Pretty Girls and Writing Advice

Today’s post is about writing. For those of you who could care less, I have added pretty pictures of girls I saw at Dragon*Con. Everybody wins!

Yesterday Mystique went to the head of the lab with this question-

“Just wondered if you ever had trouble finishing stories, even if the entire plot was already in your mind?”

The short anwser is, many times.

I’m not talking about the frustration of having a complete story in your head and just not finding the time to write. That is another discussion about discipline and time management. I think what Mystique is asking about is that less glamorous and sometimes embarrassing problem where you have the time and the plot but you just can’t bring yourself to write it. That happens more times than I care to admit.

I have narrowed it down why this happens to a few reasons. The first culprit is pure writing excitement. I have dozens of friends who never get past the first page of their stories because for them, coming up with the idea is the exciting part. They have a great idea that when they tell it to you, you instantly know how the story will go. Unfortunately, I think they know how the story will go too and they have no interest sitting through the hours of writing it will take to lay out the story that they know the end to. It is a lot like watching a repeat of a mystery show you have watched. I think writers in this situation are bored with their own creations.

Which might not be a bad thing. If the writer lacks enthusiasm, how much can the reader be expected to have? When my own stories bore me, I start fiddling with the format. I change point of views, I challenge myself to have an unfamiliar voice or sometimes I just set a goal of describing all the sex scenes with a certain theme. Look at it this way, if you can’t bring yourself to finish writing a story, then change the story to something you do want to write.

Keeping on the topic of enthusiasm, I would also like to point out that I am never working on more than two stories at a time. When I say working, I mean actively writing one, while speculating on what a second would look like. I really believe when it comes to stories that you can’t write some and walk away and expect to come back with any success. When you start a story, you have a certain mood, a mindset and a perspective that inspired you to write. Walking away and starting three other stories takes you away from that original inspiration point.

I have literally finished stories that I didn’t like just because I forbid myself from writing anything else till I finish what I was working on. In those cases, my enthusiasm for the next story is what helped me finish the one I was on.

Another thing I would like to mention is that I often see a problem where stories are just too long. Many of my friends want to write novels when their favorite part of any story is when the two characters first meet or first have sex. They write those chapters, and then agonize over filling out the rest of the novel. They want the back story. I think they need to stop writing what doesn’t interest them. This is often an offensive suggestion to my friends because they are used to reading bloated 300 page romance novels that had two scenes in it that they really liked. Which is why I am happy writing about Otto Von Madd spanking an employee and they are unhappy with their ten unfinished stories.

Which brings us to sex scenes. It may surprise you but there are days when I just can’t bring myself to write another sex scene. I’ve never counted, but I am willing to bet that I have written over a hundred blowjobs. Sometimes it is not a matter of writing a 101st blowjob as much as I have written so much build up, that I am not sure if the sex could possibly live up to the rest of the story. (I’m looking at you, BDSM Beach).

There are two answers for this. One, do you need a sex scene? I find that a lot of times the sex doesn’t interest me nearly as much as the foreplay. Sometimes the foreplay is the story, especially in BDSM. Figure out where your story is and where the conflict is, and decide if that includes the actual sex. Feel free to drop the intercourse from your story if it ads nothing to the central plot.

The second remedy is far more primal. If you absolutely need a sex scene, and you can’t bring yourself to write it, then you need to go back and respark your interest in the characters. Re-read your story, or re-write your story, and find the sex appeal in your characters again. In erotica, the writer has to be engaged on some level. You need to get into a state of creative arousal where damn it, you need that sex scene as badly as your readers do. If that means you need to go back and maybe add a few physical details to a character here or subtract an annoying quality there, than go for it. I’m not saying you need to write with one hand, but I think every sex scene should be written with a certain heavy breathing.

Let’s review.

1. Be excited about your own story.

2. Stick with a story till it is done.

3. Write only the parts that interest you.

4. Only write sex that is necessary for the plot.

5. Be erotically invested in your characters.

6. Powergirl is always cute.