How I Put A Story Together

[tessa]

Where is that assignment? Show me the way and I shall hop over to it and rip it...offer constructive critisism and stuff.

I came to talk to you about it Mr. Dean, but once again, my "timing sucks".

Yeah, you'll be able to rip this a new one all right. It sucks about like my timing does.

~sighs~

[Mad Lews]

~grins and giggles and full body hugs~ Mr. Mad, Sir, you're so cute when you get all kinky-fied.

Lews? You need to watch that thing! You could put an eye out, waving that around like that!

But yeah, gotta key for this? ~shows you "this"~ It's a real bother. Chastity, in any form, is really not a good look for me.

And so I don't get tied naked to the desk, I have finished my assignment and am getting a bit of input on it, see if it needs any changes or anything.

Speaking of input, oh Mr. Ma-ad.............

tessa

Mr. Mad is eager and oh so very willing to offer his input.
Lews is straining to find the key (but lets not go there)
Meanwhile you could while away the time working on your assignment between super moderator missions (congrats on that )
Be good (if you must)
Mad & Lews

[Ruby]

~cringes at mention of assignment~

Ms. Ruby, I'm afraid I have been procrastinating on my assignment and spending too much time fooling around in the forums I can multi-task in the forums -- but not so easily when I have to write. As soon as I get a good long break in work committments, I'll get onto it.

anonynaughtymouse

I didn't forget you, naughty mouse!

Now that Tessa has turned in her assignment, perhaps it's time to bind you to the chair at my desk and give you some quiet time to work on yours.

* wicked grin *

What would help you put this story together?

Perhaps instead of a good long break, a 15 minute block here and there may help.

You can do it!

Ruby

[anonymouse]

I didn't forget you, naughty mouse!

Now that Tessa has turned in her assignment, perhaps it's time to bind you to the chair at my desk and give you some quiet time to work on yours.

* wicked grin *

What would help you put this story together?

Perhaps instead of a good long break, a 15 minute block here and there may help.

You can do it!

Ruby

Alas, I read this just as I was about to log off to go shopping. It's a delicious thought nonetheless. Will get busy soon

[Satan_Klaus]

First of, there are different ways I go about creating a story. It’s never the same but there are some patterns that I have recognized:

1. Like Dean pointed out, stories are a lot about problems and solutions. Struggle is an integral part to my story writing and some start by envisioning an imaginative or arousing struggle/problem/conflict or two and the story evolves around it. Characters appear, develop a personality and interact or solve the problem in their own way. Along the way background and further problems to be solved pop up.

2. I never start with the ending but sometimes I write about a captivating problem/struggle or just stumble across a powerful sentence and in that moment I KNOW that I want my story to end with this conflict resolved or this sentence answered. Sometimes it will take half a page to get there, sometimes several chapters and it doesn’t matter because its fine either way. (hope this makes sense)

3. I rarely start a story based on a character. If I do, it’s usually not the protagonist but a central figure (usually in a position of power), that the protagonist and other main characters interact with. So he is more a living part of the background.

4. I have started several stories from the background alone. After creating a world setting, I just thought about what people in my world might do and thus a story was born. (Maybe this tendency of mine is explained by my background in roleplaying.)



Once my characters emerge from the setting, they quickly develop a personality and take over. Basically the background, that sets the rules of the world and the characters, who decide how to act in it, take control of me and I become a chronicler, simply writing down WHAT HAPPENED. There may be set goals (i.e. problems that I want to see addressed or scenes that I have planned out) that have to be reached but the characters will go there on their own time.

To flesh out all of my story ideas, no matter on what they are centered (including the fixed assignments of the writers block, I lean back and set my mind adrift (something I’m very good at ). Hopefully, after a while, problems with my initial idea pop up and are solved, additional details are revealed and a theme and tone emerges as I envision sentences and fragments of dialogue.

In this stage, the flow of the story that makes the thrill reading it, as well as basic erotic content is established.

Satan_Klaus

PS: I also want to comment on rabbits posts on outlining in this thread. I chose this single post becasuse I think it pretty much sums up his ideas.

