Tcr

I actually changed a story I was publishing because my editor thought it needed some things to make it more, I don’t know, appealing, or relevant, or engaging. I forget the word exactly. But the changes never felt right to me, and now that the book’s been accepted for republication, I went back and deleted all the stuff I added at that editor’s urging. The thing is, I never really got feedback from readers non this book, so I have no real idea if they liked those bits or hated them, but I’m much happier with the manuscript without them, so… I’m taking a deep breath and going with my gut.

Absolutely, lack of feedback makes me change stuff! Sometimes the change is as simple as pulling the story. Sometimes it gets more complicated as I attempt to read the minds of readers to figure out what the problem was. And seeing as how I’m a pretty shitty psychic, I end up changing a lot of things in a panic until the story is unrecognizable or just not what I wanted to begin with soooo either way it’s usually a terrible decision on my part lol. But doubt does that to me. Makes me make terrible decisions.

Alright, so, as the title says, does a lack of feedback affect your stories?  (Ie while you’re writing, does the lack of feedback make you change things, doubt things, et cetera, et cetera?  And vice versa, does a lot of feedback affect you?  Do you change things that you probably wouldn’t have based upon those words?)  This is probably a question that’s been asked before, don’t throw the pineapples (they kind of hurt), but…
As for me, so far I’d say not really (in terms of changing things that otherwise wouldn’t have been).  The lack of feedback on a lot of mine does make me question certain decisions, as I’m sure everyone does when faced with that same thing…  For example, I know people are reading them (...unless they’re accidentally clicking into it and getting out of there as fast as possible…  I’m going with the former, though), but lately I’ve been debating the… slow burn of one of them…  Introducing and trying to create likeable characters that everyone wants to see survive through with the interactions that ring true necessitated the long fuse to the dynamite, and it’s been making me question that length.  I’m sure everyone has something like that.

Alright, so, as the title says, does a lack of feedback affect your stories?  (Ie while you’re writing, does the lack of feedback make you change things, doubt things, et cetera, et cetera?  And vice versa, does a lot of feedback affect you?  Do you change things that you probably wouldn’t have based upon those words?)  This is probably a question that’s been asked before, don’t throw the pineapples (they kind of hurt), but…
As for me, so far I’d say not really (in terms of changing things that otherwise wouldn’t have been).  The lack of feedback on a lot of mine does make me question certain decisions, as I’m sure everyone does when faced with that same thing…  For example, I know people are reading them (...unless they’re accidentally clicking into it and getting out of there as fast as possible…  I’m going with the former, though), but lately I’ve been debating the… slow burn of one of them…  Introducing and trying to create likeable characters that everyone wants to see survive through with the interactions that ring true necessitated the long fuse to the dynamite, and it’s been making me question that length.  I’m sure everyone has something like that.

Alright, so, as the title says, does a lack of feedback affect your stories?  (Ie while you’re writing, does the lack of feedback make you change things, doubt things, et cetera, et cetera?  And vice versa, does a lot of feedback affect you?  Do you change things that you probably wouldn’t have based upon those words?)  This is probably a question that’s been asked before, don’t throw the pineapples (they kind of hurt), but…
As for me, so far I’d say not really (in terms of changing things that otherwise wouldn’t have been).  The lack of feedback on a lot of mine does make me question certain decisions, as I’m sure everyone does when faced with that same thing…  For example, I know people are reading them (...unless they’re accidentally clicking into it and getting out of there as fast as possible…  I’m going with the former, though), but lately I’ve been debating the… slow burn of one of them…  Introducing and trying to create likeable characters that everyone wants to see survive through with the interactions that ring true necessitated the long fuse to the dynamite, and it’s been making me question that length.  I’m sure everyone has something like that.

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.)
 
 

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.

While editing off a chapter for one of my many adventures in the creative realm of (please insert colourful metaphor here) insanity that is my writing…  (...Of course, it doesn’t help that I haven’t really written anything in a week, so these are all the buffer chapters I have…)…  Sorry, rambling again…  Anyway, I noticed some of my quirks ‘re-emerged’ from long ago…
In this case, the suspension of disbelief ‘rule’ I have.  (Yes, I, the insane one, follow some strange rules that probably make no sense...)  Anyway, background for it, at one point it was a three-point system wherein I would give myself leeway to do three things that would require a suspension of disbelief.  (Let’s take, for example, Star Trek: Suspension of Disbelief 1 (Hereafter SoD#): Faster than light travel; SoD2: aliens exist; SoD3: Every known woman of alien/human/...shapeshifter? origin wants to get it on with a certain specific Starfleet Captain…  Well, except two…  So it seems…  There may be a third, but…  Sorry, rambling again...)…  Anyway, the way this rule worked for me was, if there was too many SoDs, then it became too unbelievable and it would take me out of the story…
So, my question becomes, what sort of strange things do you, as a writer, adhere to?  What sort of things have you ‘grown’ out of?  

