I love writing, but how much do you love reading?

[Guest kayden]

I've never written for others - up until now.

[Former Member]

Someones going to say at some point that writing, isn't meant to be for others. You can't write for others or an audience it's supposed to be an internal process to tell a story that you love and have nurtured. It enver works otherwise. As for how you write that's entirely up to you. Readers have different tastes just as writers have different styles.

 

You never stop writing for yourself, you just show what you've written for others to tear apart. That's why you see so many mediocre Vampire novels after the Twihard eruption. Writers are writing for the audience and not for the pleasure of writing.

[Nephylim]

I couldn't have said it better myself. There are as many different reader's tastes as there are writers styles. If you write for anything other than the love of writing it shows. I think that if you love what you are writing, put energy and passion into it and have fun then the passion will make it attractive to read.

[Cia]

I had a lot of the same questions before I started posting TPoH. I write what I like, but I am just sharing my first ever story with anyone here on GA. I've gotten great reviews and encouragement. I think the answer to your question with wordiness is just to try it out and see. Also I edit all my own stuff. I have found that I write with a formal sound, even more than I speak at times, so I read my chapters out loud. If it doesn't flow as I speak it, I try to reword it, sometimes more formal, sometimes less. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and make that leap, let us read something! You can always post it in the sneak peeks section if you are not ready to post a story in efiction yet.

 

Good luck

[Mark Arbour]

I've never written for others - up until now. Aside from school papers, I've only written for my own personal benefit. In other words, up until now I've only written as a way of vicariously living through the lives of the characters I've created. Now that I'm writing for external sources - people who will actually be reading my writing besides myself - I'm curious how much my potential audiences are actually willing to read. When writing for myself, I tend to be very descriptive and wordy, but as I'm typing my story intended for other readers, I'm worried that I'm being too descriptive and wordy.

 

 

I don't want to bore my readers with unnecessary descriptions and dialogue, so I'm just wondering how far a writer - such as myself - should go with these kinds of things. How do I know when I'm being too wordy or descriptive? Do I need to jump into sexuality or action as soon as possible? I just need to know so that I can tailor my writing to my potential audiences. I'd hate for my readers to abandon my stories just because I wrote too much, or was too descriptive, or didn't jump into sex or action right away.

 

Any thoughts?

 

You got some good responses. Knowing how much detail to put in and leave out isn't really a matter of what is best, it's really a matter of what you and your readers like. Periodically I get chided for not putting enough detail in my stories (mm!), and I try to make sure I'm descriptive enough, but sometimes I'm just more into telling the story than setting the stage. In the end, I think Rory is right: it's a matter of reader's tastes. Some like lots of detail, some don't. Not all of them will like your writing. Go with what you like.

 

One of the things that I see from a lot of new writers here on GA is the self-exploration process that you are going through right now, which is awesome. For me, I was a reader for years before I ever hammered out anything meaningful, and I learned what I liked style-wise and what I didn't from exploring what others did. From there, it was relatively easy to develop my own style and rhythm. If you haven't done so yet, I recommend that you take some time and read something by DomLuka or Comicality. They are really talented.

[Guest kayden]

Hm, as I'm reading the responses, a voice in the back of my head is saying If you build it, he will come.

[Rilbur]

I just wonder if I should be peppering the lengthier parts with sex scenes or something in order to keep the attention of readers who are less prone to heavy reading. I guess it's trial by error, though, yeah?

 

Sex scenes belong if they're part of the story. If they aren't, they don't. Don't go adding sex scenes (or details) where they aren't needed.

[Cia]

 

 

I just wonder if I should be peppering the lengthier parts with sex scenes or something in order to keep the attention of readers who are less prone to heavy reading. I guess it's trial by error, though, yeah?

 

 

 

 

Well, 2 answers to your comments there..I'm a firm believer in learn by doing! Nothing says you have to keep the story on GA or even keep it the way it is after you get comments, the edit feature is quite handy You can also try putting out feelers for beta readers too, if you want opinions on your story before you post it, I know several of us do that. 2nd thing, in regards to sex scenes...yeah, they are great for adding spice and I've noticed increased readership in chapters with them I believe it must be integral to the story and believable to really add the interest. I'm nothing if not turned off a story by seemingly random sex scenes added in just because it's getting a little boring. Good luck!