Is the quality of new stories declining?

[balorlv]

I am just interested in hearing other peoples views on this topic. Personally, I think the quality has declined and it is harder to find good new stories. The good writers also seems to be posting less and less new material or updates. Is it time for some rules in reagrds to length and structure of a story for it to be posted? I look forward to reading your views.

[fantazmaster]

I am just interested in hearing other peoples views on this topic. Personally, I think the quality has declined and it is harder to find good new stories. The good writers also seems to be posting less and less new material or updates. Is it time for some rules in reagrds to length and structure of a story for it to be posted? I look forward to reading your views.

No ,I don't think it is so much a case of any sort of decline in quality,but of avoiding "reruns".Given that the Library contains 3673 stories as of this writing,perhaps we are seeing the more recent stories having to branch out creatively from the themes that have been well covered by the earlier writers and their respective stories.These earlier writers covered quite well the traditional themes inherent in the various lifestyles represented in the Library.

Perhaps we are seeeing a maturation of the genre as the newer contributions
reflect these new creative directions in an attempt to avoid merely rewriting
a slightly altered version of an earlier story or stories.

[Travis]

I agree thoroughly. Miss some of the classic writers who used to post here.

I am just interested in hearing other peoples views on this topic. Personally, I think the quality has declined and it is harder to find good new stories. The good writers also seems to be posting less and less new material or updates. Is it time for some rules in reagrds to length and structure of a story for it to be posted? I look forward to reading your views.

[pejanon]

No ,I don't think it is so much a case of any sort of decline in quality,but of avoiding "reruns".Perhaps we are seeeing a maturation of the genre as the newer contributions
reflect these new creative directions in an attempt to avoid merely rewriting
a slightly altered version of an earlier story or stories.

Yes - maturation is the right word. Sure I' d like to see it happen in matter of months but it just doesn't work that way. There was enormous explosion, now for the slow development.

Is the quality deteriorating? Tough one.

No and yes.

I admit to finding myself reading more and more the stories I've been following or at least stories by the authors I know and less and less totally new stuff. So much ground has been covered that it is really difficult to find new angle if that is what you are after.

Oh, at least two thirds of new stories are written by people who just want to see their fantasies/needs 'in print' and they rightly do not care if it is new or not. Others are just too new to the game and have no real idea what has gone before.
A number of the best writers have gone at least semi-pro and they ask some cash input for the privilege of reading their newest material (again quite rightly - they really invested a lot of hard work and talent.)
As the field is expanding more generally literate and experienced people are entering it.
So yes I seem to notice some better writing, subtler approaches, more delicate handling, generally - more skill. So it is happening - albeit verrrry slowly.
However if one's idea of 'better' writing is: "Wow I never heard of THAT, before…!" sorry, there will be less and less of that.
One just might wish for something like 'editors pick' (we have readers pick - most rated, highest rated') but that is - again rightly! - against site's policy. Everyone gets same initial treatment and that's it.

Have fun.
Pejanon

[Bald_J_and_F]

it will always seem as if the quality of new stories is deteriorating, and there is a simple explanation for that: when you read an old story you will certainly pick one that has a good rating. many others read it before, and they rated it. you can be pretty sure it is a good story. new stories, on the other hand, do not have that many readers yet (that's why they are new), so you will have no idea which one to read and will read the good ones as well as the bad ones, which gives the overall effect that the quality is declining

[lil-rrh]

I am just interested in hearing other peoples views on this topic. Personally, I think the quality has declined and it is harder to find good new stories. The good writers also seems to be posting less and less new material or updates. Is it time for some rules in reagrds to length and structure of a story for it to be posted? I look forward to reading your views.

The tools for improving the quality of the new work are available for the reader. The review system should not simply be used to congratulate a good story, it should be used to provide *constructive* critism for "bad" ones too. New authors have no idea how their work will be recieved and most would no doubt be open to suggestions on improvements and areas to work on. It's very difficult to gauge your own work objectivley, if the readers can give accurate feedback on every story they read (or don't!) then new authors will learn to improve and the quality of their stories will as well.

