Newbie Questions (long)

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I am sort of new here, more about that later. And I am seeking advice from those who have been successful writing here. (BTW I define that as number of reads, number of favorites and positive comments, and score in descending order.

I have a multi-part story I want to write. It is based on a true story. But to tell the story cleanly and avoid “outing” the less involved conspirators – nobody is “innocent” in this story – it will be told as fiction.

I was thinking – since it may take me years to write it all – of splitting it into multiple stand alone stories that I would name alphabetically in chronological order according to the MCs discovery of events. Since the site does not allow an explicit “’Aapple Wine’ is continued in ‘A Berry big Mess,’” I was thinking of ending each story with a clear reference that would be the next title. So, the story “’Aapple Wine’ would end “Which is of course why we all call her “Betsy Ross.” Then ‘Betsy Ross’ would stat with the statement: ”This story is a continuation of “’Aapple Wine,’ and ‘Cabin for Two’ will start out: “This is the continuation of the story begun in ’Aapple Wine’ and continued in ‘Betsy Ross.’

Alternately, I could name them for years of my life, 'When she was Twenty-one' and 'When she was Twenty-two' or even just '21' and '22' which would then be listed in order in my index.

Questions – comments – opinions?

The story contains a “Squick” topic – the two protagonists share the same biological father. Since it is fiction, I tried fleshing it out without that fact, but that one fact in major part explains the seemingly illogical or self-destructive motivations of every significant character in the story. If the two MCs relationship is a significant part of each story, I assume all stories would go into I/T. I also assume keeping the whole tale in the category that most potential readers would negatively react to is wise.

Questions – comments – opinions?

There is a significant pre-sexual backstory between the two MCs. They were raised in the same house, by a man who publicly professed virtue and adherence to the law, but privately was without morals or ethics. In the story I will limit the father’s criminal activity to economic ones, as I said fiction is cleaner.

The two MCs were inseparable as kids and classmates at school. They grew up privileged but disliked by the townspeople. Everyone was told that he was “adopted” during her father’s noble missionary work (in fact he was her father’s child by a poor housekeeper who was “sent away with a parting gift of cash” after he was born and kept as a trophy for his wife to raise – two salient points that will likely have to be omitted).

(At puberty – which again will have to be omitted) the two were told to find other “more appropriate” playmates. But by then her two younger siblings were a dyad, and she believed that the admonition was racial, she hadn’t been told he was her half-brother. She ignored it. When her parents forbade them from seeing each other outside of school they stated sneaking off together – again strictly platonic, they considered themselves brother and sister.

The Sheriff, who had been on her father’s payroll for years but hated him, saw an opportunity for career advancement. He framed the male protagonist for a theft at a time when he was alone with the female protagonist. When her “brother” was arrested she alibied him, confessing to disobeying her parents. Her parents first tried to get her to recant her alibi by telling her the truth, when that did not have the desired effect, they sent her away to college.

The Sheriff claimed to have proof that the two were sneaking off together for sexual reasons and threatened to publicize this (it wasn’t true – I don’t know if this can this be told. I would think so if both MCs were over 18 at the time). The father despite being a thief, rapist and all-around scumbag had feelings for his son and got the judge to make a deal sending him to the Army for two years. The male protagonist was not tried. Everyone in town – except the involved characters – thought he was guilty. This disarmed the Sheriff rendering his “blackmail material” worthless.

I wanted to start the story when he gets out of the Army two years later – he was sent overseas, but they kept in touch. They reunite when he goes to see her at the college, the four preceding paragraphs being told in flashback…
How do I tell this within the rules? IRL they were 21 almost 22 when they became “romantically involved” with one another. But the groundwork, the trust and understanding the shared knowledge of their family history, and their hypocritical hometown that observed rules in the breech – sometimes – and dispensations granted – cash only so as to not leave records. Is all from before?

Questions – comments – opinions?

Thank you, Cathy

I have been “Literotically reincarnated” as Cathy Ober. This site published a very few of my stories over a year ago under a different name. They were first efforts and probably not very good. I had to resubmit several of them after going back and clarifying exactly when events told in flashback occurred, and I also included (or didn’t include elements) that led to the stories being categorized differently than I had wished.

I am still not clear on what I can say in a story about a rape that does not occur to a MC but informs decisions they make in a story – I ended up changing it to a mugging and aggravated assault. I did figure out how to keep everything out of IR however.
 
