The Thing You Want To Improve The Most

[SimonDoom]

What's the one thing you want to improve the most in your erotic stories?

Your grammar? Your prose style? Your characters? Better plot ideas? Better dialogue? Better endings?

Or are you satisfied with the way things are?

For me, by far, it's the desire to create richer and more compelling characters, especially female characters. As a man I feel confident I can write male characters who think and act the way men might in the situations in which my stories put them. I'm less confident when it comes to female characters. Since female characters always feature prominently in my stories, and sometimes are the POV/narrator characters, I want to do whatever I can to make them, if not 100% realistic, at least compelling and plausible.

 

[HeyYoureThatGuy]

Avoiding as much of the "Men writing Women" problems as I can. Especially in 1st person, the perspective I like the best.

 

[Emirus]

I would like to be able to put my imagination into words better than I do now. I look at what I’ve written and think the words aren’t actually 100% what was in my imagination. The character or the scene isn’t 100% what I had in my imagination. The rest of it, grammar and punctuation etc., I’m happy with in the main.

I don’t need an editor but I do sometimes think perhaps I would like someone to read my stories and give me their opinion so if I agree with them I can make changes. I don’t think it needs to be a good writer just a good reader. Someone who likes reading stories in the categories in which I write. So if anyone fancies the job? Pay’s crap and no pension but you will get a mention so you can have a share of the 5’s (and the bombs!).

 

[Brutal_One]

I’d say grammar and prose. I think both are solvable and in particular now working with an editor. Sometimes a writer just needs an outside perspective and also as a new writer (or new in the sense of ‘thinking about it properly’ rather than just putting words down) an editor can do that.

On the other hand I am more au fait with the creative side, plot, characters, dialog.

Character wise too I find I can write female characters with as much ease as I can Male characters. Of course they are different in so many ways, emotionally, physically etc but most of us men are lucky to have females in our lives. For me as well the John Grey book Men are from Mars, Woman are from Venus is a brilliant insight into the differences.

The numerous inter relationships between characters and in particular between close female friends is one writing aspect I enjoy and do not appear to struggle with.

Brutal One

 

[NotWise]

I'd like to get my stories to come together faster. I probably take two or three times longer to write a story than I should.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'd like to get my stories to come together faster. I probably take two or three times longer to write a story than I should.

I hadn't even thought of that, but I totally agree with that one.

I was writing erotic stories far faster three years ago than I am now.

 

[Blind_Justice]

I'd like to get my stories to come together faster. I probably take two or three times longer to write a story than I should.

I'm with you on that. I have ideas, I have enough material to work off, but at the moment, I'm barely getting anything together.

 

[Voboy]

I need to quit abusing semicolons; I use far too many, though never improperly.

See what I did there?

There are also times where I fall in love with my own prose and fail to excise it for a more compact story. But not too often.

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

I sometimes lose myself ina story and switch from third to first pov and past to present tense.

N matter how many times I proofread I always miss some of this.

 

[SimonDoom]

I need to quit abusing semicolons; I use far too many, though never improperly.

See what I did there?

There are also times where I fall in love with my own prose and fail to excise it for a more compact story. But not too often.

Semicolons are OK in fiction, but I tend to agree they shouldn't be used too often. Sometimes the line you wrote above should be rewritten with a period rather than a semicolon.

 

[Brutal_One]

I sometimes lose myself ina story and switch from third to first pov and past to present tense.

N matter how many times I proofread I always miss some of this.

Yeah I think that discipline can be a hard mistress. Keeping the tense consistent in particular. When in POV I think present tense. But if I make a reference to another character’s POV am I past tense?

Writing first person is harder to keep consistent. A lot of fiction uses third person or at least a single narrator to tell the story. This can make things easier from keeping tense consistent.

Brutal One

 

[lovecraft68]

I'd like to break through whatever wall in my head that does not allow me to write a short simple stroke story.

No matter how smutty and simple the premise, no matter how I tell myself I won't complicate it...the next thing you know the MC has a back story, there's a reason he wants to do this, there's now conflict and...my 6k short(for me stroker) is now my usual 16k of build up, story, then the hot scene that should have been most of the damn story.

