I've almost-written about 5 stories for this sub, but each time I do, I end up putting way too much detail in them. My most recent attempt already contains 25,000 characters and isn't even half way done yet.
Once I've spent about 6 or 8 hours writing, I start to lose arousal about the topic of the story and give up on it for the day. It's then really hard to pick it back up again to finish off. I've not written a 'normal' (i.e. non-erotic) story in a while, but I'm guessing they are easier to pick back up because with erotic stories I have to be really aroused about the particular story before I get back to it…
So, I'm either asking "How do I make my stories shorter?"
(Younger me would be confused – I could never write stories that were long enough before, and now they're all far too long… I hope one day I can say the same thing happened with my penis… ahem…)
Or I'm asking "How do you find the motivation to take an old story back up if you're only half-way done with it?"
My problem isn't exactly 'writer's block' – I only ever start writing a story if I have a weird fantasy that I can't get out of my head.
Oh, yeah, that's one thing – none of my stories are vanilla, and I guess it would motivate me more if I thought that other people might actually read/critique my stories after I'm done with them, but each post in this sub gets one comment if it's lucky, and I'm guessing that is mostly when the stories are straight and mostly vanilla – maybe light bondage or feet etc.
Anyway, any advice on finishing stories would be helpful! I've already thought to the end of my fantasies in my own head, but I guess I also get some enjoyment from the thought of sharing them with others, so any advice you give me means more stories for you..!
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/2oghfz/metamfnot_actually_a_storythe_mf_tag_was_a_lie
Chances are, your stories are too long because you write them as they generate from your feelings–and as soon as your feelings fade, the story dies. IF that’s the case, then you’re writing to *get off,* which is fine–but unless you learn to discipline yourself to finish the work even if *you* don’t get off (or even if did *get off*) then your stories will keep being unfinished. On a practical note: remember, not all literature has to be a film. In a film, you get all the color, the angles, the images, visual stimulation-overload. Reading and writing don’t always need every single sensation, tiny detail, feeling in the fingertips–for me, the best reading (and most fluid) is stories that touch somewhere between creating the picture, making the emotion real/believable, and alluring to the unseen. In other words: creating the best read with the least amount of words. In the words of Stephen King: Kill your darlings. **Finish the damn story even if you don’t feel like it.** Then edit down. Edit until you have cut all everything that doesn’t absolutely have to be there. Be merciless and unbiased. If I write, "She raised her glass, with a nervous smile and timid eyes," It gets my point across and the reader can go on with the story, as opposed to, "She raised her glass, shaking slightly at the wrist; wondering, thinking back to the many times with this particular love–and then she caught a glimpse of him. How his eyes…" Yes, this may seem glamorous and full of sexual details–BUT, if I do that for an entire story, the reader gets caught in reading rather than the story. Use details only a specific points to give the story heightened points and better rhythm. When you use anything too much, it becomes worthless. Good luck.
> IF that’s the case, then you’re writing to get off, which is fine–but unless you learn to discipline yourself to finish the work even if you don’t get off (or even if did get off) then your stories will keep being unfinished. It’s sort of half that. Like, I’ve thought through the entire thing in my head before, and it becomes a recurring fantasy of mine so I decide to try writing it down. And I’m writing in a state of sort of semi-arousal – not actually rock hard and writing one handed while I jerk myself all the time, just more ‘mm this feels nice and all my thoughts are sexy thoughts at the moment’… > Reading and writing don’t always need every single sensation, tiny detail, feeling in the fingertips–for me, the best reading (and most fluid) is stories that touch somewhere between creating the picture, making the emotion real/believable, and alluring to the unseen. In other words: creating the best read with the least amount of words. This is probably what I get wrong. I don’t often go for overly flowery descriptions of everything, but I like building the story so that it actually seems (semi) believable that certain events could lead up to that. For example, my latest unfinished story was some weird scat fantasy I had. Basically a couple decide to go running round a park while one of them poops themselves. Sounds ridiculous when I say it like that, though. Also, my fantasies often contain a ‘game’ element where the sub/dom roles aren’t decided until after some sort of game’s been played… so what happens is lots and lots of build up, and then even when the actual activity is happening it’s not interesting to say "and then she ran around for a bit and then she pooped herself" so I’m describing the situation in quite a lot of detail. And, as I said, there are only a few paragraphs of ‘flowery prose’ (although in this specific story, ‘flowery’ seems like a bad word to use…) most of it is just trying to run through how it actually would happen, and in a fairly straightforward way… So, I guess it’s less of what you’re saying – about how too much ‘glamour’ pads it out too much, and maybe just that I’m trying to write a fantasy that is too much of a *story* than a single event in a story.