Do you use a written outline or try to do it all in your head ----how do you keep up with a with who is doing what to whom----
do you write your story in long hand first --or type it as you go

So far, I have only done short stories and I was able to juggle the outline (if one existed) in my head. More often, it is just a collection of background details, topics that are to be adressed and personalities.

I keep a list of tiny details at the bottom of my digital drafts including names, ages, hair and eye colours, secondary characters, places and the like for reference but the important things I keep in my head.

I have started work on a longer story (25000 words at the moment) and I realize that an outline might have been a useful tool. However, when i started writing, I did not know myself in which direction it would develop so I could not have written it in the first place. I guess I will stick to my "background and key event" method for the time being.



I'm a child of the digital age. I do all my writing directly in electronic format. All of it. I still have my school handwriting because I never used and evolved it.

Sometimes I write a sentece or paragraph I like very much only to realize that it needs more built up before it can be used. I just cut/paste it down and keep it in store until it is ready to be used.

If I'm unhappy how a paragraph sounds, I cut/paste and move around the sentences and replace words until I'm happy.

For highlighting and comments to self I use the editing fuctions of my word processor.

Satan_Klaus

[Ruby]

Thank you, Satan_Klaus,

Once my characters emerge from the setting, they quickly develop a personality and take over. Basically the background, that sets the rules of the world and the characters, who decide how to act in it, take control of me and I become a chronicler, simply writing down WHAT HAPPENED.

This happens to me, as well. I find can be the most fun and also the hardest to manage time. Sometimes my characters take control of the story and truly surprise me.

Ruby

[moptop]

Oof. Eesh. Wumph.

There's me trying to think about, not only the assignment I'm supposed to have done - and am also anonymousingly procrastinating over - but also the additional half-way there assignment of redoing my sum domming domme thing - and then I go and read THIS!!! And I've gone and read all those bits I wasn't supposed to as well - oh dear.

Tessa, Lews, Mad - lor luv us - I'm all of a thingy.

On a separate note - Satan K - fascinating. You sound frighteningly self-disciplined!

[Satan_Klaus]

Self-discipline...don't make me laugh.

If I'm lacking in one thing, it's self discipline. Where did you get the idea that I had any?

Satan_Klaus

[Beswitchingly Positive]

All my literate life, I have wanted, no, needed to write. It started with obssesive journaling, and led to making most of my personal decisions based on whether or not there might be an intersting story involved.

I was once a tour guide telling ghost stories (I also conducted purely historical tours) for 9 years, I only worked for tour operators who let me write my own 'scripts', these were basically retellings based on many older versions. I took them and twisted some of them not changing the crucial actions but rather interpreting the motivations, making the tourists empathize with the characters before they met their inevitable sad ends that turned them into ghosts...people really liked my tours. I loved it when people would cry, shed a tear for the dead. I don't do that job anymore.

It seems I can write a fairly wicked short story. I have a million ideas as I have been deliberately collecting inspiration here in my beloved New Orleans and other locations for many years. I have little murder stories, Voodoo stories, bar stories, travel adventure stories, disaster stories and love stories. I am a whore for the details.

I have also been bartending for over a decade, on and off. I am very approachable, and a good listener; people tell me their stories. I have plenty of my own, but I am continually studying, observing people and making up a story, seeing them as characters even if we don't meet or speak.

This is not how the erotica started. I have always liked sex. A lot. A few years back I had a lover who was a professional writer and a bit of a sadist. He adored my writing and to entertain him I would send him tons of short stories. I found his attention very inspiring, especially when it came to writing out sexy scenes.

Alas, our fairytale, happily ever after, was not to be.

This may sound like a copout, but it seems the quality of my erotic writing is related to whether or not I have a very sexy, sadistic man in my life. Thank goodness this is not a factor with my non-erotic attempts at writing.

I have not had much schooling; but I have decent intuition. Somehow I stumbled on this site; I didn't know I would find such a cool writing class. I liked the assignments in level one, taking a bit of suggestion and running with it was fairly easy for me. All it took was a sentence and I could easily get going. Level two was harder, the 'write whatever you want' assignments, well, I wanted to write something juicy, not just get through the assignment.

