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Slow paced character driven stories

Eldof ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

Hello everyone.

I'm looking for slow paced stories that's more about the characters than the worldbuilding or the end goal of the plot.

For an example, that means that I want conversations to be written out, as I feel like that adds alot to the characters personality. I don't like when conversations are glossed over, like I called my mother later that afternoon and told her about my trip. I much prefer when authors write out the conversations like -Hi mom! Guess what, I'm back from my trip to Europe. You will never believe what happened to us there, we..... blah blah etc etc. If the characters talk to someone, I'd like to see what they say, not just read a statement that they did talk. The most obvious example of this is FantasyLover's stories (atleast the two I've tried), as he tends to focus on moving the story along and building the world instead.

I also don't want the pace to be too fast. I recently tried Magic Ink and didn't like the pace as in some chapters it was "Monday the 21st we had to go do X, Tuesday the 22nd we had our Y, Wednesday we all had to study so we didn't have time to do Z". In other chapters, months passed and suddenly the protagonist was knowledgeable and experienced in areas where he was unsure and insecure, and all that character development was glossed over in a "The rest of the year was spent in routine and doing alot of studies" or something like that, instead of writing out any struggles, discoveries and other experiences that made the character who he became.

I don't want to many PoVs. The most recent story series I tried to read was The Destroyers - A New Beginning, and while the first story had the same personality change in an instant mentioned above (it was atleast explained why in this one, even if I don't really like when it's done even when it has a reason in the story) and some glaring plotholes, it was the second book that made me give up. It featured a ton of different PoVs, many of them minor characters that had no real purpose other than to be killed off a chapter or two later. If there are different PoVs, I want it to be relevant characters and not too many of them, as though I like a slow pace, I prefer it to be focused on a single or a few characters, and not get sidetracked on a bunch of different sideplots at the same time. This time it was extreme, with the PoVs bouncing around after just short segments, and it just made me lose interest in the main story with all different things going on at the same time.

Lastly, I don't like when other men are involved with the protagonist or his partner(s). That means no gay, no rape, no swinging, no groupsex with other guys, no cheating etc. Basically if an other guy has any form of sex with the protagonist or any of his romantic interests, I probably won't like it. I don't really like breakups and heartbreak either and I like a happy ending. Breakups can be okay, if it's a mutual one where they both agree that they just won't work out together, or if the protagonists partner is written as an unlikeable character. I don't like breakups due to someone finding someone else, other outside influenses like the girls father won't allow them to be together and stuff like that.

I read Thunder and Ligthening not too long ago, and that story fit me great. The breakup there is a good example of breakups I don't mind.

I also liked Jay Cantrell's stuff, SpacerX, Three Square Meals, Bowling for Hearts, Lady in Red was okay though with some time-skips I didn't much enjoy. I've tried most DoOver stories with a rating above 7, some were good, others not so much. I've tried oyster50's Smart Girls series, but I don't really like his writing style (goes back to I don't like when authors consolidate things. Like how he'll write something like "Giggle. "Lemme try!" Bounce." it just annoys me that he doesn't write "She giggled. "Lemme try!" she said and bounced up." or something like that. For some reason single word sentences like "Giggle." just annoy me), though the stories are good enough for me to ignore that when I don't have much else to read. A Friend in Need was great, and I've read most of Argon and colt45 aswell.

I can't think of anything else to add right now.

Replies:   Michael Loucks  Argon
Dinsdale ๐Ÿšซ

Off the top of my head, look at https://storiesonline.net/a/ryan-sylander and - in particular - Opus One.
https://storiesonline.net/universe/380/bec-lost-in-the-maze is PoV, but should still be appropriate.
I rather like wtsman and zaliterr (I tend to group those two together), Ezzyb, Tony Stevens' Baseball stories.

That will do for now.

Replies:   Eldof
Eldof ๐Ÿšซ

@Dinsdale

Forgot to mention Opus One. I've read it and it's great. For some reason (no idea why) I have always associated Hook, Pick and Lens with Hindsight 20/20, which had swinging so I didn't finish the first book. I realize that the stories have nothing to do with each other, I've just always mixed them up, so I might try Hook, Pick and Lense.

How does it deal with what I said about other guys and breakups? I know that Opus One skirted the line there a bit, so I'm kind of hesitant about Hook, Pick and Lense. Especially since the blurb on the second book talks about a long-distance girlfriend, drugs and rock'n'roll, each of which are ingredients I can see easily falling into some cheating shenanigans, or some other kind of falling out or heartbreak.

I'll check out the other authors you mentioned aswell.

______

@Michael Loucks

I've read the first book, and it was good. However, at the moment I don't really feel like reading about breakups and I've seen the list of Steve's lovers over at a-well-lived-life.com. I don't think all of the women listed there who's no longer with him parted with him as friends (maybe they did, but given the number I think it unlikely). So I've definitely bookmarked you series, but I'll save it for a time when I don't feel so delicate about relationships.

Replies:   Michael Loucks
Michael Loucks ๐Ÿšซ

@Eldof

I've read the first book, and it was good. However, at the moment I don't really feel like reading about breakups and I've seen the list of Steve's lovers over at a-well-lived-life.com. I don't think all of the women listed there who's no longer with him parted with him as friends (maybe they did, but given the number I think it unlikely). So I've definitely bookmarked you series, but I'll save it for a time when I don't feel so delicate about relationships.

There are (despite the list) surprisingly few 'bad' breakups in the story, despite Steve's lengthy list of lovers (dalliances, as they're called).

Replies:   Eldof
Eldof ๐Ÿšซ

@Michael Loucks

Cool, I'll give it a try then. Looking forward to book 3 actually, not alot of stories around here taking place in my country.

Replies:   Michael Loucks
Michael Loucks ๐Ÿšซ

@Eldof

Cool, I'll give it a try then. Looking forward to book 3 actually, not alot of stories around here taking place in my country.

Cool. It's largely autobiographical from when I lived in Sweden as an exchange student.

Michael Loucks ๐Ÿšซ

@Eldof

You could try my series, A Well-Lived Life and A Well-Lived Life 2, found here: https://storiesonline.net/a/michael-loucks/series

Single POV, 7.5 million words, pretty much all character building. The 'world' is derived from the characters' thoughts, words, and deeds.

Replies:   Dinsdale
Dinsdale ๐Ÿšซ

@Michael Loucks

Yeah, I've thought of reading your works, but 7.5 million words is a major deterrent.

anim8ed ๐Ÿšซ

You might try the Cammie Sue Series by RealLifeDragon

Replies:   Eldof
Eldof ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@anim8ed

I've tried it. I don't really remember how far in I got, but I didn't really care for it. I felt like it had a problem trying to decide if it was a monogamous romance or some kind of poly story. I like either, but this was some weird mix. It wasn't bad really, but I didn't care for it all that much.

Argon ๐Ÿšซ

@Eldof

Ever read Banner Year by Shrink42? It's very much about developing personalities (in both directions).

Eldof ๐Ÿšซ

I might try more of Wes Boyd's works, I've read one or two of them already. As for Deja Vu, I tried it but couldn't get into it as I don't like voices in the head/split personality and stuff like that.

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