2023 Retrospective

[Rob_Royale]

2023 was my first full year as a writer of erotica. I completed 15 stories that I am happy with and were well received. I think that was quite an accomplishment for me and I feel really good about it. I've made friends within the community and enjoyed spending time on the AH and SI forums. I have also come to realize that any contest or challenge story I start for this year, is actually for next year.

For 2024 I have set no writing goals. Just gonna keep on, keeping on. I'll be seeing ya.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

The most important thing I learned in 2023 is that I love writing and want to keep doing it. I have so much to learn, but I am definitely a better writer than when I started in '22. I especially love to write erotica.

I wrote 9 stories in all with one 'H'. I've run into some issues with AI with the 9th, but, with help, I'm trying to figure out a way to get that story posted.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

I had a good year in 2023, with writing, with Jo, with our son, and earning money. I can't complain about anything to do with me. My folks year was a bit more painful. Both them are having health issues, Mum had the worst of it. Dad's refusal to give in to pain, caused him issues from not seeking help. But I'm hopeful they both will have a better year this year. Next Monday Donnie starts going to four hours of day care weekdays. I'm so not looking forward that. Honesty, I'll have those four hours to write which might mean I can sleep more, but that point, the 5 or 6 hours I sleep at night is more than enough. I know it will be good for him, not so much for me.

My little guy started three hours of preschool three days a week last September. It was really tough at first, but I got used to it.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

I published my first ever story (15 chapter serial) that I spent the whole year writing and editing before publishing. The reception has been more than I could’ve asked for as a long-time-lurker-turned-writer. Now I feel like I’ve got that sophomore slump feeling looming over but I’m sure it’ll pass.

Stumbling onto this forum has also been fun. Soaking in super useful and interesting information (alongside all the fun banter of course).

 

[StillStunned]

alongside all the fun banter of course).

It looks like banter on the surface, but every comment, every like, every emoji has a deeper significance. It's a cutthroat, dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-fittest struggle for prominence, dominance and survival.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

In 2023 I submitted seven stories/parts and one poem. All garnered the coveted red H even though I dipped my toe in the I/T category and submitted two stories, one a four-part story. I did get more views than normal but fewer votes than normal so my ratio of votes to reads dropped substantially. My impression is that my style of writing (slow-burn romances) doesn't fit well in the I/T category.

My stories submitted for the Crime and Punishment Event and the Winter Holiday contest, both in my typical Lesbian Sex category, did extremely well (4.81 and 4.85 respectively) so I can't complain. My poem did very well (until it got 1-bombed, which really hurts when you only got 16 total votes (4.92 down to 4.63)).

All in all, I consider 2023 to be a very good year. I just hope I can get off the snide and start writing again so 2024 will be successful.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

2023 has been a very difficult year, at least for the past 8 months. One story (live today!) has been awaiting me being able to sit up and edit it since July. So it was a pleasant surprise to see I did post 9 stories here last year (only one was a 750-word one).

6 red Hs. The ones that scored low were the 750 which should have been in Non-Erotic rather than Gay Male, but I thought GM readers might click to see more stories with the same characters (they didn't), a MMF threesome in Group Sex, which was unsurprising, but it could hardly go anywhere else, and a story with a trans woman, possibly because she wasn't fetishized, or perhaps because there was too much background in a series for people who hadn't read previous ones?


I was pleased with:

my mild-mannered American chap getting together with a trans woman and dealing with it (I Say Ass: Different),

a first-time/rebound lesbian story (Meaningless Kisses),

a femdom one (My Love is like a Red, Red Arse),

managing to fit over 50 boardgame-related puns into a story (Submissives of Catan),

getting stories in just before the deadline for the Nude Day and Winter Holiday contests (Naked Bisexual Lube Wrestling, A Tale of Two Christmases),

but possibly most proud of Image Nine Point Four - a legal drama leading to a plausible (by Lit standards...) scene in the Supreme Court to prove a woman can enjoy being objectified and caned.

More followers and comments would be nice - I have a few lovely fans, but writing one incest story last year produced about 80 new followers (and I still get the odd new one), most of whom have since run away! So be it.

Happy New Year!

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Happy 2024, everyone. It's great to see so much success!

I had a good year, publishing eight stories with scores currently ranging between 4.53 and 4.87, with eight red Hs and an average of 4.72 and a weighted average score of 4.65. There were over 164K words in total, almost 137K views, over 4,800 votes, and over 300 comments making SC a mostly happy boy.

A couple of highlights:

"A Wedding in Wottfordshire" is my longest Lit story published to date (44.4K words) and was for a time my highest scoring (4.89). It was a Regency period romance that, with writing and research, took about 2-1/2 years to complete. As a result, it's also one of my personal favorites.

"Not a Bit Too Far" was my first foray into the LW category. It was my lowest score of the year at 4.53, but it was in LW so I'm not complaining a bit, especially since it was my most viewed story of the year (46.5K views) and helped attract over 100 new followers. It also has the highest number of votes and comments of any of my stories to date.

Finally, while I was able to continue my Old Trunk and my Hammered/Milkmaid series with one new story each, several other stories, including one for each of those series, were delayed and I missed my goal of releasing ten new stories during the year. That was a bit disappointing and explains my "mostly" comment above. Therefore, I've renewed my goal of publishing ten new stories in 2024.