Your Best Work

"SNM: I'm going to jump on the Fox and Hounds bandwagon. Thrice Burned and Poker Night would be the runners up."

You guys are definitely old school.

Same here. I think this is true for a lot of us.

But I think this thread is specifically about spanking stories.

I don't know which of my stories I would consider to be my best work. I would probably have to go with a story I wrote for the 2006 Bared Affair Story Contest which I called A Hot Night in Georgia. It was actually a part of a series of stories that I wrote around that time, and while I'm not sure it was my best effort, it won the contest that year, so I was especially proud of it for that fact alone.

But my stories pale in comparison to some of the great authors here. My favorite thing I've ever read anywhere was ChardT's classic stories, The Talk and A Deals A Deal as well as all of his Shelly Brooks series. That's the closet thing I've ever read to the exact feeling that I've always tried to capture in my own stories but have fallen way short of. I can remember the first time I read The Talk and thinking to myself, "Damn! I wish I'd written that!"

I'm also a huge fan of Rollin's stories. A Very Bright Girl and Island Justice have always been near the top of my list of favorite stories. But these are only a couple of the fine writers who have been a major inspiration for me.

As John said I loved Chard's Shelly stories. I'm missing my fix of her and Jillybean, any more of those in the pipeline, Chard?

Seegee
I have an idea for one that happens while she's at college, but I'm still working that out in my head.

jimisim
Jimsim - how do you rate your "In the year 2025" ?
It is amongst my top all time favs !

gail

Hi Gail
Thanks for your comments and praise.
I enjoyed writing the story and keep on meaning to add a couple of episodes involving Mum in Law.

I don't rate it as my best or favourite though.

Strangely enough I'm very fond of "Allie in Dreamland", which not many appear to bother to read, and nobody has commented on.

My favourite works are my more gentle and romantic ones although when I'm in the mood I like to write more severe judicial ones.

I suppose my favourite LP is "The Rattan Woman", and possibly my favourite single is "Jane and the woodwork room".

I make no claims as to literary merit. I started writing these stories to practice for a "rite of passage" novel based on experiences I have known.

I haven't managed to start this though, I got well and truly sidetracked.

I just hope that people get enjoyment, stimulation and satisfaction from reading them, I certainly enjoy writing them.

One addendum, I'd love a few more comments though if you enjoyed the work, a sentiment I'm sure my fellow authors would echo.

I was wondering if there are any metrics showing the number of comments single stories get vs serials ?
Or, for a given author, whether stories get more reads than serials?

My sense is, that readers prefer (and maybe comment more on) short stories.

As a (very part time) writer, I prefer to write the serials, as it provides a sense of continuity and less time needed for scene setting.

Another thought I had, was whether different venues have different reading/commenting patterns.
Do readers on FC, for instance, prefer serials and readers on this site prefer short stories ?

What happens with serials, you will find, is that part one will get X number of reads, but parts two and beyond will get half of that. If you sample some serials I think that metric holds up fairly well. The reason is, I think, that readers read part one and decide, no, that's not their cup of tea. There is a bit of a difference between a serial and a multi-part story. If you have three or four parts only there is less drop off in readership, but still some because, again, part one did not appeal to some readers. So I don't know if readers like stories or serials better, but I think that in the case of serials readers will sample it by looking at part one then make a decision. Length is a factor as has been reported here before. The optimum length (in terms of attracting readers) for either a story or a story part appears to be 1500-3500 words.

Another difference in my mind, is that when I break a story into parts, I tend to publish the parts within days of each other. A true serial, though, can be strung out over a long period of time. If it has legs, people will read the new chapters.

Since I started writing again, I don't have very many things I'd consider serials. They are multi-part stories and the only reason they are broken up into parts is that shorter parts are easier to read here. Looking at a story and seeing that it is 8000 words is a little daunting so I will break it up into 3 parts just for ease of use.

If it has legs, people will read the new chapters.

Surely bottoms are more important?

There are different kinds of serials - ones that are basically chapters in one story, and others that are more loosely related though featuring some of the same characters and capable of being arranged in a chronological sequence. I think another factor affecting reading of serials is that if the reader sees part one of four, say, alongside a stand-alone story by the same author, he or she is more likely to try the latter, feeling that reading just the first episode may be unsatisfactory and not wanting to commit to reading all of them. That doesn't apply if you know and value the author.

As for different readerships, I have noted that poetry and songs go down much better here than on Flaming Cheeks (the old one, anyway) and maybe parodies too. I haven't noticed big differences. FC was more British and less American or continental European in its active membership, which affects some themes (the schol setting seems to be particularly popular in Britain and the office more in the U.S.). Also SL has more female writers producing relatively mild, reflective pieces, and conversely, is perhaps a bit less given to the wilder or more whimsical fantasies.