Author preface to story: when, if ever, should I write one?

[SomaSlave]

After a long, dry spell, I'm plunging back into the world of erotic writing with a series based on actual events. I've tried to keep the characters as true to life as possible while embellishing enough to make people want to read it. I'm concerned that the people are offbeat enough that they'll be viewed as either caricatures or bad writing (I'd settle for the first). Is it advisable to provide a setup of sorts, or just let the events unfold? Those who have read my previous works know I believe in letting characters reveal themselves in all their messed up glory by their own words and actions rather than the reader being told why things are happening the way they are. Here's the introduction I'm considering. Feel free to be brutally honest in your assessment of it. Thanks in advance.

Author’s note: Consider this series a docudrama: the main characters are real and, hence, complex and messed up people. I’ve taken dramatic license, which will grow in subsequent episodes, but, if their behavior seems unbelievable…let’s just say I know at least one of them very well.

 

[alohadave]

This has come up many times. You'll get two basic responses:

1. Go for it, it helps the reader to be informed.

2. Don't do it, you are pandering for scores and readers are adults that should be able to read a story without being spoonfed.

Pick which one you agree with, and that's what you should do.

 

[Gamblnluck]

Author’s note: Consider this series a docudrama: the main characters are real and, hence, complex and messed up people. I’ve taken dramatic license, which will grow in subsequent episodes, but, if their behavior seems unbelievable…let’s just say I know at least one of them very well.

That kind of preface would work. I once wrote a preface for a real event of my own. It was amazing how if they read many ignored it. I was told repeatedly it was bullshit. Certain events could not have been true that lawyers and clergy would never respond in certain ways. How the MC must have been an ass and in some way deserved it (I had to agree with the last part.)
I have since deleted the story.

 

[SomaSlave]

That's my main concern. The lady in the story was very special but, sadly, the people who "knew" her professionally were less than kind. I wouldn't want her literary persona to share the same fate. As for the male protagonist, if he comes across as a bit of a self-righteous jerk with a heart of fool's gold, all I'll say is that I have unique insights into his story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Author’s note: Consider this series a docudrama: the main characters are real and, hence, complex and messed up people. I’ve taken dramatic license, which will grow in subsequent episodes, but, if their behavior seems unbelievable…let’s just say I know at least one of them very well.

That's enough to get the story rejected - the site won't publish stories that are claimed to be true, for fear of reprisal.

You should completely fictionalise your "truth" - change their names, their jobs, the cities they live in, so if they ever recognise themselves you can say, "No, that's not you, this is fiction."

In any event, if you say a story is true, people will say, "Bullshit, I don't believe you;" and I've had people say, "Thank you both for sharing that experience," when the story is complete fiction and the characters don't exist.

Readers can't tell the difference, and what does it matter anyway?

But the issue here isn't the use of a preamble as such, the issue is the statement of truth - that's the bit that won't fly.

 

[SomaSlave]

That's enough to get the story rejected - the site won't publish stories that are claimed to be true, for fear of reprisal.

You should completely fictionalise your "truth" - change their names, their jobs, the cities they live in, so if they ever recognise themselves you can say, "No, that's not you, this is fiction."

In any event, if you say a story is true, people will say, "Bullshit, I don't believe you;" and I've had people say, "Thank you both for sharing that experience," when the story is complete fiction and the characters don't exist.

Readers can't tell the difference, and what does it matter anyway?

But the issue here isn't the use of a preamble as such, the issue is the statement of truth - that's the bit that won't fly.

Thanks for that insight: even though the names and locations are changed, I can see where claims of veracity could be challenged, though I hadn't thought of the moderators doing that. However, in today's landscape, I can see why they may be extra cautious.

I'll push it through as is, sans introduction, and see how it fares. Thanks to all for your insights.

 

[nice90sguy]

I learned to avoid the "this is a true story" thing with my first ever story here, back in '02, which bombed precisely becuase of that.

Having said that, prefaces are sometimes REALLY important to set expectations, basically to warn off people who won't be into your story because of its theme or subject. In such cases, a preface will give you some protection against angry low scores and negative comments.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I've considered this one a time or two but never used it.

The story you are about to read is pure bullshit from the mind of a master bullshitter.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

I used a preface on my first story because while I categorized it in Lesbian because of the sex, the MC was a male relative. I basically used it as a “if you came for a traditional lesbian, be warned.” I don’t know that I would use it because my characters have idiosyncrasies.

 

[SimonDoom]

The content guidelines say specifically prohibit the following:

• Works professed to be true about real people in the title, tags, and/or description. You can use “true” within the body of a story as part of your fictional storytelling. This policy is to protect authors as well as third parties.

So, you should NOT preface your story with a statement that it describes true events and is about real people.

 

[gunhilltrain]

That's enough to get the story rejected - the site won't publish stories that are claimed to be true, for fear of reprisal.

You should completely fictionalise your "truth" - change their names, their jobs, the cities they live in, so if they ever recognise themselves you can say, "No, that's not you, this is fiction."

In any event, if you say a story is true, people will say, "Bullshit, I don't believe you;" and I've had people say, "Thank you both for sharing that experience," when the story is complete fiction and the characters don't exist.

Readers can't tell the difference, and what does it matter anyway?

But the issue here isn't the use of a preamble as such, the issue is the statement of truth - that's the bit that won't fly.

