Pink Orchid: Story Event for Women-Centric Erotica - Official Support Thread

[gunhilltrain]

I appreciate your bluntness ... this time. I want to learn to write better stories.

But your previous complaints about my story focused on criticizing my female character as manipulating and overcontrolling, not about the quality of the writing.

I don't think he was saying that you can't write about strippers or strip clubs but did it fit in with the theme of the event? I don't know and I'm not going to attempt an answer. By the way, you might want to check out some of the videos by Mark Laita, who has become a present-day version of Studs Terkel, perhaps. He's interviewed some real strippers (among several thousand other people) and, not surprisingly, there is no such thing as a "typical" stripper (or anyone else for that matter).

Mark Laita interview of Nancy

 

[Lifestyle66]

I don't think he was saying that you can't write about strippers or strip clubs but did it fit in with the theme of the event? I don't know and I'm not going to attempt an answer. By the way, you might want to check out some of the videos by Mark Laita, who has become a present-day version of Studs Terkel, perhaps. He's interviewed some real strippers (among several thousand other people) and, not surprisingly, there is no such thing as a "typical" stripper (or anyone else for that matter).

Mark Laita interview of Nancy

My thought was some people would appreciate a strong female character taking control and enjoying herself in a sexual context, and in that regard, I thought it fit the event. But apparently my character doesn't appeal to everyone, with some finding her manipulative and overbearing. I'm beginning to believe (beside my obviously poor writing style) that my female character wasn't growing in that story. She did the same thing as a HS grad for her boyfriend, then 30 years later was doing it on a dare by her husband. The one thing mentioned in the story in which she DID grow/change was her going down on the other woman. But that too doesn't seem to be an obvious growth in her as a character.

I have talked to strippers, and much of the dialog I wrote actually occurred between my wife and the three strippers at a club. (The one was fascinated with my wife's chest, and No, my wife didn't really get onstage or go to the showers with the stripper. I didn't pay to get our son out of sight long enough.) The whole "bucket list, strip club" item comes from my wife/muse. But the characteristics of the wife in my stories comes from my muse. It makes writing easier when I have an example to ponder. ("Would she really say something like that? Of course, so go ahead and write it!)

One female reader made the comment that she'd always wanted to try being a stripper. So, my story in this event found at least one fan.

I have learned from this writing event that I need to review my series Chapter 1 to better define WHY Jan acts the way she does with regard to being manipulative, controlling, and enjoying sex. (Pondering that she loses a much older brother in a car accident, her mother has a breakdown when she's still very young, and she grows learning to "life's too short, enjoy it while you can" attitude.) It might make her a more relatable character in the later chapters.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I have no problem believing that. At least in the US, we are told that no matter how strong a woman is, she’s still basically submissive to men sexually. Unless she’s a Domme, and then she’s fetishized.

...and in many cases she is still providing a service to a guy who's calling the shots. Being "in charge" within the scene doesn't make her in charge in the bigger picture.

Also, it’s Literotica, and you gotta get to the wanking part, and the more time you spend on building a good character, the more risk you have of losing your audience.
So there’s a fair amount of baggage going into it.

I worried about this a lot when I started, but eventually I went "fuck it, I'm going to write what I like even if most people find it slow and dull", and I was pleasantly surprised by how many people are willing to read that kind of thing. The "Lit" part counts for as much as the "erotica".

 

[MelissaBaby]

The "Lit" part counts for as much as the "erotica".

The should be posted across the top of every page.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The "Lit" part counts for as much as the "erotica".

It's what pulled me to the site in the first place.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It's what pulled me to the site in the first place.

Well, at my age, I've begun to accept that the world doesn't work the way we wish it would and it never will. Who among us can even say how it should work in the first place? Some of the stuff on this site is pure porn - and not even interesting porn - but that's to be expected on a site that has tens of thousands (?) of unpaid and basically unedited amateurs scribbling away. (It's pretty much the same on the two other sites I know of.) If they are happy and some of their readers are happy, then so be it.

 

[NotWise]

The "Lit" part counts for as much as the "erotica".

There's certainly an audience here for more literary erotica, but if that's all Lit offered, then the readership would probably smaller. A lot of the most-viewed stories are quite short -- some less than a full Lit page.

 

[Lovecraft_Lore]

There's certainly an audience here for more literary erotica, but if that's all Lit offered, then the readership would probably smaller. A lot of the most-viewed stories are quite short -- some less than a full Lit page.

There is a large group who just want things like baby sitter wank stories. There are so many stories with plot holes or like my April fools, the story does not even have a coherent plot, yet it still got about 25K reads.


