I recently wrote a blog entry explaining the difficulties of doing the Tickets series.
Well, I asked myself a question. "How would the series be different if you were to write it from scratch today?"
Well, I'd get rid of the tickets. They were a maguffin to move the story forward. However, it weighted down the original story. I dealt with it a bit better in the second story, but found there were further questions unanswered that would take the emphasis from what I thought should be the main line of the story.
I'd keep some aspects of the story, though. The age of the main character was about sixteen, and that allowed me to show him being naive and show his discoveries
I'd like to know what people think. I'll be posting the start of the new story soon.
Peace!
JiMC
Over the years, I've often been asked about the possibility of a third installment in my Tickets series. Lately, especially this past year, I've been giving it a lot of thought. I've read through just about everything I ever wrote for the Tickets series, published and unpublished, so I've decided to take this opportunity to once again reflect publically on the Tickets series.
Tickets marked many firsts for me and garnered a dedicated following early on.
Tickets was my first experience where I wrote a story with the aid of an editor. He corrected my many grammatical errors and also highlighted issues within the story and some continuity errors. He helped me with local references. The story was set in the Midwest and I was unfamiliar with the area. He pointed out the impracticality of a scene I wrote that involved a swim in Lake Michigan. This is not feasible in May, as the lake is too cold at that time of year! His guidance was invaluable. Note to potential authors: Write what you know!
In my slush pile, numerous discarded chapters didn't fit the evolving narrative. For example, one such discarded subplot involved Jim visiting a strip club—a tangent that didn't contribute anything to the story. Initially, the story lacked a clear direction, with chapters feeling more like disconnected episodes in a TV series. Characters took divergent paths, often conflicting with other parts of the story.
Crafting the story was a constant struggle. I introduced and discarded many characters until a few became the bedrock for those first two stories' development. Gradually, I honed the narrative into a cohesive direction, laying the groundwork for a complete storyline.
Even after publication, the first story doesn't fully come together until its later stages. Looking back today, I realize I didn't even introduce one of the most crucial characters until the sixth chapter—a misstep akin to burying the lede. It's a detail that would have drawn a sharp rebuke from the editor of the first newspaper I ever contributed to.
A long while back, I explained the concept behind my "Helen" stories. I once thought this was an ingenious idea to create a standardized character and use that so I could focus on the plot rather than the characters.
Interestingly, while Tickets started as a Helen story, it underwent so many changes that I retargeted the main focus on Jim rather than my only remaining Helen character, Merry. That's right, in my original concept, Merry found the tickets!
The evolution of the Tickets stories was quite remarkable.
Once I nailed down the direction, I created my bible, which is a roadmap to guide the flow of the stories. This bible evolved but was instrumental in maintaining consistency and continuity:
Tickets taught me about character development, which is one of the reasons I no longer use the Helen device. I grew so attached to those characters that I couldn't bear to muster the effort to write a conclusive third story; it would feel like killing them off. I spent much time creating these characters and they are real to me.
While posting the Tickets stories weekly, I received a wealth of feedback that I truly enjoyed. Some of it remains memorable even today.
One particular reader, a musically talented fan of the story, bluntly told me my understanding of music was off and the concepts I described were nonsense. Rather than taking offense, I took time to learn what I didn't know from him, seeking to understand the nuances he pointed out. His insights helped me rewrite parts of the story to make it more authentic. We wrote back and forth between the middle of the first story through the posting of the second, and he told me of some of his experiences brought on by the appearance of the Stars and Stripes Forever in the second story.
Other readers pointed out other errors, such as my misplaced reference to Brown University as a place somewhere in Massachusetts instead of Providence, Rhode Island. It wasn't for lack of research; I genuinely believed I had it correct, which shows that I'm a typical ignorant American, especially regarding geography. Write what you know!
Some eagle-eyed readers noted that Jim couldn't have performed Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" in the timeframe I had depicted, as the song hadn't been released yet. I had to scurry to figure out a suitable alternative piece, and I'm still unhappy with my rushed solution, with apologies to Todd Rundgren.
I acknowledge there were plenty of mistakes in the Tickets stories. I was humbled by the passion my readers showed and their disappointment in its imperfections. This motivated me to make corrections to make the stories better. Thanks to the weekly posting schedule, I could update and refine chapters based on immediate feedback. Some changes were substantial enough to influence unpublished chapters, making the final published stories stronger.
Tickets continued to evolve throughout its publication.
It was a challenging yet enjoyable learning experience. I would gladly relive the entire process if I could. It remains one of my most cherished writing endeavors.
As for a final entry in the Tickets series? Part of me hopes to revisit it, while another part hesitates, fearing the daunting task it would entail.
That's not to say I haven't attempted to start a third Tickets story. Let me give you a good example. Recently, I stumbled upon an idea in my slush pile where the opening scene would feature the couple performing a song on The Johnny Carson Show. The logistics of their performance had me intrigued. What song would they sing? Would they do a duet with Jim on piano and Kristen on bass? Would it be just Jim performing a solo with the orchestra playing? That wouldn't work because I needed Kristen and Jim to be on the couch together when they talked with Johnny. Why not have the duet with the orchestra accompanying them? Rock acts were rarely shown on Carson because of technical limitations, so I would need to explain how this comes about. The scene was lots of fun to write, the "what if" things. However, with a full story, it needs to align with my bible and this scene isn't there, so I need a good reason to include it. Does Johnny offer some advice that would be useful in another scene? Does the fact that people saw them on Carson lead to another pivotal scene in my bible? While I loved watching Johnny and would have loved to see him interview the couple, that wasn't reason enough to include it. That's the daunting task of writing a full story.
