Writing a novel - Is it worth it?

[Alina]

I have a tendency to write extremely long stories, which have lead me to a logical conclusion that maybe I should give a whirl at writing a novel. But I find myself struggling with the idea.

Is writing a novel really worth the effort? I know that a novel does have a inherent market value to it that a short story does not, but then again, a short story has an avenue and an audience even if it doesn't sell. But if it did sell, I'd earn some money. Not that that is high on my list of priorities, since I'm not very optimistic about the success I might have. If it didn't sell, I obviously could release it as a serial on these story sites, so it wouldn't go to waste regardless.

Do people even bother to read novels with bondage content? Short stories and even regular old porn is pretty freely available here around the interwebs, so is the market or the attention span existent anymore?

I'm also a bit vary about my style. I'd really like to include as much emotion and story as bondage into it. Sustaining the interest of the reader with that ratio might prove impossible as well.

It would be a huge undertaking, but I have already written enough to fill a novel to these sites, so I know I could do it. I'm not looking for simple answers, since I know you can't give me any. I'm just wondering if anybody else has thought about writing one or has written one and maybe could share some of the reasoning for and against.

[ruru67]

[quote="Alina"]Is writing a novel really worth the effort?[/quote]And the answer to that really depends on your definitions of "worth" and "effort". Is writing hard? Do you want money, kudos, a chance to express yourself, or what?Hired Help is one of my favourite stories, and at 100,000 or so words is at the longer end of novel length. It's true that most writers of free fiction tend to go for shorter stories, simply because a novel really is a serious undertaking to express one set of ideas, but there is no reason that it won't be read.If we're talking free fiction, question is not whether or not you should write a novel, but how long the story actually should be to pace it correctly. I've lost track of how many novel or novella length stories I've waded through, thinking, "there's really a short story here trying to get out." But on the other hand, a lot of good ideas don't get enough development, and become unbelievable or dry as a result. If you actually want it printed for money etc, the picture changes. Then you have to deal with publishers who will aim around 60,000-80,000 words, so that it's thick enough to get the title on the spine. I don't have any experience with getting anything much printed, so I'll leave it that that. But the basic principle applies; there's no point trying to turn a short story into a novel unless you really have the requisite material.If you are going to commit to a novel-length story, then it's reasonable to be doing a bit of character development. It may seem unproductive on its own, but it helps make the "good bits" work. That's the advantage of a longer story; you can get away with scenes that a shorter story couldn't because you've already done the ground work - a really well crafted scene takes several threads and brings them together to an exciting climax, something you can do better in a novel than in a shorter story.Don't worry about the extra development taking up "fap-space" in the novel. By going to a longer story, you've already lost those with seriously short attention spans. There's no point worrying about them, so tell the story in a way that takes advantage of the longer format.Should it be emotive? Hell, yes! Even fap-fodder needs to be; bondage is about emotion. If you build the emotion up, you'll end up with characters that the readers can relate to. Get the reader inside the characters' heads, and vice-versa. I can't stand fiction of the type that reads like a history lesson, a series of events without any explanation of the characters' motivations, turn-ons etc. The best fiction tells us not only what the character is feeling, but why they feel that way.

[OneStrangeGuy]

I have no idea what earnings potential a novel might provide. I have written a number of short stories, posting them on the web. I have done this mostly for my own enjoyment. There are, of course, sites that do host and sell novels. You might try a place like http://www.pinkflamingo.com/ to see what they might do for you. If it were me, I'd do it for the personal pleasure that it gave me, not counting on any real income, Yet still see whati could get out of it, and be pleased if anything came of it.

[roboman]

Back quite a while ago there use to be racks of bondage and porn books, but there also use to be tons of magazines also. I'm not sure who would print and market a bondage or porn novel any more. Sure the nonfiction, how to and kinky relationship books seem to be still printed. Maybe I just don't go the right places any more. If you lightly hide the kink, the mainstream publishers seem happy to publish that sort of thing. Mostly I would say that if you want to make money and sell it, find a publisher or several first and a market. If you want to write a book just to do it for the fun of it and know you are going to loose the people who only want to invest 5 or 10 min in reading a story.

