ending was written after chapter 10. I have admittedly taken some wrong turns in the series but the fact that the ending is firmly in place has given me the ability to steer it back on course.

I disagree. Anything we write is good practice, regardless if we complete the story or stop in the middle of a sentence. I have numerous beginnings that didn't pan out once I had a few hundred words, or even a few thousands words. I don't consider them a waste of time either. Without practice, how do we improve?

I also disagree that we need an ending before we start. Letting the story flow in a natural manner can make for a stronger piece than forcing it to the ending you decided in the beginning.

Just my opinion, of course.

 

[lovecraft68]

I disagree. Anything we write is good practice, regardless if we complete the story or stop in the middle of a sentence. I have numerous beginnings that didn't pan out once I had a few hundred words, or even a few thousands words. I don't consider them a waste of time either. Without practice, how do we improve?

I also disagree that we need an ending before we start. Letting the story flow in a natural manner can make for a stronger piece than forcing it to the ending you decided in the beginning.

Just my opinion, of course.

Maybe my muse is dyslexic then because I always seem to have the ending of all my stories and then build everything up to it.

 

[lovecraft68]

Not much of a celebrity, which wouldn't amuse readers looking for something more like Taylor Swift, and the writing is too dense, I would think, for readers of this category to wade through. Could use an editor on such things as numbers, too, as in the inconsistency of this sentence: "This time one showed up with his 30 year old wife and ten year old son:" On a whole, a little too "nose up hoo, hoo, hoo," for the target audience. The "celebrity" category isn't for the literary sophisticate, I don't think. Pretty dense and jolly prose even for the sophisticate.

I agree to me the whole point of that category is reading about a celebrity-usually female- get down and dirty or used like a whore- a plot line need not apply.

On the number thing I have been told by several people that I should use the word so "I arrived at Ten thirty" or he weighed "One hundred eighty pounds"

But I was also recently told you can go with numbers but is has to be consistent this is something I struggle with when writing and have to go back and fix all the time.

 

[michchick98]

Maybe my muse is dyslexic then because I always seem to have the ending of all my stories and then build everything up to it.

I always start with the ending in my head. Then I start writing the story. As the story progresses, the ending I started with always changes.

It almost always works out though.

 

[sr71plt]

On the number thing I have been told by several people that I should use the word so "I arrived at Ten thirty" or he weighed "One hundred eighty pounds"

But I was also recently told you can go with numbers but is has to be consistent this is something I struggle with when writing and have to go back and fix all the time.

The guidance for numbers in U.S. style (British style may vary) humanities fiction (which includes erotica) is rather complex. Rounded approximate numbers ("about five hundred virgins") and numbers below 101 in ticking off units ("five virgins") should be written out. Precise numbers above 100 ("180 pounds") and percentages, time, dates, gun calibers, and some other exceptions are given as arabic numbers.

(An exception to this is if you have a sentence with multiple "like" units and one is about 101: "The Lichtenstein navy as 3 gunboats and 237 rowboats

Some publishers (mainly scientific) go with rendering numbers above nine in arabic numbers (but with the same percentages/time/date exceptions the humanities rules cover).

Not much question, though, that something is wrong in a sentence where the style is inconsistent.

U.S. fiction style on numbers can be reviewed here: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch09/ch09_toc.html

 

[sr71plt]

I always start with the ending in my head. Then I start writing the story. As the story progresses, the ending I started with always changes.

It almost always works out though.

I almost have an ending in my head too before I start writing--and mine also often change before I get to the ending.

 

[_Lynn_]

I always start with the ending in my head. Then I start writing the story. As the story progresses, the ending I started with always changes.

It almost always works out though.

I almost have an ending in my head too before I start writing--and mine also often change before I get to the ending.

I've started with nothing more than a few words from a song. However, I've said for a long time that I'm not like most writers.

 

[LOAnnie2]

There is a couple of expressions that always come to mind when I haere about struggles with an ending.

The first one is don't start what you can't finish. If you do not have your ending firmly in mind don't start.

