The Library of Spanking Fiction: Wellred Weekly


Wellred Weekly
Volume 2, Number 1 : March 21, 2013
 
Articles
Items of interest regarding all things spanking

Interview with the Author: Goodgulf
Wellred Weekly explores the work of this author


How did you get started writing spanking fiction?
Many years ago I was downloading stories from BBSes, reading them in USENET groups, and feeling like a leech. I was taking but not giving, mostly because I didn't want to leave links to my real identity. Then I stumbled across the Penet remailer (anon.penet.fi), joined The Spanker's Guide To The Galaxy mailing list (produced by [email protected]), and decided to contribute to it. Yes, this is dating myself a bit as Penet was shut down in 1996 by a Scientology lawsuit. To date myself a bit further, that story first story I posted publicly appeared in the June 18, 1995 issue of that newsletter.

After Penet died, I remained silent until I stumbled over Hushmail.com - an anonymous webmail service. Oh, I wrote a bit for my amusement, but I didn't post until I could do so with at least the illusion of privacy. Then I posted a story to yahoo group - one that is now long dead. That story, The Photo Album, has been cleaned up a couple of times and is now in the library.

Following that I took a long break from posting, only to start up again on the Spanking Memories / Spanking Internet / SIN / Spanko.net forum (the name of that site has changed several times over the years). I started posting parodies of commercials there, adding spankings to annoying commercials I saw on TV. Halls Commercial (found in the library) is the first story I posted there. One of the commercials, a parody of the Sylvan Learning Centres, took on a life off its own when I started doing "how it was filmed" stories showing the behinds of the scenes for those commercials (spoiler alert: there weren't any special effects for the spanking scenes). From there I went on to post other stories.

Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
Sometimes I'm inspired by other stories, sometimes I'll see something that inspires me (say an odd fact on the internet), but most of my inspiration comes from some dark recess of my mind. You know how you can half wakeup before the alarm goes and try to get those last 10 (or 5, or 3) minutes of sleep in? I find that I can have some pretty vivid, half-remembered dreams then. Dreams that serve as seeds for stories.

When you write, do you ever model any characters after actual people?
Some of the time, but not usually. When I was doing commercial parodies the people in those stories were the people from the commercials; other times I'll picture someone I know in the stories; but most times the characters are composites of people I know, actors from TV and movies, characters from books, fragments of dreams. In short the bulk of my characters are completely imaginary.

What are your views on spanking fan fiction?
I've done it more than once. Sabrine The Teenaged W(b)itch, Bamber, and the commercial parodies come to mind. But when it comes to fanfic it's hard to get it right.

The upside of borrowing an established setting is that everyone has an idea of who the characters are and how the world operates. The downside is that everyone has their own, person specific, view on who the characters are and how the world operates and if you violate their unspoken expectations then your story just won't work for those readers. Then there's using elements from those worlds as opposed to the heroes. I'm sure that the Bamber story would have been much better received if Corwin had made an appearance, but I often have problems with fanfic that includes the stars of the series.

Beyond those problems, too many people Mary Sue themselves into having adventures with the heroes of their favourite book/show/movie. The term Mary Sue even originates from some old Star Trek fanfic.

When writing a longer story, do you plot out the detail in advance, or make it up as you go along?
Sometimes I'll write a rough outline before I start on the story and that "sometimes" turns into always when the story is a long one. An outline is the only way I can keep track of the events if I am planning a story that's longer than 10 or so pages. But the outline might not cover the entire story and much of it will only make sense while I have the story in my head. For example, here's the start of an outline of a story that I'm working on and off on called Looping Across the County Line:
Aunt Katie Marlowe
Dana Galloway - girl - her mother is Katie's sister-in-law
Sean Palfrey - boy - Katie's nephew
Haverfield - where they live
Brockway - where their grandmother lives
Haverbrook Lake - causes a huge traffic jam that time of day
Lake Baxter
they drive to Haverfield on Local Route 25, back on Intercounty 42WH (Wellington Hazard)

Week 1 - second week of June - see Fawn at counter, use words like pallid and ashen as man buys belt, first line up, afterwards, catch glimpse distraught Fawn being escort from east side.

