Deadman

Kinda trying to figure out when to end a story that I’ve been writing. My story Scooby Gang Time has been going for a while and I have a bunch of chapters to post, but as I continue to write it, I come up with new chapters. I am wondering if I should just finish the story where I was planning to and then post new stories when I write these new ideas/chapters. For those who haven’t read it, they’re mostly one shot stories that don’t technically need to be in the same story. Thoughts?

Non-sexual nudity? So just hanging out being naked? I’ve had one or two scenes involving this. Although in my examples it was unintentional. I had one scene where a character was changing and another person walks in unexpectedly. They are interested in each other though. Would that be non-sexual?

Yes, that’s definitely a problem with writing. There’s only a certain number of ways people can physically touch each other. I had this problem with a recent story. I wasn’t sure whether a way they were getting sexual with each other is physically possible. I figured out that it probably was but I don’t think I’d ever seen people do it.

I just finished another story and I noticed something weird about my writing. This story involved a character who is played by the same actor who was in another story that I wrote. In both cases, I wrote a scene involving the character doing a dance. It completely wasn’t planned but it just felt like something I should do. So, what have you noticed you do over and over again, or at least more than once, with a character or just writing content that happens to feature similar themes or things the characters are doing?

Oh by no means am I feeling bad about writing in First POV or anything. I just often dislike the imposition of “rules” about how you’re supposed to write something. And I know many people say that there aren’t any rules, but most of those people are successful because they followed certain rules, while claiming that there aren’t any. I wasn’t so much killing the story. I’d reached the end of it. It was a trilogy that ended in a very natural place for the story. But like most things, the idea of an epilogue kept nagging at me and I had to write it. Then it ended on a cliffhanger and I thought I was done. I started writing an entirely new story, but as this new story was going along, I noticed that where it was going could explain what happened in the cliffhanger ending of the epilogue. So I just naturally did that. When I first started writing, I was very economical in my writing. I only wrote what I absolutely had to so I could get the story across. Screenplays are very economical because you’re focused on telling actors and directors the minimum they need to get things on screen and let the actors decide things. I did the same with my prose writing so I could let the reader fill in the blanks. Now I’m getting much more detailed.

Yeah see, my First POV stories are never done in narrator format. It’s usually the person’s reaction in the moment of whatever’s happening. My Third POV to First POV was actually the other way around from what you suggestion. I was writing about two people sitting at a bar where one of them is drunk but I didn’t want the audience to know who the character was. So I wrote it in Third POV. But it was intended as an epilogue to a story that was written in First POV. So the main action of the epilogue was happening in Third POV where the two characters were talking about why one of them is drunk. But they would recount the story of what happened so I just copy and pasted the sections of the story I wanted to tell as flashbacks, without rewriting it into Third POV. The flashbacks were in First POV. I did it mainly because I was mostly done with the story at the time and wanted to sorta wrap it up. But that just made me want to write a longer story.

I’ve never seen anything like “I (Harry)” or “I (Ron)” done. I usually just put forward at the top of each chapter who’s POV it is. Although in later stories, I did entire stories from basically one POV of one character. I stepped out of that character’s POV maybe once to move the story forward. Then later on I shifted between chapters and POVs. Each chapter had a different POV but it was always in the same order. The main character was Dawn, the second character was Faith, the third was Buffy. So the first chapter was from Dawn’s POV, the second chapter was from Faith’s, third from Buffy’s, then fourth chapter from Dawn's again, repeating the cycle. More recently, like in Scooby Gang Time, I have switched back and forth between First POV and Third POV. For instance, the first three one shots were written when I wasn’t as comfortable with Third POV, so they’re from the perspective of the main characters. The fourth one shot was written more recently and featured two main characters. So I wrote it from Third POV so I could focus on each character when the story called for it. Like during their competition of who can suck the most dick, I needed to write about Buffy a couple cocks, then to Faith sucking a few, going back and forth. The fifth one shot went back to First POV because it featured Tara exclusively.

So I don’t do things the way you’re putting it forward. When it comes to First POV, I focus on one person at a time. I declare upfront, although occasionally I’ve done it differently, who the character is. In my example that you’re putting forward: I generally don’t do flashbacks. I did one and it didn’t go right because I wrote it in Third POV but used story that’s written in First POV as part of the flashbacks. As an example of how I would handle a dialogue scene. That’s generally how it would go. I would only really use the format you’re putting forward in a Third POV scenario, which I have.

Yeah, based on the way you’re laying it out, I’ve often written in First POV and occasionally Third Person Imperfect. The way I’ve gotten through the issue of showing different POVs in First POV is that I declare who the character is at the beginning. For instance: Chapter 1: Faith’s POV I can’t believe she did that. Chapter 2: Buffy’s POV I’m so angry with her right now. And so on. Where I run into problems in Third POV is when I’m writing a story, and say one character is touching the other’s face, part of me wants to shift between POVs. But usually it makes things longer so I choose one. A particular character touches the other’s face, and I get into the way they’re feeling the person they’re touching. But then I have to spend time with what they are doing next, and go through it. Then I shift when I feel like the story needs to know what the other character is feeling. It doesn’t feel as natural so say “Both of their bodies tingle at the feeling of Buffy touching Faith’s face.” At least for me anyway.

Well the way I get around that is by shifting POVs either within the chapter or in the next chapter. So I can get the perspective of one character while it’s happening and then how the other character feels about what just happened. But when I go to Third POV, I usually have to choose which character to focus on. At least that’s been my experience when writing.

I can understand that. I have done some writing in Third POV, though I tend to go more omniscient in those stories to showcase as many points of views as I can. But the thing that I enjoy about First POV is that the reader can imagine themselves in that scenario. It’s actually part of how I got into writing in the first place. I used to imagine what I would do in whatever scenario the character was in and write that. So I feel like there’s more emotional connection people can get through a First POV situation.

