How Do You Prevent Your Stories From Being Similar?

[spankedboy]

Hi, given that our kinks are a constant (at least for some period in time), how do you write stories that are different? For example, I am into dominant women spanking me, and I find that in almost all of my stories some element of this creeps in, and couple of my protagonists are also similar in description.

I write stories mainly for my own amusement (and arousal!) so it's understood there will be similarities, but I would be interested to know how other authors tackle this issue.

-- Tarek

 

[Hypoxia]

Think. Compare. Work. Of course, some audiences WANT a sameness, as long as it's arousing.

 

[49greg]

Think. Compare. Work. Of course, some audiences WANT a sameness, as long as it's arousing.

Some authors, I've noticed, are very successful with keeping stories similar. With a fan base and a good model, it can work. Just give your readers what they want.

I suspect that mine have similarities that weren't planned. I have been trying to explore different categories, hopefully they won't all be variations on a theme. Eventually I'll settle down with a favorite or comfortable category or two and then I'll have to really stretch my imagination, and, as Hypoxia says: compare, work.

 

[sr71plt]

I approach every story with the thought of "what different can I do with this one?" That said, there are only so many sexual positions and so many approaches into sex. I go for a wide variety of locations, times, and scenarios.

 

[HeyAll]

I try to think of different ways to set it up.

I also try to think of different perspectives, and different ways the sexual relationship is (ie loving, degrading, dom/sub? ec...)

Also there's different sex acts depending on where the story takes place.

For instance, if it takes place in an office, you can have the female character bending over the desk during sex, or performing oral sex under the desk. Those are things which I'm sure people love to read about.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

A lot of my stories are very similar as far as the characters go. Even some of the plots are so similar as to be identical.

I also have stories that bare/bear no resemblance to each other.

It all depends on what I'm trying to do.

Those stories that are very similar became a series of adventures of on mans travels in time. Each story is a different life in a different timeline.

But as I write for myself and just share them with an audience...it really doesn't matter to me.

 

[SecondCircle]

Just try different stuff. Try stuff you've never done before. If you write intimate first person POV, try third person omnipotent. If you usually write from the perspective of one sex, try the other. Try different kinks. Try only one in a story, several in a story, or all in the same story. Try long stories, really really long stories, short stories. Different sex positions. Settings (that's a big one.) Try different character types.

Try new categories. Pick one that intrigues you, maybe excites you a little, and venture into that category.

Then do the "out of body experience" thing. It's really easy to write characters that act like we do. Step behind the controls of someone different and write from their eyes. Paint the world as they see it, and only season it with your style.

 

[walkerlong]

Use the sex to tell a story. Don't write a story to tell about the sex.

 

[RoyceConnors]

IMHO, it's not so much trying to change a theme that you like to make it different, but using different characters and scenarios of how it plays out that makes if different each time. As stated, there's only so many ways to do things, it's how it affects characters differently that makes it interesting to see the same theme written over and over.

Give that angle a go and see if that works for you.

 

[FantasyXY]

For me it comes pretty easy. I like to write about different things and tell my stories from different points of view and in different voices.

If you are stuck, try a POV you haven't used.

 

[horny8191988]

IMHO, it's not so much trying to change a theme that you like to make it different, but using different characters and scenarios of how it plays out that makes if different each time. As stated, there's only so many ways to do things, it's how it affects characters differently that makes it interesting to see the same theme written over and over.

Give that angle a go and see if that works for you.

I second this.

There are only so many ways to write about / describe people having sex. Yes, you can change the location and the time of day and all that and it DOES change the story and gives it a new 'flair.' But also, when you change the characters personalities that is what sets stories apart.

Is your female a take charge kind of girl? Vocal? More subdued? Giving her partner the reigns and following his lead?

 

[spankedboy]

Yes, sometimes audiences want the same thing. I have never written for my audience though - it's a fantasy I have that I want to see lived out in a story. But then I have similar fantasies, just with different types of women!

 

[spankedboy]

I second this.

There are only so many ways to write about / describe people having sex. Yes, you can change the location and the time of day and all that and it DOES change the story and gives it a new 'flair.' But also, when you change the characters personalities that is what sets stories apart.

Is your female a take charge kind of girl? Vocal? More subdued? Giving her partner the reigns and following his lead?

Yes, in my stories that's BDSM, the females take charge and their partner is happy to be in submission. In my cuckold stories, the wife takes charge and the partner is happy to be a cuckold Notice the similarity lol

 

[spankedboy]

What I have tried to do is change the situation the characters are in and also the background of the characters. So I have a cuckold who is a rich executive and a cuckold who is a poor rickshaw driver.