[Winnie]

Part of the problem is having to give a rating with a review. As J. & F. say, an old story has a "History" or an "Audit Trail". This allows the reader a better chance to select higher scoring stories. If it was possible to review a story after chapter one or two, but not rate it until one knew where the story was headed it may be better.

[pejanon]

About the ratings: I just checked today and new stories were posted no more then two hours ago and lo and behold half of them were already rated!
If rating is all that important you can always check Highest Rated stories.
And yes you can actually review the story and not rate it. Write to author. They adore it! (Some will actually continue or drastically alter the story in response to just ONE email!) And you can always edit your review and CHANGE your rating. (And yes I HATE reviewing unfinished tales, but, what the hell …)

But all this does not answer the basic question: is the general quality of writing deteriorating? Agreed, older tales are familiar, almost 'old friends', many are ground breaking, but still: Brand new writers deserve a chance!
(And, just a reminder - some of the stories now considered classic were very badly rated when they appeared.)

[Master_chris]

I feel that the amouth of new storys is ok, but what I not like is that I find a good story, with one for two posting, and then that is. no more updates. I do understand that the author, might be busy or feel that they no long when to post or write anymore.

if this is true, then would it be nice if they just inform the fourm so that the reads of the storys will know when the end is ?

[Mothbrad]

I actually believe the opposite to the OP - that the quality of the 'good' stories has actually been improving over time. I think that's because writers now are more aware of the history of erotic literature than they were perhaps ten years ago when the internet was young, and the only bondage literature that was accessible was from quite a narrow perspective. When I look at some of the recently written/expanded stories such as Group XS, there's no doubt that there is so much more possible now than there was five/ten years ago. That may just be because my tastes are far out into the extremes, but those are my feelings too.

I also agree that even a short email, which takes maybe ninety seconds to create and send, may well be the difference between a writer continuing your favourite story, and them giving it up as too much effort. So be selfish for once - encourage more of the stories you love, and let a writer know!

[fantazmaster]

I actually believe the opposite to the OP - that the quality of the 'good' stories has actually been improving over time. I think that's because writers now are more aware of the history of erotic literature than they were perhaps ten years ago when the internet was young, and the only bondage literature that was accessible was from quite a narrow perspective. When I look at some of the recently written/expanded stories such as Group XS, there's no doubt that there is so much more possible now than there was five/ten years ago. That may just be because my tastes are far out into the extremes, but those are my feelings too.

I also agree that even a short email, which takes maybe ninety seconds to create and send, may well be the difference between a writer continuing your favourite story, and them giving it up as too much effort. So be selfish for once - encourage more of the stories you love, and let a writer know!

Mothbrad,I could not agree more on the author beng sent an e-mail,brief or otherwise as a means of encouraging more writings from the author.In fact the correspondences that I have received after submitting two recent stories to the library have been a real unexpected pleasure for me.These e-mails have ranged from the "90 second" variety" cntaining a few kind words all the way up to the other extreme,where several readers have given me their ideas
and preferences for further chapters.I appreciate all of these coorespondences as they do indeed assist me with the present and future writings in gauging what the readers at large might enjoy reading about.

Now ,if someone out there could just find a way to create more time in a day
for writing!

[balorlv]

I actually believe the opposite to the OP - that the quality of the 'good' stories has actually been improving over time. I think that's because writers now are more aware of the history of erotic literature than they were perhaps ten years ago when the internet was young, and the only bondage literature that was accessible was from quite a narrow perspective. When I look at some of the recently written/expanded stories such as Group XS, there's no doubt that there is so much more possible now than there was five/ten years ago. That may just be because my tastes are far out into the extremes, but those are my feelings too.

I also agree that even a short email, which takes maybe ninety seconds to create and send, may well be the difference between a writer continuing your favourite story, and them giving it up as too much effort. So be selfish for once - encourage more of the stories you love, and let a writer know!

