I’ve been receiving two very polarizing feedbacks on Ken.
1) Ken’s too annoying, neurotic, weird, unreal, exaggerated. Unrelatable.
2) He’s very relatable. The experience feels very genuine.
First, the good news is whether you hate or love Ken, this story is going to be a “hero’s journey” where he learns to be less annoying and more like a stud. Think Karate Kid. Lisa and Denise are making him do "wax on wax off". With enough practice, Ken will be less neurotic and less wimpy.
By the end of chapter 4 (coming soon), there will be a shift in Ken’s attitude and personality. I hope you enjoy seeing Ken grow as much as his friends.
(Just to manage expectations, Ken will still be annoying at the end of Book 1, I think. People with mental conditions don't get 'cured' easily, no matter how much they want to. But hopefully, there would be less 'I just want to smack Ken a couple of times' moments.)
For those that said, “Ken is too annoying to read.” - I agree. It's annoying to write him too. But I had a reason for that.
I’ve created Ken to have several mental conditions, including social anxiety, depression, and neuroticism. He also don’t do well with too much mental/physical stimulant. His brain will struggle to process them, so he ended up “spiraling”.
Why I chose Ken as the main character
Other than making it interesting and not the usual “stud with big dick” trope, I also wanted to showcase people with debilitating mental conditions.
For someone like Ken, without his friends, he’s essentially non-functional as a human being. I used to be like that to some extent as well.
For people with severe anxiety, sometimes the most minor thing can send them “spiraling” like Ken.
I used to have severe anxiety in college. Then I developed social anxiety after a traumatic accident. The social anxiety was so bad, I couldn’t speak to strangers. Words would form in my mouth but stuck at the throat.
I remember going to a party with my friends. It was supposed to be a fun night. When I took the train on the way there, I saw someone reading a book.
My mind started spiraling at the sight of the book:
- The book reminded me I was supposed to read 3 journal articles and write an essay
- Essay reminded me I needed to maintain a certain grade for the dean’s list
- It reminded me I need to do well in school
- Then I started getting worried about my future
- Then I wondered if I should be going to a party instead of doing my essay, even though it’s only due in a few weeks’ time.
- For the rest of the party, I was anxious about something I shouldn’t even be anxious about
All these anxious thoughts just for seeing someone reading a book. Go figure.
I had taken the liberty to apply how anxious people feel in sexual situations. I suspect that those in camp (2) had experience with anxiety, even if it’s not as exaggerated as Ken’s.
I tend to have a few themes and sub-goals in my stories. One of them for RSI is to show how difficult life could be for people with anxiety and/or depression. And how having good friends could help.
When I was suffering from social anxiety in college, I met a grad student who designed a series of practice sessions for me to overcome my social anxiety. It was an adaptation of lab experiments and translated into real world. One such practice was walking up to someone, saying hi, smiling at them, and walking away before they could react. It was to teach my subconscious brain that people are not as scary as my anxious brain thought.
In case you’re wondering, we got together for a while, but no threesomes or butt stretching involved. (RSI is not my life's story).
I also had a life version of Tony as a friend, who always tried to help me with my anxiety through very brute force methods (more about this in chapter 4). But no, I didn’t have sex with his girlfriend.
I enjoy writing stories that feature the MC who wants to have sex but suddenly gets thrust into situations where there’s too much sex too fast. Female characters have to persuade MC to have sex.
I already have at least 4 story ideas I’m developing. I can’t wait to finish RSI book 1 before diving into other stories eventually. One story I’m excited to publish is about a virgin finding love in a sex commune. Another story is about an orphan who suddenly got invited to live a billionaire life, with tons of hot girls clambering to have sex with him.
At the moment, I intend to finish at least book one of RSI for now (though that might change). Beyond that, we’ll see. I’m can't wait to start other stories as well.
Many erotic writers have the attitude of “I write what I like, not for others.” (Nothing against that, but I wonder why they publish if that’s true). For me, it’s the opposite. I like to write for others. While I have visions for my stories, I want people to like them. If they don’t, I will stop writing. Throw it into the bin and never touch it again. A failed story doesn’t deserve to end. Life is too short to end stories with bad reviews. I don’t want to finish stories that no one wants to read.
All this is to say, please continue to give me your comments, feedback, and votes. As long as enough people show me they like it, I will continue RSI (at least to the end of Book One). If not, I’m eager to start other stories.
Chapter 4 of RSI should be coming soon. I hope you will like it. And please let me know what you think.