Outlines are something I feel I need but have not been able to grasp and use, but I want to. I have plenty of short stories and scenes and I want to be able to make them into a longer work. It helps when a character or two are really strong for the story to take it's own form around them. The writing just flows. If it isn't (I got all blocked up for a while in level two) I make myself write anyway.

How do I put a story together? I take everything I know, I sit down. and it flows. If it is an assignment, I just make myself do it, over and over, badly, until something better flows.

I have three abandoned, completely different attempts at my last assignment in level two which I think were just crap. Finally I decided to write something that might not have been very erotic but had been knawing at me...it is like the stories are using me sometimes to achieve existence. It turned out that I got some nice compliments on the last one and I was certain no one would like it.

Wow, I am really glad to be in this level; seems like I got here when things are getting pretty exciting. When I saw how many pages this thread was I got worried. I am happy it was mostly Mad Lews helping Tessa write.

Sadly, I could not read any of cariad's posts as the dark color of the back ground made it impossible. I really want to read her posts.

Thanks,
Beswitchingly

[Satan_Klaus]

Sadly, I could not read any of cariad's posts as the dark color of the back ground made it impossible. I really want to read her posts.

You can try highlighting the text. In most browsers the letters will turn white.

But I truly don't know why cariad is still writing in blue after the change in colors on the forum.

Satan_Klaus

[Ruby]

Beswitchingly,

It's a pleasure to have you join us. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself.

Outlines are something I feel I need but have not been able to grasp and use, but I want to. I have plenty of short stories and scenes and I want to be able to make them into a longer work. It helps when a character or two are really strong for the story to take it's own form around them. The writing just flows. If it isn't (I got all blocked up for a while in level two) I make myself write anyway.

Very interesting!

I hear some future assignments being created for you and your desire to use an outline. Be warned, sometimes those strong characters will take control of the story and turn the ending into what it should be, versus what we thought it would be, when we started. Pushy characters!
I adore them.

Have you ever tried using "character sheets"?

Thanks again,

Ruby

[Beswitchingly Positive]

I have not tried using character sheets, but it sounds like a good idea for a longer piece. I love the pushy characters too. I hardly ever know how a story is going to end when I start, unless it is autobiographical.

I am so happy to be here, thanks for the warm welcome Ruby.

I am ready to work hard.

Beswitchingly

[Satan_Klaus]

I have not tried using character sheets, but it sounds like a good idea for a longer piece.
Beswitchingly

Hello Beswitchingly,

Ruby just got me started on charactersheets as well. They really help on longer pieces. If you like, I can send you the one I created and write down my thoughts on using it.

Satan_Klaus

[Beswitchingly Positive]

Hello Beswitchingly,

Ruby just got me started on charactersheets as well. They really help on longer pieces. If you like, I can send you the one I created and write down my thoughts on using it.

Satan_Klaus

Sure I would love to see what you did. I am sure this is going to be a helpful tool and a template would be very helpful. Send it to me any way you like.

Thanks,
Beswitchingly

[Mishka]

Basically I wing it. That's my style.

When a scenario gets into my head I play it over and over in there...like watching a movie. The conversation comes out, the conflict, the drama, the emotions...the rest of the world fits around their lives, the good and the bad of it.

I start up a Word Document and just type. Sometimes I close my eyes and don't look at the screen or the keyboard and just type what I have been watching in my head. Sometimes it's just bits here and bits there of a story. Sometimes it's an entire scene that ends up being hashed, rehashed and edited some more before I like it (and I never like it, it's never good "enough").

My handy dictionary and the tools in Word are my only assistants at this time. I've tried character outlines but I found them unnecessary because a character I want to write about it I already feel an understanding for, a connection with him/her, I already know them as if they're real.

[cariad]

*Slips back into my old desk hoping that my extended absence was not noticed.*

I hope that life will now permit me to properly start this level, and hopefully even complete it. Is good to be back.

cariad

[Ruby]

Basically I wing it. That's my style.

