Authors: A question

I agree with many things you say Goodgulf, however on the above point I have to wonder.

As writers of spanking fiction I would argue most if not all of us write what is happening in our real lives or what we WISH would or could happen in our real lives, either in the past, present or future. Those writers of M/F stories who are of the male gender, I would suggest have a desire to spank women, hopefully with consent, but at times discipline spankings are not consented to as much as allowed to happen.

Same can be said of writers of the F/M genre, if the writer is male I would say (and this is personal experience) that these one want a strong women to spank their bottoms. This same statement would be true of all genres and types in general here on site, in my opinion and I may well be alone on this one.

Now in regards to nasty things in a story, perhaps one would never go as far as they would write in a story, however that would depend on the partner they are with at the moment I would think. For example, let us say a young couple start off with sex in the missionary position and that is what they do for three months. After that time, the couple starts switching positions, and then perhaps involve more parts of their bodies then ever before.

What I am trying to say is that as one goes along what I may consider "nasty" in a story may not be "nasty" at all in the writer's mind, just a progression from what happened before. Not everything has to progress to the same level as some individuals would take them, but to prevent boredom etc, things have to progress and/or change. However a new young couple who read such things may well think things are "nasty" until they to progress or change on new and different things.

Writer's often write their desires in their stories, and I don't limit that statement just to this site. People who are authors about murder mysteries are often have some experience in police work somewhere in their lives. One today often works at a job that is NOT what he/she really wants to do, sometimes due to choice or situation, but in fiction writing there is not limit and one writes what could be truly hidden deep in their hearts, perhaps not even recognized for years after they start to write.

Is this a bad thing...not in the least. It is a very safe release of feelings that harm no one and give the writer a release from building up those feelings. In my mind there is nothing worse then having a secret (and again personal experience here) and not being able to share it with anyone in any format what so ever.

This is a very interesting area.
I agree with the general gist about constructive criticism, but in reality no amateur author wants to receive criticism regarding plot structure or character development. Surely that's an intensely subjective area? I personally would never criticize another author in these two areas. Each to his or her own. If an author isn't writing for profit (ie virtually all of us) then he/she is writing to please him/her self and not you or me.

Having said that if a story IN MY OPINION is not very well written then I tend to skim it and not make any comment. Equally a story can be beautifully written but not hold my attention because it doesn't press the right buttons For ME PERSONALLY. I would either skim it or not bother reading it at all. Either way I wouldn't comment on it because my opinion is entirely subjective.

Because there are literally hundreds of stories on the site I tend to comment only on those that are in my opinion are well-written and that do it for me. That leaves me with a small but growing, number of authors who in my opinion are really very good and whose output is consistently stimulating.

Quite frankly, you're wrong. I'm an amateur author and am grateful for any constructive criticism that can help me improve my writing. Would I prefer praise? Well, yes, or at least I would prefer to DESERVE praise. And it's true that I don't always agree with what is offered as constructive criticism - I may stand by what I wrote. But oftentimes a helpful critique gives me a "takeaway" contributes to my improvement as a writer.

The same sort of thing is true of criticism. I always try to engage with criticism and Sebastian is always clear when he criticises - though I often disagree with him on whether the plot or ending is sufficiently clear. If someone says something like "the ending is too abrupt" or "It's not clear why Liz rejected Tom's offer at the start but accepted it at the end" or "the punishment is too severe" or "Bill's character seems a bit stereotyped", those comments give me a good idea of what the issue is and it can be discussed. Some very brief criticism I find very hard to reply to because I just don't understand why the reader reacted like that.

I tend to be positive in my comments, I think the writer needs to be encouraged, I am not a fan of M/m but if I open a story I try to make a comment, I will not say I did not like the story or theme, I will be non commital. I have made a comment to a writer where I have hinted that the theme was not to my liking but I do not feel it is necessary to belabor the point. I have noticed I have become more free with comments, more explanatory.
I hope this makes sense.

In rebuttal:
Fantasy is fantasy.

One of the classic fantasy is the "victim of rape" fantasy. It allows the idea of guilt free sex. If you have no control over what happens then you don't have to feel guilty about enjoying sex. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_fantasy
for a more complete write up of the subject.

