Posting part of an incomplete work

[Rexxxist]

Hi, so I've been working on a novel for a couple years now, but the problem is I don't actually erotica all too often.

More or less, I wanted to know if it's ok (and a helpful) to post part of my incomplete novel just to know if I'm on the right track. I don't really have any friends or anyone I know who can give me feedback, and I'm more concerned about the sex scenes.

If I post just one scene out of context, would I get in trouble? Also, would it help with my final product?

 

[filthytrancendence]

If all you want is feedback, I'd suggest looking for a beta reader. If you want to go that route, give us more info on genre, subject matter, and length.

If you want to begin to post the work serially, that's a very common thing here. I've done nearly the exact same thing, and that was one of the first things I posted to Lit.

Just be aware once you begin to publish it as such, it's kinda irrevocably serialized, with all the pros and cons that go with that medium.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Hi, so I've been working on a novel for a couple years now, but the problem is I don't actually erotica all too often.

More or less, I wanted to know if it's ok (and a helpful) to post part of my incomplete novel just to know if I'm on the right track. I don't really have any friends or anyone I know who can give me feedback, and I'm more concerned about the sex scenes.

If I post just one scene out of context, would I get in trouble? Also, would it help with my final product?

You would be better off posting an entire chapter, so that there is some context for the scene...

Or you could take the sex scene and write some filler around it to give it a little context.

But that should be all you need.

I'm currently writing a novel myself, and I'm posting each chapter as I write it..

 

[StillStunned]

Lit has some rules about posting incomplete works as teasers. You could post a complete chapter and see how it does.

But honestly, I'd recommend writing something completely new. Not novel length either. Perhaps 5-10k words. You could use characters from your novel, or new ones. A complete story won't leave your readers with unanswered questions, and it will give you a better idea of where you stand.

Good luck!

 

[iwatchus]

Listen to @StillStunned

I just don't recommend my approach. Starting with a simple 3K story, then turn it into chapter 1 of a 320K monstrosity.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I'll disagree slightly with a few of my fellow authors here.

First of all, I have eleven published novels here with very little (if any) erotic content. There are implied sexual scenes that readers need to fill in on their own and all of these stories do well on this site (red H). So, my first recommendation is don't sweat the sex scenes.

Secondly, patience pays off in several ways. If you publish by chapter before the story is complete, you risk committing your self to what has already been published. Sure, you could submit an edit to make changes required for later parts of the story to make sense, but why put yourself in that potential position? Then there is the issue of context. There could be scenes in early chapters that rely upon later chapters to provide their full context. That can influence whether some borderline content gets rejected because you didn't allow the admin of the site the opportunity to grasp your context properly.

Finally, there are a lot or readers who will not start reading a story that is obviously incomplete. There are too many instances on this site where the intention to finish a story was never fulfilled by a writer. Why waste our time?

You need beta readers and patience.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Does the chunk work as a story in itself, or could it have an extra paragraph at the start to make it work? If so, you could post it, and then in due course edit to point people to parts that take place earlier in the story.

I had a story that was taking a long time to write, when I realised the first third was a story in itself, which I posted for the Pink Orchid event, and then the last part could also work as a Summer story, so I posted that, then then managed the middle section later. (basically 1. One-night stand, 2. Becoming friends with benefits. 3. Getting closer and realising they're in a relationship.) Probably got more viewers overall, even if many didn't get the full experience of what would have been a long novella by the end.

(Conference Collaboration, Anal Sex Etc: A Scientific Approach, Messing About on the River, for anyone interested in a leisurely-paced story)

I don't believe there's any rule against plagiarising yourself, so if you do post one scene and then the whole novel including that scene, that would be fine, though a note warning readers upfront that a scene was previously published separately would be polite.

 

[Rexxxist]

I'll disagree slightly with a few of my fellow authors here.

First of all, I have eleven published novels here with very little (if any) erotic content. There are implied sexual scenes that readers need to fill in on their own and all of these stories do well on this site (red H). So, my first recommendation is don't sweat the sex scenes.

Secondly, patience pays off in several ways. If you publish by chapter before the story is complete, you risk committing your self to what has already been published. Sure, you could submit an edit to make changes required for later parts of the story to make sense, but why put yourself in that potential position? Then there is the issue of context. There could be scenes in early chapters that rely upon later chapters to provide their full context. That can influence whether some borderline content gets rejected because you didn't allow the admin of the site the opportunity to grasp your context properly.

Finally, there are a lot or readers who will not start reading a story that is obviously incomplete. There are too many instances on this site where the intention to finish a story was never fulfilled by a writer. Why waste our time?

You need beta readers and patience.

Thank you. It seems like beta readers is the most recommended route, but I'm a very slow writer. I still haven't finished the story for any of my novels, and I've been working on one for 2 years.
From the feedback I've gotten, I think I'll just wait until I'm finished. I have a few short stories I can post to see if I'm hitting my mark, but they're old and I'll probably have to do a lot of editing to fix their quality.