Quite a few people have suggested, over the course of the year, that they would like to see more of the Bailey series shorter and more frequently. So I'm coming to those who are reading the series once more to get some feedback on format changes. Since I'll be moving onto the winter series after one more chapter, I'll seek to change it now rather than wait.
The only problem is, I need your help finding middle ground and coming up with a viable solution. So I'm going to first list why I've been writing it the way I have, and what my hangups are for making the parts shorter. Maybe I'm trying to do things that matter more to me than you. So I'd like to see.
I know I can't make everyone happy, but I can try for some moderation. This is all new to me (writing TG fiction and keeping up with an ongoing story) so I'm willing to try to find that nice happy groove. Mainly because I'd like to write more of these stories in the near future. So I'll list my hangups, and perhaps pose a few questions for you all.
First, my hangups...
1. I personally like to tell a mini story with each posting. Usually I will limit it to one event, or try to squeeze in two per posting. It probably bugs me more than anyone if the event isn't wrapped up, especially if I don't get back to it quickly enough to finish it.
Which brings up...
2. I love to write, but I don't write this story every day. Starting and finishing a part could be weeks between. I would love to post something weekly, as a few have suggested, but I don't think I could keep up with my end of that deal. This might be okay, as I doubt a lynch mob will come after me for missing a week.
However, I feel I have to...
3. Include some sort of TG element in each story. If you'll notice, each chapter has at least one occurrence of Bailey dressing. I've figured since I'm writing for a TG audience and posting on TG websites, that this is important. Am I putting too much emphasis on this? Is it okay for the story to progress a bit without some act of transgenderism?
4. I'm afraid the story will lose a bit of its magic if I remove the TG elements. Would Bailey be interesting without it? Can a chapter of school or home life carry enough for you, as long as you know the protagonist is transgender?
5. I have a few ideas about how to help keep track of all of the characters and plot points, but I'd like to see what you all think about that first. Do you need refreshers? Do you need reminders of who people are and how they're involved in the story? I know I do at times. :P Do you have any ideas on how to do this so it doesn't take away from the story, or your reading pleasure?
These are the things I think about when writing each part. If I'm putting too much emphasis on any of it, please let me know. I'm hoping for a lot of feedback on this. Once I get around to the winter series, I'll look at this and try to find a solid middle. Thank you in advance for your feedback, and for following the story to this point. There's a lot more in store for Bailey, so I hope you all stick around.
Looking forward to the feedback!
~Bailey
Comments
Almost as winded as my story... Another blog about Bailey...
Exploring Bailey's inner self seems to be the focus. As long as you maintain that focus, Bailey can stay a boy, or a girl, depending upon the situation.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Bailey
I don't believe the audience is all transgender. I have posted
stories that have no transender and have been well recieved, far
better than my lame attempts at transgender stories. I believe
the audience wants an interesting story, a little erotic, or
transgender element. Something that excites the imigination
but not filled with violence or sex. Bailey is an interesting
character and his friends are interesting. Story size is a
bit large for my taste but I read them any way. I like to
read the human or emotional part of the story as to how a
boy, who is a little lost, handles his problems. It is almost
like a cliff hanger. He is so close to being normal, yet he is
on the verge of going the other way. Some might take offense
by this but we are all entitled to our opinions. The detailed
emphasis on clothing and other details in my opinion tend to
slow the movement of the story. But it can't be to bad because
I'm reading the story.
Carry on as you are
I enjoy the format you're using, but some sort of transgender element is important. I was glad that you avoided direct sex in the last chapter, because, I for one find it removes an aspect of the innocence of Bailey, which is part of his/her appeal.
I'm not into great descriptions of clothing unless they're essential to the story - posing in the window was, and perhaps the Halloween costumes - otherwise, it slows down the story.
At the end of the day, it's your story and you have to be happy with it; crowd pleasing doesn't always improve one's writing.
I look forward to the next episode.
Angharad
Angharad
story length
I know that as I write, I try to make the end of a chapter concide with something like the character going to bed, or sometimes a scene change. I know that one of my stories, Emma's story, all of the chapters have been about 1K in length, whereas in My Mistake, they range from 2Kish to a low of 440 words (or something like that...) Some have said the chapters in Mistake are too short and end too quickly, and I've tried to address that, but my characters tend to dictate this stuff to me.
