How much bondage do you want in a story?

[TomYi]

I always try to, at the very least, write distinct characters in my stories. Sometimes I even try to develop them and make them memorable. However, that often results in the actual bondage taking a back seat to lots of dialogue and narration. I recently went so far as to write a story in which no one ever really gets tied up. I can't help but wonder if that's even what you readers are here for?

So, here's a poll for that. How focused on the bondage would you like this site's fictional stories to be?

[wolfman]

For me I am here for stories about tie ups.

To clarify, I want tie ups, but I want them to make sense and have context.

I am currently doing a story that features little bondage compared to my other stuff, but each time bondage is used, it is there to add to the story, no just included as some vestigial add on for the sake of it.

I am looking for tales where bondage is the means to an end, rather than the end itself.

[slackywacky]

To clarify, I want tie ups, but I want them to make sense and have context.

As a writer on this board, I agree to that. I could write a story about somebody coming home, tie up his/her partner, play with him/her for a while and be done with it, but those stories don't work for me or the reverse, where the bondage is so over the top (spending 5 days in a hogtie) that it is clear it is not real (even when it is posted in the 'True story section' ) I also don't need stories that have 80% character building and 20% bondage. I try to make my stories realistic enough that it could be happening next door, but with bondage being the main focal point.

And I prefer some detail. "I came home, I tied her up and we had a great time." is not doing much for me. How was he/she tied, what did you use, did you gag him/her? The details make the story. That does not mean you need to write every detail, enough to be able to imaging it, Not too much that the story gets boring. "I wrapped a piece of grey 2 inch wide tape bought from Walmart around her light brown pantyhose, which she bought from Winners and paid in cash, covered ankles, which had a run in it on the left side all the way to the foot, and another one of the 2 inch tape above that, overlapping the previous wrap with 1/2 an inch. Then I added another one just above the last one." Too much detail, at least for me. I bet there is somebody out there that would enjoy that kind of detail, but not me.

And a decent writing style helps. Punctuation's, paragraphs, spell (and grammer) checking, etc were created for a reason. Write in such a way that even somebody with a reading impairment could read your story. Not everybody is perfect.

[DomTiesMen]

That is a very interresting topic, specially for a community focused on bondage/tie up stories! Let's go with it!

I simply enjoy bondage, so whatever an story have it, be the scene really long or short, I simply will love it. But one thing that makes me difference between the stories are the context and characters.

Have an story with a context turns the things more interresting because it's not just someone came and tie the character up for whatever reason, it's good to give a good reason for this happen. Another thing is to make the characters interresting, give them personalities, feelings, maybe even a small background story for make the reader identifies to it and that you WANT to see him bondage, not just any random character you just met. That's why I do have a huge love for stories that are series like with periodic new chapters to add, that way you can explore well the characters and sometimes you like so much of one of them that you HOPE that he will be tied up on the next chapter, making you sure to want to return to read the new chapters of that story. So basically, I believe to spend a half of the story preparing the scene of bondage does worth a lot of it to create this connection.

About the bondage scenes itself, I believe they should have also half of the chapter too, that be descriptive, but not so detailed at the point to be boring. At the same time, I want to know a little what the characters feels when they are bound and gagged and who is tying him up for the story not be so mechanic and crude.

[boundto]

i voted for 4, however i think there was something missing between 2-4 which most people should/would have voted for as most were in that range and that is a story that is focused on bondage/tying up where a significant amount of the story involves tying up, being tied up or discussing it

[BindPam]

I guess I\m torn....

This is a "Stories of Tie Up Games", after all. I like the stories that are about, well, tie up games, as opposed to bondage. Old Tugger is writing one now. And I just love the current one Wolfman is doing, which is really more of an action/suspense/romance story with a lot of a damsel being tied up, than a straight up bondage story. But there's also the steamy-hot bondage story Bandit666 is working on.

So, what style do I prefer?

Do I really have to choose?

[TightsBound]

I’m also torn. I think I fall somewhere between options 3 and 4. I like a little story to keep things fun and interesting, but I’m mainly here for the bondage. Detail is important, both in the story and in the bondage. Suddenly ending up tied up is fine, as long as how the subject is tied up is fleshed out.

Does that make sense or am I rambling on nonsensically?

[DeeperThanRed]

I voted for 3.

I love bondage but reading how someone ties up someone else can get pretty bland after a while unless the writer puts some effort into the characters, setting, and atmosphere. I also enjoy stories where the actual tie-up part is only implied or referenced.

[wolfman]

I think for me, further to my original comments, it is as much about context as it is about content as far as bondage goes.

A long description about the intricacies of a tie is fine, but without, characters and context, it is just a tutorial. If that is your thing then that is cool, but I like a bit of story to go with it.

[BindPam]

I think for me, further to my original comments, it is as much about context as it is about content as far as bondage goes.

A long description about the intricacies of a tie is fine, but without, characters and context, it is just a tutorial. If that is your thing then that is cool, but I like a bit of story to go with it.

Totally agree.

[TomYi]

So by the sounds of it, if the likes of Stephen King or George RR Martin were to contribute to this forum, y'all would drive them out of town lol.

[bondagefreak]

Great poll [mention]TomYi[/mention]!
I voted for option 2.

Some of my favourite stories on here are not bondage-oriented.
They contain bondage elements, but only as a spicing rather than as the main course.
Naturally, I enjoy a good bondage-oriented story.
But constant bondage is secondary to the building of a solid cast or setting for me.

In fact, one of my all-time favourites on here ([mention]wataru14[/mention]'s "A Viking's Prize" https://www.tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8432) only features a few bondage scenes.

