Practice Threads

ElaineA

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Sometimes we all get in ruts and I’ve often found it helpful to circle back to prompts and practice threads to write my way out of them. (As well as into stories with potential.)

Maryn has been offering a terrific array of prompts, but I asked her if we could revive a set of old threads with a more general, practice-oriented focus, for those who might get some benefit of letting their imaginations range a little more broadly.

The original index was put together in 2013 by guest poster EL Montague, and then Scott Cole picked it up in 2015, so we have a complete set of posts with 45 general prompts. AW Admin has refreshed all of the old links for the new protocol (Much Thanks and Wild Applause for Lisa!), so if anyone would like a more in-depth look at the prompts and how users interpreted them, click over. Lisa has closed them so there is no adding to them, but it's a trove of information and examples.

Or, if you'd rather just know what the threads are about, scroll down-thread here to see the explanations EL and Scott Cole provided.

Basically, if you’re looking for additional inspiration, general ideas, themes, or conflict, or if you’re just wanting to work on craft, here’s another resource. Happy Practicing, writing, or reading! Whatever gets your creative juices flowing. Pun 100% intended. *wink*


EL Montague Original Post and Index

This year for the practice threads, I’d like to follow something a little more structured. I believe in practice. If you’ve ever been in athletics, you’ve heard the phrase “Play like you practice.” It’s true. I view these practice pieces as a safe place to work on my craft, without getting all tied up in my current works. It’s hard to be rational on something you’ve invested so much in as a current novel.

The following outline of topics is designed to help each of us work on the key elements of erotica. Since this is writing, lots of it will translate to other areas, but we’ll focus on sex. Erotica in its nature is meant to titillate, so do your best to raise the blood pressure of your readers. These topics are also meant to build on each other. That’s why I start with description and work through to storytelling. Each week we’ll try to ensure that the things we worked on the previous weeks (as relevant to the story) are included in the current piece.

Everyone is encouraged to participate, and even those who do not write are encouraged to comment. If we’re lucky, this will make us better writers. If not, then hey, we got a few ideas to keep us writing. Writers write.

1) Description

2) Pairings

3) Motivations

4) Storytelling
 

Maryn

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I'm sticking this.

I know, I know, right now we have a lot of stickies on this board, but once 2018 draws to a close, I'll unstick the monthly writing prompts and they'll sink into oblivion in due time.
 

ElaineA

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1) Description

  • a) Physical (Sight, Touch, Sound, Taste, Smell)
    • i) General physical appearance - Write a short piece focusing on the physical description of your characters general appearance. Are they fit or fat? Tall or small? Big breasted? Well muscled? Do they look good in jeans? What about their hair? Could you get lost in their eyes? Do your best to paint the picture, and it wouldn't hurt if you left us wanting more.

    • ii) Clothing and Undergarments - Alright, everyone, it's time to get a little closer. We are focused on what's covering it all up. Please write something that really gives us a clear picture of your character(s) is wearing.

    • iii) Body Parts - This week it's all about giving us the details. Is her skin the color of cold milk, or warm chocolate? Are his hands strong and hard, or slender an tinged with the ink of a typesetter? Soft as silk. Rough like sandpaper. Swollen and tender to the touch. Flush with blood. Erect. Wet. Quivering. Spent. Make us believe.

    • iv) Locations - OK, so we don't always get in on in the bedroom. There are lots of places that make it hot. Ever wanted to get a piece at a restaurant? How about fucking in the car, we've all done that? On the stairs, in the barn, on a picnic table by the lake, hell I can think of lots of places. Can you? Tell a tale that happens in a place and make sure we see the place.
  • b) Sensational (To give and receive) Remember, in this next series we are focused on sensations. The goal is to truly express what your characters are experiencing, physically.
    • i) Kisses - Some say it's better to give than receive, but I'll take either one. Don't forget anything we've been practicing in January, but move it up a notch and make us believe. Get lost in the touch, the feel, of kisses.

    • ii) Touches - This week it's all about the feeling of touches. Make sure we know what your characters are feeling, inside their clothes, underneath their lovers, beside their spouse, or even all alone. The goal of this exercise is to get down the art of making us feel a touch.

    • iii) Oral Sex - This is where it starts to get real. We've been working on describing our senses. You've painted the picture, made your readers feel a tender kiss, and a loving touch. It's time to go down. Too late to be shy, write your best oral sex scene.

