My first story, "The Misadventures of Parker Posey"

[WalterFool]

Hello, all. New author here, Walter Fool. Or "That Crazy Parker Posey-Obsessed Guy" as I guess they call me over on the General Board. My Parker Posey story I wrote last year, co-starring Jessica Biel, has been approved and is posted in the celebrities section. Here is the link...

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=326178

I hope you ladies and gentlemen will give it a shot. If you're a fan of Parker, Jessica, and lots of hot, kinky lesbian sex, I think you'll enjoy it. I worked hard on it, even researching the hotel where people stayed while "Blade: Trinity" was being filmed! One night during it's filming is when the story takes place. Parker Posey is my Goddess. Just that simple. That ONE woman in the world you'd do anything for, who you'd choose above every other woman if God asked you? She's that woman. I've had a whole lot of dirty thoughts about Parker in the years I've worshipped her, and hopefully you find these about Jessica I've documented to be entertaining!

I'm grateful for any feedback you all take the time to share. I'm working (slowly...lots of bad stuff going on here on the side) on a follow up that takes place during filming of "Scream 3", and I'd love to know how I can improve to make it better. Preview: There WILL be Gale Weathers on "Gale Weathers" action, as if you didn't see that coming. While I'm here, I have to give a plug: Parker has a new movie, "Broken English", that just came out on DVD, and she's getting 2008 Oscar buzz for it!!! Thank you for your time, and take care all.

 

[MarshAlien]

Honestly, if you can get people to read 11 Lit-pages about Parker Posey, more power to you. I will confess, however, that if Parker Posey showed up on my doorstep this afternoon, I would have no idea who she was. So in order to get me (or any other similarly non-obsessed reader)to read beyond the first page, you have to interest them in the story. And what you have is eight paragraphs of introduction about you and why you're writing, fourteen paragraphs of biography about her, and then, finally, fiction: fourteen more paragraphs about how she's really a lesbian.

By now, I'm asleep. I didn't care about this woman when I started, and I don't care any more about her now. Celebrity is a very hard category to write for if you're trying to attract readers who don't share your obsessions (like most of us who you've asked for feedback). At a minimum, you need to give us a story much more quickly, so that we buy into your little obsession. I made it through the first 38 paragraphs, and when you hadn't even started the story yet, I stopped. You may find a lot of Parker Posey fans out there to get farther; finding average readers willing to make the trip with you will be much more difficult.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Open Letter to Parker Possy

Dear Sir,

I have tried desparately to read you "story". It is, in fact, not a story at all but a long expostulation of Juvinile Horse Shit with a lot of well-known names thrown in to "make it interesting". It failed.

Your plot is not only unbelievable, but not much more than the ramblings of the 5th grader's imagination. Your characters are wooden and flat, you completely ignore dialogue and the story is so impossibly long, noboy will ever read it.

I am amazed at what crap the Editors are allowing to be posted these days. This is an obvious sign of the degredation of the art of fiction writing.

Don't ever post anything like this again. Come up with an actual PLOT, make the reader believe and empathize with your characters and let them speak for themselves. They tell their story lots better than you can. And stay away from FanFic until you learn to write. We really don't care about your childish fantasies.

Sincerely

Jennifer Jackson

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Honestly, if you can get people to read 11 Lit-pages about Parker Posey, more power to you.

Marsh, it was twelve, trust me. Here's a sentence from the "climatic" ending on that twelfth page.

With release approaching as quickly as Jessica was now humping her with the massive cock, Parker's eyes were tightly closed shut, her mouth gaping in an "o" that released panting shallow breaths, and beads of sweat streamed down her forehead as they did the rest of her body.

Walter, I hate to rain on your parade but, IMHO, Marsh and Jenny are right.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[jomar]

Well, regardless of story quality, real life Parker Posey is pretty cool.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Interesting biographical material.

But your tale violates most of the known rules for fiction writing. And it's not alone. Many of the stories posted on this site are awful writing.

I spent 11 years summarizing sex-crime investigations within 80 lines of space. Eighty lines was it. And every relevant detail must be in the report. So my writing style became like Chinese. In Chinese your tale atrophies to "Girl fuck girl." Or, if the writer is a Chinese Tolstoy, it expands to "America girl fuck Canada girl." The Chinese dont waste much paper and ink.

Do this. Start over with "Girl fuck girl" and see if you can make it interesting.

 

[WalterFool]

Sadists

When I posted the request for input last night, I thought I was posting it in a place where it'd be read by fellow authors who would have constructive criticism for me and maybe even some praise.

