By Larry Archer

As a writer, not professionally trained, I’ve had to figure out a lot of things on my own. My initial handicap is being an engineer as we are all genetically programmed to be poor writers and unable to express ourselves without a blackboard.

I’m also what we in the business are called a “pantster,” or that we write by the seat of our pants. I’m told I need to make an outline of what I’m going to write about, but how can I do that if I have no idea what the story is going to end up like?

For me, a story begins with an image, such as a pretty girl I’ve seen at a bar, party, or maybe walking down the street. Then I play the What-If game with her. I mentally kick the cast of characters sleeping between my ears and throw the girl into the mix.

It’s sort of like going to a House Party and seeing a girl or couple that you are attracted to. Talking to her (them) you can quickly see if there is any chemistry between you. This is all playing out in my mind as I watch everyone interact and see what happens.

Stephen King, in On Writing, says the same thing. He just walks behind everyone and writes down what they do. I guess we are closet voyeurs looking through the window at people having sex. It’s like our best friends, who are a cuckold – Hotwife couple. He likes hiding in the closet as he watches his wife.

It’s not like no one knows he’s there, but for him, the fantasy of peeking out at his wife having sex is a lot more exciting than standing by the bed. Of course, the first time he cums on one of my wife’s dresses will probably result in getting his ass tanned. LOL

For me, writing is often a jumble of scenes as I have problems working serially. I’ll be developing a chapter when out of the blue, an idea will strike me about putting my characters into a completely different scene.

Using Microsoft Word, it’s not difficult to start a new chapter with a new thought but once the story starts getting large, say 50,000 words, it’s difficult to figure out where you stopped a particular scene or chapter.

Scrivener is a word processing package that’s about fifty bucks and is set up to allow the writer to work with scenes. The symbology is index cards, where you write a scene on each card. For authors who write in a structured format, it’s similar to outlining your story.

The thing I like about it is that if I get an idea for a different situation, I just create a new “index card” and type away. For someone like me, who tends to have ideas come out of the blue, I can just add a new card and type in my thoughts before going back to where I was originally.

For Windows users, right now their latest version is available in beta form for free. The beta version has been around for at least a year or so and is close to a finished product. This way if someone wants to try it, they can download the beta version and use it until the final product is available.

For me, I don’t have a problem spending fifty dollars for a word processing package and have previously purchased a copy for Mac’s and Windows platforms. As a long-time Windows user, I used to scoff at people who had drunk the Kool-Aid and bought a Mac.

Now that I’ve been using a MacBook Air for several years, I see why people love the Apple platform. I’m currently using a 2015 MBA (MacBook Air) which does not have the new keyboard, and it is a dream to use.

Open the lid, and within a couple of seconds, it’s ready to go. On my Windows laptop, it’s probably thirty seconds until I get the login prompt. While I grant you waiting less than a minute is not a big deal, it is nice.

Both Word and Scrivener are available on both Windows and Mac platforms so no matter which computer I have at the moment, I can work on the same book without a problem by using DropBox for cloud storage.

While I think in the end, I’m going to like Scrivener, today it’s a love-hate relationship as I try to understand how to do things with it. Part of my problem is that I don’t like to spend time learning how to use something. For me, it’s more practical to just dive in and start using a piece of software. Then when I hit a wall, I stop and research how to do what is the current obstacle, then proceed. This way, I learn on the job without having to put everything on hold while I read the manual.

If you’d like to try Scrivener, check out their website: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/

About the Author

Larry Archer writes 4, and 5 star rated adult erotica about swinging, lesbian (girl-on-girl), and Mistress/slave (BDSM) action. He’s been writing adult oriented smut since 2012. All of Larry’s stories are bareback as he believes that the reader should be able to enjoy the sex scenes to their wettest conclusion.

“Smut with a plot,” is how Larry describes his erotica, which he categorizes as Romantic Erotica, with the emphasis on nonstop Erotica. Written in Larry’s humorous style, the stories reflect the positive aspects of their experiences, never with fighting as often seen in other swinger stories.

Stories always include graphic descriptions of the sex to help you fully enjoy the action taking place. None of this “they had sex” shit but well-written descriptions of every detail, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Larry’s stories are all HEA (Happily Ever After) except for the times when Foxy puts on her bustier, thigh-high leather boots, and grabs her whip. When she has to discipline her slaves, it is always done in a light-hearted fashion that will leave you salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs over the pain as the cat-of-9 raises welts across your submissive ass!

Larry and his wife Foxy have been in the Lifestyle (swinging) for some years, and it has always been a lot of fun for them. He often bases stories upon the situations they’ve seen, with the names changed to protect the guilty, of course.

Writing adult-themed (erotica) based upon Lifestyle events they’ve been in is a natural starting point for his erotica. Larry has a vivid imagination and finds it easy to start with a scenario and develop that into a full story. Larry and his wife Foxy travel a lot and have met numerous couples across the country, which provides them with more fodder for his tales.

Larry Blogs at https://LarryArcher.blog

For more on his stories, visit: https://LarryArcher.blog/stories

Check him out on Twitter: @Archer_Larry or https://Twitter.com/Archer_Larry

He’s also on MeWe, the new site that’s similar to FaceBook except uncensored. This is where all the people from Tumblr went after being kicked out for dirty pictures. His MeWe account is: https://mewe.com/profile/5d1a21e706416d046c03f9dc or search for “Larry Archer Author”