Writers Styles

Nonsense! You're a wonderful author. I enjoy all your stories MN. I can remember my first story just for fun and not publication. OMG, it read like some kind of manual. LOL

Yes, I think they probably do. And maybe the same happens to us as writers too, after a while? As you said yourself, change or die!

But I wouldn't change just for the sake of attracting readers: this writing lark has to be for our own fun, or it becomes a strain, and our efforts probably decline in quality. Anyway, we have so many different kinds of readers here that for every one who gets bored of your 'thing' there will be new ones just discovering you (on average, about 50 new members join every week).

Meanwhile, as Miss Naughty said, it's natural over time for our 'style' (by which you seem to mean kinds of plot, setting, characters and perspective, as well as manner of writing) to evolve and change slightly as we grow in experience as writers and try new things.


Well, yes, but they may not be quite as different as you state - and there are stories that are borderline between the two. Furthermore, to switch from one to the other (as you yourself did, very effectively, in 'Family is Everything' recently) doesn't necessarily mean 'changing styles' - the main change is simply in the plot, in that the spankings are not the only or main focus.

Write what you enjoy - ya feel me? - and readers will follow.

Yes, but then how do you explain John Benson's stats? If you open a JB story, you can be 80% sure of the themes you will find in the basic storyline, yet I don't see any decrease in his popularity. I know I still read his stories regularly.

Perhaps it really is OK to keep hitting on the same themes, as long as you do it well and you find a way to avoid the trap of writing the same story over and over.

There are a few things you can do to avoid being typecast as writing only a single predictable type of story. We can all fall into tendencies that repeat in our writing but here are a few ways you can keep it fresh:

Change orientation. If you constantly write M/F, switch to F/F or F/M for a change.

Change genre. If you seem to always be in a home/school setting, pick something else. I make use of multiple genres---mystery, crime, adventure, humor, western, sci-fi. I'm all over the map and I think it helps.

Change POV. If you always write 3rd person omniscient observer, narrow down the number of observers and pick one character's POV to tell the story. Or go with 1st person. I've used them all. The recent letter challenge forced us to write in 1st person POV with little or no dialog. I found it challenging because I had to create a story within that framework and stick to the tone of my character who was writing it. A 19 year old girl from 19th century England was very different from a Navy aviator in 1945 or a college coed in 1957.

Change time frame. If you always write about today, go back a few years (or forward a few years). DJ Black does this really well. Billboard and Anitalynn did this in their Civil War story.

Change the plot. Think of a simple story line, or a McGuffin. (What's a McGuffin? Alfred Hitchcock said it was the kernel of an idea that drove the plot). Then build the story around it. Example: To protect her from mobsters a young coed is hidden in a communal farm run by a woman with a strict discipline code. That's the McGuffin. You can see lots of possibilities for building a story around that. (BTW that's "Hide in Plain Sight")

If you do any of these things, it will help keep your writing original and interesting and you are more likely to avoid rewriting the same story over and over again.

I don't deliberately alter my style. However, I do try to tell a story in which spanking is important, but not the only reason for telling the story. At least that's what I try to do. Don't know whether that's the perception of readers, though. I'm trying to tell a story I enjoy and hope others will enjoy. I can only hope that I'm successful.

JB has a tremendous amount of stories on site, (801), far more then most. That is a large reason I would suggest. If one opens Lucky Dip his stories are found on almost every page because of the sheer number. It is true of a few other authors on site as well, and with the number of new viewers every week it is normal that his stories would attract attention for that reason alone.

I have read a few of his and made some comments on them, however I do not seek them out, and the reason is because as good as writer as John is, his stories are written much the same every time, it is like watching an old time western. I have to wonder if John was submitting stories today (and maybe he is) would they be the same? Somehow I doubt it but I may be wrong.

I have to say John Benson is one of my favourite authors of spanking fiction. Quite often his stories work on several levels and have meaning beyond the actual literal events being described. The reason I enjoy reading his stories, though, is primarily because I love the way he writes and to be honest I really don't care what the subject matter may be.

And there ya go. Right in a nutshell. Exactly, Febs.....

I never tire of reading about her!

As an author, I do try to vary things, That's one of the reasons I ended up writing some F/F stuff, which frankly I didn't think I'd enjoy. But I did and it's been very popular too. I often scavenge bits from the media for inspiration - titles usually, then the plot follows.

As a new writer and being one who has a very difficult time with proper grammar, I have learned one thing. I write what I feel is a story that I would enjoy reading. Meaning I write 99% of the time about females getting spanked. Teenage and college girls, sorority pledges and implements doing the narrating. These are all things in my style of writing. I don't think I could change this style if I tried. This is just the way I write and I hope others enjoy it.