I never expected that I would have it ripped to shreds and treated like the worst piece of shit ever written. What is wrong with you people? I know it probably wasn't great. I'd be happy if it was good! But it was my FIRST STORY FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! Do you all take pleasure in tearing down new writers, in hopes they'll never work on a story again? I got the same treatment over on the General Board when I posted about Parker Posey and shared my admiration for her, hoping it'd inspire other fans to post about her. I basically got called a psycho.

I KNOW I wrote SOME decent scenes. I didn't just post the story on the internet without getting some input first. Yet, the biggest compliment I've gotten is "interesting bigraphical material". MarshAlien was at least DECENT in his criticism, and for that I thank you. I'm going to see about pairing down some of my intros. My personal one isn't really necessary. But the fact that Parker isn't so well known was the reason for my mostly fact-based introduction of her that doesn't go fictitious until discussing her lesbian desires of her teen years. I also appreciate JAMESBJOHNSON's input. I'll better familiarize myself with these rules of fiction writing. I pretty much wrote what's in my heart and mind, with the passion I feel for Parker.

Jenny, what you wrote I consider a slap to the face and I take it quite personal. I think you were just in a bad mood and felt like being cruel to someone. You think showing that attitude to someone who was looking for some constructive criticism is cool? It's not, it's just mean. I guess you're one of those who uses the internet to take their frustrations out anonymously that you don't have the guts to in real life. I have more to say, but I can't say it here. I KNOW how to write and the opinion of someone just wanting to give someone a bad day means nothing to me. And Rumple, nice of you to single out one sentence out of the whole story that may not've been so great. I'm guessing you couldn't find something positive if you tried. That you could agree with such scathing insight from Jenny that seems more personal than an actual insight into my work puts you in the same book as I'm concerned.

I can take criticism like a man. But how about presenting it with SOMETHING good to say? As you pointed out, Rumple, it was 12 pages. I didn't do that overnight. It took a lot of hard work and thought. It wasn't easy being my first time. Confidence wasn't on my side. And you can't come up with one good thing to say? So far I'm not impressed with many people here. Seems like I've run into some of the sadists of the world. So, can anybody give a decent critique, from one author to another, or is this how things are done at Literotica? I'll say this. Lately I thought I'd seen the extent of human cruelty. Now I know I should never underestimate the lengths a human will go to be cruel, to someone they don't know or understand.

 

[TxRad]

Walter I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Jenny was being nice and in real life she is worse, believe me. Rumple may be old and a little worn but mean he ain't. I can almost say that with a straight face as he has edited a few stories for me. He's tough and has a sharp pencil but he's fair.

If you want to learn to write go read. Read the people on this thread. You say they are harsh and mean, well read a story from each and then reread your own. Do you see any differences beside what it's about.

A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. There is a plot and there are characters that you love or hate. Get all those things straight and tight and you'll have a best seller in no time.

I admit I don't have a clue who this Parker person is. From what little I tried to read of your story, I still don't and really don't care one way or the other. That's the thing about writing, you have to make the person reading care and hang on every word. They have to be drawn in to the point where they have to know what happens next.

Read some and then come back. We'll talk.

 

[KMB2476]

Wow wow wow

Where the hell do you people get off? A person comes to this site looking for some constructive criticism and instead gets piled on. Look, if Parker Posey stories aren't your thing you could have declined to read and comment. Don't come in here and work out whatever aggressions you might have on someone looking for advice and guidance. How is that helpful to his development as a writer?

Hey Jenny, did that make you feel good? You feel better about yourself now that you made Walter feel miserable? Did that put a spring in your step? If you have critiques, that's fair, but to direct them in such a manner gives the impression that you just like being mean. For someone that critiques a supposed "fifth grade writing style" you are acting in an extremely juvenile manner. What gives you the right to treat other people so poorly?

I know a little bit about celebrity fan fiction. I have several well regarded stories on this site even and I read this story before it was even posted. For a first time story I thought it showed a lot of potential and he certainly has passion for the women he writes about. He worked extremely hard on that story and he deserves kudos for that because I sure as hell have seen plenty of stories out there (many on this site) where there is no passion, no desire and no real effort on the part of the writer. Walter has that effort and desire in spades and didn't deserve this treatment.

I'm just shocked that you supposedly great writers would treat someone looking for advice this way.

I guess I'm naive. I come from a different web site that treats its writers with a little bit more respect. We don't kick people in the face when they ask for constructive criticism. I would have hoped Literotica would give people the same respect, but I guess I was wrong.

