The Smooch of Death

[mildlyaroused]

The Smooch of Death is when the excitement for a story starts to fade. The fingertips grow cold. Progress dips and curdles.

As a slow writer, I am all too familiar with this terrible state. My latest novel has been subject to multiple months-long hiatuses which made my return agonising. In both cases I ended up going for a complete rewrite.

Do other people have this same experience, where the passage of time distances you from your story? How long does it take for the Smooch to set in? How do you try to avoid it?

The obvious choice is just to write more, and more consistently. If the story is constantly moving then you're less likely to stagnate as an author and the Smooch won't catch up. But this assumes we don't get busy, or lazy, or writer's block - all of which are bold assumptions.

The best solution I've found is akin to headbutting a brick wall until it breaks: just throw yourself at your story, world and characters. Read your manuscript from the start. Immerse yourself in all your authorly notes you took when you were inspired. Eventually your brain will hit a snag of inspiration and you're off, and then you just don't stop fucking typing. It's kind of funny that 99% of solutions in writing amount to get over it and write.

Anyway, just curious on others' thoughts.

 

[AchtungNight]

Several of my stories have suffered this affliction of late. It’s mostly due to a perceived lack of reader enthusiasm. And a busy life outside the writing world. Maybe someday I’ll get back to it. For now motivation and time are lacking. I encourage my fans to comment on my stories and send feedback to me in general if they wish to aid the situation thx.

But yeah, in the past all I have needed is the proper inspiration to get writing again. Inspiring video games and other media, past reminiscences, other insights have all engaged me at times. Then I start writing and can’t stop till I’m done.

 

[MyBareTorso]

I write mainly shorter (average around 7000 words), simpler stories here on Literotica that are basically just my sexual fantasies in print... there's not much for me to get caught up in plot wise, and it just turns me on so much writing that I usually just can't stop. That's my approach, but I'm sure when dealing with more expansive work, it might be easier to find yourself in the weeds...

 

[oneagainst]

Not sure if this is informative, but I wrote about this process in Building Wonderland in the How To category, on longer story construction. I firmly believe in doing it non-linearly, with some of the ending or critical points already written ahead of you. Then when the smooch comes, you are just building the bridge from where you are to the next island, as opposed to just building into the void. There is *always* hard work constructing the interstitial passages between the high points, so that's how I got over that particular valley of death to the other side.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

...
What?

 

[Bazzle]

I've got at least 4 stories in plot cul-de-sacs. Eventually I will find the fire to get them going again.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

One of the best ways to overcome this is to have more stories, and maybe many more stories, in the works! That way, when you reach that spot on one, you can be like the pinball wizard and keep bouncing to another one (or another or another) until something clicks on one.

Seriously, it feels like that sometimes but don't paint yourself into a single corner and then feel trapped. Your getting over it and writing is correct, and writing multiple stories concurrently allows you to step out of the first box and keep going in another as you mull over and hopefully solve the problem(s) with the first. As an example, my 2023 Summer Lovin' story at 44.4K words is my longest and (currently) highest-rated story on this site but it took 2-1/2 years to write. Rather than being frustrated or getting burned out during that time, I completed and published nearly 30 other works (or chapters), advancing each a little or sometimes a lot at a time.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Not sure if this is informative, but I wrote about this process in Building Wonderland in the How To category, on longer story construction. I firmly believe in doing it non-linearly, with some of the ending or critical points already written ahead of you. Then when the smooch comes, you are just building the bridge from where you are to the next island, as opposed to just building into the void. There is *always* hard work constructing the interstitial passages between the high points, so that's how I got over that particular valley of death to the other side.

I like this non-linear approach and employ it myself at times, but you have to be very careful where maintaining consistency is concerned. I have seen many writers attempt this and not pay enough attention to the POV in one section versus another, or screw up things like character names.

One of the greatest things about writing for a site like Literotica is the lack of hard deadlines. With the exception of contest entries, we are free to take our time and patiently navigate the "smooch" periods without consequence. Self-inflicted urgency is a real thing, and I understand that; just understand who is really driving you.

Now, when I have real-life publishing deadlines, I have found a few things that help me get past the stalls. Foremost among these is listening to what I have already written. This allows for a different sensory assessment (hearing versus seeing) of the work and frequently stimulates me to consider changes to the existing story or ideas for its continuation.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I like this non-linear approach and employ it myself at times, but you have to be very careful where maintaining consistency is concerned. I have seen many writers attempt this and not pay enough attention to the POV in one section versus another, or screw up things like character names.

One of the greatest things about writing for a site like Literotica is the lack of hard deadlines. With the exception of contest entries, we are free to take our time and patiently navigate the "smooch" periods without consequence. Self-inflicted urgency is a real thing, and I understand that; just understand who is really driving you.

Now, when I have real-life publishing deadlines, I have found a few things that help me get past the stalls. Foremost among these is listening to what I have already written. This allows for a different sensory assessment (hearing versus seeing) of the work and frequently stimulates me to consider changes to the existing story or ideas for its continuation.

