The Writing Process

[sexyactionnick]

I just started posting the muscle-growth story I've written in years ("The Massive Growth of Bart," I couldn't think of a better title). I posted the first two chapters, though I'm currently on chapter four. I wanted to have a lot in reserve, on the off chance the story was popular and the people demanded more, so I'd still have chapters to post if I got swamped.

My question is: How do other writers deal with the waiting? I've only received a few reviews so far, but if you check the timestamps you'll notice I only posted it a few hours ago and I'm already going nuts. Recently, I gave a short film script to a friend of mine, who is a producer, for notes, and the waiting is like a slow heart attack. I think if my story was a one-shot, I could handle it better, as I could post it and essentially forget about it, but I have an immediate demand for feedback to ensure that Chapters 3, 3.5 (another boring one), and 4 keep upping the ante and getting better.

Do other writers of muscle growth fiction also write far in advance, or do they (you?) publish as they go?

[Xyggurat]

Nick,

I found pretty quickly that the posting of live stories on this board was tougher than most people realize. You always want every review to be positive, or at least constructive, but an interactive audience carries with it greater burdens than a less active author has to deal with.

That's not to say this community isn't wonderfully supportive. They are.

However, you're always going to get a number of "wouldn't it be great if"s or "your story would be so much better if it was about this, instead!"s. My advice is to revel in the good stuff, file away the bad stuff, and write this story the way you intended in the first place.

Adjusting along the way for user comments can be helpful if they're making valid points: punctuation, formatting, deeply confusing plotlines, etc. However, it can also dilute your original intent.

What I'd suggest is that you treat this story like a novella. Soak everything in and let it affect the next whole story you write (if at all), but not one that is already in progress. Just my opinion.

-X-

[redkage]

I agree with X. Writing is all about conveying your ideas from your head down into words. When I write, I always make sure I have a good hold on my story's beginnings, build up and conclusion/goal. Relax and take a nice, long look at what you want. With that firmly in your head, just let yourself go and write. You are completely free to express yourself through your writing, no matter what the reviews say. Criticism, both good or bad, are just advice you can listen, but don't have to heed it.

As for keeping several chapters in reserve, that's a nice way of keeping ahead and gives you something to post in case you run into a writer's block. Not everyone can pull it off, but it's a useable tactic anyhow.

[Reeza]

Originally Posted by sexyactionnick

My question is: How do other writers deal with the waiting? I've only received a few reviews so far, but if you check the timestamps you'll notice I only posted it a few hours ago and I'm already going nuts. Recently, I gave a short film script to a friend of mine, who is a producer, for notes, and the waiting is like a slow heart attack. I think if my story was a one-shot, I could handle it better, as I could post it and essentially forget about it, but I have an immediate demand for feedback to ensure that Chapters 3, 3.5 (another boring one), and 4 keep upping the ante and getting better.

Do other writers of muscle growth fiction also write far in advance, or do they (you?) publish as they go?

I began posting my first story, Tall Tale, about 3 weeks ago. I chose to post each section as I finished it, not because I planned to change the story based on the reactions I got, but because I write rather slowly and was afraid I would never be motivated to finish it if I didn't get some feedback as I went along. I don't regret publishing as I wrote, but I wish I had given more thought to the entire arc of the story before I impulsively posted the first part. Once it was posted, there were elements I regretted but couldn't change. For example, I made the big guy too big and tall right from the start, so there was no room for much growth in my muscle growth story. What the hell was I thinking? As a result, I had to come up with explanations for his size and height that caused the story to develop in ways I had not anticipated. I don't know if this ended up making the story better or worse.

Regarding waiting for feedback, the initial rush of positive feedback I received was like a wonderful addictive drug. It helped me finish the next few chapters very quickly, hoping for the same reaction. It didn't quite work out that way as the comments and the view counts dwindled. Even though I have continued to put in a lot of effort and remain committed to writing the story the way I want it to be, it's hard to avoid thinking that people have lost interest or don't like the direction I'm going with it. Posting your private sexual fantasies, even in an anonymous forum, makes you more vulnerable than I imagined. I have learned to rely on the feedback from a few generous supporters to keep me going as I watch the comments piling up on new stories that certainly deserve to be praised.

I have said it before in my own thread, and I will say it again despite any negative reactions it might attract - feedback motivates contributions to this forum. If we want to see more of what we like, we all have to take the time to post a simple "that was great" on the threads we enjoy. Even raising questions about plots or characters shows you're still engaged.

Feedback might not keep me or sexyactionnick from going nuts, but it might slow down the process long enough to get a few more stories out of us.

[Lothian]

Morning, Nick. Thanks for starting to post your story, I look forward to reading more.

I?m in the middle of my first one just now. I took a different approach to you and posted I went. After all, what?s the point in continuing if no-one?s reading? Scarily enough, people did read, so I kept going.

As has already been said, it?s a good idea to keep something in reserve in order to maintain momentum. I?m discovering that as I try to pull the strands of mine together into some sort of an ending. On the other hand, there?s a certain thrill in posting what you finished typing ten minutes ago, knowing you?ve only skimmed back over it for corrections once and that aside from the odd idea kicking around in your head there?s nothing left in the drawer.

If I do another, a single shot looks increasingly appealing!

It?s arguable that a lack of comment is a positive thing. Depending on the effect you?re trying to generate, having a readership with other things on their minds as they finish reading is possibly quite a good thing.

Why worry about feedback? If the readers appreciate what you?re doing, they?ll continue to read and if they don?t then they won?t. Write for yourself, write what you?d want to read and write for the hell of it. Positive comments are of course nice, but don?t keep going simply to get them, keep going because you're enjoying it and you've got something to express.

Negative comments are pretty rare, but if you should get one I?d suggest that you follow the Bernard Black method of response. (Do a youtube search for 'black books bernard letter' for further details.) It?s probably for the best. I don?t think that flugelhorns are an absolute necessity, however.

[inflatedmuscle]

I second Lothian's statement. Nice comments are great but people are busy or shy or whatever. Don't take lack of response as negative. What I notice is how many reads I get - my DA story page is nearing 11,000 hits so somebody out there must be enjoying. Just write about what works for you and share it. If you are enjoying the writing process - there's your reward.

[sexyactionnick]

Yeah. I don't have a bajillion hits or anything, but I can tell people are reading it. I've emptied my reserve, since Chapter 3 1/2 was a boring non-sexy one, I wanted to put up something sexy with it. I'm not sure if the next chapter is going to be the last one, since the character pacing is going differently than I thought it would.

My protagonist has been completely preoccupied on his transformation, and everything I described about him in the first chapter has sort of gone away. I brought that back a bit at the end of Chapter 4, but now I'm realizing that I need to spend more time with it in 5 and, if I have one, 6.

The weird thing is that I hate these kinds of stories. Long stories with slower growth and whatnot. I hadn't written prosaic fiction in a long time, but I had time between projects (scripts and whatnot) and it just kind of came out.