When a scenario gets into my head I play it over and over in there...like watching a movie. The conversation comes out, the conflict, the drama, the emotions...the rest of the world fits around their lives, the good and the bad of it.

Mishka, we have a lot in common. This is how most of my stories begin, often with the characters in my head telling me their tales and showing me different versions until they think I've gotten it right.

My handy dictionary and the tools in Word are my only assistants at this time. I've tried character outlines but I found them unnecessary because a character I want to write about it I already feel an understanding for, a connection with him/her, I already know them as if they're real.

I find the longer the story, the more involved the characters, then those other tools can come into play and really help. It's not that I don't know the characters, it's that I have many competiting for attention.

When you are done with a story or you done with those characters or do you write about them again?

[Ruby]

*Slips back into my old desk hoping that my extended absence was not noticed.*

I hope that life will now permit me to properly start this level, and hopefully even complete it. Is good to be back.

cariad

Welcome back, cariad!

It's great to have you with us.

[Mishka]

Mishka, we have a lot in common. This is how most of my stories begin, often with the characters in my head telling me their tales and showing me different versions until they think I've gotten it right.



I find the longer the story, the more involved the characters, then those other tools can come into play and really help. It's not that I don't know the characters, it's that I have many competiting for attention.

When you are done with a story or you done with those characters or do you write about them again?

Depends on the characters. I don't mind. I've only written one story that had a part 2 and that was for an assignment. Half in Level 1 and the continuation in Level 2. I want to bring them back to Level 3. I'm open if someone wants some more attention...we'll see if I like the idea.

[cariad]

Welcome back, cariad!

It's great to have you with us.

Thank you Ruby, will try to stay here this time.

*passes Ruby an apple*

[Ruby]

Thank you, cariad

* Taking a bite of the pretty apple from cariad, I smile and wonder if anyone will notice if I go back and fix my silly spelling and "use of the wrong word" mistakes in previous posts. *

[cariad]

nope....there will only be the editing comment there for posterity.

[Razor7826]

Regardless of the genre I am writing, I start thinking about the setting and story structure well before I think about the characters. I'll always jot down a brief outline of what generally happens, but on one-shot erotica pieces that tends to not be substantial. I don't do full character sheets for short pieces, and instead opting to just write a few lines about them instead; if the story is only going to be a few pages, I do not believe a full character sheet would add enough, if any, to justify the time spent.

For a longer length story I plan to start writing during National Novel Writing Month (or whatever it is called), I am doing extensive outlining, character sheets, and world building. While characters are what make a story work, it is easier to design them once the world that they live in feels more 'real'.

Stories only a few pages in length, like those in my Bad End series, I can knock out in about 5 hours total, including editing. I've only been writing fiction since the beginning of the year, and I'm proud of my progress. but I probably have to keep an eye towards higher quality and longer length if I am going to ever make money writing (which is something I hope to do someday, but I know how unlikely that is).

In summary, I put my stories together by developing the world and setting, then the characters, then the words themselves.

[Ruby]

Ah, very interesting, Razor.

Do you have any particular tips or tricks that you've learned over the last year that you'd like to share with the rest of us?

[Razor7826]

Always know the ending before you start writing the beginning. If you know the final state in which the characters and story end up, character development will fall into place, as each event will naturally bridge the gap between the present and ending.

[Nikita]

Hi, My name is Nikita. I started writing bdsm stories a little over 3 years ago and posted my first one, Walking on the Wild Side, on this site. It's going to be a novella, but it's been slow going. The main reason is I get side tracked writing short stories. I like them...a lot.

My first book, a collection of those short stories called The Whipping Post, was published earlier this year. My reward was seeing it on an ebook site with a price tag next to it. Let's say, with the money it's generated to date, I can pay for a couple of months' worth of Starbucks lattes.

One of my short stories, was accepted for publication by Carol Queen, More Five Minute Erotica: 35 Tales of Sex and Seduction. She sent out a call for submissions with general guidelines on what she was looking for. The book will be sold on Amazon.com in December.

