Hee! My reading list looks exactly like the list of writers who read me!

Seriously, I have read a fair amount of fiction over the past several decades and suspect that it can be helpful for turning a nice phrase or painting an immersive description. I have also read a great deal of nonfiction (much of it not by choice) and believe that can help enrich vocabulary and enhance logical thinking. That said, I believe the experience of a long life lived passionately trumps all.

I now find that simply reciprocating here among my own readers provides a beautiful selection of fiction to enjoy and from which to learn and grow. Since I spend so much time immersed with words in the writing process, I find that excessive reading at this point simply invites burnout.

I take writing very personally here, and do not separate the writer from their story. As such, I am drawn to writers who display a gracious humility and encourage others. I find this more important than any technical aspects of storytelling - particularly in a forum venue.

When I read the work of others here, my purpose is two-fold. First, I want to return the support of any writer who takes the time to support my own humble efforts. Second, I try to assess what that writer’s objectives are and attempt to respect whatever those may be via cheerful encouragement.

That said, my fave fiction is character-driven and set in Tamriel (no surprise there).

This post has been edited by Acadian: Dec 6 2011, 06:07 PM

Ever since I was a child I used to read voraciously. But in the past decade or so I have just not had the time with everything else in life. So now all I read are fan fics online. Back in the day I read Tolkien, Harry Turtledove, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Michael Moorcock, Lovecraft, Brian Lumley, Karl Edward Wagner, Parke Godwin, Anne McCafferey, the Star Wars Tales Of... anthologies, etc... I have also read a lot of history, mostly about the ancient world, such as Thucydides, Peter Connolloy, Victor Davis Hanson, etc... Plus comparative religion/psychology like Jung and Joseph Campbell, not to mention Pagan books like those by Chris Penczak, Starhawk, Kerr Cuhulain, and so on (many of the latter I have met too btw.).

When I was in my teens I did not have much money, so I would buy my books at the local used books store, and trade them in when I was done. I would buy half a dozen books in a shot, then come back the next week for half a dozen more. So my collection is actually very small, but I have read tons.

It certainly influences how I write. Because when I read a story, I cannot help but to 'look under the hood' at how the author is crafting the story. I take note of what drives the piece, be it character, setting, or plot. I see how they go about doing that, etc... Basically I deconstruct the story, to see how they pieced it together. I learn a great deal just from other fan fics in fact. Case in point H.E.R.'s habit of doing very small flashbacks, often just of one sentence, is something I have picked up doing as well to refer to small things, without wasting an entire scene on them.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Dec 6 2011, 06:21 PM

I know it’s been a long silence from me but I hope you will indulge my two cents on the matter. Reading as a writer is very different from reading for enjoyment. Enjoyment can be had of course, but I find myself studying what I read in order to help my own writing. I also find that, like Acadian said, reading while you are in the process of writing can hinder your efforts. Ultimately, that you read is more important than what you read (and I can just see my old English Lit professor rolling his eyes at that statement). I learned a lot about the pacing of an action sequence by reading Raise the Titanic and Treasure, so I am right there with you on the Cussler love, McBadgere. I also spent most of my thirteenth summer in a cast surrounded by Tolkien, Piers Anthony, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. I would encourage anyone with an interest in the art to read Gatsby, Moby D#ck (really forum censor?), Madame Bovary, Huckleberry Finn, or anything from Charles Dickens and Jane Austen to discover the sheer music created by the perfectly formed sentence. Read The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird or the Killer Angels to discover that genre is not a determiner of the perfect novel. Read the short stories of Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont if you want your mind turned into a contented jelly (no surprise since they both worked on the original Twilight Zone). Above all, just continue to read. Always.

This post has been edited by Destri Melarg: Dec 6 2011, 10:49 PM

I used to read Lois Duncan books to death. Then I discovered Dean Koontz. Omg, omg, omg, I love his books! I also admit I'm a Harry Potter fan. I haven't read the sixth and seventh books in years so I can't tell you what happens in them, but I loved them. I've read some Edgar Allen Poe and I loved Shakespear's Titus. The thing I've read the most though are books on witchcraft. Even if its a book I'm not really liking, I try and tough it out just to see how they do things and see what it is I don't like so I can try and avoid it.

Hey guys! What's up. I just have a question regarding....a most natural topic, but seldom encountered in some of the ES storie's I've read; sex.

