swirlingdoubt

Your fics are a real bash! Don’t take a trip to Downsville on account of those high standards or that‘s bad news. You razz my berries, chicky-boom.
I know it’s just the title, but I keep having Scissor Sister’s “Bicycling with the Devil” stuck in my head when I read that story. Which is a song no one should ever use as a reference. 
I wish more people would review on this site, then I would feel less obnoxious reviewing multiple chapters. 

Corrupt the Midwife part 2 is live.
Thank you for the review! Well, trying my best and I appreciate the support on this story. Only three or four more parts to finish it!
I feel like I am too quite of practive with proper writing from scratch rather than my old work re-writes, I guess all skills rust if they are not getting used and creative writing is no different. This being the case, It’s not quite feeling tickety-boo for me. I tried to get it Ship-shape and Bristol fashion, and feel like it went a bit shit-shaped and borstal fashion, as they might have said in the 50s. I also kinda regret not sneaking in the 1957 Little Richard lyrics :
“Jenny Jenny, ooo, Jenny Jenny,
Jenny Jenny Jenny, won't you come along with me,”
Still, thank you kindly again! I hope part 3 is better.

Hah, mine is about that old, too, but not on AFF. I haven’t been consistent with writing but I did produce some horrors in my adolescence, some still on ff.net (anything I didn’t post there is lost forever, as hard disks are no longer supported, anywhere). If I went to my very first posted fic on ff.net, I don’t think it would be possible to update it. There is nothing salvageable about it. It is 15 sentences of mindless violence and obscenity.
Some teenage years were spent writing JtHM and Invader Zim fanfiction that is not so bad. Yet, the maturity level of my additions matched the maturity level of the source material, so I see little point in updating those. 

Corrupt the Midwife gets a shock third review
Thanks for your review! I genuinely thought it started good but didn’t keep the steam going so much, they should have gone with the old British Brevity and canned it after three or four series. Well, plus I thought Jenny and Chummy were the best characters.
There was some indecency at least… Chummy did once announce “underneath this raincoat, I am practically naked.” to her nice young man.
There’s not so much time for immodesty in part 2, it’s a bit fast paced and mostly in private, but part 3 is likely to have more room for dwelling on it as it’ll be covering Chummy doing her job with the side effects of the bike, as well as trying to track down some info on what’s happening. And hopefully some drunken Trixie. I hope you enjoy it when it’s posted anyway and thank you again for the review.

Definitely not removing it, nor do I think I’ve got the best writing.  Heck, english/lit was my most hated subject back in school, and I sucked at it, just scraping by enough to pass.  Nor is writing like this common among my peers in my line of work, so I’m definitely of the opinion that it can always get better.   And better I’ve generally gotten, you can even see it *in* that first story; even some of the reviews commented on this.   That first story started off with present tense, script like, and wordy; but I’ve learned to focus the dialogue a bit more, add in detail, and even put in the occasional “mental peek” inside a character’s head.  In that story’s sequel (which I’m now revising, again), I had thought was to mix in some first person POVs, but unless it’s just one character, that plain is hard to follow. 
Another improvement that I thought was good was long chapters, to try to make it “less” intimidating, so I clumped the chapters together into mega-chapters… until I realized I had 11 chapters for 500k…. one of them was 107k, so I had the Prisoner of Azkaban in a single chapter, with really lousy formatting so it was all together.  Strangely enough, people still read and reviewed it.   My current revision effort is undoing *that* change, undoing some of the edits that I had made along the way.
So, yeah, it’s definitely been a learning process, even bought some how-to-books on improving my writing (only partially read).  Having @CL Mustafic do a bit of reading/feedback on my original material helped a bit too.  Biggest tip I’d make is to avoid write+post, to set the draft aside for a some time, after a bit of the next chapter has been written, before going back to proofread; as I find that waiting makes it easier to spot typos/grammar/etc – sure, not perfect, but it cuts out most of the bad stuff, and it’s a nice balance for posting serially for fanfiction/amateur writing.

