Mining the back catalogue or digging for a fresh vein?

[SamanthaBehgs]

I guess I've never thought myself enough of an expert on anything to Try a : "How to". Does flipping a coin when you can't decide which way to take a story or a scene qualify?

If you are flipping a coin, it means that you have two ideas that you are deciding between and have decided are equally as valid. So yes, I would say it would. AND it's definitely a method of getting around what otherwise would become writer's block.

 

[sirhugs]

If you are flipping a coin, it means that you have two ideas that you are deciding between and have decided are equally as valid. So yes, I would say it would. AND it's definitely a method of getting around what otherwise would become writer's block.

part of the trick is not feeling bound to obey the coin toss... it's real purpose is to help you refine your real wishes. If it turns up "heads" and your immediate reaction is "shit, I wanted it to be tails", write tails.
Don't know how I'd spin it 750 words though. Suppose that's another "How To" topic?

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

part of the trick is not feeling bound to obey the coin toss... it's real purpose is to help you refine your real wishes. If it turns up "heads" and your immediate reaction is "shit, I wanted it to be tails", write tails.
Don't know how I'd spin it 750 words though. Suppose that's another "How To" topic?

Ironically, I had rambled this whole thing about how I use this type of method to decide on meals at restaurants (just as an example) by using the "pick a number" approach with friends and if I am sad with the result, I have now whittled things down to two. Then I deleted it because I talk to much and didn't want to babble at you too much. So, yea, I totally agree with you on that and heck yea - I think you absolutely have well more than 750 words worth of solid advice to give to novice writers at the very least (using my own perspective here) let alone more experienced writers (who I bet could learn as well).

 

[StrangeLife]

...if I end up in hospital, their net nanny will block me from Lit...

You can use your cellphone as a hotspot and tether your laptop to it.

If you don't stream videos and movies, it doesn't use a lot of data.

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

Sorry I'm late to offer my support and to comment on the implied choice in your original post. When you look back at those prior works, is there anything that jumps out at you as unfinished or needing loose ends tied up? No pun intended for those in the BDSM category.

 

[sirhugs]

Sorry I'm late to offer my support and to comment on the implied choice in your original post. When you look back at those prior works, is there anything that jumps out at you as unfinished or needing loose ends tied up? No pun intended for those in the BDSM category.

Not to ignore your real point (which I am thinking about), but for some reason, I don't think I can write BDSM anymore. I can work a little play into a more mainstream format, but I'm out of practice both IRL and here.

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

I've woven gentle, loving B & D/S into general stories but my characters would never inflict deliberate pain on each other.

 

[NuclearFairy]

You can use your cellphone as a hotspot and tether your laptop to it.

If you don't stream videos and movies, it doesn't use a lot of data.

Not all companies allow that. I've tried to do it with my cell phone, and it just won't work because my service company doesn't allow it.

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

It also depends on the layout of the hospital. Easy enough if you're by a window on an outside wall facing the mast, but almost impossible if the plan is concentric rectangles/squares or other shapes like the Pentagon.

 

[SmilingLez]

Assume for the moment that I have six stories left in me.*
My puzzle is whether to keep on churning out further chapters of the existing, and mostly the recent, story lines for sequels or additional chapters, or to I do the hard work of creating a new world full of new characters?

* this entire year, I've felt like I'm living on borrowed time. That is part of the reason what I have been so productive. Round numbers appeal to me and I was going to stop at 200 submissions (my next submission now) or 200 stories (I posed a few poems). It's about six weeks before I get an update on the prognosis, and though I feel my energy level declining, I have no way of knowing how long, or how briefly, I will have the stamina to write. And if I end up in hospital, their net nanny will block me from Lit. been there. tried that. So every decision I make seems like an important one, even though Lit should just be about fun.

*the second: if I suddenly vanish for a while, you can assume that I am in hospital. But no one in my support network knows I am on Lit, so if/when I die, you may never know. That wears on my mind.

Write the fire that burns deep in your loins - your truth. Be selfish with your legacy

 

[TheNovelist2000]

Have you considered any "How to" stories/essays as well. Do those count as stories for you? If so, perhaps including some on persisting at writing for so long. Or talk about how you've been able to write in so many genres. I hear everyone complaining about not being able to score well in Loving Wives unless that's all you write about - but you clearly can. Many people retire just after they help "train" the younger generation in their field. Everyone has something unique to add to the conversation, let us learn from the tips and tricks you've come up with along the way.

Seriously consider this. I read your Step-Daughter Fills In story, and it had an enormous impact on the way I write. My new story, The Forbidden Bride (yet to be approved), is written in that quick-paced, straightforward style—a total U-turn from the long, slow-burn stories I used to write. I’m still 25, and I can see many wonderful years ahead of writing and publishing here (although morality knocks on the doors of both the young and the old). I know I have much to learn from a legend like you.

