Writing Update and Thinking about Story Endings

Hello Everyone,

I am still working hard on Hottie in the Mirror part 4. I am maybe two-thirds finished with the rough draft, depending on if I decide to include the epilogue tied into the end of this part. Some stories practically burst out of me, and others have to be dragged kicking and screaming, and this one has proven a bit of a hard nut to crack. There’s a lot of complex character stuff going on in this one, so it has taken some extra thought to get right.

How did people like the experiment with Downward Dog 3 where I released sections of it over time? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue with that, but if people really liked it, I could start doing that as a regular practice. If people would prefer, anyone eager to help me workshop Hottie in the Mirror can shoot me an email at grogstoopid32@gmail.com and I would love to correspond.

Once I finish HitM pt. 04, My next work will be the next part of Cross Contamination, followed by a longer commissioned work.

In the meantime, here is another short reflection on my writing, specifically, on how I end my stories.

I think there are many different ways to write erotic stories. I myself have tried out a few of them. One way is to have an extremely long-running epic story that you update over dozens of parts. Cross Contamination is my foray into this kind of story. I think these stories do have at least one major downside: I think that many of them end up trailing off without a true ending. I have every intention of ending CC, but I have seen it happen to enough other series to recognize that it’s a danger.

I think endings are vital to judge the overall quality of a story. Just look at any of a dozen examples in pop culture where a disappointing ending ruined a series for some people.

So I think carefully about my endings. And I especially think carefully about how “happy” my endings should be. A lot of my stories deal with fairly dark themes. Corruption, humiliation, domination, etc. I think stories like that tend to naturally trend toward dark endings, which fit with the rest of the story. A hypnotized girl ends up a permanent sex slave. A wife is stolen and ruined by her bull. A woman is corrupted permanently into a hopeless slut.

But I also think this sort of ending can be predictable and a bit of a downer. I like to vary my endings, and, overall, I think my endings tend to be more positive than a lot of authors working with the same themes. I would say my stories range from dark endings like “The Worst Bestie” (Dan loses his girlfriend forever and becomes depressed), all the way up to truly happy endings like “Wet Witch of the West” (The villain is defeated and Carol and Tory get their happily ever after). A lot of them are between those. For instance, in most of the Freelancer stories, the targets are changed forever, but come to embrace their new lives.

I think some people feel that a happy ending diminishes the impact of a story. When they read a corruption story, some people want to see the corruption or domination be total and permanent. Otherwise, it feels cheap to them.

On the other hand, some of the most complimentary private feedback I have ever received has been over my happier endings. I think there is a certain hunger for stories that include darker kinks and don’t have depressing endings. A commenter once said to me that it is like real life fetish play: aftercare and positivity are often used to bring people back to normal functioning after sex play involving negative emotions. For some people, I think a positive ending to a story can fulfill a similar function, pulling them out of that more negative space.

All of that is to say that some people like happy endings, and some people like dark endings. I don’t think it is possible to please everyone all the time. I do whatever I think makes for a better story, but I do look for opportunities to create a variety of endings.

What do you think? Do you prefer dark endings with lasting negative consequences, showing the utter corruption or domination of the submissive in the story?

Or do you prefer lighter endings that let the submissive find a new equilibrium that they enjoy?