The other is I am going to paraphrase the first rule of magic "Don;t call up what thou canst put back down" another words do not build something up to the point no ending would suffice once again this goes back to if you do not a have a good start and an ending already in mind don't attempt it.

I am 32 chapters into a 40 chapter series. The ending was written after chapter 10. I have admittedly taken some wrong turns in the series but the fact that the ending is firmly in place has given me the ability to steer it back on course.

I have to disagree with the needing an ending before writing a story as well. Some of the more interesting works of fiction came when the author just let the story take over. Take for example Fight Club.

When Chuck Palahniuk wrote Fight Club, one of the most telling revelations of the story is that he didn't realize the narrator and Tyler Durden were the exact same person until he was 3/4 of the way through the book. It's that whole twist right there that really sets up the best part of the story.

You're right, having an ending in mind is good, as it does give a goal to progress to. But it's not necessary.

 

[sr71plt]

I've started with nothing more than a few words from a song. However, I've said for a long time that I'm not like most writers.

I've started a story churning on no more than that--sometimes even less than that--but I can't say I haven't also got a few story hooks, an idea of what the movement/change is going to be, and an ending in mind before I actually start writing it. All of which can change as I write. And I don't often ruminate long--most of the stories that are going to be written come together quickly.

The story arc, hooks, movement/change, and ending are what makes it a story.

I rarely start just to write a vignette anymore--and I'm allergic to these interminable unending, unresolving chapter meanderings that we see so much of here at Lit. If I suspect that's what's happening with a series, I don't even start reading it--or responding to requests for help on it. (What are the bets Elfin will slip in to slam me on that? And my answer to that is that I'm primarily a writer here--I have no duties to read or comment on anything I don't want to read/comment on for whatever reasons I have. )

 

[sr71plt]

I have to disagree with the needing an ending before writing a story as well. Some of the more interesting works of fiction came when the author just let the story take over. Take for example Fight Club.

When Chuck Palahniuk wrote Fight Club, one of the most telling revelations of the story is that he didn't realize the narrator and Tyler Durden were the exact same person until he was 3/4 of the way through the book. It's that whole twist right there that really sets up the best part of the story.

You're right, having an ending in mind is good, as it does give a goal to progress to. But it's not necessary.

That doesn't mean that Palahniuk didn't have a resolution of the story in mind before writing, even if it was a different one. I would believe he--or any other professional writer--didn't have one in mind only if he directly claims that. And even then I probably wouldn't believe him. Professional writers can't help but think of the necessary elements of a story while deciding to write them. It comes with the experience and training. It's pretty much the same in any profession. A dentist doesn't start drilling without an end result in mind, even if half way through he finds he needs to do a root canal rather than a simple filling. He's been trained to think in terms of the total project from the getgo.

 

[lovecraft68]

As I sat in the lobby of TF Green airport, sipping coffee I tried to keep myself from sinking into the depression that I had been mired in for the last couple of weeks.

That line ran through my mind one day as i sat across from a very gothic looking young woman in TF green while I was waiting for my wife's flight to arrive.

I have since turned that into 32 chapters with the last eight outlined. within a week of that line came the image of the finale. I've had the alpha and the omega from pretty much day one. It's that damn middle that's tough.

 

[sr71plt]

As I sat in the lobby of TF Green airport, sipping coffee I tried to keep myself from sinking into the depression that I had been mired in for the last couple of weeks.

That line ran through my mind one day as i sat across from a very gothic looking young woman in TF green while I was waiting for my wife's flight to arrive.

I have since turned that into 32 chapters with the last eight outlined. within a week of that line came the image of the finale. I've had the alpha and the omega from pretty much day one. It's that damn middle that's tough.

Well, I pretty much have a sustaining middle in mind before I write too. However, I count on much more context weaving into the middle before I finish. But, no, I don't just have "I sat in the airport, depressed" (beginning) and "Before anyone reached me, I managed to open the door and was sucked out of the plane" (the ending). Because the story is really in the missing middle.

