Next writing project anxiety

[Dansak]

Okay, anxiety maybe over doing it a bit but still, I'm in a pickle.

I'm nearing the end of a story I'm writing for CHYOA which I will publish in the next month or so. But already my mind is turning to the next project.

I've got a long overdue BDSM novel I've planned out but not started yet, it's not for CHYOA though and I've no idea where or how I'd publish it. So, it feels like a lot of work with potentially no audience, but I'd enjoy the process.

Or, I've had an idea for a story on CHYOA that I know will go down well and probably gets lots of love (it's about a school for misbehaving girls). It will not be challenging to write, and could be complexed if I use lots of branches (which I've not done before), but I feel it will strike a chord here on CHYOA.

I don't really want to put love and effort into the first project for it to remain unseen, but equally I don't want to get tied to the second idea for a story that could be reasonably successful but I don't really feel challenged by or fully invested in, but the temptation to go for the easy likes story is strong.

On the plus side, having a decent choice of good ideas to work with is always nice, so there's that.

Anyone else get distracted by their next project before the last one is done? Or do you struggle to chose which idea to go with?

 

[Zeebop]

I ken it. I had planned to start a new story in 2023. I have a 400-chapter-by-chapter outline set up. But real life intervened, and it's almost all I can do to keep up with LLNO. So it's looking more like a 2024 story.

Life happens when you're making other plans.

That being said, Amazon and Lulu will let you self-publish pretty much anything that isn't incest porn, so there's a potential market there if you want to go commercial. Or you could release some test chapters on Literatorica or something, gauge the response.

 

[TheLowKing]

I don't really want to put love and effort into the first project for it to remain unseen, but equally I don't want to get tied to the second idea for a story that could be reasonably successful but I don't really feel challenged by or fully invested in, but the temptation to go for the easy likes story is strong.

I have finished 2 stories that no one else has ever read, and a third that's currently sitting at 71 chapters and 200k words with no end in sight. I guess it depends on your goals and what motivates you: often, I write just because I want to write, because I enjoy doing it, not because I have a purpose or goal in mind.

What motivates you?

a long overdue BDSM novel

a school for misbehaving girls

I'm here for both of these. Why do you think the first idea wouldn't find an audience?

Anyone else get distracted by their next project before the last one is done? Or do you struggle to chose which idea to go with?

Oh, yes. My erotic story idea list currently has 25 entries, with 7 more sitting somewhere between "quick idea" and "finished a couple of chapters". Some are 'easy', like your second idea. Not necessarily easy to write (writing anything is a mountain of work), but easily digestible, with potential mass appeal. Others are... let's say, more challenging.

However, before "random 1-paragraph concept" becomes "70000 word first draft", an idea has to run a veritable gauntlet: I add more notes, compose them into a quick plot overview, split it from my "random ideas" file to a document of its own, work out more of the plot, get really hyped about it (this is the most important step), start writing, keep writing (this is the hardest step), and finally finish it (scratch that: this is the hardest step!). And at any of those points it could get abandoned, joining my graveyard of things-that-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time-but-actually-sucked.

It doesn't help that every story I ever wrote reached a point where I got bored of it, and then one of those hyped-up ideas suddenly seems really attractive. Sometimes I switch, sometimes I don't. I don't really know how my brain picks between those options, it just kind of does.

 

[Dansak]

I ken it. I had planned to start a new story in 2023. I have a 400-chapter-by-chapter outline set up. But real life intervened, and it's almost all I can do to keep up with LLNO. So it's looking more like a 2024 story.

Life happens when you're making other plans.

That being said, Amazon and Lulu will let you self-publish pretty much anything that isn't incest porn, so there's a potential market there if you want to go commercial. Or you could release some test chapters on Literatorica or something, gauge the response.

For some reason I just can't get on with Literotica, not sure if it's the design of the site or what, it just annoys me. And Amazon, yeah, it's the one I've been thinking of, but publishing on there feels like real 'big boy' stuff and scares the hell out of me! I may give it a go one day, not sure I'm there yet.

