No 3: More writerly questions...

[wishfulthinking]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?


What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?


What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?


How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)


Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

 

[damppanties]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

January - 3
February - 2
March - 3
April - 1
May - 1 pending.
That's because I joined survivor. Otherwise it was 5 in about one and a half years.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

Huh? They don't. Does that mean I'm lucky?


What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

Started Oct. 2003.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

2.


Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

Think about it nicely, totally, then sit and write. Beginning to end.

 

[Belegon]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month? I've done 2-3 in a week but I've also gone months with nothing. Just waiting on the ol' muse I guess.


What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other? Reread my last few paragraphs. If nothing new comes to mind I just set it aside for awhile.


What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner? I have a heroic fantasy that has grown very slowly since 1987. I highly doubt it will ever be finished.


How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?) About 5. I tell people about my sportswriting all the time, but this is a little more private. I have a friend who has a similar marital situation that reads everything I write. She and I are exploring the idea of cowriting a story.


Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story? I usually write straight thru. I will occassionally think of a plot bunny or something that I will jot down as a reminder for when I get to that part, but as far as dialouge, etc., I write chronologically. I usually have the plot in my head but I have had stories take me places I had not planned ongoing.

 

[snooper]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

It varies, and I write mostly novels of 50k+ words.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

Characters do what I want them to do. Those authors who claim the characters "take over" and write the story have not thought it through before writing. That way internal inconsistencies in the story lie.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

Started actual typing 24th November, 2001. I must reread that sometime to find out what it's about.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

All my family and most of my friends.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

I write top-down. That is to say, I have a broad brush idea which I write down. Then I break it up into a series of events (sections), then I break each event up into sub-events where necessary (chapters). Next I write a one paragraph outline for each chapter. In a separate file I have all the background information, characters and their descriptions, locations ditto, timelines and sequences, any other relevant info (eg. research info). Then I write the actual text of the individual chapters in more or less random order as the fancy takes me.

 

[A7inchPhildo]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?
2

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other? Spank them? Really characters do not have a say in it it is my dream.


What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?I am starting to think some of them are older than me. I even forget what disk I put them on. I remember transfering them from a floppy if that helps.


How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)
I tell everyone,even my mother knows that I write and post on Literotica. Hell, my brother writes here too. I very seldom tell them how to find my stories though.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

Is it really important? I out line. I have a standard outline I use for each story very similar to snoop. Hard to fuck up the time line if you outline it then fill in the desired frills.

Wishfull,
How come you don't answer the questions you ask?

 

[oggbashan]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

3 to 10 not all on Literotica

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

File the story and wait until I can resolve the conflict.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

Eight years and it will stay there. Next ones are four years old.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

Two. Apart from them I have told people that I write erotica for Literotica and given Lit's address but I have NOT given them my Lit name.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

I work out the beginning, the end and some development before I start to write. Even the shortest story has that much planning if only in my head.

Og

 

[Liar]

Re: Re: No 3: More writerly questions...

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

1 story 15 poems, or something like that. 0 stories on Lit, because writing smut goes slower.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

Whaddaya mean? They're my characters. They say what I write for them to say.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

From the summer of -97.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

Only one outside of Lit itself. But I email or print and give my stuff to a handful of friends.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

I write stories from all ends at the time. I witr from the end, from the beginninf and from several places in the middle at the same time. Oddly enough, it always seems to add up quite seamless.

#L

 

[dr_mabeuse]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

Probably from zero to 4 stories, depending on how involved they are and what else I'm doing (sometimes I'm working on a novella or playing an SRP game)

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

Go back and rethink their character. Something's not right.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

I've got a novella that's been waiting for a last chapter for over a year now.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

Lots.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

usually I don't have a clear idea of what's going to happen when I start to write. I'll have a particular scene or situation in mind, and I'll write towards that, and as I write, my characters reveal themselves and I begin to learn what the story's really about. Then I usually have to go back and change the beginning so it complies with the rest of the story.

Starting at the end is the best way I've found to write a mystery though. Once you know whodunnit, you can go back and leave your false clues and hints.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month? My average is one per week, but there have been weeks where I have written 2 or 3 and then weeks where I haven't written anything.


What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other? Haven't had that problem yet... thank goodness (crosses fingers.)