(And I doubt any story would take me more than thirty-two chapters to write. That's either too much story, too much irrelevant meandering, or too much unnecessary verbosity--or chapters that are unnecessarily short--in the style of Dan Brown.)

 

[_Lynn_]

That doesn't mean that Palahniuk didn't have a resolution of the story in mind before writing, even if it was a different one. I would believe he--or any other professional writer--didn't have one in mind only if he directly claims that. And even then I probably wouldn't believe him. Professional writers can't help but think of the necessary elements of a story while deciding to write them. It comes with the experience and training. It's pretty much the same in any profession. A dentist doesn't start drilling without an end result in mind, even if half way through he finds he needs to do a root canal rather than a simple filling. He's been trained to think in terms of the total project from the getgo.

Ah, there's the crux. You're a professional. I struggle to even call myself a writer most of the time.

 

[sr71plt]

Ah, there's the crux. You're a professional. I struggle to even call myself a writer most of the time.

Probably the only difference is that you don't realize the steps you are going through.

 

[_Lynn_]

Probably the only difference is that you don't realize the steps you are going through.

Probably not.

 

[sr71plt]

Probably not.

Well, I'm not the going to be one who says you don't have good instincts in writing stories.

But I also don't think a good story often happens when the writer starts off in the "meander" mode.

 

[_Lynn_]

Well, I'm not the going to be one who says you don't have good instincts in writing stories.

But I also don't think a good story often happens when the writer starts off in the "meander" mode.

Outlines and notes don't work for me though. Any time I've tried them, they seem to stifle all the creativity I have. I see it in my head as I go, with each scene leading me to the next one, as if the characters are up there, pushing the words out. Weird, but I don't know how else to explain it.

 

[estragon]

Not much of a celebrity, which wouldn't amuse readers looking for something more like Taylor Swift, and the writing is too dense, I would think, for readers of this category to wade through. Could use an editor on such things as numbers, too, as in the inconsistency of this sentence: "This time one showed up with his 30 year old wife and ten year old son:" On a whole, a little too "nose up hoo, hoo, hoo," for the target audience. The "celebrity" category isn't for the literary sophisticate, I don't think. Pretty dense and jolly prose even for the sophisticate.

Blackbird, I plead guilty to your quibble. Should be "thirty-year-old wife and ten-year-old son". Beyond that, in my own defense I proffer that my writing is not overly dense, but that's strictly a question of taste. I've said more than once that words are to a writer as cartridges are to a soldier in a firefight--don't waste any. Yes, I like crisp, hopefully witty, narration and dialog--if I fail at that, at least I didn't fake it.

As for Ms. Post not being "much of a celebrity", very well, she isn't, outside a very tiny corner of the world of sport, but I needed some cloak of public figurehood to avoid a lawsuit. I've been a defendant more than once, as I've said before, and when the jury comes in with a verdict in your favor, two minutes after the exhilaration ends you know you lost anyway. Who needs more grief? And as for her never hearing of me or my story, I know all too well that nothing on the internet is private, or secret.

So if it's "caviare to the general", and got one-bombed on that account, I'll bellyache on SF or AH (it's cheaper than therapy), and then go back to writing again.

Thanks for your comments. I won't change what I do on that account, but I respect your opinion, even if I disagree.

 

[lovecraft68]

Well, I pretty much have a sustaining middle in mind before I write too. However, I count on much more context weaving into the middle before I finish. But, no, I don't just have "I sat in the airport, depressed" (beginning) and "Before anyone reached me, I managed to open the door and was sucked out of the plane" (the ending). Because the story is really in the missing middle.

(And I doubt any story would take me more than thirty-two chapters to write. That's either too much story, too much irrelevant meandering, or too much unnecessary verbosity--or chapters that are unnecessarily short--in the style of Dan Brown.)

If I were looking to publish the entire thing I am sure you are correct. However, I am pretty much just telling story of a 20 year incestuous relationship and all the ups and downs both have gone through. I'm having fun with it which to me is pretty much what counts at the moment.