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A book on writing I'm currently reading says the reason most aspiring novelists are rejected by publishers is that their core concept is weak. That is, they need more of a "hook" to build a story around.
That got me to thinking about what exactly constitutes a story, and came to the following conclusions. First, most of the "stories" I attempt are not in fact stories, but fantasies I've attempted to write down. I fantasize about being a little girl, doing stereotypical little-girl things, living the female childhood I never had (OK, so I buy into the gender binary--sue me). Therefore, that's what I write about.
Secondly, I've never been able to write anything that wasn't trans-related, a fact I'm sure is related to conclusion number one. I couldn't write a conventional, non-trans work of genre fiction to save my life, simply because I don't fantasize about being a part of most of those stories. (And therefore, don't read them).
Unfortunately, one's personal fantasies are boring, since rarely do two people share exactly the same fantasy. It's translating those fleeting mental images to a logical, compelling story arc that causes me to falter.
What often results is that no matter how promising my initial idea, sooner or later the stories I attempt degenerate into what I call POO (short for "Parade Of Outfits"). That is, after the initial gender change/transition, the stories become little more than "...and then she wore...and then she wore...and then she wore...." A sure cure for insomnia if ever there was one
There are exceptions, of course, in work I've read by others--light, frothy little fantasies that catch my interest. (I can think of several in the Altered Fates and SRU universes). They're usually short, however, while the longer ones are often about much more than the transformation.
Like the late Katie Leone before me, I'd like to do more with trans fiction than light cross-dressing fantasy, perhaps even produce something a mainstream readership would like without stepping into POO (sorry, couldn't resist that). Exactly how is the question.
Comments
Breaking Personal Fantasy
If you want to try to write something not based on your fantasies, try reading stuff that other's have written, possibly even outside of your comfort zone. It can help from time to time. I have also found that reading gender bending manga or even watching some of the anime is good for inspiration too. Just try finding something that you wouldn't normally do, brainstorm a bit with it and see what works. Even try blending some of your elements into something different :)
My preference...
I find the best stories are good even if the TG component was removed or substituted with some other internal conflict. While I do not dislike stories that focus on clothes, they quickly become muddled together with other similar stories. They are not the stories I look to reread; or, buy when they get converted to E-books.
Balance
Striking a good balace between your personal fantasies and an actual story is what i've noticed the best authors here doing. Take a great story, then gender bend the hell out of it.
Like for instance Star Wars, what if there was an experamental machine that combined with the powers of the force could alter the midichlorines in the body as part of the Empires effort to create force users on demand. What if you were the (unwilling) test subject, and not only did the experament awaken the force within but also flipped your gender or even race as an unintended side-effect? Now you have your fantasy of being female combined with a Plotline.
dont like star wars? hey no problem, you can apply that kind of thinking to any genre, or even mix and match things from a variety of other stories, toss what you dont like and create something new. Creating a beginning plot is easy for me... it's the ending that's the tricky part for me, i have a hell of a lot of story ideas that i just can't seem to top off.