Thursday 30 August 2012

It's so much friendlier with two

‘The Perils of Penelope’, the spanking fiction serial I am writing with imreadonly2 (and starring in!), is up to part three now, so I thought I’d write a little bit about the writing process from my own point of view.

The story is the first collaborative piece I have ever worked on, and I must say I am finding the experience very enjoyable. It’s hard to describe exactly how it feels to sit down and work on such a piece, but it is definitely very different to writing solo. Certainly in order to add to the story I feel that I first have to step into my co-author’s shoes and think about his thought processes; about the decisions he has made and the effects he seeks to create in the text.

I should make clear that the primary author is without question imreadonly2: he has been doing all the heavy lifting plot-wise whilst I have added a few embellishing touches. Even so, it has been fascinating to be invited into the creation of another writer’s story and asked to add my own voice to it. Singing in harmony is a pretty good analogy, actually, as the process is certainly not just one of pasting my sections into the blanks and hoping for the best: we have discussed and played with ideas, sent the story back and forth, and each of us has edited and tweaked and polished the other’s text to make the overall piece a cohesive whole.

And I know I’m biased, but I actually think that a reader would be hard pressed to spot which bits were written by which author, as our ‘voices’ dovetail together so well. It’s perhaps a little surprising that this should be so, as I think imreadonly2 and I have quite different writing styles. Whereas he drives a story forward with suspense and psychological drama generated through action (with the effect of that action upon the protagonists generally represented from a viewpoint external to them), I tend to focus on the inner life of characters; their hidden thoughts and feelings, or how they expressly feel inside about the action taking place around them. (As the central character in this story is me, that’s a bit easier than usual!)

A couple of extracts from solo projects might help provide a sense of our respective styles. Here’s a piece of 100% Penny, from ‘Teaching the Teacher’:

It was then that a certain feeling of disbelief suddenly came over me; it was as if I was dreaming, or watching someone else spank the bottom that lay before me. But the feeling only lasted a moment for, as I gazed down upon Harriet’s rear I saw, where I had smacked her, the faintest impression of my hand, and I was brought utterly, irresistibly, hurtling back into the moment. The realisation hit me like a wave: I was actually giving my wife a spanking!

And here’s some pure imreadonly2, from ‘The Mississippi Masqueraders’:

Julia left her sister shackled to the bumper as she confidently walked up the steps and entered thru the front door of the establishment. Honey kept her eyes down, partially at Julia’s command, but partially to ignore the stares and rude comments from the passerby’s who strolled past the lovely fair skinned wench so chained to the carriage like a dog awaiting its master.

Very different! But then I guess when we write together it’s a matter of our styles complementing each other, rather than clashing. And I think that that is possible because we each enjoy the other’s writing and understand where the other is coming from as an author and a kinky person; factors that make the ‘putting oneself in the other’s shoes’ thing I mentioned in opening much easier. I certainly think that the chemistry we have, or the combination of our different strengths, gives our co-written story real energy and depth.

The story is still being written, by the way, so I don’t actually know what will happen to Penny in the end. If I’m lucky I will get to contribute some more, as it’s fun! (And if I do I might have to sneakily edit any parts where sweet, innocent Penny is bent over and thrashed silly... maybe change it so she gets to scoff cookies whilst watching other girls get their just desserts...)

If you haven’t yet read this gripping tale of the back-to-school humiliation of a naughty adult schoolgirl, please do! It sits proudly on imreadonly2’s shelf in the Library of Spanking Fiction. Oh, and don’t pay any attention to the ‘Penny luvs COCK 4eva’ crudely scratched into the shelf... I have absolutely no idea how that got there.

26 comments:

  1. Thank you for the review.

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  2. Oooh I haven't worked on a collaboration story since middle school! It's interesting to see the two styles and I must say they seem to compliment. Let us know when it's released. :)

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  3. You're quite welcome, joey. Thanks for reading!

    Hi Adaline! Nice to welcome a new reader. Especially a bratty one ;)

    The first 3 parts of the story are already available to read on the Library of Spanking Fiction, and each new installment will appear there when ready. (Same bat-time, same bat-channel).

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  4. Glad to hear that your doggie is feeling better. And it takes a great deal of patience and ability to compromise in order to co-write a story. I have neither. :D I salute anyone who has both and can collaborate. I also like talk about the writing process. Such a mysterious thing, how stories happen.

    Best of luck.

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  5. Aw, drat. Got confused with my wordpress IDs. (We need more people on wordpress!) On wordpress it automatically notes me as Ana. I'm still Ana...open ID just logged me in from my other blog.

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  6. Collaboration can be fun, Penny. It can also help you grown as a writer.

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  7. I certainly need to do plenty of growing, Aunty! :)

    Thanks for the kind words, Ana - Doggie says hi. (He's actually cuddled up on a hoodie having a snooze, but I took that as a hi).

