Snapshot fics.. useful?

[Guest]

For those whdon't know what a "snapshot" piece is, it is a short, sometimes just a page or two, story that captures a specific moment or memory. Like a photograph.

Question becomes:

Are such short pieces worthwhile to the reader? I'm asking for a purpose, as i currently have a series written with Martyred_Kitty (wherever she may have gotten to) that spans the lives of two main characters (and a dozen others) from 1500's Europe to modern times. Almost all of the pieces in the story are "snapshots" encompassing a day, or hour, or even just a flashback on memories made. I'd like to kow what the readers, in general think of short pieces that weave together a larger story.

 

[Penelope Street]

Hi Angelle,

Assuming the snapshots have sexual themes, my intuition is readers would enjoy what you have in mind. Since you've already written the pieces I can't think of any reason not to submit them and find out.

Take Care,
Penny

 

[Guest]

>.< I hope so... not all of them actually HAVE sex in them... although they all lead into it, one way or another, considering that the characters can't keep their hands off each other (no matter whether they're trying to kill or kiss each other). As soon as Deathplay gets back in touch with me, I think I'll have a couple of them put into order and sent up. *sighs* I just wish I had some confidence in my stuff. Seems like lately Literotica rejects everything I submit.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

They might be good, they might be bad. It's impossible to say without seeing one.

If they're so short, why don't you post one here so we can see it?

 

[oOScarletWingsOo]

I always thought they were called vignettes. Is "snapshot" and alt word for it?

Either way. I guess I don't understand why you would have a "snapshot" story that weaves together. Why not just tie them together and call it a novella?

To address the question as to whether it's liked or appreciated by readers it really all depends on how well it's written I would think. Shorter works have less room for error. You open yourself up to being less likely to please your reader if you fail to produces essential elements well.

But as said above it would be good to see the pieces you are referring to to get a better understanding.

 

[damppanties]

Seems like lately Literotica rejects everything I submit.

Why?

What's the word count of your shorts? Are you going thinking of submitting them as a bigger story or just short pieces by themselves?

This has been done on Lit before and in quite a classy way. See the Snipp link in my sig to see what I'm referring to. I for one am going to enjoy it immensely if it's something along similar lines.

 

[Guest]

Took me a while to get back...

thanks to my damn PC AND my laptop getting fried in an electrical storm, I'm just now getting back online and back to this.

AS to why Literotica keeps rejecting my stuff... I have no idea. One was rejected for a "Sexual relationship with a minor" when the two characters in the story were both five-hundred plus year old demons of some sort. ^.^ Don't ask... I don't know.

Back to the original thingymabobber. By "snapshot" I refer to a story that deals with an extremely short period of time, a few minutes, an hour, even just a moment in time. Yes, I can weave them all together to make a novella out of it, complete with artwork and so forth, but the problem is this: These "Snapshots" run over a period of over five hundred years (from about 1200AD to modern day) and from the viewpoints of the two major players in the love story (twisted as it is). Although they do fit together, it's not seamless. It's more like a stop-action video... it makes sense once you get a feel for it, but at the beginning it's a bit tangled.

Apparently though, it is both too dark, too violent and too confusing for the Mods.. they rejected it, lol. Oh well. I'm going to have to retype all of it anyways thanks to losing both hard drives (and the rescue disks apparently shouldn't have been sitting on top of the PC because none of them will read). Here's hoping I'll have something ready for the next challenge that comes up; I lost my Valentine's Day story!!! *pout*

 

[J.Q. Hack]

Snapshot fics

Sorry to hear about the hard drives. Good luck in getting things back to working order because your idea sounds wonderful and I'd definitely like to see how that would work out.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

You know, when someone starts writing paragrpahs describing what they're writing rather than just showing you the damned piece, you've got to wonder.

No offense, darling, but it's simply impossible to say. The quality of a piece of writing usually depends on its emotional impact and not on the time period it covers, and I don't think I'm alone in saying that some of the most moving experiences in life occur in an unbelievably short period of time, sometimes a second or so.

Remember "Incident at Owl Creek Bridge" where a guy's whole life flashes before his eyes in the tme it takes for him to hang to death?

I wrote a piece once that was just a series of vignettes, a montage of images: a man finding a woman's panties in his hallway; a telephone ringing in an empty room; a guy watching a woman brush her hair; a woman tied to a bed watching the shadow of her lover on the wall as he raises a whip. I think it worked.

Time has nothing to do with it. It's the emotional content.