Man oh man. My first fan fic was written… in like the year 1998-1999. I don’t remember what it was. I imagine it was on pen and paper and about the show Breaker High with a lot of pregnancies happening. Most likely in script format. I think the oldest one I submitted on this site in particular – is probably Crossfire. I’ve always kinda wanted to go back and touch it up, because it is the pride and joy of my fanfiction era fics, and it is completed. I probably won’t, but I like to think about it. Maybe I should take this challenge on one of the easy ones. Like a oneshot or something. Does going the easy route defeat the purpose of it being a challenge?

Sure, sure, but there’s other symptoms – the ominous latin chanting, the sun suddenly covered by thick cloud, the nearby dogs all howling at once, the creepy ghost girl refusing to come out from the attic. As soon as I close the old fanfic file it all instantly stopped.

I think different people evolve differently. I’m a fickle bitch, and tend to obsess over small techniques and details so my style changes rapidly. I’ve been writing 2/3rds of my life and yet if I look back at something I wrote six months ago, I’ll still find something to cringe about like “omg I was such an amateur back then!” But I can see how someone who starts writing late that spent their life reading  and subconsciously forming their individual style in their head, might be good right out of the gate. Wordsmithing even comes more naturally to some people where others have to practice and work a lot harder at it. 

I looked at my first fanfic recently. My eyes are still bleeding. Mind, my most recent fanfic has much the same effect. Did you know you can write for years and never improve? If not, google the legend that is Andrew Troy Keller / ATK and be amazed.

All of the responsibility rests with the Dom.
It is hard to write a responsible story with a good Dom, keeping in mind the controls the D would want in place and the boundaries that the /s wants to push or experience. It isn't the relationship most outsiders think it is. The D is the responsible party and the /s has all the power. That makes a D/s completely different from a M/s IMHO.

Toss in another idea ... Do those halloween/holiday round robins that we like to do, submit a oneshot and maybe pick up some readers that way.

Corrupt the Midwife Part 2 update
I have finished the second draft of part 2. Needs a bit more polish and re-write and then when it goes up I’ll be sliding the story firmly over to the misc FF catagory (at least until the day when the site gets a Call the Midwife subcat!)
I have decided to gratuitously cheat with the prompts, by not tackling the weeks in order. I’ll move slightly further ahead with the weeks for part 2, then back to cover more for the future parts. This is partly because the story structure they suggest to me works better with a library scene in part 3 to part 2, and while cranciform suggested something cool that goes better in part 4 than either of them. Was a bit put out to click on one prompts week, think “Those would work great!” and then realise I’d already done a prompt story for that one.
I mean, I’m just amazed I am still able to write anything at all at this stage so if cheating gets it done… I mean, I still might not get it done. I’m not great at finishing stories.
Part 1, posted last wednesday, 127 hits. The pitfalls of tiny fandoms! Maybe ramping up the Porn in part 2’ll spark some interest. 

Necro’ing this thread after two years on account of Corrupt the Midwife, a story that I am hoping to be able to add FF tags onto starting with the next chapter. It should be canon characters doing all the FF’ing, so as to reduce any accusations of boring people to tears with tedious fake-Irish OCs, should any appear. Cough. As mentioned in the note on the story I originally wanted to write a story called “Ball the Midwife” but since this story as planned features no testicles (the first plan went dickgirl) I seem to have started writing a different story.
Some reviews!:
Thank you for your review! I have seen the show, but I’ll admit it’s been a good while – and even longer since Season One This bicycle seems like a good idea sure, but it’s going to be mightily distracting for Chummy from Saturday through to the next Friday if circumstances insist she needs to keep using it. It’s almost like it’s cursed. Insert evil laugh here. I think my take on things is sometimes to be avoided, especially when writing around the less polite story codes. None of that stuff here though, although corruption can be problematic. I am sure Chummy is capable of remaining pure. Probably. Maybe. Oh dear. Thank you again!
Thank you M’Lord. *Tugs forelock* I am ever so ‘umble, and appreciate most be-heartedly your kindness. But enough of the period words (which, before anyone gets funny, doesn’t just mean ‘cramps’ or ‘blood’ or ‘sanitary towels’.) I actually hope I get it all pretty much right. Dialogue has always been my weakest element, along with character survival prospects. Although this story is going to be entirely death free. I guess it’s always nice to find something that ticks the old fetish box – I know that in a lot of cases it can make an otherwise un-interesting story really quite tempting. Sadly, the bicycle will probably play a lesser part in the rest of the  parts, with more focus on FF fumblings, although Chummy will find cause to use it daily. 
As for Downton Abbey, I actually didn’t get to see more than a few episodes of that. It just didn’t grip me the same way. I could certainly see me writing something sometime, (Lady Grantham “disciplines” her maid type filth) but probably not for a while. Thank you for your interest and I appreciate your review!

