I am aware that I am not the most glorious writer in the world, especially because I believe writing is an ever-changing learning process. So, in short, I would love some constructive feedback, if you have the time to spare. However, there are some things in particular that I would like feedback in.
 
1: Sex Scenes. I’m not a homosexual male. So if things aren’t physically possible or if they’re getting repetitive or boring, definitely let me know. Basically the only experience I have with male homosexual sex is what I read or watch, and I’m not really sure how accurate these representations are.
What would really help is recommendations for erotic literature so that I can further delve into other representations (or misrepresentations). So if you have any suggestions, either online or in-print, let me know. I’d love to check it out.
 
2: Character Development. Sometimes I develop the characters faster in my head than I do in the actual story, so character changes come faster to the reader than to me, and I don’t notice that. If a character I’m writing suddenly seems out of character, or if they’ve changed too quickly, let me know and I’ll adjust the pace of things. Anything else along the character development lines, definitely let me know, that’s just the one issue I’m aware of.
 
4: Transitions. I have a difficult time with the passing of time or transitions within the chapter or throughout the story. So if you stumble over a transition and have some advice, or if you have general tips or comments, please let me know and I’ll see what I can do to improve the transition in that story and to improve with transitions in the long run.
 
5: Plot Holes. Sometimes I forget what I write. I have a terrible memory. So if you fall into a plot hole, or I leave something hanging, let me know. It could be that I’m planning to bring back the plot later in the story, but it’s much more likely that I forgot about it completely.
 
6: Continuity. Along the lines of me forgetting things, sometimes I forget simple things, like Nikolai hating feet or the layout of a room. And sometimes it’s something silly like I have someone take off their jacket twice, or I forgot to take off their clothes completely. If you spot any errors like these, let me know and I’ll correct it.
 
7: Spelling and Grammar. I’m not the best proof-reader, so you’re welcome to point out spelling and grammatical errors. This includes mixing up names, which I do a lot. But this isn’t a huge issue since it’s hard to show where errors are and so on. So I am not as concerned about this. It just seems weird not to have it on the list for some reason.
 
For every situation, I probably won’t update this version unless it’s a pretty major error. But the complete version will include all the corrections. If it’s an issue of character development or plot, I may add in a chapter that goes earlier in the text to try to fix the flow of the story.
 
So while you may not see the effects of your feedback, a lot of these will help me improve in the long term. So if you can make suggestions it will help the overall arch of the story as well as the quality of writing.
 
If you have feedback outside of my requests, feel free to let me know! I’d love to hear anything you have to say that will help me improve for the better!
 
Thanks!

  • LadyAOI

    Hi there I just needed to tell you how much I’ve fallen in love with your story! It’s truly wonderful, I love how it absorbed me into the storyline. I have totally fallen for your characters “Guy” and “Nickolai” you’ve given them life and I truly care what’s going to happen to them next (which is always a plus in my book ^.^).

    Okay now that the gushing is over I just have a small issue in order for me to be 100% sucked into a story (right now it’s about 90% O.~) it would be great if you can describe the surroundings, how buildings look or describe how clothing look on a certain char. I understand you did this in certain chaps. but not for all I found myself imagining what the persons face looks like, if you could put in more facial and body description that would be the icing on the cake for me.

    One last thing your detailing of sex is AWESOME…wow just spot on FANtastic please don’t change a thing about it…well just one tiny thing and that is NIPPLES..haha I’ve noticed that you don’t add in any nipple play it would be sexy if you could write more on nipple play!

    If I’ve “said” any thing to offend your work or if I come off as ignorant I sincerely apologize, I really don’t mean to since you seem so open to suggestions I figured I might as well go for it. I don’t like to criticize someone’s hard work but your story of “Nikoguy” is just amazing and I would love if you continue with your wonderful story!

    Thank you again and plz cont with your writing,
    signed your new loyal fan <3

    • http://xisney.net xisney

      Ahhh, thank you so much! <3 I really appreciate feedback like this, don't worry, I'm not offended at all. Like you said, I'm asking for it, so I'm really open to suggestions. I tend to reply to comments in batches when I have time to reply to more than one, but I wanted to reply to this right away in case you worried about my reaction.

      So first! Thank you for padding your feedback with compliments! I always appreciate that, and I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying Nikoguy so much!

      But yes, I am absolutely terrible at putting in physical descriptions of things. I've been lazy with practicing, and I always worry about putting too much description in, so I guess I go the opposite way and use descriptions sparsely. I'm glad someone's pointed it out, or else I would probably just keep trucking along without them, ahahaha.

      I've actually tried putting more description into the next novella (though I am not very far in it), but I will do my best to start adding more into Nikoguy too! It may take me a while to write more description out of habit, but I'll do my best! So you may not see any changes until several episodes down the road. Feel free to say something again if it starts getting better/worse or if I've started to add too much description. Or if you think I've forgotten to start putting more description in, feel free to comment again. Sometimes I zone out when I'm writing, so I might forget to consciously add more description in.
      Thank you for pointing that out! <3

      AND I'm glad you like the sex though! My goodness I'm a bit relieved. I had someone help me right when I first started (and I'm thankful for it), so I hoped I picked up her tips quickly.
      I will try to add in more nipple play for sure, it's something I tend to forget about.

