Kill it or let it lie?

9 Jul 2021

Hiya All!

I just published a story about my weekend with my lover, well part of my weekend. It was originally much longer as I detailed how we met, etcetera, and so on. It also focused on my feelings and reactions. I had thought that a recount of how we met would make fore a wonderful, romantic, and hot story. Regretfully, after I wrote it, I read it over and, objectively speaking, while romantic and perhaps entertaining (I felt I had some good phrases and wording) it wasn't overly erotic or really even warming up until almost 10 pages in.

I know my problem is that I'm too focused on what I was feeling emotionally, why I felt that way, and all the events just seemed so different.

when you write something and you feel it is not worthy for publication here, do you trash it into the recycle bin or do you let it sit for future revision? why do you do that and how does it work out for you in the end?

thanks

Am I a good witch, or a bad witch? History will decide

9 Jul 2021

Quote by krystalg
Hiya All!

I just published a story about my weekend with my lover, well part of my weekend. It was originally much longer as I detailed how we met, etcetera, and so on. It also focused on my feelings and reactions. I had thought that a recount of how we met would make fore a wonderful, romantic, and hot story. Regretfully, after I wrote it, I read it over and, objectively speaking, while romantic and perhaps entertaining (I felt I had some good phrases and wording) it wasn't overly erotic or really even warming up until almost 10 pages in.

I know my problem is that I'm too focused on what I was feeling emotionally, why I felt that way, and all the events just seemed so different.

when you write something and you feel it is not worthy for publication here, do you trash it into the recycle bin or do you let it sit for future revision? why do you do that and how does it work out for you in the end?

thanks

Try to revise it - you put a lot of work and a lot of yourself into it.

I'd rename it so you don't lose anything you delete - then edit mercilessly. Figure out what the main thrust is (heh) and then cut anything that doesn't lead directly to it. You can always go back and add stuff you cut back in, so be merciless with the cuts.

I have this in my queue and will read it (if you don't delete it first). Good luck!

Tintinnabulation - first place (Free Spirit)
Comet Q - second place (Quick and Risqué Sex)
Amnesia - third place (Le Noir Erotique)

9 Jul 2021

Quote by krystalg
Hiya All!

I just published a story about my weekend with my lover, well part of my weekend. It was originally much longer as I detailed how we met, etcetera, and so on. It also focused on my feelings and reactions. I had thought that a recount of how we met would make fore a wonderful, romantic, and hot story. Regretfully, after I wrote it, I read it over and, objectively speaking, while romantic and perhaps entertaining (I felt I had some good phrases and wording) it wasn't overly erotic or really even warming up until almost 10 pages in.

I know my problem is that I'm too focused on what I was feeling emotionally, why I felt that way, and all the events just seemed so different.

when you write something and you feel it is not worthy for publication here, do you trash it into the recycle bin or do you let it sit for future revision? why do you do that and how does it work out for you in the end?

thanks

I really don't know exactly what you recount in your story but if it is not essentially a work of eroticism then consider writing it as a romantic story that could be approved and published over on our sister site, storiesspace.com. I wrote a long story about a young girl coming of age and beginning to understand that she was probably a lesbian in her orientation. It had no real sexual acts in it even if some things were implied. In any case, it was erotic enough to be posted here on Lush but it was a Recommended Read on SS after all blatant sexuality was removed. We are all writers on an erotic site here but it is good to recall that not all stories have to be openly erotic.

9 Jul 2021

Quote by krystalg
Hiya All!

I just published a story about my weekend with my lover, well part of my weekend. It was originally much longer as I detailed how we met, etcetera, and so on. It also focused on my feelings and reactions. I had thought that a recount of how we met would make fore a wonderful, romantic, and hot story. Regretfully, after I wrote it, I read it over and, objectively speaking, while romantic and perhaps entertaining (I felt I had some good phrases and wording) it wasn't overly erotic or really even warming up until almost 10 pages in.

I know my problem is that I'm too focused on what I was feeling emotionally, why I felt that way, and all the events just seemed so different.

when you write something and you feel it is not worthy for publication here, do you trash it into the recycle bin or do you let it sit for future revision? why do you do that and how does it work out for you in the end?

thanks

10 pages? That's what about 5k words? Well within the 10K limit per chapter.
I've got one series that takes about 4 chapters before they get down to anything, there are bits n bobs and some teasers leading up to it.
Another series it takes 13 chapters for him to get his dick wet, but there is plenty erotic going on leading up to that.
Both of these are romances.

For me and I know I'm a bit of junky for it, emotions and feelings and what is going on behind the eyes of the characters is just as important as what is happening physically. In my opinion this can be even more erotic. Knowing how you felt when you saw him walk in the room, feeling a tingle when you smelt his cologne or how your nipples hardened when he smiled at you.
Let it simmer, let the heat build and build until it explodes.

I think the last sentence of what Green Man said is important, it doesn't have to be blatant, implied eroticism can be even better.

Whatever you do, don't delete it. I've got a a whole load started that I have come to a stop on, but they are there for when I want to revisit them.