You insulted a good and decent person for no reason other than you enjoyed doing it. I'm sure you'll flame away on me right now, but honestly Jenny you in particular should be ashamed of yourself.




KMB

 

[cloudy]

I never read celebrity stories, and have no idea who Parker Posey is, but I'll give it a shot.

I'm always fair, but I don't pull my punches, so if you can't handle that, stop reading now.

The whole expo bit at the beginning is unnecessary, it needs to go. Someone coming to this site wants a story, not your bio. Leave that for your bio page.

Same thing with all the background stuff up to where you have "Evening of Sunday December 7th, 2003." If something is absolutely necessary for us to know, you can work it into the story, otherwise its just extraneous information, and to be quite honest, a little boring.

Let's take this paragraph:

It was a night of celebration in Vancouver, British Columbia for the cast and crew of "Blade: Trinity". But, not because filming had wrapped in the third movie of the Blade Trilogy, or the dailies had gone over well with New Line execs. Also filming in Vancouver was "Catwoman". A film that had been in discussion for well over a decade since Michelle Pheiffer had played Batman's latex-clad feline nemesis in "Batman Returns", except with Halle Berry filling a much skimpier catsuit.

You never tell us why it was a "night of celebration." I read to the end of this paragraph, and then read it again, thinking that I'd possibly missed something. Why?

On screen, Parker and Jessica would be rivals, with Parker playing Danica Talos, a vampire leader with a heart as black as Parker's long, shoulder-length silky tresses were for this film, and Jessica playing Nightstalker Abigale Whistler, a young woman bent on avenging her father's death and stopping the threat raised by Dracula's resurrection.

I don't get this at all. It's not necessary to advance the story, so why is it here?

You need an editor who knows what they're doing - badly. This paragraph:

By now, the two debating buddies' fun was about to come to an end and, especially with Parker's semi concession on the issue, Jessica cheerfully reflected on the last few minutes as she came to a stop at the door to her room, "listen to us, we're starting to sound like Wesley and Ryan". Parker rolled her eyes in disdain of this concept, recalling the little on-set disagreements between Ryan Reynolds and Wesley Snipes, and expressed her sincere wishes that this not be so. "God forbid. Those two. I saw it coming, though. They're so much like their characters. Wesley so serious. Ryan a goofball. Wes hasn't changed since we went to SUNY Purchase together. But, he's so misunderstood. If Ryan wants to find out about difficult, I should see if David would give Edie Falco a guest shot before we finish filming. She, Wesley and I could have a Purchase Mafia reunion!" Hearing Parker's suggestion that her former classmate at SUNY Purchase would keep the "Van Wilder" star in line, Jessica inquired, "so, Edie's tough on the guys, is she"? Parker smiled at this understatement and replied, "girlfriend, if she were playing herself instead of Carmella Soprano, she'd have Tony's balls on a leash". "Sounds like a woman I'd like to know", Jessica beamed, recalling difficult boyfriends she wish she'd been better able to tame.

...is almost impossible to read, due to the way you've placed dialogue from different characters in one paragraph. It should read like this:

By now, the two debating buddies' fun was about to come to an end, especially with Parker's semi concession on the issue. Jessica cheerfully reflected on the last few minutes as she came to a stop at the door to her room. "Listen to us, we're starting to sound like Wesley and Ryan".

Parker rolled her eyes, recalling the little on-set disagreements between Ryan Reynolds and Wesley Snipes. "God forbid. Those two. I saw it coming, though. They're so much like their characters. Wesley so serious. Ryan a goofball. Wes hasn't changed since we went to SUNY Purchase together. But, he's so misunderstood. If Ryan wants to find out about difficult, I should see if David would give Edie Falco a guest shot before we finish filming. She, Wesley and I could have a Purchase Mafia reunion!" (would she really have to tell her costar what the other costars are like?)

Hearing Parker's suggestion that her former classmate at SUNY Purchase would keep the "Van Wilder" star in line, Jessica inquired, "So, Edie's tough on the guys, is she?"

Parker smiled at this understatement and replied, "Girlfriend, if she were playing herself instead of Carmella Soprano, she'd have Tony's balls on a leash".

"Sounds like a woman I'd like to know", Jessica beamed, recalling difficult boyfriends she wish she'd been better able to tame.

I don't think you write badly, but you DO need to learn the rules of grammar. Enlist an editor that knows what they're doing, and don't rely on "my friends like it."

