Writing Journal: I was in the middle of writing the second sex scene of The Adjusters #44 this week, when it suddenly hit me: the sex scenes in that installment were boring! Not a pleasant realization to have. But at least, I think I know why they were, and what I need to do to fix them. All it takes is to plunge a bit deeper into the inner state of our dear Jenn.
I've been feeling completely and utterly off these last few weeks. Part of it is just real life being busy, part of it is the weird weather, part of it is a mild case of the summertime blues. It's one of those phases were everything just seems like a bit of a slog, like walking in the snow in the wintertime, where just moving forward takes all your energy, and you don't have any left over to actually enjoy the walk.
Whine, whine, whine. Don't mind me.
The other thing that's been bringing me down is I've started to put out some stories for sale on Amazon and Smashwords and the likes, as I've been threatening to do for a while now. As expected, I'm writing under a different pseudonym, which I'm not quite ready to give out here just yet. One of the reasons is that the stories are more character-based than what I write under my B3 persona here—closer in spirit to the last Christmas Special, which wasn't about mind control and wasn't dark. At least, that's the plan for now. I expect that will change once I start finding my voice and producing some longer stuff. In the meantime, it's just tough to start from scratch with a new identity. There's probably wider lesson here about something deeper and more meaningful, too.
What else? I need to fiddle with the layout of this blog. The white on red is starting to bug me—it gets hard to read after a while, and I'm surprised none of you has been on my case about it. (I mean, I'm glad, but surprised.) I've been meaning to correct that for a while, but I keep putting it off. If I'm good, I'll take a stab this weekend. If everything goes fubar, you'll know why...
Stories. Lets talk about stories. That'll take us out of the jam.
First off, if you enjoyed DocCIS's last chapter of Lapdancing Girlfriend, the author has some after-the-fact comments about it.
Second off, I don't have a specific story per se, but rather an author, Urban_legend555, over on Literotica, who seems to specialize in shortish blackmail stories. Nothing particularly realistic or psychologically tenable, and most of the stories are on the same theme, but they have different enough premises that it doesn't really sound like you're reading the same story over and over again, and they're fun. Have a look if that's your thing. I particularly enjoyed The Sarah Solution, Intimate Vacation Pictures, Betrayal of Privacy, An Aberration of Trust, and Afternoon in the Sun. And if you like your smut with a World War II flavor and with the obvious bad guys and victims, check out Cooperating with the Enemy.
On the one hand it is hard to not repeat yourself while describing similar situations, after all it is how you imagine it to be interesting. On the other hand, stepping too far away from the beaten path makes people feel like the story is not what it used to be or what they hoped it would be like...
ReplyDeletePretty much. "Different but similar," as they say in Hollywood.
DeleteI think the key is dramatic impact: sex is sex but it becomes more interesting if it's something else too. Watching Jenn and Billy getting it on may be fun in and of itself, but it's better when it says something about Jenn and says something about Billy.
(Yeah, I know: who's Billy?...)
Have you had a chance to review the files I sent you? GKinaski
ReplyDeleteGot the files, but haven't looked at them yet. Probably later tonight.
DeleteIf I get a virus, it's on your head though :)
Fear not-- files are thoroughly hygienic! Looking forward to your thoughts
ReplyDelete