There is a sub-set of spankos who find the idea of corner time to be quite delicious. Having whacked a butt until it is extremely tingly, the culprit is made to stand still, possibly in a corner but not necessarily, to contemplate further their misdeeds, with a very stern warning not to massage any relief into their punished backsides. A hands-on-head stance adds to the emotions of the ordeal.
But clearly not everyone is of a like mind over this. In fiction, as probably in real life, once the paddling is over, it might well be a time for cuddles of varying degrees of intensity that could lead to all sorts of romantic or erotic activity, now such a blazing fire has been lit.
But it is not that sort of waiting I wanted to discuss with you today. There is a time lag between the spanker deciding a spanking is going to take place, and the spankee feeling the first swat to the rump.
And we fiction writers can use that gap to good effect. At the simplest level, we can describe the reaction of someone who realizes that in the next couple of seconds or so, they are going to be subjected to some form of instant justice. This might range from annoyance through to an unexpected thrill of anticipation, or to some degree of desire to put as much distance as possible between self and deranged disciplinarian with evil intent to inflict damage to the nether regions. It is our choice.
Far more complex possibilities arise when there is a significant period between sentence being pronounced and the deed being carried out. Many who recounted real life instances of genuine corporal punishment agree that the agony of waiting is often worse than the beating itself. Six of the best do not necessarily have to result in uncontrolled agony - but for a first timer, waiting half a day or more for them to be delivered could prove to be a subtle and sublime torture.
This is because it can happen that a chemistry occurs between paddler-to-be and paddled-to-be during the waiting time. A chemistry that can give the author the opportunity to explore what is going on inside their two respective heads.
On the other hand, as authors, we can blandly state that the victim had to wait some specified time - as part an parcel of the ritual - and let our readers fill in the missing detail with their own imaginations. You do not have to say that waiting outside the headmaster's study for half an hour was hell: everyone knows that it must have been. Sometimes letting the readers' personal demons do our work is the most effective way of inducing a chilling reaction to a future event.
It is worth noting that, in general, the shorter the wait, the more intense it is. The split second between told you are acting like a child and being face down across a lap probably is of a higher emotional pitch than being told you will be beaten at four o'clock tomorrow afternoon. The longer the delay, the less intense the wait. Putting the moment of reckoning off for a week or more dilutes the waiting time to nothing more than a matter of endurance.
Recognize the time lag your tale has created - decide how you are going to use it - and, if it adds to the experience, make the most of this golden opportunity to get into the head of your characters. Or into the heads of your readers.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
V is for Vanilla
We spankos call non-spankos Vanilla on the grounds that they are bland souls who do not appreciate the finer nuances of the human experience. But we respect their odd stance and it would be a very rare event for a spanko to set out to recruit a Vanilla to join our ranks. "Never give hot spice to those addicted to vanilla ice cream" sums up our live and let-live attitude.
But we are afraid of them, for they clearly outnumber us and majorities have a reputation of being quite nasty to minorities, simply on the grounds that they are minorities. When responding to spanking surveys, over 75% of us say that our spanking side is a very closely kept secret. And when asked what Vanillas think of us, 40% of us think that Vanillas look on us as perverts who are a potential danger to children. (No wonder we keep it a secret, if that is what we think).
Well, 50 people who identified themselves as being Vanilla took part in a spanking survey to tell us what they really think of us. Here are the responses to that survey:
1. Are you male or female
3. Were you spanked as a child?
Never 3
Rarely 18
Often 8
Very often 6
4. If you were to guess, how often do you think spankos were spanked as children
Never 0
Rarely 6
Often 16
Very Often 12
Abusively 8
Cannot Guess 8
5. In general, which of the following statements do you believe to be true?
I cannot understand spankos 5
They tend to be very nice people 15
They are perverts 1
They need medical or pschr treatment 1
They are harmless 18
They are a danger to children 1
They are like everyone else 25
They are fun people 3
Consensual activity between adults is OK 39
So, with one exception, vanillas do not see us as perverts in need of medical treatment. And I mean one exception, for all three negatives came from the the same person, Which, on the whole, should be some comfort to us all.
And having said that we spankos believe that you should not serve hot spice to those addicted to vanilla icecream, one of my colleagues points out that there are almost an infinite number of more subtle flavors inbetween that might be worth exploring.
But we are afraid of them, for they clearly outnumber us and majorities have a reputation of being quite nasty to minorities, simply on the grounds that they are minorities. When responding to spanking surveys, over 75% of us say that our spanking side is a very closely kept secret. And when asked what Vanillas think of us, 40% of us think that Vanillas look on us as perverts who are a potential danger to children. (No wonder we keep it a secret, if that is what we think).
