[KeithXZ]

These are my thoughts as a reader of many stores on female strength growth, female muscle growth, female superiority, and female domination.

These comments concern authors wanting to write the longer stories.

To define the issue, I consider most of the stories in the forums here to be short (yes I realize the authors may have invested several dozen hours in them, and I am grateful), and the short stories are generally great.

I love the genre.  But sadly some authors who want to write longer stories seem to get stuck developing their plots.  The plots become very repetitive very quickly.  What works just fine for a short story doesn't work for a longer story.  The power or changes need to take place very gradually, and the changes need to be illustrated at each level.  The best authors are already doing this.

Often development of these longer stories is abandoned before the plot reaches a satisfying conclusion.

What I'd like to suggest, for authors who want to write longer stories, is to consider a broader less repetitive plot.  Maybe add some of these items:

– Intellectual development gradually becoming intellectual superiority.

– Emotional development gradually delivering deep emotional insights into others (limited mind-reading, and limited ability to project emotions into the minds of other people).

– Emotional and intellectual dominance (limited ability to project thoughts and impressions into the minds other people).

– Moving from just criminal physical dominance, to quasi-legal dominance or an organization, to legal dominance of a larger organization, to gain economic power.

– Using that emotional and intellectual dominance, and money, to take over a political or military group.

– Through the force of her will, domination of a small weak political or military group.

– Through the force of her will, development of the small weak group into a dominant group.

– Through the force of her will, and the group she developed, domination of an ordinary or small country.

– Through the force of her will, development of the ordinary country  into a major power.

– Through the force of her will, and the country she developed, domination of the world.

B.  There are problems with granting total power, invulnerability and superiority too soon in a plot (the common problem of stories in this genre):

1. If she has absolute total power and invulnerability in a situation, she cannot display courage or determination.  This severely restricts character development.  All she can display is bullying. 

How much time would a superior god-like being waste much time bullying mere mortals before finding something more interesting to do?  Excessively repetitive bullying of insignificant easily defeated victims diminishes the superiority of the "god-like" being.

2.  If she has absolute total superiority over her opponent, it severely limits opportunity for developing suspense.

If she has visits the interior of the sun in chapter 2 and levels Mount Everest in chapter 3, it is not very suspenseful when she has to deal with a burning oil tanker in episode 4 or a rocket propelled grenade in chapter 5.

3.  If she faces the same sorts of opponents using the same skills over and over, the plot becomes repetitive, where she does the same thing over and over.  She gets bored.  The reader gets bored.  (I don't understand why some authors of repetitive long stories don't get bored too.  Maybe they are hoping for inspiration in how to get to the next step?  If so, I hope I am assisting in my small way.)

It is very useful to have her power develop in stages, and to suspensefully display the power at each stage. 

Using and displaying stages of power development provides for the plot to have different situations at  each stage.  At each stage present her with a worthy opponent, and allow her power to progress/grow to narrowly defeat that enemy. 

Add more power, and she can move to challenge the next opponent and situation at the next level.

At each level, make the new opponent a worthy opponent.  Create suspense by illustrating the opponent's prowess.  Make "the battle" closely fought.  Make the margin of victory narrow.

Have her loose some battles, before finally going on to defeat her opponent.

A closely fought battle, loosing and returning to fight again, allows her to demonstrate courage and determination.

To display total domination and total superiority, periodically return her to a situation/opponent from an earlier level.  The total ease with which she now handles the old situation/opponent contrasts with the difficulty she faces earlier in the story.  This contrast can exhibit the continuing growth of her abilities.

C. A being with absolute total power can display compassion.  Compassion isn't a common part of this genre, but maybe it should be. 

D.  Male superbeings are sometimes superheros, sometimes supervillans, and sometimes the reader is left guessing which.  It should be the same with female superbeings.

These are just my opinions.  I haven't written one of these stories, so anyone can say "Keith doesn't know what is involved", and they'd be correct.  But these opinions are what I can offer.

[AlexG]

You've made some excellent suggestions here, but the problem is you're entirely focusing on the writer of a story, which is only one-half of the equation.  I my opinion, either you have the innate talent for writing longer stories that are creative and interesting – or you don't.  The other half, which you've failed to touch upon is the shortened attention span on the part of the (overwhelmingly male) audience.  This wasn’t always true (maybe because years back more women were actively involved in the GTS / MG interests?)  but these days it’s a case of unless it’s short and sweet, you simply lose them after a span of several chapters.

Another factor, and this one really hurts the writers, (probably more then anything else) and not only discourages them, but any number of potential others who might be considering posting a work, is the lack of feedback on the part of those reading the materials.  Never underestimate this aspect, especially when they see the degree of fawning praise for those that post artwork, encouraging them to continue to do so.

Putting down your innermost thoughts in a fictional format is hard enough, but in addition taking the next step of posting them can be one of the most intimating things for an individual to do.

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[Pug]

Hmm – Maybe I'm weird. Nevermind, that's a given, but maybe I'm weird in this way I was previously unaware of, but I've always rather enjoyed the long, drawn out stories Better plot and development give me more to play with and enjoy.

Pug

[JimmyDimples]

KeithXZ:

Hi, hail, and well met.  I finally sat down and read everything you had to say.  And I have to say, you hit the bullseye on a LOT of stuff.  Especially with slow development when you're in something for the long haul, and facing new villains.  (Makes me think you've had experience with playing superhero RPGs… were you a gamemaster for Champions or something?). 

And I particularly tuned into this:

C. A being with absolute total power can display compassion.  Compassion isn't a common part of this genre, but maybe it should be. 

This is something that oughta be carved into letters fifty feet high on the mountainside.  Something that makes me queasy is how people think that power means you have to be mean and nasty.  When I started reading FMG/GTS I got sick and tired of the power trip in a hurry, and after reading a lot of that, that's what fired me up to write myself… to counter all that, and to have a heroine that's likable, and actually a HEROINE.

Another thing that'd help in developing a growing, stronger girl's story is to have her winning in one front, but losing on another.  It's something that occurs a lot in high school Magic Princess manga and anime.  It usually has to deal with someone who vaporized the meanest monster to ever hit the streets of Tokyo, but later on in school, she can't pass the test, she's always late to class, and she can't even get the attention of that cute guy she wants for a sweetie.

Same thing here… being an 8-foot tall, well endowed, hot-as-a-pistol Uberbabe who can lift an Abrams tank in one hand while sipping a Snapple in the other isn't that comforting when the guys are scared off from your mass, and scared children hug their mommies crying when they just see you. 

In any event… if you haven't written any stories just yet, I'd sure like to see you start something.  If it's as good as your little essay here, I'd think we'd have another ace writer in our ranks!  ;D

[Fonk]

There's a lot of truth in this thread.

I'm trying to move away from writing longer, chaptered stories anyway. I just don't feel able to do them justice any more. For me, for the moment, one-shots are where it's at. Having said that, I like your ideas, sir, and I hope that one day I might be able to use some in the future. 8)

[Author]

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