your opinions, preamble or cut to the chase

[britannicus]

You might gues from the name, that I'm a classics fan.

im writing a story which has a bdsm focus, set in 1st century Roman times (after Boudcca's revolt). I'm pondering a few opening paragraphs to explain a few Roman details, before lurching into the " sweating bodies and groping hands"

I don't want to put people off with it feeling like a history lecture or patronising those who already know, neither do I want to spoil the flow of the human story by sprinkling the body text with too many explanations.

What do you think ?.

Your views are welcome


xxx Britannicus

 

[SamScribble]

I think that it depends on what you are hoping to achieve. Some readers are here for the quick trip. If you have to explain stuff, they are likely to be gone before you can say hello. Others are ready to be ‘informed’. IMHO, if your story works without the explanation, tell it that way.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

If it isn't obvious leave it out.

 

[oggbashan]

Start with some action and reveal the setting and Roman details as the story progresses e.g.

"Slave? At dinner serve Falernian. The good imported one, not the local muck the British think is genuine. That's good enough to serve to their leaders but we have guests from Rome itself."

 

[lovecraft68]

I go with Ogg let the details play out as the story progresses.

As Sam said some people are here to read one handed and they will see very quickly if a story is for them or not and jump off. But even for those of us who like a story we need something more than just a "okay, here's the situation, its Rome and..."

So let the dialogue and characters fill in where/when. Have a character say "things have been much better since...."

You also can put in your author's note something like "This story takes place in \ Rome in the year...." and give a couple of quick details.

 

[DreamCloud]

Which every way seems correct to you. If you're not having fun, either will the readers.

This is all amateur stuff here, written for free. Well, free except for your time. Spend your time well - write what you want. You'll find someone who appreciates it.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I think, between them, Ogg and LC have summed it up well. Explanation is anathema in story telling and surely most of us have (probably wrong) ideas of Roman times.

I think LC is going a bit far suggesting we, the great unwashed, can differentiate between the eras of Caligula, Nero or whoever, let the story supply the details.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think, between them, Ogg and LC have summed it up well. Explanation is anathema in story telling and surely most of us have (probably wrong) ideas of Roman times.

I think LC is going a bit far suggesting we, the great unwashed, can differentiate between the eras of Caligula, Nero or whoever, let the story supply the details.

I was thinking basic "This story takes place in Rome, 100bc" not too detailed.

 

[sr71plt]

Start with some action and reveal the setting and Roman details as the story progresses e.g.

"Slave? At dinner serve Falernian. The good imported one, not the local muck the British think is genuine. That's good enough to serve to their leaders but we have guests from Rome itself."

This, at least in the American market. (There's still room in the UK market to drag slowly through background into action). Don't cut to the chase at the start, but it's popular in American writing now to get the chase started from word one.

 

[lovecraft68]

This, at least in the American market. (There's still room in the UK market to drag slowly through background into action). Don't cut to the chase at the start, but it's popular in American writing now to get the chase started from word one.

USA suffers from ADD big time.

 

[britannicus]

many thanks

It's been a hugely useful debate and I hope to post next week.

I ve decided to crop the preamble and limit myself to three or four lines and then get "into the action" more more rapidly, though I still want to get into a bit more character development rather than just accumulation of body parts and acts, which seems to me to be an achilles heal for some bdsm genre stories.

Please, any more advice happily accepted

 

[oggbashan]

It's been a hugely useful debate and I hope to post next week.

I ve decided to crop the preamble and limit myself to three or four lines and then get "into the action" more more rapidly, though I still want to get into a bit more character development rather than just accumulation of body parts and acts, which seems to me to be an achilles heal for some bdsm genre stories.

Please, any more advice happily accepted

You can show character development by dialogue and actions without long descriptive passages.

Or if you want description? Keep it in short passages at intervals in the story.

 

[JLCC]

The one article on story writing posted here is brief, but a good primer. It covers all aspects, though not in detail.

https://www.literotica.com/storyxs/stories/guide.shtml

What stands out about that article here is the section, "Subject Matter". 1) Write what you know, or 2) research it well, or finally, 3) Bullshit with bravado!

How this relates, IMHO, is that your knowledge will come through if you have written the story well.

That said, another technique might be to establish a scene or mood, sort of like during the opening credits of a movie where background is delivered without involving the actual story or characters. Make it part of the story, not a lesson.

 

[CollarAndFeather]

Some random food for thought from another newbie (though I agree with much of what's already been said):

"Infodumping," as in having a bloated epilogue full of facts & exposition, is generally not something people seem to like. I usually don't mind, but then I'm also a bit of a whore for interesting settings, so I'm not a good example.

In modern books with period works, I've seen sidebars with setting info used to good effect. The first example that comes to mind is a Shakesphere book that had a sidebar that was mostly used to explain some of the slang. It and other books also used it to give facts to help with historical context, but since they weren't part of the main body of text, didn't disrupt the flow. You may not be able to use the same formating, but seperating little historical facts out with indents, italicization, and a font change may have a similar effect.

Also, for the bdsm stuff, remember that the focus is usually about the mental interaction between the people involved. In a way, it's brain hacks, and all the activities and toys are just tools to use to make it better and/or easier to achieve. I'm not saying to write your story this way, but I find it helps to remember that you can hit most, if not all, aspects of bdsm with two people alone in an empty room without any physical contact between them. Sure it's limiting, but it's possible.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

This, at least in the American market. (There's still room in the UK market to drag slowly through background into action). Don't cut to the chase at the start, but it's popular in American writing now to get the chase started from word one.

Crap! And ignorance.

UK fiction does not trawl any slower than US fiction Patricia Cornwell is a classic example.

 

[oggbashan]

Info dumps are almost essential for Sci Fi and Fantasy because the author has to detail the parameters of the world in which the story is set.

Robert Heinlein's Fantasy novel Glory Road is a good example of how to introduce information about a fantasy world. At first we don't know anything. The hero is frequently facing problems because he doesn't know how the world he is in differs from 20th Century Earth. Each time the reader learns more about the peculiarities of the setting.