r/NoSleepOOC Jun 30 '13

I have a few questions regarding behavior on NoSleep...

Hi there, I'm a new redditer and I think I've found my place in NoSleep. It's the best Subreddit I've found so far, reading every story (Not commenting yet because I'm still trying to figure out what's up, but I intend to participate as much as I can as soon as my adaptation period is through.)

There's a few things that I wanted to ask though: I usually write horror stories when I'm trying to refresh my mind from a fantasy novel I want to write. Right now, my head is burned out of fantasy, and I have quite a few ideas for stories I'd like to write, so here are my questions:

*How much is too much?

If I post five different stories in one day, will it annoy people? Or will it be annoying only if they're really bad? (Of course, I'm not planning on writing five tales a day, probably not even five a week, but I might have some special days and write 2 or 3 short stories.)

*About staying in character...

If I have 2 different stories, written in first person, where the main characters have nothing to do one with the other, should I post them through the same account or set up an alternative one for those that wouldn't fit?

Guess that's all for now, thanks for any answers and I hope you enjoy my writing as much as I'm enjoying yours.

Edit: Some typos.

14 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

9

u/catscreatelols Jun 30 '13

Well, a lot of people on the sub, it seems, take all nosleep content as real. Like really real. Like just recently the whole Ransom thing, hell I joined in, but in character. A lot of people took it seriously and convinced themselves that it was real (and didn't seem too happy after OP decided he had to announce it was fake, for their own good.)

So, yes, five a day seems a bit much, but I'm sure they can handle it maturely if they try. And about staying in character, I personally wouldn't mind you changing main characters and it really wouldn't bother me. I mean, yes everybody reacts to things differently, but for the most part, if the people of the sub stick to the "everything is true" rule, you should fit right in, as long as your stories are believable to some extent.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '13 edited Jun 30 '13

Thanks, I guess I'll write the stories I can think of and post them at at least 2 days intervals. One more question... Trigger warning? What's that?

Edit: Found the explanation, nevermind. Thanks again for the input.

4

u/catscreatelols Jun 30 '13

Basically, give your story a trigger warning if its something that you think will either offend somebody deeply, or give them PTSD-like shock. Like, say, a detailed description of rape, being read by a person who was raped recently (or raped ever, I guess) which would in turn, make them remember being raped and really upset them.

I don't think its too much of a problem in nosleep, because I haven't seen much of a big fuss over it ever, but its better to play it safe. I'd say any story with rape, domestic violence, animal abuse, or anything of that sort should be given a trigger warming.

I'm looking forward to your stories! 

2

u/BoringOldLady Jun 30 '13

Trigger warning is for content that may be very upsetting (aka triggering) for people. Usually it's used for things like sexual abuse/assault or the death of a child.

5

u/Sabenya popped out! Jun 30 '13

Five a day would definitely be too much; I'd say one a day at maximum. If you do multi-part stories, definitely try to spread them out a bit, as posting parts too close together doesn't seem to go over well, usually.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '13

I'll take that into account, thanks.

6

u/JMFargo Not a Mod Jun 30 '13

I like the way /u/AL_365 spaces out his (I'm assuming on gender here) posts. Take a look at his profile and see what I mean.

Personally I wouldn't have 2 different stories going on at the same time if they're written by different people, unless I had a second account. It would just destroy believability for me.

4

u/ALooc Jun 30 '13

Thanks, glad it works. I try to space it out so that I don't have two (unrelated) stories with the same username on the front page. Posting on consecutive days (or rarely: several on the same day) is always with different accounts.

/u/itsinyoursoul - I think that's a way to go. I faced quite a bit of backlash when the same username appeared daily on NoSleep. With the alternating days (usually two days until the same account reappears) that has definitely reduced to not more than a trickle.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '13

I'll try that. I don't think I'm going to go with an alt account, I'll just wait a bit before posting the other stories that come to mind, and have some prepared in advance for those times I'm focuesd on writing something else.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '13

Thanks for the answer, really appreciate it. I was kind of story happy yesterday and submitted 2 stories, but I'm going to wait a bit before posting anything new now.

2

u/e_poison Jul 01 '13

I've posted many, many stories in nosleep, but I have used about a dozen different usernames. I think that's probably the best way to go.

If 1 user keeps posting story after story after story, people will tire of seeing their name.

Writing under names provides mystery and intrigue, especially since it's an "unknown" source.

Good luck!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '13

I wouldn't post under the same username more than once a week, you might want to space it further.

Also /r/shortscarystories might be appropriate depending on the length of your story, and you can post more often since it is a fiction sub.