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Well, sex in the context of writing is just a little bit like cake. I mean, you get the flour, eggs, sugar and fat, and you can make any version of any cake type thing you want. It’s all just a question of quantity and combination… um, technique… and there you have it! It was a plain old victoria sponge with a bit of jam, now it’s a decadent moist madeira. Or maybe it’s even a multitude of cupcakes with swirly buttercream icing… Don’t judge me – it’s Christmas.

Recently, I was reading an article discussing the idea of how two of my favourite series were falling back into the cave, refusing to break the mold with new things. Stagnating. While I would normally want to argue this fact, I couldn't. Both Star Wars and Star Trek have remained in their safe little bubbles. They're pushing things out too little, too late (ie Star Trek and their celebrated first open LGBT character who, while the best character of the series so far, comes far too late to be as groundbreaking as they'd like to think) or rehashing ideas like Star Wars since Disney took over... (Sorry, that backstory is done... throw tomatoes now...) Either way, the article got me thinking, as writers, how do you not fall into the trap and keep stuff, so to speak, fresh? Rather, do you push your comfort zone and try new things? How? And did it work for you? In my case, I branched away from sci fi. Lately, I'm right back in it, but I've got several that aren't. The farthest is definitely Hunted... I'll be the first to admit, I'm probably the last person who thought I'd be writing a vampire fic. Then there's the wider inclusion of varying characters that kind of started with one I don't have on here, that continued into BaH and throughout the rest of them. In my case, I think it worked. (And I've probably rambled enough that everyone's pulling their hair out in wild frustration or yelling at screens... So before the throwing knives come out, I'm getting out of here.)

The Repair Guy made 3k dragon prints today,

Rutty Rut Rut, that’s what the sleigh became, rusty ruts.

@Anesor Not entirely sure if you were agreeing with me or disagreeing. There wasn’t anything you said that seemed to debate my points at least? Though admittedly I bristled when you said “I think we should be careful about overusing the term ‘rut.’” and now I want to use the term even more lol.

I do several things to try to avoid “sameness” in my writing. The one I’m engaged in right now is writing a story based on someone else’s idea. I recently got my 300th follower on Inkbunny, and I celebrated with a story raffle: Anyone following me could submit a story idea, and I randomly selected a winner and am now writing a story based on the winner’s idea. I’ve done this a couple of times before, and both times, I’ve been happy with the result, even though the ideas were ones I would never have come up with myself.

Well, admit I don’t follow that one too closely, otherwise the sex scenes in my stories would be few and far between …. However, for the overarching main story in my universe, it is my field of expertise, so I could figure everything out in way too much detail; thus, I do ballpark calculations, and be happy with nice, round numbers. This is pretty much what I was going to say. Both points, lol. On TV shows, a lot of editing and decision making has to go through a number of people. When a number of people are involved in one decision, in my opinion, they tend to drive each other along a specific pattern. One person wants to take a risk, and seven more people hmm and haw over it for a while and compromises are made. I think that’s when the stagnating happens. Moral of the story? Fuck teamwork, I guess. And yeah, I definitely don’t follow the write what you know thing. I follow the write what you’re interested in knowing thing. Write what you love, or write what piques your curiosity. As long as interest or love is there, as pippy put it, I definitely think it’ll show. Annnd if you don’t wanna get lost in the research, go my favourite lazy route! Fantasy world based loosely on 18th century france or ancient greece or whatever! Anyway, back to the original question. I think it’s much easier to avoid stagnation when you make all the decisions. Though if you’re like me and you go where your inspiration takes you, there will be a lot of recurring themes, simply because I tend to get inspired by specific, similar things. Luckily there are all kinds of ways to keep them fresh. I mean Stephen King has written how many books about horror shit in New England? People still love him. Some audiences like knowing what to expect from authors. Using recurring themes and settings across most of your stories can breed that sort of security. I know when I really like a book and I go look at what else the author wrote, I go hoping for similar things, and if I find all kinds of very different things, I’m often disappointed. There’s nothing wrong with a rut, as long as that rut is a friggin enjoyable rut. But sticking to a set formula, as a writer, isn’t nearly as fun. I desire variety. I want to try all kinds of genres – all kinds of pairings and villains and heroes. I wanna do feminist fiction and nautical shit, and senseless, horrifically depraved smut. However, most attempts to venture from what I’m good at or certain of will die on the cutting board and never see the light of day, but I think it’s important to explore those dead ends when you feel the urge. Even if just to get it out.

Well, since I’ve been writing oodles of het stuff lately, I’m counting myself as trying something new. Also, I’ve written a few things in particular recently that have had me eyeing the spirits cabinet with longing, though I swear I haven’t touched a drop. It’s an interesting question, though I don’t think we should be afraid of having recurring themes in our writing. Many great writers have them. For myself, having discussed this just the other day, it’s becoming clear that I have a tendency to write varying degrees of comedy and wretched despair. Sometimes I mix them together in strange ways. As for branching out into other genres, it’s harder to do with fanfiction, really. But ‘write what you know’ is good advice for the most obvious reason of all: being that there’s not much point in writing a story set in 18th century France if you don’t know the first thing about it. As far as historical fiction goes, much better to play with a period that you’ve previously had a hobby interest in, or else risk getting lost in the research. Also, write what you love, because even if you’ve done it a million times before, your love will show in what you produce at the end. Well, that’s what I tell myself, anyway.