See, I don’t really get the need for past tense. Partly that might be because I’ve written some screenplays, nothing that’s been made, but in that format you’re supposed to be writing in the present tense because it’s about taking whoever the reader is along. As if it’s happening in real time. Which made the fact that I wrote in First POV when it comes to fanfic an easy transition to screenplays. I try to limit myself to writing only one story at a time, but more recently it’s been difficult. I have chapters in the 10k words or more category so I focus pretty much entirely on that one story before switching to another story. However, now I’m working on a story where one has over 10k words, but the other each chapter is only around 1,000 if that. So it’s a little weird to be shifting and realizing I don’t need a 30 page story to play out. That being said, I have a bunch of story ideas piling up in the 10k or more category that just keeps getting longer. I have about 6 different fandoms I want to cover all with multiple chapters that are going to be in the 10k words per chapter range. Part of me just wants to start in on them but I gotta be disciplined.

Sure, I will do things like describe things after the fact while in the present tense. For instance: While I am busy with this, they were doing this. What do you generally find works best in terms of description? I started out separating dialogue and actions in different lines. But more recently I’ve combined dialogue in actions such as: “I really shouldn’t.” she starts, before considering her options, “But maybe I have a better idea.” I figure so long as I’m clear about who’s saying what, everything is fine.

I totally get that. I kinda started out doing things that way. I just wrote whatever came to mind and my chapters were short. Most of the early chapters were less than 1,000 words long because I always got straight to the point and wrote from First POV, which meant I was focused on whatever was happening right in the moment. Only later on did I add longer chapters. It wasn’t until much later that I started writing longer stuff. Most of it was of the more sexual kind. I had one or two chapters that were in the 10k area because they were very... detailed. Now most of the stuff I post here is in that range. There’s one story that I haven’t posted anywhere in which each individual chapter is 20k words.

Yeah, I am sitting on a pile of them to some extent but I do worry about getting to a place where I don’t have anything new to post. I have 4 chapters of my Scooby Gang Time series and all 7 chapters of a new complete story that I’ve been working on for several months. I also just posted the first chapter of Kendall and Veronica Go to Kinks Castle which is a 4 part story, so 3 more chapters. But like you said, it’s good to stay on the freshly updated side. If I post these stories that quickly, I end up down the list when new stories get posted or updated. That’s why I’ve been spacing them out. Like you, I enjoy re-reading them to make sure I didn’t do any spelling or grammar errors. There’s been one or two stories/chapters I posted where I reviewed it 3 times over a month before posting, found some errors but then realized after posting that I didn’t catch some.

What do you mean by days apart? Two? Seven? I’ve gotten into thinking in terms of a month between chapters. At least to give myself time to write more. Now I have a bunch of stuff that I can post. Trying to figure out if I should post more or not.

Okay so you’re cool with having more than one story being posted at the same time I guess. Good to know. I have a story I’ve started posting now that the site is back up that’s got 4 chapters, trying to space out the chapters for being posted. And I have a 7 part story that I wrote mostly while the site was in read only. Trying to decide whether I should start posting that or wait till the 4 part story is posted. Also got an unfinished story that I posted 6 chapters of before the site went read only and managed to write 4 chapters while it was in read only but still have 6 chapters to go at least before it’s done. Partly because I added chapters I hadn’t intended to.

Curious about how many stories you’re writing and/or posting. I have a few stories that are WIP and I’ve been posting some of it. I also have a few stories that are finished. Wondering how many you try to post at one time? How often do you post as well?

I sent you a response with some details in case it helps.

This might be a bigger problem. I tried the link you sent me and I had the same problem. What these people are saying is consistent with what I am having trouble with as well.

Okay, thanks. Also, something I noticed recently that I seem to have forgotten my password for the archive. But when I asked for a reset email, it immediately expired.

I just noticed this story has been added over the weekend. https://buffy.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600092234 It’s obviously in the wrong place in terms of the story. They seem to have a fanfic about Mickey and Minnie Mouse in the Buffy section of the archive. This isn’t my story so I can’t do much on my end but figure an archive moderator could fix it. Unless I’m wrong somehow, should this be moved elsewhere?

Yes, I read that in the “Adopt a Story” section. But I’m thinking of it in terms of inspiration. I’m not even entirely sure that I could contact the original authors if I wanted to. Though I’m open to the attempt. Instead I’m thinking in terms of what I mention with @BronxWench. The story would be inspired by the other author’s work but not an adoption, in the same way that my first fanfic was inspired by an AU story in a fandom I love where a character gets amnesia. It inspired me to write an in canon scenario where the same character gets amnesia. In fact, theoretically, I could tie it into a story I’ve already written. I wrote a story in which one character becomes essentially goddess of the universe, able to manipulate reality to their whim. Ultimately a multiverse was created out of the conclusion to the story. I could just say “Here’s a version of reality where this happens” and write that.

Absolutely. I think I did when I originally posted it. But it was before any sites like this existed. Or at least before I was aware of them and they’re now gone. However, there are also stories that I’ve read here where they’ve posted a couple chapters and the last chapter set up something fun that didn’t end up happening. The story just stops, and I can’t get the idea of what would’ve happened next out of my head. Sometimes I even write down some plot bunnies of what would’ve happened. But I know if I were to write the actual story I wouldn’t be able to post. At least based on the way the “Adopt a Story” section explains it. So I’m starting to think about how I could write it differently to make it more my own and not dependent on the story that inspired it.

Oh for sure, being inspired by a story to write your own isn’t necessarily plagiarism. For instance, the story I refer to that I wrote inspired by another involved a character having amnesia but the story was AU from main canon. So I wrote a story where that same character got amnesia but intergrated canon.