While editing off a chapter for one of my many adventures in the creative realm of (please insert colourful metaphor here) insanity that is my writing…  (...Of course, it doesn’t help that I haven’t really written anything in a week, so these are all the buffer chapters I have…)…  Sorry, rambling again…  Anyway, I noticed some of my quirks ‘re-emerged’ from long ago…
In this case, the suspension of disbelief ‘rule’ I have.  (Yes, I, the insane one, follow some strange rules that probably make no sense...)  Anyway, background for it, at one point it was a three-point system wherein I would give myself leeway to do three things that would require a suspension of disbelief.  (Let’s take, for example, Star Trek: Suspension of Disbelief 1 (Hereafter SoD#): Faster than light travel; SoD2: aliens exist; SoD3: Every known woman of alien/human/...shapeshifter? origin wants to get it on with a certain specific Starfleet Captain…  Well, except two…  So it seems…  There may be a third, but…  Sorry, rambling again...)…  Anyway, the way this rule worked for me was, if there was too many SoDs, then it became too unbelievable and it would take me out of the story…
So, my question becomes, what sort of strange things do you, as a writer, adhere to?  What sort of things have you ‘grown’ out of?  

Much like BW, I've got a million ideas in my head...  Usually fighting each other  (...six things on the go and one trying to be published...too many ideas, not enough time)...
I can be inspired (and write twenty chapters pretty much non stop) by a simple song lyric or something I've seen in movies or just random thoughts I have...  Which are most of the ideas...  And where the idea for the newest one came from (two lines in a song, lol)...  But that inspiration can be lost just as suddenly too…
Having a broken spirit kills that inspiration flat dead...  Trust me, I got a lot of Inspiration hidden in the basement...  And for me, that happens a lot... 
Stress kills...  And when nothing's gone right (Just like right now, laptop's fried itself (I hate this damned city))...  And bad times...  And that feeling that, while I know people are reading, it doesn't feel like it... 
The inspiration wavers and, oft times, cracks, breaks, and disappears...  I've been lucky lately...  But even then, the inspiration for STA, BaH, CHHW, even Hunted and BP have all wavered because of those factors all coming together right now...  Sucks when you're always thinking the worst…
 

Much like BW, I've got a million ideas in my head...  Usually fighting each other  (...six things on the go and one trying to be published...too many ideas, not enough time)...
I can be inspired (and write twenty chapters pretty much non stop) by a simple song lyric or something I've seen in movies or just random thoughts I have...  Which are most of the ideas...  And where the idea for the newest one came from (two lines in a song, lol)...  But that inspiration can be lost just as suddenly too…
Having a broken spirit kills that inspiration flat dead...  Trust me, I got a lot of Inspiration hidden in the basement...  And for me, that happens a lot... 
Stress kills...  And when nothing's gone right (Just like right now, laptop's fried itself (I hate this damned city))...  And bad times...  And that feeling that, while I know people are reading, it doesn't feel like it... 
The inspiration wavers and, oft times, cracks, breaks, and disappears...  I've been lucky lately...  But even then, the inspiration for STA, BaH, CHHW, even Hunted and BP have all wavered because of those factors all coming together right now...  Sucks when you're always thinking the worst…
 

Much like BW, I've got a million ideas in my head...  Usually fighting each other  (...six things on the go and one trying to be published...too many ideas, not enough time)...
I can be inspired (and write twenty chapters pretty much non stop) by a simple song lyric or something I've seen in movies or just random thoughts I have...  Which are most of the ideas...  And where the idea for the newest one came from (two lines in a song, lol)...  But that inspiration can be lost just as suddenly too…
Having a broken spirit kills that inspiration flat dead...  Trust me, I got a lot of Inspiration hidden in the basement...  And for me, that happens a lot... 
Stress kills...  And when nothing's gone right (Just like right now, laptop's fried itself (I hate this damned city))...  And bad times...  And that feeling that, while I know people are reading, it doesn't feel like it... 
The inspiration wavers and, oft times, cracks, breaks, and disappears...  I've been lucky lately...  But even then, the inspiration for STA, BaH, CHHW, even Hunted and BP have all wavered because of those factors all coming together right now...  Sucks when you're always thinking the worst…
 

Much like BW, I've got a million ideas in my head...  Usually fighting each other  (...six things on the go and one trying to be published...too many ideas, not enough time)...
I can be inspired (and write twenty chapters pretty much non stop) by a simple song lyric or something I've seen in movies or just random thoughts I have...  Which are most of the ideas...  And where the idea for the newest one came from (two lines in a song, lol)...  But that inspiration can be lost just as suddenly too…
Having a broken spirit kills that inspiration flat dead...  Trust me, I got a lot of Inspiration hidden in the basement...  And for me, that happens a lot... 
Stress kills...  And when nothing's gone right (Just like right now, laptop's fried itself (I hate this damned city))...  And bad times...  And that feeling that, while I know people are reading, it doesn't feel like it... 
The inspiration wavers and, oft times, cracks, breaks, and disappears...  I've been lucky lately...  But even then, the inspiration for STA, BaH, CHHW, even Hunted and BP have all wavered because of those factors all coming together right now...  Sucks when you're always thinking the worst…
 

Howdy guys, did you get a review on your Halloween story and wanna respond? Or do you just wanna chat with your fellow peeps about your stories or what have you? Here’s the place to do it. 
This forum post is for the Halloween Party currently taking place over here – http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600108780
 
Enjoy

And my experience with writing was entirely opposite...  To the point that, if I went back in time and showed myself, my younger self would laugh and be like "Can't be me".  My original writing had no sex whatsoever in them...  How far and strange I have come...  How very strange... 

