Being over-passionate as the story-teller

Alef's last point is spot on, though as a 'pantser' myself I can't plan ahead too rigorously. I think Edgar Allen Poe said that you should structure an entire story purely in consideration of the effect you want to create in the reader: first define the effect, and then include nothing except what will cumulatively produce that effect. Maybe that's why he only wrote about subsidence in old houses and black cats, rather than white whales. For myself, though, I do start with both some kind of situation, and an idea of what it is I want to make the reader experience: usually an abyss of humiliation and an agony of suspense. If you hang on to that idea, now and again you'll come up with something that flies (and not I hope as I do a lot of over-wordy padding as well).
I don't think there are useful rules about description. It's a bit like a horror film: suggestion and half glimpses are usually more terrifying than showing the whole monster, but on the other hand you have to back that up with major revelations occasionally.

I think some of what we're talking about with regards to character and breaking continuity is why there are first drafts.

The first piece of writing that I posted to the Library wasn't a story at all - it was an advert for a fictional product (Maquillage TT). This allowed me to minimise characterisation, leave out dialogue entirely, and have only the amount of plot that the average TV commercial has (characterisation, dialogue and plot being all things I felt unsure of being able to write at the time). Perhaps you could try something similar?

Reading through this thread, I'd guess I'm a 'pantser' - I like to begin knowing how the story will end, but I start writing with little idea of how it's going to get there; I just imagine what's going to happen next, and try to describe it - and sometimes the ending I first thought of gets changed!

I am a complete pantser! I can start writing with nothing more than an opening line in my head that has turned me on. I often have no idea where the story or characters will go.....it just sort of happens as I write.

But you can probably tell that by my stories!

I told myself I wouldn't comment any more on my thread I started, but drkeate, I've had an epiphany after reading your post! My 1st story submission, at 5500 words or so, is a mess, too long, etc. And Poe's words have hit home! To Include nothing except what will cumulatively produce the effect I wish to create for the reader. How Poe's advice fits my specific story is that indeed, my idea deals with a household item (something we all have in our homes and take for granted), and it suddenly becomes a very frightening household fixture for the spankee involved. The title of my story, in fact, refers to this common household item. I had a wonderful idea for a story, but then felt the need to add unnecessary parents' conversations, past events, etc. that have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I ONLY wish to scare the hell out of the reader with this story! LOL! So now I know where to edit edit edit!! and simplify!! Thanks drkeate!!

Yes, but to know what will best produce that effect is not always easy for me. There is so much more to a spanking story than just the physical act of spanking. There's an almost infinite variety of situations depending on the fears, attitudes and expectations of spanker and spankee going into the spanking and coming out of it. To allow the reader to understand the emotions of the participants, of course you need to spend a few words setting the overall mood and developing the characters, which may include, for example, relating an incident from a character's past that is key to understanding his/her actions and emotions. But too much background is subject to the law of diminishing returns. Or if there is an unexpected plot twist near the end, you may need to include information early in the story which foreshadows it, or the reader may cry 'foul'. [I don't want to get to the end of a story and be told 'the butler did it' when there was no previous mention of a butler.] And to keep that information from being a dead giveaway, you might want to make it subtle and hide it in the details you use to set the stage. The key is recognizing what is needed and what is irrelevant verbiage and arranging it to keep the reader's interest even during the non-spanking part of the story. Easier said than done.

I have to admit I think Poe's advice can be misleading and potentially dangerous. It may work well for certain kinds of stories such as horror stories or erotic stories where the main aim is to make the reader as scared or aroused as possible, but I don't think it works very well for more complex stories where the main theme is, e.g., a psychological phenomenon or a moral dilemma. If one insists, one may still argue that the better the effects, the better the story, but I think it is dangerous to make the effects one's leading light in such stories — partly because the effects are so subtle that you often don't really understand them yourself. What you know is what the story means to you, and that is where you must start.

As for background, I must say I am all for it! I find it very hard to get interested in spanking stories where I don't feel for the characters. But even so, I often find that the background takes up too much space, and that authors could be better at putting in background details as they go along. Often a passing reference or a choice word is enough to make the reader see the picture.