If you title a story 'Hermione Granger f**** a Minotaur' and it would get at least 10k views. It does not have a plot, it does not need a plot. It needs less than a paragraph of set up before the sex starts.

The first few stories I wrote on here, I put real time and effort into having a fun interesting plot, a well paced story, gave both the male and female agency.

Now I just spit ball ideas out there... lesbian fist fight with Mall Santa; check....cultists, coffee, and virgins; check...MILFS using nets to capture men for breeding; check... a murder at a party with minotaur strippers, check... something I wrote while drunk about gay guys training naked with Yoda and accidently posted instead of saving as a work in progress; check... stories where magic is real but most people completely suck at it and now some guy has a haunted dick or they try to raise a succubus but get killed in the first paragraph. Th point being that for at least some people plot matters less than good spelling and having a decent sex scene they can get off to.

 

[gunhilltrain]

There is a large group who just want things like baby sitter wank stories. There are so many stories with plot holes or like my April fools, the story does not even have a coherent plot, yet it still got about 25K reads.


If you title a story 'Hermione Granger f**** a Minotaur' and it would get at least 10k views. It does not have a plot, it does not need a plot. It needs less than a paragraph of set up before the sex starts.

The first few stories I wrote on here, I put real time and effort into having a fun interesting plot, a well paced story, gave both the male and female agency.

Now I just spit ball ideas out there... lesbian fist fight with Mall Santa; check....cultists, coffee, and virgins; check...MILFS using nets to capture men for breeding; check... a murder at a party with minotaur strippers, check... something I wrote while drunk about gay guys training naked with Yoda and accidently posted instead of saving as a work in progress; check... stories where magic is real but most people completely suck at it and now some guy has a haunted dick or they try to raise a succubus but get killed in the first paragraph. Th point being that for at least some people plot matters less than good spelling and having a decent sex scene they can get off to.

You can always "un-post" it by opening the file and making some changes - it goes back to drafts. It usually takes a few days for a story to go live, so even if you were hungover the next day you should have had time to stop publication and get back to working on it. Or maybe you forgot what you had done?

 

[MelissaBaby]

There's certainly an audience here for more literary erotica, but if that's all Lit offered, then the readership would probably smaller. A lot of the most-viewed stories are quite short -- some less than a full Lit page.

I have never seen anyone suggest "more literary erotica" was all that Lit should offer. On the other hand, I've read many posts telling us that it didn't belong here at all.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I thought I DID present my female character in a way that was adequate, but the only negative comments I received attacked that female character, and not the quality of my writing. The story is actually my highest rated (not a Red H, but close).

Upon further reflection of O's last post, would it be more correct for me to think a better critique of my own story (from the Pink Orchid POV): my female character doesn't grow?

She's a strong-willed (manipulative and overcontrolling per O) and goes forth to always get what she wants. In the husband's POV, they play off each other as equals, and the story (merely) has her fulfilling one of her fantasies. But there's no growth! She's merely there.

EDIT: I was presenting a story where the female was proud of who she was and takes and gets what she wants. But it seems I might have missed the mark, by not having a female who overcame challenges to become better.

My apologies, I said that I had not read your story, and I realize that I did.

I am generally pretty critical of stories that contain misrepresentations about strippers, but I had no problems with anything you wrote.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Was there a general sweep on the Pink Orchid stories?

There was a sweep on mine, got a small bump, from 4.82 to 4.84

 

[NotWise]

Was there a general sweep on the Pink Orchid stories?

There was a sweep on mine, got a small bump, from 4.82 to 4.84

We had the April Fools Day contest sweep. Contest sweeps usually catch other stories as well as the contest stories. I lost two votes off my Pink Orchid story, but the score didn't budge.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have never seen anyone suggest "more literary erotica" was all that Lit should offer. On the other hand, I've read many posts telling us that it didn't belong here at all.

I have one non-erotic story that did better than I had expected (forty-five people voted on it). I also have some pieces in Reviews and Essays that have little or nothing to do with sexual issues, and those did pretty well too. So I assume there must be some audience here that will accept different kinds of subject matter.

 

[Lovecraft_Lore]

Yeah, there was some type of sweep. One of mine went from 3.2 to 3.76 while losing a bunch of votes.

 

[stickygirl]

Yeah, there was some type of sweep. One of mine went from 3.2 to 3.76 while losing a bunch of votes.

Does that mean you got trolled?

 

[Lovecraft_Lore]

Does that mean you got trolled?

I think it is more my writing style. People either love it or hate it, with a large number who hate it.

