General Advice

[ImTheWrongGuy]

Good morning everyone,
First time writer, long time reader (and very longtime shower masturbator). So I am new to writing and being expressive/creative in general. I grew up in a very pragmatic house and after graduation, spent the next 20 yrs in the Army. While I had to come up with creative solutions to interesting problems, I was not creative in any expressive way such as art, music, writing, etc. Unless "Yo momma" jokes count.
I went through a long period of PTSD and depression (not saying this for sympathy) and got treatment. Since my hospitalization, I feel like there is something in me that I need to get out and I guess I chose this.
Anyway, all my drama aside, I am writing my first story and have sent the first little bit to an editor for feedback, but I am hoping for some general writing guidelines for a newbie writer. What I am writing, I just sat down and started typing. I didn't do an outline, I have no concrete ending in mind, just a general idea of where I want to get to with a few specific plot points in between here and there.
I am open to suggestions because I'm sure there are many writing techniques I am not aware of and if this is going to be my outlet, I want to learn and improve.
Thank you all for letting me ramble.

 

[vanmyers86]

Welcome to our crazy world!

Writing methods vary, so don't sweat that too much, despite what your teachers told you in middle school. Some writers create detailed outlines before they begin; others just start writing and see what happens; still others have an endpoint in mind, but let the journey happen as it will. I'm in the last group.

The big thing is to get out of the way when your characters come alive. You will know what I mean when it happens!

Best wishes to you!

I

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

Welcome!!

 

[SimonDoom]

Welcome and good luck.

I think the single most important piece of advice is: just write. Just do it. Let the creative juices flow and get it done. Don't fret about it too much. No doubt you'll find things to criticize after it's done, but that would be true regardless how much you fretted over it. You learn by doing. And you get the sense of satisfaction of actually writing a story.

If you want advice beyond that, I'll advise just a few things, to keep it manageable:

1. If you have any concerns about the mechanics of your writing, take a little time to read some of the "how to" essays and articles here. Some are quite helpful.

2. Pay attention to your characters. It's fine to have a story idea that's somewhat fantastic, but it really helps if your main character or characters are believable. Your story will do much better with readers if they care about your characters.

3. Keep your tense (past tense v. present tense) consistent.

4. Keep your point of view consistent, or at least under control.

5. Pay attention to your dialogue format. People get tripped up by this all the time and it's not difficult to fix if you put your mind to it. There are some how to essays and guides on dialogue here.

6. Seek feedback on the Feedback forum once your story is published.

Good luck!

 

[Voboy]

Welcome.

There's no one "recipe" for writing. Every writer does it differently. Even the same writer doing two different stories can use different techniques for those. Sometimes I outline, more often I don't. Usually a vague sequence is enough. Some stories work, some don't; I'd guess everyone who posts here has at least five or ten abandoned stories, or even finished ones that aren't quite good enough.

The beauty of being creative is that, unless you're doing it for money, you can afford to be picky about quality. If it ain't good enough, it ain't good enough. Move on to the next one.

ATW!

 

[ImTheWrongGuy]

Thank you

Thank you so much, everyone. I tend to be "in my head" a lot and I just need to get out of the way like yall have said.

I need to dig into the "how-to" as well. Thank you again for your encouragement.

 

[yowser]

Another welcome

All good advice above, I hope you find the experience satisfying.

There is so much to explore with the process, integrating your thoughts and imagination, and inevitably encountering the gap between intention and result. But there is huge value in the effort required to narrow that distance

Only two things others have not said:

Strive to make your stories authentic. The way you presented yourself suggests that this will work for you. 'Real people, real emotions' even if imaginary, go a long way for readers.

The one thing I wished I had done before posting my first story was reading more widely here, just to see what else people were doing. My first stories would have been better if I had done so.

Good fortune to you...

 

[roowa]

The one thing I wished I had done before posting my first story was reading more widely here, just to see what else people were doing. My first stories would have been better if I had done so.

I was about to say this, as well, but yowser beat me to it. If you want to be a better writer...read.

Pay attention to the things that you enjoy when you read someone else's story. I suspect it's not just the erotic scenes, but also the build-up, the conversation, the banter, maybe the humor every once in a while, and all the other emotions that make a great story.

Also pay attention to the things you don't enjoy when you read someone else's stories. The typo's, the awkward tense-changes, the obscure words that you either have to go look up in a dictionary or try to figure out in the context, the parts that feel rushed vs the parts that seem too long.

Take it all in, and try to apply those observations to your own stories.

And write!

At the end of the day, just write! Enjoy the story you're creating, invest in the characters until you can't stop thinking about them yourself, until they're real people in your mind. Enjoy the journey along with your characters.

So all that to say, read and write!

