Is there an ideal number of story codes to include?

I asked several weeks back whether the content of my stories (dark, depressing, but not excessively violent) is disturbing even to people in the BDSM scene, and now I have a bit of a related question.

When are numerous story codes (or more specifically, fetishes) too many? I know there is no such hard limit, but are people less inclined to read a story when it seems to have everything thrown into it but the kitchen sink?

The reason I ask is related to the emphasis of my stories, namely the focus on bad endings and the psychological effects of losing everything. Once a character 'wins' over another and is in a position of complete and uncontested power, they frequently try to degrade the 'loser', and sometimes that includes forced incest or watersports. While I know that there is a huge readership for non-consensual stories, those other two fetishes might be deal breakers for many like scat and snuff are to me.

Since I post stories here with the interest of getting feedback, do any of you think I would be better off making my stories a bit more focused in terms of the fetishes they include?

I think the problem is not so much "too many codes" as is the fact that the story page has so much "ink" on it that it simply overwhelms me. It is very difficult to read and I usually just give up and google an idea/fetish/etc. and go elsewhere. I keep reading other peoples' posts that talk about how great the stories are but I can't figure out how to find them. So many of them are so long so I'm trying to watch for shorter ones. Then, they do have so many codes (some practices that I don't want to read about) so I'm looking for ones without that. But I am looking for other codes. What with the title, author, codes, synopsis, size, etc. and then being so squashed together.......I really have a hard time and I've been trying. Let me ask you a question. Do you know how to make the search engine work for more than one story? I get all that stuff entered in and hit search and it does do a good job of pulling up a list of stories. The problem is, it won't let you click on a story and just scan it and then go back to the list. I often decide I don't want to read a story after the first 2-3 paragraphs but when I hit the back button the prior page ususally won't load (has timed out). So I have to go thru that entire advanced search thing again. Needless to say, I've about given up on the stories here and that's a shame because apparently some are very good. Am I doing something wrong in the way I use search? I'm sorry I didn't answer your question very well but overall, I'm not using the library stories because the site is too hard for me to navigate and find anything. On the other hand, I quess an author would like to know about some of a reader's difficulties.

To clarify, I started out with the "plain" search, not advanced. I usually couldn't get it to work at all. That's when I went to advanced search. For all I know, I'm doing lots of things wrong.....so if you have sensed this by reading my reply, please tell me.

Hmmm.... I have a few pointers, I guess.

1) Avoid stories without any story codes at all, as they tend to include very objectionable material.

2) You can sort based on file size, which might cull the search down to only shorter stories.

3) Find authors you like, or find a story you like and check out the pages of reviewers that liked the same story. You can kind of follow the flow of other people's likes via shared Bookshelves or review listings.

4) Read the synopsis. Sometimes, it is obvious when a writer doesn't know what they're doing.

I understand what you mean about stories being too long, though I guess that's kind of moot if you give up after a few paragraphs. A lot of the more popular stories here are the kind that are specifically designed to go on forever, which can be intimidating.

You shouldn't need to redo the entire search if you don't like one story; if your browser settings are correct, back will bring you to the search listings.

Hey, Razor, good questions. I usually put the main characters (F/f), the main theme (humiliation, non-consent, etc), and then any crucial parts of action (bondage, spanking, etc). If there are any deal breakers (snuff, scat, incest), I'd throw them in too. I wouldn't necessarily worry about having too many codes as too few. I've been royally pissed with a few stories that don't warn me that I'm going to get bestiality or the ilk.

And Dixie Lass, consider opening the story the you want to check out in a new window or tab. Decide in the new window if you want to read it or close that out and return to where you were, without hitting the back button. That way, your search stays current and you won't have to go and enter all the information again.

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Originally Posted by Euryleia

Hey, Razor, good questions. I usually put the main characters (F/f), the main theme (humiliation, non-consent, etc), and then any crucial parts of action (bondage, spanking, etc). If there are any deal breakers (snuff, scat, incest), I'd throw them in too. I wouldn't necessarily worry about having too many codes as too few. I've been royally pissed with a few stories that don't warn me that I'm going to get bestiality or the ilk.

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I'm reaching problems with some of my longer stories, like 'The Queen of Sorrow's Falls'. Since you can't change story codes after the first chapter has been submitted, I'm kind of bound to whatever I decided at the beginning.

Snuff and scat are the biggest deal breakers for me, as I suspect they are for most people. However, in a very depressing story with a focus on nc, how out of line is it to include forced incest?

What story code do you think best portrays "don't expect a happy ending"?

Yeah, it is a pain when you change the story after you've already submitted it and new codes apply.

I think putting on either 'heavy' or 'serious' added to the non-consent would indicate that the readers shouldn't expect a happy ending.

Yeah, it is a pain when you change the story after you've already submitted it and new codes apply.

I think putting on either 'heavy' or 'serious' added to the non-consent would indicate that the readers shouldn't expect a happy ending.

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Originally Posted by DIXIE LASS

I get all that stuff entered in and hit search and it does do a good job of pulling up a list of stories. The problem is, it won't let you click on a story and just scan it and then go back to the list. I often decide I don't want to read a story after the first 2-3 paragraphs but when I hit the back button the prior page ususally won't load (has timed out). So I have to go thru that entire advanced search thing again.

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If you're using a reasonably curent browser version, you can always open the stories in a new tab (either via rightclicking and selecting 'open in a new tab' or by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on the link). It's already become second nature to me to browse through search results, open all interesting sounding links in their own tabs and then scan all the tabs whether I want to read those pages (and maybe bookmark longer ones to have a look at a later time).

