The horror of when a story goes off track.

[Susan Boulton]

Has it happened to you?

What I mean is have you had a story that begins well, you are hitting the keys with a mad frenzy knocking out the pages. Then you stop and re read it. And to your horror it sounds like a badly written bodice ripper, all heaving bosoms and thick headed heros!

It has happened to me today. The first four pages or 1500 words were spot on... then it happened *sigh* The following thousand words made my stomach churn with the cheesyness of it.

Is there some strange switch in your brain that takes you off course or is it trying to write too much in one sitting and the idea fades into an "Eastender" script....

It makes me ponder on how much we should "go with the flow" rather than outline a story.

I have had success with both methods but a lot of dross with the "flow" one.

This has got me to thinking about swapping half written horror stories (horror as in "bad") We tend to put up or share our best efforts.

Who is up for sharing their worse?

 

[milamber_reborn]

I haven't had that problem yet, but I did have a character hijack the limelight in my novel.

 

[Susan Boulton]

So no one but me has written stuff that sucks big time

Or are you all cowards

 

[Erebus]

Quite the contrary, actually, HB! But I've only just had time to contribute. (Damn real jobs getting in the way of internet life! )

I have often spent hours writing at a frenetic pace into the wee hours, and then come the next day, when I read it back, I start looking for the intruder who has broken into my home and written all this rubbish. Mostly, it was back in the days when I was more prolific with poetry. Conversely though, I have had the opposite happen as well and written some astounding words that I had to look twice at, asking myself, "did I write that?".

As far as novels or stories go, I have to say that so far I've never scrapped one, but I have certainly had to edit a lot. My biggest problem is that I tend to do too much info dump too soon, and I have to pace myself. But you know how it is, when the words flow you just have to go with them. Sometimes it will end up dross, but other times you might just create something others will enjoy reading! Thankfully, I have never consciously (or subconsciously) written anything akin to a a bodice ripper though. Perhaps I should try...

 

[Susan Boulton]

Erebus, I unfortunately find the"bodice ripper" creeping into a lot of my work...... Or they get so silly that they are not funny, though I would wish them to be.... Or so dark and gloomy that it would take a thousand 100watt light bulbs to cast even a glimmer of light on them...

I have more failures that sucesses.

I am in the process of finding a horrible example and will post a link to it later as soon as I can up load it onto my site. (which is not really a site just a storage area for pictures and documents for linking)

A penny sweet will be awarded to the person that manages to read the whole piece.....

As to the pieces I am most proud of, that has given me an idea for another thread

 

[milamber_reborn]

I'm actually going to overhaul two chapters of my novel to make a setting more grand (hard to explain). How I wrote it wasn't crap, but I need to make it more realistic etc.

 

[Hobbit]

Interesting thread, Holbrook. I'm not normally a writer (there are only 24 hours in a day after all!), but the old Heinlein adage about 'it doesn't matter what you write, as long as you write' may apply here. For all the dross, there may be something in there that just JUST might be useful one day....it may be a place, a name, an idea, a sentence or it may even be to show you what NOT to do.

As there's sweets involved, I might just take up your challenge of reading your 'worst' - I have read some awful stuff in my time.... (looks at the latest David Eddings that's just arrived in the post)

Actually the idea of a bodice ripper, mehearties, has some appeal..perhaps we could all join in! ( )

erm..hmm...

*throws down metaphorical gauntlet*

OK, Holbrook.....bring it on!

 

[Susan Boulton]

Very well Hobbit, I will try and get something sorted out to night.... something that will set your teeth on edge.

I need to dust off the floppy discs as this monster is no longer on my hard drive *g*

 

[Susan Boulton]

Ok Hobbit, ye of the strong stomach...

These were written a long long time ago on my old amstrad machine in windows 3.11 so I hope they will load ok....

The grammar and spelling suck, the whole POV is screwed and I can't tell my past tense from my future.......


A whole book or rather an attempt at one
Bad......

And it is a bodice ripper..... lol You don't mind do you, I mean it has a nakiddddd man in.....

A beginning of a story.....even Badder

 

[Hobbit]

Livestock......prostitution......stallions.....pantomime!

It's still much better than I could manage, Holbrook!

I'm sure things are not as bad as you make them sound.....

*sneaks away to read text*

 

[Hobbit]

You know, Holbrook, they're NOT that bad....there's stuff in here that has a nice vocabulary and idea.....

Let me read a little more....

 

[Susan Boulton]

I am surprised Hobbit, you are actually managing to keep going with "Sal's Wizard"? I haven't looked at that in years..... I have kept it though *g* maybe I might re work it.....

 

[Hobbit]

...full of surprises, me....or is that something else?

Go on - dare you. Will get round to giving you a comment soon but I bet there's 'stuff' in there that isn't as bad as you think....

I can see a Mills & Boon opportunity here...

*coughs*
Holbrook - the new Barbara Cartland.....

 

[Susan Boulton]

Holbrook - the new Barbara Cartland

I can assure you Hobbit, I don't wear tonnes of pink net and ribbons and badly applied shocking blue eye makeup... well not often anyway... Pink is not my colour... Now, flame red and black I look superb in.....

 

[Hobbit]

It's an interesting image there, Holbrook.......

 

[Kirby]

Come on Hollers, there's naught wrong with a "blond haired Adonises" (Adonii?) - except that I have a knee jerk reaction to the name Adonis (comes across as a "Pretty boy"!)
(I prefer the Manly Man, myself )

My scrawling doesn't go bodice ripper - it goes parody!
A perfectly serious idea falls apart many a time.

Or else Bu gets hold of it.

Currently I'm forcing one of my characters (the I.V. ) to write a web-log. I have to restrain myself from falling into too many Dumb Viking cliches, because he doesn't enjoy being mocked!

Besides, he doesn't like being called a Viking, and has been around a considerably longer time than myself - I have to remember that

 

[Susan Boulton]

Besides, he doesn't like being called a Viking, and has been around a considerably longer time than myself - I have to remember that

IV. "Do not call me a Viking! " Hits Tblue with axe head he found among Tblue's prized and treasured items.... "What is a Web log will it be useful of a long sea voyage?"

TBlue says nothing just cowers under the laptop, which is being used to deflect the blows of the axe head.....

 

[Tacitus]

Hi, Holbrook, stopping in to say hi. This place looks like fun.

 

[Susan Boulton]

Glad you could make it Tacitus, the Horror and TV and Film section should be right up your street....

 

[Kirby]

Holbrook ~ I suspect he'll have to deal with this issue at some stage. But he's not one for explaining himself often.

Blogiþrótta

The premise behind this is that I am making him keep a "blog" - a web-diary - to improve his skills with "computere", which he has no great fondness for.
It's still very hard to adapt to changes, even when your mind has been around for centuries!

btw, iþrótta is O.N. for skilled, hence Blogiþrótta, meaning "skilled in Blog making"!

It serves a double purpose - I have fun writing in character, and I get to slowly learn Old Norse at the same time!