Celebrities is a tough category. Most writers in that category rely on what people know about the celebrity instead of investing the time and effort into writing a real character, and what happens is what's happened here: the characters are flat and uninteresting. You may think that she's the ultimate, but you need to remember that just because you think that, it doesn't make the reader care, and that's what you have to do to have a successful story.

Last piece of advice: develop a thick skin if you're going to continue to write. Realize that not everyone is going to like what you write - that's an impossibility. Take what you can use from any and all comments on your work, and discard the rest - but that does NOT mean that you only pay attention to the praise. Praise is wonderful, but you don't learn anything from it.

People that give feedback in this forum invest a lot of their time reading work that YOU ASKED them to read. They may be blunt, me included, but they are never cruel. If you want nothing but praise, then this probably isn't the place for you to ask for help - because we will help, but that help will include us telling you things you don't necessarily want to hear. To grow as a writer, you're going to have to deal with criticism. Listen to it with your head, and not your emotions. If you don't, you will never improve.

Overall impression I have of your writing is that you tend to verbosity. There's way too much stuff in there. Cardinal rule is to cut anything that doesn't advance the story somehow. Look at your work with a very critical eye, and you'll see just how much could be cut. Beyond that, you have some awkward phrasing, but an editor could help you with that.

Try writing something that's not a celebrity story next time.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Well, Walter,

Jenny, what you wrote I consider a slap to the face and I take it quite personal. I think you were just in a bad mood and felt like being cruel to someone. You think showing that attitude to someone who was looking for some constructive criticism is cool? It's not, it's just mean. I guess you're one of those who uses the internet to take their frustrations out anonymously that you don't have the guts to in real life. I have more to say, but I can't say it here. I KNOW how to write and the opinion of someone just wanting to give someone a bad day means nothing to me. And Rumple, nice of you to single out one sentence out of the whole story that may not've been so great. I'm guessing you couldn't find something positive if you tried. That you could agree with such scathing insight from Jenny that seems more personal than an actual insight into my work puts you in the same book as I'm concerned.

Frankly, if you want a true, hard evaluation of your writing skills you will like it even less than my original post.

No. You do not know how to write - at least not fiction. You have grammatical errors, logic erros and haven't the slightest idea how to use dialogue. Your "story" is way too long and bored me to tears.

Look - When I write a story, it's usually about 4 to 5000 words. Then I set it away for a few days and go back and start cutting out everything that doesn't need to be there. In the end all my stories are 3000-3500 words. In other words, I cut out a third of the story just because it doesn't really do anything.

So, you think I didn't have to learn? You think that every writer who posts on Lit sits down and writes the great American novella on their first try? Foreget it.

I might be rough, but listen up. I learned the hard way because there is no easy way.

If you want praise for this "story" then give it to your friends. If you can't take the heat, then stay out of the Feedback Forum.

Some of my best friends on Lit started where you are. I reviewed their stuff the same way. They learned and are thankful. You need to trim both your story and your ego.

I'll give you a hint - A short story (which is what Lit is mostly about) can be read in one sitting and doesn't take hours of labor.

 

[sr71plt]

I would say that any first-time writer who wants feedback would probably be happier in the end by having an editor or two look at it privately (and there is a mechanism on the forum for getting that done). Anyone who takes the time to read this area of the forum should easily be able to see what level of reaction to expect for early versions of stories that don't have some writing experience behind them and/or haven't been reviewed privately by someone other than the author.

 

[DeeZire]

WF - There are several threads over in the 'Story Discussion Circle' forum that could help you to understand where all these unpleasant comments are coming from. Go find them, read them, and see how the topics relate to your writing:

Thread Titles from the 'Story Discussion Circle'

"... and how to begin?"
Exposition over Action: When is Telling better than Showing?
Front-story action vs Back-story info dumps
Plot Arcs
Describing people, faces and bodies
Chapter length and frequency of sex scenes?

Funny thing is, I was on the verge of posting several more stories, which I thought were finished, till I read those threads. Now I'm in the process of either re-writing those stories or throwing them out. And I've been writing this trash for probably 20 years, with over 100 stories or vignettes stored on my hard drive.

The story discussions are also interesting, if you read the story that's being discussed. They really get down to the fine points of writing. The interesting thing is the different viewpoints of the same story. Many times you see one person questioning a writing point, and another person praising the same thing, which shows you how subjective the whole critique thing can be.

I'll tell you one thing, if I was going to do it over, I'd go take a writing class, or buy a book on writing (or re-read the ones I've already got) - anything to get a grasp of the basics.

