The Spanking Writers

An evocative photo caught my eye whilst googling free-to-use images for a work presentation the other day. (You know how it is: you start off hunting for pictures of ‘businesspeople in meetings’, and your fingers accidentally type ‘public flogging’):

The photograph comes from a 1931 book on entitled ‘Bygone Punishments’ (of which we actually own an earlier copy, dating from 1899, without the illustration in question). The commentary explains that we’re looking at the “Stocks and whiping-post, Aldbury, from a photo by A. Whitford Anderson, Esq., Watford”:

“A half-timbered house, probably Tudor, beside a pond; in the foreground are wooden stocks, with the somewhat unevenly placed holes just visible, and one post higher so as to be used as a whipping post… Today Aldbury is part of the Borough of Dacorum. The stocks and whipping-post are still there, but not as complete.”

Now, I’ve seen lots of photos of whipping posts – but never one that’s so evocative of the era in which they were actually put to use. I can just picture a maid, tied to the post, looking out over the duck pond as she was lashed in front of the watching crowd for stealing butter from her master’s kitchen.

The prominence of the apparatus, bang in the centre of the village, also got me thinking. For in a small place like that, it would be quite impossible for the young lass not to have to walk past the scene of her thrashing on an almost-daily basis – the memories and the sense of shame lasting long after her marks had faded.

I’m sure I got a spanking over Abel’s knee one day last week, and thought, “I should remember to blog about this.”

Well, I remembered to blog about it. But I’ve forgotten everything else about it! What could I have done to deserve a spanking, I wonder?

I hope some of you will help me remember. Or just take a guess.

Had I overteased the cat? Had I overteased Abel? Had I plotted an overthrow of the monarchy? (Nah, that one would have got me a “well done”, not a spanking.) Maybe I tried to overthrow the monarchy and failed?

Can’t think of anything I might have done to deserve a spanking. Any ideas?

Lately, I’ve not had as much time as I’d have liked to read other blogs out there: seeing kinky friends in real life has rather taken priority over my online explorations. I’ve just about kept up-to-date with my “Spanking – Friends” category in Google Reader (that is, blogs written by people we’ve actually met, or know so well online that they class as friends even though we’ve yet to met in person).

But when I glanced at  my “Spanking – General” feeds the other evening, I found a ridiculously high number of unread posts. At the same time, I noticed that a surprisingly large proportion of the blogs to which I subscribe weren’t showing any new posts at all. So I started pruning: if a blog on the list didn’t show any new activity – and had thus been dormant for the eight weeks or so since my last catch-up – then I deleted by subscription. Of course, I may have been a tad premature with some – we’re unusual in posting every day, and some may be happy posting every few months when they have something of particular interest to say. But it’s a fair guess that two months of no activity suggests the site in question isn’t exactly that active!

And guess what proportion of the 201 spanking blogs on my lists appeared to be defunct? No fewer than 97 – very nearly half – including many that had previously been pretty active.

Why is this, I wondered? Boredom or a lack of time on the writer’s behalf  - or simply running out of things to say: a sense that they’d come online to explore the ideas that had been percolating in their minds for so long, had explored them, and found nothing left to share? Perhaps their blogs have achieved their objectives (introduce myself, meet a partner, disappear happily back into the shadows)? Perhaps they just didn’t enjoy writing in this format as much as they’d thought they would.

Or maybe it’s resulted from ennui amongst their readers, leading to too few site visits or comments for writing to be worthwhile? Or (I pray not) a mass migration to Twitter? Or even a defection from blogging to the boards of the kinky social networking sites – such as  Fetlife or  SpankoLife (my personal favourite); I’m listed as ‘Abel’ on each, if you ever fancy saying hi!

It does make me wonder about trends in the spankosphere. I’m guessing that, a few years down the line, we’ll still see a still-smaller number of blogs – the best and most popular of those here today complemented by some new arrivals (as new folks discover the scene, pluck  up the courage to post, or reach the age at which they’re legally or practically able to set up a site). The percentage of blogs with purely commercial content (as a means to attract customers for paid sites) might increase in comparison to those of us who simply have a passion for writing about kink.