 

[stickygirl]

So I wrote a stand-alone second chapter to my Under the Knife PO entry that picks up the threads of my 750 story. The first chapter is in the line awaiting the EDIT moderation but will feature more girl on girl action because clearly the L category is supposed to be running with girl juice or else it gets low scores. I need to reappraise my typical lesbian reader to tankgirl and inks because I'm writing romance, not scissors but then again, I suspect most readers are men.

I've never shamelessly promoted a story before so is this how you do it? I wouldn't have bothered but Ch02 disappeared from view with only 7 effing readers. I clearly need more followers. Oh, Ch02 is straight - a man and a woman... is that how we describe straight now? I get confused.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I had a draft which was intended for the Orchid event, but it just didn't quite work (and many thanks to Omen and JuanSize who helped articulate the problems).

I've revamped the story which is now 5 chapters, being posted daily so 1 and 2 are up already, called Educating Laura.

To some extent our narrator is swept along by opportunities, but she's also very much in control of what she agrees to.

At some point there should be another five or so chapters, making the current set into the first story arc of a novel, but don't get your hopes up for it to be this year...

 

[Lovecraft_Lore]

So I wrote a stand-alone second chapter to my Under the Knife PO entry that picks up the threads of my 750 story. The first chapter is in the line awaiting the EDIT moderation but will feature more girl on girl action because clearly the L category is supposed to be running with girl juice or else it gets low scores. I need to reappraise my typical lesbian reader to tankgirl and inks because I'm writing romance, not scissors but then again, I suspect most readers are men.

I've never shamelessly promoted a story before so is this how you do it? I wouldn't have bothered but Ch02 disappeared from view with only 7 effing readers. I clearly need more followers. Oh, Ch02 is straight - a man and a woman... is that how we describe straight now? I get confused.

It is the title. 'Under the knife' is not a sexy sex story. The best sex story ever would get few reads if titled 'paper cut to the eyeball'.

 

[stickygirl]

It is the title. 'Under the knife' is not a sexy sex story. The best sex story ever would get few reads if titled 'paper cut to the eyeball'.

Lol! omg, you're quite right! Oh well too late now, but a lesson learned I guess. I'm guilty of being too stuck with a character series titled 'Under blah blah blah'. I'll maybe refer to you for advice next time around, if you're up for that? Maybe 'Red Velvet Finger Pouch' next time?!

 

[stickygirl]

Happy dance! My edited version of Under the Knife Ch01 has been published with more hot sex. I can finally put that to bed and move on. Phew!

 

[gunhilltrain]

So I wrote a stand-alone second chapter to my Under the Knife PO entry that picks up the threads of my 750 story. The first chapter is in the line awaiting the EDIT moderation but will feature more girl on girl action because clearly the L category is supposed to be running with girl juice or else it gets low scores. I need to reappraise my typical lesbian reader to tankgirl and inks because I'm writing romance, not scissors but then again, I suspect most readers are men.

I've never shamelessly promoted a story before so is this how you do it? I wouldn't have bothered but Ch02 disappeared from view with only 7 effing readers. I clearly need more followers. Oh, Ch02 is straight - a man and a woman... is that how we describe straight now? I get confused.

You must have gotten more than seven views; anything on here gets a few hundred at least. Do you mean seven comments? That is about the only way one can be sure it's been read by somebody, whether they are anonymous or not. Seven comments are above average for Lit.

 

[stickygirl]

You must have gotten more than seven views; anything on here gets a few hundred at least. Do you mean seven comments? That is about the only way one can be sure it's been read by somebody, whether they are anonymous or not. Seven comments are above average for Lit.

No I don't think so and when I wrote that comment it had only a handful of views. It has since had three comments and finally had enough votes ( ten I believe ) for it to get a rating. I was puzzled because I'd never had a story disappear so quickly, but I suspect it was a really busy time for new stories appearing, so it quickly dropped down the list below the newer ones without scores or comments being applied.
I suppose it's good news for the site that so many stories are being posted, but it did feel like a waste of effort.

 

[gunhilltrain]

No I don't think so and when I wrote that comment it had only a handful of views. It has since had three comments and finally had enough votes ( ten I believe ) for it to get a rating. I was puzzled because I'd never had a story disappear so quickly, but I suspect it was a really busy time for new stories appearing, so it quickly dropped down the list below the newer ones without scores or comments being applied.
I suppose it's good news for the site that so many stories are being posted, but it did feel like a waste of effort.

That's the way it is on the other two sites I know about. You have maybe a week to ten days when it's visible. After that, everything falls off. I have managed to get more than a hundred votes on about four stories here, but that is unusual.

Online erotica stories are, well, like a commodity. It's fungible is another way to describe it.