Lets compare thread creating eh?

[horny-oz]

Hello!

I'm just wondering about how other chyoo'ers go about creating threads, I like to add a thread basically as soon as its done, they take on average 45 to 100 minutes because I re-read them heaps as I write, tweaking here and there etc. Do you guys have a set idea when you sit to write? I find quite often that what I was planning on writing evolves as I type ( for the better, I hope) Also, I've written a couple of threads only to realise when I add them that I've written it in 3rd person when the story is in 1st person and vice versa and had to go back and edit all the references to "me" or "you" etc (which has made me appreciate how often a character gets referred to in a story!)

 

[TwiztedClown]

I usually go onto a writer's block that usually lasts for like a month or so and get like some idea's about what to write and then come back and write like 3-7 threads and then go back to the writer's block again lol

 

[Torg]

When I sit down to write, I look over the recent threads to see if there is one that I already have the next thread in my head. If so, I write that. Otherwise, I go through all the stories I've contributed to and see if one catches my eye. Beyond that, I'll occasionally look through my list of bookmarked stories, which are those stories I haven't add to yet, and see if one of them grabs my attention.

Once I start writing, I usually edit as I go, but then I reread it through to make sure it makes sense. I'd like to shift to just writing and writing til I'm done, then going back to edit.

 

[jakelyon]

When I first start on a story I tend to map out as much of the story as I can think of so that I can write at different times and it makes it easy to come back to a story. Most of the stories that I am writing on I map ahead many threads so I don't forget the plot line if I don't come back to it for several months. I just find I can keep on a consistent track better if I have an overall plot in line.

 

[artican]

I like to plan out stories in advance, but often forget about the details once I get to the page. I tend to let the story fester in my head for a while so it's detailed enough to document. That's probably why I'm not as productive as many people here. The only time I write on a whim is if I accidentally post multiple threads with the same content. I hate that kind of stuff showing so I have to come up with something on the fly to change it up.

 

[alteredego524]

For my own stories... I usually have a Literotica entry that I convert to a Chyoo entry. All I need to do it put in the breaks, where other authors can add threads, and I'm set. And i actually get to the END of a story. (VERY unusual for this crowd, i know)

But when I write for someone else... It's usually after I read a good story, or find a series of threads I like... and then I feel that some thing needs to be added. The fantasy will already be running in my head before I start typing. I just need to tack it down to paper... or... um... my keyboard.

If I don't feel anything... I don't write. I can't force my self to write, any more than I can control what excites me. Either I'm "up" for it, or I'm not.

 

[Torg]

For my own stories... I usually have a Literotica entry that I convert to a Chyoo entry. All I need to do it put in the breaks, where other authors can add threads, and I'm set. And i actually get to the END of a story. (VERY unusual for this crowd, i know)

I do the opposite: take Chyoo threads and turn them into Literotica ones. This way, I can write a story piecemeal in nice easy to write chunks, and then polish it up for complete publication.

 

[Juiblex]

while it is impossible to avoid, I have recently been doing my darndest to stop the 'What Happens Next' continuing question.

So I first try and think of a good answer to the previous question, perhaps one that was unexpected... then I try and think of the end. Filling in the middle is often the easy part

I wonder if we should have a thread in the forums that offers good dangling thread questions that people could attempt to reuse.

 

[Torg]

while it is impossible to avoid, I have recently been doing my darndest to stop the 'What Happens Next' continuing question.

So I first try and think of a good answer to the previous question, perhaps one that was unexpected... then I try and think of the end. Filling in the middle is often the easy part

I wonder if we should have a thread in the forums that offers good dangling thread questions that people could attempt to reuse.

I often use the "What next?" continuation question, because it leaves the options open and doesn't lead the next thread author into my concept of what's next.

For me, this is preferrable to "Do you X or Y?", especially when you have stories with more than 2 possible options.

 

[jakelyon]

I often use the "What next?" continuation question, because it leaves the options open and doesn't lead the next thread author into my concept of what's next.

For me, this is preferrable to "Do you X or Y?", especially when you have stories with more than 2 possible options.

I have to agree with your opinion. I used to avoid the What Next ending, but I found I limited the imagination of the next author to where I thought the story should go. I think it is much more fun to leave it completely vague and let the person take it where they want.

 

[Juiblex]

I have to agree with your opinion. I used to avoid the What Next ending, but I found I limited the imagination of the next author to where I thought the story should go. I think it is much more fun to leave it completely vague and let the person take it where they want.

makes sense. I should try and loosen up

 

[amalgam]

Well it depends on what you're going for. I don't use "What happens next?" in my Chyoo because I don't want choices made that go beyond the capacity of the main character (2nd person story). If someone submitted to me "A meteor falls out of the sky and kills the hero," I would have to reject that, because that goes beyond the hero's capacity to act, unless, of course, our hero is a superhero, and can do that kinda thing. I might, instead, edit the submission so that the hero travels somewhere a meteor is going to land and kill him.