How far could we go with a sex scene? Using it in stories too much is a "no no", I am sure. So maybe once or twice. But how much can we put in? I did not want to make a chapter of mine composed of paragraphs full of pornography, but it ties in with the character and the overall events that will lead after.

Any thoughts?

I don't think it matters how often it is in there, but how much description you give it that can get it bam-hammered by the mods.

What I've done with any scenes I'm concerned about posting is to run them by a mod over at the BGSF forum. If they approve, I post it.

That goes for other scenes as well, in particular violence/gore/or in my case - vampires. (the vampires in my story are fairly erotic creatures).

Just remember when writing descriptives that anything you write on any TES forums will be read by minors, that should keep the porn out while keeping the prong in.




This post has been edited by mALX: Jan 20 2012, 06:57 PM

Yes, go read Acadian's latest chapter... ...And Subrosa's a few episodes back...*Loosens collar*...



*Prepares to type*...No...Don't go there...

This forum is PG-13 I read...So graphic descriptions are out of the question...

Finding ways to suggest it is more impressive writing than...Y'know...A Black Lace novel...(I blame the wife)... ...

If it ties in, I'm not sure entirely what to suggest...But...Y'know...Constant full-on is...Beyond the censor?...

Thanks guys, I think I have an idea. Thankfully, I won't go as far as to add "Spear polishing" or "Kneed the loaf".

And mALX: Yeah, they are erotic creatures, which makes me want to modify the content down.

If you are a memeber at the BGSF (Bethesda Official Forums) - send your proposed content to the mod Leydenne for approval. If she okays it, print it. That's how I do all of mine. Still, even if approved by her, if someone complains, be prepared to alter it.

I only had to alter one scene so far. It was a vampire first "emerging" (no sex) and was approved by a mod at the BGSF, but someone on this site complained so I altered it to slightly less erotic.

This post has been edited by mALX: Jan 20 2012, 07:10 PM

Eh, me and the mods do not tread common ground. But I will reread my work and see if it's suitable. Stinks that someone complained about your post. And by the looks of it, it wasn't even too sexual(Prove me wrong maybe).

I hope you don't mind mALX, I sent you a PM with the brief sex scene.

This post has been edited by Darkness Eternal: Jan 20 2012, 07:19 PM

As for "spear polishing" - that is actually in one of the in-game books in both Oblivion and Morrowind, and I have personally used it in my story. It gives the idea without any graphic details, so is perfectly acceptable.

Hence why I used the term. We all read the Lusty Argonian maid, am I right? haha.

I think as long as you do not get into minute detail about licking genitals or swallowing fluids you will be fine. I have kept my erotic scenes down to describing kissing and caressing, but not gone any further. You can end the scene and let the reader imagine what happens next. I have also written them from the next day, with the character looking back fondly upon events of the previous night. Again, without going into exacting detail, but enough so that the reader knows the mattress was danced upon.

For example:


This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 20 2012, 08:21 PM

Yes, and "The Real Barenziah" also. Oddly enough, they are my favorite in-game books, lol.

Not sure if the censor got your words or if you edited them, but your original response had me rolling, lol.

Perfect. Licking genitals and fluid swallowing(LMAO) is definetly not what I had in mind. Nice quote btw, gave me a a general idea.

I tend to do the fade to black in the sex scenes.

Anyway my question is, I been writing rather allot this past week, thing is most of the chapters are for different characters, how should I go around to posting them? Should I just say who is the character for the current chapter, or well my plan was to post couple of chapters for the same character then switch to another.

Another thing, I currently have 5 chapters for my Jericho fan fiction, should I make a new thread or should I just keep all my writing in one thread, in that case I'll have to change the name of the thread and dedicate the tread to my writing, but I'm afraid that will just confuse people.

What has worked for those who have a largish cast of characters and switch point of view is to do a quick-"What has been happening" piece (usually in a different font) at the beginning of a new post. You could also use that intro to indicate who the readers will be seeing. Just a couple of sentences can take care of it.

There is not a "thread limit" or "how many stories one writer may have current limit" here. Therefore- if you are working 2 or 3 (or more) stories, each one can have its own thread- which keeps things organized.

If you decide a particular thread has reached a "stopping place" you can ask a mod to lock it and then you can begin a new thread- even if it is a continuation of the exisiting story. Purely a personal choice on that one.

I suggest a different topic for each character. That will keep readers from becoming confused about who/what they are reading about. There is no limit to the topics you can have open here, so make as many as you want.

Word limit? Anyone have a call on that? And how long should I wait before I post another chapter?