Some of my longer works (Bound & Gagged) have also sometimes been called out for the sparse featuring of bondage scenes.
Once in, I like to go full throttle. But the bondage scenes themselves are sometimes quite far apart and few in between.

Another author who's tales I enjoy reading is [mention]Volobond[/mention]
His stories are NOT lacking in bondage, however, he does go out of it way to create a believable setting and cast of characters.
IMHO, the realism of it all makes the bondage scenes 10x more enjoyable.

[DallasNotAustin]

What a great poll!

I'm definitely with the small crowd on number 2, mostly because I'm just a huge fan of stories in general, TUGs aside. I like the stories to feel real and authentic and for some of those stories to feel that way, they don't necessarily need TUGs to be always going on, especially in multi part stories. Sometimes I just like to learn more about the dynamics between characters so I can better get into their minds!

As a writer who has scrapped a ton of stories on this site, I find myself having a lot of trouble (especially with introductions) because I'm worried that the stories won't have enough elements of TUGs to satisfy people. I'm definitely with bondagefreak on this one that they can be spread apart, but should go all in when they do happen.

Great poll though!

[bondagefreak]

I find myself having a lot of trouble (especially with introductions) because I'm worried that the stories won't have enough elements of TUGs to satisfy people.

Introductions are the tricky part, especially on this site here.

Long winded intros almost always fail to elicit any response and will almost assuredly cause 99% of the readership to click "back".
In my own humble opinion and experience as a writer here, we authors get about fifteen seconds to make our case.

If in those fifteen seconds you fail to sink a hook into your readers or at the very least spark their curiosity, then your target readership is gonna go flying out the window.

The beginning is critical, and as such, should be given a lot of focus.
Once the readers are intrigued, then you can drag them around and get into more laborious stuff without losing them.


My two cents.

[bondagefreak]

Editing is also something many authors have yet to master.

Nothing is more disheartening than long-winded opening paragraphs detailing names (first and last names) of people and names of places that new readers cannot possibly bring themselves to care about so early on in a story.

Line spacing, slightly larger fonts, shorter paragraphs and shorter opening chapters go a LOOOOONG way in securing those critical, early readers.

[DallasNotAustin]

Editing is also something many authors have yet to master.

Nothing is more disheartening than long-winded opening paragraphs detailing names (first and last names) of people and names of places that new readers cannot possibly bring themselves to care for so early on in a story.

Line spacing, slightly larger fonts, shorter paragraphs and shorter opening chapters go a LOOOOONG way in securing those critical, early readers.

Very well said! I think that perfectly captures my mindset while writing and probably many others, and not to keep the thread going for too long but maybe people (myself included) could start leaving constructive comments on how to improve, barring the author wants those thoughts. Just a thought.

[TomYi]

It's like that with story-telling in general, but I just can't help dedicating at least three initial pages to the setup. Stories need a first act, people!

When introducing a new story, I'm always in a huge hurry to get to the TUG scene so that people can just skip there. Friendly Competition is the quintessential case https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=9445 I kind of hate the fact that I had to do that, but I betcha a ton of readers actually did take the option to skip ahead.

[bondagefreak]

[mention]TomYi[/mention]
Yes. However, a first act can be both brief and enticing. Laborious opening scenes are plentiful on here, and almost always end up yielding the author with the same result. That is, a lack of result.

There's definitely something to be said for brevity when introducing folks to a new tale.


The opening paragraphs can make the difference between a story garnering dozens of reviewers and a story garnering two or three.
Some authors don't care about reviews and never adjust their recipes to the audience they're preaching to.

More power to them if that's the case.
But for a lot of us, the trademark of success is directly linked to the amount of reviews we get.



There are a ton of ways to adapt to this without sacrificing the complexity of a setting.
As previously mentioned, starting short and securing an audience is a good thing.
Once that audience is secured, it becomes so much easier to drag them through a lengthy backstory about the characters and etc.

I think you understand what I'm saying.
I'm not teaching you anything you don't already know.

Either way, this is a time-proven method that's yielded much success for many of us.

[TomYi]

Could this get moved to the Polls section?

[chadmc90]

Could this get moved to the Polls section?

Done.

[tieduptee]

This is such an interesting conversation o have considering the basis of this whole forum - but I'll happily add my opinion!

So my pick was option 3. Personally, I love a good bondage story! I enjoy reading stories where there are so many different positions/gags used. However, it has to be a STORY. Like people have already mentioned, the aspect of bondage ends up becoming a little redundant when there's nothing else going on.

I think it's just as important to develop the characters and setting around your story so we get a better insight into WHY certain tie-ups/gags would be used. Let's not forget, you become connected to the characters! For instance, "Just Another Day at the Office" contains a fair amount of bondage, but I've spent a lot of time focussing on the dynamic between my main characters and how they think, feel and behave.

Yes, this is a forum about tie-ups and bondage, but we're still all writers y'know? I think a lot of those literary principles still apply!

[Kidnapper696]

Hi My Name is Dewi, I'm Sub-Female

During my Marriage with my late husband, bondage is only complimentary on our sexual live.

Two years ago, i had a relationship with a master that i met from the Web. Since that time everything changed, Bondage is the Main Course and sex is only part of the game.

Thank you

[ShortSocks]

I voted for 2. While I love bondage and being tied up. Im a visual person. I need stories or books to paint a picture for me using their words so I can envision what is happening like a movie playing in my head as I read it.

My stories tend to be longer than most, at least so far. I internally struggle with an internal clock when I feel chapters are getting too long. I want to do my best to paint a picture for my readers and be a little more descriptive, and let a story grow.

I cant, at this point justify writing what my brain would consider a short choppy story, although it may come to that.

As far as reading goes, I can go for it all...BUT i enjoy more descriptive longer stories that build up suspense more.