And then, just before you're ready to mosh the publish button, try to enlist an editor and/or beta-reader (doesn't have to be anyone here, even. Could be a trust friend or significant other). We all get tunnel-vision, so another pair of eyes on your story will catch things you can't.

Welcome to the Lit authors community!

 

[Emmeline]

Just wanted to say hello and welcome. Good luck in your writing!

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I can't agree strongly enough with the comments that there is no one right way. If you find yourself fumbling through process, screw the process. Don't allow tools to become stumbling blocks.

For me, the easiest way to do write is to fully conceptualize your main character(s). Know what their motivations are, what their background is, what they like and dislike. Get to know them so that if somebody asked you wish flavor of ice cream they liked, you'd know the answer, even if you hadn't thought about it. Know how they talk and how they move.

As exercises for myself, I sometimes come up with a story based on the characters and not on a plot. That's not how I write stories for public consumption, but its something you can try if you want to test whether you've fleshed out your characters enough to make them live.

I generally have the story I want to tell in mind, as well as a setting. The story you're telling might drive your setting, but it doesn't always. Plenty of stories don't require a specific setting. I think it's helpful to choose one, even if you don't name it in your story. Say, for example, that you were using Lincoln Park in Chicago. (Until you get adventurous, maybe only pick places you're personally familiar with.) Even though you might never say "Lincoln Park" or "Chicago" in your story, you'd have Lincoln Park in your mind as a model for the streets your character is walking and the buildings where your character is working or living. If you are trying to transport your characters from Point A to Point B, you needn't flail around because you can easily envision how you'd get from Lincoln Park to Little Italy. It helps you drill down to the little details you might miss if you imagine it from scratch.

Once you have your characters and your setting, it's a little bit like dropping mice into a maze. You've given your characters enough life that you know what they would naturally do in any setting and in any scenario. If you drop in little elements of plot as you go along, your characters will just react to them in your mind. You just have to push them in the direction you want them to go, and then describe it as they go along. Sometimes they'll try to get away from you and run off in directions that don't have anything to do with your plot, but that's not such a bad problem to have. You just have to reel them back in and redirect them. (I often find this involves cutting scenes I enjoy that have only tangential relevance to the plot.)

If it doesn't work this way for you at first, try exercising that set of mental muscles with characters you're very familiar with, like from a TV series you watch or a book that you really like. In your mind, drop those characters into a different setting with different plot elements and see what they do.

That's the way that's easiest and most fun approach for me. It's an approach that can be used with or without a loose outline.

Lots of luck!

 

[yukonnights]

Enchantment_of_Nyx said much of what I was thinking as I was reading through the suggestions given so far. I'll just elaborate on how that works for me.

In general, I can say that when I write there is a movie running in my head. I'm basically transcribing what I see the characters doing (action), if need be where they are (setting), what they are saying (dialogue) and if it adds to the story; what they are thinking/feeling (interior dialogue/emotions).

I have written stories with an outline and stories without an outline. It depends on the complexity of the plot (story arc). My outlines are not complex, and serve more as guideposts to the steps I originally envisioned the story going. Outlines seem to always get modified as the story takes on a life of it's own.

It's almost a rule that stories have certain important stages; An introduction of characters/setting — a point of potential conflict — a rising conflict — a crisis point — an easing of crisis — a resolution of crisis. — an ending. (edit to add; I was taught in school that every story also needs a theme. The theme is the message or moral of the story. That boils down to; What do I want to say to the world with this story — what is my message?)

As others have said; Don't hesitate to reach out to someone to proofread the work. I've been blessed to have a friend or two here who are willing to read my drafts and catch the inevitable typo or inconsistency for me. The Volunteer Editor program seems to be hit and miss — it isn't against some protocol to contact an author you like to read to ask if they have time to read your draft.

Welcome and best wishes as you begin this new journey.

 

[SamScribble]

I am sure that my sub-conscience is sometimes 'writing' even before i start writing but, often, the first sentence that I commit to paper is all I have. No outline. No story arc. No character sketches. But, once the first sentence is down, I can usually see a second sentence and a third and, before I know it, I have a short story.

Incidentally, Tolkien said in later life that when he first wrote 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit', he wasn't even sure what a hobbit was.

Welcome. And good luck with your journey.

 

[ElectricBlue]

There's another thread running which is talking about exactly this topic which you might find useful too:

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1526240

 

[TarnishedPenny]

... there is no one right way. If you find yourself fumbling through process, screw the process. Don't allow tools to become stumbling blocks.

While I agree with everything else written here, this above all.

Welcome - and don't be afraid to keep asking questions.

 

[HeyAll]

Like I always say, imagine your story is like a stand-alone tv episode. It has a begining, a middle, and an end. The scenes need to connect and so forth and move along a story or momentum.