 

[Dansak]

I have finished 2 stories that no one else has ever read, and a third that's currently sitting at 71 chapters and 200k words with no end in sight. I guess it depends on your goals and what motivates you: often, I write just because I want to write, because I enjoy doing it, not because I have a purpose or goal in mind.

What motivates you?



I'm here for both of these. Why do you think the first idea wouldn't find an audience?


Oh, yes. My erotic story idea list currently has 25 entries, with 7 more sitting somewhere between "quick idea" and "finished a couple of chapters". Some are 'easy', like your second idea. Not necessarily easy to write (writing anything is a mountain of work), but easily digestible, with potential mass appeal. Others are... let's say, more challenging.

However, before "random 1-paragraph concept" becomes "70000 word first draft", an idea has to run a veritable gauntlet: I add more notes, compose them into a quick plot overview, split it from my "random ideas" file to a document of its own, work out more of the plot, get really hyped about it (this is the most important step), start writing, keep writing (this is the hardest step), and finally finish it (scratch that: this is the hardest step!). And at any of those points it could get abandoned, joining my graveyard of things-that-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time-but-actually-sucked.

It doesn't help that every story I ever wrote reached a point where I got bored of it, and then one of those hyped-up ideas suddenly seems really attractive. Sometimes I switch, sometimes I don't. I don't really know how my brain picks between those options, it just kind of does.

What motivates me? good question, primarily it's the process of writing, I find it very cathartic. Once the writing is underway then it's the characters that motivate me, they become like friends I feel I have to give love and attention to.

Why do I think the fist idea wouldn't find an audience? Perhaps it would, but the book I'm thinking of writing would be lacking in sex, it's more about the emotions and complexities of BDSM relationships (I'm in a BDSM relationship) rather than the nitty gritty of sex. I maybe wrong but I find that CHYOA audiences expect a certain amount of sex in the stories here. And, I'd write it novel style too, which I think is very different to how stories on CHYOA are generally styled, again, I could be wrong. I'm testing that theory now, the story I'm working is a novel, but I'm going to publish here on CHYOA.

"It doesn't help that every story I ever wrote reached a point where I got bored of it, and then one of those hyped-up ideas suddenly seems really attractive."
This is me to a tee. I've written about 65k of the story/novel I'm working on for CHYOA and I think it's got about 10k to 15k to go, then a major edit will trim it down a bit. I'm at the juicy, exciting ending, the bit I've been frantically pushing to get to and looking forward to and now...poof, the excitement has gone and my head is turned to my next project. It worries me that my waning interest will show in my writing. But that's what edits are for I suppose.

 

[JWtts]

@Dansak, I feel your pain. Sitting on an end I just can't seem to push myself to write and I don't want it to be shit so the whole, "just write it" thing doesn't help. I started and it was sort of a meandering mess.

Meanwhile, new ideas and nuggets of ideas come at me all the time. Don't look at my Drive folder and all the docs labeled "[x story] notes". The problem: Some ideas seem grand and overwhelming to tackle (branches, game mode, etc.), others have an interesting premise but no real legs for a story, and others I really like but then I get invested in the story and characters and realize it's not really an erotic story but one birthed from an erotic idea, photo, or concept.

Lately, I've been toying with the idea of trying to pick two different projects but no more than that. This way I can go based on my mood or energy, hopefully tricking my brain into maintaining interest versus feeling committed to one idea and feeling I have to complete it or abandon it before I move onto the next idea. Obviously this process delays when at least one project will be complete, but it might be better than being stuck on my ass going nowhere as I stare at the fork in the road.

 

[TheLowKing]

Why do I think the fist idea wouldn't find an audience? Perhaps it would, but the book I'm thinking of writing would be lacking in sex, it's more about the emotions and complexities of BDSM relationships (I'm in a BDSM relationship) rather than the nitty gritty of sex. I maybe wrong but I find that CHYOA audiences expect a certain amount of sex in the stories here. And, I'd write it novel style too, which I think is very different to how stories on CHYOA are generally styled, again, I could be wrong. I'm testing that theory now, the story I'm working is a novel, but I'm going to publish here on CHYOA.

