Status of stories

[TheZot]

It may be lazy, but for folks who've grown up (more or less) with Nifty as one of their primary sources of reading it's also the way they've been taught writing's done. You have an idea, you start, you dive through the interminable middle with a lot of unjustified sex and soap opera dynamics, then let the story peter out before mostly abandoning it.

Not that I'm defending the practice. I'm one of those "gotta know the end before you post the beginning" writers, and if I don't know the ending then the story's not out of first draft yet. But people learn by example, and there's a huge wad of very bad examples on the 'net, and I'm afraid that schools aren't really in a position to teach good fiction writing. (Though I would've had a blast if my High School had offered a one-semester "writing net pr0n" class. That would've been fun... :)

[Tanuki Racoon]

'm afraid that schools aren't really in a position to teach good fiction writing. (Though I would've had a blast if my High School had offered a one-semester "writing net pr0n" class. That would've been fun... :)

A great class to be sure.

But honestly writing good porn, erotica, murder, horror, or fantasy is all the same -- the only difference is the amount of groaning and grunting the characters make. You can either write or you can't. And if you won't learn you'll suck at it no matter what you have a go at.

[TheZot]

But honestly writing good porn, erotica, murder, horror, or fantasy is all the same -- the only difference is the amount of groaning and grunting the characters make. You can either write or you can't. And if you won't learn you'll suck at it no matter what you have a go at.

This is very true, and for all the scorn heaped on the stuff on Nifty, a lot of it really is people taking their first big public attempt at writing fiction. It's the sort of writing that'd normally be trotted out in a writing class or workshop, but the people doing it aren't in a position to do that. Probably doesn't even occur to them that they could, or the anonymity of the Internet gives 'em the freedom they need to take that first step and actually try to write.

I dunno for sure how many of the people writing dodgy stuff have to be writing porn or erotica for motivational reasons. Many of them do -- it's really clear that there's a good-sized chunk of text on Nifty that's there mostly to let the author exorcise their personal demons, and if the subject were different they'd not be writing at all. I suppose anything that gets people writing is good, though I'm not 100% sure that too much of it ought to be seen in public...

[blue]

Yes, guys, I think you've got it right. There are a lot of ppl out there writing for the first time. (That's true of any of the fiction on the web, for that matter.) There are also a lot who are writing to purge :censored: that they've been through, or for wish fulfillmnet, or to be funny or weird or daring, or for "a quickie." Honestly, I hate seeing the formula stories. Most of those are first-time writers or ppl who've never thought of writing before. Nifty isn't the only one, it's just one of the more frequent and visible ones.

But then there are the gems hiding in the dirt, people who have the talent to write really great stories, even if they are new at it and obviously just learning. Beginning writers often wonder if they're any good, and if they should continue writing. The answer is that their talent nearly always shows, even if it's the first story they've written. There's a quality that's hard to define, but you know it when you see it, in a talented writer, that just doesn't show up in one who isn't talented.

This gets back to the original feedback topic how? -- Simple: If you get feedback, that usually indicates someone cared enough about your story to comment on it. It made an impression. If you don't get comments, that doesn't mean your story wasn't good: that would be trying to prove a negative, which is a no-no. Also simple: Sites that post fiction or poetry, including this site, accept submissions from writers, and those are (or should be) read by one or more editors. If a story or poem is accepted, that means it's (presumably) passed by an editor. Sites may also receive recommendations to host a piece by a writer, and if an editor accepts it, then the editor asks the author to be able to post his or her story or poem. In that case, you know someone took notice and thought it was well written, and an editor thought the same.