FreeThinker

What are the differences, do you think, between writing an open-ended serial and a novel with a definite plot, for both the writer and the reader? I tend to be very anal and plot and organize my stories. I know before I begin to write, where I am going and what I am doing. Except for my very first story. It was just supposed to be a sort of soap opera. It wasn't very good and I learned a lot of lessons from it. SInce then, I know exactly where I am going and what I am doing with a story. However, it was fun to write. I enjoy writing novels, however, I think I may try writing an open-ended serial. It might be fun. It might be intriguing to sit down before the computer with no idea where I am going or what I am doing and just start writing, letting my imagination take me where ever it wants, allowing my characters to have their own lives. I want my story to surprise me as much as it would a reader. What are the thoughts of other writers about this? Do you plot and organize? Do you just sit down and write? What are the strengths of both approaches, do you think, and the weaknesses?

This evening, I received an email from a 78 year-old man in Australia who had read my story and wanted to compliment me on it. After all these decades, and a decade after the passing of his wife, he finally came out to his sons and grandsons. He wanted to tell me how much my story had meant to him. I am just blown away. Here's a man who realized in 1939 that he was gay, AND COULD DO NOTHING ABOUT IT! As everyone expected and demanded, he served in the war, married, had children and supported them, and took care of his beloved wife in their old age. And, he couldn't tell anyone he was gay until he was 75. For decades, gay men, US, WE, YOU AND I, relied on the furtive glance across a room, the fearful smile in an introduction, a nervous gesture in a public restroom. This was the life of a gay man for most of the Twentieth Century. This email tonight reminded me of what I take for granted. Yes, Matthew Shepherd was beaten and left to freeze to death on a barbed-wire fence in Wyoming. Yes, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were harassed and ridiculed and beaten until they went over the edge. Yes, Freddie Phelps harrasses the parents of gay men at their sons' funerals. But, life for gay people in the first years of the 21st Century is not what it was for our fathers and grandfathers and we must never forget that. If you are a gay writer, remember this when you write.

Chapter 11, the next to the last chapter has been sent in and David has emailed the confirmation. We are at the climax. This part of the story has been very difficult for me as I drew on some of my own experience in writing it. I find it interesting that of the more than 100 emails I have received regarding the story, only two have seen a similarity between Centennial Park and To Kill a Mockingbird and both of those were German! I am surprised no one else saw the similarity: a murder trial in small-town America told through the eyes of the child of one of the participating attorneys and how the trial affects that child's view of life. I admit it was shameless theft but I was inspired after the passing of Gregory Peck. I re-read Mockingbird, which I had first read at 13 in 1971, (about the time this story takes place) and decided that there are similarities between the black experience of the first half of the 20th Century and the gay experience of the second half. Please let me know what you think. I hope I haven't been pretentious. I admit that I have deliberately "toned down" the story from the original manuscript written last fall, not out of disrespect to the readers on Nifty, but because I was trying to be cognizant of the market. What are your thoughts? Thank you for reading my story!

Well, YEA! This turned into a fairly interesting thread! I guess if I am posting on Nifty, I can put a little sex into it without getting carried away. I don't have to be the queer-boy Jackie Collins, (oh my, what an awful thought!). SOME sex is fun and exciting, but that doesn't have to be the entire story. A good plot and story-line are necessary, with stong characters and an interesting setting. I believe sex, if it is going to enter into the story, should appear only if it is going to enhance the overall plot and story-line, not if Jon and Bruce are about to discover why the mummy's sarcofogus is open and decide, oh well, before we uncover the secret of the Mummy's curse, LET"S GET IT ON! Feel free to continue the discussion!

