How often do you enjoy reading a new story on Lit?

[AwkwardlySet]

I've been meaning to ask this for some time to see if it's only me... How often can you say that you've read a NEW story on Lit and found it enjoyable? It doesn't have to be anything spectacular but just that you enjoyed it, titillation or not?

I am really curious to hear other people's impressions. Since I haven't been writing for quite a while, I usually have the time to check out new stories in the categories that interest me every few days, often even every day as I tend to browse through them quickly. Using category, length, and tags, it doesn't take long before I really thin out my selection, and that's without having read a single word. Then, out of those few selected I usually read a few paragraphs, often more than that actually, as many authors have a problem with the early info dump, and decide if I'm going to stick till the end or not.
So, considering Lit's output of 150-200 stories each day on average, I go through a couple of thousand stories monthly. And out of all those stories I can say that I found maybe one story enjoyable. Sometimes not even that. If I had to guess my ratio of browsed new stories vs those I enjoyed, I'd say it's around 5000:1.
That's kinda fucked up .

You?

 

[Deleted member 6789170]

Weekly

 

[lovecraft68]

I fall under the group that rarely reads stories because I try to focus what time I have on mine. That, and if I'm in the middle of a story, reading another author can screw with me because I get their voice stuck in my head.

When I do read something, its usually from the feedback forum.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

1-3 times/week.

-Rocco

 

[THBGato]

5-6 times a week if we are talking brand new (i.e. published that week).

However, I'm still finding plenty of older stories I like that are new to me. Including those, the number probably goes up to 30+ (I've commented on 50 stories in the last 7 days).

 

[StillStunned]

I fall under the group that rarely reads stories because I try to focus what time I have on mine. That, and if I'm in the middle of a story, reading another author can screw with me because I get their voice stuck in my head.

Same here. The more I write, the less I read.

Part of it might be that my attention span has shrunk to the size of a gnat's genitals in the winter.

 

[lovecraft68]

Same here. The more I write, the less I read.

Part of it might be that my attention span has shrunk to the size of a gnat's genitals in the winter.

I used to read multiple novels a week from my early teens up until my thirties where it was still at least one a week. I started writing and my reading dropped to short story collections, then just about nothing at all.

I joke I spent years absorbing countless words and the last decade I've been trying to purge them

As for attention span, I feel you. It's really the internet and instant gratification and how much is out there. My "tv" viewing these days are short clips on you tube rather than full movies which I rarely watch anymore.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I fall under the group that rarely reads stories because I try to focus what time I have on mine. That, and if I'm in the middle of a story, reading another author can screw with me because I get their voice stuck in my head.

Yeah, I did the same when I was actually in the middle of writing, not so much because of other people's voices to be honest, but because of the time investment needed. I like long stories only and yeah, reading them takes time. It was precious time back then.

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't read nearly as much erotica as I did before I started writing, but I still find time to read stories now and then. I've developed a pretty good feel for identifying stories I think I will like, so I'd say my "success" rate in finding stories I enjoy is much higher than the OP's. I can't give a number because I don't have a regular reading schedule but I enjoy a fair number of the stories I read. My taste is rather broad. I'm not overly picky about the subject matter.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I never read new stories.

They are too often the partial submission of a longer story. So, if the title or description sounds interesting to me, I will favorite the story and check back on it until I see that it either remains a stand-alone tale or the rest of it has been published.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

I read quite a lot but not very much on Lit. It's kinda hard sorting the wheat from chaff if I'm honest. I'm also a pedant when it comes to grammar and punctuation. The odd 'you' for 'your' I can gloss over but it doesn't take too many before I have to call a halt.

 

[drobert44]

I read quite a lot but not very much on Lit. It's kinda hard sorting the wheat from chaff if I'm honest. I'm also a pedant when it comes to grammar and punctuation. The odd 'you' for 'your' I can gloss over but it doesn't take too many before I have to call a halt.

Grammar and punctuation are sooooooooooooooo gone!

