Can you top yourself?

[lovecraft68]

I have two or three others I think can top it on deck, but I have to, you know, actually write them first.

That's part of the equation as well. I think a lot of us-and I'm one of them-feel they may have that one that rules them all lodged in their mind somewhere. We get glimpses of it from the muse, maybe when we visualize it we can even get that 'feel' for it but can't pull the trigger, at least not yet.

 

[lovecraft68]

I've been thinking about this all evening.

I appreciate you saying this because my goal with this thread-other than to see replies because I ask myself this question often-was to try and come up with a thread that wasn't the usual question about rules or gripe about stats. That and the obsession with score and red H's as being the sign-deserved or underserved-of success here. I wanted to come up with a topic that caused people to reflect on their own work because at the end of the day that's what should be most important to us.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I keep trying to refine scene changes to make them seem more natural and dialog to seem more conversational. We don't talk 'Chicago Manual' style and no two groups of people carry on conversations the same way.

But I don't want to get verbose either. When you can describe a scene in 100 words or less, why fluff it out to 500 words?

 

[pink_silk_glove]

There was a thread yesterday about it being frustrating to see high rated stories that you think are poorly written.

The bullshit about that thread is that pretty much everyone in that thread was saying the exact same stuff that I say about scores (some of it word for word) that I get shit on for.

That idea is crap because most of us know that everything here is too subjective to play this 'It's not worth its rating because my stories are better" game. Or comparing one author to another. It's pointless.

I agree 100%. Someone gives a bad review and the writer immediatley says, "Well, the story has a 4.83 rating so wtf do they know? Hrmpff." The same author will score a 4.27 and claim, "I'm getting bombed by trolls!"

The scores do not indicate quality of your work - or at least quality factors so lowly that it can rarely be quantified. Readers vote highly if they agree with the story. Three ways to agree.

1 ~ Dictate their fantasy back to them - some fantasies are so simple (unicorns) that this can be quite easy to do depending on category or expected content - just tick the boxes on the template
2 ~ Have your characters act the way that they expect them to - "a Mom would/should never do that!" etc.
3 ~ Give them the outcome that they expect (the HEA romance or the bad end for the cheating wife etc) - again really just box ticking

These factors faaarrrr outweigh quality of prose, storytelling, plot, style etc in the vast majority of categories.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Yes. Will I? We'll see.

 

[onehitwanda]

I have a short list of four "favourite" stories. Nothing I'm working on will displace any of them any time soon, I fear.

Maybe some day. But I'm just so tired right now, so it won't be soon.

 

[MelissaBaby]

That's part of the equation as well. I think a lot of us-and I'm one of them-feel they may have that one that rules them all lodged in their mind somewhere. We get glimpses of it from the muse, maybe when we visualize it we can even get that 'feel' for it but can't pull the trigger, at least not yet.

That's what I am working on right now, and why this has been the longest I have gone without submitting anything since I joined Lit.

 

[Voboy]

I've got a Perfect Story in my mind. It's been there for many years now, and I've tried to tackle it twice. It's never worked as well as I think it should.

If I ever get it done, nothing I ever do will top it. It might not be do-able, at least not by me.

 

[lovecraft68]

That's what I am working on right now, and why this has been the longest I have gone without submitting anything since I joined Lit.

Good luck with it.

My issue is I know I have the story, well a good chance that it is, but some of my best work has come when I am not in a good place in mind and the material takes me further down the fucked up and angry rabbit hole. The idea has been poking up here and there for three or so years and I lock it away. The last couple of years my wife has been battling cancer with a lot of ups and downs. I'm tired, I'm stressed and at times flat out mad dog pissed off. Few days ago I did a 2200 word intro to that idea. I tell myself I'm just tooling around but the feel of it was damn strong.

I showed it to my wife who asked "You really going to do this to yourself?"

I'm still mulling over the answer, but I'm leaning over the rabbit hole.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Now, sit back and think to yourself can I top it?

Sometimes I have a smaller idea that I think will just be fun to do, but most of the time, topping my best is the only goal.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Hm. "Express Delivery" is my best story, at least in term of sexual tension. Could I top it? If I look at some of my work-in-progress drafts, the answer is "yes". I won't be able to write better sex scenes, but in terms of characters, tension or plot complexity, I have already beaten "Express..." It was meant as an entry point into my Sci-Fi universe and as such, I kept things simple and had the reader learn along with the female protagonist. The stuff I'm chipping away at is aimed more at seasoned veterans and as such, the training wheels are off.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

One of my stories caught fire when I was a newbie writer, and it rose to number 1 on the 12-month most-viewed list. Since then I've sometimes thought I should be able to beat that, because I think I'm a better writer, but I've never come close.

Further evidence that actual quality writing is such a small factor in scores.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Definitely. I think I've become better as a writer over time, and since I have no problems with inspiration or ideas, I'd say that I'm gonna be topping myself more than once in the future. Of course, my only metric will be the way I feel about a story, not stats.

Except that you're on a personal crusade do ban troll votes!! Hel-LO??!!?!! If you did not care about the numbers you would not be rabid about banning unregistered voting. Unreal, man. This is hilarious!

 

[lovecraft68]

Can we not do the stat/troll/one bomb argument again?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Some of these posts are making me ask .....

Have any of your stories screwed you up in the head? I mean almost hurt you to where you don't even want to try again?