Well, 50 people who identified themselves as being Vanilla took part in a spanking survey to tell us what they really think of us. Here are the responses to that survey:
1. Are you male or female
Male 222. How old are you?
Female 24
Prefer not to say 4
Under 30 13
Between 30 and 40 2
Between 40 and 50 2
Over 50 5
Prefer not say 28 3. Were you spanked as a child?
Never 3
Rarely 18
Often 8
Very often 6
Abusively 1
Prefer not to say 16
4. If you were to guess, how often do you think spankos were spanked as children
Never 0
Rarely 6
Often 16
Very Often 12
Abusively 8
Cannot Guess 8
5. In general, which of the following statements do you believe to be true?
I cannot understand spankos 5
They tend to be very nice people 15
They are perverts 1
They need medical or pschr treatment 1
They are harmless 18
They are a danger to children 1
They are like everyone else 25
They are fun people 3
Consensual activity between adults is OK 39
So, with one exception, vanillas do not see us as perverts in need of medical treatment. And I mean one exception, for all three negatives came from the the same person, Which, on the whole, should be some comfort to us all.
And having said that we spankos believe that you should not serve hot spice to those addicted to vanilla icecream, one of my colleagues points out that there are almost an infinite number of more subtle flavors inbetween that might be worth exploring.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
U is for Uniform
Uniforms are very popular in the spanko community. The very wearing of a uniform can, in itself, give reason for a punishment to take place and spell out the proper ritual to be followed in delivering that punishment. When a willing victim dons a uniform, then a pretense that the punishment has become non-consensual is also donned.
There is something almost surreally erotic in seeing a naked young woman touching her toes to accept several strokes of the cane across the bare bottom she is offering for such treatment. That a few minutes earlier she was dressed in the uniform of a sixth-form school girl adds an extra veneer to a ritual that resonates with most apankos.
When we spanking fiction authors put our characters into uniform, a sort of contract comes into effect between us and our readers that when the spanking arrives, it will be keeping with the uniform chosen. A prison uniform will inevitably result in a bout of prison discipline and a school uniform in a trip to the headmaster's study - or similar - for six or more of the best delivered in a suitable method of chastising students in a school setting. Should we want, say, a school girl to be on the receiving end of something harsher than school discipline, the reader is entitled to be given logical details of why such an event took place - even in a fictional setting. If you want your Principal to have a dungeon below his office, you have got some explaining, in depth, to do.
Historically, military uniforms are associated with specific types of corporal punishment. It really was the practice of the British Royal Navy to use the cane on the bottoms of female cadets from the inception of the WRNS until the practice was formally abolished in 1958. My tale "Over a Breach of Discipline" is based on an account given by an ex-Wren on what had really happened to her during her period of training.
Another delight of uniforms, for us authors, is that the identity of the wearer is hidden from view. It is a very common plot element in spanking fiction to have a female disguised as a male, by wearing a uniform. When she eventually gets her beating, it is delivered with the same force as would be delivered to a boy's backside, and the unstated implication is that it results in far greater pain than that usual given when a girl gets a whacking as a girl. In fiction, as in real life, ladies are not expected to endure the same level of force that is inflicted upon menfolk.
The girl dressed as boy is getting a little hackneyed, and a boy dressed as girl a little too twee for many of us - so do use cross-dressing with a degree of care. (And the one where adults are role playing and it turns out - what a shocker - that the "school girl" is actually the male partner of the duo: well that one has been done to death. You will need more than the shock ending to successfully use that artifact again successfully - at least, for most readers of our genre.)
Uniforms can give a story form, natural flow, and be both easier on the keyboard to write and easier on the eyes to read. Consider - you are contemplating a new tale and start off with a mental image of a six-form girl tied to a horizontal T-Frame, awaiting to be punished. Answer the questions of how and why she is so bound, and describe what then happens to her defenseless bottom and you have over half of your story completed. That is a very solid start to writing your next eagerly awaited piece of spanking fiction.
There is something almost surreally erotic in seeing a naked young woman touching her toes to accept several strokes of the cane across the bare bottom she is offering for such treatment. That a few minutes earlier she was dressed in the uniform of a sixth-form school girl adds an extra veneer to a ritual that resonates with most apankos.
When we spanking fiction authors put our characters into uniform, a sort of contract comes into effect between us and our readers that when the spanking arrives, it will be keeping with the uniform chosen. A prison uniform will inevitably result in a bout of prison discipline and a school uniform in a trip to the headmaster's study - or similar - for six or more of the best delivered in a suitable method of chastising students in a school setting. Should we want, say, a school girl to be on the receiving end of something harsher than school discipline, the reader is entitled to be given logical details of why such an event took place - even in a fictional setting. If you want your Principal to have a dungeon below his office, you have got some explaining, in depth, to do.
