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Found 22 results

  1. Entertainment vs Commentary on Human Condition is this week's topic. I was originally going to do one on Infodumps and why they are good and needed in Fantasy/SciFi stories, despite what publishers and those that adhere to dogmatic writing rules, say. But after reading @Carlos Hazday's blog entry called "Stories so White," I felt the need to switch up topics. This is also a topic, that I've discussed several times with my Non-GA friends, who I play tabletop RPGs with. While the majority, of this topic, is based on my opinions, I am going to show a couple of examples. Human Condition There's been a shift over the years, in how people consume books, movies, music, and tv shows, where they are looking for the underlying commentary on the human condition. A very vocal minority called "Social Justice Warriors" or "Fragile Snowflakes" are the ones leading the charge on this. They will dissect your work, looking for any hidden meaning or message you may have put in it. And, if you do put some sort of message into your work, then by all the Holy Identity Politics, it better be something that they approve of, or you might get something like this: "Your story sucks because you talk about slavery." "Your story sucks because the main character is white." "Your story sucks, because you are not advocating < Insert a cause I deem worthy here > in your story." Add on to that, a campaign to ruin your life, get you fired from your job, death threats, and boycotts of anyone that supports you. If you think I'm joking, just look at Twitter or Google search for Brenden Eich. These "Group-Think" Activists will use social media to harass you, your readers, your publisher, and your family, friends, employer, school, and your 2nd-grade teacher, to shame you into either retracting your work or changing it to what they consider appropriate. Carlos' blog entry above is about, how one writer changed her entire story, after a campaign of online bullying from these SJWs. It's all utter BULLSHIT. Yes, bold, underline, and italic. "But, BHopper2. Didn't you just post a thread, saying as Gay Writers, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard? And that whole thing about sex scenes? Isn't that being a little hypocritical?" Glad you asked or thought that. It would be hypocritical of me, to not point out, I did say that as Homosexual Writers, because of the Double Standard that exists between us and Heterosexual Writers, should hold ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to what we write. That thread was based on the perceptions that some Heterosexuals have that Homosexuals are sexual predators, and have an obscene obsession with sex. I don't make the rules; I just point them out. Your mileage may vary, and things have become a lot better over the years, in Western Culture. Entertainment Not everything has to be for some cause. Sitting down to read a book, or watch a movie, can be for the entertainment value. Something that amuses you. For instance, the movie Warcraft is a high fantasy action film based on the MMO by Blizzard called World of Warcraft. If you love the game, you'll hate the movie. If you love High Fantasy and looking at eye-candy, you'll love the movie. Same can be said about a number of different movies, shows, and music. I love the show Supernatural, and the characters Sam and Dean. It's a story about two brothers, who hunt monsters. Some say it's more than that, but at its core, that's what the show is about. There's no politics in it, there's no plight to show a tale of the human condition, there's just a tale of brotherly love, and family. In fact, I've stopped watching a number of shows when they've become overly political, or are very biased. I want to be entertained. I don't want an essay on what you think are the sins of the human race. In fact, when I write my stories, I'm not doing it for any reason other than for entertainment purposes only. I don't give a shit about causies, and their causes when I write. I write a piece of literature, that I like, and I tell a story, that I want to tell. Then I ask a group of friends here to Beta Read it and Edit it, and then post it as an entertainment piece. If people like my story, and leave a reaction to it, or even better a comment or a review, then I know I have brought joy to someone else. "But, what about your Forbidden Love story, and what you said above?" I would say that is the only cause, I do advocate for, and have written about. I do try to hold myself to a higher standard, but I'm human. I will fail at that. I did have my main characters in No Regrets killed because they were Gay because that's what does happen in parts of our Modern World, today. Most of my stories, don't include that sort of stuff. So, there's my thoughts, and opinions on the topic. What are your thoughts on this?