Why am I here? I want/need to learn more, move out of my comfort zone and work on writing assignments set by someone else, AND, be another set of eyes for Ruby and Dean.

How do I put a story together?

I just tell a story. Sometimes, the need to put it down is so strong, I can close my eyes and type away until I have to stop. This can go on for 10 min. I peek once in awhile to make sure my fingers are still on the right keys.

Characters drive my stories. I think they are the most important part of a story. I'll go even further and say they are the story. They each have a part that I know, can relate to, have seen at one point or another. In other words, drawing from personal knowledge and experience makes it easy to write.

Like Rhabbi, an outline stifles me, but after I've written several scenes, one is needed to put the story together. It is easier to connect the dots on paper than on the computer screen.

I don't have any tools other than reading books and stories I like. Observe how the author put it together, etc.

There are two books I refer to often, Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint : (Techniques and exercises for crafting dynamic characters and effective viewpoints) and Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish).

As to tricks...music feeds a side of my brain that needs to be occupied while I write. The selection is relative or random.

These days, I work on pottery, tinker with photography, and draw. These activities keep me from being so anal retentive. hahahaha To be honest, my brain needs rest from over thinking.

I also write a little everyday. It maybe the constant stream of emails, blogs, responses to forum topics, etc. But, it is still writing.

Looking forward to the writing challenges and interacting with you.

[Ruby]

Hi Nikita,

Welcome to the Level Three.

You get sidetracked? Me, too.

I agree, the characters make the story. If I don't have any strong feelings for them, then I can easily put down a book or stop reading any story.

Thanks for the book recommendations. They sound great.

I'm looking forward to having you as both a student and extra set of eyes.

Ruby

[Razor7826]

I too have a problem with getting sidetracked, but I don't view it as a problem like some people seem to do.

Too many of my friends have a 'linear' stack of books, videogames, or stories that they want to complete, one-by-one, in order. I have great difficulty imagining any process less productive than that, as I am many times more productive when I am focusing on what interests me rather than what I feel obliged to do.

[ladychipmunk]

Ok. I read all five pages of that thread (well sort of skimmed some of it.)

How do I put a story together… Well, I don’t really know. I suffer a lot from blank page syndrome. I have a hard time coming up with stuff to write about but once I know. It’s a piece of cake. I found using a character sheet for my second assignment in level One helped a lot. For the third assignment I was stumped for a while. I thought and thought about it. (Big secret – The real reason I love this forum is the assignments give me something to do during my commute. Nothing makes a commute go by faster than thinking up a really steamy story
I haven’t written a lot of fiction since I was in school and that was too long ago to reveal . Now as a mature adult I find that I like dirty stories A LOT better. I like to read them but the ones in the bookstores are not so interesting. And you begin to feel like a perv surfing the net for them (Not that that has stopped me! – I guess that makes me a perv too! Lol.
Ruby asked - Do you have any tools that you recommend to others?
I have no tools. I write because I read. I like all kinds of genre depending on my mood (except maybe westerns – But if it was sexy enough even a western may work)

I am allergic to outlines. Outlines make me feel penned up. I suppose I do outline in a way… I sort of sketch out what I want to write about (ion those long drives) and capture the gist beforw I truly start the real writing. I am an old RPG’er so the character sheet was a great find. But I think it would be tedious for many short stories. It's probably something I need to do but methodical things make me stop.

I’m not sure I’m ready (translate that to patient enough) to write anything much longer. Eventually I'd like to but I think I need to build my confidence. That's why hanging out here has been so great.

[Ruby]

ladychipmunk,

Welcome to this level and thanks for your input.

Hoping to make your commute go even faster,
I'll be preparing an assignment or three for you.

Being allergic to outlines? I can relate. I write them, my characters trash them and I think, why did I bother?

I only use character sheets on my short stories, if they have the same characters in them. Then it's proved to be a huge help.

Have fun. We're all looking forward to your feedback on the various assignments of your peers,

Ruby