 

[sirhugs]

Seriously consider this. I read your Step-Daughter Fills In story, and it had an enormous impact on the way I write. My new story, The Forbidden Bride (yet to be approved), is written in that quick-paced, straightforward style—a total U-turn from the long, slow-burn stories I used to write. I’m still 25, and I can see many wonderful years ahead of writing and publishing here (although morality knocks on the doors of both the young and the old). I know I have much to learn from a legend like you.

Legend you say? Wow.

 

[sirhugs]

I've woven gentle, loving B & D/S into general stories but my characters would never inflict deliberate pain on each other.

deliberate pain is the best pain if it is just the right amount of pain. Hard perhaps to convey in a story.

 

[sirhugs]

Started the shrink story over with a fresh beginning, have some momentum. Hopefully won't lose it while working today. Don't you just hate it when work gets in the way of writing?

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

deliberate pain is the best pain if it is just the right amount of pain. Hard perhaps to convey in a story.

Well, for those who enjoy it, anyway. Some people hate even the most "vanilla" of deliberate pain (e.g., eating spicy foods)

 

[sirhugs]

I'm 1100 words into writing the shrink story and have outlined seven more scenes (mostly sex) . haven't estimated what each scene involves, but based on past practice, with transitions, it could be 4000 more words, or 1250, who knows. Major difference in writing time of course. writing time also subject to the black cloud raining on my parade.
At least I've already got two in the pipeline to keep the readers reading until this is ready to go, if I can stick with it.

 

[sirhugs]

I'm 1100 words into writing the shrink story and have outlined seven more scenes (mostly sex) . haven't estimated what each scene involves, but based on past practice, with transitions, it could be 4000 more words, or 1250, who knows. Major difference in writing time of course. writing time also subject to the black cloud raining on my parade.
At least I've already got two in the pipeline to keep the readers reading until this is ready to go, if I can stick with it.

shrink story chugging along, but looking into a huge chasm for the next idea...

 

[sirhugs]

My Father's Secretary Ch 3 submitted, shrink story chugging towards conclusion.
Still have a few stories in me.
But what to write?
I feel the black cloud lurking.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

My Father's Secretary Ch 3 submitted, shrink story chugging towards conclusion.
Still have a few stories in me.
But what to write?
I feel the black cloud lurking.

Want to share the options or the vibes? Or do you have a good way of deciding now?

 

[sirhugs]

Want to share the options or the vibes? Or do you have a good way of deciding now?

no good way to decide. Still thinking fresh vein, but the muse is not cooperating.
Otherwise, potential sequels, but none excite me. I have threads going shopping for fresh angles on those over on Story Ideas.
I think Ch 3 is it for My Father's Secretary. Don't see what ch4 could be
Violet Loves her Tentacle Monster similarly seems mined out, though I've had a few off the wall suggestions
Stepdaughter Fills In has so many options I can't decide which one would hold my interest. I might have one more chapter in me before I'm totally tired of that world.
On the other hand I'd love to revisit Cassie from Not Another Loving Wives Tale and Not Another Tentacle Monster Story but don't have any plot ideas

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

On the other hand I'd love to revisit Cassie from Not Another Loving Wives Tale and Not Another Tentacle Monster Story but don't have any plot ideas

I bet if you made a thread on here specifically asking for plot ideas on these two, writers better than I would be happy to share their muses with you until you found one that felt compelling. This sounds almost like the most compelling, wanting to revisit the characters themselves feels right given the motivation. What are your thoughts?

 

[kreemi_pi]

Assume for the moment that I have six stories left in me.*
My puzzle is whether to keep on churning out further chapters of the existing, and mostly the recent, story lines for sequels or additional chapters, or to I do the hard work of creating a new world full of new characters?

* this entire year, I've felt like I'm living on borrowed time. That is part of the reason what I have been so productive. Round numbers appeal to me and I was going to stop at 200 submissions (my next submission now) or 200 stories (I posed a few poems). It's about six weeks before I get an update on the prognosis, and though I feel my energy level declining, I have no way of knowing how long, or how briefly, I will have the stamina to write. And if I end up in hospital, their net nanny will block me from Lit. been there. tried that. So every decision I make seems like an important one, even though Lit should just be about fun.

*the second: if I suddenly vanish for a while, you can assume that I am in hospital. But no one in my support network knows I am on Lit, so if/when I die, you may never know. That wears on my mind.

LOL i actually thought "mining the back catalog" was a euphemism for anal sex, and i clicked to find out what "fresh vein" meant.

 

[Belegon]

I'm at 77 submissions, only 22 of which are stories. I used to write a lot more poetry... 200 seems like an impossible goal but you're almost there!!!!

Write whatever motivates you. You've got the well-earned chops that anything you decide to craft is going to come out alright.