The sort of stories you write

[S.L. Lewis]

I'm a mix of 2 and 3, being that I write what interests me, what I want to write. Mostly because I don't do conformity well and it's annoying to have to change my whole writing style to please a few people who may or may not respond to the story.

 

That and because I've been known to go to different sites and post on there. I get odd with sites after a while if I have to deal with them for to long so I switch it up a lot.

 

Reviews are nice, since they can be an ego boost (and I like a good ego boost especially with my self esteem) but beyond that they can get out right annoying on some sites.

[John Doe]

I write what I like to write. I feel like writing is very much like living your life. You should write and live your life how you want, not by anyone else standards but you're own. Yes there will come times when you'll have people who want you to do this or that and it's at that point that you have to make a decision. The more you write the better your skills become. The longer you live the more experiences you get to pull and learn from. Same ideal really. You have people whose opinion you trusts and people who opinions don't really matter. I think it's fine to write what people like so long as you are okay with it... kinda like doing something with a friend you didn't enjoy before but because it's with that person you find it enjoyable. Writing again is the same.

 

I once changed a story because a 'fan' didn't like a chapter and suggested some changes. I wrote three or four more chapters, and then I gave up the story. I didn't like it anymore. It was not fun to write it. I wrote it three years ago and deleted it from the archive. It's not posted on GA. I still have the files, but I never opened them again.

 

 

I did this too. In my story Get There, I had a fan complain about not having enough sexual tension or activities and I decided to add a few scenes and posted it. I absolutely hated it. Although they were "solo" scenes I just couldn't bare with it. I felt it killed the character and made the story strange because that story is about the relationship and emotions of the characters and the situation they are placed in. Since then I told myself that I will never ever write a scene like that in again (unless it's revelant to the story) just because someone who really liked my story wanted something like that. I still need to go back and edit it out.

 

And lastly, I write because I want to get better. I believe the more you write the better your stories become. I forget what letter option it was or if it was on there, but I think a story's character, plot, setting, characterization all add to the story. I believe a good writer can use all of these at the same time to help each section. I believe these elements all live and breathe off one another. I don't believe one should be more important than the other because it shouldn't matter when you write well. Your (and mine) story should evoke and bring to life the writing. The places should feel real. The people could be someone you walk past in your day to day life. The emotions are ones you know and feel. I am still aimming to get there and hopefully some day I will.

[corvus]

I'm guilty of writing for myself as well. A rather pessimistic view of the results of the poll is that we're a community of people locked in rooms of themselves, concerned only about their own opinions on their work... But that's only a very slanted POV. Hopefully it means that we're introspective people unafraid of honing and facing the gifts we're born with, the end products of which we'll share and grow from.

 

As the great Maria Callas said, "You have to do it, even if people will not understand. But in the long run they will, because you must persuade them of what you're doing."

[JMH]

I would have to say 2, anything else would take away the joy I gain from writing. More importantly writing things I really don't care about would feel like I'm back in college trying to write my thesis (yawn).

 

[Drak]

I answered three, change the venue. Finding the right niche crowd helps enormously. Gay Authors is a niche. We are here for a reason. But there are finer niches even than gay, which is a large umbrella.

 

I sympathize with answer two, keep writing what I please, whether others are crazy about it or not. However, I would not keep writing if I felt like no one liked my stuff. As long as I get a few votes along the way, that seems like enough validation to keep the juices flowing. (I'm not referring to this site, where I am new.) If the votes dried up, then I would conclude I had dried up, as well, and would hang up my pen--or at least I certainly hope so. It is a wise man that knows when to retire. I've yet to post a story to be met with utter silence or receive zero votes. Such an instance might cause me to reconsider either the individual item or writing in general.

 

One thing I've noticed is that the more work that goes into a story, the better the reader response, nine times out of ten. Only the stories that I absolutely slave over ever stir any interest. Stories I dash off in a single evening--sometimes these get lucky, but most of the time, not.

[zland666]

I like writing teen drama's and coming of age because those are my FAVORITE type of movies.

Stand by me

Never been kissed

mean creek

superbad

 

etc...

I'd write a romantic love story between gay teens idk why i dont like the straight ones://

but yeah those are my main reasons...

[TetRefine]

I like writing teen drama's and coming of age because those are my FAVORITE type of movies.

Stand by me

Never been kissed

mean creek

superbad

 

etc...

I'd write a romantic love story between gay teens idk why i dont like the straight ones://

but yeah those are my main reasons...

 

 

Stand By Me was an awesome movie!

[Vashtan]

I can't write what I don't feel. I can make allowances - for example, when I wrote "Deliverance", it had a dark ending. The publisher said "love it, but change the ending". I griped over it, discussed the story with friends. I saw no way how the main character could stay true to himself and still walk away with his lover. Then a writer friend who's also a Christian helped me see clearer on the whole Christian ethics thing, and that allowed me to see the story "new", and find a believable, good way out for the main character. In the end, the new ending was stronger and far more suitable for the character than the old ending.

 

Totally different case with "Test of Faith" - three publishers said "we take it, but change the ending". I talked this through with Raev Gray, my co-writer, and we both agreed again that there's simply no way to change the ending and NOT ruin the story. We turned the offers down and stayed true to the story, even if that cost us a nice chunk of money. But I couldn't have looked at myself in the mirror the next morning. I think you have to stay true to the story, and while you can tweak, you can't break a story's spine or soul.

[Parchment_Of_Love]

Man I just write what comes to me. I get a story in my mind and I either write it down or go crazy! Don't get me wrong I want readers just as much as the next author but I wont change my writing just to get them.