Poll: What Do You Like In A Story?

[Joker14]

This is interesting to me, Eulalia. Could you explain more what you mean? As I think I've expressed before, some of my favorite scenarios are very procedural, judicial executions, where the woman is forced to comply with the formal procedure of her own torture, humiliation, and death. It's a HUGELY significant event for her, because it will end her life, and it will cause her more pain and humiliation than she's ever felt. But for the executioners, it's just another day's work. That contrast really gets me. Sorry - I started rambling. I meant to ask if the "mechanics" you're talking about are related to the "procedure" I'm talking about.

I think what Eulalia means (or what I took it to mean) is that the mechanics of a execution/torture apparatus e.g. "she was strapped to the strong bloody wooden frame her body tight and covered in a sheen of sweat from fear and sexual tension then she was whipped bloody as she cried for freedom" is preferable to " the wooden frame was 7ft tall and 5ft wide she was strapped down with leather cuffs and chains and drawn tight her head loose her pussy just below the x of the cross a leather red whip was picked up and the executioner stood 4 metres away before engaging a whipping motion to strike the victim as she screamed for freedom" the latter has to much info and makes it harder to imagine and personalise. It's good to be descriptive but to much specific detail can shatter the fantasy. This is what I took Eul to mean. (Sorry to jump in there Eul I just agreed with you! If that is indeed what you meant) the procedure though Juan I agree is the best bit the formality tradition and regalness it's why us Brits love it so much!!!!

 

[windar]

As I think I've expressed before, some of my favorite scenarios are very procedural, judicial executions, where the woman is forced to comply with the formal procedure of her own torture, humiliation, and death.

I agree. I want details, at least enough that I can feel like I'm there, in one capacity or another.

But for the executioners, it's just another day's work. That contrast really gets me.

Yes and no. Most people in real life act out of multiple motivations. The secret police torturer, the Inquisitor, those who punish miscreants generally believe what they are doing is good for society. They believe the cause they serve is just, even when we could be pretty sure it isn't. Some, perhaps most, also enjoy causing pain, but I think few were just in it for the paycheck or the career opportunities. I like a portrayal of ambiguity on both sides, that of the person suffering and those doing the dirty deeds.

PS-I'm sorry that in my original comment in the thread, I credited Madiosi, rather than you for the poll. It's a great poll, thanks for starting it.

 

[Juan1234]

Yes and no. Most people in real life act out of multiple motivations. The secret police torturer, the Inquisitor, those who punish miscreants generally believe what they are doing is good for society. They believe the cause they serve is just, even when we could be pretty sure it isn't. Some, perhaps most, also enjoy causing pain, but I think few were just in it for the paycheck or the career opportunities. I like a portrayal of ambiguity on both sides, that of the person suffering and those doing the dirty deeds.

Yeah - having read your Trabbian Justice story, I think you and I are at least very nearly on the same page. I think what I mean is more that it's all just legal procedure, and something the executioners have done dozens of times. Sure, they may enjoy it a little, or feel they're doing the right thing, but officially, they're just doing their jobs. For the hundreth time this year.

PS-I'm sorry that in my original comment in the thread, I credited Madiosi, rather than you for the poll. It's a great poll, thanks for starting it.

Thanks for clearing that up. Really hurt my feelings.

(not!)

 

[windar]

For the hundreth time this year.

And the year is only half over as of today...

 

[Joker14]

I also like choices given to readers which is something you can do on forums. For example who is captured girl a,b or c you then describe and give pictures of the women. Ask the readers if they are guilty, what tortures they endure. Offer choices to excite and involve your readers and yourself

 

[Jollyrei]

As a writer, I rather like surprising the reader. I have gone so far as to set up the story so as to cast doubt on whether a crucifixion will happen, or I will set it up to make the execution come as a tragic surprise. Horror movies do this effectively when they lull the viewer into thinking things are temporarily okay, and then shock the audience. I don't know if every reader likes that, but I appreciate when an author surprises me, makes me hope for something, engages my sympathy for the characters - anything to make the story not just a straight description of a crucifixion.

