Good plot or good writing?

I've been reading a book (not on LSF) that has a wonderful plot spoiled by very poor writing and far too many spankings, thus rendering the whole thing completely implausible and difficult to read. I'd be interested to hear other's opinions on what makes or ruins an otherwise good spanking story.

To begin at the opposite end, I think that many of us have experienced that some of the most exciting spanking scenes are those we have come across in mainstream books or movies. They need not be long, they need not be graphic, but they are extremely powerful just by the fact that they appear in, what seems to us, everyday life and not as something produced in order to excite us.

When it comes to spanking stories, tastes are different, but for me a spanking story can definitely be ruined by too many spankings. I think it is because I like spanking to be something secret, embarrassing, and shameful (I suddenly got a feeling that this doesn't reflect well on me!), and if the spankings are too frequent or administered for quite trivial reasons, the mental aspects disappear. This doesn't hold for all stories (there are some humorous ones where I feel the more spankings the better), but it is definitely the case for realistic or semi-realistic stories.

Other things that bother me are psychological inconsistencies (the nice father turning into an ogre the moment the spanking begins) and long drawn-out and badly written spanking scenes (but I admit spanking scenes are terribly hard to write well!).

LOL, I love the question, but part of me can't help but equate this preferential choice to: "would you like your favorite meal served burnt, or a perfectly prepared dish of something you hate?"

If we keep the question ramped up, I don't have an answer and would probably stop reading either extreme, but if we dial it down to mediocrity, I suppose most would prefer a great plot and mediocre writing rather than a good rendering of something insipid. But then again I've been moved by brilliant writing describing something as simple as a view from a bridge, so maybe I would choose the writing. But it couldn't be just "good" writing. It would have to be amazing writing. Then I'd probably forgive a wishy-washy plot.

I think the single most common mistake people make in writing spanking stories is that they try to write a story about a spanking. The story has to be about the characters and they need to be three dimensional people the reader can relate to. The spanking is just something that happens in the course of the events the characters are going through.

Absolutely, could not have said it better myself. There's a reason why 'The Talk' has nearly 50 more Favorites than any other story in the Library. Yes, there is a spanking involved and it is long and painful. However, it's almost secondary to the overall plot of false accusation, forced to confess a shameful secret, agonizing all day over the choice to be made, and finding the fortitude to go through with it. Meanwhile Mom has her own thinking to do about what's occurred and what her daughter needs. So there's quite a lot of build up before we get to the 'main event.' So if you're looking for an example of the 'right' way to write a spanking story that's the example I'd cite.

I've tried to learn from it, so my stories tend to go a little longer than some. There are only so many different ways to describe an actual spanking; it's the before and after that will either satisfy a reader or leave them shaking their heads at wasting 5 minutes of their lives.

I couldn't have put it better Alef. Well said.

Really I think it's the difference between describing a fantasy and writing fiction. A fantasy is very two-dimensional and doesn't transfer that well to an audience. Good fiction requires characters to have goals and motivations, and then face challenges and conflicts in achieving them - elements that are often lacking in amateur stories.

If you're familiar with the idea that in reality there are only a relatively small number of plots, which is certainly true in our niche world, then a robust plot from the small pot will need something in the writing to make it sing.

When I studied English Lit I discovered there were scores of Elizabethan Revenge Tragedies with ghosts, skulls, soliloquy's about revenge and mortality, heaps of corpses etc and only one Hamlet!

I am more plot driven myself. I'll excuse some mistakes in writing, (Lord knows I've let some slip through in my stories), but I do want a good plot. I also want a plot made up of real people. real people make mistakes, real adults have sex, and some teens do, or at least they think about ti a lot. I know I try to make my stories characters seem real. I also like descriptive language, and I like when a simple sentence may take us somewhere we don't expect. Spaning scenes are difficult to write and not use the same language over and over. I'm continually looking for new ways to describe what a spanking sounds like, looks like and how the recipients backside looks when it's done.

For me one of the key issues in a spanking story, or indeed any story, is can I see myself in that situation or as one of the protagonists? Can I empathise, sympathise or desire to be in that story?

When something touches a nerve in a story it becomes a great story for YOU, but the same story might not generate the same emotions in someone else. That something can even be a very small detail that opens the door to the whole tale.