I agree with most of your comments here. Especially about the short e-mail. My initial point was not that the good authors like Lex, Saavik and others are declining in quality,on the contrary they continue to produce well written good stories, but the new material we are seeing by new authors are declining. It seems to me that many now throw together something in a few hours without much thought and work behind it and we are left with a few handfuls of good writers. Some websites are far more restrictive in allowing material being posted and reqiure certain standards as far as form, structure etc before the story is posted. Personally I rather have 100 good stories to read and follow than having to sort through a lot new material of poor quality. Maybe I just been unlucky in my picks of late when it comes to reading new material but I do think it is time for some strickter requirments before a story is posted.

[pejanon]

Some websites are far more restrictive in allowing material being posted and reqiure certain standards as far as form, structure etc before the story is posted. Personally I rather have 100 good stories to read and follow than having to sort through a lot new material of poor quality. Maybe I just been unlucky in my picks of late when it comes to reading new material but I do think it is time for some strickter requirments before a story is posted.

Yes, but restrictive policies like these will often 'weed out' something totally whacky, yet good. Something like 2084 by eveadorer. I think it just takes time to develop a knack for fiding stories that are good AND are to your taste (ok so this is crazy way to search for stories but ...)

P

Group XL! Right on!

[drayman]

I have submitted one story to the BDSM Library which was sent in Chapters, normally three each submission. I was surprised and delighted when I received emails commenting on my effort and these were all in an encouraging tone.

I have even had enquiries recently about posting a further tale continuing with the story, but have found my time to be somewhat occupied with other matters.

However, the interest that was shown gave me an immense amount of pleasure.

Regarding the 'rating' system, I too am dubious about some authors who seem to very quickly get 10's. Maybe I am becoming even more cynical in my old age??

Drayman

[pejanon]

Regarding the 'rating' system, I too am dubious about some authors who seem to very quickly get 10's. Maybe I am becoming even more cynical in my old age??

Drayman

No, you are not. However, what else is ther but 'them little red stars"


P

[RichardStryker]

I am just interested in hearing other peoples views on this topic. Personally, I think the quality has declined and it is harder to find good new stories. The good writers also seems to be posting less and less new material or updates. Is it time for some rules in regards to length and structure of a story for it to be posted? I look forward to reading your views.

It's true there is a lot of rubbish around and most so-called "authors" seem content to write a story of about 5000 -10000 words or so as they can then knock off their efforts in an evening or two. However, few publishers would look at such material as most are not worth publishing from a commercial point of view (remember most novels in print are MUCH longer than 10000 words). That's why such stories tend to abound on the free sites - and thus why the quality is perceived to be dropping.

If you want to home in on longer and hopefully better quality writing then please feel free to read my story "The Inheritance - Ex-Wives 1" which is recently posted here at bdsmlibrary. It's just over 30,000 words. Obviously something this long takes a long time to write and as such I do have a publisher which is selling it for me and my other writings.

I think many of the longer story writers have realised the time involved in creating their works and are steadily moving to sites that sell rather than give away their creations - they make a bit of money for their efforts and hopefully, as a result, the quality and content stays higher.

I hope this is of help to you - the comments of one writer who now has about ten mini novels in publication at www.a1adultebooks.com where there are about 200 books of a similar nature - enough for anyone to get their teeth into.

[bond]

This is a tricky question. I know for a fact that I'm not finding any stories which appeal to me on many visits. My particular interest is in secret police dealing with female opponents stories and no one else appears to be writing these except Cortez, Electrosadist, Dom Master, Powerone and me.
Judging from the number of readers Cortez gets this topic does appeal but few people write. Is it because lots of people have a few ideas but can't string them together in a story? If that's the case perhaps we could set up some kind of trading centre for short extracts where people can send a little piece which they are happy for others to read or use.
The only way to get the stories you want is to write them I'm afraid.
As for the comment about stories not being updated I am one of the offenders there - I haven't had a chance to update the Colonel's Memoirs simply because I have too much work to do in my real life and haven't had the chance to sit down and write. I'm sure I'm not the only one of our authors to suffer this. There is also the case of 'The story that goes nowhere' where you start with a chapter, post it and then find you can't develop it to your own satisfaction. I did this with 'El Alacran' - should I have posted it or not? Well I know some people enjoyed it so if I hadn't they would have missed that.