 

[Joker14]

As a writer, I rather like surprising the reader. I have gone so far as to set up the story so as to cast doubt on whether a crucifixion will happen, or I will set it up to make the execution come as a tragic surprise. Horror movies do this effectively when they lull the viewer into thinking things are temporarily okay, and then shock the audience. I don't know if every reader likes that, but I appreciate when an author surprises me, makes me hope for something, engages my sympathy for the characters - anything to make the story not just a straight description of a crucifixion.

Exactly the best writers always surprise!

 

[Deleted member jedakk]

I also like choices given to readers which is something you can do on forums. For example who is captured girl a,b or c you then describe and give pictures of the women. Ask the readers if they are guilty, what tortures they endure. Offer choices to excite and involve your readers and yourself

As a reader and a writer, I do not like that particular style, but to each his own. When I post a story, I want it to be complete; I know where the story is going and how it's going to end up. I've written the twists and turns I envisioned, I've put in humor where it fit, and maybe I've surprised the readers at the end. I'd not likely be able to achieve the kind of writing quality I want if I wasn't in complete control of the direction of the story.

 

[Barbaria1]

As a reader and a writer, I do not like that particular style, but to each his own. When I post a story, I want it to be complete; I know where the story is going and how it's going to end up. I've written the twists and turns I envisioned, I've put in humor where it fit, and maybe I've surprised the readers at the end. I'd not likely be able to achieve the kind of writing quality I want if I wasn't in complete control of the direction of the story.

I have to agree with jedakk on this ... reader's choice has it's place, of course ... but I prefer as a writer to be in control.

 

[Juan1234]

As a reader and a writer, I do not like that particular style, but to each his own. When I post a story, I want it to be complete; I know where the story is going and how it's going to end up. I've written the twists and turns I envisioned, I've put in humor where it fit, and maybe I've surprised the readers at the end. I'd not likely be able to achieve the kind of writing quality I want if I wasn't in complete control of the direction of the story.

Yeah, I'd agree too. Sometimes the readers choice thing can get a little rowdy, and everybody tries to outdo everybody else with a gorier or more sexual comment. It seems easy to lose the realism. (Just my take.)

 

[KvK]

I always like stories that are plausible, as in feels like real life. That is why I prefer stories about crucifixions without executions, using ropes. That is why I always bring up the theme of crucifixion as an alternative to prison time and a criminal record for hot women of a wide variety of body shapes between the ages of 18 and 60.

Also, as the hot actress Terri Polo said on the Craig Ferguson show, it is a fine line between pain and pleasure. It is an awesome thing just to think of hot woman becoming aroused by and orgasming in reaction to her agony, an orgasm that is the most powerful she has ever experienced, an orgasm that will forever thence be her go-to image for masturbating.

I also like elements of humor in stories, such as the crucified woman and the crucifier trying to outdo each other in sassiness.

 

[shastar]

I always like stories that are plausible, as in feels like real life. That is why I prefer stories about crucifixions without executions, using ropes. That is why I always bring up the theme of crucifixion as an alternative to prison time and a criminal record for hot women of a wide variety of body shapes between the ages of 18 and 60.

Also, as the hot actress Terri Polo said on the Craig Ferguson show, it is a fine line between pain and pleasure. It is an awesome thing just to think of hot woman becoming aroused by and orgasming in reaction to her agony, an orgasm that is the most powerful she has ever experienced, an orgasm that will forever thence be her go-to image for masturbating.

I also like elements of humor in stories, such as the crucified woman and the crucifier trying to outdo each other in sassiness.

Now I fully understand your avatar...

 

[mp5stab]

Actually, a GREAT-granddad. His mother is one of my granddaughters. I already had a great-granddaughter, but this is my first great-grandson.

Jeddak is an immortal confirmed. That's why he knows so much about Roman crucifixion methods.

 

[Eulalia]

This is interesting to me, Eulalia. Could you explain more what you mean? As I think I've expressed before, some of my favorite scenarios are very procedural, judicial executions, where the woman is forced to comply with the formal procedure of her own torture, humiliation, and death. It's a HUGELY significant event for her, because it will end her life, and it will cause her more pain and humiliation than she's ever felt. But for the executioners, it's just another day's work. That contrast really gets me. Sorry - I started rambling. I meant to ask if the "mechanics" you're talking about are related to the "procedure" I'm talking about.