  2. I was in transit yesterday, coming home from an Epic Weekend of immersive storytelling. Otherwise known as, "I was getting my nerd on by playing some Dungeons and Dragons." So, I apologize for not posting this yesterday. Before I start this week's topic if anyone has suggestions for Topic Tuesday, please feel free to share them, or Start a Topic Tuesday (or any topic), and we can work together. "Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." - John Steinbeck I've always heard that Steinbeck's quote above was the foundation of the Plot Bunny meme. Well, it's true. Stories, Worldbuilding, Characters, Plots, Scenes, are all like rabbits, and they breed rapidly. I don't know about anyone else, but for myself, I end up with a TON of ideas. Most I write down in my "Notes Journal" and look at them from time to time, to see if I feel they are viable to use. There's some I've gotten and had not have time to write them down and soon forgot them. So, what about you? How do you handle the Plot Bunnies? Can you herd them, and get them written down? Or do you turn them into Rabbit Stew? Let us know how you do it, and Let's Work Together!
  3. Hello fellow writers, it's time for another Topic Tuesday!!! I haven't mentioned it in a while, so to refresh... Topic Tuesday, is a personal initiative of mine, to get the Writer's Club more interactive with each other. I toss out a topic for discussion, add my 2 copper to it, and hopefully, we can all have a nice dialogue. Now for this weeks topic. Goals and Deadlines. As hobbyist writers, many of us don't have deadlines. When I was doing journalism back in High School and College, we had deadlines to meet, in order to get the yearbook and newspaper to the publisher. If you write eBooks or dead-tree books, for money, then you have deadlines as well. Now as a hobbyist, we can benefit from self-imposed deadlines. For example, I am currently writing a new story, in a genre I've never done before. I have set a deadline for myself to start posting by the end of July on this story. Goals work in tandem with deadlines for the hobbyist writer. While I have the above deadline, I've also set some goals for my self. 1. To have around 5000 words per chapter. 2. A total word count of 50,000 words. 3. At least 4-hours a day to write. (As long as my disabilities don't get in the way.) 4. To post after I've completed the story, and not to go serial on it. Those are just a few examples, I have several more with this project. So, how about you? Do you set goals and deadlines for yourself?
  4. I've been playing recently in an online Dungeons and Dragons game via voice chat over Skype. In the fifth edition of the game, there is a mechanic to award inspiration to players for excellent Role-Playing. This can be used to augment rolls later on in the campaign, turning that Natural 1 failure to something much more dramatic with the re-roll of the die (it's really awesome to go from a Natural 1, an automatic and horrible failure, to a Natural 20, a stunning automatic success). Also, recently, @Myr started posting about Pinterest, and in another thread, how pictures can provide inspiration to Writers and Role-Players alike. So, that's what today's topic is: What inspires you? For me, I write because I have a need to, due to my disabilities. However, when another one of my disabilities steps in and prevents me from being creative, I can feel it in my bones. What inspires me to write, is simple, I love telling stories. Sometimes, too much, but that is a different topic. I will sometimes, find inspiration in other people's work. Like @Mikiesboy's poems, when I need a good visual, or like the ones he posted yesterday (3-12-2018) about love when I need a shot of "feel good"-ness, or @MacGreg's Dissonance to see a different perspective. @Carlos Hazday's works with CJ, which I so need to sit down and read more of, and @Timothy M.'s epic Clueless Camping are all different points of inspiration to take ideas from. @Cia's Newsletter games are all good sparks for inspiration as well. Some good prompts can jar a quick scene lose. But the inspiration for me isn't just in the form of written words. I have a vast collection of Movie and Video Game Soundtracks. Just turning on the Halo 2 Theme, with the Steve Vai's Mjorliner mix, is enough to put me into the mindset of an epic space opera. The Superman Soundtrack, from the original Christopher Reeves movie, Star Wars, The Princess Bride, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Tom Cruise's Legend can send you places in your mind, with just a few notes. Queue them up on your favorite music streamer, or YouTube, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Like Myr posted, pictures can serve as a form of inspiration. My current avatar as of today, 3-13-2018, is B&W sketch drawing of two male elves, one older with a beard, and a younger twinkish guy kissing. I've written a story based on this pic, that I won't share on GA, lol, as it's firmly in the "Plot, what plot," camp of erotica (have I ever mentioned I like twink and bear couples?). There have been a few others that a picture has inspired me to write. Sadly, they are among some I won't share. Not because of it being smut, no, most are not, but I write a ton of stuff, that only me, my cat (rest her soul), and select friends have ever seen. With that rambling mess, I hereby award you with a Point of Inspiration. So, what inspires you? Topic Tuesday is a personal initiative to foster communication between Writers of GA. So #LetsWorkTogether.