[RichardStryker]

I agree thoroughly. Miss some of the classic writers who used to post here.

It could be that the classic writers have got fed up with tens of throusands of people reading their stories and no-one actually paying them for what they have spent hours of work in creating, so now they've gone to sites that sell their work.

It's certainly what I did some time ago and I am much happier writing for an audience that shows their appreciation by spending a few dollars a month to read what I write. I've offered a few new works here recently to see if times have changed - sadly it seems not - so I probably won't be adding anything else here again.

I certainly can't afford to spend a couple of weeks or more writing a story and earn nothing from it. I have to eat!

If anyone does want to support me, please feel free to visit my site at:
http://stryker.a1adultebooks.com/

[RichardStryker]

This is a tricky question. I know for a fact that I'm not finding any stories which appeal to me on many visits. My particular interest is in secret police dealing with female opponents stories and no one else appears to be writing these except Cortez, Electrosadist, Dom Master, Powerone and me.
Judging from the number of readers Cortez gets this topic does appeal but few people write. Is it because lots of people have a few ideas but can't string them together in a story? If that's the case perhaps we could set up some kind of trading centre for short extracts where people can send a little piece which they are happy for others to read or use.
The only way to get the stories you want is to write them I'm afraid.
As for the comment about stories not being updated I am one of the offenders there - I haven't had a chance to update the Colonel's Memoirs simply because I have too much work to do in my real life and haven't had the chance to sit down and write. I'm sure I'm not the only one of our authors to suffer this. There is also the case of 'The story that goes nowhere' where you start with a chapter, post it and then find you can't develop it to your own satisfaction. I did this with 'El Alacran' - should I have posted it or not? Well I know some people enjoyed it so if I hadn't they would have missed that.

May I suggest you look at the excellent Gestapo! Series written by Jay Merson and available at www.a1adultebooks.com/site.php - check out the author catalogue as itsthe easiest way to find these five stories.

[Ruby]

... I haven't had a chance to update the Colonel's Memoirs simply because I have too much work to do in my real life and haven't had the chance to sit down and write. I'm sure I'm not the only one of our authors to suffer this.

You certainly aren't alone in this one.

Even our New Lord Mobius's Dungeon Thread has suffered of late as many of our writers have been busy with other projects.

However, with every batch of new stories, I find a gem or two.

[Bald_J_and_F]

We promise to continue "Thunder and Lightning" soon (in case anybody is interested in that story; but since the average rating we got is rather supporting we think there are a few that are interested). We just had too many ideas and weren't certain how to continue (in fact there was quite a debate about it between the two of us), but we think we have sorted it out now.

[Steele]

I agree that sometimes it seems old stories are better because history tends to drown the less interesting ones, a historical sieve shall we say.

I do like the review system and I really love the feedback both from emails and reviews but the way reviews are implemented encourages positive feedback. If I don't like a story I tend to just quit and leave. If there was a quick button to mark it out of ten, a rating rather than a review system I think the marking would be come a lot more relevant. It would also make it more difficult to fudge the system. That said.....

I think it's petty to be too critical about a story on a free site written by people who share your interests. It's like joining a dancing club and criticising the woman next to you for not having rhythm.

There's also been some criticism about people just selfishly implementing their fantasies in their writing. That's where I get my fun, constructing a story, usually combining stuff I've read in other books (Damn that John Norman I found his book too early, it was the first book that showed me other people shared my fetish) and with luck adding some spark of originality from the little scenarios that play in my head when I'm bored. In reality like science fiction BDSM is a genre and it's rare to find something of real originality but that does not stop there being excellent, well implemented formula stories.

What was the question? Oh yeah has quality gone down? Nope just a case of quantity going up.

< / ramble >