I'm just having some thoughts and wanted to put them down here.
First thing... this is exactly the type of post I'm thinking will be common here. By that I mean me kind of rambling about what I did or what I'm planning to do, but I also mean a pure text post. I have to admit that it kind of bothers me to make a post without a title graphic for it. Ever since I did that on "Caitlyn's Masks" I've enjoyed doing that. The problem of course is that it does take some time to find a photo to use, and put it into my title graphic format. Not A LOT of time.. but enough time that I might put off posting, and I don't want anything acting as a barrier.
One thing before I get to far into this post. If you are only interested in reading the story when it's ready to publish, then I'd suggest you stop here and now and don't read this or any other posts here. I'm going to be talking a lot about what I"m doing, and by doing that I'll invariably have spoilers throughout. I WILL give warnings if there are direct passages of the story in a post... but I might be talking about setting up something that happens in a later chapter. Obviously if you read that you won't be surprised by it.
So when I started this, I asked for help. Specifically I asked for caps that I've made in the past that will help me get a backbone for a longer story. I received several suggestions on both caps to utilize and how to write this out. The writing suggestions focused on making the story a dream and making it diary/journal entries. Both of these ideas would let me write without worrying so much about the tone remaining static (which is still a major concern).
I agree that this should help. At first I thought it might actually make that too easy. But as I'm trying to do this, I DO want this to be as easy as it can be. So why not. The Dream/Diary could even work together, but I just can't get my head around doing it that way. Especially if I'm writing out the dreams as they happen, then have the waking moments be covered in the diary... it would actually NEED to be two different tones, and then I'd be back at step one... trying to match tones.
Here are the caps that were suggested:
"It's Just A Dream"
This was a fun cap where I felt that I had left a lot of it untold. I wouldn't have to follow the cap specifically, but the format would work great. Guy's neighbor somehow starts controlling his dreams and making him over into a beautifully curvy sexy woman. The actual transformation is fast, but I could space that along a bit longer both in the dream and into his reality. And having him deal with the feelings he got from the dream in his day job would be a fun way to let him just 'act' in the dream, and then later regret what he had done and accepted.
"Language Barrier"
This is another fun cap that would make a fun story. Guy traveling in Italy takes off from his travel group and goes into what he assumes is a modern resort... only to be kidnapped, transformed into a shemale, and trained in how to be a proper sissy. I could see this working with the diary format, or just a straight forward narrative. The story would probably be darker than the cap as he would be distinctly reluctant to go through this transformation. And the fact that he can't understand the language would give this another whole level of squirm.
"Wronged By Him and Wronged By Her"
This is a personal button pusher for me. Guy is dressed up by his friend for a costume party only to find out that it was to blackmail him. His friend uses him while making him work as his new secretary, only to get caught by the company they both work for. The double twist is that the company sends in a woman to 'make the problem go away'. She has the friend fired, but tricks the guy into signing away his rights, and keeps him on as her secretary... and uses her far more than his friend ever did! I could tell this in a diary format easily.
So... each of these could work. And to be honest, I figured that since I have a personal 'secretary' fantasy that never seems to get old, that I'd pick "Wronged". But each time I thought about this, my mind kept going to "Language Barrier". I think out of those three caps, it's the most original story. At the very least, it's a twist that I haven't read before. When I thought of writing "Just a Dream" and "Wronged" I was constantly thinking of scenes to avoid as they've been done before. That just didn't happen with "Language Barrier"
So I'm fairly sure that I'm going to write a story based on "Language Barrier".
One thing did bother me though and will more than likely change. In the cap I have it so that no one speaks English. The subject is constantly going to be wondering what's going on. I still want that feeling as it will be fun for awhile, but at the same time I want there to be moments of realization... moments when the subject will get 'caught up' with whats going on. And without that I think the fun 'confused/lost' feeling will just get old. So I'm considering adding in a new character. I'm not sure what his/her role will be, but they will only be used sparingly. Maybe another person getting transformed and speaks both English and Italian. Or a handler that only visits a few times to check up on the subject's progress.
Plus adding this character lets the subject have some more intimate scenes. I don't mean sexual scenes... those can be done without language. I mean scenes where the subject can break down and pour their heart out. Scenes where they can begin to trust someone. Scenes where they can feel a little more personal form of betrayal.
One other change that I'm pretty sure I'm doing to make is the ending. I end the cap with her being bought and sent on to Russia. I thought it worked there, but I'm not sure that it would fit with the rest of the story (other than having it be a kind of epilogue).
So... that's where I'm at now. I'm still not 100% sold on "Language Barrier" so if you have a strong opinion of why I SHOULDN'T write it, I'd love to hear it. As always, I'd love to hear any comments you have.
I agree that having another character who speaks English is going to be very important if you want this story to go on for more than just a few pages. It's extremely difficult to write a story where the protagonist doesn't have the chance to talk to anyone. You could get around that with the diary format, but I think it would be difficult to reach the levels of emotional connection you are looking for without someone the main character can fully interact with.
ReplyDeleteThe first idea that popped into my head was have it be the handler in charge of the mental transformation, playing the role of "psychiatrist." That way you can build a strong emotional connection between the two of them (whether it's a gentle or strict relationship is up to you), plus give you the opportunity to go for the sense of betrayal when the narrator realizes that the one person they can actually communicate with is the one in charge of messing with their mind. So if you're trying to be as efficient as possible with your characters, there's my two cents. One person allowing the narrator to have someone to talk to, someone to trust, someone to feel betrayed by, and someone to indulge in all kinds of mind games with.
Of course no one says that all has to be one person. I think you could benefit from having both the handler and another person being transformed as that will give you more options to work with. But then again that might make this story a little larger than you would like for your first attempt.
Rauk,
DeleteI didn't respond to this as you hit upon a key point in your fist paragraph. Should I still commit to using the diary format. I thought I'd reply when I had that figured out, but I'm still not sure. I think I can get a far more potent impact if I write it as a first person narrative. But it will be easier to write if I keep to the diary format.
Right now, I'm thinking that I'll try out both. When I get all my ducks lined up and feel that I can start with the heavy lifting of writing out a chapter (I'd probably start with the second chapter), I may try it first in diary, and then in first person. I can then post both and let people decide which will be better.
As you can see in my post "Some more thoughts and an initial outline", I've decided to take you up on all the English speaking characters. A handler and probably two fellow slave trainees.
Lastly, I'm not worried about the overall length. From the way I tend to ramble on, I figure no matter what I try I'll end up with a long story. It's just easier to accept it and go with it than try to keep it short simply because it's my "first try".