Woo! Managed to finish. After about 5 scraped ideas, and a few starts and restarts, I finally got something I actually had a lot of fun writing. 
Title: Eve of Hollow Souls
Summary: A noblewoman of a conquered land goes to visit her countryside villa, on the night of a outlawed religious festival. 
Warnings: Violence, no sex, F/F (sorta, but not really)

The anthology is up!

We’re up and running now! Read the stories here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600109141 
Review reply thread can be found here:
if you want to add one of your own, you can find the details below. 
 
Every year on AFF, we do an anthology of original short stories. Everyone is welcome to participate! The rules are simple:
Oneshots (Under 50k words)  Original fiction  Halloween or Horror theme Of course, include all the appropriate warnings at the beginning of your story If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here or send me a PM. 
If you want to participate, but don’t have an idea, there are a ton of sites online with horror prompts. Here’s one! https://screencraft.org/2017/10/19/101-terrifying-horror-story-prompts/
If you’ve already decided to participate, please say so - here or PM me - with your story title and summary. Happy Halloween! 
Confirmed Participants: 
@Desiderius Price
Title: Adam the Altar Boy  – Warnings: Abuse, Anal, Contro, Exhib, Fet, Horror, Inc, Minor1, Minor2, MCD, MiCD, MM, Oral, Pedo, Rape, Violence, WS
Summary: Adam, the altar boy, at Christmas. @BronxWench
Title: TBD  – Warnings: TBD
Summary: TBD @CloverReef (PlagueClover on the Archive)
Title: Scent of Brine  – Warnings: F/F, MiCD, rape, M/F
Summary: Concepcion is stuck at sea, pregnant and with her English brute of a husband. She’s resigned herself to her life of abuse and popping out babies, but one fateful night, a phantom appears and gives her another option…   @Sinfulwolf 
Title: TBD  – Warnings: TBD
Summary: TBD @InvidiaRed
Title: Synth  – Warnings: TBD
Summary: A creation witnesses the breaking of its creators. @Tcr
Title: Creeper Part 2  – Warnings: FF, Violence, NoSex, 
Summary: A year has passed since Grace’s parents were murdered and she has tried to live a normal life at university. But a promise was made that day and promises should be kept, right? @GeorgeGlass
Title: Apprentice  – Warnings: Hum, MCD, MF, Oral
Summary: Three sisters on their way to a ball must travel through the pine woods. What could go wrong? (If you have a forum theme on and can’t see the post, try highlighting it.)
 
 

How do you think your writing has changed over time? What lead to those changes? Do you remember every story you write?
I am not much of a writer, but I get and itch of an idea and must scratch it down once in a while. I have a smattering of stories written over the last 20 years, and I have forgotten about most of them. I stated that I never wrote erotica before, but apparently that isn’t true because I found one that I wrote 5 years ago - for an obscure home-brew video game of all things - and it was awful. I have no memory of writing it at all, so everything in it was a surprise. I realize how much I have changed even over 5 years – a better sense of reality, or depth, perhaps. Yet, I found another fanfic written even earlier, and I was on the edge of my seat and mad that I left it on a cliffhanger. I might even go back and try to finish and clean it up. So, it isn’t linear.
How do other writers reflect on their past stories?