And my experience with writing was entirely opposite...  To the point that, if I went back in time and showed myself, my younger self would laugh and be like "Can't be me".  My original writing had no sex whatsoever in them...  How far and strange I have come...  How very strange... 

I'm thirding the put you first...  It's your idea, after all, as has been stated.  You know where you want the characters to go.
That said, as DP noted, listening to the readers can be helpful too.  As long as keeping with the established character and situation. 
For example, in mainstream DC comics, as far as I'm aware, Batman would never backhand Robin, force him to eat rats, or even call him retarded... (I'm excluding All Star Batman and Robin, that's just toilet paper in my humble opinion)...  If you were writing a Batman story and someone suggested that, I'd be inclined to ignore it.  If, however, you're writing Batman and someone suggests a threesome with two hot models...  Or just in bed with Robin (yes, this actually happened in a comic, though I don't remember what number...)...  I'd say go with it...  (I'm rambling again, aren’t I?)
 

I'm thirding the put you first...  It's your idea, after all, as has been stated.  You know where you want the characters to go.
That said, as DP noted, listening to the readers can be helpful too.  As long as keeping with the established character and situation. 
For example, in mainstream DC comics, as far as I'm aware, Batman would never backhand Robin, force him to eat rats, or even call him retarded... (I'm excluding All Star Batman and Robin, that's just toilet paper in my humble opinion)...  If you were writing a Batman story and someone suggested that, I'd be inclined to ignore it.  If, however, you're writing Batman and someone suggests a threesome with two hot models...  Or just in bed with Robin (yes, this actually happened in a comic, though I don't remember what number...)...  I'd say go with it...  (I'm rambling again, aren’t I?)
 

Okay...  So I'm taking this from CR...  So, if it's wrong...  <points fingers> their fault!  All theirs!
Title: Stalker
Tags: Violence MiCD 
Summary: She watched from a distance.  Halloween, she changes the game.
Halloweeny theme: Death, violence, creepy stalkery murderer.
Hopefully that all works... 
 
 

Might be a little late...  Sounds like my usual, but…
Star Trek kind of started it for me.  I started originals and loved the process and creativity in school and used that to get out of the bad situation.  They were mostly vicious shorts, blood she'd and violence galore...  (Has anything really changed?... ...)  Then I started writing in the Star Trek universe for a little, expanded outward from shorts into novels...  Which in turn became originals again...  (A full circle, weird and crazy, but yeah...)  Sci Fi has always been a part of my writing, I've just expanded out…
And I ramble on...

Might be a little late...  Sounds like my usual, but…
Star Trek kind of started it for me.  I started originals and loved the process and creativity in school and used that to get out of the bad situation.  They were mostly vicious shorts, blood she'd and violence galore...  (Has anything really changed?... ...)  Then I started writing in the Star Trek universe for a little, expanded outward from shorts into novels...  Which in turn became originals again...  (A full circle, weird and crazy, but yeah...)  Sci Fi has always been a part of my writing, I've just expanded out…
And I ramble on...

Might be a little late...  Sounds like my usual, but…
Star Trek kind of started it for me.  I started originals and loved the process and creativity in school and used that to get out of the bad situation.  They were mostly vicious shorts, blood she'd and violence galore...  (Has anything really changed?... ...)  Then I started writing in the Star Trek universe for a little, expanded outward from shorts into novels...  Which in turn became originals again...  (A full circle, weird and crazy, but yeah...)  Sci Fi has always been a part of my writing, I've just expanded out…
And I ramble on...

I say, we get together, trap this ugly motherless chrak'tova (I am definitely going to start using Straxi in life now, just to get weird looks...) and send it and RL into the sun...  Kill it!  Kill it with fire!

Firstly, in my quite possibly not so humble opinion...  Two reasons are a little bit of...  Well, Ian Malcolm said it best: That's one big pile of shit.
To lump people together greatly cuts out others...  At least I think so...  I fall into neither category, too.
I had a pretty bad childhood, so the writing allowed me to escape elsewhere and live in wondrous worlds of crazy, bizarre things away from reality.  As time progressed, I just liked to write, never showed anyone, never wanted to.  It wasn’t a "tale to tell/tale to sell", it was just something I did.  Now, it's a relief and definitely stress reduction technique...   But it's still mainly because I enjoy it…
Do I want to be published?  One day, certainly...  I'd love to see my name at the bookstore...  And walk around anonymously...  Because I'd like to point out things...  And slap people upside the head...

Well, I tried flamethrower, but apparently work frowns on that...  After a few people turned KFC...  And part of the building became a bonfire...  I don't understand why they'd frown on it...