Double, double thanks on this, DarkPoet. I need to know every click, left-or-right, every button, where the button's at, what words to look for when I find the menu, etc. Evidently, my mama didn't birth me with a technical gene. Thanks a million, Sweetheart.

Dixie

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Originally Posted by DIXIE LASS

Double, double thanks on this, DarkPoet. I need to know every click, left-or-right, every button, where the button's at, what words to look for when I find the menu, etc. Evidently, my mama didn't birth me with a technical gene. Thanks a million, Sweetheart.

Dixie

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And if there is a central wheel on your mouse, you can click that as a button to open a link into a new tab.

This site has quite retarded search system. Goggle is way better solution.

If you want to find story that includes act with, lets say ,needles, search for
site:bdsmlibrary.com needles
(or use another words that story should contain)
Using story codes is quite useless since they are quite misleading.
there is no way ho much of coded action story contains


I would suggest for authors to include only these codes that are really exploited in story, not these that are just brief actions.
story codes are not for avoiding specific stuff, but for finding it.
If someone is interested in scat, he will definitely not enjoy story with single paragraph about that fetish in 30 page story, other people wont even notice that part anyway.

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Originally Posted by Omega22

This site has quite retarded search system. Goggle is way better solution.

I would suggest for authors to include only these codes that are really exploited in story, not these that are just brief actions.
story codes are not for avoiding specific stuff, but for finding it.
If someone is interested in scat, he will definitely not enjoy story with single paragraph about that fetish in 30 page story, other people wont even notice that part anyway.

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I disagree, I think this site's advanced search is very powerful and can find (taking it stories are well coded) exactly what you are looking for. Google on the other hand will just find instances of your search, data mining at it's worst.

Again I have the other opinion, story codes for me have two purposes, one to find what I'm looking for, I can often glance over a story's codes and decide if I will like it or not, two is to find stories to avoid. One man's fetish is another man's poison for instance personally snuff is a big turn off and I definitely want to be warned about it.

Another, I remember in college browsing alt.sex.stories and reading a Star Trek story only to find out the hard way it was a gay slash story - I can still (against my will no less) recall the scene!

So for me story codes are vital, now the subject of when you should use a code is interesting. It's not that simple as you mentioned, if you list scat but only have a light scene, the scat fan would have been disappointed and the non scat fan could possibly miss out on a good story. Even more confusing some fetishes encompass several aspects, take for instance Scat (Torture is another example), I read the wiki entry some time ago and remember thinking Coprophagia , omg that is disgusting! Do people actually find that arousing? (Hey everyone to their own) but at the same time I find enema and forced expulsion as part of slave training/sexual discipline very arousing, both scat very different ideas! As I said torture is the same, what one might describe as heavy is another readers light.

I think you need a good synopsis and chapter introductions, if you mention a story code in a chapter that is well questionable, then explain briefly why it is there to help the reader.

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I disagree, I think this site's advanced search is very powerful and can find (taking it stories are well coded) exactly what you are looking for. Google on the other hand will just find instances of your search, data mining at it's worst.

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sees that you have quite mainstream fetishes, but if you want to find something more specific that wont work in any way. story codes do not include lots of possible fetishes.

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One man's fetish is another man's poison for instance personally snuff is a big turn off and I definitely want to be warned about it.

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you seem to be quite intolerant if some snuff scene can ruin all story for you. cant you just skip it?
Of course if you write gay story and do not tag it properly you will miss most potential fans and attract lots of haters.
I still think that story codes are just for preliminary story evaluation to attract potential fans, so they must include only primary topics. If story has questionable content it is best to mention that in introduction or synopsis. Including just brief codes pollutes search results for those who wants exactly that stuff.

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As I said torture is the same, what one might describe as heavy is another readers light.

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I find that most of these "heavy" stories here are like bed time stories for kids.
It all depends on targeted audience sickness level. If you seek stories that involve spanking you may not tolerate breast skewering, and if you seek stories about body mutilation then obviously you will be able to handle spanking.
Story writer should take that in mind and do not mix large amounts of softcore with few lines of highly extreme content, because this will leave everybody unsatisfied, and story tags wont help.

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So for me story codes are vital, now the subject of when you should use a code is interesting. It's not that simple as you mentioned, if you list scat but only have a light scene, the scat fan would have been disappointed and the non scat fan could possibly miss out on a good story. Even more confusing some fetishes encompass several aspects, take for instance Scat (Torture is another example), I read the wiki entry some time ago and remember thinking Coprophagia , omg that is disgusting! Do people actually find that arousing? (Hey everyone to their own) but at the same time I find enema and forced expulsion as part of slave training/sexual discipline very arousing, both scat very different ideas!

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I failed to understand what you were trying to say here. What is "not so simple" here?

Lot of good stuff in this thread, along with a little crap.

I agree that story codes should only be for major themes, not one paragraph asides. A major turn-off for me is when authors list every (or nearly every) story code. I assume that's just so their story will pop up on more searches, like websites about viagra that show up when you Google 'Tina Turner nip slip' or something similar. I go out of my way to give bad reviews to stories that fail to list codes like scat or snuff, or that reverse the participant codes (eg. list M/f when the story is F/m). I appreciate when authors note something like, "This will be a long story. Not all story codes apply to each chapter." To the thread originator, you could include a mention in your synopsis to the effect that, "My stories often have sad endings, so caveat emptor."

I have a tendency to use the Advanced Search to both include and *exclude* codes. I think if it's in your story, it should be in the codes.