That shit seems like extra work with all the piecing it together. Might as well write out an outline first, then write it.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

That shit seems like extra work with all the piecing it together. Might as well write out an outline first, then write it.

I don't find it that daunting, and I never use an outline.

 

[yowser]

Just ran across this great line in M. John Harrison's 'Wish I Was Here: 'The best writer you've never heard of'

I suffer [writer's] block but I don't mind because I suspect it's nature's way of telling me I'm doing something wrong.

He's got a whole section on 'getting stuck'.

 

[WritingwhatIlike]

I've got several stories that hit that Smooch. I revisit them now and then, to see if inspiration hits, or to refresh my memory to mull them over for a while. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I'm right now moving forward on one that languished for months after writing 18k words.

Just ran across this great line in M. John Harrison's 'Wish I Was Here: 'The best writer you've never heard of'

I suffer [writer's] block but I don't mind because I suspect it's nature's way of telling me I'm doing something wrong.

He's got a whole section on 'getting stuck'.

I feel like this is true for me. One story I fizzled on feels like I've gone wrong somewhere, but the thing is, I don't want it to be wrong. I want the story to go in that direction, but what I've written feels better when I go in this direction. I suspect that my initial thrust of the story is flawed, and I need to revisit it in order to make the finale fit better...possibly at the expense of rewriting it all.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I don't find it that daunting, and I never use an outline.

I rarely do outlines myself, unless I need to get the idea to leave me alone so I can finish what I'm doing and not forget. But more my point is the extra work of piecing a story together.

 

[ronde]

Not sure if this is informative, but I wrote about this process in Building Wonderland in the How To category, on longer story construction. I firmly believe in doing it non-linearly, with some of the ending or critical points already written ahead of you. Then when the smooch comes, you are just building the bridge from where you are to the next island, as opposed to just building into the void. There is *always* hard work constructing the interstitial passages between the high points, so that's how I got over that particular valley of death to the other side.

In my view, trying to write a story without at least some idea of how it starts, what the plot makes the characters do, and how it's going to end is like saying you want to go to the beach without identifying the beach and without having a map to get you there. If you just start driving, you'll run into a few dead ends or places where it seems you're going in the wrong direction and you'll be forced to reconsider the destination. With a known plot and at least a planned ending, it's pretty hard to get stuck for very long. Your characters might steer you to a different ending, but you'll at least have a map that shows you the directions.

 

[CyranoJ]

The Smooch of Death is when the excitement for a story starts to fade. The fingertips grow cold. Progress dips and curdles.

For me, the Smooch of Death is not temporal, but topical.

If I'm writing a story and I suddenly realize that it's a less-good variant of a story i've already written... well, that moment of realization is the Smooch of Death. I can try to continue however I might, but it just isn't happening.

Also, it's not particularly a good sign if a fat Italian mobster breaks into my house, strolls up to me and kisses me on the cheek in sinister fashion and with a terrible, ominous intimacy.

But mostly, the other thing.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I rarely do outlines myself, unless I need to get the idea to leave me alone so I can finish what I'm doing and not forget. But more my point is the extra work of piecing a story together.

Piecing non-linear parts of a story together does require some organization.

Think of it as storyboarding, which typically starts with establishing the timeline for the entire story. This makes it much easier to write the scenes for Friday before the scenes for Wednesday and then later align everything into the proper place.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Piecing non-linear parts of a story together does require some organization.

Think of it as storyboarding, which typically starts with establishing the timeline for the entire story. This makes it much easier to write the scenes for Friday before the scenes for Wednesday and then later align everything into the proper place.

If I did it; it would be done on paper. I actually did that with two outlines. Even had highlighters to help.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If I did it; it would be done on paper. I actually did that with two outlines. Even had highlighters to help.

Paper would work. I use an Excel spreadsheet.

 

[ElectricBlue]

In my view, trying to write a story without at least some idea of how it starts, what the plot makes the characters do, and how it's going to end is like saying you want to go to the beach without identifying the beach and without having a map to get you there. If you just start driving, you'll run into a few dead ends or places where it seems you're going in the wrong direction and you'll be forced to reconsider the destination. With a known plot and at least a planned ending, it's pretty hard to get stuck for very long. Your characters might steer you to a different ending, but you'll at least have a map that shows you the directions.

Just so long as you accept this is not a universal rule. I'm the complete opposite, I never plot or outline, and my stories do just fine.

 

[mildlyaroused]

I don't plot an outline, but it's impossible for me to write without my imagination straying towards the ending/big developments of the story. Often I have four or five major endings that I really love in my mind, and the story steers me to one of them.

 

[CalebZhass]

I also like to plan the plot ahead of time, but not too much. I prefer to write "organically", letting the story flow out of me, allowing it to take me to places, instead of trying to stay on a set course. So my plans are not flashed out islands of story, just messages stuck in bottles floating around with the currents of the story, to remind me of plot points that I've planned for the future.