Week 2 - see the boy with his friend's mother and wander over to be sure that it is them, catching glimpses of older kids getting it. Visits bathroom for first time and sees girls facing wall (and Katie's comment from first weekend makes sense) - shocked at ages of some of them. Sean clingy.

Week 3 - escorts Sean to family bathroom while Katie goes to woman's room. Sean gets threatened when he tries to linger in a stall, Dana shocked again by the age of a couple of the girls facing the wall (and admits that the last time wasn't a fluke) (but the boys are just boys). No chance to explore because Sean is so clingy.

Missing from that outline is... well most everything. The story is set in the same world as Across the County Line and is primarily set on a highway that loops across the county line to the pro-spanking county before returning to the not so pro-spanking county.

Every weekend during the summer a woman drives her college age niece and school age nephew down that road, stopping at the rest stop that is basically the only part of Hazard County that the road touches. Once there, most of the action focuses on the niece as she explores a place where spankings happen at the drop of a hat. She does so knowing that since she's under 21 she can be spanked practically by anyone at any time for any reason. The first week she visits she sees a girl she vaguely knows (Fawn) and realises that a belt is being bought to use on Fawn's backside. By its nature this is a very episodic story and (as you can see) the outline would make no sense to anyone except me.

And if I'm working on a story on and off, an outline can be the only way I remember how a story is supposed to end. For example, I've been working on Joe's Quest for Magical Power (and a red bottom) F/M for quite a while (on and off) and it's already more than 42,000 words long, but M/F and F/F stories keep side-tracking me away from finishing it. Without the outline I doubt I'd remember what I envisioned the ending to be when I started it. As an aside: Joe's quest comes to a slightly disappointing end, at least when it comes to power; as for his bottom, it's frequently red.

Other times I'll just have an idea in my head and start typing, but those stories tend to be short ones. Typically they are only a single scene long. Sometimes they grow and when they get to a certain point I find myself putting together an outline for what happens next. One that includes some of the high points that have already happened so I can keep trace of who is doing what. The one thing that I virtually always do, even when I'm not working on a long story or writing with an outline, is to put together a list of names before I start writing. I do it mostly because I'm terrible at coming up with names on the fly. If a minor character enters the tale, I'll grab one of the prepared names and use it for that character, inserting it into the story without losing my train of thought. Often I'll go through the credits of a movie or TV series, grabbing the first name of the actor and last name of the character so I'll have at least half a dozen spare names before I start writing.

What is your favourite story that you have written and why?
The story The Ones Who Do Not Return is one of my few attempts at a serious story. It asks its readers a moral question: would you be one of the ones who do not return?

Other than that, I enjoyed writing the fanfic Bamber series (based on Roger Zelazny's Amber). It's the first long story using the first person I wrote, but looking critically at it, that story might be one of the weaker ones I've posted. Too much of a self-indulgent story arc, not enough spanking.

Beyond those two, it depends on my mood. Sometimes I like one better than another and that can change. Over the years, I've found myself cutting back on childhood spankings in stories, which seems to becoming a permanent change of my writing style.

What is your favourite genre to write?
I'd have to say that it would be world building a setting where spankings can happen at the drop of a hat. Stories like Across The County Line, the ending of VR 1.0, A Model Prison (and the snippets set in that world), Returning to..., A Visit To The Facility (and the others set in that world), and the stories set in a modified version of the GURPS world of Technomancer (Glass Wall, The Reporter, Video Entities). The problem with that genre is that sometimes I'll become so involved in the world building that the story suffers - or least the number of spankings per page drops below what the average reader finds enjoyable. When it comes to the subject of those stories, I enjoy the "moth to flame" types. Ones where the subject knows that spanking could be within the realm of possibility but doesn't think it likely. At least not for her. And while she doesn't think it likely, she's not entirely sure that she's against the idea of getting (or giving) a spanking. She wonders how it would feel and if it would be all that bad.

I also enjoy "the spoiled brat who never grew up gets hers" type stories, stories with a strong sense of poetic justice, and those with interesting world building.

Name some stories by other spanking authors that you like, and say why.
I'm not sure about favourite stories, but three authors spring immediately to mind.

