Too much backstory

[destinie21]

I'm working on cutting my stories down because they seem to have to much more back story than most of the stories on the lit.
The only problem is I don't think the stories work without the backstory and I'm not really a fan of the hi my name is *****
want to have sex stories. Any suggestions

my stories

 

[KillerMuffin]

"Karen I can't take it anymore babe"

Should read:

"Karen I can't take it anymore babe."

You have to use ending punctuation with all of your dialogue.

If it's like "Hi" and he said, it should read: "Hi," he said. Commas when you don't use anything else.


As far as backstory goes?

You include enough backstory so that the reader understands what's happening. Don't include anything more. Rather than tell it one lump sum, spread it out through the action and dialogue.

Not to be a shameless plugger or anything, but this is an example that came immediately to mind when I read your question: http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=30049 It's non-consent, but not vilely so.

If you ignore the story itself and try to pick the backstory out of the real story, you might see at least one way of working it in so it's more interesting.

 

[destinie21]

Thanks for that, you're like the guru of grammer or something.
Also I really liked the story. You're right there was enough backstory to illustrate who Gretta MacClain is, and why she would feel the need for absolution without the story dragging needlessly.

 

[KillerMuffin]

Guru? I think not. I think of myself more as one of those spastic people who freak out and turn into a nervous wreck if they happen to see anything out of order and they can't fix it and you can make them have a hysterical breakdown just by tilting a picture frame out of perfect parallel alignment with the floor, only in the grammar part of the world.

And, of course, I have to explain this with a runon sentence. Go Muffie.

 

[destinie21]

I still like guru better than your description of yourself as someone with ocd.

 

[TheEarl]

I'd go with as much backstory as you feel comfortable with. I've never been a fan of the 'wham bam 36C' stories and would much rather having to read a bit of story to get to the sex, rather than having to read a lot of sex and missing out the story altogether. I may be in the minority, but it's what I like.

The Earl

 

[deliciously_naughty]

The most important thing is that YOU are happy with your stories. Several of my stories have significant backstory...in fact, chapter 5 of Wesley's Woman is so concerned with wrapping up the story and such that I don't actually have a sex scene in it. I wouldn't worry about how you compare to other lit authors. Just worry about how you feel about your own writing, and the audience will find you.

 

[gauchecritic]

Setting background and backstory are not quite the same thing in my book.

Starting a story with straight fucking and then going on to say how they met would squeeze in as backstory (a bit contrived but you do have to grab 'em in the first paragraph) Having a fight out of nothing in the middle of lovemaking and then explaining the history would be backstory.

However, planning a night out to get over a break-up after quarelling about troilism and then meeting an ex-lover who turns out to be your ex-partners gay lover rendering your original quarrel into much ado about nothing, that's setting background.

Plot bunny.

I use both, setting background to heighten tension and backstory if I want to add yet another sex scene. Not the proper purpose I suppose but then I'm not paid to write properly.

Gauche

Shkfberd

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

A story should be *interesting*. The problem with
backstory is often not the quantity but that the author
doesn't tell a story that is interesting then. One
flagrant example often included in sex stories is the
meeting. Either have your couple "meet cute" or be
already a couple. "Tell, don't show" is an often-cited
rule and usually a good one, but tell *very briefly* what
your readers need to know but is not interesting in itself.
Show only what works as a story.

 

[gauchecritic]

"Tell, don't show" is an often-cited
rule and usually a good one.

Now there's an interesting reversal.

Be careful, be very careful about not becoming an enemy of the state. 'Show don't tell' is the usual rule. But a very good application of the opposite.

Gauche

Will Smith

 

[MathGirl]

Originally posted by gauchecritic Will Smith

Oh, God. Now Gauchie's doing it.
MG

Tyrus Raymond Cobb

 

[Guest]

"Show, don't tell."

Uther (love the name, and know it): Perhaps you simply reversed the rule like a typo, so I'll give you a shadow of a doubt. There's a 'how to' piece Gauche put together from an exercise thread. It's an excellent guide (and I'm in it, ). Of course the reverse as you stated it can work, just depends on what you're trying to do.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=99931

Perdita

Jos. Cotton

 

[PAUL C]

i like a bit of story

I prefer the how they got there to the what they were doing when then did.