In my current work Into the Land of the Pinks, I have a chapter of 283 words (the Prologue) to a high of a little over 4K in the chapter of "Shopping." Now granted, I am writing this a little bit differently than I do Mistake or Emma, but I may just need to change my Modus Operandi for the way I write.
I would say just go as you feel that the story needs to be told. I know I've enjoyed reading about Bailey's adventures.
Samantha
my feedback
1: I like the idea of one or two events per chapter, but there can be some flexibility. If one event needs more space, or less, that's okay too.
2: Post as often as you are able, we'll wait for new chapters
3 and 4: I don't think you absolutely need a tg element in every chapter. There can be a lot of things that happen away from dressing up that matter to the character, and thus to the audience.
5: You could post either a quick recap of events before each chapter, or at least once in a while to help people catch up. You could also post a list of characters and how they relate to each other as a separate post, just a thought.
Dorothycolleen
TG audience
3. Include some sort of TG element in each story. If you'll notice, each chapter has at least one occurrence of Bailey dressing. I've figured since I'm writing for a TG audience and posting on TG websites, that this is important. Am I putting too much emphasis on this? Is it okay for the story to progress a bit without some act of transgenderism?
I think here is where you are mistaken. Yes you are writing to a TG audience, but not everyone has a TG experience every day/week of their life. Being trans doesn't always mean dressing up as a woman or putting on high heels, it is a mind frame. So if you stay true to your character, you won't really have to worry. I wrote Growing Up Jenny and after the SRS in the first chapter, there really wasn't much trans stuff going on. (Of course Jenny wore dresses a lot) but I did deal with responses to the surgery but mostly it was a story about a now-girl. I don't think we need to have cross-dressing fetishism running rampant in every scene of our story to be successful. In fact I am more interested, and write, more about the internal conflicts.
So I think your best bet is be true to your character and if he/she doesn't dress in a white pvc dress and 8 inch stilettos then so be it.
K.T. Leone
My fiction feels more real than reality
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
As You've Probably Noticed...
...Sarah Carerra and Catwalk Confidence have been proceeding this year, for all practical purposes, as though the main characters had grown up as genetic females, and the stories have remained popular.
In Sarah, Megan ought to be concerned about her past coming out, but there's been nothing overtly said about that since late in book one. I don't know whether it's an elephant-in-the-room situation or not, but Megan's voiced concerns are always as to whether people recognize Sarah as Megan; I don't think Brett's name has come up even once in book two.
It's even less of a factor in Catwalk. The only relative secret in Alex's life these days seems to be her long-distance relationship with Robbyn, and even that's on the back burner at present.
It's a bit different in the very popular Becoming Robin; Robin is genetically male and the need to keep concealing that surfaces very occasionally. But there's no concern about her past (we're told that her old San Francisco classmates have retroactively decided she was a girl all along) and the concealment issue isn't part of any of the current story arcs.
The point I'm making is that those three stories are character-driven to the point where there's no necessity to keep the TG issue in the forefront. Not every story can or should be that way, and unlike Megan, Alex and Robin, Bailey hasn't determined her gender identity yet. But since that's your story's overriding issue so far, it seems that it should hardly matter whether Bailey actually puts on a dress in every episode.
So I wouldn't let point 3 stand in the way of shorter, more frequent postings. But point 1 has its merits; cliffhangers aren't good in a story that doesn't post quickly and consistently, and there wasn't a natural break point anywhere in the latest chapter.
As for #5, IMO you do have a problem there. I decided not to go back and reread the previous episode this time, and discovered that I had wrongly remembered which one of Megan and Tawny was the GG. I'd suggest posting an annotated cast of characters as a separate entry for reference, and editing it when a new episode comes out. It might be wise to use the "highlight to read" white type for possible spoilers, or to stay one chapter behind in the edits, so that we can refer to the listing before reading the current episode if the need arises.
Hope that helps.
Eric
As far as Im concerned. I
As far as Im concerned. I think the Chapter/story length is just fine. You're the Auther, and can make it however long or short as YOU want. Just look at J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter books.
Just my 2 cents :)