And technology will inevitably evolve: I’d love it if that involved an easy and elegant way to consolidate our blog with our stories with our tweets with our podcasts (watch this space: ‘spankingcasts’ on the way soon!) – and to collaborate more on writing, ideas and conversations with others who share our enthusiasms.

Nearly four years in, we’re still buzzing with ideas, for sure. But I’m really interested to learn what others think…

There’s been much debate lately about the case of Mood Pictures, the Hungarian spanking producers whose premises were raided by police during a film shoot in January. A post with 60+ comments on Adele’s blog was followed by a thoughtful entry on Ludwig’s site yesterday, summarising the current case as follows:

As many of you will know already, the studio of Mood Pictures, the Hungarian CP film producer about whom I have written a fair bit already on this blog, was raided by the police on the weekend of January 23rd / 24th. Fourteen people were arrested at the scene, three of them now face charges. The accusation is that, at a movie shoot in early January, they ignored a model who was repeatedly safewording, asking them to stop a scene, and continued to beat her. Mood Pictures deny these charges. There will now very probably be a court case against them.

Being friends with a fair few spanking models – and having watched my share of kinky movies over the years – I’m following the case and the debate with some interest. I was going to respond directly on Ludwig’s blog, but when I’d written down my thoughts they were far too long to go in a comment, so I’m putting them in an extra post here instead. Read the rest of this entry »

Conversations with several of my spanker and dom friends recently revealed that they see a safeword used in a scene with them as a personal failure. The reasoning goes that a top should have enough grasp on what’s happening, to back down before using a safeword becomes necessary.

Something in me feels like I’d rather not know this about tops. I’m generally appalled at the idea of hurting somebody’s feelings, so if I know that using a safeword will make a top feel bad, I may hesitate to do so when I need to. And it’s really quite important that a bottom takes the responsibility to stop a scene if it becomes necessary.

When I top, I need to know that they’ll do this instead of suffering in silence, afraid to hurt my feelings.

There seems to be a sort of paradox here.

If you top, does it upset you when somebody safewords? If you bottom, have you ever held your tongue out of reluctance to upset your playmate?

Well, it’s finally here… Pauses for fanfare…

My lords (assuming at least some of the nobility must be kinky), ladies and gentlemen, I am very proud to present:

To quote from the book’s blurb:

Since 1999, “Abel’s Spanking Stories” has been one of the web’s most popular sites for fictional accounts of young women receiving traditional-style corporal punishment.

This collection features ten exclusive, brand-new stories alongside newly-updated versions of eight of Abel’s best-known tales. Perfect for fans of the cane and the birch, schoolgirls in trouble and judicial floggings, this is English discipline at its very best!

…

“Abel’s stories were my first introduction to spanking erotica, and I have never tired of reading his work. I’m sure this book will become a must-have for any spanking enthusiast.” – Eliane Chevalier, author of New(ish) to Spanking.

“Abel’s stories have long entertained and inspired the online community. I’m delighted that some of his best loved stories are now available in print. A worthy addition to any collection of spanking literature!” – Emma Jane Woodhouse, author of A Painful Awakening.

The book’s available online here from today for £9.95 or the local equivalent (currently around $16 / €11). If you prefer, you can order it on Amazon US, or Amazon UK, or Amazon DE, or wherever you live. If you enjoy reading your spanking stories in electronic format, “The Punishment List” is available in a Kindle edition.

I have to say that I’m particularly pleased with the new stories, which appear only in the book and have never been published online. And I did have great fun going back through 70+ older pieces of writing to pick out (and then re-edit) my all-time favourites.

Huge thanks to those who’ve helped with the book: Haron for the technical stuff; Catherine for painting the quite wonderful cover picture; Martha for the laborious task of proofreading (and Alison for helping on that front too).