How do you think your writing has changed over time? What lead to those changes? Do you remember every story you write?
I am not much of a writer, but I get and itch of an idea and must scratch it down once in a while. I have a smattering of stories written over the last 20 years, and I have forgotten about most of them. I stated that I never wrote erotica before, but apparently that isn’t true because I found one that I wrote 5 years ago - for an obscure home-brew video game of all things - and it was awful. I have no memory of writing it at all, so everything in it was a surprise. I realize how much I have changed even over 5 years – a better sense of reality, or depth, perhaps. Yet, I found another fanfic written even earlier, and I was on the edge of my seat and mad that I left it on a cliffhanger. I might even go back and try to finish and clean it up. So, it isn’t linear.
How do other writers reflect on their past stories?

Editing/betaing is a topic I could discuss for hours. I won’t, though, because I don’t want to hijack the thread. I’m happy you enjoy it. Like ridiculously happy. My favourite people to beta for are the ones who are eager to learn whether or not they take my suggestions.
Giving feedback is an art form too, and helpful critiques are not always appropriate. I very rarely give critiques, even sugar coated ones, to people who didn’t ask for it. Like when I review random chapters on AFF, I usually bite my tongue and only put the positive things. Sometimes the best way you can help a struggling writer getting little-to-no attention is to give their ego a boost, and theeeen you can worry about helping them with their issues (if you want to take that on). Let them feel some love and positivity. Let them feel like writing is worth the deafening silences and that someone out there is listening. That will help their passion grow, and when people are passionate about something, they evolve. Some very well-meaning critical feedback can be crushing to someone whose confidence is already shaken and can do more damage than good. I’ve had arguments about this with other betas, but I’m the Queen Beta, so listen to me, not them. 
But if you’re reviewing someone like @Desiderius Price who has explicitly stated they welcome critical feedback, the gloves very nicely come off. I think it’s still important to not be a dick about it. 
 

With the introduction of the internet, the availability of feedback for new writers and the promise of anonymity creates a lot more opportunities for someone that might not otherwise develop the skill. However, in itself it becomes a vacuum with the blind leading the blind.
Betas isn’t a bad idea. I worry about giving critical feedback (for one, what do I know), and worry about how some people will take it. Criticism is very helpful to me, even if it presses out the ego juices.
The editing process is so important, too – indispensable. I enjoy the editing process more than the writing sometimes, because after the story dump is finished, I have some boundaries to work within (I think that is what attracts me to writing fanfiction, too). I can improve, expand, and tighten a story to have a better impact rather than free-fall into it.
I hope the results of your biopsy are ok, for whatever reason you needed one!

With the introduction of the internet, the availability of feedback for new writers and the promise of anonymity creates a lot more opportunities for someone that might not otherwise develop the skill. However, in itself it becomes a vacuum with the blind leading the blind.
Betas isn’t a bad idea. I worry about giving critical feedback (for one, what do I know), and worry about how some people will take it. Criticism is very helpful to me, even if it presses out the ego juices.
The editing process is so important, too – indispensable. I enjoy the editing process more than the writing sometimes, because after the story dump is finished, I have some boundaries to work within (I think that is what attracts me to writing fanfiction, too). I can improve, expand, and tighten a story to have a better impact rather than free-fall into it.
I hope the results of your biopsy are ok, for whatever reason you needed one!

