Fishing... for a way out

[Viridian]

"Like" is entirely subjective. You can like a story just because it pushes the right buttons for you. It's easy to include things that tick the right boxes. If you like waders, then any story with waders will appeal to you. If you don't like grim, gory endings, then they won't appeal to you. An author isn't obligated to write for his audience, and 101927700 shouldn't put all his effort into editing and changing specific details just to make certain individuals happier. Please don't go down that path. Next minute, someone's going to say "Oh hey, I like big boobs. It'd be nice if Tirah had 36DD tits". Leave that to the imagination; it's not your duty to make every reader happy.

What I'm challenging you to do, 101927700, is to write good stories. You can write a longer, better story that has the elements that you like. You can push the right buttons with waders, with big boobs, with space aliens, or whatever. There's a lot of fetish stuff that is easily fulfilled just by mentioning them. What makes a story "good", however, is when the author is able to guide the reader into exploring the experience and feeling it themselves. A good story has a suspenseful structure, something that keeps the reader guessing and predicting, but leaving room for surprise. A good story will have unique characters, each with their own personalities and traits that people can understand and relate to. A good story will have detailed descriptions that play with our senses and entice us to read and re-read. A good story doesn't have to be long, but it has to be fulfilling.

Most importantly, a good story takes time to write.

You're pushing out a new story every week, if not in less time. Your stories are very short and recycle the same structure and elements. "Rafdill Moor" is a *bit* better, but you've done it before - this isn't the first time you've used a character trying to use a phone to escape, and it's still rigid and predictable. But it's a step in the right direction.

What you should do is take time to develop your stories. Add depth. Add more events. Add dialogue. Build your characters up. Every one of your stories is about [Name] falling into a bog, getting out/dying, the end. The stories you write can be done in less than half an hour, and given the sheer number you are submitting, this may be close to your actual time.

Slow down.

I've never seen a QS writer that is both incredibly prolific and spectacularly creative. There's a reason why experienced writers, such as PM2K, only publish a story every one or two months. These things take time. Don't flood the forum with dime-a-dozen pieces every week. Things are quiet here and people are loathe to give less-than-positive feedback, but each time you post a story that you've only spent half an hour, even an hour to write, you're setting yourself very low standards. You can be better than this.

[101927700]

"Like" is entirely subjective. You can like a story just because it pushes the right buttons for you. It's easy to include things that tick the right boxes. If you like waders, then any story with waders will appeal to you. If you don't like grim, gory endings, then they won't appeal to you. An author isn't obligated to write for his audience, and 101927700 shouldn't put all his effort into editing and changing specific details just to make certain individuals happier. Please don't go down that path. Next minute, someone's going to say "Oh hey, I like big boobs. It'd be nice if Tirah had 36DD tits". Leave that to the imagination; it's not your duty to make every reader happy.

What I'm challenging you to do, 101927700, is to write good stories. You can write a longer, better story that has the elements that you like. You can push the right buttons with waders, with big boobs, with space aliens, or whatever. There's a lot of fetish stuff that is easily fulfilled just by mentioning them. What makes a story "good", however, is when the author is able to guide the reader into exploring the experience and feeling it themselves. A good story has a suspenseful structure, something that keeps the reader guessing and predicting, but leaving room for surprise. A good story will have unique characters, each with their own personalities and traits that people can understand and relate to. A good story will have detailed descriptions that play with our senses and entice us to read and re-read. A good story doesn't have to be long, but it has to be fulfilling.

Most importantly, a good story takes time to write.

You're pushing out a new story every week, if not in less time. Your stories are very short and recycle the same structure and elements. "Rafdill Moor" is a *bit* better, but you've done it before - this isn't the first time you've used a character trying to use a phone to escape, and it's still rigid and predictable. But it's a step in the right direction.

What you should do is take time to develop your stories. Add depth. Add more events. Add dialogue. Build your characters up. Every one of your stories is about [Name] falling into a bog, getting out/dying, the end. The stories you write can be done in less than half an hour, and given the sheer number you are submitting, this may be close to your actual time.

Slow down.

I've never seen a QS writer that is both incredibly prolific and spectacularly creative. There's a reason why experienced writers, such as PM2K, only publish a story every one or two months. These things take time. Don't flood the forum with dime-a-dozen pieces every week. Things are quiet here and people are loathe to give less-than-positive feedback, but each time you post a story that you've only spent half an hour, even an hour to write, you're setting yourself very low standards. You can be better than this.

I guess my stories have been written quite quickly; Rafdill Moor took only an hour to write. Thinking about it, that is too fast.

[Viridian]

That's exactly the point. It's ridiculous to consider writing a "good" story in less than an hour. There's no quality control, no inspiration, just cut-and-paste story with names changed. As I writer, I get where this can come from. You get that spark of inspiration and you're mashing away at your keyboard. But you've got to let the idea sit, mature, ferment, ripen. This is your idea, your story, and one that you're happy enough to share with other people. If you're not going to give your stories the time they deserve, you're not respecting your own work. And others won't respect your work. Not if this is the time and effort you're putting into it.

Many writers draft numerous versions of their stories. I have many stories that I write but don't publish. That's a lot of hours and days writing things that no one will ever see, because I don't want to associate my name with a piece of work that I dislike. You shouldn't fell compelled to hit the Submit button the moment you type out "the end".

I urge you to consider not publishing a story until you have spent at least a week on it.

[101927700]

That's exactly the point. It's ridiculous to consider writing a "good" story in less than an hour. There's no quality control, no inspiration, just cut-and-paste story with names changed. As I writer, I get where this can come from. You get that spark of inspiration and you're mashing away at your keyboard. But you've got to let the idea sit, mature, ferment, ripen. This is your idea, your story, and one that you're happy enough to share with other people. If you're not going to give your stories the time they deserve, you're not respecting your own work. And others won't respect your work. Not if this is the time and effort you're putting into it.

Many writers draft numerous versions of their stories. I have many stories that I write but don't publish. That's a lot of hours and days writing things that no one will ever see, because I don't want to associate my name with a piece of work that I dislike. You shouldn't fell compelled to hit the Submit button the moment you type out "the end".

I urge you to consider not publishing a story until you have spent at least a week on it.

Ok.