expectations

[wildsweetone]

there are times when petty rules and regulations smother us. as a writer should i allow myself to be governed by rules, or by what others think? if i treat others with respect and allow for the differences between us, then can i not voice/write my own opinion in the knowledge that others may or may not agree with it?

surely the diversity of being human stems from limitless boundaries not only of our environment but also of our minds. why would we be endowed with such an incredible piece of equipment - the brain - only to be forced to subdue it in order to stay within the edge of what someone else may expect from us?

the reason for my thinking these thoughts comes from wondering if it is a flaw to give my mind free reign. is it okay to let my mind go wherever it wants?

i have a chapter i am about to add to a long story - i'm learning about writing longer pieces of work. this particular chapter is going in a direction i hadn't forseen. my character has decided to do the dirty on me and go where he feels like going. so it's not possible for me to see or predict what the future will hold for my story.

should i make him conform, or should i allow him to go wherever he wants at his own will?

what if he goes in a direction that will cause readers pain?

your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[The_old_man]

All you can do is, let the charitec do its thing. Then edit hell out of it. Most writers here on lit have had this problem at one time or the other.

 

[Axeltheswede]

Seems like you are defining what it means for an author to stretch, wildsweetone. I have to think that is a good thing to do. Let your characters go and enjoy where they take you. The power to reign them in is always in your hands.

There is a lot of satisfaction to be had in doing something you didn't think you could.

 

[Coolville]

If characters are well-written, they are lifelike. If they are lifelike, the bastards will soon try to outsmart us and start wandering off into brave new worlds.

I say follow them (but carrying a gun...)

 

[Guest]

As I learned long ago.......

Let you're free-self fly........

When an idea "cums"....it "cums". I've often started a story with a specific idea in mind, and as my characters develope, and actually begin interacting with personality's and minds of their own, I am often surprised that the character's take over, and quite often take the story off in a totally different direction than I'd originally thought of.

Does this make me Physco or something? No...I don't think so, it merely says that as we breath life into a story, into the personalitys and characters we create, that quite often they become real for a time. And personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Isn't that what a truly interesting and exiciting story is supposed to do?

http://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=39666

To sleep........perchance to dream - William Shakespear

I remain......

 

[Omni]

Follow your characters, then edit if you must!

When I write I can only follow my characters. To me that is the exciting, unexpected part of writing. It brings me close to being the reader also, because I am never exactly certain where they will go. Because this is my style, I only loosely have plot directions in mind.
I never rein in my first impressions. Never stop the flow. I will however go back through in editing and tone down some sections. But, I write for sales and I think that if it was just for me or posting at Literotica that I would not censor any of it.
Well, especially just for me. I have writings like that, and I think every writer must have some of those private writings.
This reminds me of the first time I wrote up to a section in a story where the hero would be killing some bad guys. You know my hero really wanted to kill those guys. I let him and was uncomfortable doing it. Weird after all the action adventure I have watched on TV and read in my life. But, in the end I got the last say, because I edited the story back to the hero just knocking the bad guys unconscious. But, my sole reason for doing that was considering my clientele.


Omni

 

[80niner]

Wildsweetone. . .

The character taking over is not a problem. It's a gift. accept it with
gratitude. You are into your writing when the characters talk back.

80niner

 

[Quasimodem]

This is one of the best parts about being a writer.

Your character takes off and demonstrates to you, what you do not really believe.

A verity you question so little, that you were about to use as a foundation of your character's life, has suddenly becomes irrelevant, if not dead wrong.

And you never realized, until your character made you think about it.

 

[wildsweetone]

thank you

for your comments.

normally i am delighted when my characters go and do their own thing on me. i look back afterwards and think 'wow, where did that come from?'

the reason i am hesitating this time is because the story is being added to chapter by chapter. the first four or five are on Lit. already.

so far there has been a plane crash, some basic down to earth sex, a dead body... hmmm you see what i mean. each chapter is evolving as i write the story. because it is in the 'novel' section, there are no boundaries as to what i can include, so my characters have free reign.

i could include incest, bdsm, a little loving... there are no limits and all can be included without warning the reader.

now, in this next chapter i have a character who wishes to grab the readers by the heart and make them sob for what he went through in 'Nam. do i let him do that? the answer there is yes.

bearing in mind that i like the fact the reader is not warned what to expect next in the story, do i submit the chapter for publishing?

 

[Quasimodem]

The only advice I would give about a story that is sprawling out into a novel length, is to wait until you reach the end before making any decisions.

You may need considerable retro-fitting to edit the early chapters back onto the latter.