 

[Hypoxia]

Use the sex to tell a story. Don't write a story to tell about the sex.

I have a guideline here:

Non-erotic: Sex is peripheral to the story.
Erotic: Sex is central to the story.
Pr0n: Sex IS the story.

I have a cycle of stories called A TASTE OF INCEST. Some are just frameworks upon which to hang sex. Blatant pandering, folks. Some of those strokers are (for me) experimental. Some are actual stories that (hopefully) could exist without explicit sex. Even within a cycle with common characters, settings, and themes, each segment (hopefully) has its own distinct flavor.

Yes, to avoid sameness, try different approaches, different narrative modes, different themes and motifs. Consciously try to escape straightjackets and boundaries. Readers may not appreciate such -- my most 'challenging' stories (BIG BANANA and UNDER HIS EYES) are also the lowest-rated. Imagine that.

Not just different approaches, but different mindsets, too, for various categories. Focus on the effect you wish to achieve with any audience. Decide whether your goal is votes, or eyeballs, or self-satisfaction, or what. Write towards many different goals. TODAY I WILL PISS-OFF EVERYONE. Write it. TODAY I WILL MAKE READERS WEEP. Write it. TODAY I WILL CAUSE MASS PUBLIC MASTURBATION. Write that one, too.

 

[lovecraft68]

As an aside to this, I find it interesting that it seems as if the readers don't care about different.

There are have been threads discussing how sometimes stories they write to be "different" don;t do as well as others.

Every genre has its beloved tropes, but it seems erotica, more than most, really seems to live and die on them.

You can write 1000 stories about incest that start with one family member catching another masturbating and every one will get "Oh that's so hot"

Just an observation.

 

[Hypoxia]

You can write 1000 stories about incest that start with one family member catching another masturbating and every one will get "Oh that's so hot"

I guess I'm falling behind there, then. Although in my latest A TASTE OF INCEST: HONEY 02 (just submitted) mom walks in on her daughter, her boyfriend, and three incestuous sisters, all engaging in an entertaining oral-genital-anal-toy combination. Mom joins the action. And then dad walks in. Maybe it'll be a hit?

 

[lovecraft68]

I guess I'm falling behind there, then. Although in my latest A TASTE OF INCEST: HONEY 02 (just submitted) mom walks in on her daughter, her boyfriend, and three incestuous sisters, all engaging in an entertaining oral-genital-anal-toy combination. Mom joins the action. And then dad walks in. Maybe it'll be a hit?

I shook the eight ball and is says most definitely.

Of course that's with the "family all in orgy" crowd.

"My" crowd, the one on one incest romance crowd wouldn't like it, but there is an audience for everything and unless you are in LW most people just read what they like and don't go out of their way to trash what they do not.

 

[jomar]

No worries if you write for yourself and your kink rises. But if you want to branch out write in different categories and edit out the spanking when it creeps in...I mean, go ahead and wank to it, sure, but then delete and move forward.

 

[patientlee]

Just try different stuff. Try stuff you've never done before. If you write intimate first person POV, try third person omnipotent. If you usually write from the perspective of one sex, try the other. Try different kinks. Try only one in a story, several in a story, or all in the same story. Try long stories, really really long stories, short stories. Different sex positions. Settings (that's a big one.) Try different character types.

Try new categories. Pick one that intrigues you, maybe excites you a little, and venture into that category.

What SC says above works for me. I try not to use the same kink, the same POV, etc. in consecutive stories.

Then do the "out of body experience" thing. It's really easy to write characters that act like we do. Step behind the controls of someone different and write from their eyes. Paint the world as they see it, and only season it with your style.

This works for me sometimes. Other times it results in a pretty shitty story. I have fun writing it, but then I feel badly for wasting the reader's time.

 

[patientlee]

Some authors, I've noticed, are very successful with keeping stories similar. With a fan base and a good model, it can work. Just give your readers what they want.

I agree. Some authors here strike gold with a formula that works. I think that's true of a lot of writers of bestsellers too. I used to read John Saul when I was way too young for stories like that. Every story followed the same formula. Prologue: This happened a long time ago. Story: This happens. Epilogue: This will happen again. I think I was thirteen when I realized that was boring.

Stephen King, on the other hand, writes all kinds of crazy shit. He experiments. Tries things that seem ridiculous (Desperation/Regulators). Did I like those stories? Not a whole lot, but my respect for his ability and willingness to step out of the box and put that out there where people would judge it made up for what the stories lacked for me. (But you have to be a Stephen King to make money that way.)

