How do you avoid repeating yourself?

[Jackie.Hikaru]

How do you draw the line between what you consider to be your "style" and blatandly just recycling yourself /being unoriginal?

Easy: I have no clue what my style is. By and large, I'm still a copy cat.

 

[Sinstories]

I have this growing suspicion that I tend to write the same sort of dynamics and situations over and over again.

Not only that, but there are specific phrases and expressions that I wanna put in multiple stories. If I'm being really harsh, I might be a one-trick pony.

When I come up with a joke or a snarky line, I often agonize a little over "wasting" it on a specific story rather than keeping it for a better one. Thinking that once I have used it, that's it, it's used up.

So here is my question to all of you: How do you draw the line between what you consider to be your "style" and blatandly just recycling yourself /being unoriginal?

Content-wise, do you abandon story ideas when you sense they might be too close to something you have already written?

Do you make sure characters from different stories do not resemble one another too much, and if yes, to what degree?

I realized recently that I wrote 2 series where the MMC and MFC were basically the same in each. Stories were very different but those two characters were so alike and their relationships were so similar.

To me, the first thing you have to do is realize it, then decide if what you are repeating is a problem or not and yes, I abandoned a story I was working on because it just felt like I was rehashing one I'd already written.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't repeat myself.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't repeat myself

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't repeat myself.

 

[MyBareTorso]

I have this growing suspicion that I tend to write the same sort of dynamics and situations over and over again.

Not only that, but there are specific phrases and expressions that I wanna put in multiple stories. If I'm being really harsh, I might be a one-trick pony.

When I come up with a joke or a snarky line, I often agonize a little over "wasting" it on a specific story rather than keeping it for a better one. Thinking that once I have used it, that's it, it's used up.

So here is my question to all of you: How do you draw the line between what you consider to be your "style" and blatandly just recycling yourself /being unoriginal?

Content-wise, do you abandon story ideas when you sense they might be too close to something you have already written?

Do you make sure characters from different stories do not resemble one another too much, and if yes, to what degree?

All of my stories are CFNM, but I've shifted the scenario around a lot over nearly 90 stories here. I write what turns me on, it's that simple. I might be a one trick pony (at least on Literotica anyway), but I'm cool with that.

 

[SimonDoom]

When I get tired of repeating things, then I copy, duplicate, reiterate, recapitulate, echo, parrot, quote, plagiarize, infringe, rip off, or restate things I've written before, just to keep things fresh.

 

[WeShallUnclench]

When I get tired of repeating things, then I copy, duplicate, reiterate, recapitulate, echo, parrot, quote, plagiarize, infringe, rip off, or restate things I've written before, just to keep things fresh.

What I personally adore is how this joke has absolutely no precedent in this thread, either

 

[M_K_Babalon]

If you want to take a walk on the wild side you could try alway toasting the bread.

You telling me he's over there eating raw toast like some caveman?

 

[WeShallUnclench]

You telling me he's over there eating raw toast like some caveman?

Now that's a Paleo diet I could get behind

 

[Blind_Justice]

The question is: How bad is repetition? There are enough authors making a killing adhering to a formula with only minor deviation.
Also, if you're known for writing about a particular topic, kink or fetish and your audience appreciates that, it would be kind of a dick move to suddenly stop and writing something else entirely. I'm looking at Anne Rice, for example

As for myself? Having a long-term game plan often helps. My stories are long-form, often intertwine and take place in a couple bespoke universes, so I need to be aware what has happened in each and every one. A nice benefit of juggling plot lines is that since my sex scenes are mostly in service of the plot, they hardly have the same set-up or payoff twice unless I brute-force some of my current fave kinks into them (which I do sparingly - I know not every one of my readers is into futa or monster girls).

I tip my head to those "single category" writers who have their stories revolve one kink only. Finding new ways to dress up the same mom-son incest relationship for the hundredth time sounds like a royal headache to me.

 

[HordHolm]

Repetition needn't be an issue, but... if you feel that repetition is jading you then it's probably best to diversify. I'm currently trying to write for categories that I would never have previously attempted. It's a challenge and I'm feeling stretched, and I feel this is restraining any sense of repetition right now.

 

[RachelPost]

In a similar vein, I’m trying to train my brain to refrain from using “fair enough” in the same way.

My biggest problem is finding other words for "He said" or "She said." There seem to be only a handful of alternatives. (Yes, I have used a thesaurus or two)

 

[Mogrem]

So here is my question to all of you: How do you draw the line between what you consider to be your "style" and blatandly just recycling yourself /being unoriginal?

It depends on what reason you're writing for. I say its approximately the same as for painting.

In short, whether its writing or painting or interpretative Tibetan Ballet:

• If you're mostly in the growth phase as an artist* you try to avoid developing a 'style' too early as that will limit you before you know your proper weaknesses, strengths and capabilities, meaning you try not to repeat yourself too much...
  • ...Unless you are trying to correct errors in your previous pieces, in which case you are really treating the various similar pieces as iterative sketches and are very much repeating yourself until you are content you've learnt as much as you can from the exercise.
• Whereas if you have reached a happy level and want to milk it for money and/or pleasure then you develop your style and double down on it, repeating yourself as often as it keeps working. Don't fix what ain't broke.

Me, I'm here for the former, very much not the latter.

____
(* Yes I appreciate everyone always wants to keep getting better, but I hope you get what I mean. At some point everyone has to pick the things they know they are good at and just keep doing them, even if they keep their development going on the side.)

 

[Mogrem]

My biggest problem is finding other words for "He said" or "She said." There seem to be only a handful of alternatives. (Yes, I have used a thesaurus or two)

General writing advice I've seen about that is to not worry at all about 'he said' 'she said'. It bothers authors but its invisible to readers. On the other hand wearing out the pages of your thesaurus to come up with, 'he exclaimed,' 'she murmured, pensively,' 'he wondered out loud,' 'she quietly croaked,' etc is very not invisible to the reader.

 

[luv2custrip]

Most stories out there take too long to get to it: if it’s Group Sex, I don’t need three pages setting it up.

 

[intim8]

When I come up with a joke or a snarky line, I often agonize a little over "wasting" it on a specific story

If it is a generally applicable joke or line, it is probably gratuitous to add it anywhere, unless it's said by the kind of character that throws random jokes or zingers into their conversation.

My pithy lines tend to be situation specific, and wouldn't be pithy in a different story.

 

[Djmac1031]

I probably have repeated myself more times than even I'm aware of in my stories.

Oh not exactly the same story over and over again with different names or something.

But certainly repeated descriptions, phrasings, concepts, ideas, themes etc.

And I know for a fact I repeated a particular piece of dialog between two characters in two different stories. I hesitated the second time writing it, realizing I was copying something in a previous story. But I decided most readers probably won't be reading the two stories back to back and would never notice.

Hollywood recycles stories all the time. And they get paid to do it.

Why can't we? Lol

 

[StillStunned]

I know for a fact that Springsteen has recycled lyrics. If he can do it, what's wrong with amateur writers doing it once in a while?