Story introductions - yes or no?

[BobbyLaker]

Good evening.

I notice that some submissions on Lit have introductions before the story proper starts.

Do you do this?

Pros and cons?

Thank you.

 

[SimonDoom]

No.

I prefer to jump into the story. If some explanation is needed, it can be woven into the story as things go along.

 

[AchtungNight]

I use intros for three things- necessary disclaimers, background, and fourth wall breaking to let readers know what I’m doing in the story if necessary. Some are longer than others.

 

[John_Vandermeer]

I use them. For me it is a combo of a back cover type brief premise and a place for trigger warnings. A quick way for a reader to see whether they may be interested before they have to read too far.

 

[Wriggle]

Mainly no.
I believe you should just jump into the story - it's kind of like the intro breaks the 4th wall for me - I don't need to know what the upcoming story contains, or if it's based on real experience. Just the fiction for me, please.

(This said I have done it myself for a "found diary", but that intro was also fictional)

 

[BobbyLaker]

No.

I prefer to jump into the story. If some explanation is needed, it can be woven into the story as things go along.

My approach too though just getting started.
Thanks.

 

[BobbyLaker]

I use intros for three things- necessary disclaimers, background, and fourth wall breaking to let readers know what I’m doing in the story if necessary. Some are longer than others.

Thanks.
The disclaimers I get for sure.

I had to Google 'fourth wall' ... interesting.

 

[BobbyLaker]

I use them. For me it is a combo of a back cover type brief premise and a place for trigger warnings. A quick way for a reader to see whether they may be interested before they have to read too far.

Like the 'back cover' analogy. I can see its value perhaps for a longer work or a series rather than for a (very) short story.

Food for thought.

 

[AchtungNight]

Fourth wall is when a character in the story talks directly to the reader. This can include the author. A character may also break the fourth wall to interact with an author and their mental phantoms (this happens a lot with my characters when they get overly imaginative while masturbating, see Rendezvous 1 & Counseling 2).

I have also used intros to list character cast (plug Zoe Saldana and Rachel Nichols for playing the female leads in my Star Trek story) and list appropriate codes (this story features lesbian oral sex between a human and an alien!).

 

[BobbyLaker]

Mainly no.
I believe you should just jump into the story - it's kind of like the intro breaks the 4th wall for me - I don't need to know what the upcoming story contains, or if it's based on real experience. Just the fiction for me, please.

(This said I have done it myself for a "found diary", but that intro was also fictional)

I've found the 'back cover' intro useful when selecting print books though most of my reading these days is online/on device.

I guess if I read one on here and it hinted at a road trip with 'Mom' sitting on Lados lap ... I could, maybe look elsewhere

 

[BobbyLaker]

Fourth wall is when a character in the story talks directly to the reader. This can include the author. A character may also break the fourth wall to interact with an author and their mental phantoms (this happens a lot with my characters when they get overly imaginative while masturbating, see Rendezvous 1 & Counseling 2).

I have also used intros to list character cast (plug Zoe Saldana and Rachel Nichols for playing the female leads in my Star Trek story) and list appropriate codes (this story features lesbian oral sex between a human and an alien!).

Thanks, that's really interesting. Sounds like a powerful, if somewhat advanced, technique.

I get the codes bit but in my first submission (anywhere!) I've hoped that the Lit tags scoped these fairly well but accept that some readers probably pay little or no attention to these.

 

[AchtungNight]

You can also use intros to list codes you miss- only ten spots on submission form and my Beijing Streakers story has the biggest most inclusive orgy I’ve ever done with interracial (black, white, Chinese) MMF, MF, FF, FFF, and MFF pairings plus there’s oral and anal sex, eight participants are famous Olympic athletes and the rest are modern day descendants of Chinese heroes role playing their ancestors. Some participants are siblings. There’s also exhibitionism and voyeurism in the story plus parody and a chase scene. So many codes, so little room!

Also, not every reader looks at the codes when searching a story and then they get bothered by something. I give them a heads up just in case.