  5. On the advice of a good GA friend, I was able to check out a copy of On Writing by Stephen King. It's a book about how he was formed into a writer, and a couple of exercises in it as well. I've read about a quarter of it so far, and as of right now, I would recommend it to all writers to read. So, what about you. Have you read this book? Have you read a writing related book, you feel is a great read for writers to learn a bit about our craft? Let's talk, and let's work together. OP Side Note: Topic Tuesday is something, that I'm starting, on my own initiative, in order for us writers to talk, discuss issues, and learn from each other.
  6. Jimmy Buffett once said in a song, "There's a fine line between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning." The same holds true for a writer when writing their story, the plot and character agency. First a quick definition of what Character Agency is. From Michigan State University website: With the technical stuff out of the way, let's discuss agency. For me, Agency is a way to connect to the character. I'm an avid Role-Player of the tabletop version. You may have seen several of my postings across GA about playing different RPGs, such as Dungeons and Dragons. Character Agency is vital in the realm of RPGs as it is in the realm of writing. The choice one makes, when playing or writing a character, shapes the world around him. As Jonas, my Warlock who is in a Pact with a Fiend Patron, do I save the fey village, or do I let the orcs slaughter the little ones? His actions at that choice are agency. Jonas could stop the orcs, there's only three of them, and 3 on 1 odds is something he could handle. Or, he can do nothing, let the orcs do what they are going to do. It's his choice. His action, or inaction, is shaping the world and has consequences on the fey of the village. The Fine Line a/k/a Railroad/Sandbox The fine line that both a Dungeonmaster and Writer needs to be aware of is the Railroad/Sandbox line. Some more definitions, and from an excellent YouTuber Matthew Colville, and he uses a famous litature work to show examples of Railroad/Sandbox, and Character Agency. So... How do you handle Character Agency?
  7. Last week, I entered into a discussion about my work here on GA, with some fellow writers. Willingly, of course, and described to them my serial story The Half-Elven Warlock. I included what is already publicly known and published on this site, and my outline and worldbuilding documents. All my behind the scene secrets that not even my editing team knows, and other details about my world The Fairie. This discussion was frank, and I knew they would intentionally pick it apart to tell me, where I might be lacking. By the time it was over, I was depressed, angry, boarderline in tears, and sorely tempted to go through GA and remove every trace of my existance online. Beware of Advice, Insight from others, and Feedback from different sources. That's my topic this week. Have you ever recieved advice, feedback, or insight, that made you want to rage quit?
  8. Today I would like to talk about two "new" writing trends that have developed over the past 5-10 years, and 20-40 years respectfully. A new genre called LitRPG and Deep PoV. LitRPG LitRPG, or Literature Role-Playing Game, is a new genre that has started in the last 5-10 years. This type of story has a few elements that are required to be a LitRPG: The story is based on a Role-Playing Game. Can be a Virtual Game, like an MMO, or Tabletop. The story has both "real world" and "game world" elements. So Main Character lives in the real world, and the Author writes about it, and then plays the game, from that PoV. The In-Game Character knows its a game. There is Game Engine discussion, like Leveling Up, Stats, Inventory screens, gear fits, quests. etc. Fantasy, SciFi, Romance, Horror, are all different styles of the genre. LitRPG is not a sub-genre of any other. This is a work of Fiction, not FanFiction. But, there are some Real World games, LitRPG is based on. Most games are fictional, in these stories. The type of game depicted controls the flavor. So, a Fantasy based game, makes it a Fantasy style world. Deep PoV I was sent a link via PM, to a writer's blog that spoke of Deep PoV. The writer of the blog made is sound like it's the latest in writing trends, and one that you need to heed. As most major sellers are going this route. (First person PoV can go lay an egg!) Basically what Deep PoV is this. It's the Third Person Point of View, but with Speech Tags, Sensory words, and Thought words removed. SO:“Alright, son,” Adam said. He chuckled silently, shaking his head. He thought, ‘Oh, to be a teenager again.’ Turns into: “Alright, son.” He chuckled silently, shaking his head. ‘Oh, to be a teenager again.’ Because you the reader knows which character is talking and thinking, and you don't need to be told. Each scene of a story is focused on one character, and gets the treatment. Action Tags might be necessary for other character's in a scene. If you Google Search Deep PoV you can find some related blogs, and articles about it, with more examples. A word of caution though... There was some Not Safe For Work results when I searched. As it was pointed out to me, several GA authors already use the Deep PoV method in their writings. Two such examples are @Mikiesboy and @AC Benus. I personally hadn't noticed until it was pointed out, and I went back and looked at some of their writings. Also, Stephen King in his book, On Writing (and subject of the First Topic Tuesday) has ideas and thoughts on this Point of View aspect. So, what do you think of the latest writing trends? Have you used Deep PoV? Would you write a LitRPG?