Treat yourself, treat friends (perfect for Valentine’s Day?!), enjoy – and I’d love your feedback, as always.

In my very naughty daydream I imagined myself as a stowaway on a ship. I think I’ve run away from my dull life as a maid in a port town, and fancy seeking my fortune in the colonies, where the ship is bound.

A ship’s boy discovers me hiding between coils of rope. He’s cute, so I try to buy his silence with intimate favours, but both of us are promptly caught in the act by a passing officer, and dragged in front of the dashing, strict-looking captain and his furious first mate.

At first the boy is accused of smuggling in his girlfriend, but as he had been mostly nice to me, I confess that it was me who’d led him astray. The first mate insists that both of us should be tied to a mast for a flogging with a cat-o’-nine-tails. After this he suggests locking me up, so that I can be handed over to the authorities on arrival – I had, after all, been stealing food ever since I’d sneaked aboard. The captain is a reasonable man, though, despite his stern demeanour. He rules that the boy and I should get six strokes of the cane each, and afterwards the captain will give me a opportunity to earn my passage to the colonies by being his personal maid.

This is exactly the sort of life I’m running away from, but something in his eyes makes my insides melt. “Are you going to be strict with me, sir?” I ask timidly.

“Reasonably so,” he says. “Rest assured, if this means you must have your posterior warmed before the marks of your caning have disappeared, I won’t hesitate to do this. I’m giving you chance: don’t make me regret it.”

I swear that I won’t. But I can’t help looking at his hands.

A fascinating little incident came to light last month, reported by the Saudi Gazette under the tantalising headline “Committee to probe rioting in Makkah Girl’s Correction Home”:

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, Saturday ordered the formation of a committee to probe Friday night’s rioting in the Girl’s Correction Home in Makkah, Dr. Ali Al-Hanaki, Director of Social Affairs in Makkah, said.

Four inmates of the correction home and some social workers were injured as clashes broke out in the facility Friday night.  Over 65 security men including 15 women jail guards managed to restore order to the Girls’ Correction Home as inmates staged a violent protest when the Ministry of Social Affairs rejected their demand to replace the facility’s director, some employees and liaison officers.

Describing the clashes as “mutiny”, Dr. Al-Hanaki said it was led by some inmates attempting to force the ministry to submit to their demand to replace the director, some female social workers and liaison officers. He said inmates also tore up reports containing records of their past violent behavior. He said preliminary information shows that two social workers who have had differences with the director were responsible for instigating five inmates to press for their demands.

He said the ministry would take harsh action against the violating inmates who exceeded the rules. “What has happened is in flagrant violation of the home’s principles and the ministry’s rules,” he said.

The Correction Home rehabilitates inmates from different parts of the Kingdom and reunites them with their families after they complete the terms to which they have been sentenced. There are 65 inmates in the facility.

Sources said a scuffle broke out between the inmates and the home’s staff last Wednesday which developed into a quarrel and rioting on Friday.

So, here’s the game: what happened next? I can easily extrapolate a real-life story like this into a fantasy world, in which the “harsh action” taken sees those responsible soundly flogged. A whipping with the prison strap for each of the five girls concerned, perhaps – overlaid with a birching for the chief conspirator? Indeed, it sounds just like the sort of dark scene that HH and I would devise to play with willing victims.

And the good news (for those who – like me – are squicked by the idea that something like that might actually happen for real)  is that “what happened next” in this case was that the girls’ complaints were found to be justified and the director was dismissed from his post. So, who’s up for re-creating a riot in a correction home?!

As we’re on the subject of writing spanking fiction, I’d like to return to my favourite topic: making sure that the spanking scene doesn’t dwarf all the other dramatic elements of your story, and conversely, that you don’t get so excited by writing the drama that you forget about the erotica.

This problem comes up more often in spanking novels and serial stories than in short fiction: a short story can get away with being about the spanking alone, while a series or a novel really does need character development and a thread of plot. I faced this issue most recently when I was writing for Lowewood: every week something needed to happen to my character to carry their arc ahead, and also, somebody had to get spanked or have sex, in 1500 words or fewer. Some weeks combining the two felt like an insurmountable task, so you got long epic entries, or entries with all plot and no hotness.

