Help needed please

[Victoria_2001_02769]

I need some help here please .... While I love writing, and I love editing, when it's time to create a title for my story submission - I draw a blank! I am currently working on/creating a series for EROTIC COUPLINGS using the same couple, different scenarios. I'd like to keep the stories together, without using the Chap 1 - same title - thing. Any ideas? Please contact me. Email address on file.

 

[KillerMuffin]

The only way to guarantee to keep the stories together in the lists is to give them the same name and separate them by Ch. 01 etc. If you named them The Weekend and then The Weekend Gets Hotter, it's obvious they're same story, however if some author writes a story Called The Weekend, it might come in line between the two. Or someone could write The Weekend Continues and it comes between.

The way many people get around it is by using the "Title Ch. 01" convention and then using the description area to "title" it.

An example:

Weekend Ch. 01 Friday Evening.
Weekend Ch. 02 Saturday Morning.

 

[openthighs_sarah]

If the stories have to be read in sequence, you're probably better off using the same title as KM suggested, and using the story description to differentiate them.

If the stories only feature common characters, and it's okay for them to be read out of sequence, you can take the opposite route: give them each a unique name, and use the description to tie them together. That would be my preference, anyway. If you've posted ten stories that are related and I happen to see only the most recent story (in the New area), I probably won't click on the story if it has a "Chapter 10" in the title. If people like your stories and your characters, they'll check out your profile and find the other ones.

Good luck with your stories, however you decide to do it.


p.s. You love editing?

 

[Rainbow Skin]

pre-s. And what's wrong with editing? All the pleasure of writing, with none of that wretched inventing of plot to complicate it.

I seldom read anything with a 'Ch.' in it. If there was a good story about one thing, say, lesbian BDSM, it's rather off-putting if there's a Ch. 02 with 'they get their Moms involved', Ch. 03 with 'the policeman has an enthusiastic alsatian', Ch. 04 with 'two gay black guys join the romp'... I have to question the commitment to characterization.

Don't make them too dependent on linear order, so part two makes sense alone. Make them stand out as a group by giving them distinctive common parts of the title: not 'Summer Love at the Beach', but 'Corydon Triplets at the Beach'.

Titles are difficult, descriptions even more so.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Personally, I never read anything that has "ch." in its title. I think it's much more interesting to read something like

"Katrina's story: The Beginning"
"Katrina's story: The Revenge"

or something like that.

 

[BlackSnake]

...

Weekend Ch. 01 Friday Evening.
Weekend Ch. 02 Saturday Morning.

That's what I do.

 

[sirhugs]

Like Svenska, I tend to steer away from stories with " Chapter " in the title as a reader. As a writer, I find they get fewer reads as well.

 

[Guest]

Like Svenska, I tend to steer away from stories with " Chapter " in the title as a reader. As a writer, I find they get fewer reads as well.

Cuhhrrrappp! Now I find out. My stories were labeled chapters by default though they really aren't. Fook!

 

[Victoria_2001_02769]

To Those Who Have Replied So Far:

To those who have replied so far; I thank you. It appears to be the major concensus, that I not add a Ch # whatever to the title .... that is really what I wanted to avoid! The stories are, so far, based on one specific couple who, while delighting in each other, love to use a variety of places for their "couplings". I'm much pleased with the results so far. Please continue with your responses. to all!

 

[Victoria_2001_02769]

If the stories have to be read in sequence, you're probably better off using the same title as KM suggested, and using the story description to differentiate them.

If the stories only feature common characters, and it's okay for them to be read out of sequence, you can take the opposite route: give them each a unique name, and use the description to tie them together. That would be my preference, anyway. If you've posted ten stories that are related and I happen to see only the most recent story (in the New area), I probably won't click on the story if it has a "Chapter 10" in the title. If people like your stories and your characters, they'll check out your profile and find the other ones.

Good luck with your stories, however you decide to do it.


p.s. You love editing?

Yes Sarah, I love to edit. Fiddledeedee! Right now, I'm in the middle of having a love affaire with the English language! .o0( How many people can say that honestly and mean it? *L* ) IF you're having an editing prob., you'll find me on the Editor's Panel (I think that's the place.)