    Writing is a fascinating, fun thing to do (and to think about), just like other kinds of art. I think the act of doing it is rewarding in itself, regardless of how the thing you make actually turns out. I like to draw, even though I'm hopeless at it - it's really relaxing.

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  8. I agree our stuff blends together quite well, but a lot of the credit goes to you, since I think you're doing the blending. :-)

    And although our styles are different, we share a key element, which is we are both more focused on the character's emotional reaction to the situation than on the spanking itself.

    We're 10,000 words into this story and I don't think you've even gotten a single swat yet, Penelople. I think someone's overdue...

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  9. I quite agree. Amelia Jane needs a jolly good spanking!

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  10. Indeed she does. But as you pointed out so aptly, "It's so much friendlier with two?"

    Your words coming back to haunt you...I believe this is what they call dramatic irony, is it not, Miss Hasler?

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  11. Glad youre back with hound, hope you didnt get burnt.I saw there are lots of Sharapova videos but one called M Sharapova sexist fall, and immediatly thought of you.Come to think of it I expect youve seen them all.Plus I wonder is votre derriere rather similar to that of Miss Sharapova, me thinks it is.Theres obviously no need to answer that Miss Hasler.Harry

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  12. I don't know if I got burnt or not, Harry - to be honest I don't really care what they charge as long as they fix my lil pup!

    And it might come as a surprise but I haven't watched any videos of Maria that aren't straight tennis coverage. Watching her play is sexy enough for me :)

    My bottom similar to Maria's? Aw, thank you Harry!

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  13. imreadonly2: you can tease all you like but we both know there's no way Penny is getting a spanking in that story.

    Ner, ner, NER! :P

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  14. I have been hanging out on this blog for near a month and have yet to see Penny get a spanking in a story or the comments. Making my palm itch...

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  15. Tee hee! What a naughty tease I yam.

    So I take it you haven't looked through the archives to find any spankings? Like this, this or this?

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  16. I was thinking more in the present tense, my dear.

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  17. So you were listening in English class after all!

    What can I say? I'm obviously too well-behaved to be spanked...

    ...though, having said that, I have been spanked just this evening. BH took a wooden ruler to me (albeit only for a dozen or so hard swats) before giving me a good seeing-to.

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  18. Of course I was paying attention in English class! I wouldn't tempt Miss Hasler's wrath, though I am curious to know what will happen to poor HG after he writes his lines after class...

    I found those stories quite yummy. As for BH, at least someone is taking you in hand...

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  19. There is a short cameo by a Penny in the latest Kat-Sitting story. ;) Just saying...

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  20. Yay! Thanks for the namesake cameo - your story is now officially the best story ever. (Yes, even better than Hop on Pop).

    And really great idea to let everyone suggest character names! I will have to think up a really silly one, because they're the best.

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  21. I am working on using your suggestion right now! A day when Kat is home alone, Natalie is at work, and she gets locked out...and runs into the grumpy next-door-neighbor...I haven't decided which name to use yet, but they have SO much personality! This is fun. :)

    And I really really hope Dr. Seuss doesn't rise from his grave to haunt you for that comment. But I am flattered anyway. :D

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  22. Aw, I'm glad you like them! And I'm looking forward to reading the story.

    And being haunted by Dr. Seuss would be cool - it'd be all rhymey and funny!

    The rocks! And the Quail!
    And the Skritz! And the Skrink!
    I had so many troubles, I just couldn't think!

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  23. LOL...Lily Winterbotham was a joy to write. Great name.

    http://katsitting.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/kat-sitter/

    She comes in toward the end of the story. Quite a firecracker, that one. ;)

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  24. Super story! So much character, and feeling, and atmosphere. And such a hot idea, Kat being entrusted to a babysitter like she was seven. Mrs Winterbotham isn't so bad after all, eh? ;)

    Aww, I just want to look after Kat and wrap her all up and make her hot chocolate! Stupid cramps, boo.

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  25. lol...oh the comment is HERE! I was looking for it all over the Kat-Sitting site.

    I rarely write cranky characters (and probably haven't ever written a true villain), so it was fun writing Lily's (she may think I'm far too cheeky for my own good, but as her *creator* I say first-name basis it is!) crotchety, crabbed ways. But with a name like that, she really just wrote herself.

    It's fun to see all the different reactions to the story. *I* was exasperated with Natalie for going so overboard with Kat in the story (downright angry at her, to be honest), but another friend said that Kat was being selfish in not thinking about how hard it was for Natalie and how much she is doing for Kat. Yours is another interpretation altogether...if there had been a Miss Hasler next door maybe Kat would have gotten hot chocolate and blankets. Lil Misses requested a nice neighbor named Abby, so maybe that can really happen. :)

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  26. Hehe, sorry Ana!

    I'm really glad Lily was fun to write. I like her already, and I can see how introducing such a character opens up new possibilities for Kat. Or rather, offers a way to explore different aspects of Kat's personality.

    And an Abby would be nice too, of course! :)

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