What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner? October 2003


How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?) 2


Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story? start from the beginning. I usually have an idea of how I want the story to go. Sometimes that doesn't matter though; my characters may decide to go in another direction and then I am just along for the ride.

 

[minsue]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

I've got an, er, minimalist writing style


What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

I prefer that, actually. None of my characters have anything remotely interesting to say (hence the minimalist writing style)


What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

I've never finished one so the oldest would be about 20 years old or so.


How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

Never given anyone the Lit address, but ever since I started using my own pics for AVs I've been waiting for someone to say something. At work. Or at some sort of family function.


Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

I start at the beginning. I never get any further.

 

[wishfulthinking]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

One story if I'm very very lucky and find the time.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

So far I've only had lengthy silences from them. they can be stubborn, but I can usually get them talking!

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

I haven't been writing that long, so Jan 04. It is half finished and probably won't be finished for another couple of months.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

Nada.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

Usually the beginning, but if something isn't working, I sometimes skip ahead and come back later.

Phil - I do!

 

[kinky shy girl]

oops, sorry about the double post

 

[kinky shy girl]

Re: Re: No 3: More writerly questions...

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?
sad to say, in the single digits...some months I have nada.


What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?
kill 'em off and start over

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?
geez, I may have some old files on my other computer, but I can't recall.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)
0

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?
I start in the middle and work my way out.

 

[Couture]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

I used to write a story or chapter every two weeks. I've never considered it churning. I've written almost one hundred odd kinky stories or chapters.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

The usually don't have a problem talking. Sometimes they just don't talk about anything interesting.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

I guess it's over two years old. It's my masterpiece. I wonder if I'll ever write it. I don't know yet if the author is worthy enough for the story.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

Zero.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

I work from left to right. From top to bottom. I walk on the right side of the path. From foreplay to sex to orgasm, in that order. I start from the beginning and work my way to the end.

 

[wildsweetone]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

As many as I feel like writing.


What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

I've never had any refuse to chat... but if they did start that kind of shenanigans, I'd give them a good talking to... Huh weird question


What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

One that I haven't had the courage to go back to for two years. I began writing it approx five years ago.


How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

People? I don't tell people, they tend to discover my stories and tell me they've found them. lol


Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

The beginning

 

[cantdog]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?
I write long ones; one a month is
very fast

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?
I don't understand what you mean, nothing occurs without contact

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?
I have abandoned stories. No back-burners.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)
There are supposed to be thousands of people here and my address is on the masthead. I only came here so people would read them.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?
Pick a cool place to start and follow it for three or four chapters and see if I have a plot yet. Rewrite to turn the characters, now that I know them, into a story. Second time through, the real story, is always beginning to end, straight through. Rewrite for fixing dialog and so on, polish, and send to anyone who might enjoy it.

 

[BohemianEcstasy]

Per month? Zero. Seriously, I just got back into writing, and even then, I'd complete maybe one story each six months. If you count POETRY, on the other hand, I used to be at about ten-twelve poems per month, and that's trickled down to one every two months or so. I made myself quit for a while, before I realized that even if I do it just a little bit, I am a writer, and can't stop.

When my characters refuse to talk to one another? Well, I haven't had that exact situation, but when I hit a road block, I usually fail with a story. If nothing can happen, nothing does, and I scrap it. Not inspiring, but the truth.

I took all of my back-burner stories off the burner about a year ago, realizing that they were baggage, for me. I'd see the files and think "I need to get back to that." Not "I WANT to return to that story." And because of that, I finally just said "screw it." Started over.

My lit story? I've told like three people that I have it on here. They're not impressed, but they also don't realize how big of a step this is for me as a writer...being able to say that I'm a writer, again. I've only given one the link--he's more vanilla than I when it comes to his sexual tastes, so anal sex with the Spanish professor didn't appeal to him. Go figure.

In my mind, a story goes from exposition to conclusion to everything in between, in that order. Sometimes I'll switch the conclusion and the exposition. But on paper, I've only written the ending before the middle once; usually it's in the order that it'll stay in when I get it on paper.

 

[cloudy]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?
Usually around 3....sometimes more, sometimes less, depends on what's going on in r/l at the time.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?
I've never had that problem.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?
Just a few months. Still working on it sporadically.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)
5, I think.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?
I start from the beginning, but I always know the ending when I start. How I get to the ending is the interesting part.

