I am fully hooked into writing now.
I realized there was a bit of a disconnect with what I was trying to communicate with readers at times, I think mostly because of individual events in specific chapters vs. viewing Parts 1-8 as a character driven complete work.
I tried my best to avoid burrowing down my own personal fetish hole. While there are very strong elements of it included, many of the events and activities were independent of those. Half of the events I may have fantasized about at some point but I have no desire to actually experience them except possibly dabbling out of curiosity for how I might react.
I'm at a crossroads at the moment due to some ideas that are swirling in my mind, so I'm going to ask for people to choose what they would prefer to see.
1. Keep it more kink driven and expand through a variety of BDSM-related experiences and situations. The bonus chapters and Part 9 are an example of this type of progression.
2. Continue pushing the overall plot in a way that will force the characters into new and uncharted emotional experiences. If I go this route, the next plot arc will cover a major tragedy that throws fs into some major disarray attempting to cope with and reconcile the situation.
Please let me know which of these you would prefer to read. I currently have 2 more chapters "waiting in the wings" to be written and hopefully I'll have enough feedback to make a decision between these.
I gave it some thought. I would prefer to see more writing like the bonus chapters, but that is mostly because I found them hot. I feel that it is not your goal to make others want to jump in bed. :)
ReplyDeleteI really really do not like the idea of promoting you putting fs through a tragedy. I think this route will make you happier and give you the complete story that you have been striving for.
I may regret this, but I vote option #2.
Thank you, Miss Lily. I am fine catering to sexiness if that is what people would prefer. Getting people horny from my writing is a very large compliment/praise in my book.
DeleteOption 2 will not be pleasant for me emotionally but I have a big bag of experienced feelings I can tap onto to try to ensure realism.
I guess it's really a question of choosing between trying to reach hearts or pants. I don't mind option 1 because in some ways I felt like the first 8 chapters suffered by trying to write a romance/drama story in fetish clothing.
I could always just keep writing as #1 for now and go to #2 if I run out of ideas.
I only recently found your blog and I'm very glad I did.
ReplyDeleteAbout your recent writing, I need to feel some connection with the characters: who they are, what they think and especially their emotions. For that reason, I didn't connect with the first chapter. But as I read more and I gradually formed a sense of the characters, I really enjoyed some of your work.
What I especially like and find quite rare (probably because it is NOT what most readers seek) is descriptions of the emotional struggle/torment of the submissive. Even though I'm a new follower, I agree with Lily in that I also do not want to prompt you to put fs through a tragedy yet I think that path may well be more productive (for you personally (hope I'm not over-stepping)) as well as for creating a more substantive work.
Thank you, watson. Your username seems oddly familiar but I can't place it yet. A reader of Wrapped Up possibly?
DeleteI always appreciate the input. This really is my first attempt at trying this and I'm learning as I go. I am a big fan of character driven works and that is where I ended up going with the first 8 chapters.
Unless I can come up with a theme to hold another arc I may just write shorter bits that involve the known characters.
I am taking every bit of input to heart.
Just do what feels right to YOU. I'm not a big fan of chapter 7 (the jumps were fine), and that's more than enough tragedy for me. However, if you plan to go on and on with this story, you'll probably need something other than scenes of titillation. Maybe a combination of both is the way to go, if you can stop yourself from getting into an overwhelming "tragedy". I don't think you want to become a "Perils of Pauline" writer, where our hero is constantly being put into awful situations, only to be rescued via an emotional scene. Or maybe you do. So I'll refer you to my initial sentence. It is, after all, ultimately your choice.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Grey. What feels right to me is pleasing people :)
DeleteActually though, I think in this case it might just feel easier to please. I feel like a TV show that just finished up covering the book but got renewed for a second season with no source material.
The tragedy in mind was not so much a repeat of Part 7, more of an environmental shift. "What if." What if Cassandra were in an accident. How would fs respond? How would the other characters respond in support?
While brainstorming ideas a few things floated around my head based upon personal experience, your blog entry from when Vanessa got sick, and a blog/site of a lifestyle Domme you had linked to me way back in 2011 or so. That other blog dealt with trying to create the most realistically inescapable slavery bia voluntary blackmail. I remembered thinking, "what would he do if she died?" A few weeks later the announcement went up that she did in fact die.
I do not plan to kill Cassandra but this is a rather scary mindscape I am contemplating along with a new set of emergency protocols.
Take care and thank you for the input.