  9. There's been a lot of topics the past couple of weeks on Inspiration. So, today let's talk about the next step after inspiration strikes: notes and research. Notes For me, after I catch a figment of inspiration I jot it down in my "Notes Journal." I have several of them, from old fashion pen-and-paper notebooks to digital using OneNote by Microsoft. These notes can be as simple as a brief one-sentence description, a fully outlined scene, or just a character name jotted down for later. It's easier to work in digital because I can collate notes that belong together. Examples: Story Idea: "This young man, from another dimension, lives in a converted barn, with his cousin." Character Name: Garrett Sullivan. Research After I do notes, that's when research comes into play. I look at what I have for notes and expand upon them. Take for example, in my story My Son, even though I live in Tampa, I still research places I want to use in the story. Like there is a "Pirate Water Taxi" service that does various spots around Downtown Tampa. They used to go to Lowery Park for the Tampa zoo, but have since stopped that service. So, now I have a choice. Keep it real, and not use them, or go fictional and make them do something they don't do. So, what about you all? How do you handle notes and research?
  10. This week's topic is on the superpower that we Authors have. It's called "The Power of Plot," and "Handwavium." Like most fictional superpowers this one that has both good and bad aspects to it. First some definitions... Handwavium - Any hypothetical but unobtainable material with desirable engineering properties. (Wiktionary) The Power of Plot a/k/a Plot Armor - Plot Armor is when a main character's life and health are safeguarded by the fact that he's the one person who can't be removed from the story. (TV Tropes) As writers, we love to tell stories. We craft our stories in such away that they live in the hearts and minds of our readers. Depending on the genre, in order to tell the story, we have to include things that might not be there. Such as Magic in a fantasy story, or faster-than-light travel in SciFi. Some of these Handwavium items are universal for a given genre. For example, the idea behind gravimetric drives, using gravity to move starships, are in several SciFi stories. The Black Fleet Trilogy by Joshua Dalzelle includes it, Star Wars has elements of it, and both @Myr and I have it in our SciFi stories. (I borrowed it from the larger genre and didn't know that Myr also used it until after I read his stories.) This is something that helps a story and adds spice to a world. Using Handwavium can take a B-Plot story, and make it into a Classact. Now the Power of Plot is a two edge sword. On one hand, you have the good aspect of it. Being able to drop in a Waffle House in Boston because you want it there, is one example. A bad aspect would be to have a Main Character shot in the heart, and then gets up in the next scene because it's only a flesh wound. So, how do you feel about this week's topic? How do you handle the Power of Plot and Handwavium?
