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Ford Madox Ford is credited with this diverting way to determine if he were interested in investing his time in an unread book. He simply turned to page 99 and read it.
By that point, he was past the often over-polished opening, and far enough into the book that the writer should have hit her stride.
What interested me was whether this method could reasonably be applied to the SOL stories most of us check out in a more conventional manner:
Note who the author is. Read the Description. Consider the sexual, or not, components. Determine whether the story is finished.
Then, when the evaluation meets enough of our criteria, most of us click on Chapter 1 and begin slogging through. Or not.
I’m going to experiment by diving into a later Chapter just to see what my level of interest is. (Since I read only my own stories here, I expect to be more than satisfied.)
You’re welcome,
Paige
Adam Gopnik recently wrote in the ‘New Yorker’ about the Hollywood boy genius, Irving Thalberg. Mr. Gopnik mentioned that many writers, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, believed that there were secrets of storytelling.
Yet most films have a simple story line — “Raise the stakes, place insurmountable obstacles before the protagonist, have the protagonist somehow surmount them while becoming braver and better. What works for Dorothy works for Rocky.”
Bringing it home, one of my editors shared the sad fact that in my sex-forward stories (‘Housewives’), there were no real obstacles to prevent frequent bed-hopping.
True.
However, I’ve come to understand that my three remaining readers want to cut to the chase even faster than I’ve been doing.
A conundrum … try to write better, more believable stories? Or give in to the craven … well, you know.
Paige
Yes, it’s true … I removed my two ‘Real Housewives of Sausalito’ stories because they scored under 8. And, yes, I did write a third one, but the editors explained that it needed more changes that I had time to do. Ironically, among certain degenerate readers, the unposted # 3 has somehow gained almost mythic status.
Fortunately, my Research Department (teenage son) came up with a clever workaround. Rather than my trying to weave everything together into a coherent narrative, he suggested that I give the six main characters their own personal vignette. A ‘portrait’, if you will. Or, if you won’t.
‘Portraits’ is now in the hands of the editors. Which means it might be available for posting by December or January. (Their lips get so tired when they read, poor dears.)
Paige
While some readers beseech me to delete all of my little stories... well, so far I've resisted that entreaty. That being said, there is some logic in my reevaluating the Paige Hawthorne corpus. And, in fact, I have already asked the moderator to 86 some of my lesser tales. Such as the one written entirely by ChatGPT.
In addition, after the current Big Clit voting is completed, I'll be expunging an additional story -- one of my Winter Jennings yarns -- "Road Trip".
So, forewarned is foreskin, or whatever that adage is. In any case, should anyone want to read it, or download it, or whatever it... now's the time.
Paige
Great Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! My … tempus certainly does fugit around here. It seems like it has been only a couple of months or so since my face turned scarlet with SOL embarrassment.
Yet, here it is again — another annual public humiliation in the Big Clit circus. Yep, it seems I’m once again nominated in one or two of Author categories. And, one or two of my 2024 stories are also included for an additional sprinkling of mortification.
Okay, you 1-bombers … gloat away.
Paige
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