Historically, military uniforms are associated with specific types of corporal punishment. It really was the practice of the British Royal Navy to use the cane on the bottoms of female cadets from the inception of the WRNS until the practice was formally abolished in 1958. My tale "Over a Breach of Discipline" is based on an account given by an ex-Wren on what had really happened to her during her period of training.
Another delight of uniforms, for us authors, is that the identity of the wearer is hidden from view. It is a very common plot element in spanking fiction to have a female disguised as a male, by wearing a uniform. When she eventually gets her beating, it is delivered with the same force as would be delivered to a boy's backside, and the unstated implication is that it results in far greater pain than that usual given when a girl gets a whacking as a girl. In fiction, as in real life, ladies are not expected to endure the same level of force that is inflicted upon menfolk.
The girl dressed as boy is getting a little hackneyed, and a boy dressed as girl a little too twee for many of us - so do use cross-dressing with a degree of care. (And the one where adults are role playing and it turns out - what a shocker - that the "school girl" is actually the male partner of the duo: well that one has been done to death. You will need more than the shock ending to successfully use that artifact again successfully - at least, for most readers of our genre.)
Uniforms can give a story form, natural flow, and be both easier on the keyboard to write and easier on the eyes to read. Consider - you are contemplating a new tale and start off with a mental image of a six-form girl tied to a horizontal T-Frame, awaiting to be punished. Answer the questions of how and why she is so bound, and describe what then happens to her defenseless bottom and you have over half of your story completed. That is a very solid start to writing your next eagerly awaited piece of spanking fiction.
Monday, June 22, 2015
T is for T-frame
A T-frame is constructed by using a solid wooden post as the up right, and attaching to it a cross beam so that the finished assembly looks something like a giant letter "T". T-Frames were used extensively in Europe and the Americas as whipping frames in the 19th Century.
Early whipping posts where constructed from having a single pole erected upright, the top far higher than any person's wrists (when held upright, extended over the head). But some genius spotted that by tying the victim to a T-frame, arms extended outwards(as opposed to over the head arms) flattened and squared the back, giving a better target for the lash. And as an added bonus, should the sentence be half the strokes across the back and half across the buttocks, the person so sentenced was perfectly positioned to receive all of them in one uninterrupted session.
As far as I can ascertain, a T-frame lying horizontal to the ground, on trestles or similar, never made it to institutions of corporal punishment. (The upright T-Frame had, but it was solely for punishment). The horizontal T-Frame has made its appearance in videos, fiction and custom spanking furniture - for it makes the victim vulnerable to other forms of "abuse".
From adopting the real life T-frame to the spanking scene, it was almost inevitable that X-frame would make its appearance. Wood slats are constructed to make a frame that looks line the letter "X" and now we have four securing points - two for the wrists and two for the ankles. And a nice narrow bit for wrapping some securing material around the waist and the frame. A spread-eagled securely secured naked penitent can be dealt with in anyway that comes to mind, and has become a staple of a certain class of disciplinary scene in which pain may be followed by sexual activity. The X-frame never made any sort of appearance in real life, but turns up regularly in fiction.
As writers of spanking fiction, we can create spanking benches and whipping frames out of just about anything. We can dream up of a tree of exactly the right height so that it becomes a substitute for a Y-frame. With a little bit of misdirection, an overturned wheelbarrow can be put into use as a spanking bench. And so on.
We might need an excessive amount of description to explain an out of the ordinary spanking implement (as discussed in Q is for Quirt), but when it comes to the furniture used to secure the miscreant, we have a far easier time of it. And having an unusual spanking bench not only might give a tale a new twist, it can be instrumental in the whole set up the entire piece. If you are struggling to start a new tale then you might want to try the technique of identifying some unusual spanking bench. Work backwards to show how it came to be used, and you will be well on the way to fleshing out the finished piece.
Early whipping posts where constructed from having a single pole erected upright, the top far higher than any person's wrists (when held upright, extended over the head). But some genius spotted that by tying the victim to a T-frame, arms extended outwards(as opposed to over the head arms) flattened and squared the back, giving a better target for the lash. And as an added bonus, should the sentence be half the strokes across the back and half across the buttocks, the person so sentenced was perfectly positioned to receive all of them in one uninterrupted session.
As far as I can ascertain, a T-frame lying horizontal to the ground, on trestles or similar, never made it to institutions of corporal punishment. (The upright T-Frame had, but it was solely for punishment). The horizontal T-Frame has made its appearance in videos, fiction and custom spanking furniture - for it makes the victim vulnerable to other forms of "abuse".