I think what Eulalia means (or what I took it to mean) is that the mechanics of a execution/torture apparatus e.g. "she was strapped to the strong bloody wooden frame her body tight and covered in a sheen of sweat from fear and sexual tension then she was whipped bloody as she cried for freedom" is preferable to " the wooden frame was 7ft tall and 5ft wide she was strapped down with leather cuffs and chains and drawn tight her head loose her pussy just below the x of the cross a leather red whip was picked up and the executioner stood 4 metres away before engaging a whipping motion to strike the victim as she screamed for freedom" the latter has to much info and makes it harder to imagine and personalise. It's good to be descriptive but to much specific detail can shatter the fantasy. This is what I took Eul to mean. (Sorry to jump in there Eul I just agreed with you! If that is indeed what you meant) the procedure though Juan I agree is the best bit the formality tradition and regalness it's why us Brits love it so much!!!!

Yes, I think Joker's understood what I was getting at. If I may be a bit sexist, I sometimes think some male sado-porn writers seem more interested in the apparatus and how it works than in our feelings and how we respond to what you're doing to us But of course that doesn't apply to many thrilling writers here. And I too find 'ritualised' torture and execution has a special excitement to it, much more so than random violence and brutality.

 

[mp5stab]

Agreed strongly with regards to the ritual of it. I'm just taking notes in this thread, though, I honestly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a good story and a masterpiece.

 

[Deleted member jedakk]

Jeddak is an immortal confirmed. That's why he knows so much about Roman crucifixion methods.

Uh-oh, you figured out my secret!

 

[Deleted member jedakk]

Yes, I think Joker's understood what I was getting at. If I may be a bit sexist, I sometimes think some male sado-porn writers seem more interested in the apparatus and how it works than in our feelings and how we respond to what you're doing to us But of course that doesn't apply to many thrilling writers here. And I too find 'ritualised' torture and execution has a special excitement to it, much more so than random violence and brutality.

I think the ritualized aspect of it is especially fascinating as well. The victim knows what is going to be done to her, how, in what order, etc. And there's not a damn thing she can do about it, it is inevitable and horrific. In "The Serpent's Eye" Salonina the cook was able to describe to Sabina exactly what was going to be done to her the next day because they all knew the ritual.

As far as the apparatus, that is something I try to avoid specifically describing in detail, instead letting my characters tell about it in conversation. Again, in "The Serpent's Eye", Balbus the carnifex teaches his new slave Gundericus about the procedure and tricks of the trade, but of course he's really telling us as readers. Gundericus was my tool to make that description into a conversation, actually his reason for existence in the story. Otherwise I could have had one of the others do what he did. Nothing new about that, you see it all the time in stories where complex concepts need to be explained to the reader.

 

[Fox-on-Cross]

The time before the crucifixion is exactly to describe with all aspects but during the cross himself it is tedious.
T0 write here about presumes all literary talent. They are here!

 

[Deleted member jedakk]

Yes, it is very challenging, writing about crucifixion. Up until the point that the executioner finishes his work, there's action which can be dramatized, with anticipation, fear, agony, despair, lots that you can do with that. But when that's over, what do you do?

If your story is only about a crucifixion, it might well fall flat at that point. You really need something I refer to as a "plot' to make it interesting at all. Something else has to be going on. I use different characters' viewpoints to describe what's happening, weave in action that's occurring during the crucifixion, come back to the victim on the cross from time to time and tell what she's experiencing, go off again. I've got one 99% done right now that flips back and forth between ancient Rome and present day, with a plot twist in between. You have to do things like that or else your story just spirals down into a narrative, nothing new, and not very interesting.

 

[windar]

That is a big part of why I have chosen to write about punishments that do not include crucifixion. The characters can react to the punishment after it is over. They can even re-appear for a sequel (or sequels) years afterwards, as I am currently working on for my recent story, "Trabbian Justice". I prefer not to waste a perfectly good character by using them only once.

Of course, I greatly enjoy reading your wonderful stories, but I am not yet tempted to try to write one. Maybe some time.