Leto Armitage: Blog

I'm still working on the Pool Girl and have detailed notes for the next chapter and some brief ones for the chapter after that. I suspect my writing process is kind of chaotic compared to some. I often try to have a rough idea of where things will go but then write in an almost stream of consciousness manner. During this process, the characters often surprise me. Then I start cleaning that up to make something that might be readable.

I have set a challenge for myself though to write something shorter and a one-shot. It will not slow down the posting The Pool Girl but it's written for a certain lady I'm fond of and will feature some of our shared kinks. I'm tentatively calling it Trapped in the Stacks. Conceptually it has gone through a bunch of changes before any writing has even happened, in part because I began with a premise that involved COVID-19 and then decided that was just too damn depressing to include so I've changed the circumstances around and removing a lot that would slow the action down. It's a one-shot, we can handwave some believability, right? If she likes it I may make a series out of it but not a chapter-based series most likely.

Chapter 7 is submitted and chapter 8 I hope to have done this weekend. It randomly occurred to me while editing that a story about a guy who doesn't like to leave his house is suddenly less weird than it was when I started posting it. Oh well ....

Chapter seven of the Pool Girl is done with my first effort on it. Tomorrow morning I will proof it and then send it to a better proofer and once he deems it acceptable will post it. I want to continue to thank people reading and those who have given me feedback.

I discovered the inclusion of one line in re-reading that was borrowed from Bissell's Call Girl Cheerleaders. I've decided to leave it in as what it is, affectionate homage. As I've written the story I've been pleasantly surprised at how something that started in my head as a "what if" variation on Call Girl Cheerleaders has become something very different. Richard and Melissa definitely have their own ideas about what is going to happen and don't seem to care what I think. One thing I myself wondered what would happen with became clear as they were talking this chapter.

Speaking of this chapter, it was originally much longer. I've taken a fair bit of material out which I think will work better in chapter 8, which will have a lot of sex in it. I'm looking forward to it. Sometimes I want my characters to shut up and screw but they are oddly insistent about being true to themselves. Go figure.

For those who have wanted a lot of Lavi, you get here in chapter 8. But first, let's get chapter 7 posted.

As the title says chapter six of The Pool Girl is in the queue. It ended up much shorter than I had planned. I had more content but a plot point required moving an event into the middle that provided far too good a chance for a cliff hanger than I could pass up. The upside is that chapter seven, at least in my head, is already well along. Now, to just transfer it via keyboard.

I also want to thank everyone who sent constructive input on proofing tools and the many who offered to help. I took Pertinax up on his offer and his contributions were welcome and significant to chapter six. I am doing proofing in the word processor as well as Grammarly so that, hopefully, I'm not impinging upon his patience too much.

When I decided to start this experiment in writing erotica I also was taking an experiment in putting things out publicly. Part of that is that I'm writing this blog. I find the process of things fascinating. I've written for years snippets here and there but not put them out for public consumption. One thing I've had to accept as I do this is I'm not very good at proofing my own writing. I have taken feedback as I've gotten it and re-uploaded every chapter, some more than once. I've known this and, perhaps with some irony, have in the past been good at proofing for others but because of what my eye goes for when I know the intent of my text it looks for other details.

Once upon a time I could have told you the pros and cons of various word processors. That was many years ago. For ... well, a long time I've worked in a field where word processors are not something I deal with. If pretty words are needed I get an email asking for details and someone else writes it up. So, as I started The Pool Girl I used a word processor convenient to me and have found it not very useful for finding issues. Insert a dramatic annoyed sigh of an appropriate length here. I had naively assumed that all modern word processors did a certain amount of default proofing for grammar and spelling. I've had many people write to me assuring me that is the case. It turns out it's not.

One person has kindly offered to help me proof. I've accepted the offer but not heard back for a few days but assuming they are simply busy I started moving documents into Google Docs for sharing. There I have found it is highlighting many things the Word Processor That Shall Not Be Named was not. I am going to make an effort today to let it give me a pass on everything and re-upload again.

Should I not hear back from the proofer I may seek someone else out. I only recently discovered the forums on Storieonline including that there is a group for seeking out editors and proofers. I'm sure it will appall some that I just discovered it but my interest has always been primarily in reading and giving feedback to authors so I have spent little time beyond exploring. Should the first offer not come to pass for whatever reason I will probably seek a proofer there.