From adopting the real life T-frame to the spanking scene, it was almost inevitable that X-frame would make its appearance. Wood slats are constructed to make a frame that looks line the letter "X" and now we have four securing points - two for the wrists and two for the ankles. And a nice narrow bit for wrapping some securing material around the waist and the frame. A spread-eagled securely secured naked penitent can be dealt with in anyway that comes to mind, and has become a staple of a certain class of disciplinary scene in which pain may be followed by sexual activity. The X-frame never made any sort of appearance in real life, but turns up regularly in fiction.
As writers of spanking fiction, we can create spanking benches and whipping frames out of just about anything. We can dream up of a tree of exactly the right height so that it becomes a substitute for a Y-frame. With a little bit of misdirection, an overturned wheelbarrow can be put into use as a spanking bench. And so on.
We might need an excessive amount of description to explain an out of the ordinary spanking implement (as discussed in Q is for Quirt), but when it comes to the furniture used to secure the miscreant, we have a far easier time of it. And having an unusual spanking bench not only might give a tale a new twist, it can be instrumental in the whole set up the entire piece. If you are struggling to start a new tale then you might want to try the technique of identifying some unusual spanking bench. Work backwards to show how it came to be used, and you will be well on the way to fleshing out the finished piece.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
S is for Stuffing
In real life, spanking play often starts with a fully clothed bottom getting slapped with the hand, then a partially clothed one, then a bare one and then the implements are brought into play, to turn an already reddened backside into full glorious technicolor. In order for the partner to withstand repeated hard swats from a paddle, the flesh needs to be warmed up first to get it, and its owners psyche, ready for more stringent attention.
I have not witnessed very many real life discipline sessions, but by all accounts, the penitent does not have a lengthy warm up period before the disciplinarian gets down to business. They tend to be more of a touch your toes, instant agony, punishment over sort of regimen.
So why do video producers and some spanking fiction authors have miscreants go through a series of increasingly painful encounters, all in the name of discipline? In a word - stuffing.
A video producer would like to produce an hour (or so) video in order to maximize sales potential. And to fill a full hour is not easy. Even pain-fest Mood Pictures find that one of their floggings is completed in about five minutes. So - directorial choices. We can have a small cast beaten often, or a large cast each beaten once. The first option is relatively cheaper, the second more fragmented.
Let us make up a theoretical script for a large cast. A dozen "schoolgirls" each get a classroom paddling and two or three of them "confess" and get sent to the headmaster for a caning. Well, allowing some time to get into and out of spanking position, we will have generated about 25 minutes of spanking action. For a one hour film. To make it last an hour, we need about 35 minutes of stuffing to pad it all out. So we need to stuff 25 minutes of non-spanking material into it to bring it up to the required run time.
About the first half of the masterpiece "South American Vacation" is stuffing in which the oddest and really bizarre court case is portrayed in order to set up the whackings to come. It does not particularly add much in quality (a 3 minute edited highlight would have worked just as well) but it gets us to use up enough time to qualify the production as "a full length" work. (Incidentally, rumor as it that the first two recipients of a caning in that film - a mere 10 strokes each - were volunteer vanillas so the producer could show how such discipline affects those not into a pain for pleasure foible).
When we have just one or two victims on the receiving end, it is inevitable that they are going to receive several spankings. First across the knee, in stages as clothing is removed and then bending to get various implements of increasing severity, ending with the cane, Perhaps half an hour of spanking action. In order to fill the rest of the allotted time, directors have the spanker take time out to lecture, to grope. to examine the effects of the beating on the bottom, to tap excessively, to shout abuse between strokes: to do anything, but anything, to wind the clock down a few more minutes. Which is why most discipline videos give the viewer a sense of shocked disbelief that this is how the cast really thinks schoolmasters go about whacking errant schoolgirls.
Since we fiction writers are not recording the action with a camera, we have an easier time of it. When it comes to the written word, there is no expectation for us to provide a minimum number of words for any one piece.
Should we spend a lot of time viewing videos of a spanking nature (aka "conducting research"), we may get beguiled into thinking that the video producers have a deep insight into what a spanko audience wants to watch. And by inference want to read. It is not impossible to think that videos represent the accepted "correct" attitude towards portraying spanking action and try to mimic video scripting within our tales.
Which is why we occasionally come across a short story which has as much stuffing as one of those really bizarre "English" discipline classics. May I offer you counsel? Please leave stuffing to video productions and make your tales, sharp, crisp and a joy to read. I for one would find that to be a better read, and from the chat boards, I am not in the minority.
I have not witnessed very many real life discipline sessions, but by all accounts, the penitent does not have a lengthy warm up period before the disciplinarian gets down to business. They tend to be more of a touch your toes, instant agony, punishment over sort of regimen.
So why do video producers and some spanking fiction authors have miscreants go through a series of increasingly painful encounters, all in the name of discipline? In a word - stuffing.