 

[BobbyLaker]

You can also use intros to list codes you miss- only ten spots on submission form and my Beijing Streakers story has the biggest most inclusive orgy I’ve ever done with interracial (black, white, Chinese) MMF, MF, FF, FFF, and MFF pairings plus there’s oral and anal sex, eight participants are famous Olympic athletes and the rest are modern day descendants of Chinese heroes role playing their ancestors. Some participants are siblings. There’s also exhibitionism and voyeurism in the story plus parody and a chase scene. So many codes, so little room!

Also, not every reader looks at the codes when searching a story and then they get bothered by something. I give them a heads up just in case.

Blimey. I can see why you ran out of tags!

That is one, complex plot

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Welcome to Literotica.

I've done... one intro, only one, and I think it served a neat purpose to kind of get into the headspace of that character. I tend to write 3rd person, that was my first time writing 1st, so I was honestly using it to kind of feel out past or present tense. I'm not against the idea in the future but it would depend on the story. Adding in that little introduction kind of felt like, I don't know, writing a diary or something. I feel like it also amplified the fact that what I was writing was a character's fantasy. If I wanted to do things a bit more realistically I'd omit the intro and dive right into the story. For 3rd person work, I never intro and probably never will.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I've used intros a few times to advise readers of either there being no sex in the story or warning them of the length. Oh, and urging votes for a contest entry. Forgot about those.

 

[AlinaX]

If you have one, make it as brief as possible. A one-line content note. A short paragraph with acknowledgements / explanation.

For one series I had a one-line synopsis, which was a stylistic choice.

 

[BobbyLaker]

Welcome to Literotica.

I've done... one intro, only one, and I think it served a neat purpose to kind of get into the headspace of that character. I tend to write 3rd person, that was my first time writing 1st, so I was honestly using it to kind of feel out past or present tense. I'm not against the idea in the future but it would depend on the story. Adding in that little introduction kind of felt like, I don't know, writing a diary or something. I feel like it also amplified the fact that what I was writing was a character's fantasy. If I wanted to do things a bit more realistically I'd omit the intro and dive right into the story. For 3rd person work, I never intro and probably never will.

Thanks for the welcome Seraph
It sounds like they have their place but maybe best used sparingly and for a very specific purpose such as you describe.

My first scribblings are all 3rd person and, so far, jumping straight into the story and setting the scene there has just felt the natural thing to do. I did use up all 10 available tags for my first submission which just about scoped its subject matter.

Cheers

 

[AchtungNight]

Blimey. I can see why you ran out of tags!

That is one, complex plot

Almost forgot. Some participants are spouses too, of onscreen or offscreen characters. And there’s other stuff too.

 

[BobbyLaker]

I've used intros a few times to advise readers of either there being no sex in the story or warning them of the length. Oh, and urging votes for a contest entry. Forgot about those.

'No sex'?
What is this heresy of which you speak?

 

[K155]

It's a no for me. I tend to jump in, give a story a few minutes to capture my attention or I move on!

 

[BobbyLaker]

Almost forgot. Some participants are spouses too, of onscreen or offscreen characters. And there’s other stuff too.

'Other stuff' sounds interesting.

Is that the under the counter 'other stuff'?

 

[BobbyLaker]

If you have one, make it as brief as possible. A one-line content note. A short paragraph with acknowledgements / explanation.

For one series I had a one-line synopsis, which was a stylistic choice.

Sage advice - thank you.

 

[AchtungNight]

'Other stuff' sounds interesting.

Is that the under the counter 'other stuff'?

Go read the story. https://www.literotica.com/s/the-beijing-streakers Enjoy!

 

[BobbyLaker]

Go read the story. https://www.literotica.com/s/the-beijing-streakers Enjoy!

Suitably bookmarked.

Note to self: Load up with coffee before attempting this one!

 

[MelissaBaby]

The closest thing I've done to any introduction is a note that a particular story was written for a special event.

Generally, my feeling is that if it is important to the story, it should be IN the story.