CloverReef

Sounds like a vore tag to me! I’d like to see someone do that idea. Not the vorey cheeseburger one, but the people turning into their costumes one. Sexy cop/Dracula or something! Or like one of those ‘who would win, swamp thing vs frankenstein’s monster?’ with a sexy twist.

Never done this before so if I make mistakes, I will blame someone else. That being said, I’m totally in. Gonna copy your details format DP. I trust you. Title: Blue Eyes Tags: MCD, SH, Violence, m/m Summary: A strange body comes into a funeral home to be prepped for burial, but the lonely mortician designated to do the honours doesn’t think it’s quite dead. Halloweeny theme: death and zombies! Oh and my penname on the archive is same as here. CloverReef.

What power do you get if you’re dressed like a hamburger?

Well, confidence matters to me because I think a lot of people already have decent summaries that successfully communicate to the reader what their story is about, but their self-doubt gets in the way. Or ‘successfully communicates’ isn’t good enough, they want their summaries to be awesome, to whet the readers’ appetites. Which is a totally legit desire. So that doubt becomes the problem a lot of the time more than the summary itself is. Or the ambition to get better gives them/us the motivation to learn more about techniques or learn more about their readers.

It was a video game, Tekken, for me. I had started writing before that, just for myself, horror movie scripts. My very first script started with an old woman getting her head lopped off by a flying vinyl record that I wrote when I was 11 lol. But then I discovered Tekken and the fan fiction community and it was like “OMG there’s more story options than what the game gives me?!” And that was it. I was a fan fiction writer for almost a decade after that before I had my messy breakup with the fandom and went exclusively original. Fandoms are an excellent training ground for budding writers. I think you guys are right that neither of the two options listed in the article really apply there. To start in fan fiction it’s gotta be about the passion for something. Passion for the characters, passion for writing, passion for the story and wanting to see more of it than the original offers, or just wanting to see George and Bob make out.

And they both motivate you? That’s impressive!

By ‘the odd one or two’ I totally just meant you and me, DP.

That demon is an asshole. It’s never been a problem to me, but I can be a bit on the arrogant side when it comes to feeling entitled to do things that make me happy. But I see it a lot in the people who are close to me. We gotta slay that bitch. To me, even if someone aims to sell their books, if the passion and love for words is there, they will never seem to be writing purely for the money. And I can honestly say that not a single person on AFF seems motivate purely by money… Maybe the odd one or two motivated purely by their genitals, but there’s nothing wrong with that either!

I agree 100%. I have a hard time believing writers write just to sell books. I mean, of course a lot of writers want to make money off something they put so much work into. That’s just natural. But for most of us, I think there’s more than just the possibility of monetary rewards that inspires us to put pen to paper that very first time.

Found an article on one of the writing pages I follow where the writer explores the two reasons people write a novel, and I was like, “WTF?! Only two?!” Apparently, we fall into two categories. 1: We feel we have a good story to tell, and 2: we feel we have a good story to sell. I may be simplifying the point of their article a little, but I wanted to bring the discussion here. For me, it’s neither of the two options. I don’t always feel like I have a story to tell. Sometimes I just have characters or events in my head and a story forms as I’m writing. Sometimes I don’t even have that much, but I just need to write because the options I have to read just aren’t satisfying a specific need or craving. So, as the title of this thread asks, why do you write?

lol definitely not alone. I’m sure there are writers out there who are 100% confident in their summary skills, but I have yet to meet one.

I always will vote for your own. Sometimes it’s fun to take suggestions from readers, especially if you’re stuck on something and need a little boost. At the same time, I 100% believe you should follow your own inspiration whenever you possibly can. If you’re torn between a reader’s idea and your own, follow the inspiration. By that, I mean what you’re picturing in your head. What words do you keep rolling around on your tongue? What events are you excited to sculpt and play with? Go with that. Personally, I think it’s more fun, when readers make suggestions, to go in the opposite direction to avoid being predictable. Take your readers by surprise when possible, keep them on their toes. Though that may not be as important if you’re writing a pwp.