A video producer would like to produce an hour (or so) video in order to maximize sales potential. And to fill a full hour is not easy. Even pain-fest Mood Pictures find that one of their floggings is completed in about five minutes. So - directorial choices. We can have a small cast beaten often, or a large cast each beaten once. The first option is relatively cheaper, the second more fragmented.
Let us make up a theoretical script for a large cast. A dozen "schoolgirls" each get a classroom paddling and two or three of them "confess" and get sent to the headmaster for a caning. Well, allowing some time to get into and out of spanking position, we will have generated about 25 minutes of spanking action. For a one hour film. To make it last an hour, we need about 35 minutes of stuffing to pad it all out. So we need to stuff 25 minutes of non-spanking material into it to bring it up to the required run time.
About the first half of the masterpiece "South American Vacation" is stuffing in which the oddest and really bizarre court case is portrayed in order to set up the whackings to come. It does not particularly add much in quality (a 3 minute edited highlight would have worked just as well) but it gets us to use up enough time to qualify the production as "a full length" work. (Incidentally, rumor as it that the first two recipients of a caning in that film - a mere 10 strokes each - were volunteer vanillas so the producer could show how such discipline affects those not into a pain for pleasure foible).
When we have just one or two victims on the receiving end, it is inevitable that they are going to receive several spankings. First across the knee, in stages as clothing is removed and then bending to get various implements of increasing severity, ending with the cane, Perhaps half an hour of spanking action. In order to fill the rest of the allotted time, directors have the spanker take time out to lecture, to grope. to examine the effects of the beating on the bottom, to tap excessively, to shout abuse between strokes: to do anything, but anything, to wind the clock down a few more minutes. Which is why most discipline videos give the viewer a sense of shocked disbelief that this is how the cast really thinks schoolmasters go about whacking errant schoolgirls.
Since we fiction writers are not recording the action with a camera, we have an easier time of it. When it comes to the written word, there is no expectation for us to provide a minimum number of words for any one piece.
Should we spend a lot of time viewing videos of a spanking nature (aka "conducting research"), we may get beguiled into thinking that the video producers have a deep insight into what a spanko audience wants to watch. And by inference want to read. It is not impossible to think that videos represent the accepted "correct" attitude towards portraying spanking action and try to mimic video scripting within our tales.
Which is why we occasionally come across a short story which has as much stuffing as one of those really bizarre "English" discipline classics. May I offer you counsel? Please leave stuffing to video productions and make your tales, sharp, crisp and a joy to read. I for one would find that to be a better read, and from the chat boards, I am not in the minority.
Friday, June 19, 2015
R is for Reviews
One of the stocks in trade for all authors are the Reviews their works get. But we spanko authors have an additional handicap when it comes to getting reviews. I shall explain.
The perceived wisdom of the authorship world is that it takes about 750 readers to generate one review. _(Which means that newly minted works that arrive with half a dozen glowing reviews are treated by all with considerable skepticism).
The work of a promotions department at a publishing house is to bring attention to new works by such means as having the author go on a lecture circuit, send promotional copies to professional reviewers and use social media to get the title in front of potential readers' eyes. The more people who read a book, the more likely there will be reviews and the more reviews - even mildly unfavorable ones - the more sales the book will likely get.
For most of us writing spanking fiction, the thought of going on a speaking tour is a double disaster: for not only would you be expected to stand up and speak in front of strangers, you would also reveal to them from the get go your most private and carefully hidden secret - that you are into spanking. While there have been some very brave souls who have outed themselves, none with any sort of set back - but having kept it secret for ten, twenty or even thirty years, few of the rest of us can face the prospect of standing up in a lecture hall brandishing a sign that reads "I am a Spanko!"
For the self same reason - the preservation of our most cherished secret - we never use social media that is likely to get into the hands of our family circle/ Yeah, they have a pretty shrewd idea what makes us tick - but we refrain from shouting it from the roof tops. Discretion and all that.
So we sit and pray that people will review our books of their own accord. But now another snag: our readers are virtually all spankos - and they are afflicted with the same desire to stay in the shadows that we ourselves have. While the average book may take 750 sales to generate a review, I have personal experience that suggest spanking fiction takes four or five times that number to get each review. No matter how unlikely a reverse search may find the author of a review, not making one eliminates any possibility of the real identity of a reviewer being discovered.
So - dear reader - we have yet another solid reason why we should march arm in arm down the high street in the spanko equivalent of a Pride March - so that the world is aware of our foibles, we can also face the world back without feeling that we are doomed to disaster by telling it who we are.
I know deep down that will never happen. So - do tell - what is your rational for keeping your spanking secret hidden from sight?
The perceived wisdom of the authorship world is that it takes about 750 readers to generate one review. _(Which means that newly minted works that arrive with half a dozen glowing reviews are treated by all with considerable skepticism).