Ah, yes, possibly. I'm also more of a novel writer, if only because I am pathologically incapable of brevity. I planned a mid-length plot arc of ~25000 words for the current story I'm currently working on. Right now, it's 53574 words and I'm barely halfway.

This is me to a tee. I've written about 65k of the story/novel I'm working on for CHYOA and I think it's got about 10k to 15k to go, then a major edit will trim it down a bit. I'm at the juicy, exciting ending, the bit I've been frantically pushing to get to and looking forward to and now...poof, the excitement has gone and my head is turned to my next project. It worries me that my waning interest will show in my writing. But that's what edits are for I suppose.

I have the exact same problem. For all the stories I've written, the last few chapters are by far the hardest. I suspect it's because you've narrowed a world of possibilities to just one: your ending. And at that point, writing becomes more of a mechanical activity than a cerebral one: you just have to push out the words onto the (virtual) paper until you reach the end.

Lately, I've been toying with the idea of trying to pick two different projects but no more than that. This way I can go based on my mood or energy, hopefully tricking my brain into maintaining interest versus feeling committed to one idea and feeling I have to complete it or abandon it before I move onto the next idea. Obviously this process delays when at least one project will be complete, but it might be better than being stuck on my ass going nowhere as I stare at the fork in the road.

I've done this! One erotic story, one non-erotic story. It worked pretty well for me. I stopped using that approach after a while, not really sure. Maybe I should start again.

 

[Dansak]

@Dansak, I feel your pain. Sitting on an end I just can't seem to push myself to write and I don't want it to be shit so the whole, "just write it" thing doesn't help. I started and it was sort of a meandering mess.

Meanwhile, new ideas and nuggets of ideas come at me all the time. Don't look at my Drive folder and all the docs labeled "[x story] notes". The problem: Some ideas seem grand and overwhelming to tackle (branches, game mode, etc.), others have an interesting premise but no real legs for a story, and others I really like but then I get invested in the story and characters and realize it's not really an erotic story but one birthed from an erotic idea, photo, or concept.

Lately, I've been toying with the idea of trying to pick two different projects but no more than that. This way I can go based on my mood or energy, hopefully tricking my brain into maintaining interest versus feeling committed to one idea and feeling I have to complete it or abandon it before I move onto the next idea. Obviously this process delays when at least one project will be complete, but it might be better than being stuck on my ass going nowhere as I stare at the fork in the road.

I'm in awe of anyone who can write more than one story at a time and easily dive between one and the other. I've got several stories that are ongoing on CHYOA but I only ever work on one at a time, my head is just so full of those characters and that story and it's too difficult to switch about. And it's even harder for me to do that as some of my stories are based in the US and written in US English, and other based in the UK and in British English.

I feel so sorry for those with writers block, it's rarely if ever happened to me. But honestly, I think a plethora of ideas flying at you all the time can be so distracting as to not allow you to get any work done. Having said that, I'd rather have too many ideas than none at all.

 

[Dansak]

I have the exact same problem. For all the stories I've written, the last few chapters are by far the hardest. I suspect it's because you've narrowed a world of possibilities to just one: your ending. And at that point, writing becomes more of a mechanical activity than a cerebral one: you just have to push out the words onto the (virtual) paper until you reach the end.

I've never looked at it like that before, but I think you've hit the nail on the head. I do feel constricted the further I get into a major project with a traditional beginning, middle and end. Maybe that's why I was drawn to the open story format of CHYOA? Huh, I've just had a bit of an epiphany.

Ah, yes, possibly. I'm also more of a novel writer, if only because I am pathologically incapable of brevity. I planned a mid-length plot arc of ~25000 words for the current story I'm currently working on. Right now, it's 53574 words and I'm barely halfway.