[cagedsgt]

Just for thought if it is a publicatin that you are looking at, even a good collection of short stories sells good for their market. Myself I prefer the longer stories that have meat and plot to them over just the short ones that more often simply deal with a session. build up to the ultimate session with al lthat builds the desire to make it bigger and better.  

[Darkraptor1]

If you want to write a novel, then go for it!  Anything you write is ultimately for yourself, and for your own enjoyment.  I think writers in general focus on what they want, rather then others want.  I enjoy stories involving mummification, permanent bondage, entombment, and burial, and happen to be lucky enough that others enjoy my stories.  If you follow your passion, you might be surprised where it takes you!  I was once contacted by an independent publisher wondering if I wanted to publish some of my stories in book format (though I declined for privacy issues).  If you really keep at it, and write what you love, then there's no telling where opportunity might reveal itself.Darkraptor12010-07-30 19:07:48

[RGbargy]

They do say every one has one novel in them. Sure, go for it but don't expect to become either an overight success or a millionaire.  Writing comes from within. If you have the urge, then let it out. Howeevr there is a lot of hard work involved as well. once you have the basic text  (which is not as easy as it sounds) you then have to proof it, revise, probably re-write it, proof it again. Read it several times (even the best proofing tools cannot understand syntax or remove correctly spelt words that should be a different one).As for publication........ a track record helps. which is a chicken and egg scenario. Publishers want successful writers not newbies, so how do you become successful? (don't ask me)There are E-book publishers that will take almost anyboby but there is no real money in it. The internet has basically killed the erotic book market. You can find almost anything for free so why pay for it?Having said all that there is a great deal of satisfaction in getting it written. Even if no one else reads it. What ever you do DON'T PAY FOR PUBLICATION. That is Vanity Publication and you will never get your money back or be happy with the result. In the mean time, you might test the waters with a short excerpt either here or at Gromet  or Utopia. There are those who will coment, and encourage and you never know who is reading........ Good luck R G Bargy

[Lys]

Bit out of date replying perhaps... but yes, writing a novel is definitely worth the time. I've written a few and hope to get published some day (not in this genre).There's something satisfying about getting a whole story finished.

[Alina]

Well, the question really was about this specific genre. I don't write prose in any other genre as I'm a screenwriter in my rather more daylight-appropriate writing career. And the thing that really is bugging me about this is that will anybody actually read the damned thing. It's a heck of an investment and it'd be one heck of a shame if it wasn't read.

Of course, I could probably release it in bits and pieces at sites like these and get some reads, but I'm still not sure if the return is worth the effort.

But I'm still tossing around a few ideas at the back of my head. I even started one, but it felt kind of flat so I gave up on it after couple of weeks. We'll see.

[RGbargy]

[quote="Alina"]Well, the question really was about this specific genre. I don't write prose in any other genre as I'm a screenwriter in my rather more daylight-appropriate writing career. And the thing that really is bugging me about this is that will anybody actually read the damned thing. It's a heck of an investment and it'd be one heck of a shame if it wasn't read.Of course, I could probably release it in bits and pieces at sites like these and get some reads, but I'm still not sure if the return is worth the effort.But I'm still tossing around a few ideas at the back of my head. I even started one, but it felt kind of flat so I gave up on it after couple of weeks. We'll see.[/quote] If you are writing for reward - forget it. The main reason for writing is because you need to. If the story is there to be written then write it. Only the favoured few can afford to sweat and force it. Most of us have to earn a living by more conventional means. R G Bargy

[ruru67]

Ain't that the truth.And as for getting compliments, I think in the last few months I've had about as many comments in person from among the couple of dozen people I know in the local munch group as I've had from the thousands of readers over the rest of the Internet. And in all honesty, I've found the in-person comments a lot more encouraging and useful than many of the Internet ones.And yeah, I don't get what's so damn hard about clicking on a rating.

[mummysboy]

[quote="ruru67"]Ain't that the truth........And yeah, I don't get what's so damn hard about clicking on a rating.[/quote]Well, in my case I have read quite a few of the stories and never noticed a way of rating them - I still cannot see it on Gromet's Plaza - what am I missing? I love almost everything I have read - been inspired a bit to write myself but rubbish so far!

[pleasewrap]

Utopia Stories has rating buttons.  Gromet's doesn't.  I think that's what they're referring to.