How to Develop a Good Story 01

< center>< I> Donald Mallord < /I>< /center>

Note 1: the < > encloses the word 'center' and it must also have the closing 'slash' before the second captured 'center.' If not, all the following text to the end of your story will get centered as well! [DO NOT include the space before the commands as shown. I had to put in a space just after the < so that you could see it in the published window! Leave out the blank space!]

Note 2: The second line has my name centered AND italicizes the moniker as well. You must type out the full word 'center' but for others you can use shortcuts:

• < I> example < /I> produces italic formatting

• < b> example < /b> produces bold

•... or add a horizontal line (officially known as a "horizontal rule") such as this:

with < HR >. An ending < / HR> isn't needed.

• An author can even employ the emdash:-- and endash:-- with the code & mdash ; or & ndash ; without spaces between the ampersand and semicolon in both cases.

There are other coding commands -- just a few here for you to see the process. In the reference section I have a resource article on this for your review.

[You might recall the first page of this document has the title centered and my name centered with italic script. There you do not see the < I> italic text. If you forgot, just take a moment to see the outcome of using those coding techniques on the first page.]

STRUCTURED WRITING REVIEW - Recap

This missive has taken you through some rudimentary steps to frame your story in a manner that captivates your readers. It 'hooks' them if you use the framework and character development notes provided. If you follow this as a general guide your writings now have an introduction, a defined plot development section, and a defined resolution. You have a road map from the start of the story to the wrap-up. Following the road map will keep you from wandering all over the countryside and it will help reduce your editing time.

Remember the editor and published writers' points I cited regarding character development. Those are so important to creating a captivating story. Characters are what readers are interested in -- if they truly are seeking a good storyline -- not just ... sex for self-gratification while reading Literotica stories -- stream of conscious writing works there!

Make certain to create an intriguing opening for your story! Remember, many are prone to escape out of a story after a few paragraphs if they have not had 'the hook' set to keep them reading your missive. Make your 'stuff' stand out among the others publishing here!

DO I FOLLOW MY OWN ADVICE?

Now, ask me if I always follow the mapping strategy for my writings! I dare you! Okay, no, I do not always follow this scholarly advice. On occasion, I will spend a considerably long time stewing over a theme that involves something that I continually refine and mentally edit well before I sit down to script the story. [I'm certain I have way more time on my hands to ponder themes and plots than most Literoticans.] That works for me when the writing involves my own personal life events. My wounded warrior hero stories don't need any brainstorming on how the characters feel or respond under the storyline situations. I am very much aware--of how they actually happened!

Although, I do employ this mapping strategy for more than 90% of my work! It is a good model that has kept and continues to keep my thoughts focused on the storyline's progression in a more orderly manner.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUS WRITING APPROACH

A non-structured writing method

There is another writing technique called stream of conscious writing. It is the antithesis of a structured approach. You sit, you think, and you start writing whatever comes into your mind. Amazingly, sometimes those writings provide you nuggets that can be flushed out in outline form and be productive writing. Yes, that requires a lot of restructuring to get it into shape, however, I only employ that method when my muse is as dry as the Sahara Desert.

In a communique with electricblue66, a Literotica Guru, I cited earlier regarding realism in using named locations, he says, "...I have no structure at all with my writing. I don't plot, don't do outlines, don't do any of the "traditional" stuff. I start with some simple idea, characters can arrive in the length of a paragraph, and I write till it seems right to stop."

Electricblue66's approach is a perfect model of the stream of conscious writing technique or 'pantser' writing. His works are here in Literotica, and published through other sources. So, accomplished authors do not necessarily have only a structured approach to writing in their bag of tricks; they have honed their writing skills to overcome things that would cause neophytes, beginners, to falter.

Once, I attended a writing workshop that used a five-minute stream of conscious approach given some specific topics. At the end of twenty minutes -- four sessions -- we were assigned to select one of those topics to flush out for a story. In those days, it was all pencil and paper -- long before computers, so not a lot of words or thoughts hit the pages. It was an interesting class and some attendees felt it was a beneficial way to find a storyline to expand as a new story.

Still, today, decades later, I use the old fashioned mapping exercise way of drawing circles and jotting notes inside them about: characters, locations, etc. I use an 11" x 17" blank sheet of paper to design my storyboards. It just seems better sized that an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet. I link those circles to related events. It is easy to catch the hang of it after you have seen a few samples. Google 'free storyboarding templates' and you will see how they are created. Adapt the paper version to your own style of writing. Sometime its best to be away from the electronics for a bit just to have tactile sensory modes engaged with paper and pencil!