I want to write novels, but I always fail to complete them, maybe it's because of the reason you mentioned above. I know that once the first draft is done, there's a whole load of edits and re writes needed, which I hate doing. And even when that is all done and I have a polished end product, what the hell do I do with it then? Publish on Amazon, and watch it get lost among the million other novels that were self-published that week? Get rejected twice over by every agent and publisher known to man?
I read somewhere that the average published author writes something like 7 novels before being published. That's such a depressing stat. But maybe I just need to get working through that stat and start getting some finished works under my belt. And keep in mind why I do this, I enjoy the process. That's what I keep telling myself anyway!

 

[TheLowKing]

Publish on Amazon, and watch it get lost among the million other novels that were self-published that week?

Yes.

Get rejected twice over by every agent and publisher known to man?

Also yes.

I read somewhere that the average published author writes something like 7 novels before being published. That's such a depressing stat. That's such a depressing stat. But maybe I just need to get working through that stat and start getting some finished works under my belt. And keep in mind why I do this, I enjoy the process. That's what I keep telling myself anyway!

Exactly: it's only depressing if you don't like writing!

Kidding aside, I think that's what makes sites like these so valuable. They provide a midpoint between "I have 7 stories sitting on my hard drive doing nothing, now what?" and "someone deemed my story worthy of being published and I made $5 for 6 months of backbreaking labour, yay!". Granted, the feedback is generally not exactly helpful "Wow, I really like/hate this story! More/less please!" is nice/unpleasant, don't get me wrong, but it's not exactly the kind of thoughtful constructive criticism that's going to help you become a better writer, but it still allows you to get a feel for what works and what doesn't, and hopefully somewhat lessens the stress involved with putting your work out there for all the world to see.

 

[Dansak]

Kidding aside, I think that's what makes sites like these so valuable. They provide a midpoint between "I have 7 stories sitting on my hard drive doing nothing, now what?" and "someone deemed my story worthy of being published and I made $5 for 6 months of backbreaking labour, yay!".

This is very true.
I was fumbling about with short stories and half written novels and enjoying writing them but no out let for them. I wasn't (and still don't think I am) ready for big boy stuff like Amazon. Then, searching for porn one day I found CHYOA. I'd never even come close to writing erotica before but I fell in love with the ease of the site. At the time I was off work for a few months with a leg injury and so cooped up indoors with nothing else to do I through myself into my first story on here. My god, what a rush I got when people actually started reading and liking it. I've learned a hell of a lot from writing on CHYOA, it's been an extremely valuable resource. Not just things like becoming a better writer by writing more and learning the importance of thorough editing, but how an online reading audience works. Well, to a point anyway, the audience here at CHYOA is quite niche compared to the wider fiction world but still, it's been, and remains, a constant learning experience. But over all, it's been immensely fun.

My only regret is that because of the incest genre I write here that I can't show my family and friends the body of work I've produced on here. Still, even that has been a learning curve, namely, that when I write vanilla stuff I use a sensible pen name and keep it very separate from the smut writing.

 

[insertnamehere]

For some reason I just can't get on with Literotica, not sure if it's the design of the site or what, it just annoys me. And Amazon, yeah, it's the one I've been thinking of, but publishing on there feels like real 'big boy' stuff and scares the hell out of me! I may give it a go one day, not sure I'm there yet.

Literotica's terrible interface and story organisation impact the site massively. It has the usability and erotic story suitability of a Fandom Wikia - comically obtrusive graphics, basic amateurish design, and chapters posted as separate pages, so that a feature as simple as clicking "next chapter" is too advanced for the site. There is an in-progress modern version of the site that can be found after a great deal of clicking around, but it doesn't work for all pages nor does it address the fundamental errors with the website's structure.

 

[Dansak]

Literotica's terrible interface and story organisation impact the site massively. It has the usability and erotic story suitability of a Fandom Wikia - comically obtrusive graphics, basic amateurish design, and chapters posted as separate pages, so that a feature as simple as clicking "next chapter" is too advanced for the site. There is an in-progress modern version of the site that can be found after a great deal of clicking around, but it doesn't work for all pages nor does it address the fundamental errors with the website's structure.

You put that far more eloquently than I could have!
But yeah, I can’t stand Literotoica as a reader, as a writer I can’t begin to imagine what a nightmare it must be.