I don't quite understand what you are asking. You want someone else to write an outline for your story? And that made me snort @BronxWench

I appreciate a well-placed reference when I catch it, but I prefer them to be well spaced out, you know? Like if it’s obvious there are tons of references and I don’t get them (which isn’t uncommon since I’m not up on a lot of pop culture stuffs), I might feel a little alienated or detached from the story, but if it's like the rare reference I don’t get, then it’s more like something I can look up or pass over and still feel connected to the writing. That’s as a reader. As a writer, my references are pretty rare. And I usually try to make them pretty veiled, with the odd exception. But that might just be because there’s not a whole lot that I’m into that would make sense to a lot of people lol.

Definitely, simple and not over thinking is a great way to go. But having fun and getting carried away with words and languages and research is totally legit too, even for something so simple as a name for a little village or a street name. As long as you don't get stressed or discouraged, going simple or going batshit both have their merits. So you just gotta do you.

Story is still up for adoption, but I’m going to take it down sometime this week just because it makes me feel all squirrelly to have incomplete stories on my profile. I will update the link and info in the original post when I do.

Cold Snap chapter 13 Anon: The fact that you said anything at all is very encouraging in and of itself. Thank you for the kind review Hi MonaMina ! I'm all giddy now, thank you! It's kinda funny… maybe more funny to me than anyone else, but still funny, but I had mulled over that scene for like a couple weeks, and every time I went over that conversation, it was Iddy coming up with the fib. Just bursting out with it to save Nathan from suspicion or something. Then when I wrote it, things just went in another direction. Nathan just took over lol. Anyway thank you for the love <3 and the awesome review!

Finally got 13 up! Quick chapter summary: Iddy and Gary have a heart-to-heart and the monster wakes up!

That's actually a really good idea. Not one I see often, so a little outside the box, and may be a little harder to do well than a standard emotional shift, but would be awesome.

Chapter 12 is up!

Cold Snap Chapter 11 MonaMina: I will neither confirm nor deny that Nathan is the monster. I’m glad you like Ben. At least I’m assuming ‘perfect all around’ means you like him. Or at least that he’s likeable. I’ve had mixed reactions to him – someone I thought would really like him ended up really hating him and I was like “wtf, why?!” and ended up going back and toning him down quite a bit lol (this was before I posted – I haven’t changed anything after I posted.) Anyway, thanks for the review! <3 Take care! Yay! ‘Sexy’ is definitely the word I hope for after posting a chapter like that, so you’ve made me very happy! Write ‘faster’? Sounds like I’ll need caffeine, and a helluva lot of it! Thanks for the review, Gslinger! Mevumi: I know, right? I'm just too awesome. Or maybe I should tone down the cockiness before someone decides I'm due for a brutal humbling critique. Please no! Thank you for the review, Mevumi! It really does encourage me a ton!

I’m not gonna forget to update this this time! Chapter 9, 10, and 11 are up! Not at the same time, of course. Posted one a week… You get me. Anyway, enjoy!

Cold Snap Chapter 10 MonaMina: Sorry it took so long to reply to this! Yeah, there’s definitely something refreshing about people who know who they are and are comfortable and confident enough to put it out there. Thank you so much for the review <3 Take care!

Yeah, summaries are tricky things. Ideally, you’d know the audience well where you’re posting or publishing. Or at least have an idea of the general demographic you want reading your story so you can play to them. Like, posting on an erotica site, you probably want to stress the erotica side of your story. But in general, as @Tcr (and @BronxWench?) said, make sure the summary describes something you want to read. Don’t focus on telling the passersby everything you think is important about the plot or the characters. They don’t need to know everything. They just need to know whether they wanna bother clicking on it. Pick out the most interesting points to draw them in. Touch on the romance (If there is any) and the main character’s conflict. I say the main character’s conflict rather than the main conflict of the plot because I tend to be attracted to summaries that are more personal. More character focused. What the elven warrior is struggling with will draw me in quicker than a world in peril, if that makes any sense. That’s how I try to think about it, but it’s by no means a one-size-fits-all thing.