By the way, those what-if scenes are fun to write. It's why I have such a large slush pile. Sometimes, I find a way to integrate them into the story, and they leave the slush pile. Sometimes, they stay in the slush pile.
As I type this, I find myself thinking of another possibility.
Instead of committing to a full third story, another approach could be to write occasional short stories that fulfill elements from my bible for the third installment. As you can see, the Carson story doesn't fit. Yet. However, once all the pieces are in place, it would be easier to weave them together and condense them into that elusive final story, and people can see the work in progress, even if it isn't sequential. I rarely write my stories from start to finish in the order they appear. This is similar to the way movie directors shoot scenes out of order.
It's an idea worth considering—a potential solution.
In the meantime, my next blog entry will introduce a new story that loosely connects to the Tickets series and a few of my other works.
Peace!
JiMC
I've just submitted the second episode in my Class universe. I received a couple of positive messages from the first, and I have at least two more episodes that will be published... hopefully before the end of the year.
Once again, please send feedback (positive or negative) as it is usually the only way that I can find out how people respond to my stories. I do not solicit money for my stories, so your feedback is the only payment I receive.
My new series, Class is a comical serial describing a rather unique sex ed class.
I don't follow many serializations in erotica, especially when there are multiple authors contributing to the genre. However, I remember reading the first Naked In School (AKA "NIS") story by Karen Wagner, and was intrigued by the concept. There were some follow-on stories by other authors that paid nice homage to the original work. Then there came additional stories that modified the "universe" so much that in some cases, the NIS universe would be unrecognizable with respect to the original story.
At one time, I considered doing a NIS story myself, bringing the humiliation, titillation, and internal dialog found in the original stories, but I don't consider myself good enough to write it.
With Class, I've decided to do pay my homage to the NIS series by creating a different universe where a rather raunchy teacher in an all-girls school teaches Sex Education complete with demonstrations and labs. The only nudity that occurs is in this one class, although there are occasional descriptions of situations outside the class as well. This isn't meant to coexist with the NIS universe, but may appeal to those that like the stories in that series.
Or not.
(I'm not so full of myself that I think I'm great...)
Now, the concept for this series isn't particularly original. I've seen many stories involving sex demonstrations in class ever since I happened upon the Internet, and some have probably appeared in print in books, Penthouse Forum, or other places even before that. However, with this series, I keep my tongue firmly in cheek as we listen in on Mr. Milner as he lectures his rather unique class in his own way, politely referring to each girl as "Miss" and even delivering sage advice on (very) rare occasions, all the while blatantly taking clear advantage of all of his students. The stories are also about his reactions to the various students as they pose questions and make comments in his class. The story is presented as a monologue by the teacher, so you're only hearing one part of the lessons, but can easily imagine everything going on in his shameful little classroom.
Like some of my longer stories, I am maintaining a character "bible" that allows me to remember who the various characters are, their descriptions, and ideas regarding how they will interact within various stories. In fact, with twenty named students in the first four stories alone, it would be nearly impossible for me to keep things straight on an ongoing basis.
And I intend for this to be an ongoing serial.
Each "episode" in this series is meant to be a continuation from all the episodes preceding, although I can imagine writing a few "special episodes" that would probably be out of sequence. I have a few ideas for such episodes, although none appear in the first few episodes in the series.
Please be forewarned that the teacher is an older man in his forties or fifties, and each student is a young female aged sixteen or seventeen. I do not condone the activities described or implied within these stories. I am not, nor will I ever be a real teacher, so this is just my take on what would go on inside a classroom within this universe. The stories are simply meant to titillate, and the fact that the stories are presented as a comedy should not be taken to mean that I think that statutory rape or even the occasional torture is something that should be laughed at. These stories could and should never happen in real life.
I have found these stories as a welcome break from my attempt after attempt after attempt to get going on a different series that I hope I will some day finalize.
Peace!
JiMC
I guess, now that I'm publishing the sixth chapter of Aimless, I can start commenting on the story.
It's a futuristic story. I considered having it take place now, but the "collar" technology just isn't there yet. So I had to create my own fictional futuristic universe with holos (holographic entertainment), comms and portacomms (the successor to our current smart phones), and the insidious "collar" technology.
For me, it's one of the darker chapter stories I've ever published. After all, it is clear that Jess, our protagonist in this story, is not very happy with her situation. I've also written this with a female point of view, which is also a first for my chapter stories as well. This is how the original Tickets story was to have been written (from the point of view of Merry, of all characters!), and I didn't think I could pull it off at the time. Tickets did much better the way I wrote it. Now, a lot of years and stories have passed since then, and at no point during the writing of this story did I regret putting this into Jess' point of view. For me, it makes the entire story more believable.
For those of you that are thinking that the darkness and despair of this story is heralding some "new" JiMC type story, don't forget that I wrote the Don't Talk to Strangers series, which can be thought of as even darker than this story. Don't worry, though... the usual "JiMC schmaltz" will appear here and there even in Aimless.
If you're enjoying the story, please drop me a line. Even if you're not enjoying it, let me know and tell me what you think is disappointing. Ever since I wrote the final chapter of Dreamless, I found that I could handle disappointed readers. I just like to hear from my readers.
Anyway, there's quite a few chapters for this story to go, so there will be more to enjoy (or be disappointed in).
Peace!
JiMC