 

[oggbashan]

Thought again about my oldest story after seeing this from Phildo:

"I remember transfering them from a floppy if that helps."

My oldest incomplete story, the one set in the Balkans during the 19th century, I transferred from a 5.25 360k floppy. I started to write it on my IBM XT that I have owned since 1987. I still own it and the current draft is still on the 20mb hard drive. First draft started late 1987. Latest version is 1991.

It will NEVER be finished because it is bad.

Og

My first published story? 1955.

 

[KenJames]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?
My average appears to be one new story per month, but that's a hard question to answer. Some of my stories were written years before I posted them. Three of my stories are divided into semi-autonomous chapters, but I've almost always completed the entire story before posting any chapters.

I alternate between composing music and writing erotica. Time spent on one takes away from the other. I'm a slow writer and an even slower composer.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?
That's never happened to me. I'm a character writer and I have my characters well fleshed out before I start writing.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?
About five years, I guess. There are a few chapters of a gay science fiction story that are much older, but I no longer consider that one to be on the stove.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)
My lover (who thinks my writing is fantastic) and one friend (who could care less).

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?
Some writers do well with a super organized top-down approach. To me, that's like classical composition, where a work has to be written out in every detail before it's handed to an orchestra. I prefer the jazz approach of creating a structure and using it as the basis for improvisation.

I retain a good enough view of the overall story that I rarely introduce internal inconsistencies and I review the story carefully before posting it.

My basic technique is to spend a long time thinking about the characters and situations, then start writing. I have a clear concept of where I'm going, and frequently write outlines, but I always leave space for the story to evolve. My best stories have always surprised me at some point.

 

[FlyontheWall99]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

I'm totally infrequent, I can from one to four a month then take a month or two off. I suppose it's about one a month average though. Depends on when the writing bug hits.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

Haven't had that problem yet, but if a character gets dull I retire them.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

Probably about 6-7 months. It is still half finished and sitting on my desktop asking to be completed. I will ..... eventually.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

Not many, about 8-10 people I think. I'm not big on promotion.

Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

Beginning to end, but I write a plot first so I know exactly where the story is headed and only improvise on the fringes of the story.

 

[sweetnpetite]

would y'all be mad if I bumped this?

My output has been really sucking lately, and I really want to read what the rest of you are doing, so maybe I can do something similer

 

[carsonshepherd]

How many (completed) stories/poems do you churn out a month?

Lucky to be 1, sometimes 3. None some months.

What do you do when your characters refuse to talk to each other?

I start over because my scene is not working, or something is wrong with one of the characters and they need to be redone or dropped.

What is the oldest uncompleted story you have sitting on the back-burner?

No story ever returns from my back burner so the question is irrelevant. Once gone, they're not uncompleted. They're taking a dirt nap.

How many people have you told about your lit stories? (and supplied the web address?)

One. She told her husband with my approval, so that makes two.


Do you start from the beginning or work back from the end of the story?

I usually know the beginning and the end, but I come up with the middle part as I go.

 

[brightlyiburn]

I work in chapters. Depending on whether or not I'm in school, and judging by my number of submissions, I average around ten a month.

Generally my characters refuse to interact with each other. They're almost always willing to talk.

The Last Cowboy. Started last May.

People have talked to be about my writing, but so far no one has been like "Oh, you should read this". People generally know it's me.

I usually have my destination first, the beginning of my journey second, and how I get there last.

 

[oggbashan]

My oldest incomplete story, the one set in the Balkans during the 19th century, I transferred from a 5.25 360k floppy. I started to write it on my IBM XT that I have owned since 1987. I still own it and the current draft is still on the 20mb hard drive. First draft started late 1987. Latest version is 1991.

It will NEVER be finished because it is bad.

Og

My first published story? 1955.

Original answers in my first post above are still valid.

Update to quoted post:

Oldest incomplete story is now on 3.5 floppy and two hard drives. It is still bad and the version hasn't changed. I still have the XT in working order but I have copied all the files from it to a CD.

However my first published story? I have been digging in the files. I found a travel article from 1950, a story from 1951 and a play script from 1952.

I now have a total of over 100 posted stories on Lit as the sum of Og and jeanne_d-artois. Og has 99 and 6 poems. The 100th Og story should be submitted in the next few days.

Og