Longtime readers know I claim writing as one of my avocations. I'm not sure which hemisphere is the creative side, but my writing is almost-entirely that side of the brain. Or at least the parts that require conscious thought, such as plot, motivation, pacing.

Origami is probably resident in the other half. It may result in art, but it feels more like a science. Again, I'm sure much of it is subconscious: habit, muscle memory, or intuition. The parts requiring thought are the precision of the folds (or, in the more layered models, the force required,) trying to keep all the creases on one side, and mapping the parts immediately being folded onto the finished model.

Back to writing. Sian is fun writing. (Yes, is. Everybody's a comedian.) It delves into the puerile, but doesn't exist solely in the nether realms. I have written "plumbing" stories - ones dealing with pipes, troughs and fluids. I don't find them very interesting in most cases.

Actually, I've been working on another story, an even more depraved and explicit one. I started it quite some time before Sian. It too is still in progress. (I'll wait for the mock shock to pass. Really. Comedians, why does it always have to be comedians?) Even though it is hardcore, I have a plot in mind.

The plot drives the writing in my mind. I have themes that give me interim goals; I have scenes, moments and money lines that fuel individual chapters and ... What do you call a group of related chapters? Anyhow, they give me impetus to write individual chunks of the story, but they are but shadows without the framing of plot.

This holds true for serious stories (though it's been aeons since I've last attempted one.) My need for the direction of some overall plot runs in Sian any any other salacious fiction.

By plot I don't necessarily mean a detailed drill-down. My notion of Sian's plot is "two high adepts in arts intimate vie for a woman with potential untapped." The other story could be stated as "A tight-knit group of friends have a week to deprogram one of their own who fell under the sway of a cult-like mentor."

I guess under the formal definitions, these summaries are more premise than plot. I would disagree. I feel the level of detail, the narrowing of focus qualify these as more plot than premise. Compare these to "two men compete for a woman's heart" or "friends try to save a girl."

Either way, plot or premise, these framing statements serve to guide my stories, even to the point of choosing themes and high points for individual scenes and acts. I can write "just sex," but I can't enjoy it.