How I Put A Story Together

[Polecat]

Assuming we are talking about a "dirty" story

In those two stories where I was given a topic it was easy. Place a character in that situation, create a context (everything is about context in my book) add some kink and then let the story flow.
It is harder if you have no topic given.
Then it starts with an idea. For instance:The House. Girl going to some place to be dominated or tortured.
Find a person to fill out the Girls character. How old, how tall, physical description. This does not need to be in the story, but I need it written down somewhere so I can "see" the character in action.
Then Why: Why is this happening. How did she get to this position. Since my focus is on context, this is very important. It might not appear on a given story, but I need to have it clearly spelled out, so the story goes somewhere. If I cant't see the Why I can't go any further.
The place comes next: Where is this happening, is the place a house, a condo, a backyard, whatever. If there is any outdoor scene, the season, weather.
Additional players.
Then, the action. This is probably my weakest point. That is why I play out the prelude so much. Often I end the story just before the action starts and leave it to the reader's imagination. I now it is a cop out.
I am trying to work on it though.

[Polecat]

Some more:
I give a lot of importance to context, but that said, my stories are (I think) character driven.
I put a lot of effort in creating my characters, since they will move the story.
Like Aesop I play around with an idea in my head for days, sometimes weeks before starting to write. After the idea clarifies, then I develop the context, and then create the main characters.
If the context is well created, and the characters are flexed out, then the characters will create the story for you.
Does this make sense to anyone else?

[Rabbit1]

Assuming we are talking about a "dirty" story

In those two stories where I was given a topic it was easy. Place a character in that situation, create a context (everything is about context in my book) add some kink and then let the story flow.
It is harder if you have no topic given.
Then it starts with an idea. For instance:The House. Girl going to some place to be dominated or tortured.
Find a person to fill out the Girls character. How old, how tall, physical description. This does not need to be in the story, but I need it written down somewhere so I can "see" the character in action.
Then Why: Why is this happening. How did she get to this position. Since my focus is on context, this is very important. It might not appear on a given story, but I need to have it clearly spelled out, so the story goes somewhere. If I cant't see the Why I can't go any further.
The place comes next: Where is this happening, is the place a house, a condo, a backyard, whatever. If there is any outdoor scene, the season, weather.
Additional players.
Then, the action. This is probably my weakest point. That is why I play out the prelude so much. Often I end the story just before the action starts and leave it to the reader's imagination. I now it is a cop out.
I am trying to work on it though.

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

how do you decide what action everyone in your story should take

[Polecat]

I haven't used an outline yet. The stories have, up until now, been short enough that they are easy to keep track off. Also up until now, there are few characters. The maximum I've played with is 5, and the action is only happening in one place at a time.
I write the story in either Word or WordPerfect; I also keep a Note pad application open with information like, how tall is Bob, what is the color of Martha's eyes, where did Mary go to school, that kind of thing.

As for the action of the characters, I try to create each character as fully as possible. For instance in one story I am working on there is this girl, who has been divorced twice, is aggressive and impulsive and because she intimidates men, she can't hold a relationship. Now, you wouldn't be able to tell this, because these facts do not come out in the story, but they determine what she will do, and how she will go about it, within the general parameters of the story idea.

I then try to place myself within the character and see what he/she would do at any given time.

I do not know if this would work for anything other than a short story. I will have to try something longer, when I get better at this.

[Rabbit1]

I haven't used an outline yet. The stories have, up until now, been short enough that they are easy to keep track off. Also up until now, there are few characters. The maximum I've played with is 5, and the action is only happening in one place at a time.
I write the story in either Word or WordPerfect; I also keep a Note pad application open with information like, how tall is Bob, what is the color of Martha's eyes, where did Mary go to school, that kind of thing.

As for the action of the characters, I try to create each character as fully as possible. For instance in one story I am working on there is this girl, who has been divorced twice, is aggressive and impulsive and because she intimidates men, she can't hold a relationship. Now, you wouldn't be able to tell this, because these facts do not come out in the story, but they determine what she will do, and how she will go about it, within the general parameters of the story idea.

I then try to place myself within the character and see what he/she would do at any given time.

I do not know if this would work for anything other than a short story. I will have to try something longer, when I get better at this.

I also keep a Note pad application open with information like, how tall is Bob, what is the color of Martha's eyes, where did Mary go to school, that kind of thing.

this is a form of an outline ---that is all a out line is supposed to do ---help you keep up witht your characters ---you just expand this to handle more characters and their info in a longer story or more complex story

and add what part each character will play in your story ---it is pretty simple



Your next task is to write a story using this picture ---and post it here also tell us how you developed the characters in the story

[Polecat]

Cold Shower


It was a really stupid idea. In my defense I can only say that I cannot stand braggarts, and male chauvinist braggarts really rile me up. Before you think that these are the ramblings of a mad woman, let me start at the beginning.

I went to a party that Friday; well, it wasn’t much of a party, only 7 people. Alone, like so many other times. It is not easy being a successful career woman. It is even harder if you are half Puerto Rican half Chinese. On one side there are the Puerto Rican, who think that anyone with a pussy is a legal target, and Oh, by the way, it’s OK if I (The guy) is married, I can have a few bits on the side, but if my girlfriend even so much as looks at another guy, I’ll give her the biggest black eye this side of San Juan. On the other the Chinese; they might not fool around so much, but they are no fun at all, so focused on their careers and the pursuit of the American dream, they have no time for a woman. Not for a Chinese-Puerto Rican at any rate; no they want pure bred Caucasian. Then there are the Americans, they have a different stereotype, if you are Oriental, they think you are the “Me so horny” congai from “Full Metal Jacket” or the subservient “Geisha to Go” girl from Channel J. Bottom line, I went alone; as usual.