    • iv) Intercourse - Right where most of us start, and all of us want to go, it's time to get busy. Remember to put us in the place and make us feel the sensations of making love, fucking, or just plain fornicating. The goal of this exercise is to get the full effect of having sex. You can skimp on the details leading in and the warm glow afterwards, but to get this one right, you can't skimp on the naughty bits in the middle.
  • c) Emotional (What’s going on in your mind?)
    • i) Need, Longing, and Want - Alright, everyone, we are graduating to the next phase of our practices. This week the goal will be emotional. Write a piece that really gets across your characters emotional need, longing, and want. Don't forget all the descriptions and sensations we've been dealing with in the last two months, but now we want to play on our readers emotions. Make us feel your character want for something or someone.

    • ii) Fulfillment - Alright folks, last week we wrote about needing something, wanting something, yearning for it. This week let's write about what it feels like to have it. Share that feeling with your readers of finally making love, of seeing positive on the test, of saying I do. Take this chance to make us feel your characters fulfillment. And, don't forget to get all the description and hotness in there too.

    • iii) Cheating (cheater/cheated) - So we've been dealing with emotions, the last two encompassing the wanting and the getting. This week we are going to work on something decidedly different: cheating. Or rather, the emotions that come with cheating. Be you the cheater or the cheated, there can be very strong emotions involved in infidelity. Let's share those emotions, in all their complicated convolutions, with the reader. Depending on where your characters want to take it--they might be cheating as you write--it could be hot. Really hot. We like hot, but share the emotions the way your characters are feeling them.

    • iv) Restoration - This week let's write a tale of restoration. Have you ever longed to have back something you've lost, or someone. That's what we're going for. Make us feel it, see it, taste it, want it.


2) Pairings

  • a) Straight
    • i) Young - Alright my fellow dreamers, we've spent the first quarter practicing our craft. Now let's weave a tale or two. This week, we'll start pairings with a simple set up, straight and young.

      Tell the tale of young lovers. Write a story of two people that makes your readers yearn. Use all that we've practiced to date. Whether this is your thing or not, do your best. In the coming week's we'll be broadening our horizons and exploring all the possibilities. You'll get to write what works for you, while some of the rest gets stretch a little. Young and old, gay and straight, men and women, this next quarter ought to be fun.

      So, tell the story of a being young and in love, or lust, your choice.

    • ii) Old - No one ever claimed that love making stops in your thirties, or even forties, but it's a challenge for some to write a steamy scene for the older set. I've read a few pieces that were down right tawdry about couples in the sixties and seventies. Tell us tale that will remind your readers that's it's not all done when kids leave home.

    • iii) May/December - Love doesn't always follow social norms, and lust hardly ever does. We've gotten descriptive, and dwelled on our feelings, and this month we've played it straight, so let's finish off with a little rule bending. It's time to tell a story of a straight couple with a bit of a gap, twenty-five years or more let's say. Making that hot ought to be a little challenge, but you're up to it. Twenty five years, that's 25 and 50, or 40 and 65, if you're really pushing boundaries, that also 43 and 18 - nothing younger, and no high school. Get your dirtly little minds working and show us what's in there.

      BTW - I fully intend to write for the next series, so those of you shying away from the straight set, should stretch a little and give one of the three a try. Growth in writing isn't always comfortable, and one-sided stories always lack a little something. It takes all kinds to fill the world.
  • b) LGBT
    • i) Gay - And now we move from straight relationships to LGBT relationships. This week we'll be focusing on the men. Remember to use everything we've worked on to date and make it hot.

    • ii) Lesbian - Last week it was the boys turn, this week it's the girls'. Spin of tale of love and abandon, try lust instead, make it something sweet, the choice is yours, but this week tell a story of lesbians. Remember to make it hot and use all that you've practiced to date.

    • iii) Bisexual/Transexual/Transgender - Some people feel like they ought to be something else, someone else, or maybe just perfect the way they are and different from everyone else. It's time to tell the story of love in another light. Show your readers what it's like to see the world through different eyes. And remember, use all you've practiced this year to make it really tempting.
  • c) Multiple
    • i) MMF - Sometimes more is better. So far we've focused on turning up the heat for our couples. Now it's time to spice it up with something a little more. Ever wanted to experience the leading man and his best friend, or maybe the villian? Ever wanted to share a woman with your best man? Tell us a story of two men and a woman.

    • ii) MFF - Ever wanted to share your man with another? How about being the other woman yourself? Thought about your girlfriend's best friend? Well that's what this week is all about. Tell a story of shared experience, two women, one man. Remember to make it hot.

    • iii) More - At last, it's time to get freaky. Ever dreamed of playing in a sex club? Maybe you've had a fantasy about visiting a fraternity house. It could have been a stint in the clink. Anything that gets it going and calls for all hands on deck type of party. Let's write this week about three, four, and more. Do your best, and keep it hot.
  • d) Other
    • i) Ghosts - in the mean time, our syllabus takes us into the paranormal. Write a tale, in a thousand words or less, of love and the dearly departed. They don't have to be 'dearly' departed, but it does have to be passion filled and erotic. Give us all cold sweats and butterfly tummies. Ghostly erotica.

