A Story in Transition

I'm getting a lot of writing done today. In particular, I've gone back to work on a story previously sent out to a couple of different places in the past, with no reply. I've been letting it simmer for a couple of months and now, looking at it objectively, I can see why it was ill recieved, but cannot really explain it. It's just...lacking. Not in lenght or the idea of the story, but rather how it functions.

I'm trying a couple of different tactics to improve the flow, using different narrative viewpoints. This may also offer a new twist to the story, allowing the reader to be more involved in seeing the characters and feeling the atmosphere. We'll see if it works and if it doesn't, I can alway revert back to the original narrative and start from scratch.

I will say that this piece is a little more risque, in parts, than some of my other stuff- you should have seen the rough draft! How bad was it? When Hustler rejects your work as "too explicit", well, you know you've got some work to do. But the final draft will not be an out and out porn fest and the deviant behaviour involved, will absolutely be a critical key in progressing the story and defining it's characters. In other words, it concerns a moral delima we may all face at some point in our life, but would rather not admit we could be actually be tempted by. When the reader is finished and puts themselves in the shoes of the main characters, I want them to be uncomfortable. I want them to say, "that could never happen to me," with the afterthought that maybe it could.

(Note: I did not actually send it to Hustler, even though at one point, it would have easily qualified. I will however keep a copy of the rough draft for um, casual reading on those lonely winter nights...)