For All The Serious Authors...

[mithragoddess]

This question is for all the serious authors out there. I have been thinking a lot about my own work and I have come to the conclusion that I have one of my favorite stories and I have come to realize that every time I start a new story, I tend to lean towards that one particular story. I was just wondering if there were any other serious authors out there that have one particular story that they find to be there best piece, be it erotica or not.

 

[Guest]

I always think that my best piece is the one I've just finished.

Although, there is one story that I absolutely love, and will always love. It's gonna be in Volume 2 of Coming Together.

Then again, the "pieces" I'm most proud of are my novels, because they are almost like children to me. That sounds daft, soppy even, but I nurtured them and helped them grow, and I was with them all the way, good times and bad.

Lou - in a "smilie" mood today.

 

[impressive]

I don't know how "serious" I am ... but I do have favorites. Different favorites for different moods. I mean, a favorite for humor ... a favorite for seduction ... a favorite for variety ...

 

[Softouch911]

This question is for all the serious authors out there. I have been thinking a lot about my own work and I have come to the conclusion that I have one of my favorite stories and I have come to realize that every time I start a new story, I tend to lean towards that one particular story. I was just wondering if there were any other serious authors out there that have one particular story that they find to be there best piece, be it erotica or not.

I write a lot, post a lot, but I'm definitely not a "serious" author -- I'd have trouble keeping a straight face at a funeral for much more than five minutes.

But you're right, I think everyone basically writes the same story over and over. Oh, the surface may be different, even the characters, but there are issues underneath that are the same, over and over .... that's what leads some people to inscest stories, others to Loving Wives, and people like me to primarily BDSM stuff. Really "serious" authors, like William Faulkner win Nobel prizes by basically writing the same story over and over but doing it in such a compelling and inspiring fashion that everyone's jaw drops when they read it. As opposed to me, who is not "serious." The only thing that drops on me is my aging muscles.

The only problem with this constant rehashing, and you see it a lot both in mainstream publishing and in porn like we have on Lit., is that it can get very predictable and tired feeling to read. You have to be careful of that to find an idea that doesn't parrot the previous work so much as spring from it and move to a new perspective or level. Otherwise you end up in the same vein as Hollywood writers to produce "sequels" that very rarely seem to be as good as the first.

Ahhh, but when the sequel is even better, what fun it is to be in the audience! That's my job as an author. I have a number of stories here, but none is as good as my first, imo. Another reason I don't think of myself as "seirous."

But my next story will be my best! I promise.

 

[Alexis Haines]

I have come to realize that every time I start a new story, I tend to lean towards that one particular story

I'm not a serious author... and I'm wondering, is this something where a writing class would help?

Do you outline a story before you start writing it? I've started mapping out plot points within a structure before I start. It's a left brain/right brain sort of thing. I don't do it well, but it gets me thinking. If you try it, you might find yourself breaking away from your favourite story.

Good luck, and happy writing!

 

[Quiet_Cool]

This question is for all the serious authors out there. I have been thinking a lot about my own work and I have come to the conclusion that I have one of my favorite stories and I have come to realize that every time I start a new story, I tend to lean towards that one particular story. I was just wondering if there were any other serious authors out there that have one particular story that they find to be there best piece, be it erotica or not.

No. I can't say I have one in particular that stands out, and I don't have many. I take my writing far too seriously. Each one is different, and they all have a value, but none of them standout as my vfavorite.

Now, here on Lit. I have a favorite (Frankenstein--Yeah, I'm self-promoting again -- still looking for that 10th vote to qualify it for the toplists), simply because it's the only story I have here that actually, in my viewpoint, counts as somewhat literary. It takes precedent over stroke, but not over my non-lit stories.

It's what I'm working on at the moment, not what I've done before and can't get over. It's good to be proud, but bad to linger on the past, even if you just finished it last week.

Q_C

 

[McKenna]

There are pieces I write that have significant emotional value, pieces I write that have had significant educational value, and pieces I write that will forever be my favorites because in some ways, I've come to know my characters well and they feel almost human to me.

I think once I finish a piece, it very much becomes my favorite, for a time. But with time and distance, I'm more able to analyze it on a less enamored plane; it may not remain my favorite, but it will forever remain a part of me. It's a useful tool to measure where I've been and to where I'm going, and if progress is being made along the way. This applies to my non-fiction and fiction. I write for a living; I have to take what I do seriously.



P.S. I love your sigline. So very, very true.

 

[SeaCat]

Well I'm certainly not a seriouse author, I haven't published anything in print and certainly haven't received any money for my stories so I don;t kow if I can help you. (Hmmmm, maybe because I'm not a seriious author I shouldn't reply, nah what the hell.) While I do have a favorite story I don't think I lean towards that story or it's style. Just like I may or may not have a message in my stories. (I think any messages I have are for the readers to determine not me, the writer.)

Cat

 

[elsol]

*burp*

In a Formal Logic class, my professor postulated that at most there were like 7 logical story constructs. By construct, I mean meta-language representation of a story:

Construct 1: A ---> A (Or in plain english the story of a single thing).

Construct 2: A & B ---> AB (The story of things coming to together to make a new thing... it's more complicated than that but you get the picture... ALTHOUGH it could be argued this is actually a story of AB therefore it's actually only a slight complication of the first construct.).

Construct 3: A & B ---> A (The Cane and Abel construct).

I agree with the professor; there's a limited set of story constructs but then things get complicated. The same way people react differently in a situation; two people will handle the 'same elements' differently.

I set a writing exercise for myself by coming up with a 'complex story construct' and seeing if I could tell it differently in a number of ways.

I've completed three: 'The Return of Dacia', 'Michelle's Story', 'Sine equals Cosine'.

I designed them to be same construct, but when I posted the info on my blog readers got into -tiffs- with me about how they weren't actually the 'same, exact' story at all, even though I meant them to be.


ps-- I've said this same thing in other posts... err... unless I deleted them before I got to the 'submit' part which I do very often.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Not the same story necessarily, but very often the same theme.

The theme is almost always redemption through sex. A character is remade or discovers themself through a sexual experience.

 

[Alexis Haines]

Yes! This is what I was trying to suggest with the outline comment earlier.

I downloaded a writers program demo to see how it stepped through outlining ("construct"-ing?). Basically it listed 12 possible story stages from setup through resolution.

But, as you say, where a story changes is in how the characters act; this was where the demo got complicated too (or maybe just thorough, it wasn't hard to use).

What I got out of it was that any character's actions, reactions, responses, motivations, fears, etc. etc. can lead to subplots and drive one story in an apparently different way from another--even if both stories (or all stories) follow the identical 12 stages.

I understand it; I just wish I had the discipline to do it!

 

[PhantomMuse]

I was just wondering if there were any other serious authors out there that have one particular story that they find to be there best piece, be it erotica or not.

Story no, theme yes.

I've detected my best work generally has an undercurrent of redemption to it. That may be somewhat simplistic, but it's true. The "catch" is often that the redemption takes a form unexpected to the reader. Hell, it surprises me sometimes!

 

[Halo_n_horns]

I'm nowhere near "serious," but I would consider my best piece to be Legacy of Judas, found in my sigline.