    • ii) Mythical Creatures - Keeping with a theme. This week we will write something with a mythical creature, the fae, a werewolf, maybe something older. Dream up a tale that makes your heart beat faster.

    • iii) Everything Else - We left off with only 'everything else' to go in style. So let loose, tell us all a titillating tale of love, romance, and sex. Make your characters anything but vanilla.

3) Motivations


  • a) Self (Personal Need)
    • i) Coming of Age (assuming late bloomers, we break no rules) - In considering your scene, remember that 'coming of age' doesn't necessarily have to be physical/chronological age. It could be an emotional blossoming or a mental 'clicking into place'. Any number of esoteric experiences can be considered 'coming of age'. With that in mind, let's get our characters down and dirty and our readers hot and bothered.

    • ii) Starting Over - For the next two weeks, our characters will be “starting over”. It could be a new day, a new love, a new lease on life, or just a general do-over. Whatever the case, our characters get a clean slate, a blank page.

    • iii) Trying something new - Our characters are going to try something new this time around. It could be as mundane as trying a new pair of shoes or as outrageous as base jumping naked while fucking. Whatever new things your characters choose to try, make it a hot experience. For them and for us.

    • iv) Creating a link (Sex with a Rock Star, Athlete, Etc… getting a piece of what they’ve got) - This time around, our characters are tying to create a link. As EL put it, they want to get a piece of what the other has got. It may be sex with a billionaire, an actor, a werewolf. Whatever it is, our characters want it. And they want it hot!

    • v) Jealousy - We’ve all felt it at some point or other. It’s an emotional response not always elicited by our desires for another person, but it certainly is a result of our desires. What do our characters crave? What do they guard so desperately that it claws at their guts? Tell it in black, white, and every color between. But go easy on the purple.
  • b) Others (Someone Else’s Need)
    • i) Helping - We're still working on motivations, but today our focus shifts from self to others. We're going to start with helping. I read somewhere about a man who drove himself mad trying to find someone (or something he could do) that was truly altruistic. If his unfortunate findings are accurate, there is no such thing as true altruism, so 'helping' may still be focusing on self.
      With that in mind, lets put on our sexy hats and pretend we're only doing it for the other person's benefit. If we get ours in the process, more power to us!

    • ii) Healing - We’re healing this time—a broken heart, a broken leg, broken promises. No matter what’s broken, we’re going to fix it with something a little stronger than Super Glue. And forget what they say. Even if it isn’t broken, we’re aching to see the fix.

    • iii) Pity - Ah, Pity. Now it's time for us to "pity the fool!" Or whatever else we wish to pity. Pity fuck, pity party, pity-patter... or is that pitter-patter? No matter, this time around, we'll do hot, wet, and sexy pity. Though, now that I think of it, is pity ever sexy?
  • c) Profit
    • i) Being the Prostitute - For this prompt, our POV characters will be prostitutes. Be they $2 whores, high-priced gigolos, or just your run-of-the-mill gold diggers, we want to get into their heads via their pants. Bring your dirty girls and naughty boys out to play.

    • ii) Using the Prostitute - Now that we have looked into the minds of our whoring characters, let's take a peek at the people who use them. Contrary to the beliefs of many modern day folk, not everyone who makes use of a prostitute is a low-down, dirty bastard. Except when they are.

    • iii) Sleeping your way to the top - Our characters have been whores for money and johns (or Janes) using whores. Now they're going to do it for an altogether different kind of profit. Our characters are going to cater to the carnal needs of the sleaze-balls in power and sleep their ways to the top. Or maybe our characters are the sleaze-balls trying to attain power that they absolutely do not deserve--a la Cersei Lannister.
  • d) Reward
    • i) Giving the reward - Our next prompt seems pretty straight forward. When one thinks of a character "giving the reward," one's mind tends to meander in an all too expected direction. In case we're not on the same page here, I'm expecting steam. And lots of it. Give it to me, baby.

    • ii) Getting the reward - This time around, we'll be getting the reward instead of giving. Rewards come in various forms, so be as creative as you want. And make it hot!
  • e) Punishment (This one is tricky.)
    • i) Getting Even (could be tied to Cheaters and Cheating) - At this point, we've used sex as leverage, as livelihood, and as a reward. Now, we're going to use it as punishment--getting even. EL says this one might be tricky. I can see that. But it could also be a lot of fun to realize the culminations of our characters efforts.