To quote:
"A study of college-age women found over half had engaged in fantasies of rape or coercion which, another study claims, are within the normal range of female sexuality."

Does this mean that more than half of the women in that study wanted to be rape in real life? Of course not.

Because fantasy is fantasy. The reality of rape is harsh, brutal, and more about power than sex. The reality of rape has nothing to do with rape fantasies. People who fantasize about rape don't want the reality, they want the carefully constructed fantasy.


There may be some authors who wish that their spanking fantasizes could come true, but I would argue that most would reject the type reality that would allow that sort of thing to happen. Writing about those worlds can be fun, picturing our loved ones trapped in a world where they can be assaulted on whim isn't.

Goodgulf

I'm not saying that some people don't preach through fiction, I'm saying that the bulk of writers don't do that. That most authors stretch themselves to tell an interesting story. That because character X did Y it does not mean that the author endorses Y.

For example, on another board I sometimes visit, where the subject is sci fi and fantasy novels, I've seen posts where someone said that she wouldn't feel safe on an elevator alone with <blah author> because of what <blah author> did to a female character several books ago. Because in order to write about someone attacking a female you would need to have the urge to attack a female deep in your heart. No, it doesn't matter that the character doing the attack is channeling the essence of a Fallen Angel or that the heroes of the book curb stomped that villain - the need to attack women must be deep in that author's soul, to the point that if he was ever alone with a woman (even if it was just for an elevator ride) that he would be driven to attack her.

Others chime in agreeing with that poster, adding that while they had never read that series it was because the author was clearly a misogynist. He had to be - otherwise he couldn't write a scene.

The attempt to read an author's "true character" and "real motivations" through his work is doomed to fail - unless he is the type to preach his beliefs in his stories. And even with the most preachy it can be hard to tell. For example, I've read quite a bit of Orson Scott Card's work and I never picked up any of his personal views - but some people claim to see his objectionable person views and cite (as evidence) that he has very few (if any) homosexual characters in his stories.

Goodgulf

There is where we disagree I am afraid. There is no way to prove either side however it is my belief that unless one has an interest in and a desire to see or have something happen, then that one would never be able to consistently write voluntary stories about it over a period of years. An occasional story or a research paper perhaps to obtain a goal or grade, but never a long term relationship in something one is not interested in and does not have some desire to experiment in. Perhaps that interest and desire never get a chance to happen, but it is there.

None of us would be on site if we did not have an interest in spanking of some type. Why else would we be here? If that is true, then one who voluntarily writes stories for the site has chosen to share their ideas/fantasies about spanking, and I dare say, to perhaps hope/wish/desire such things to happen even though they may know it never will.

On a site such as this, there are no scientific research papers, no pressure to get certain grades or anything of the sort. People are here because they want to be here, because the stories here fulfill a need found in themselves, (for many an unexplainable reason). When one reads these stories. many I would think place themselves in that situation and in a minor sense live through that story for a few brief seconds in their lives.

I am not saying the extremes apply here , but I do think the vast majority are here because in this land of fantasy they have found some fulfillment of their desires and wants. Those desires and wants for most will remain in the fantasy world, but for a lucky few maybe fantasy and real life meld and things turn out for them.

I think the rape scene is a far cry from reality. The fact is that most men would never rape a woman and thank God for that, however with the right partner who shares the same interest, who knows were role playing takes someone. However if one reads some of the non-consent stories on site, do we really think that they are feasible either? The answer is a clear "no' however, that does not mean it does not or could not happen.

There have been many comments etc on the two years I have been on site where ones have written such things as "I wish my wife/husband would..." or "I would really like to find a partner/adventure like in this story." There clearly are controlled fantasies in those peoples minds and there is nothing wrong with it.

People today are trained to think we must only do and act as society demands of us as individuals. That I suppose keeps the world from running amok, however there is nothing saying one cannot express their individual feelings in a fantasy story on a site such as this.

In the end I stick to my statement, many of us are what we eat and write what we desire, perhaps secretly or openly, it does not matter. The good thing about this is that just like we regulate what we eat, so too we regulate our fantasies and the vast majority of them remain on a site like this and never go any further.

That is an interesting idea! Would you want to be a character in one of your own stories? Ouch!

I would like to be a character in one of YOUR stories. Preferably one of this strict mistress.