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I was thinking – since it may take me years to write it all – of splitting it into multiple stand alone stories that I would name alphabetically in chronological order according to the MCs discovery of events. Since the site does not allow an explicit “’Aapple Wine’ is continued in ‘A Berry big Mess,’” I was thinking of ending each story with a clear reference that would be the next title. So, the story “’Aapple Wine’ would end “Which is of course why we all call her “Betsy Ross.” Then ‘Betsy Ross’ would stat with the statement: ”This story is a continuation of “’Aapple Wine,’ and ‘Cabin for Two’ will start out: “This is the continuation of the story begun in ’Aapple Wine’ and continued in ‘Betsy Ross.’

Questions – comments – opinions?

That would likely work. Or, if there was a short word or phrase that you could keep from one story to the next, then it will be treated similarly to a series, and show up essentially together. I.e -- I have several stories that are all about the same couple, they're all standalone stories, but to indicate that they all start "Symon & Michelle:" after the colon, I have one or two words that describe the action (for instance "Symon & Michelle: Binding Time; Symon & Michelle: Halftime Show).
I've found that "Symon & Michelle:" is a lot of characters to give up in a title, but it's working. So if your initial word was shorter then you'd have more spare characters to work with. (something like Families: Apple Wine, and Families: Betsy Ross).

Putting notes at the beginning and end would also likely help. I've done that too, and my sense is that people who were inclined to read all three connected stories did. But, I had all of them written, and submitted them all on the same day, so there wasn't as much lag as you're talking about.

Personally, I think if you can find a short word or phrase to repeat in the title, that will make the connection more clear.

The story contains a “Squick” topic – the two protagonists share the same biological father. Since it is fiction, I tried fleshing it out without that fact, but that one fact in major part explains the seemingly illogical or self-destructive motivations of every significant character in the story. If the two MCs relationship is a significant part of each story, I assume all stories would go into I/T. I also assume keeping the whole tale in the category that most potential readers would negatively react to is wise.

Questions – comments – opinions?

Yes, keeping all the stories in I/T sounds like your best bet. (which btw, is evidently the most read category, so you'll get a lot of views).

Sorry, but I got confused by the your summary and questions in the last section, so I'm not going to address any of them.

Glad you decided to start writing again. Hope it works out!
 
Some of your questions are a little vague, so it's hard to give clear advice, but I think BelleCanzuto is right.

Putting the whole thing in incest makes sense because 1) incest has by far the most readers, and 2) you're more likely to hold on to readers if you publish in the same category (especially if it's incest).

Some other authors have published stories in the same story "universe" but not necessarily as chapters in the same series, and that might work fine. Some readers do NOT want to read stories that have chapter numbers in them, so that might be the way to go.

Before you start, think very clearly about point of view. The way you describe it, it sounds like it will be told from the point of view of both MCs. If so, my recommendation is to use third person omniscient as the point of view rather than first person. I personally do not like most stories where POV flips from one first person to the other. If you're going to offer two perspectives, do it in third person. Some people don't agree, but this is the way most fiction writers do it.

If I were you I would strongly consider writing and publishing a short story first to get your feet wet here. See how it feels, and see what kind of reaction you get to your writing. If you start by writing your epic story, and reader feedback makes you think you should change things, then you're stuck with your intro with a whole epic ahead of you. You are not alone in wanting to dive into a really BIG story, but taking a baby step first might be a good idea. I wrote several short standalone stories before taking on a series, and I'm very glad I did. I felt like I figured out Literotica by the time I started my series.
 
If I were you I would strongly consider writing and publishing a short story first to get your feet wet here. See how it feels, and see what kind of reaction you get to your writing. If you start by writing your epic story, and reader feedback makes you think you should change things, then you're stuck with your intro with a whole epic ahead of you. You are not alone in wanting to dive into a really BIG story, but taking a baby step first might be a good idea. I wrote several short standalone stories before taking on a series, and I'm very glad I did. I felt like I figured out Literotica by the time I started my series.
This.

As I was reading the OP's intro - which is a short story in itself - I was thinking, "Oh dear, another new writer who wants their first thing to be the next great American novel; this will only end in disappointment."

I can only reinforce Simon's observation, start with baby steps, start small. Write a dozen stand-alone short pieces (5k - 10k) words with a minimal number of characters, simple plots, simple themes. Learn your chops, learn your style, learn how to write, and only then, only then, set out on your first "really big thing." If you want to do justice to your big story, and I sense that you do, you should nail the basics to the floor first.