 

[KillerMuffin]

Thems the drawbacks of the computerized alphabetizing. In order to keep them together, you have to title around those limitations.

Personally, I read stories with Ch. in the title. I think it's really stupid to judge all books by one cover. Some chapterizations are stupid. Some of them are not. Couture, for example, writes very good serialized stories. So does HighlanderJM. I think that's his name. To say that they don't because the title happens to be broken into chapters is kinda dumb.

 

[Chicklet]

The way many people get around it is by using the "Title Ch. 01" convention and then using the description area to "title" it.

An example:

Weekend Ch. 01 Friday Evening.
Weekend Ch. 02 Saturday Morning.

thumbs up - I second / third / ?? (haven't read the WHOLE thread yet) this opinion.

 

[Chicklet]

Re: To Those Who Have Replied So Far:

To those who have replied so far; I thank you. It appears to be the major concensus, that I not add a Ch # whatever to the title .... that is really what I wanted to avoid! The stories are, so far, based on one specific couple who, while delighting in each other, love to use a variety of places for their "couplings". I'm much pleased with the results so far. Please continue with your responses. to all!

if you don't want chapter in the title at all, I say just go ahead and title each one seperately. Many of my stories have the same characters but in different situations. People that like your work will click on your author name - I'd suggest using the characters' names in the description.

Chicklet

 

[Singularity]

Chapters and Sequencing

I have split things down the middle. About 2/3 of my stories featre the same central character. I started with Training Michelle Chapters 1-6, as they were all pretty tightly linked.

Beyond that, I went to the individually named stories, because they mostly could be read without going back all the way to the beginning.

I agree that I won't read "xxx Chapter 20" because too many 'chapters' can't stand alone as good reads. I will scan/read a Chapter 1 or a 2 or a 3 sometimes, and if I am hooked I will go back and read from the beginning. I also will read a Chapter 1 without prejudice, as well.

Where there was a very specific linkage to a prior story, as in Shadow Masters, I included an author's note at the beginning telling the reader about the one key event that preceeded this story, in Gift of Honor.

When several readers asked about the chronological sequence of the unchaptered stories (the stores do progress the characters in a mostly linear fashion), I included the sequence numbering in my author profile page to help them out.

That way, those who are happy to read the individual stories can do it that way; and those who want to read them in sequence can do that, too.


Singularity

 

[MathGirl]

Some chapterizations are stupid. Some of them are not.

I use chapterization. Mine are stupid.
MG

 

[cahab]

If the stories have to be read in sequence, you're probably better off using the same title as KM suggested, and using the story description to differentiate them.

If the stories only feature common characters, and it's okay for them to be read out of sequence, you can take the opposite route: give them each a unique name, and use the description to tie them together. If people like your stories and your characters, they'll check out your profile and find the other ones.

Check out my profile (link below). Seems to work for me so far.

 

[openthighs_sarah]

Check out my profile (link below). Seems to work for me so far.

I did check it out, and it looked perfect to me. All different titles, and then you used the biography to explain the sequence.

As for KM's comment -- I don't think chapterizations are stupid. It's just that I prefer shorter stories, in general, and chapterization usually implies that I'll have to read quite a bit to catch up. Since I have the attention span of a small child, this can present a problem.

If I like the author, I'll still do it, but I'd much rather know the story is self-contained and complete. With so many stories to choose from, I just gravitate toward the path of least resistance, that's all.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I use chapterization. Mine are stupid.
MG

They are not.

 

[MathGirl]

They are not.

Are too.

 

[KillerMuffin]

ARE NOT!

Since you're a mathematician, this will be simple to explain. I have 22 gazillion posts. You have 12. Therefore, the numbers are weighted clearly in my favor so we must conclude that they ARE NOT!

So there.

 

[Victoria_2001_02769]

Job well done, one and all! Thank you again for taking the poll and helping me decide the best way to create a title. I appreciate your time.
[C]Sincerely, Victoria[/C]