I am new to "Literotica" and for that matter, new to writing for the purpose of entertainment. I am not even sure how long I will continue. I read many stories by various authors before attempting to tell some of my own experiences.
My background experience and training probably greatly influence both my writing style and my judgment of stories written by others. As I say in my writings, I have been in the field of commercial construction management since the mid-'80s. When you are writing contracts, proposals, request for information (RFIs) or request for proposals (RFPs), you must be precise in your wording and descriptions. How long, how tall, what brand; the shape, the color, the style, and so forth; all become very important.
The feedback I am getting from readers is as varied as the critique of my management style. In my business, some people will say that I am extremely
thorough
; and in that I am highly complimented. Some others will observe that same style, then say something like, "Ask him what time it is and he will tell you how to build a clock." Obviously that is an exaggeration, but I am still offended by that analogy.
One thing to remember about my writings is; If you are wanting me to get quickly into a description of the sexual act without telling just how we got there in the first place, you are reading the wrong author. I do understand that some people are only interested in the sex. I have even abandoned some stories because they were not interesting while they were getting to the good part.
Every
story is not for
every
person. You may find it difficult to believe, but I have never been able to sit through an entire showing of "Gone with the Wind" while many people are passionate about that movie "classic."
I have decided to give a few examples of what influences my story telling. I hope you will find some enjoyment in reading this "non-erotic" entry.
This is my theory on telling a story, listening to a story and judging whether or not that story is correct.
Mark Twain said, "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't." That is not to say all unbelievable stories are true and certainly not that all believable stories are false. However there is an overlap where stories need to be verified in some manner to validate them.
That validation might come in the form of the trustworthiness of the story teller. I know people that I have known closely for several years, some as many as 35 years that would not tell a false story under any circumstances. Some of them might even use themselves as the character in a joke that sounds a little unbelievable, only to reach the punch line and break out laughing. At that time, their real intention is obvious, so explaining is unnecessary. Professional comedians do this all the time. I doubt seriously if all Jeff Foxworthy's stories are actually true and the same can be said for most all people in this field of entertainment. Holding these people accountable for their outrageous stories is as ludicrous as holding a professional actor or actress accountable, because they are not
really
like the characters they portray.
Validation may also come in the form of detailing the contributing circumstances, like when, where, why and how. The best example I can think of, comes from the movie "Working Girl." In this movie "Tess," played by Melanie Griffith was trying to convince Mr. Trask, CEO of Trask Industries that is was HER idea to buy Radio Stations. Her efforts included telling how she was reading one particular portion of a magazine or paper and right across the page was another article that caught her attention and that caused her to look somewhere else, and so on, etc. She finally and methodically mapped out how she went from one step to another step to devise the final plan or proposal. I could go into much more detail about the movie plot, but the result was, it caught Mr. Trask's attention, so he asked "Katharine," played by Sigourney Weaver, how SHE come up the same idea both women claimed as being "theirs." She was only able to stutter and say, she just come up with it. Who do you think Mr. Trask believed? Right!
Another form of validation is having your facts straight. After the fallacy of the lyrics was first called to my attention, I always hated the portion of "Cotton Fields" by Credence Clearwater Revival (and many other singers) that said "It was down in Louisiana, just about a mile from Texarkana." If someone will check the map, it is more like 30 miles from Texarkana to the Louisiana border. I guess finding location names that rhyme in the South where cotton is raised, takes preference over geographic accuracy. Judging by the number of different artist that recorded this Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. "Lead Belly," written song during the last 4 decades; accuracy cannot compare to rhyme and rhythm when it comes to the popularity of a song. I do not think the same acceptance exist in storytelling.
Another similar song/movie geographic mistake was "Smokey & the Bandit." You remember the song; "β¦them boys are thirsty in Atlanta, but there's beer in Texarkanaβ¦" In the movie, as soon as the truck hit Texas, they were in a flat plains area, almost "desert like"; much like you might see in western Texas, maybe southwest of Abilene or Odessa. Texarkana Texas and Texarkana Arkansas are both surrounded by hills and pine tree forest, not plains and barren waste.