 

[alohadave]

Every day. I check the new list every day and usually find several stories to read.

Usually it's a mix of new stories and new chapters. If the new chapter is something I haven't read yet, I go to the first chapter and read from there.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

Grammar and punctuation are sooooooooooooooo gone!

Not for me they're not!

 

[drobert44]

Not for me they're not!

I know, and we all know that you are judged by how you write and spell.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

I know, and we all know that you are judged by how you write and spell.

I work at a university. Comes with the job

 

[StillStunned]

I know, and we all know that you are judged by how you write and spell.

Not necessarily, but for lots of readers poor spelling and grammar can diminish their enjoyment in a story. Anything that makes a reader pause and wonder what the author meant breaks their immersion. If it happens too often, they lose their sense of engagement with the story.

I'm not saying grammar has to be perfect (it's fiction we're writing, after all), or that the occasional typo is a dealbreaker, but too much of it will lose you your readers.

 

[yowser]

It's like panning for gold, or archeology. Good stuff arrives (and I love a sweet find) but there is a lot of debris before discovery. A huge percentage are truly dismal, and the first few paragraphs are inevitably indicators, so I do a lot of skimming on new offerings.

Judging by my comments history, I run across a good one about once a week.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It's like panning for gold, or archeology. Good stuff arrives (and I love a sweet find) but there is a lot of debris before discovery. A huge percentage are truly dismal, and the first few paragraphs are inevitably indicators, so I do a lot of skimming on new offerings.

Judging by my comments history, I run across a good one about once a week.

That's very close to my own experience. I understand that my taste contributes to the abysmal incidence of enjoyable stories - my kinks aren't very popular, but still, a good deal of new stories really are quite bad objectively.
I wonder if there is any dependence on kinks and themes though? Are those readers who read, say, LW, TG, or IR, the categories that I never read, more lucky when it comes to the quality of writing? I've often wondered that.

 

[burgwad]

I’m in LC68’s camp. I read Lit stories very infrequently, and then usually only from a handful of authors I trust. It leads me to feeling extremely self-conscious and hypocritical whenever trying to promote my own stuff around here. (My latest just dropped today, fwiw. Forgive me.)

But unlike LC68, I still love reading as a pastime. Nothing recharges my creative battery like reading.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

I wonder if there is any dependence on kinks and themes though? Are those readers who read, say, LW, TG, or IR, the categories that I never read, more lucky when it comes to the quality of writing? I've often wondered that.

I think the audience for Romance is quite particular. They’re looking for an HEA and anything that takes them out of that bubble is a no-no. It’s one of the only times anything I’ve written was complimented as being of a ‘professional standard’. The piece was co-authored with @Erozetta, though. It was probably her writing that was professional, I just filled in the gaps

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I think the audience for Romance is quite particular. They’re looking for an HEA and anything that takes them out of that bubble is a no-no. It’s one of the only times anything I’ve written was complimented as being of a ‘professional standard’. The piece was co-authored with @Erozetta, though. It was probably her writing that was professional, I just filled in the gaps

Yeah, I know there are specific expectations in every category that the author is supposed to fulfill
But I was more asking along the lines of any specific category or theme having a better average quality of writing in comparison to most others? Obviously, this is something that those who have broad reading interests could possibly answer.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

@yowser had the right of it. It really is like panning for gold. I was lucky enough to discover writers like JCMcNeilly fairly early on but I quickly discovered how much dross there is and that's put me off taking a chance on clicking at random. I've had a couple of cracking writers recommended to me and that's been far more productive

 

[Rob_Royale]

I follow a fair number of writers and they keep my reading list full with new stuff. I don't read as much as I did before my job change, but two or three a week now.

 

[alohadave]

Are those readers who read, say, LW, TG, or IR, the categories that I never read, more lucky when it comes to the quality of writing? I've often wondered that.

The busier categories simply have more to sift through. I don't think the proportion of good to bad is much different, but with more volume, you can find more good ones.