Ahh, well to be fair in 2007 or whenever I originally uploaded it streaming was still in its infancy even for porn and broadband still not as widespread. A lot better than downloading 30 second clips on dial up though I guess! He just said it would be through the power of love, as I recall. Probably something like the kid from Captain Planet with the power of Heart, backed up by Hughie Lewis. Anyway Eparlegna got bested by a human champion at the end so no doubt someone could write a story where his magic got overruled too – my policy whenever anyone asked to write something based on my stuff was “Sure!” I remember getting one review about six-seven years later along the lines of “I’ve been enjoying this story for years and I only just got Eparlegna’s name.”
It’s never too late!
I absolutely understand the difference between fantasy and reality. Lotta weirdo stalkers out there don’t though and some of the feedback I got on my celebrity stories was pretty worrying. I’ve said it before but for me I guess the overriding factor today is pretty much that it is so so easy on the modern internet for someone to show the celebrity of their family/friends the story featuring them as a person. It’s nowhere near as bad if, say, it’s “This is the story about me holding hands with X!” but I find thinking about how they might react to “This is my story about raping the shit out of X.” when it’s something I wrote unpleasant, and feel for them too. I think there’s a degree removed with portrayed characters – I’d even argue a number of, say pro-wrestling stories could easily go in TV rather than celeb because shockingly Papa Shango had no magical powers so any story about him with magic is based on the character rather than the wrassler. Another factor is that there was an obscenity trial in my jurisdiction that only happened because the writer wrote celebrity fanfic – they weren’t convicted or anything, but it still fucked their life up. Plus, you know, I am a big ol’ hypocrite myself. That helps with decisions on content I read and write and while I don't read or write celeb fics now, I don’t critise folks for writing it or go around leaving flames or whatevers.
While there is an absolute shitload of Harry Potter works, there’s also a load of fans, many of whom seem eager to read anything in the setting. I literally have an unfinished one chapter scat fic with near 20K hits and 3 reviews. I did a necro story with a rampaging sex dwarf in one part and got 31K hits and 16 reviews.16! Big numbers for me. These are niche topics. You get into something popular like harems and you’ll be beating off the fans with a broomstick. You might even hear some readers beating themselves off with a broomstick. Swinging back round onto topic, you’re pretty much guaranteed they won’t go unreviewed!
I don’t know much about the Amazon market so cannot comment there – there’s a few users who have followed the road of AFF originals to Amazon or other epublishers and do make a bit of a go on it though, that could be a topic for another thread if it isn’t one already! I know there’s some pretty extreme stuff on there (Black Melt by Indy McDaniel comes to mind) but I dunno how much money it makes tbh compared to the tamer stuff.
Good luck with whichever path you take and if I am around and on here I’ll absolutely take a look!

I think “biopsy” needs some tags here:  [BDSM] [Torture] [Violence] [Gore] [MCD/MiCD] & [Nec]  (where that second to the last one depends on the ego of the doctor)
Without the internet, I likely wouldn’t be an author as I wouldn’t have discovered fanfic nor would I desired  to continue a particular story, and so forth, leading to today where I’ve got (some) confidence because I’ve posted and gotten feedback.  Some criticism is definitely *good*, obviously, don’t bludgeon the writer to death with it.  If you find a story you otherwise like (premise, setting, etc) and something gets in the way, the author would certainly like to know why.  Perhaps it’s fixable (spelling, grammar, some details/construct) or not (ie, premise), but the author can sort that out.  Editing, I’ve found, is double edged, you can do a bit to improve, or overdo it and ruin the underlying story; even a rotten editor can certainly get you to butcher an otherwise good story if you’re not careful.   I’ve started to relax a bit on the amount of proofreading/editing I’ll do for posting on AFF, figuring that I’d do it more seriously if I publish – the Repair Guy was an experiment there, doing one pass and trying to keep myself to one pass of reading it over, and overall, I’m happy with how the story turned out.  Now Jefferey, which I started to “revise/edit” as a means to get myself back into it so I could continue the story, ended up adding 11 new episodes to the story (so far) that weren’t there in the original draft.

With the introduction of the internet, the availability of feedback for new writers and the promise of anonymity creates a lot more opportunities for someone that might not otherwise develop the skill. However, in itself it becomes a vacuum with the blind leading the blind.
Betas isn’t a bad idea. I worry about giving critical feedback (for one, what do I know), and worry about how some people will take it. Criticism is very helpful to me, even if it presses out the ego juices.
The editing process is so important, too – indispensable. I enjoy the editing process more than the writing sometimes, because after the story dump is finished, I have some boundaries to work within (I think that is what attracts me to writing fanfiction, too). I can improve, expand, and tighten a story to have a better impact rather than free-fall into it.
I hope the results of your biopsy are ok, for whatever reason you needed one!

There was a profound difference between fanfic #1 and fanfic #2, and I think the writing’s gotten generally better since then (even if there’s been a detour or two through terrible ideas).