    • ii) Sex (or the lack of) as punishment (Rape is not on the table.) - Alright, so we’ve gotten even. This time, we’re punishing. Just punishing. Whether or not the punished deserves it. With sex. Or with a lack of sex—whatever floats your boat.


4) Storytelling

  • a) Beginning, Middle, and End - The focus for the next two weeks is--as the title implies--beginning, middle, and end. No dropping us into the middle of an existing story, no excising a piece of a larger work and posting it. We must post a story that has a distinct beginning, middle, and end. And we must attempt to do it in 1000 words or less.

  • b) Transitions - This one should be fairly easy. You can drop us into whatever portion of the story you please and then transition to something else. What we want are smooth, seamless transitions. Show us why the character or the scene is making an about-face or U-turn or right turn or three-point-turn or full reverse. Show us why he said "no" and is now saying "fuck yeah". Show why a second ago she was slapping his face and is now purring his name.

  • c) Feeding your story - ts all about doling out the pieces of the story judiciously. Basically being sure to add little bits of information that support the plot and characters. It’s easy to jump scene to scene painting a picture, and forget to fill them with information key to the bigger picture. This is closely related to plot holes, but more nuanced. You could make sure that all the pieces you needed to make your story work were included by just having a giant information dump in the beginning, but that’s not very fun to ready. It’s always better when you remember that Jason left a round in the gun when he was cleaning it, and now Maddie is holding a loaded weapon – something you picked up in an unrelated scene. Think about all your favorite movies, you always meet the bad guy and the way he will be beaten in the first third of the story, but it wasn’t that important when you learned it. And then you get reminded about the details for the rest of the story until it is important.

  • d) Plot Holes - Those annoying things that must be filled or gotten rid of. When telling a story, you should provide your reader with everything they need and nothing they don’t. Plot holes are what create deus ex machina disasters. As in, have you ever gotten to the climax of a situation and the resolution just doesn’t fit, or maybe it’s just not satisfying – plot hole. Implausible circumstances that have not been explained or defined generally have a plot hole. Important characters introduced late in a story with no preamble are generally a plot hole. If we discover that your heroine has laser vision only in the last chapter and you haven’t been leading up to it, plot hole. Simply put a plot hole is that part of your story that just doesn’t make sense.

  • e) Tying all the knots - I think we take all that we’ve learned over the course of these practice prompts and write a nice little piece (preferably under 1200 words). If you want to be really challenged, find a way to address each and every one of our prompts within those 1200 words.
 

Maryn

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My pleasure.
 

InkFinger

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Fun to See

It tickles the shit out of me that this is still out here. We had a ton of fun creating it. Please come back to SYW where we are all practicing again. I'll think about bringing back the full structure again in January, but between now and then, let's just stretch our wings.

And by the way, we had some very good practice threads back in the day. There is a hoard of stories to peruse for excellent material. And, I know, point of fact, that several of the others are published and selling.

Ink
 
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InkFinger

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For those interested, we got the practice threads started again in May. These are the ones that have been worked so far. Would love to have you come out too.

  • 200522 - Weekly Writing Prompt - Touch
  • 200529 - Weekly Writing Prompt - Hair
  • 200605 - Weekly Writing Prompt - Tongue
  • 200612 - Weekly Writing Prompt - M/M Sex
  • 200619 - Weekly Writing Prompt - Athletic
  • 200626 - Weekly Writing Prompt - Morning
  • 200703 - Weekly Writing Prompt - Fireworks and Barbecue


Each week a poll is posted to get input and we do our best to get something out, every week gets between 1 and 4 stories now, but we'd love to get back to a dozen. Come out and play.
 

Maryn

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Be reminded that short work is just fine on these practice pieces. It's not like you're obligated to craft a 3500 word story with a character arc and plot resolution and all. These are more about stretching our wings, leaving the comfort zone, trying something new, like that.

And when you've written something so different from your usual, and it works (mostly), there's a real satisfaction and affirmation. I hope more people will consider it because it feels really good.

Maryn, who likes feeling good (shocking!)
 

Maryn

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Unsticking after years of inactivity. If you want to be able to find this thread, bookmark it.
 

InkFinger

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I think I shall cry. It is up to date in ESYW.
 

Maryn

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There, there. Several of the mods are aware we have more stickies than needed. If people reply to this post, it'll stay on page one. If they don't, it'll still be here, just harder to find.
 

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You’ll eventually have me posting again and it won’t be an issue. I’m going to finish this book. I swear it.
 

Maryn

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I'm holding you to that. I don't know where you live, but I'll figure it out if you need, ah, motivation.