 

[Voboy]

Some of these posts are making me ask .....

Have any of your stories screwed you up in the head? I mean almost hurt you to where you don't even want to try again?

Oh no. Not in the least. I enjoy this as a hobby; the storytelling is fun, the characters feel like people, and it's nice to know my stories make people cum sometimes.

Other than that? I'm not really all that emotional about them, certainly not to the point where they mess with my head. That's what real life is for, and even then it's a matter of perspective.

 

[Not2Pervy]

The most frustrating/problematic thing about the ratings system is that it’s the dominant form of external validation this site offers. It drives views and also influences readers’ opinions.

I might think story X is my best, but every time I look at my list, I see that story Y has a higher rating. Seeing that makes me question myself. Why did I think X was better? Am I right to think that?

I am not so confident in my ability to objectively, or even subjectively judge the quality of my own work to always know if or when I’ve done something better than before.

But every story, for me, is an effort to improve something about my work. And yes, the thought that someday I might be able to put it all together is still out there for me.

 

[Erozetta]

Some of these posts are making me ask .....

Have any of your stories screwed you up in the head? I mean almost hurt you to where you don't even want to try again?

Not score or reception wise. Story wise from the weight of what I wrote? Oh yeah.

 

[lovecraft68]

Some of these posts are making me ask .....

Have any of your stories screwed you up in the head? I mean almost hurt you to where you don't even want to try again?

The long series I wrote here from 2010-2011 had my wife telling me if I don't finish the damn thing, or quit on it soon she was going to make me go talk to someone. That's when the writing is true catharsis for negative things. I'm a 'method' writer. so if I need to do something grim or depressing I can call up a lot of my own bullshit and become immersed in that mode.

Hence, I have ideas that I've avoided because I don't need to send myself spiraling into that mental state. Although, as I just posted to Melissa I find I'm drifting in that direction for an idea I've had for a while

It opens with a home invasion with a nasty fight scene and the MC's girlfriend being brutally beaten to death while she fights off the other two attackers and can't get to her. The cops show up after she kills one of them and was ready to finish off another. From there when she's in the ER you get the feeling the detective is part of this as over the last three years several lesbian women have disappeared and their bodies turn up weeks later, brutally tortured and damaged. A 'serial killer' is blamed but little investigation because its one of those small town has a sick cult of animals kind of thing going.

Where this is heading is the survivor is a former black ops agent briefly turned gun for hire before trying to leave it behind and have a life for herself in a small town. Common trope for action films/novels, but I've always enjoyed it enough to want to take my shot at it. I have a fight scene meant for another story featuring the MC and will plug that into this and its 80's slasher gore level bloody,

As my lifelong best friend has said several times "I would never want to be in your head."

Like I said to Melissa I am at that point of frustration with life to begin this journey and its going to show up and show out. This won't be a story that will be publisher here for....reasons.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Some of these posts are making me ask .....

Have any of your stories screwed you up in the head? I mean almost hurt you to where you don't even want to try again?

I started a horror story a couple of years ago about a woman who is murdered by a serial killer in a sleazy hotel room. The idea was that she would haunt the room for years, observing the people who rented it, and eventually trained herself to have some limited interaction with the living. And then one day, the same serial killer returns to the room with an intended new victim..

I worked on it and worked on it and finally bailed out. It just didn't seem healthy for me to go where it was taking me.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Can we not do the stat/troll/one bomb argument again?

We won't. Well, at least I won't reply to the person (PSG) who, as others have noticed, always assumes the worst intentions and motives behind everyone's post, everyone lying, etc.

By the way, I didn't see your own reply to the question in the original post? Do you think you can top your most successful stories? You've had plenty of success here, but if I am not mistaken, a couple of your brother-sister stories were the most successful among your work, right?
So, are you a had-been brother/sister guru, or you think you still have a couple of tricks up your sleeve?

 

[filthytrancendence]

The bullshit about that thread is that pretty much everyone in that thread was saying the exact same stuff that I say about scores (some of it word for word) that I get shit on for.

People give you shit for your tone, not the substance of your argument. That gets sticky, because on a higher level your argument is about tone.

However, I can prove it, on account of I've repeatedly agreed with you in a different tone, and nobody's given me shit for it.

 

[Voboy]

People give you shit for your tone, not the substance of your argument.

This.

I often find myself agreeing with @pink_silk_glove. She and I see eye to eye on more stuff than we disagree about. But when I don't agree, I really don't.

I'm one of those who doesn't mind snark, but I don't like having words put in my mouth. More to the point of this thread, I think this is a useful topic for people to have a little introspection about. As the OP has pointed out more than once, this is a topic that cries out NOT to mention scores or ratings. I'm not sure PSG's comments are helpful that way.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

People give you shit for your tone, not the substance of your argument. That gets sticky, because on a higher level your argument is about tone.

However, I can prove it, on account of I've repeatedly agreed with you in a different tone, and nobody's given me shit for it.

No people give me shit for ASSUMING my tone, for ASSUMING a bitch tone who says the truth that they don;tr want to hear. Makes it very convenient to shoot the messenger. The only - I repeat ONLY - time that I get snarky with someone is when they're a bitch to me first, as you so often are.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

And then there's the asshole who trolled me in the other thread yesterday when I wasn't even in the thread. So, yea, I guess that makes me the one with the bad attitude. (rolleyes)