Today, there are software aids to writing stories. These programs allow you to automate the hand-managed process mentioned above and are available for PC and Macintosh. Google 'story writing software' and you will see those -- some are free, some are on-line, and of course there are those that come at a cost.

This missive has discussed the basic storyline writing components that create a fundamentally sound story. It reviewed the three basic parts of a story: beginning, middle and conclusion. Within those steps, for good stories, are: creating an intriguing beginning, a purposefully planned hook to hold readers captive, well defined living and breathing characters, and a resolution that leaves readers feeling comfortable in knowing the story reached a logical outcome -- either a 'feel good ending' or one that deserved a tragic outcome if that is the writer's intent.

To reach that writer's goal I proposed using a structured writing model and provided a brief overview of stream of consciousness 'free form' writing as an alternative; albeit a more cumbersome one requiring greater post editing for most writers.

I hope the stories I chose to illustrate this elements were sufficient and entertaining along the way. If so, they can be found here in Literotica under my writer's handle: dmallord.

Thank you for your attention to this exercise in writing 'How to Develop a Good Literotica Story 01.'

Please, let me know if it is productive by rating it, favoriting it, as well as commenting on what I missed that I can address in an edit and refresh of this document.

WRITING RESOURCES -- Some 'Golden Nuggets'

These resources are good starting points for good writing information -- there are many, many more; you can google trillions of them, I suppose.

Tips on Using Literotica Editors article: https://www.literotica.com/s/editors-and-etiquette

Volunteer editors are found at the Literotica website: https://www.literotica.com/editors/

Literotica has a few writers that address dialogue structuring. Check out OnlyEditing's writing contribution to Literotica regarding dialogue. There are a couple of resources sited there that may prove beneficial. https://www.literotica.com/s/a-brief-conversation-1

8Letters, a Guru Literotica writer, has a forum article regarding his tips for getting good ratings. "My advice is meant to help you get more views, a higher rating, more comments and more favorites. If you don't care about those things, great; more power to you." See this article: http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1506090

Tink4Fairy has a very demonstrative breakout article on 'How To Break the Literotica Top list' at https://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=841357&page=submissions

Be sure to read the comments to Tink4Fairy's article as those have added insight notes from others who are experienced with a specific genre as well.

TX Tall Tales is a preeminent Literotica writer with stories reaching well above 500k views and has published here for years. Those tips on writing and category selections provide an excellent overview. These two resources are must read works!

https://www.literotica.com/s/love-your-readers

https://www.literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-10-commandments by the Earl. This is a missive/rant about writing that is noteworthy for Literoticans aspiring to write on this site. At times, it's cavalier in nature.

WhisperSecret's contributed article on dialogue and related punctuation in storytelling is found at: https://www.literotica.com/s/how-to-make-characters-talk?comments_after=10717169

Literotica also has other tips in the Writing Resources area. It is a messy place to plod through. However, it contains tips on writing various genre beyond the scope of this document. Perhaps this missive will, one day find its way to that area. Hopefully, by then someone will have figured out a better way of presenting that quagmire for easier identification.

Literotica Writing Resource are located at: https://www.literotica.com/storyxs/writ_stor.shtml

Michchick98 submitted a nice article on coding for Literotica. It was an effort to find it. Look for this at https://www.literotica.com/s/basic-text-formatting-101. Please, be sure to thank the author for her effort! She explains how to code for: bold, italic, underline, and others.

See KM Weiland's website for the free eBook on character development: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com

There are literally scores of free downloadable templates for story boarding formats that will assist budding writers with creating a story line that can address the elements of storyboarding mentioned in this article. Just google for instance, 'free Word story boarding templates or search for 'PDF free story boarding templates.'

I appreciate your time to select and read this contribution to Literotica.com.

My thanks to kenjsato, an available Literotica editor, for his prompt and very helpful editing assistance in preparing this article for Literotica.com.

Please, remember to rate this article for me. Favor it, if you are inclined. I would especially like to see you follow my work as well. And let me know, in the comments area, it there is anything that I didn't cover that others might find useful. I would address that topic if it is within an area that I have some writing experience.