I took on a 103k novel, my stupid big thing, after I'd written about five-hundred thousand words (in my case, maybe 40 or 50 published stories/chapters). I wasn't a capable enough writer to do it earlier. Even then, it's not my best work - a little 8k piece, written in about four days, is that - but I could never have written that one, either, if I hadn't done my apprenticeship first.
 
I was thinking – since it may take me years to write it all – of splitting it into multiple stand alone stories that I would name alphabetically in chronological order according to the MCs discovery of events. Since the site does not allow an explicit “’Aapple Wine’ is continued in ‘A Berry big Mess,’”

It doesn't?
 
It doesn't?

A year ago, submitted like this...

COLLEGE - by me

(body)

***
Look for GRAD SCHOOL a continuation of this story coming soon...

the part below the *** was deleted when published. I was told that I can't reference a work not at Literotica. It was a "teaser," and against the rules.

Putting "this is a continuation of COLLEGE" in the intro to GRAD SCHOOL was just fine.
 
A year ago, submitted like this...

COLLEGE - by me

(body)

***
Look for GRAD SCHOOL a continuation of this story coming soon...

the part below the *** was deleted when published. I was told that I can't reference a work not at Literotica. It was a "teaser," and against the rules.

Putting "this is a continuation of COLLEGE" in the intro to GRAD SCHOOL was just fine.

That sounds like a misunderstanding. The site has had problems with authors who post incomplete stories here and then put the ending only on a pay site. That's against the rules, and I'd guess that Laurel misinterpreted "look for" as meaning "you can find it on a pay site" rather than your intended "wait a while and look for it here".

There is no rule against telling people what's coming up next. I've finished several chapters with notes like "Next time: Sarah goes on a business trip, and discusses the logistics of modern-day tulip exporting".
 
That sounds like a misunderstanding. The site has had problems with authors who post incomplete stories here and then put the ending only on a pay site. That's against the rules, and I'd guess that Laurel misinterpreted "look for" as meaning "you can find it on a pay site" rather than your intended "wait a while and look for it here".

There is no rule against telling people what's coming up next. I've finished several chapters with notes like "Next time: Sarah goes on a business trip, and discusses the logistics of modern-day tulip exporting".

KeithD has repeatedly advised on this forum that you not post your series until the whole thing is written. If you submit the chapters AT THE SAME TIME, Laurel will publish them at intervals and then your "Look for the continuation in..." would be permitted.

If you want your stories to be linked as a series, though, the titles need to all begin with the same first word at the very least. I found this out the hard way when my stories Into the Attic, Out of the Attic, and One More from the Attic wound up NOT being linked as a series. Even though I put the third installment onto the site almost a year ago, I still get comments from readers who read the first story that "You really should continue this story." :rolleyes:

Edit: Just a word of warning on this. Stories that appear in I/T featuring half-siblings tend to get down-voted almost as much as those featuring in-laws. It is still where those stories belong, but there are some readers in the category who disagree with Laurel's categorization.
 
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As far as your story goes, though, you will have a tough time telling a believable "coming of age" chapter without crossing some of the boundaries for underage characters. Boiling that down to a few rather vague paragraphs may be the only way you can pull it off--at least as far as their developing romance. Then there is the non-sexual element of the characters' backstory. It sounds like an intriguing story, but you can't have any sex there and that will likewise hurt your score. The story would take less of a hit if that part is contained as a flashback, or one of the characters talking about it to another character somewhere in the middle of a longer chapter.

It can be done, but it is tricky to pull it off well.
 
my recommendation is to use third person omniscient as the point of view rather than first person...

Some people don't agree, but this is the way most fiction writers do it.

If I were you I would strongly consider writing and publishing a short story first to get your feet wet here...

...You could, for example, have an apartment building and various characters who live there become the MCs of their own stories. You can occasionally have one of them witnessing something that took place in another story, or something one MC witnesses becomes a subsequent story.

You could have a main series, but then have a standalone story featuring a minor character from your series. Casual readers on Literotica can read and enjoy these independent stories, but if they enjoy one then they may very well search your catalogue and be delighted to find more stories tied to the one they just read. Fans of your ongoing work will always be eager to read the next tale from your shared universe.

I came to the right place for good advice.

I am now envisioning a third person omniscient point of view. Starting with a series of short stories first to get some experience. Each short story being a character who lives in the "State of Mintario," (my universe) and are together the "backstory." When the "epic" is written it can reference that the "tavern owner," "sheriff," "judge," and "congressman" (to name a few) have their own stories like 'Mintario: Don the "OberLord"' and 'Mintario: My Congressman, my partner' at Literotica.

Two great ideas - thanks!
 
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