You may need to go back, cut in, and write towards a different ending.

At the very least, these runaway stories usually need continuity editing,(Some of mine have needed a word-whacker. ) before they are fit for viewing.

 

[80niner]

So shock the reader a little. There should be an
element of the unsuspected in a story. So you have
a few things that are at oddwith what has happened. If you plan on
publishing it later in book form, go back and change
the earlier chapters. Keep the reader on edge and
go with it.

80niner

 

[80niner]

So shock the reader a little. There should be an
element of the unsuspected in a story. So you have
a few things that are at odds with what has happened. If you plan on
publishing it later in book form, go back and change
the earlier chapters. Keep the reader on edge and
go with it.

80niner

 

[wildsweetone]

thank you both.

quasi, this story is being published as i write each chapter. i'm not holding it back until i've finished. actually, i am kind of enjoying writing this way for a change.

80niner i appreciate your advice. it sounds imminently sensible to me and i will follow it. thank you.

i know i'm full of flu and bronchitis, but now i'm seeing double
oh wait, i think i see what happened. do you know about the 'edit' button? you can click on the 'edit' button on the bottom of your message, when it opens you can go in and change anything you like. then when you've finished, you can move down the screen a little and click ummmm i think it says something like 'save changes'. sorry, i don't mean to sound knowitall; please ignore me if you already knew this.

 

[Karinthia]

If characters are well-written, they are lifelike. If they are lifelike, the bastards will soon try to outsmart us and start wandering off into brave new worlds.

I say follow them (but carrying a gun...)

I don't think I've ever heard something so apt and so funny at the same time. Does hog-tying them to the computer desk have the same affect? My characters always seem to skip off when *I* think I've finally gotten a handle on them.

K

 

[KillerMuffin]

Good thread WSO!

I'm not going to offer any advice, it seems you've got plenty of good stuff, but I will share my experiences with my three stories that tend to take a reader by the throat, emotionally speaking.

I can't remember which came first, but I think it was Losing Pieces of You. It's a pretty good story, if I do say so myself. It's not emotionally wrenching, but I've gotten email from people telling me it choked them up. It's bittersweet. It's done pretty well here, actually. I think it's because it leaves people with the ability to smile or get something good out of it. It's not really wank material, it's not all that hot.

The other two are much worse. An Acidic Tiger and Absolution for Gretta MacClain. Neither of these have warnings on them in regards to content. I should probably put something on Tiger, but I haven't gotten around to it. I'll do that tonight (thanks for reminding me that these things must be done!) They're both "tragic" in nature, though Absolution gets more reads and more emotional response if the feedback is anything to go by.

They haven't done as well, comparatively, as Losing. Tiger is one of my lower ranked stories--the writing isn't all that good so it doesn't carry the content--and Absolution isn't too far ahead of it. They aren't contest winners, they don't get anyone off, and people don't like them because they're not what they come to Lit for (in general).

However, I found the experience of sharing them, not just writing them, to be very rewarding on its own. People don't just respond to these stories, they react to them. A wonderful compliment because it means the story was effective.

I'm glad to see that you're going to let your character do what he does best. I'd caution you to be careful and not get too melodramatic, it's easy with emotional situations, but other than that, I think you're going to love not only flexing that piece of creative muscle but the feedback you'll get from it will be the ones you cherish the most. Almost anyone can write a story that'll make someone cum. Writing a sex story that'll make someone cry is, well, like nothing else I've ever felt before.

 

[wildsweetone]

Coolville - my characters all carry guns in this story. hmm how do i get one up on that?

KM thanks for jumping on the thread. i appreciate your thoughts. i read your Losing Pieces of You story and i understand your comments.

Almost anyone can write a story that'll make someone cum. Writing a sex story that'll make someone cry is, well, like nothing else I've ever felt before.

you know, i think it's a progression of growth in writing for me. it's odd but i'm not as overwhelmed by the erotica as i was earlier this year. i have the exact same thought as you, almost anyone can write a story that'll make someone cum.

it looks like exciting times are ahead for me while my characters pull out a few other emotions from my reader.

 

[wildsweetone]

okay i took the bull by the horns and the character by the ears

chapter five is now sitting in the submission queue and now i wait until my characters come and grab me in the middle of the night and start ordering me about again.

thanks everyone for your help and suggestions *hugs*

 

[Devyne]

.....should i make him conform, or should i allow him to go wherever he wants at his own will?
what if he goes in a direction that will cause readers pain?

if the charater is taking that direction then its where you need to let it go even if it causes your readers pain. after all isnt writing about making people feel the things we are writing about?