I was reminded of this issue when I listened to one of my favourite podcasts, “Writing Excuses”. Episode 3:27 focussed on   “mixing humour with drama and horror” – the problem of blending the funny and the dramatic. It occurred to me that if you swapped “humour” for “erotica”, you get the same problem: you’re writing in a sexy way, then you try to mix in some drama, and all the sexiness goes away. So I thought that the tips and tricks mentioned in the podcast could be useful for a spanking writer as well.

So here’s what we can do:

1. Even though you are writing for the turn-on (and I’m including the spanking thrill in this), when you’re planning out the story, focus first on what inherently dramatic elements you need to include. Character points, plot points, and so on. Then layer the turn-ons on top of that. Moving from spanking to spanking can get stale and boring. When a reader puts down the virtual book, it’s the characters she’s going to take away with her and want to return to, not at what angle the cane swung.

2. It’s OK to let the turn-ons back away for a while when you need to entertain, but make sure it comes back before you get tangled in all the plot. If you have beta-readers, ask them to mark places where they stopped being turned on, and then the places where they got turned on again.

3. Stay true to the character: don’t let your erotica undermine it, no matter how sexy the result may seem. Your teenage prefect had better not be lecturing with flair of an Oxford don. Your kindly friend/mentor really shouldn’t become a demon of strictness as soon as a girl is over his knee, unless there were previous hints that he has a particularly stern streak. Neither should you let your baddie mellow and grow lovey-dovey just because you think a girl must have some aftercare. (Bring in somebody else to comfort her, if you must.)

4. There are lots of ways to be sexy/thrilling: make it appropriate for your characters and plot.

5. My own tip: If your plot is going to contain moments of unhappiness, you’d better write like an angel, because misery isn’t sexy. If you must hurt them, lay on the comfort, but make the transition subtle enough that it’s still believable. I often face this myself, because I like to make characters suffer before they can be happy. If you want an example of my brain gymnastics in this regard, I refer you to the “fight club” storyline on the Lowewood blog. The lowest point for Ned comes when he is bullied into fighting his best friend. Then Lydia arrives to comfort him. In order for a reader to be able to make a switch over from the misery to the sex without being jolted out of the narrative, the bullying part has to have a subtle sexy undertone, which would prepare you to get turned on when the love interest appears on the scene.

Hope some of these tips improve the spanking lives for you and your characters! (Also, if you have more writing tips, I’d love to hear them.)

Over the weekend I caught up with a number of blogs on writing technique, and that made me think about bottoms.

No, this isn’t necessarily further proof of my one-track-mindedness. Bear with me.

One piece of advice erotica writers always get is to go easy on euphemisms when talking about genitalia. So, no “thick-trunked love truncheon”, please: just say “cock”. Or “member”, if you’re shy. If you find yourself repeating a word so much that you have to grope about for lots of alternative ways of saying it, you’re probably talking about cocks too much, or being too technical. The word “cock” should be invisible, like “said” and “asked” in dialogue tags: it’s not about the instrument, anyway, it’s about what the whole of the character is going through.

So I wondered: how about bottoms in spanking fiction? Must they be described unobtrusively? I expect, plenty of people read spanking stories because they are somewhat fond of bottoms and the act of spanking them, so smoothing away the accents could leave the readers disappointed. On the other hand, a spanking scene is about the whole person: the emotions, the reactions, the physical distress (or pleasure) – it would seem quite a waste to focus overmuch on “peachy globes acquiring a russet blush”.

I’ve never found myself bereft of ways to say “bottom”, but I’ve never particularly thought about how I was going about the writing part.

If other spanking writers care to share their bottom policy, I’ll be very interested to hear it. Do you use lots of different words? Or detailed descriptions? Or do you skip the butt altogether, and go directly for the brain?

Show the work.