I can't really explain why, but I enjoy practically everything Grace Brackenridge has ever posted.

Many years ago, imreadonly2 replied to my story The Magistrate on the Spanko.net forum and we had a long exchange of comments. He's said that I encouraged him to post his own writing and I've enjoyed every story he's posted. We've even had a few informal collaborations on my often neglected blog - usually in the form of an exchange of letters. I set the scene with a "Dear Anne" exchange and he continues the story as if he was the original letter writer, then I write back as Anne.

Then there are John Doe's Tracy stories. While they aren't linked in any way, his main character in those stories is always named Tracy and Joe Doe is a master of spinning fantastic tales. While those stories often involve Tracy getting spanked they all contain a spoiled brat of a woman getting her comeuppance in one way or another. In a few of his stories he cited my story The Magistrate as an inspiration, which was shocking to see as he's been writing longer (and generally, better) than I have.

Which Point of View do you tend to write it? Why do you prefer it over other POV's?
I usually use the third-person narrative alternating person mode, often with the third-person subjective voice. That is, I'll get inside a character's head and show what he or she is thinking, what she sees, and show what she does, but at times I'll switch whose head I'm in. I find using this one gives me a freedom to reveal what the characters are thinking and feeling which allows me to "show, not tell" what is happening. I find that when I resort to an omniscient narrator I do far more telling than showing.

I've written several stories in the first person, but some were failures that will never see the light of day. I find that when using the first person it can be hard to stay in the narrator's skin. All of the "I do this" and "I do that" tends to get me thinking about what I would do in those situations. When that happens I have to fight a tendency to Mary Sue the story and that's something I fight. Characters who are perfect are characters who are boring, especially when revealed in the first person.

I've tried the epistolary narrative voice at times, mostly with the Dear Anne letters, and found it enjoyable. I've never tried second-person and I have a hard time wrapping my head on how to use it in a spanking story. It's the least used point of view for a reason. I've only really encountered it "choose your own adventure" style books.
 
9 comments:
SNM said...
Bravo! Glad to read this interview with one of the most creative, self-aware, and intellectually engaging writers on the LSF.
21 March 2013 21:25
FiBlue said...
Thanks for giving this interview, Goodgulf. Learning about an author's start and creative process always makes me appreciate their work even more.
23 March 2013 12:15
PinkAngel said...
Nice to read a little bit of background on your writing Goodgulf. Enjoyable, thank you
25 March 2013 11:12
bendover said...
Excellent article, Goodgulf. I enjoy every bit of it, but especially the ending. You are so right about the annoying 'I this and I that' in first person. I've written in 1st POV before, and I tend to use 'me and my' a bit more. You sort of have to work around the word ( I ) if it's going to work at all.

I really enjoyed this.
26 March 2013 20:19
Dormouse49 said...
Thanks for the insight into how you create your excellent stories. I too write for my own amusement and have never posted anything online but I was interested to learn how you help yourself remember who is who and what is what, etc. I have never pre-planned a story, I just have a basic idea and I start writing and see what comes out. Some I have really liked and others not as much so but then, I'm not writing intending anyone else to read it. Maybe I'll post online eventually(not a clue how to do it right now) but you have helped I think with your article and I thank you. Please keep giving us your great stories.
29 March 2013 19:38
brenli said...
Thanks for your interview Goodgulf. I've enjoyed several of your stories and look forward to reading more. Very interesting in how you late out your stories and to hear how some stories get interrupted by others. Look forward to hearing more from you.
30 March 2013 19:44
Goodgulf said...
Just dropping a note to thank everyone who commented. It was flattering to be asked to be interviewed and even more flattering that people found the interview interesting.

And as for the young lady the sent to interview me, rumours that she left my house with a very sore bottom are almost certainly false :)
28 April 2013 21:51
barb said...
Good to get to know you better through this article. I have enjoyed quite a few of your stories and have really enjoyed them. I admire anyone that can write as well as you.
29 May 2013 19:33
Malahide said...
Fascinating interview in particular the early sites you contributed to, where I read and enjoyed many of your stories.
21 June 2013 05:21

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