Q is for Quirt

Having a limited range of motives for a spanking, and a limited range of aftermaths, we spanko authors often look at the spanking itself, to see if new ideas can be explored in that area.

The first notion that might come to mind is to consider an implement that has not been featured in any of our prior tales.   Such as the quirt.

The quirt is a two thonged whip with a short handle and is about three feet long.   Historically it was used as a riding whip, but ranchers found that by tying the handle to some reigns, the extra length meant it could be used to control cattle - not by slapping them but by making loud cracks close to their ears.   And it was also used as a tool of discipline, for its lash could be aimed accurately to deliver a very sharp sting.

While contemplating punishments dished out in the old Wild West, you might come across the term "larruping" (which, counter-intuitively, has a secondary meaning of "exceptionally good").   A larruping would have been no fun for the victim.  Dad would have taken his trusty Colt 45 out of its holster, held it by the barrel, and walloped his offspring's backside with the flat side of the handle.   A harsh, unyielding implement that would have left extensive bruising.

A third variation on the old Wild West was a buggy whipping.    If a young lady broke curfew by an excessive amount, the usual and customary way of atoning for her indiscretion was a formal buggy whipping in front of the rest of the family.   The back board of a buggy would be dropped, to turn the cart into a whipping frame.  She would go face down across the back, wrists often tied to the top of a wheel exposed on either side of the carriage, skirt up, drawers down.   And then get her bottom striped thoroughly with the buggy whip.   A deterrence to all, and an end to her attempts to share her charms too freely.

Then there is the multi-thonged knout, favorite of the Cossacks, the rhino-hide sjambok inflicting great havoc in South Africa - and so on, around the world, each region having its own variation of implement designed to administer great pain to the nether regions of the naughty.

Well, unless you are writing a full length novel, and have ample room for long and detailed descriptions, you might want to give a miss to the more exotic instruments of spanking.  You have to assume that your average reader has no idea what, say, a quirt is.   Having your disciplinarian simply pick one up, and lay into the penitent's backside with it, has gained nothing over using a cane, but complicated matters unduly.   So, in order to put the scene into proper context, you have to describe in some detail what a quirt is, how it is used, and what the likely outcome is.   Now that might be of great interest in some non-fiction piece you are writing:  but in a spanking romp, I think we should avoid having to go into lecture mode, simply to ensure that the reader knows what is going on.    It is my own experience that when I am reading fiction, the more time an author has to spend on describing the spanking implement, the more impatient I get with him or her.

I rather fancy that the method of inducing a sting to a rump is of far less importance than the why it is was being imparted, and what the effects and after-effects were.