What a very helpful and insightful article. I particularly liked the part on cohesion, often we haven't really paid attention to the structure of the story, but somehow it works so beautifully.

In a way, I liken this to when you see a fabulous film and the background music works so brilliantly that you barely notice it. Only perhaps afterwards, when somebody may play the soundtrack, it makes you think how well it worked with the film.

For me personally great music can enhance a film as can the perfect lighting during a stage performance i.e., you only notice something when it is so very wrong.

That's funny because that's exactly how I started out. As for the writing style and structure, dialogue and plot, I become all of my characters. What would I do or say in certain instances. I like the various forms of dialect, too. Those characters who are not fully educated, but get by on street smarts. For those characters, grammar goes out the window with what was in the pot. :)

Great article.

B

I wrote stories for several years for myself. I would keep it for a week or so and then delete it off my system and write another. Sometimes I would return to a story I wrote previously and out of my head I would rewrite it with a different twist. I sometimes wish I had kept some of those stories however over time the ideas come back and one can read some ot them on site today.

I would agree most readers do not think about structure, they want entertainment and generally how they get it is unimportant.

Great job on writing this article.

Only you, English, would receive the Observer Book of Cohesive Features in you Christmas stocking and be absolutely tickled. I worry about you.
I suspect most students consider this advice when it is offered in school and then promptly forget about it until they wish to pen a naughty girl spanking story.
We all need reminders on proper form, especially if we wish our readers to enjoy our musings and not become confused.

Nicely written.
IC.

Although some readers here might be looking to simply get their 'buttons pushed' when glancing through stories, I believe there are many discerning LSF readers who do recognize the finer qualities of good writing when they see it. Even a spanko author wants to know his/her writing is appreciated for its structure, form, and clever dialogue! Good writing transcends subject matter.

Thanks for reminding us of the inventiveness and creativity we can find on these kinky shelves! Well written article, TEM.

Absolutely fascinating and incredibly useful. Thanks! S

Thanks you so much for writing this highly erudite and informative article TEM. :-D Now I wish you could be my English tutor, and teach me a detailed refresher course on the structure, cohesion and syntax of spank story authorship... to the tune of your hickory stick of course hehe!

A great article TEM and I agree with above comments that a well written story definitely transcends subject matter. Thank you :-D

Thank you, TEM, for a considered and (it goes without saying) very well -written article on the basic structures and rules of short story writing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to learning more from the next episode ... !

A thought-provoking collection of insights, TEM. Thank you. It's a difficult craft to master, and so many factors come to bear on the creative process. With respect to your point about beginners starting writing for their own enjoyment, I would suggest that any other basic motivation leads to stories that are likely to be cynical exploitations of the author's craft rather than expressions of the author's joy in entertaining others.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I have been most neglectful of the "Wellreds" so I might never have seen this informative article if it had not been posted here.

TEM, I hope your students are smart enough to appreciate what you have to offer them as their English teacher!

This was worth a second read. The whole article was so well structured that it rang bells all over the place.

Fine almost academic contribution to the science we support.

Thanks for your discussion on writing methodology. I think particularly what you combine under Structure and Language is always a substantial challenge.
Also most interesting is your description of how authors might develop through the SF genre. I can easily identify with the progression you describe and have to admit that my contributions to LSF are clearly fixated in what could be called ‘Stage 1’. Many of us may be writing mainly for our own benefit, that’s fine. However, the reader is the other half of the equation and in LSF the response from that half is clearly measured by the number of views. Do I imagine it or is there a tendency for stories featuring ‘Stage 1’ spanking details to have higher views than somewhat similar stories that have been written in perhaps later stages of author development. I know things are never exactly equal etc and I do not intend to investigate the statistics of that thought. Never the less, the reader also deserves consideration.
Thanks for your article TEM.

Thank you for your insights. I have noticed that many of the DD stories that I enjoy describe the implements and the spankees feeling about the punishment implement. However, in M/F v M/M discipline stories the M/F stories focus on prolonged discipline with many implements while M/M stories focus on the punishment to make a point and involve a strong reconnection. i wonder if this is a real difference between the stories or the real relationships.