The work of a promotions department at a publishing house is to bring attention to new works by such means as having the author go on a lecture circuit, send promotional copies to professional reviewers and use social media to get the title in front of potential readers' eyes. The more people who read a book, the more likely there will be reviews and the more reviews - even mildly unfavorable ones - the more sales the book will likely get.
For most of us writing spanking fiction, the thought of going on a speaking tour is a double disaster: for not only would you be expected to stand up and speak in front of strangers, you would also reveal to them from the get go your most private and carefully hidden secret - that you are into spanking. While there have been some very brave souls who have outed themselves, none with any sort of set back - but having kept it secret for ten, twenty or even thirty years, few of the rest of us can face the prospect of standing up in a lecture hall brandishing a sign that reads "I am a Spanko!"
For the self same reason - the preservation of our most cherished secret - we never use social media that is likely to get into the hands of our family circle/ Yeah, they have a pretty shrewd idea what makes us tick - but we refrain from shouting it from the roof tops. Discretion and all that.
So we sit and pray that people will review our books of their own accord. But now another snag: our readers are virtually all spankos - and they are afflicted with the same desire to stay in the shadows that we ourselves have. While the average book may take 750 sales to generate a review, I have personal experience that suggest spanking fiction takes four or five times that number to get each review. No matter how unlikely a reverse search may find the author of a review, not making one eliminates any possibility of the real identity of a reviewer being discovered.
So - dear reader - we have yet another solid reason why we should march arm in arm down the high street in the spanko equivalent of a Pride March - so that the world is aware of our foibles, we can also face the world back without feeling that we are doomed to disaster by telling it who we are.
I know deep down that will never happen. So - do tell - what is your rational for keeping your spanking secret hidden from sight?
Thursday, June 18, 2015
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
P is for POV
The very first decision of every author of every genre of fiction is to decide from whose Point of View (POV) the story will be told.
By far, the two most popular POVs are first person, singular ("I picked up the cane and gave it a test swish") and third person, usually singular ("She picked up the cane and gave it a test swish."). Occasionally I have come across a work in second person singular ("You picked up the cane to give it a test swish.") but, for me, that comes across a bit awkward. The narrator is telling us what happened by addressing some third party, or is trying to put us into the tale ourselves. Either way, we the reader may feel disconnected from the action.
First person plural would make little sense, unless we were writing as Queen Victoria over some household incident ("We were not amused at the news from Prussia, so we ordered a cane to be brought to us so that we could give it a test swish.") Possible, I suppose, but so unlikely a scenario that it is one that I have yet to come across. Third person plural happens all the time, but is very temporary before we get back to third person singular ("They all shivered at the swish the cane made.") And second person plural is hard to distinguish from second person singular "You all picked up your canes to give them a swish.") Drop the "all" and make cane singular and the sentence is identical to second person singular - unless you happen to be writing in Spanish, Texan or some other argot that has a distinct term for plural "you".
Rarely, very rarely, the POV is from some inanimate object that is central to the story, An account, say, as seen by a paddle used in some school over a period of several years. This tactic does allow the writer to explore the moment of impact from a fresh angle: but, I think, the author has paid a very high price for that single moment of novelty. Furthermore, it has cropped up enough times to make it difficult for you to bring a fresh angle to this particular gimmick.
So - in all normal circumstances, the choice is between "I did it." and "He did it." from the perspective of a human being taking part in the action, The advantage of "I did it" is that, as the writer, I can sidetrack off all over the place to explain nuances of the plot: such sidetracks can read awkwardly when simply telling the reader what actually happened. The advantage of "He did it" is that you can describe scenes not observed by the I in "I did it." If you are in first person, and your characters go off and do stuff you never saw, it might be difficult for you to describe those activities.
One of the really neat techniques available to the spanking author is that, done properly, you can change the POV from time to time to advance the tale from the perspective of different participants. A very mundane piece ("Abuse of Power" in the Free Stories section) started as routine pot boiler of the class "Schoolgirl caught smoking gets the paddle". By switching the POV between the three main protagonists, the tale was lifted from its somewhat dire fate into a tale rated as OK - which is about all you can hope for when using a plot that hackneyed..
But it does have to be done properly. The different sections should be separated by any filigree you use to show a change in time, place or - in this case - a POV. (A filigree: something like ---oo0oo--- stuck in the middle of the page as a section breaker. If you don't use one, you risk confusing the reader about what is going on if the scene completely changes without warning).
The second thing is to put some very clear verbal clues that the switch has happened. The trap of having speakers name the listener as a device to tell the reader who is talking to whom has been discussed before. But a similar device on the switch of POV is fair game.
An example: I took the cane, gave it a practice swish and put it down on Jack's desk.
