General Writing

Let’s talk about dominance and submission, and no, I don’t mean in BDSM play, either. There are all kinds of situations where you can experience being in charge–or not. One situation where you definitely do not feel in charge is when you submit your work to readers who critique what you’ve written. I admit, I’ve been somewhat lucky. I got a professional article published on my first submission. When I was writing my first novel, most readers who critiqued my work responded in the affirmative, liking what they heard/read. But that doesn’t mean my work stood alone, written to perfection, the first time around. Oh, no! Each critique person had their own perspective on what needed to happen or what needed a tweak. Now, I must admit that I’m not too attached to what I write because of this one thing: I LIKE THE CHALLENGE OF WRITING–PERIOD! That being said, I found that listening to my beta readers and editors only made me a stronger writer. Did I follow every piece of advice? Not always. If I believed the suggestion changed the story too much or wouldn’t make my tale or characters better, then I held my ground. On the whole, much of the suggestions I received did, in fact, make the story better. Incorporating the re-writes added more depth to the whole picture I was trying to present to the reader.

The sad part is, I find many writers don’t really care to hear feedback. They’re so in love with their stuff, they can’t be objective. That’s too bad, and for the reasons I mentioned earlier. But the truth is, I want someone to tell me how to improve, especially if they enjoyed my story and might purchase more of my work. I personally believe that my writing is for me first, but it definitely must be created for my audience too. So I’ve learned to submit myself to the pleasure-pain of reader critiques, because the beauty of the experience is feeling writer’s orgasm: strong waves of pleasure and deep satisfaction in knowing I’ve created a much stronger piece of work, suitable and more enjoyable for my audience. The last thing I desire is to feel the lash of disapproval from those who read my stories simply because I didn’t take the time to make my characters, plot, and overall writing the best they could be. And and let’s face it, we all know the whip-wielding reviewers on Amazon can bring you to your knees!

I thought I’d never be the one to do it, but I fooled myself! Yes, I’m actually a new author who managed to complete a full-length novel in the erotica genre, of all categories! Hooray! Why erotica? Yes, sex is such a taboo subject, and in the category of fiction, one dare not consider it mainstream reading. I remember my first time reading an erotic novel! I picked up Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty trilogy, thinking I was going to be reading a true fairy tale. Boy was I ever fooled! But I kept reading because the whole idea of an author writing about nothing but sex intrigued me. How could someone do that and yet, create an enjoyable story at the same time?

Well, I got to try my hand at it, and I must admit the experiences I gained in the writing process were of such great magnitude, that I wouldn’t trade them for any other in the world. The work, the revisions, the thought processes behind all the scenes, character creation, plot development–made me work and think harder than I’ve ever had to do before. Because I’m not a practitioner of the activities included in my first novel, I had to do quite a bit of research on different subject matters. I found myself hanging out and reading sites I’d never dreamt of viewing! I also learned about some highly kinky sexual activities that made me cock an eyebrow. But the research material made for great action, and the subject matter seemed to be unique even for this genre.

How did I first decide I was ready to dip my toe (or my pen, rather) into the well and begin writing? Honestly, I just went with my gut. I’d spent hours learning the craft of writing, and I must say I’m not done yet. Not by a long-shot! But at some point, I believed I had learned enough about character development and plot creation to go ahead and begin putting words on paper. As I learned more about word choices and associated do’s and don’t’s, I revised my work to flow much better. Studying some self-editing books forced me to take an even harder look at my work, so I revised again.

At some point I decided I had done all I could do with the first draft, and so I submitted parts of my writing to people in critique groups, and finally I graduated to submitting my manuscript to an editor and a couple of beta readers. These people did wonders for my first draft, pointing out flaws in flow, placement, or relatability issues. Luckily, they all liked my work, and incorporating their suggestions into my revisions will only serve to make the story even stronger. So it’s off to work I go, revising what I hope will be an even better story than I started out with!

Dominance and Submission: Reader Critiques

First Experiences In Writing Erotica

Google +