      And again, don't worry about it! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know something I can improve on, and I'll do my best to try to improve! If anything else pops up, just let me know and I'll see what I can do! And Nikoguy will start updating again either on the 18th or the 25th of September, depending on whether or not I get something short done. So don't worry, it will be worked on again and it will be finished eventually!

      Thank you again for your comments and kind words! I really appreciate it! <33
      signed me <3

      • Anonymous

        WOW ur amazing to respond so quickly and for taking my suggestions into consideration…and well I appreciate what ur doing I’m a big fan of yaoi and gay stories so yours are really entertaining. I just finish reading Personal Demons and once again awesome work I haven’t read anything creepy and sexy at the same time in a while =D so plz cont. on and take care of yourself!

        I look forward to anything and everything u come up with ‘u’!!

        • http://xisney.net xisney

          I think the speed of the response was just good timing, I’m usually pretty slow ahahaha.
          But thank you again for your comments and support, and you take care of yourself too! <33

  • Kuyiri

    So, I apologize in advance if this just comes accross as really annoying, but I REALLY like your NikoGuy story and I’m kinda wondering if it’s been dropped or something. I only found this site recently but from reading the above FAQ (which is a great idea, btw, and probably saves you a lot of time) I beleive you only start posting the novellas once they’re done, and update every week? The last update I can find is from the 17th of last month. I’m sorry if this sounds whiny i just really want to read more of it!

    Oh, also, if you want someone to do grammer editing/spellchecking for you I’d be happy to oblige! I didn’t notice too many mistakes in your stories just thought I’d offer :)

    • http://xisney.net xisney

      Oh no, not annoying at all! Nikoguy will start updating again on the 18th (I believe), but I have the schedule posted on the “Update Schedule” page that should be under the “About” link on the Navigation bar. I just haven’t had a chance to add the page into the FAQs, since I’m planning on writing a more generic about page and giving the FAQs a page of their own. Sorry I’m a bit disorganized right now, ahahaha. I’m glad you’re enjoying it though, I’m sorry about the wait! I’ll have to really think about how I’m going to post the next novella, since a lot of people seem to be itching for Nikoguy.
      I hope that answers your question, if anything is unclear, let me know!

      Oh thank you for the offer! I might take you up on it, I’ll definitely let you know if I need the extra eye!

      • Kuyiri

        Oooooh ok. Musta missed that. Awesome, I’ll be looking forward to it then!

        Lol kk. If you’re looking for me I can be found on DA as sumeshiryuk. Anyways thanks for replying so soon! XD

        • http://xisney.net xisney

          Ah, it’s not the easiest to find! Sorry about that!

          All right, I’ll let you know! And it’s no problem!

  • Scrunchy

    It’s not really a problem, or anything, but how did Guy call Nikolai when he was captured? Did he ask the guard to lend him his phone or something?

    Also, I love your transitions! I, myself, have a horrible time with them, but you make them work so well in NikoGuy– I’m so jealous.

    Have you ever thought of getting a beta to catch your mistakes? There are quite a few; I know that no one’s perfect and that it’s hard to catch one’s own mistakes. It’s just a suggestion, they don’t take away from the overall enjoyment of your writings, though.

    • http://xisney.net xisney

      FFFF I just completely forgot to write that in. I know I had a plan as to how it would work, but I probably just forgot by the time I got there. It happens a lot. I’ll fix it in the next draft. Thanks so much for pointing that out!

      AND thank you again! I’ve been practicing with them, ahahaha.

      I’m actually planning to put up a call for Betas post after Personal Demons finishes updating. I had one previously, but our programs stopped working well together so she’s switched to being just a reader again. There’s a few other concerns about getting a new beta, which is why I’m pacing myself a bit with the post.
      Hopefully you’ll see the post soon though! It is something I’m working on.
      I’m glad to hear it doesn’t take away from the overall enjoyment though!

      Thanks for your comments and suggestions! I really appreciate the feedback <33

  • Deppfan85

    Hi there! New reader, and I’m enjoying this story very much. I have very few things that are bugging me, but this is a big one. It really helps the flow of things, to try and not use their names so much, when action is happening. For example, you’ll write, “Guy did such and such to Nikolai. Nikolai responded with whatever. Guy blah blah blah.” This tends to make it choppy, and a bit repetitive. Instead, what tends to flow better, is the use of good descriptors. Such as… “Guy approached Nikolai, pulling the younger man toward him.” Or “Nikolai grinned, pushing his older companion down onto the bed.” Things like that, where you use words comparing one of them to the other, seem to just work better. Take into consideration age, physical features (eyes, skin, hair, height, weight, etc), and other such distinctive bits of information.

    Hope this helps.

    • http://xisney.net xisney

      Hello! Glad to hear you’re enjoying the story! Yes, that’s definitely something I’m having trouble with. I actually avoid using the older/younger man just because I see it overused a lot in slash fiction, and I’ve heard people complain about it before. So I try to use it sparingly or not at all. (I may have actually removed it from where I used it before.) However, I hadn’t thought of other physical details, such as “the blond” and the like! So I’ll definitely use that in the future! Thank you so much for the suggestions! It might be a while before you see the change, since there’s a bit of a backlog, but hopefully it works when you do see it! (And feel free to tell me if it doesn’t!)

      Thanks so much for the feedback! <33