The text prior to that ---oo0oo--- was from Jane's POV, and that after it was from Jack's. The switch in POV has been made, and the reader should have accepted the change without pausing in their mad-cap chase to get to the end of your epic.
Finally, a quick segue - in the preceding piece I used the term "pot boiler". It originally meant a work so good, people got totally enraptured in it, allowing untended pots to boil over. Over time, the meaning has deteriorated so that today, it is used to describe a mediocre work churned out purely to make some quick cash. A few years ago, calling 50 Shades a potboiler would have been seen as high praise, but, in the main, nowadays the identical term would be quite derogatory. (Just another gem from my stockpile of useless trivia).
By far, the two most popular POVs are first person, singular ("I picked up the cane and gave it a test swish") and third person, usually singular ("She picked up the cane and gave it a test swish."). Occasionally I have come across a work in second person singular ("You picked up the cane to give it a test swish.") but, for me, that comes across a bit awkward. The narrator is telling us what happened by addressing some third party, or is trying to put us into the tale ourselves. Either way, we the reader may feel disconnected from the action.
First person plural would make little sense, unless we were writing as Queen Victoria over some household incident ("We were not amused at the news from Prussia, so we ordered a cane to be brought to us so that we could give it a test swish.") Possible, I suppose, but so unlikely a scenario that it is one that I have yet to come across. Third person plural happens all the time, but is very temporary before we get back to third person singular ("They all shivered at the swish the cane made.") And second person plural is hard to distinguish from second person singular "You all picked up your canes to give them a swish.") Drop the "all" and make cane singular and the sentence is identical to second person singular - unless you happen to be writing in Spanish, Texan or some other argot that has a distinct term for plural "you".
Rarely, very rarely, the POV is from some inanimate object that is central to the story, An account, say, as seen by a paddle used in some school over a period of several years. This tactic does allow the writer to explore the moment of impact from a fresh angle: but, I think, the author has paid a very high price for that single moment of novelty. Furthermore, it has cropped up enough times to make it difficult for you to bring a fresh angle to this particular gimmick.
So - in all normal circumstances, the choice is between "I did it." and "He did it." from the perspective of a human being taking part in the action, The advantage of "I did it" is that, as the writer, I can sidetrack off all over the place to explain nuances of the plot: such sidetracks can read awkwardly when simply telling the reader what actually happened. The advantage of "He did it" is that you can describe scenes not observed by the I in "I did it." If you are in first person, and your characters go off and do stuff you never saw, it might be difficult for you to describe those activities.
One of the really neat techniques available to the spanking author is that, done properly, you can change the POV from time to time to advance the tale from the perspective of different participants. A very mundane piece ("Abuse of Power" in the Free Stories section) started as routine pot boiler of the class "Schoolgirl caught smoking gets the paddle". By switching the POV between the three main protagonists, the tale was lifted from its somewhat dire fate into a tale rated as OK - which is about all you can hope for when using a plot that hackneyed..
But it does have to be done properly. The different sections should be separated by any filigree you use to show a change in time, place or - in this case - a POV. (A filigree: something like ---oo0oo--- stuck in the middle of the page as a section breaker. If you don't use one, you risk confusing the reader about what is going on if the scene completely changes without warning).
The second thing is to put some very clear verbal clues that the switch has happened. The trap of having speakers name the listener as a device to tell the reader who is talking to whom has been discussed before. But a similar device on the switch of POV is fair game.
An example: I took the cane, gave it a practice swish and put it down on Jack's desk.
---oo0oo---
I picked up the cane that Jane had placed on my desk, and used thumb and forefinger to feel how sharp and mean it was.The text prior to that ---oo0oo--- was from Jane's POV, and that after it was from Jack's. The switch in POV has been made, and the reader should have accepted the change without pausing in their mad-cap chase to get to the end of your epic.
Finally, a quick segue - in the preceding piece I used the term "pot boiler". It originally meant a work so good, people got totally enraptured in it, allowing untended pots to boil over. Over time, the meaning has deteriorated so that today, it is used to describe a mediocre work churned out purely to make some quick cash. A few years ago, calling 50 Shades a potboiler would have been seen as high praise, but, in the main, nowadays the identical term would be quite derogatory. (Just another gem from my stockpile of useless trivia).
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
O is for Older
In my view, ageism is rampant in spanking fiction. Cheerleaders and girls dubbed as tomboys regularly are subjected to fictional whackings of a long and sometimes excessively severe nature. It always seems to be a young housewife who abuses a credit card or bends the family vehicle in order to be subjected to domestic discipline that may, or may not, be followed by more erotic sorts of romp around the bedroom.