Does it really matter that he came on the 56th, 57th or 58th stroke?

Write what makes you happy.

 

[just a thing]

The only problem is I don't think the stories work without the backstory and I'm not really a fan of the hi my name is *****
want to have sex stories. Any suggestions

I feel the same way you do.

But the problem is when you put enough detail into your backstory (like I did), the story grows long.

And when a story grows long, a lot of readers don't want to invest the time to read it. (I've had 2500 people look at my story and only 7 have cast votes. I assume the length - 7 pages - has chased away many potential readers. However, I've received 4 emails about the story - all 4 of them very complimentary. So there appears to be some readers out there who like backstory.)

My advice is put the backstory in: if you're going to fail, it's better to fail on your own terms than on someone else's.


_____________________

My (too long?) story
http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=100877

 

[cahab]

Re: Re: Too much backstory

And when a story grows long, a lot of readers don't want to invest the time to read it.

I just read the first page of your story, and I can see why people aren't persevering in your case.

You have lots of story that is just very little to do with either eroticism or the main plot. And nothing has happened even to tantalise by the end of the first page. Bearing in mind Lit has quite long pages I think most will have given up by then.

I don't think this is anything against backstory, it just pays to know your audience. As I keep dragging up, I fear too many of our otherwise good authors have too much of a disparity between their authorly and marketing instincts. Your own story has a number of interesting features, and I like your style but nothing moves on fast enough.

Personally I write to the adage 'If a sentence does not reveal character or advance the plot, strike it out.' (Kurt Vonnegut)

 

[CWatson]

I completely agree with TheEarl and deliciously_naughty. (And BTW, Earl, "wham bam 36C" is a hilarious description. ) You're writing for yourself, aren't you? So put in whatever you want. It's YOUR story. And if people don't like it--hey, they don't have to read it.

 

[cahab]

I completely agree with TheEarl and deliciously_naughty. (And BTW, Earl, "wham bam 36C" is a hilarious description. ) You're writing for yourself, aren't you? So put in whatever you want. It's YOUR story. And if people don't like it--hey, they don't have to read it.

Sure, it all depends whether you want your work to be read or not. I just had a go at editing the story you had written and couldn't actually bring myself to cut more than half a sentence in the whole first page. There's nothing wrong with your story, it's just where it sits.

Can I propose a new story category, one that I feel the need for myself; mainly non-erotic with some sex bits (we can polish up the name in the second draft).

 

[just a thing]

I just read the first page of your story, and I can see why people aren't persevering in your case.

You have lots of story that is just very little to do with either eroticism or the main plot. And nothing has happened even to tantalise by the end of the first page. Bearing in mind Lit has quite long pages I think most will have given up by then.

Thanks, cahab. I susected that might cause me some trouble when I wrote the story.

I was hoping the sense of anticipation, the readers' knowledge that sex was definfitely coming, and my "interesting features" and "style" (thank you, again) would entice readers to hang on through the slow buildup as I tried to make the story about two unique personalities rather than two generic bodies.

I'm considering another story, but already I see myself running into the same situation: I have to have two distinct people meet and flirt a bit before ending up in bed.

However, I suspect you are offering good advice and I do plan on trying to get something tantalizing in the first 500 words or so.

Thanks again.

 

[gauchecritic]

Non-Erotic Fiction without a sexual focus.

Hm?

Gauche

 

[cahab]

Non-Erotic Fiction without a sexual focus.

Hm?

Gauche

Yeah, but this story, and others I have burning away, also have sex in them. Sure, non-erotic doesn't mean non-sex, but I think that's tha main way Lit readers see it. Or am I wrong? If I submitted a sex story to non-erotic, would it get in?

 

[gauchecritic]

There's one way to find out. put it there and see if Laurel moves it.

Gauche

 

[cahab]

There's one way to find out. put it there and see if Laurel moves it.

Gauche

I did, and she did. It now sits in nc, despite only actually having a very brief sex scene, and that not being what the story is about.