Good luck

edit: Just remembered this author has three excellent 'how to' articles on her list. Read and learn.
http://www.literotica.com:81/stories/memberpage.php?uid=84993&page=submissions

 

[MarshAlien]

I would say that any first-time writer who wants feedback would probably be happier in the end by having an editor or two look at it privately (and there is a mechanism on the forum for getting that done). Anyone who takes the time to read this area of the forum should easily be able to see what level of reaction to expect for early versions of stories that don't have some writing experience behind them and/or haven't been reviewed privately by someone other than the author.

I think this is definitely true. Most of us are writers as well, and we usually take a look at two or three stories here in the Forum on the average day, so a 12-pager (40,000 words or so) is a major investment of very precious time. Our criticism tends to be on the quick and dirty side, usually one or two things that we think you could do to help you improve your work. Sometimes they're big issues (basic storytelling or fiction), and sometimes they're small. In Walter's case, it certainly would have helped to have had an editor give him some basic pointers before he posted, so that we would be able to look at some of the details of his writing.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I think this is definitely true. Most of us are writers as well, and we usually take a look at two or three stories here in the Forum on the average day, so a 12-pager (40,000 words or so) is a major investment of very precious time. Our criticism tends to be on the quick and dirty side, usually one or two things that we think you could do to help you improve your work. Sometimes they're big issues (basic storytelling or fiction), and sometimes they're small. In Walter's case, it certainly would have helped to have had an editor give him some basic pointers before he posted, so that we would be able to look at some of the details of his writing.

I agree about Walter's need for an editor.

The problem is the new writers dump their stuff on Lit then come here with the idea that we are going to praise his effort. They don't realize that the expostulary writing they were taught in college has nothing much to do with writing fiction.

I had to learn to write the hard way by being bombed and I believe that is true of most writers on this site.

This particular story was bad because of its tremendous size. I can tell them what is wrong with their writing and what they need to do to improve their reads and scores, but I have no idea how to explain that stories are supposed to be enjoyable reads, not work, like this one was.

Overall the writing is not that bad if you discount the places of discontinuity confusion and poor paragraph structure. The biggest problem is he just really doesn't have a story. This piece is more like a series of snippets loosely strung together with no real point in mind.

Tell me how you teach someone to take the image they have in their heads and translate it to print in such a way that that same image occurs in the readers mind too. I don't know it's done. I just do it.

And, of course, I'm saddled with Hemmingway's intense style of brevity and empathy for his characters.

 

[MarshAlien]

I agree about Walter's need for an editor.

The problem is the new writers dump their stuff on Lit then come here with the idea that we are going to praise his effort. They don't realize that the expostulary writing they were taught in college has nothing much to do with writing fiction.

I had to learn to write the hard way by being bombed and I believe that is true of most writers on this site.

This particular story was bad because of its tremendous size. I can tell them what is wrong with their writing and what they need to do to improve their reads and scores, but I have no idea how to explain that stories are supposed to be enjoyable reads, not work, like this one was.

Overall the writing is not that bad if you discount the places of discontinuity confusion and poor paragraph structure. The biggest problem is he just really doesn't have a story. This piece is more like a series of snippets loosely strung together with no real point in mind.

Tell me how you teach someone to take the image they have in their heads and translate it to print in such a way that that same image occurs in the readers mind too. I don't know it's done. I just do it.

And, of course, I'm saddled with Hemmingway's intense style of brevity and empathy for his characters.

And one of the basic problem is that you and I both think that Celebrity stories start with a handicap, namely, that there's no way that the average reader is going to be as interested in the characters as the author. And that's part of writing; to make your characters seem just as alive to the people who read them as they are to you. And then to make them do something.

I don't have a quarrel with long works. I have one seven-part series on here that comes out in the neighborhood of 140,000 words. I didn't expect everyone who started it to finish it. But I did expect that if I didn't interest them within the first Lit page, either with characters they liked (which it did have), or an interesting plot (came pretty close), or beautiful writing (this one's a big "not happening"), they weren't going to even get to the end of the first part, let alone start the seventh. At that point, though, I had enough experience to know what should work. As well as Jenny Jackson's advice that, goddammit, somebody has to show some personal growth in the story.

So she does know what she's doing, Walter.

 

[jomar]

Hello Walter,

sr71plt and DeeZire gave good advice. And Cloudy was generous in her effort and restraint. The people who review here have a interest in raising the bar when comes to the quality of stories on lit. And they are blunt in reacting to a story - the story, not you. Listen to them and try not to take it personally. You'll be a better writer.