 

[Emirus]

Semicolons are OK in fiction, but I tend to agree they shouldn't be used too often. Sometimes the line you wrote above should be rewritten with a period rather than a semicolon.

I don’t think I’ve ever come across the correct use of a semi-colon in any Lit story. In some stories there is a proliferation of them when it should just be a comma or a full stop. (I’ve just checked and I don’t think I’ve read any of your stories, Voboy. Schadenfreude is one of my favourite words)

I’ve never produced stories quickly. I began with about one a month but now it’s just now and then and so I also, as with NotWise and SimonDoom, wish I could turn out stories faster. I’ve still got the ideas coming through but I don’t have the enthusiasm. For the first time ever I’m entering a story in a competition, the Summer Lovin’ one, and I’m really surprised I finished it two weeks ago. I had an idea for another one for the competition but in two weeks I’ve written less than a thousand words.

As for what tense I find writing in first person easy but most of the time it’s third limited.

 

[Omenainen]

I’m still just getting started so I’m mostly just enjoying myself, mucking about in different categories and whatnot. So I’m pretty pleased with myself and don’t strive for improvement so much. What I want to develop is the storytelling aspects, plots and characters, because English isn’t my language and it feels pointless to try and perfect something I can’t ever perfect. But stories are stories in any language and that’s the side I want to build my muscles on.

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

I'd like to be able to write a novel. For me, that means NOT rereading and revising the entire work every time I sit down to write. I can't seem to leave well enough alone, so the longer a story gets, the more time I spend rereading and the less I spend writing. My last story reached a critical mass and I had to split it in half and start the second part clean if I was ever going to finish it.

My limit seems to be about 35k words. If I can't figure out how to read less and write more, I'll never be able to write anything longer than short stories.

 

[_Lynn_]

What's the one thing you want to improve the most in your erotic stories?

Telling myself everything I write is crap and stuffing them into a folder forever.

 

[Voboy]

Semicolons are OK in fiction, but I tend to agree they shouldn't be used too often. Sometimes the line you wrote above should be rewritten with a period rather than a semicolon.

I notice it when I look at my earlier stuff. I seem to have started curtailing them a few years ago, but man! Those early stories?

I love them semicolons! Love 'em!

 

[MelissaBaby]

I need to be more disciplined and not procrastinate. I try to write every day, but I fail too often.

Also, I am being very mindful to stop saying characters "began" to do things and just say they do them.

 

[HeyYoureThatGuy]

Telling myself everything I write is crap and stuffing them into a folder forever.

Shit. I need to work on this too.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Also, I am being very mindful to stop saying characters "began" to do things and just say they do them.

I don't fall back on "began" so much, but I use "so" and "just" a LOT!
I also write many sentences in past progressive* ("he was thinking about calling her", "she was sliding down to the foot of the bed"). That feels right in the first draft, but I usually wind up changing it when I edit because on the second pass it seems clunky.

*i just had to look that up, to know what that tense is officially called...

 

[HeyAll]

Better prose and better sex scenes.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I'd like to be able to write a novel. For me, that means NOT rereading and revising the entire work every time I sit down to write. I can't seem to leave well enough alone, so the longer a story gets, the more time I spend rereading and the less I spend writing. My last story reached a critical mass and I had to split it in half and start the second part clean if I was ever going to finish it.

My limit seems to be about 35k words. If I can't figure out how to read less and write more, I'll never be able to write anything longer than short stories.

I've started restricting myself to a review of the previous chapter and whatever chapter I'm currently working on, unless I have a specific need to go back and review something.

 

[CeeDeeBee]

Good question. Being more succinct as I’m far too wordy, both at work and when writing for pleasure. Always have been. Seeing my stories written down on here over the past six weeks or so is helping me cut down though. I could say more...but I’ll leave it there...

 

[Handley_Page]

I'd love to be able to plan the damned story so it has an 'ending' that makes sense.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'd love to be able to plan the damned story so it has an 'ending' that makes sense.

Write an ending you like first, then aim for it.