itch.io

heya, I really appreciated the candid nature of this post. It made me laugh at first because I can relate to it. A lot of gay stories seem cliché or, in the adult realm, are just shallow and horny. Straight!? doesn't do anything crazy different other than trying to provide substance to the genre it's told in. It's a coming of age story and we've all read or heard tons of those. But, I did put a lot of passion into it and I'm pleased that people are able to actually feel that. I'm not sure your scientific background, I'm a psych guy and I think my story holds water within the psych field, regardless of theoretical orientation and I'm pleased to hear that you feel it holds weight in your eyes.

I have a handful of favorite responses from people and you nailed a few of them here. I like people starting this with low expectations and then being surprised. That's always fun to hear for a first time writer here. I also love when it holds up to people who aren't gay. I wanted to try and create a universal story here that was mostly applicable to those who have struggled with their sexuality, but I also wanted people who didn't, to find something from it-- even if it was just appreciating what you have and respecting your own journey of being in this world.

In terms of the writing, I do have a guy who helps me with editing. However (and this is a massive HOWEVER that I'm emphasizing here to defend him), most of the writing flaws and editing problems are probably still in there because I'm stubborn. I didn't write this story in an organized fashion, honestly I think I bled it over 5 years. The writing tone is inconsistent and there's massive run on sentences, that to me, read like a poetic rant that captures my voice and intentions at the time. When i'm frustrated about something I talk a lot and I know my speech throws punctuation out the window. That's real to me so i wanted to capture that within the story because of it's honesty. Time in the story is also kinda wonky because I've never written anything before. I didn't know how to structure that. Perhaps in a future project, I'll be more careful and outline things better. But this, in many spots, i left very raw. It's kinda like a journal that was turned into a fictional story. It's not perfectly structured or written and I was kindof protective in keeping it that way. That being said, the first 3 chapters are written very poorly and i can't stand them, lol. Those need some work and that's my next mission. But I know I broke a lot of literary rules in other parts of the story and much of that was intentional despite my co-writer suggesting otherwise. Not sure if that makes sense or not. 

Also, thanks for sharing the story. I really appreciate that; especially if it's going to help someone or remind them of something important. I appreciated your post and thank you for taking the time to write it :)