I have yet to come across a work in which a granny gets her backside whacked with any degree of vigor. Full disclosure - if I did, I would probably tip toe past it on the other side of the street while pretending to be fascinated by roof tops and distant clouds. For I admit it - when I write fiction imagining the act taking place on a firm, young pair of buttocks is far easier on the mind and on the typing fingers than if the bottom was old, flabby and - how shall one say? - a bit past its prime.
But in real life? That is very different. I have not spanked a schoolgirl since I was a schoolboy - and if one presented herself to me today to get a walloping, I would probably be so embarrassed by the whole thing as to make a right royal mess of it all. Moreover, the number of more mature backsides that have felt a swat or so from me - in jest, flirt or outright spankings - are suitably numerous. In real life, all bottoms (regardless of the age of their owners) are made for an occasional, yet thorough, working over of a somewhat disciplinary nature. There are ladies who are free from the threat of a slippering - but not because of age, but because of some other factor.
In real life spankos are not ageist. It is in fiction that almost all authors and almost all readers get more out of some nubile teenager having her bottom thrashed than any description of a rotund matron receiving the same treatment.
There are exceptions. Some of your fellow readers of this blog really do like to see older ladies get their comeuppance, and the bigger and more wobbly the hindquarters, the greater the fun. But from the number of you who, like me, enjoy the firm white flesh that is the inherent right of the young, the conclusion must be that ageism is rampant in our way when it comes to fiction
But I think that may be part and parcel of spanking fiction. Spanking fiction is ofter far, far darker than anything we would condone or endure in real life, taking place in situations and settings that would never really happen and with implements that can only result in unbridled abuse. In a genre where the spankings themselves are distorted from reality, it should be no surprise that the same sort of distortion also happens to the recipient. I would wage a sizable bet that very, very few of us experience real life spankings of young girls: but just about all of us have no problem in reading about it happening in a work of fiction.
We can cope with totally unreal spanking situations: it should be no surprise that the ideal spankee is at the younger and firmer end of the scale.
I have yet to come across a work in which a granny gets her backside whacked with any degree of vigor. Full disclosure - if I did, I would probably tip toe past it on the other side of the street while pretending to be fascinated by roof tops and distant clouds. For I admit it - when I write fiction imagining the act taking place on a firm, young pair of buttocks is far easier on the mind and on the typing fingers than if the bottom was old, flabby and - how shall one say? - a bit past its prime.
But in real life? That is very different. I have not spanked a schoolgirl since I was a schoolboy - and if one presented herself to me today to get a walloping, I would probably be so embarrassed by the whole thing as to make a right royal mess of it all. Moreover, the number of more mature backsides that have felt a swat or so from me - in jest, flirt or outright spankings - are suitably numerous. In real life, all bottoms (regardless of the age of their owners) are made for an occasional, yet thorough, working over of a somewhat disciplinary nature. There are ladies who are free from the threat of a slippering - but not because of age, but because of some other factor.
In real life spankos are not ageist. It is in fiction that almost all authors and almost all readers get more out of some nubile teenager having her bottom thrashed than any description of a rotund matron receiving the same treatment.
There are exceptions. Some of your fellow readers of this blog really do like to see older ladies get their comeuppance, and the bigger and more wobbly the hindquarters, the greater the fun. But from the number of you who, like me, enjoy the firm white flesh that is the inherent right of the young, the conclusion must be that ageism is rampant in our way when it comes to fiction
But I think that may be part and parcel of spanking fiction. Spanking fiction is ofter far, far darker than anything we would condone or endure in real life, taking place in situations and settings that would never really happen and with implements that can only result in unbridled abuse. In a genre where the spankings themselves are distorted from reality, it should be no surprise that the same sort of distortion also happens to the recipient. I would wage a sizable bet that very, very few of us experience real life spankings of young girls: but just about all of us have no problem in reading about it happening in a work of fiction.
We can cope with totally unreal spanking situations: it should be no surprise that the ideal spankee is at the younger and firmer end of the scale.
Monday, June 15, 2015
N is for New Free Tale
I have added a new tale to the Free Stories section. Not only that, it comes with a competition.
Those readers who have lasted throughout the last year of posts from me will have had dozens of nuggets of wisdom about how to craft good spanking fiction.
For the competition, you have to spot ALL the rules that I broke while composing this story. If you do get to make out a full list, then you can enter it to win a near totally worthless prize. Partial lists, and those that contain rules that were not broken, will be eliminated from the drawing.
May the best nit-picker win!
Those readers who have lasted throughout the last year of posts from me will have had dozens of nuggets of wisdom about how to craft good spanking fiction.
For the competition, you have to spot ALL the rules that I broke while composing this story. If you do get to make out a full list, then you can enter it to win a near totally worthless prize. Partial lists, and those that contain rules that were not broken, will be eliminated from the drawing.
May the best nit-picker win!
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