There are way more authors making money by finding their formula and cranking out the stories. The really good ones can branch out later. The not as good authors might try, but "everyone" will say it's not as good as the old ones.

People don't like change. If your stories are good, readers will accept the similarities and start to crave them. It's the fastest way to get a following here.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Use the sex to tell a story. Don't write a story to tell about the sex.

^^^^^THIS!!!!^^^^^^

 

[BuckyDuckman]

I have a guideline here:

Non-erotic: Sex is peripheral to the story.
Erotic: Sex is central to the story.
Pr0n: Sex IS the story.

Not sure I agree. I'll have talk it over with my muse. But the moment I read this, I thought: "Hm, guess I write a lot of Pr0n."

In a way, I guess that's my point - the story doesn't happen without the sex and the sex IS the story, too. Somehow, the sex facilitates the change in the protagonist. Otherwise, why include the sex, unless you're just trying to titillate.

 

[Hypoxia]

I guess that's my point - the story doesn't happen without the sex and the sex IS the story, too. Somehow, the sex facilitates the change in the protagonist. Otherwise, why include the sex, unless you're just trying to titillate.

Is sex, and then, is sex. Some is explicit, some not. Does the story NEED graphic description to survive? I look at my stories: THAT'S MY GIRL has plenty of titillating explicit action -- but IMHO I could have all those scenes replaced with "they made love" and the story would still stand, because its theme is how people's lives interact, not just how they fuck. I'd point to A TASTE OF INCEST: PEARS & CIDER as another such; and BIG BANANA, where the brief (inhuman) sex is mostly an excuse for posting on LIT. But the 'plots' of TASTE: HONEY and TASTE: JASMINE are merely scaffolds upon which to hang fuckfests. No character development (except to gain sexual expertise), no redeeming social value, none of that. Sometimes, I only want to pander.

And sometimes I want to tell a story. In the first chapter of LEFT BEHIND, the protagonist gives two less-than-willing blowjobs; that's the only sex. The story is about a woman totally changing her life. The sexual encounters will be few; and yes, they're transformative, else the tale wouldn't be erotica. But the story won't DEPEND on explicit description -- although I will be explicit, because readers like that, eh?

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Is sex, and then, is sex. Some is explicit, some not. Does the story NEED graphic description to survive? I look at my stories: THAT'S MY GIRL has plenty of titillating explicit action -- but IMHO I could have all those scenes replaced with "they made love" and the story would still stand, because its theme is how people's lives interact, not just how they fuck. I'd point to A TASTE OF INCEST: PEARS & CIDER as another such; and BIG BANANA, where the brief (inhuman) sex is mostly an excuse for posting on LIT. But the 'plots' of TASTE: HONEY and TASTE: JASMINE are merely scaffolds upon which to hang fuckfests. No character development (except to gain sexual expertise), no redeeming social value, none of that. Sometimes, I only want to pander.

And sometimes I want to tell a story. In the first chapter of LEFT BEHIND, the protagonist gives two less-than-willing blowjobs; that's the only sex. The story is about a woman totally changing her life. The sexual encounters will be few; and yes, they're transformative, else the tale wouldn't be erotica. But the story won't DEPEND on explicit description -- although I will be explicit, because readers like that, eh?

Ok, I think I follow you. Sometimes I'll write a story with little character development (or even growth, aside from body part growth) because it's a fun, sexual romp.

Hi, given that our kinks are a constant (at least for some period in time), how do you write stories that are different? For example, I am into dominant women spanking me, and I find that in almost all of my stories some element of this creeps in, and couple of my protagonists are also similar in description.

I write stories mainly for my own amusement (and arousal!) so it's understood there will be similarities, but I would be interested to know how other authors tackle this issue.

-- Tarek

I love writing about bi-guys. I know why I do, too:

• To help mainstream the concept that male bisexuality is as common (or more) as female bisexuality.
• Because I'm bi, so it's material I enjoy reading.
• To fill a gap, because a lot of bi-guy material quickly turns into wittol action with the guy sucking BBD.
• Oh yeah, and because I like reading it

Sometimes, I find my veering away from the guys going bi because I also enjoy broadening my catalog of material. I wonder if that's the hidden message to your question: "How can I write something different when I REALLY like this?" Otherwise, consistent variations on a theme are fine.

Claude Monet painted over 250 versions of water lilies.