I have a story that did very well in the ratings that I submitted for discussion on the story discussion circle. And a couple of the posters here weighed in. They basically said, "Nice idea," then started throwing tomatoes. Which is okay because the rewrite will be a far better story. Here it is if you want to take a look:

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=536917

 

[sr71plt]

The problem is the new writers dump their stuff on Lit then come here with the idea that we are going to praise his effort. They don't realize that the expostulary writing they were taught in college has nothing much to do with writing fiction.

So true; so rarely understood.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Jenny

I think how you do it is with rapport. You include, oh!, 95% of the stuff your audience knows about, and toss in 5% they dont know about but might find interesting. The familiar gets you their rapport, and the other gives them the thrill.

Maybe the solution for the tender feelings is to give every submitter a Smiley icon to display by their story. And if 5 people click on the story, give the submitter a Gold Star icon, too. Like modern Little League where everyone gets a trophy.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Jenny

I think how you do it is with rapport. You include, oh!, 95% of the stuff your audience knows about, and toss in 5% they dont know about but might find interesting. The familiar gets you their rapport, and the other gives them the thrill.

To be honest I find it frustrating to read many of the new writers. They all seem to have the exact same problems. If they would spend and hour reading threads in this Forum they would be so much wiser.

A story has an introduction where the characters are introduced and filled out. The setting and plot begin here too. Then there is a middle where something happens that moves the plot along toward a logical ending. Then there's a conclusion where all the loose ends are tied up and the reader sees how the characters have changed because of the movement of the plot.

I like to think of a short story as a Randolph Scott western. You meet Randolph in the beginning and find out what a really swell guy his is. You also meet Missy Lamour, the bar whore with a heart of gold. Then you find that the evil banker and his gang are rustling cattle to drive the ranchers off their land. That's the Beginning.

Next, Randolph Scott straps on his six-guns and goes to work to clean up the territory. There are gun fitghts, a murder or two and maybe even an hanging along the way. That's the Middle

Finally, Scott has a showdown with the evil banker and his gang. They all get shot, Randolph gets the girl and everyone is happy. That's the Conclusion.

All along the way, the writer is playing off the rememberances common to all reader to create images. For instance, how many Colt Fronteer 1891 lever action revolvers have you seen in movies? Six-Gun simpley tells it all. You say those two words and the reader knows exactly what you are talking about.

But writing is a craft that has to be learned. And it's not always easy. Our egos get in the way. We write something that makes perfect sense to us then later you have no idea what the hell you were thinking. So you write and rewrite and rewrite again. In your rereading you discover redundancy and verbosity. You chop all that out. You read the story out loud just to hear the sound of the words and how each line sounds. Then you change and rewrite some more. Each time the story gets a little better.

The main thing is, the basic requirements of a story never changes. It always has been and alway will be just three parts - A beginning, a middle and a conclusion.

What happens inbetween determines how well received the story will be by the reading audiance.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Jenny

Amen, sister.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Jenny

Amen, sister.

Yep. Many (most?) of the first-time submissions here at Lit are vignettes, a literary sketch or description, not a story in which there is conflict and change.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Father Rump,

Shit! If an anecdote is good, I'm game. I save every anecdote people tell me. They make excellent filler material in a story. Ditto for vignettes. But submitters do not know the basics of English composition or dramatic form. And it aint that hard to grasp or teach.

 

[jomar]

Yep. Many (most?) of the first-time submissions here at Lit are vignettes, a literary sketch or description, not a story in which there is conflict and change.

Rumple Foreskin

Father Rump,

Shit! If an anecdote is good, I'm game. I save every anecdote people tell me. They make excellent filler material in a story. Ditto for vignettes. But submitters do not know the basics of English composition or dramatic form. And it aint that hard to grasp or teach.

Can't disagree at all. Personally speaking, if a submission is a vignette that is well written I'm happy to say "Well done, do more." Probably because that's how I started and was reasonably well received by the Lit readers,which encouraged me. And I've grown to wanting to write more than a vignette, unless that is what I intend to submit (White Trash keeps calling ).

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Can't disagree at all. Personally speaking, if a submission is a vignette that is well written I'm happy to say "Well done, do more." Probably because that's how I started and was reasonably well received by the Lit readers,which encouraged me. And I've grown to wanting to write more than a vignette, unless that is what I intend to submit (White Trash keeps calling ).

True. If a viginette is well written, I will tell them that's what it is, not a story. I'll tell them what they've done right and wrong. If it's good, I'll tell them so. If it's bad...well, you know me