Good one, Myr! I would prefer to write my stories without too much sex. I put more in because I am afraid people won't read them without it. Its similar, I suppose, to television. More people watch Fox than PBS. I can't imagine watching Bill Moyers copulating with William F. Buckley, (actually, on second thought, I might actually watch that after all). I have tried to compromise. Centennial Park was originally intended to be submitted to a publisher. It had no descriptions of sex, only hints at when it occured. When I realized publishing was a fantasy, I significantly altered it, toned down the style to a more Fox-like level, as opposed to the PBS-level I had sought, and added several sex scenes for the Nifty crowd. I have felt that I sold out by doing so. I have no objection to sexual stories. I don't read them much anymore. I'm just wondering if I am selling out by putting the sex in or if I am just being realistic about the audience. Are there venues for gay-oriented stories that don't rely on sex?

Chapter 8 is up and Chapter 9 has been submitted. I know that 7 and 8 were difficult, but 9 may give you a bit of a break! I am so greatful to everyone who has emailed me.

So, what do you think about sex? I like it. But... When I first started perusing stories on the Internet, sometime during the previous century before Netscape was invented and all we had to go to were newsgroups such as alt.sex.stories.gay, almost all the stories I found, or were looking for, were primarily sexual in nature. There were a few exceptions, stories that had sex in them, but also had a strong plot and good characters, (Double Trouble and Hey, Dude come to mind, which I found in 1994-1995, the ultimate classics, written before Comicality gave us his wonderful work). But, to be honest, when I first came to the internet, SEX was what I was looking for. If I wanted Literature, well I lived in Austin Texas at the time and I had every outlet you could dream of for Literature. But, as the years went by and the gay genre on the internet evolved and not only the variety of stories increased but the venues for finding them proliferated, some truly excellent authors emerged and, today, one can find wonderful gay stories with or without sex, in a variety of places. My question is this to the authors and readers on this board. Is sex really necessary? I know this may seem like a silly question, but I am wondering. The only place I post stories is Nifty because it seems to be the place that EVERYONE goes to, (and because its free and I'm poor). When I posted my very first story two years ago, (a dreadful piece of weirdness that will go unnamed because I don't want anyone to read it or to associate it with what I am doing now), my goal was to write a sexual story that was more than a sexual story. I wanted it to have a good plot, good characters and lots of love. However, the email I received, and I got a lot of it, was asking me to rely less on sex and focus more on the story. In my later stories, (Canterbury, Moon in Your Eyes, Centennial Park), I have done that. I get a lot of supportive email, but there is a paradox. People tell me they want more story than sex. But, every time I post a chapter with sex, it gets 2-3 times the response of a non-sexual chapter. Would someone like to explain this to me? Has anyone else experienced this?

Heath Ledger is certainly HOT and if this is by the same author as The Shipping News, I will make every effort to see it.

I love Enya. I also listen to Accoustic Alchemy when I write. Lately, however, I more frequently log onto WQXR.com, the classical station in NYC or to the Baroque or Romantic Classical channels on Radio@netscape or I go to Windows Media Player and choose Choice Radio Classical or Smooth Jazz while I write.

Thank you, James! I have just sent in Chapter 7 and received my confirmation from Nifty. I must warn you that Chapter 7 is difficult. This is where the crux of the story becomes obvious and it is ugly. I ask you to let me know what you think. Thank you!

I REALLY enjoyed The Secret Life of Jonathan Greenwich and Allenwood I think BOTH of these stories should be in the archive.

Chapters 4 and 5 have been posted and I just emailed chapter 6 tonight. I have gotten a wonderful response to my story, but I have heard from only two people on GA. I value the opinions and advice of my fellow authors and would greatly appreciate some feedback, whether negative or positive. Thanks!!

Chapter 3 is up and, in answer to several email questions, yes there is sex in the story,,, blah blah blah,,, and... HERE IT IS! Maybe not wild and crazy, hot and sweaty monkey sex, but... well, I'm 46 and without Viagra this is the best I can do! So get over it! Actually, thank you to everyone who has emailed. I appreciate the encouragement.

I received an email today from a friend who says that the writer Eric Draven has passed away. I am very sad. I have enjoyed reading his work on Nifty. I thought the other members might want to know.

Hi! I have just sent Chapter Two to Nifty. It should be available sometime Tuesday or Wednesday. I really hope you read my story and please let me know what you think!