  11. This week's topic is something, I find common among any group of people: Disagreements. Disagreements are going to happen. I forget where I heard this saying, but it goes like this: "As long as there are two people still living on Earth, there will be war. We are all Cain and Able." It's human nature to disagree with one another, even though humans are a herd animal. I was reminded of this topic on Reddit yesterday when a thread I was reading spiraled into a shouting match between people's different ideologies. There was no attempt at a peaceful dialogue, once the shouting started. Even here on GA, I know of one topic that was locked down by the admin, and you can read it here in the Writer's Club a few pages back. How you respond to a disagreement, matters. Too many of us, myself included, tend to let our inner asshole out. "Hey, it's the internet. I can say, and do whatever I want without repercussions." However, its the bigger person that can reign in their inner asshole, and can settle it like a gentle-person that wins the day. I'm not saying all disagreements are bad, it's how we approach them that is. For me, going forward, I'm going to strive to see the other side. I might not always agree, but I'm not going to be an ass about it. Or at least try not too. We live in an age, especially here in the United States of America, of such polarization, it's almost a knee-jerk reaction to being mean and spiteful. "They are the enemy, and must be destroyed." needs to be changed to "They are a fellow human being, and we need to find a compromise." That's my rambling mess this week.
  12. Hello, my fellow Writers. It's been a long time since I did a Topic Tuesday; each week is a different amount of classwork, that I have to budget time for. Anyway, this week I'd like to talk about GA's writing clubs. If you are reading this, congrats! You know how the writing clubs work. But, did you know? GA has several different writing clubs that you can be a part of. The one we are in now is the main one for us authors, and regular members who choose to be here, can talk and work with each other. In the other clubs, things are a bit more specialized. GA has a Fantasy, SciFi, Poetry, and FanFiction clubs you can subscribe to, and interact with other authors that write in the same genres. But more recently, GA has launched a new club. The new Marketing club is there so authors can learn how to promote their work. So, far we have about nine members in the club and have had some good advice shared by Myr and Renee. Here are the links to the other clubs. Come, join them, and let's work together!
  13. So for the past couple of weeks, I missed posting a Topic Tuesday. The reason being was I went back to school. It's the University of Phoenix, online, designed for people are non-traditional who have Home/Work responsibilities, and has certain attendance and participation requirements. The class week runs Tuesday thru Monday. Now that we are in week three, I feel I'm starting to get a schedule that works for School, Family, and my passion for Writing. This is Time Management, which each of us has our own way to do. For me, I do home chores first, then schoolwork, and at the end of the day I work on my writing. I have several projects going, so I only get to work on one at a time now, in order to focus on getting that one done. I have a bit more time than the average person being disabled, and not working, but my goal is to get this degree and get back into the job market. So How about you? How do you handle Time Management?
  14. This week's Topic Tuesday is a fairly straightforward question: How Do You Write? Some people use a desktop computer, some a laptop, or even a tablet. Some can write using their smartphone, and others like the tactile sensation of pen on paper. There are even some of us that use typewriters, both mechanical and electronic. We all have our preferences when it comes to writing, and for me, I use both pen and paper, and digital. Why do I use these methods? Well, for pen and paper, it's easy to carry, and quick to use when I need to jot something down, or I think of a scene for a story. Also, the tactile sensation of writing manual helps with memory enhancement. However, I do the bulk of my writing on my laptop, its the industry standard now for all Writers, and while I'm not a published author, nor do I aspire to be one, it is the best medium in order to share my stories with you all. So, how about you? What do you use?
  15. Let me paint a picture for you. It happens to all writers at one time or another. How you get over a block, is different for each of us. For me, I try switching to a different story, most of the time that works for me. Or I go and read some stories here on GA, or the latest novel I'm reading. Take a walk, or even fire up either EvE Online, or Star Wars: The Old Republic, and blow stuff up to relieve some stress. Eventually, I'll find my way back to the story I was working on. So, how do you handle the block?