Kite's Kinky Tales

My latest offering -

Once more in Love Poems - My Forever Beauty

My 2 previous submissions:

Both Love Poems

Pearls

As The New Year Dawns

Please read and enjoy. If you really enjoyed a story someone has written; how about clicking on 'Like' and/or 'Favorite'.
Why not leave a comment too?

10 Jul 2021

I never trash anything I write. I just table it until I have better focus where I want it to go. Sometimes it takes years and dozens of rewrites for me to complete a story. But they're usually worth the wait if I ever get them posted. Of course, my readers have long since moved on by this time.

10 Jul 2021

Good for you to go back and read objectively. Two things. One, you need to know the people in the car before you care about the car accident.Two, kill your babies. So, we need to know what the character wants, and how willing they are to go after it, so we can identify with them, but that can go too far. Save the file with a new name, then see how much you can cut and still be proud of your story.

One trick I learned from Randy Ingermanson is to put the central conflict of the scene as close to the top as possible. Maybe in the first line. Certainly in the first paragraph. You need to be able to point to that sentence, highlight it in yellow, underline it and bold.

Example

I swore I would never date another lesbian, I mean, what’s the point since I’m a straight guy, but there was something about that cowgirl that just made my heart skip a beat.

The idea is that it is more important to setup the conflict than to set the scene or tell us where the character went to elementary school.

Good luck! I look forward to reading your story.

10 Jul 2021

Thanks everyone!

Honestly, I had already deleted it and then emptied my recycle bin before I asked the question. I was focusing on the wrong things and, to me, it read like Dostoyevsky; very pedantic. In the future I'll probably heed everyone's advice and let it sit until I can make it acceptable to myself. On this one, though, it seemed like the thing to do.

Am I a good witch, or a bad witch? History will decide

1 Aug 2021

Quote by krystalg
Hiya All!

I just published a story about my weekend with my lover, well part of my weekend. It was originally much longer as I detailed how we met, etcetera, and so on. It also focused on my feelings and reactions. I had thought that a recount of how we met would make fore a wonderful, romantic, and hot story. Regretfully, after I wrote it, I read it over and, objectively speaking, while romantic and perhaps entertaining (I felt I had some good phrases and wording) it wasn't overly erotic or really even warming up until almost 10 pages in.

I know my problem is that I'm too focused on what I was feeling emotionally, why I felt that way, and all the events just seemed so different.

when you write something and you feel it is not worthy for publication here, do you trash it into the recycle bin or do you let it sit for future revision? why do you do that and how does it work out for you in the end?

thanks

I let it sit for a while, often go back to it and publish it anyway.

23 Jan 2022

I use google drive, and just let "failed" stories sit. Many reasons for coming back to them have already been given, but here is one more: I've found that sometimes I run across someone else who has written something similar or we are talking about something that reminds me of one of those stories. If I trust them, I'll share the document with them so they can read how I felt about it. At least once, that has lead to a collaboration on a new version of the story which was then eventually published.

Note: Google has a feature for what to do if you "abandon" an account (read: if you die). I've got mine set to notify my wife and give her access, and then if she does nothing, to delete it all. She already has access to all my writing, but I wanted to remind her it was there and might be a way to connect to my memory. And I want her to be reminded that it will be erased if she doesn't change the setting. The point is: I don't want the world to know that the "respectable" father, husband, educator, leader had this dark side. And it seemed worth pointing out that your "dirty" stories, if kept, can be set to self destruct eventually.

23 Jan 2022

LS has a 10K word limit, which is generous. However, there are time when it's necessary to attend to the flow of a story. Is the action moving forward or have you gotten lost in the overgrown weeds of description. Of course, It can also be good practice to be economical in your editing. How much can you cut while maintain the integrity of your narrative?

Don't believe everything that you read.

27 Jan 2022

I once removed two stories from another site because I had a major change in the plot and those two had become "obsolete," if that is the correct way to put it. I still kept copies of the old texts on file; I didn't destroy/delete them. Maybe I wanted to know where I had been or what I had been thinking at the time. It took me several months to get around to that, and it was the only time in four years with over ninety stories that I did it.

27 Jan 2022

Quote by theMasterBaiter
I use google drive, and just let "failed" stories sit. Many reasons for coming back to them have already been given, but here is one more: I've found that sometimes I run across someone else who has written something similar or we are talking about something that reminds me of one of those stories. If I trust them, I'll share the document with them so they can read how I felt about it. At least once, that has lead to a collaboration on a new version of the story which was then eventually published.

Note: Google has a feature for what to do if you "abandon" an account (read: if you die). I've got mine set to notify my wife and give her access, and then if she does nothing, to delete it all. She already has access to all my writing, but I wanted to remind her it was there and might be a way to connect to my memory. And I want her to be reminded that it will be erased if she doesn't change the setting. The point is: I don't want the world to know that the "respectable" father, husband, educator, leader had this dark side. And it seemed worth pointing out that your "dirty" stories, if kept, can be set to self destruct eventually.

I guess I've wondered what would happen if I died (I'm sixty-six now) and someone went through my computer. Possibly my sister or daughter would do it. The Word files would be the easiest items to find. Maybe it depends on one's religious beliefs about life after death, perhaps. My view is that I won't be around to worry about it, so let them look. They probably will indeed be surprised!