It kind of depends on how old the events are. This was in Reviews and Essays, and the name of the student paper was changed, but almost everything in it is, well, a memoir. But fifty years have gone by, so I don't think anybody worries about resprisals. I mean. let them try if they feel like it, but some of those people are dead now.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/the-past-is-a-foreign-country

So @SomaSlave, you seem to be saying that this is within, I don't know, the last five years? (Is your user name, by the way, related to Brave New World?)

 

[SomaSlave]

It kind of depends on how old the events are. This was in Reviews and Essays, and the name of the student paper was changed, but almost everything in it is, well, a memoir. But fifty years have gone by, so I don't think anybody worries about resprisals. I mean. let them try if they feel like it, but some of those people are dead now.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/the-past-is-a-foreign-country

So @SomaSlave, you seem to be saying that this is within, I don't know, the last five years? (Is your user name, by the way, related to Brave New World?)

The events took place roughly 10 years ago. Given the passage of time and circumstances, I feel pretty comfortable that people who read the story won't be able to connect it to anyone. Just to be sure, I cleaned up one part that may have revealed more than it should and took it out.

And, yes, my user name was inspired by Brave New World. I came up with it long before I had heard of the lingerie company. I applaud your erudition.

 

[Voboy]

This has come up many times. You'll get two basic responses:

1. Go for it, it helps the reader to be informed.

2. Don't do it, you are pandering for scores and readers are adults that should be able to read a story without being spoonfed.

Pick which one you agree with, and that's what you should do.

/thread.

Write it if you want to, OP. You're the one who decides what's in your story, including a preface.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The events took place roughly 10 years ago. Given the passage of time and circumstances, I feel pretty comfortable that people who read the story won't be able to connect it to anyone. Just to be sure, I cleaned up one part that may have revealed more than it should and took it out.

And, yes, my user name was inspired by Brave New World. I came up with it long before I had heard of the lingerie company. I applaud your erudition.

Hah, I've never heard of the lingerie company! There's also a Soma Living Magazine that seems completely unrelated. I wonder where they got that idea from.

I should note that when I wrote about those people from fifty years ago, they published their memoirs and their photographs under there real names. They were hardly shy about it. In fact, they loved the publicity of having 10,000 students know all about their sex lives, among other things. That women who posed for the nude photos did interviews afterwards and hoped to get famous from it. It even made the New York Times, although the editor was interviewed for that. So if they were showing off in the 1970s, they hardly can complain about what is said about them decades later.

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/24/...paper-voted-at-city-college-move-follows.html

 

[ElectricBlue]

/thread.

Write it if you want to, OP. You're the one who decides what's in your story, including a preface.

The point here is the "true story", not the notion of a preface itself. Stating it's a true story will get a rejection from the site.

The events took place roughly 10 years ago. Given the passage of time and circumstances, I feel pretty comfortable that people who read the story won't be able to connect it to anyone. Just to be sure, I cleaned up one part that may have revealed more than it should and took it out.

Ten years is not that long ago. I've been here on Lit for ten years, and I'm pretty sure I can easily remember 2015. As I said up above, don't state it's true, and vague it all up.

 

[NotWise]

I had to go back and review my stories. I think all of my stories from the first year I was here had some kind of preface--often just thanking a beta reader, or repeating the short description. The first two parts of my longest series had prefaces to introduce the reader to the paranormal nature of New Mexico traditions, and my two stories in "The Third Ring" anthology have the same preface on both of them. It gives background for the whole anthology and I'll probably do it for future stories

Since then, I've mostly avoided prefaces and included the background in the text of the stories.

 

[alohadave]

The point here is the "true story", not the notion of a preface itself. Stating it's a true story will get a rejection from the site.

The true story is what people are keying on, but it's not what OP asked.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The true story is what people are keying on, but it's not what OP asked.

No, but that's because he didn't know that that was his major issue.

Site policy takes precedence over whatever usefulness a preamble might have - but I think the OP now understands that. He's now able to make the necessary changes so his story doesn't get rejected - which is more useful than the usual discussion about preambles, which don't get you very far.

 

[SomaSlave]

Thank you, everyone, for your comments: they've been helpful on many levels. The community of writers here is special.

 

[Britva415]

Stating it's a true story will get a rejection from the site

No, that's only true of tags, titles and descriptions. The content of a story can state that it's true.

 

[AlinaX]

Forewords are okay if short. Anything longer than a paragraph becomes a potential irritation. I use them for content warnings and acknowledgements, mainly.

 

[ElectricBlue]

No, that's only true of tags, titles and descriptions. The content of a story can state that it's true.

A preamble would be categorised as a description, would it not?

Whatever, the guy now knows the site policy, so it's up to him to get it over the line.

 

[TheLobster]

I've considered this one a time or two but never used it.

The story you are about to read is pure bullshit from the mind of a master bullshitter.

If a master bullshitter says (s)he's bullshitting, is that also bullshit?

 

[SomaSlave]

If a master bullshitter says (s)he's bullshitting, is that also bullshit?

It's the equivalent of, "This statement is false."

 

[SomaSlave]

The story status in my dashboard is Published, with a date of 1/30/2025. Since I didn't find anything in the FAQs on this, I'll ask here. My interpretation is that it's been approved and will drop on the 30th. Is that accurate?