  16. It's Tuesday, and you know what that means... time for another Topic Tuesday! This week lets talk about your approach to Character Development. In most stories, there's going to be at least one Character, or you can be like War and Peace, that epic Russian novel that has 600 Named Characters in 1440 pages. That's a lot to keep track of! Character Development is a basic tool and artform that writers quickly become proficient at as they continue to write. I've read several different ways people approach creating a character, that I can tell y'all this: there is no right way, or wrong way to create a character. Let me repeat, there is no right way or wrong way to create a character. If you have an agent or publisher saying that you are doing it wrong, drop them like a bad habit. We each have our own style when it comes to crafting, and we should use what works for us. Makes sense, right? For me, I start with a concept: For my latest project, Timeless the Main Character is an Ex-US Army Ranger, who medically retired after a mission in Afganistan, and lost both of his legs due to an I.E.D. He's in an experimental clinical trial, where he was implanted with a small computer interface system, to help him control some motorized prosthetic legs. While in the Army, he used the G.I. Bill to get a Master's Degree in Computer Science and works as a freelance developer, to supplement his income from Retiring from the Army, VA Benefits, and an extra stipend for having earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. He is also an Avid Gaymer and plays a VRMMORPG called Timeless. Now that is a lot of detail for just a concept, but it's not the final work on the character. After I get the concept, then other details get added: Name: Garrett Sullivan Age: 43-years-old Marital Status: Single, but is dating a 21-year-old Twink. On their 3rd date. Vitals: 6ft., 190lbs., Broad-chested, Muscular, Black Hair, Emerald Green Eyes Basic Likes: Coca-Cola, Cuban Cigars, Cookies-n-Cream Ice Cream, loves Texas BBQ, guilty pleasure of Taylor Swift music, and loves the Disney Movie Frozen. Basic Dislikes: Slackers, People who Disrespect Veterans, Homophobic attitudes, Atheists. Where does he live: Tampa, FL, relocated as part of a joint service with CentCom, before retirement, at MacDill AFB. Lives in a one-story Florida Style Ranch House, that has four bedrooms. Two have been converted into an office and exercise room. Hardwood floors, and predominately in Wood tones, Browns, and Greens. There are more details, and that doesn't include the details of his in-game character, which will be the primary in the story. I keep it listed in my Notes Journal, or in OneNote. I have a document that asks 100 questions to help me collect my thoughts on my character. I do not do all 100 questions. I use them to help inspire me to find what I know about the character, so that I may use him to the best of my ability in the story. This is my approach to character development and creation, and your's might be completely different than mine. So, how about you? How do you craft your characters?
  17. We are all writers, and we've discussed before about "how we write." Today I want to discuss writing tools. Recently I download the Free Trial to Scrivener and have been testing it out. So far, so good and I like it. I also use MS Office Suite and recently was able to upgrade to Office2016. I also us a lot of Role-Playing aids to keep track of characters, and locations. You can find several free ones on DriveThruRPG.com. Online, I read writing articles, use google to look up words for both spelling and definition. There are many more like Name Generators, prompts, other random generators to help flesh out characters. So, what do you use?
  18. This week's topic is working with a team. Since I've joined GA, I've had several people that have helped me with my writing. When I was still in the moderation queue, @Cia gave me some great advice on one story, we took it down, and I rewrote it. She's been invaluable with story related questions on content, and speaking with some new authors to GA, they praise her for being fair, and knowledgeable. Most of my first story I posted on GA Aeris - Guardian Force, I used family members to help edit. That was a mistake. After that, I started working with @Kitt who has helped me on almost every story since. She gives great pointers, and uses MS Word, with it's "track changes" feature and comment bubbles, to show me what needs to be changed and why. Then I can go in and using this editing feature accept or reject the changes she's made. Most often, she's removing my extra commas. After Kitt, a good friend of mine, I met here on GA, tim aka @Mikiesboy who helps me with content. He'll go through using the comment bubbles, to highlight areas. He'll make a note about words or phrases that need to be deleted or changed. He'll suggest different ways to work what I'm trying to say in a more condensed and simple way. Both of them, have said several times to me, "A... You're better than this, rewrite it." And they have been right. Having an editing team, that listens to you, knows your style, and gives good feedback is critical to the success of your story. So how do you work with a team?
  19. Hello fellow writers. This week's topic is about supporting each other. What do you do to support other Writers here on Gay Authors? Do you talk to them on the forums, or in Private Messages? Do you read their works? Do you leave Reactions, Comments, or Reviews on their chapters and stories? or Do you tear them down? Do you alienate them? Do you show disdain for others because they are beneath you? GA is a community of likeminded Writers, overall the experiences I have had here have been overwhelmingly positive. Though I've experienced the negative as well. People who used to read and interact, don't anymore. I've met some fantastic people here at GA, and I consider several of them close friends. I have room in my life for more friends, but I don't for toxic influences.
