What's Your Process?

[Serhazat]

I recently had something happen on DeviantArt. Somebody left a comment on one of my stories claiming they were interested in my writing and asked if I could chat with them more over Discord. To summarize an already short story: I'm certain beyond reasonable doubt their end of the conversation was handled by AI, all they really wanted was to badger me into requesting art commissions from them, and it was ultimately that door-to-door salesman thing of trying to form a relationship with the target by asking them about their interests before pivoting the conversation into what you really want out of them. "GraciousPearlArts" was the name of the DA account in question if anybody wants a warning on who to look out for concerning this particular scam.

But there was a positive takeaway to this entire rigamarole: I found that I actually had some fun talking about how I write. Part of their attempt at hooking me in was asking questions like "How do you plan out scenes?" and "How do you develop your characters?", and I found it interesting to explain how I go about writing tickling stories.

So I want to pass it along so to speak, sans being completely disingenuous about it. Leave some questions here about how you go about writing on the off chance that anyone else wants to talk about any of them.

1. How do you come up with ideas for your stories?
2. How do you write tickling scenes? Why do you choose to focus on the areas and techniques that you do?
3. Where do your characters come from? Are there any character archetypes you really enjoy including in your stories?
4. How do you know when a story is "done"? What makes you think the 'lee is in need of more tickles versus they've had enough?

I'll start by answering one of my own questions. I end up writing most of my tickling scenes almost entirely by the seat of my pants. The rest of the story gets outlined, but the section where the tickling happens specifically is usually just listing off their spots and what sort of general vibe I'm going for. The exact details of the action are all what feels correct in the moment as I'm writing it. I just keep writing, and by extension the 'lee keeps getting tickled, until I feel like it somewhat naturally leads into the ending I was aiming for out of the story as a whole.

 

[JasonPinaster]

So, GraciousPearlArts has only been on DA for a short time.

My ideas start from a mix of character, images (either photos of things I have generated from AI) or situations. Then there's the hook or the introduction. And finally the payoff, generally a mix of tickling and sex. I only outline in the most general sense unless it's a novel-length piece, but I often outline a scene or a story beat ahead.