I find that one thing that helps with the suspension of disbelief is internal consistency. Especially if you are inventing a world in which to spank.
One you establish something, don't go back on it. If in chapter one Kate has been thinking how she had always wanted to be spanked but never had been, chapter 2 shouldn't have Kate remembering how she had been spanked. If Friday night is punishment night at the woman's reformatory, and the inmates have been looking forward all week with dread to what would happen on Friday, then don't include a spankings on other days of the week. If Steve is a life long anti spanker, then he shouldn't change his mind at the drop of a hat. If everyone in the men's reformatory is 21 or over, then a 15 year old boy shouldn't be getting his bottom strapped there.
Seeing a character change suddenly, or world shift for no real, that ruins the flow of the story.
That doesn't mean that the characters can never change, but you have to work up to it via a plot device like Checkov's Gun. To quote one version of it: "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."
Better yet, follow the rule in the reverse - if you want a shooting in act 2 then include a load gun in act 1.
In other words, foreshadow. For example, if anti spanker Steve is about to change his views on spankings, give him reasons and hints that he's likely to change. Make Steve a slave to fashion, always having the in phone, even if he isn't a techie. Have him adopt his boss' politics, even if he holds the opposite views. Have him drop an old friend after that friend makes a faux pas. Show that he had no moral rudder, that he goes with whichever way the winds blows, then when he finds that everyone else in the neighbourhood spanks then we almost expect Steve to start swatting tail.
If Kate yearns to be spanked then suddenly remembers being spanked, then include something about how she blocked out some memories, had been given shock treatment, had had a head injury, was getting over a drug addiction - whatever you use you have to foreshadow her recovering memories.
The fewer abrupt shocks, the easier it is to maintain that suspension of disbelief. |