  20. This week's topic is something I've noticed in a lot of GLBT-themed stories: Oversaturation of Homosexual Characters. Just something I've noticed lately. In several stories I've read around the net and checked out from the library, they seem to have an overpopulation of GLBT characters. If the story has Heterosexual Characters, they typically are secondary characters or the main antagonist of the story overall. This got me thinking about my own stories. Am I doing this intentionally, or subconsciously because I'm a Gay Man, and want to write about GLBT characters in my stories? Is this doing a disservice to myself, and to my readers, by not including more heterosexual characters as major characters and not antagonists? I'm guilty as charged. In my Tampa Chronicles series, I've introduced eight GLBT characters over three books (two published, one soon to be), with another planned for book four of the series. In the series, I've made heterosexual characters into the villains of the story. But does that reflect the real world? My #1 source for stats, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates according to census data and studies, that only 13% of the USA total Population is GLBT. I'm a gay man, who both writes and reads GLBT-Fiction and loves seeing gay characters. However, in the future, I'm going to try to be more diverse in my stories. So, what about you all? What do you think on this week's topic?
  21. This week's topic is something I find a bit hard to do when I go to publish a story on GA: Tagging. GA has 118 story tags, and each story can currently have up to 8 tags on them. But what tags do you use for your story, in order to get someone interested in your work? We've all seen stories here on GA with very few to no tags. The Admin has even asked us to help them, by reporting those stories with suggested tags, so that they can go in and fix them. If you find that GA is lacking a tag, you can even suggest one, and the Admin might add it to the system. I've mentioned two that I've found that GA didn't have, and now we have the "Death" tag, and the "High School" tag. Both of those tags were missing, but we had a number of stories that had those elements in them. Now stories set in a High School, or has a character's Death in them, can be tagged as such to inform the reader. Informing vs. Enticing This is the part that I find to be a little hard when I'm trying to inform the reader, entice them, and trying not to spoil the story. Some tags are absolute by the rules, such as when you have Rape or Incest in a story. This is to inform the reader of the subject material in your story. Others are more subjective. But when do you use what tags? What tags would you use for this story? Well, first off, let's look at the list: https://www.gayauthors.org/storyoptions/storytags/ . This page has all of GA's story tags in both ordered by use and alphabetical order. By far the most popular tag is "Gay". Go figure... we're on a site dedicated to Gay Stories. Now the example story above, what should I tag it? Well, there are aliens, so "Aliens" should be a tag. I would use "Gay" because a Male-on-Male relationship does develop. It might be a bit of a stretch but "road-trip" could signify that they were on the run. For the mind-blowing Nifty Level sex-scene, "Anal" and "Oral" could be used. So that's five tags: Aliens, Gay, Road-Trip, Anal, and Oral. I've got three more tags I can use. Do I use them or not? That is up for each individual author to decide when tagging their stories. I could throw in "Military" because they are being chased by the Authorities, or "Alternate Earth" because it's in a different world than ours, but are they enticing the reader to read the story or making them shy away? Is less more? Again, that is what we each have to decide for our selves. Some might tag this differently, and go with Aliens, Young Adults, Love, Dark, Psionics, and Anal. Or even more different combinations of tags. With the exception of what is required by the posting rules, the skies the limit. So, what about you? When it comes to tagging your stories, how do you approach it? Inform or Entice? Do you use all 8, or go less?
  22. Each of us has comfort zones for writing. Some people like Romance, some like Drama. I love Science Fiction and Fantasy. These are comfort zones that we work in, to different success levels. Writing in the sandbox of your comfort zone is fun, but it can also get a little stale for you and your reader. As writers, we shouldn't be afraid to step out of our comfort zones and try something different. I just recently did that, and found not only do I like it, the story was my most successful on GA. But, even with this new found love of Drama, I have some ideas for my comfort zone. I am planning on trying a new genre for me on the next project. It's partial in my comfort zone area, and outside it as well. The project will feature a story within a story, and have some elements of SciFi, Fantasy, and Drama mixed together. So how about you all? What's your writing comfort zone, and how do you feel about stepping outside it?
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