But I believe that most chyoos are written completely free-form, in which anything can be done, regardless of who's doing it. In this case, "What happens next?" is a fine continuing question. The only gripe I have with it in principle is that it is overused.

 

[Torg]

Well it depends on what you're going for. I don't use "What happens next?" in my Chyoo because I don't want choices made that go beyond the capacity of the main character (2nd person story). If someone submitted to me "A meteor falls out of the sky and kills the hero," I would have to reject that, because that goes beyond the hero's capacity to act, unless, of course, our hero is a superhero, and can do that kinda thing. I might, instead, edit the submission so that the hero travels somewhere a meteor is going to land and kill him.

But I believe that most chyoos are written completely free-form, in which anything can be done, regardless of who's doing it. In this case, "What happens next?" is a fine continuing question. The only gripe I have with it in principle is that it is overused.

You could make it slightly more focused by making it, "What does he do next?"

 

[sunandshadow]

I'm making my first CHYOO story, but I've made other interactive stories before. In some cases I know what I want to do, but CHYOO doesn't directly support it, so I have to find a roundabout way to make it work. For example, my story has hermaphrodites. I wanted the first choice in the story to be whether to use male or female pronouns and gendered terms like brother/siste and father/mother for them. If I had more code to work with, I would write one version of the story and make pronoun blanks that the code could fill in appropriately, but since I don't I'm having to make a male and female version of every thread in two parallel story structures which aren't connected anywhere but at the first post which asks whether the reader would like the 'pregnant men version' or the 'chicks with dicks' version.

The other thing I'm doing that I haven't done before, but had to invent for this story and am finding interesting, is I have 5 main characters, and I'm putting in a lot of links for people who want to read it more as a multiplot story, rotating between all 5 points of view, but people can also just pick one character and follow them through the story. The interesting thing about this is that it creates suspense differently - I can't always predict whether the reader will have encountered the info in one thread before reading another thread. So if you read Character A's POV first, then Character B's POV where he meets Character A, you get more surprise and less complete comprehension for the first scene, but less surprise and more dramatic irony for the second scene; if you read them in the other order, this is reversed. I'm finding it strange and interesting to have to predict how scenes will be recieved by readers coming from various places.

 

[Sad Man]

I don't tend to sit down and plan everything before I write, some would say that this is reflected in my writing, but as I get very little feedback I wouldn't know. I find that any kind of planning leads to terrible writers block and just staring at the cursor as it just sits there taunting you until it becomes unbearable. Most of the time I don't even know what I am going to write before I get started and I honestly think that I have very little to do with the writing process, I just provide the fingers that interact with the keyboard and the magical story fairies do the rest. That would explain why I haven't been able to write for well over a year, the fairies had taken some time off.

 

[deathofcards]

Usually I have the main focus of the thread in my head already, mostly its getting to that point in the story. A case in point would be the recent thread I wrote for Switch's A bet leads... the whole reason for that thread was so that I could get the protagnist to have a conversation about interviewing some new interns... this takes up maybe a few lines of dialogue, in a thousand word odd thread.

I'll be the first to admit that I have what Stephen King describes as diarrorahe of the written word, I tend to write a fair amount.

As for my writing style. I tend to listen to music generally a random mix of whatever is around me hip-hop, electronica, punk, post-rock, indie rock. I generally tend to smoke when I'm writing, chain-smoking more often than not. I usually review what I'm writing as I'm doing it and go back over it and make any neccesary changes.

 

[Torg]

I don't start writing unless I have a basic idea of what's going to happen, at least the initial actions. The thread may go where it wants after that, but I have to know where I'm starting. Then I write until I get to a good stopping point for decisions. If I'm on a roll, I may write three or four threads all at once, but, usually, I come back after a few hours or days to write the next thread in the same story. I don't have a problem leaving characters in mid-fuck for months on end, if I'm not inspired about where to go next.

I often think about what should come next on a story during my walks with the dog. I might review 3-4 stories during a 15 minute walk.

 

[UncolaMan]

Writing for CHYOO

I usually do my writing and main reading ay home, where I don't have internet access and I feel less rushed. I open up WordPad and write down the story maps starting with initials for the titles.

INTRO
AAA
AAA - ABB
AAA - ABB - ACC
BAA
BAA - BBB
CAA

Then I copy and paste each thread under the appropriate headings. When I get home, I read what's been written, mull it over, and write a new thread. Or more. The tricky part is that I usually don't bother when the story is above a certain size, since it becomes cumbersome.

If I could buy the current CHYOO on a disk so I could go over it at leisure, I would. Even if the information instantly went out of date, most of it would be good for a long time.