Interesting tips

8) Write like a movie
I disagree with this.

Novel writing and screenplay are two completely different skills.
When I have watched films of books I have enjoyed I am usually very disappointed.

There are some notable exceptions eg I Claudius,
and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The constant Gardener. These were of course notable for the superb acting.

I do think it is important that you can imagine the action in your head while writing though.

Most of the rest is good advice though-especially Finish It in my case!

To me that's a must. If I can't play the scene out in my mind then I can't write it.

And, to be fair, the ten tips were for writing screenplays for movie/TV - not spanking fiction - but I still feel that the bulk of them are adaptable.

Goodgulf

I agree with that, njirick. It's definitely a skill. Of course some things do have to be told, especially in a short piece, but hardly ever aspects of someone's character. Those should be shown.

I do believe, though, that there is a school of writing popular in the U.S. that does draw heavily on TV, film and computer game to describe action starkly with very little subtlety. The hatred of adverbs is part of this. The end result can be dramatic action in which the thoughtful, feeling reader doesn't give a damn whether the character lives or dies because (s)he's been given no reason to care.

Concerning "heading out the door" - yes, I can easily imagine this could be understood as head-butting the door with such force that a hole was made in it or the entire door collapsed. Punching out the glass; heading out the door.

Personally I have problems when it comes to "show, not tell". I find that when I write descriptive prose I tell as opposed to show. The only ways I've found around it is to add a bit of a narrative tone to the description or do most of it in dialogue, like an Old Time Radio play.

Goodgulf

Interesting topic. I attended a reading of a play in progress recently, and it was a fascinating experience because, while it was read by actors sitting at a table (who did 'act' it, not just read the words) there were no sets, costumes, or actions. All there was to process were the characters' words - and yet nothing seemed lacking.

I'm not sure a spanking story could be written entirely through dialogue - although if that's possible I'm sure someone here will manage it - but this is one way to approach the issue. You can't beat your audience over the head telling them what motivates characters in a play; you simply must let the characters speak for themselves.

Sometimes telling is necessary, but if the description can be interwoven into the action, rather than devoting a paragraph or two, it works much better, IMHO. And sometimes the showing can be done without telling at all. In one of my recent stories (which I won't name, lest I be accused of shameless self-plugging, and was overlooked by the membership here in any case), the reader will, but the end of the story, know pretty much exactly what the former relationship had been between the two main characters without it ever being mentioned. The reader becomes much more engaged in a story if he/she has to figure things out rather than having everything explained. That's my theory, in any case.


I've written a couple that came close. So yes, I believe it can be done.

Take a spanking story told mostly through dialogue, get actors to read the parts, add appropriate sound effects - and you'd have a great audiodrama! One for the Jukebox perhaps - or a new line for LSF Publications. (Spanking Audiodramas seem rare on the net - a great opportunity for someone to meet the demand).

I'm pretty sure I have read one on this site. That would be interesting as the next challenge.


Please just tell us which one, Rick. Go ahead - be shameless!

Nope. I gave that up years ago.

njrick, will you tell us which ones are all dialogue? Very curious to read.