# Too bloody?



## Penelope Dairas (Apr 14, 2009)

Hiyo,

I've been suggested that my most of stories get very little attention due to the fact they are mostly dark, violent, bloody and lack happy ending, which makes them plain unappealing to people.
The thing is, I'm really weak with cute, snuggly stories I've heard people like. It's hard for me to maintain the ideas for those and most of the time I just write myself into a dead end.

Could someone help me with this? Give advice? Say something from his or her point of view?

Cheers
~pdairas


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## Poetigress (Apr 14, 2009)

Write what you want to write, not what you think people are going to like.  Every writer has different strengths, preferences, and style, and every reader has their own personal taste as well.  No one type of story is going to fit everyone.


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## Xipoid (Apr 14, 2009)

There isn't really much more to say beyond what Poetigress already said. Write what you like to and just write it well. There will be people who like your work.


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## duroc (Apr 14, 2009)

The only thing I could suggest, other then what has already been said, would be to possibly tone it down a bit.  Some people are turned off by 'too much' blood and violence, so scaling back will still allow you to write about the things you want, and in turn, you'll appeal to a broader group of readers.


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## TakeWalker (Apr 14, 2009)

Meanwhile, if you do care about what others think, and think that pleasing them will make you feel good, consider either changing your subject matter, toning it down, or writing something else entirely (porn works well, from what I hear :V). Or, you can try changing who you advertise to. Some people like that kind of thing, you just need to find them.


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## SSJ3Mewtwo (Apr 14, 2009)

I put this in your journal, but I'll put it here too so you and a few others can put their thoughts forward on it:

'Too dark, violent, and bloody' compared to 'cute, playful, and snuggly' stories is way, way, way too great a comparison of opposites.

Here's the thing: Subjects like gore, blood, and body modification appeal to a niche audience. The same can be said of stuff like transformation (my preferred fetish), except transformation can be written in ways that change how graphic its content is. It can be quite tame, minor friendly, and not even involve anything like erotica at all to be appealing to people who actually don't even think of it as a fetish. Or it can be as extreme and graphic as possible. My story 'A Treasure Worth the While' is primarily a TF piece, but even though it has absolutely no pain or blood involved in it it's still an 'extreme' piece, due to the extent of the transformation and the overriding force of bondage and domination the main character endured.

Gore, blood, violence, or any form of body mutilation or alteration cannot do that. Blood and pain have far stronger a negative connotations than most other human aspects. It's an inescapable fact of society today. So the only audience they really appeal to is the type who genuinely enjoy that aspect, and the rest of the potential readers it drives away.

What gore and the like work well with is stories (not shorts, but full fledged stories) that are centered around horror, or other subjects where the violence drives the greater plot, or where the readers have time to develop real attachment or empathy with the people they're reading about. When they care about someone they've been reading, or when they dislike them, or when they feel that the subject is getting something that they don't deserve, then the violence makes the story more powerful and entertaining. 

But in a short, where the subject isn't given much development, and where the focus is just on the act of the violence or mutilation, then it becomes a fetish for those that like pain (be it happening to others or to themselves).

You're not obligated to go to the total opposite extreme where there's no pain, no violence, and no blood at all. If that's not the voice you want to put forth in your writing then you're by no means obligated to. Content like that is why people enjoy reading themes such as bondage, domination and submission, or types of vore. You'd get considerably more views and favs if you wrote an entire story that has a plot-line that would draw in multiple viewers who aren't looking purely for reading about someone being hurt or hurting themselves, but detailed stories about people and characters and which something shocking can happen to drive the plot along.


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## Penelope Dairas (Apr 15, 2009)

So, as far as I see, the main thing I omit all the time is placing too few backstory behind everything I write...

...kinda hard to fit it inside 500 word-stories I'm writing.~

I'll try writing about something else or just slightly bending what I'm doing in my stories towards something less violent... or just gradually ascend towards the peak in my stories, letting the readers get to like at least one of the people in the scene.


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## FurForCameron (Apr 19, 2009)

Penelope, why do they have to be so short? Forum regulations, or what? Anyways, I find depressing books to be more powerful to me. I get bored with nonchalant stories that don't make you think twice about life and other topics.


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## Penelope Dairas (Apr 20, 2009)

They need, because I want them to be - I also write larger, longer ones, but these were meant to be ~500 due to the concept.~


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