I'm Probably Not In the Right Frame Of Mind For This, But...

[teddy_radiator]

Be gentle with me, but I guess I should know already.

If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach. —Alfred Hitchcock



When I write a story, what do readers immediately look for?

Comments

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

I look for characters that feel real to me. A main character that I can identify with in some way. Yes, of course I know what you're thinking: that everyone expects smut. And of course, we do like some. But the operative word is SOME. Anyone one can write the "insert tab A into slot B" type of erotic situation. But YOU put it into context. It doesn't just come out of nowhere for the gratuitous thrill. We get to know and love the characters first. THAT is paramount. So when they do, inevitably, come together *sophomoric snicker*, it is so much more meaningful than if we hadn't gotten to know them. And also there is the way you phrase things. It's not flowery purple prose, and it's not clinical. It's your own style. It's Teddy.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thanks, babe. I know everyone wants to write something of substance, and I don't mind a little smut, but I would like the characters to be likeable and the story to make some sense ;)

[reg-flint.livejournal.com]

I haven't read a lot of your fics, but to judge by what I know and what you submitted to darkarts_ldws I would say: they look for a key that will unlock the Pandora's Box. Intrigue.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I do like to go right for the goodies...

[droxy.livejournal.com]

everything I read has great seductive dialog. =)

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

You know, I think one of my exchange fics is going to be right up your street....I'm just sayin'...

Thanks, Droxy.

[droxy.livejournal.com]

SQUEEEEEEEE- I am dialog ho.

What will be fun is guessing if it's you. XD.

I should be pretty easy to guess. Email me if you think I did it.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Do we have an eta on when the stories will be posted? I'm champing at the bit!

[droxy.livejournal.com]

i think after labor day..

[irishredlass.livejournal.com]

Angst written as poetry in motion. I love how you rip out your characters heart and soul.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I can in the shorter writings. I can't sustain that much anguish over a long period of time - I get too depressed. In the end, I want a HEA.

In the shorter works, though, I can unleash DMuse's inner goth.

[howlingmojo.livejournal.com]

Tension between the characters. Tension that spans the broadest range of the spectrum. It really is the skeleton on which you flesh out your story in my opinion. It may sound easy, but as a fledgling writer myself, I know how hard it is to convey a level of interaction/attraction between two opposing characters.

Also, and I don't know whether you've heard this before, but you do the best UST. Even though in the end it happily is RST, I find myself going back to the beginning chapters of say, Lay Me lLow, just to lap up all the....pushing and pulling that's going on.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you, precious.. You remind me why I started the fic in the first place. It's a hard thing to maintain, so I'm glad that I was able to do it in the beginning.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I think it is the latter. It's horribly narcissistic, isn't it? But being the insecure gimp I am....

[justpinkpastel.livejournal.com]

When I delve into one of your stories I have a few things that I have come to expect of you.

Something that is very well written. Extremely detailed. It will make me feel as if I am there, either watching the scene from a distance, or as if I am one the of the characters.

Smut. 'Nuff said there. But it fits in with the story. You don't write it just to write it. You write it because it goes there.

I know that I will get incredibly invested in it. I will laugh, cry and live for the next chapter.

I know that it will flow very well, never seeming forced or out of sorts. I will fall in love the main characters over and over and over again.

I know that you don't write something just to put it in there. There is always a reason for what goes into your stories and it is a puzzle to try to figure them out. Not everything is laid out for the reader, they have to go searching for answers before everything is tied up at the end.

Every time I get a taste of your writing, I want more. I am gluttonous for your stories.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Karen. It is so gratifying to write, knowing that friends like yourself will take the take the time to talk to me about my writing in reviews in such an indepth manner. I feel too inadequate to tell you how humbled I am with your comment, and how much I want to meet all that criteria. Thank you for reminding me why I write.

[justpinkpastel.livejournal.com]

Honey, my criteria was set to higher standards once I had found your stories. You meet and exceed all of them with each story, chapter, sentence, word that you write.

It is easy to write reviews for you. Some authors I feel as if I am grasping at straws trying to string two sentences together about their writing. Yours, it flows so easy from me. I want to tell you exactly how I felt while reading the chapter, so that you know the powerful emotions that you are able to create within your readers.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I hate to, in the immortal words of Aurette, bleed insecurity, but you have no idea how much it means to have people enjoy your work and find something more than just the smut. I mean, I always knew I could write decent PWP, but I hoped I could write with more substance.

[justpinkpastel.livejournal.com]

Well, I must say that I came upon your writing looking for smut. But, that isn't what has made me continue reading. There are plenty of authors out there that can write smut like no other, but their stories are lacking in the story-line department, something that actually keeps me interested in what is going on between the characters other than what they do between the sheets.

Your stories have substance. I come back to read the story. That is a huge difference.

Although it doesn't hurt that I get my daily dose of Vitamin C while reading, either...

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

LOL - You are such a hoot! I've just sent Chapter 22 to Jules for cleaning. It's a little short, but 23 has a lot going on and I needed to chop them up or it would be too big to read in one seating.

[severus49.livejournal.com]

The details. The sensualness in every turn of phrase. There is a reason I come to the house of Teddy to worship. Aurette is my favorite satirist, Coffee is my favorite realist, and you are my favorite sensualist. For me it's like Bougereau versus Maier Collier versus Burne Jones. I find different inspiration from each of the three, but something draws me back to you for purely admittedly selfish reasons. For me, you come the closest for writing my fantasies down. Things that I only dream of happening, you actually put in hard copy. And you write it like poetry. It's flowing out of you like it's just oozing from every pore. It's so decadent to read. And in some way, it's almost like I've woke up and can't remember this really sexy dream that blew my mind, and bang, I see it in some form in one of your stories. And I'm hooked. And I'm blown away. And I think I always will be.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Sweetie, I think I may print out your comment and frame it. Wow. I feel like a proper writer, hearing my work spoken about in such a manner!

[severus49.livejournal.com]

But it's true, babe! Ya know, I'd sound like a real fake suck-up if I didn't know myself, LOL, but I instinctively trust you - when I see you've written something new, I don't have to worry. I'm in love with it without even reading it. I wish I could quote Burton's Alice better, because there's a line in that movie where she says something to the Hatter about "But this is all a dream." and he says, "You tell me." THAT is how I feel when I read your stories. Because, if I've dreamed it, you've written it.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Well, Mimi says we are all part of the great Cosmic Flow Chart, and perhaps that is my purpose, to realise my friends' dreams and put them into words. It's not a bad way to make a living - now if I just could make a living at it, I'd be the happiest fangurly in the world.

[stormymaries.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I can add anything that hasn't already been said. When I read your work I know I am going to be completely emurst in the deliciousness you create. I would have to say that I am a member of the glutton club. I really cannot get enough.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Wow, the way that you all have described my work makes me want to go and read it! lol Seriously, this is just so gratifying. I'm glad I can bring that kind of pleasure to those who enjoy my writing.