The good news is, with erotica, you know the ending is hot sex.

I like working backwards sometimes. Think about a really hot sex scene, them build around. Ask yourself how it all came out.

Before you know it, it's a story.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

To piggy back off of Simon, there are a couple of specific essays I'd recommend: two by TxTallTales: Love Your Readers and Love Your Readers: Categories.

Also: how-to-make-characters-talk

There are a lot of good resources here: Writer's Resources (but that page isn't super easy to find).

I wrote a story, then did a bunch of research noodling around in these resources. Then I went back and applied some of what I read to my story. I found that helpful, having something of my own to refer to when I was looking at the information in the essays.

The main advice you've gotten -- just write -- is the best. Get started, let whatever's inside you out to play, and once you get a draft, then worry about prettying it up.

Good luck, welcome to the fray!

 

[ImTheWrongGuy]

Holy cow, thank you all for making me feel welcome and all the great advice! I tend to get caught up in the "how' instead of the "what". I got my first approximately 1,300 words with only a shorter masturbation scene, the majority was dialog setting up the twist and I got worried I was taking too long. I did reach out to someone on the editor's page for feedback and maybe a little encouragement/validation I was going in the right direction. Well, I guess in between writing sessions, I have some homework to read the suggested articles.

Just to clarify, when my wife asks why I am taking the 3rd "shower" of the day, I can just say I'm doing research for my story on Literotica?

 

[Rustyoznail]

G’day from Oz...

I rarely have a story plan. I just throw words out in a semi coherent jumble. Seems to work. Just find your own method.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Like I always say, imagine your story is like a stand-alone tv episode. It has a begining, a middle, and an end. The scenes need to connect and so forth and move along a story or momentum.

The good news is, with erotica, you know the ending is hot sex.

I like working backwards sometimes. Think about a really hot sex scene, them build around. Ask yourself how it all came out.

Before you know it, it's a story.

That's how I see the story in my head, as a movie, then I just write the screenplay padding it out with any descriptions I think are necessary to tell the story.

But, not all stories end with a hot or otherwise, sex scene.

 

[gunhilltrain]

That's how I see the story in my head, as a movie, then I just write the screenplay padding it out with any descriptions I think are necessary to tell the story.

But, not all stories end with a hot or otherwise, sex scene.

Yes, it's often interesting to describe what happens after the sex scene, what the characters do in the minutes, hours, or even days after it happens. The characters can have awkwardness or regrets during those periods, which probably does happen a lot in real life.

I hope you have a satisfying experience writing here. I know I have.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

Holy cow, thank you all for making me feel welcome and all the great advice! I tend to get caught up in the "how' instead of the "what". I got my first approximately 1,300 words with only a shorter masturbation scene, the majority was dialog setting up the twist and I got worried I was taking too long. I did reach out to someone on the editor's page for feedback and maybe a little encouragement/validation I was going in the right direction. Well, I guess in between writing sessions, I have some homework to read the suggested articles.

Just to clarify, when my wife asks why I am taking the 3rd "shower" of the day, I can just say I'm doing research for my story on Literotica?

Just wait 'til you get your water bill!

 

[ElectricBlue]

I am sure that my sub-conscience is sometimes 'writing' even before i start writing but, often, the first sentence that I commit to paper is all I have. No outline. No story arc. No character sketches. But, once the first sentence is down, I can usually see a second sentence and a third and, before I know it, I have a short story.

A change of favourite category on the way there, Sam? Branching out into BDSM?

Or a Freudian slip? Damn you, Freud, with your subconscious, ego and id .

 

[SamScribble]

A change of favourite category on the way there, Sam? Branching out into BDSM?

Or a Freudian slip? Damn you, Freud, with your subconscious, ego and id .

Ha ha. Not guilty, EB. It just shows what happens when you let spellcheck have its evil way.

 

[_Lynn_]

I am sure that my sub-conscience is sometimes 'writing' even before i start writing but, often, the first sentence that I commit to paper is all I have. No outline. No story arc. No character sketches. But, once the first sentence is down, I can usually see a second sentence and a third and, before I know it, I have a short story.

Incidentally, Tolkien said in later life that when he first wrote 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit', he wasn't even sure what a hobbit was.

Welcome. And good luck with your journey.

That's how I write. If I have scenes, characters, and a plot in my head, typing it out is redundant because I already know what's happening.




And welcome to the OP.

 

[SimonDoom]

I am working on my first "pantsing" story right now. I'm almost 3000 words into it and haven't either written the ending or attempted to create a bullet-point outline yet. That's unheard-of for me. It's challenging but I'm going to give it a go. Mentally, of course, I am looking ahead and imagining how the story will end, but I'm trying scrupulously not to commit anything to writing before it happens. We'll see how it goes.