You should never drink alone. Moreover, you should never drink alone at a party; and if the drink they are serving at the party is Lemoncello, right from the freezer, straight up on a Martini glass, you should immediately run for cover; or home, whichever is nearest.

So; we have established that I went to this party, and I was drinking Lemoncellos. For those of you who aren’t sophisticated enough, a Lemoncello is a drink from Italy, which should be outlawed immediately. It is made by steeping lemon rinds in Vodka, adding sugar, and probably Ruffies for all I know.

So, in the middle of the party, this guy, Jose, a Puerto Rican from San Juan, and also a total Nerd, whom I never even met before, starts off in a rant about why women cannot play chess. He was probably intoxicated, and took off in a rant about Freud, and how winning at chess would not get girls closer to screwing their fathers, or something like that. Now, I am a pretty decent chess player, I could beat my dad, years ago, back in San Juan, and yes, I had had too many Lemoncellos. So I called him up on it. I told him I could beat his ass. I hadn’t played for years, but I figured, what the hell. I could beat him. He was a braggart.

I am not sure how we set the bet up. Loser to be the winner’s sex slave for the evening. I knew I could take this loud asshole. I picked up two pawns. One white, the other black, hid them in my hands. He picked white.

He plays PK4 and so do I. Then he plays KNB3; how original, I respond QNB3, to which he answers B4B, so do I, The Italian game. Then the surprise, 4:PQN4 Well this is going to be easy, BXNP.

I saw him smile at this point. Then I realized my error. The Evans gambit! I had taken it, but I did not know this opening! He gives me more material, a second pawn, and then another. I try to castle, to get my king out of the center, where he is vulnerable, but I cannot. He is ahead in material, I have two pawns on him, but he is now pressing his attack, I desperately try to defend my King’s bishop pawn, but he’s got his bishop lined up against it; then his queen comes out. I haven’t been able to develop any of my queen’s side men. By turn 18, the game is a foregone conclusion. Checkmate.

I sobered up in a nanosecond. I stared at the board. I could not believe this. Nobody plays chess anymore. How could this nerd beat me?

He smiled, winked, and said “Arizona, High school champion 2003”

Groan.

So here I am. Down in the basement. Tied to an X bamboo frame; a cross bar across the top of the X serves as a convenient gag too. Jose is nothing if not efficient. I hate engineers.

My hands are tied behind my back with hemp rope. He tied rope around my chest, above and below my size B tits. Then he snipped off the fabric around my tits. Well it was a cheap white tee anyway. It could be worse. This is uncomfortable, but not painful.
Damn stupid nerd. Doesn’t even know what to do with a defenseless woman.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a flood of ice-cold water falls on me. I scream. I try to get out of the ice cold flood, but I am firmly tied to the bamboo frame. The hemp ropes getting tighter. I scream louder. I look down, my nipples, erect, as if I was excited, rather than freezing.

The ice cold deluge ends. I look up at Jose. He is laughing his ass off. He unties me, and hands me a towel and a white T-shirt. Then he leaves.

Damn Nerds!

[Polecat]

How did I craft the story

First I looked at the picture. She looks very gorgeous, but who is she, andhow did she get into this predicament?
So I decided she was Oriental since I kind of like oriental women, but her tits did not look oriental, so I made her Chinese-Puerto Rican. As a matter of fact, I made her a 27 year old, 5'2" 117 Lbs interior designer. Also her father met her mother in Nam. (All of this has nothing to do with the story of course, but I did not know this at the time of crafting the character)

Then I had to get her into her predicament. How would a young, attractive, successful interior designer find herself tied up to a bamboo frame, with ice cold water pouring over her?

Get her toasted, and get her to lose a bet.

What would be original is to make the bet be a chess game.

I could have been more specific on the actual chess game but a) my chess set is in storage and b) nobody on this site cares about chess anyway.

I decided to end it after the shower, because Jose is a nerd anyway, so obviously he doesn't know what to do with a woman; Does he?

[Rabbit1]

How did I craft the story

First I looked at the picture. She looks very gorgeous, but who is she, andhow did she get into this predicament?
So I decided she was Oriental since I kind of like oriental women, but her tits did not look oriental, so I made her Chinese-Puerto Rican. As a matter of fact, I made her a 27 year old, 5'2" 117 Lbs interior designer. Also her father met her mother in Nam. (All of this has nothing to do with the story of course, but I did not know this at the time of crafting the character)

Then I had to get her into her predicament. How would a young, attractive, successful interior designer find herself tied up to a bamboo frame, with ice cold water pouring over her?

Get her toasted, and get her to lose a bet.

What would be original is to make the bet be a chess game.

I could have been more specific on the actual chess game but a) my chess set is in storage and b) nobody on this site cares about chess anyway.

I decided to end it after the shower, because Jose is a nerd anyway, so obviously he doesn't know what to do with a woman; Does he?

I must say not quite what I was expecting---very good all the same


you next task is to read a story

Sending Her To The Edge by Sybriate D'anguisette

http://www.bdsmlibrary.com/stories/s...p?storyid=1647

Then review it both on the story page and in the
Critic's Circle forum

using this as a guidline for the review

Review writing made easy:

http://www.bdsmlibrary.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5386

[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