Lifestyle66
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2021
- Posts
- 2,690
You'll receive very good advice from other experienced authors here.Hello all!
Although it's apparently been over four years since I meant to try my hand at writing erotica, judging from the account creation date, I'm now finally getting started. And yes, I've read through the various FAQs and new writer tips, which were helpful. However, I could still use some help figuring out a few things about my first story ideas.
Right now I'm planning on starting out with a multipart story, basically following the main character through a series of experiences as she learns about/explores sex. However, it's not really intended to necessarily be something that everyone reads all of; it won't be plot-heavy enough to be an issue if, say, chapter 4 is about lesbian sex and a reader would rather skip to chapter 5 for anal (or whatever they end up being). Each "chapter" (I'd rather call the individual bits stories, but then what do I call the whole?) will hopefully be able to stand more or less alone, without cliffhangers or the like. I figured this would be a nice starting point because it's flexible enough that I'll be able to explore a variety of topics while I get my toes wet, but I also won't have to necessarily commit to a long project if/when it stops being interesting to me or when life next explodes. It does leave me with a few dilemmas, though.
1. How should I handle the naming? I have an overall series title picked out that seems not to have been used on Lit yet. I'm leaning towards something like "Series Title: Chapter Title." But what about the first entry: should it just be "Series Title?" "Series Title: The Beginning" or something else equally obvious for new readers to find once there are multiple entries (or can I trust people to just get it from the publication dates)?
2. Should the chapters be numbered? On the one hand, it's a nice obvious reading order. On the other hand, it feels like having Series Title, Chapter Title, and a number all in the title is clunky and overdoing it. I'd rather not give up the chapter titles. And since the order shouldn't matter too much, and anyone looking at my author profile can see them all listed with the publication dates (you know, once they exist...), the numbers feel a bit superfluous? I guess I'm assuming that readers will either have started with the first one and kept reading as they come out, or they'll start at whatever the most recent chapter posted is, see that it's a series (I'll include a note to that effect, I think, at the beginning of subsequent chapters), and then if interested go to the author profile. But I have no idea how accurate that assumption is.
3. Categories: wtf? Sorry, that's not a very specific question. Here's my concern. On the one hand, while I'm sure at least some of the chapters would be generic Erotic Couplings material, a lot of them will be more specifically targeted: her first time, her first experience with another woman, her first threesome, etc. Is it a problem for a series to be spread out over multiple categories, or would it be best to keep the entire series together in Erotic Couplings? I can see arguments and advantages for both. I'm especially concerned about what to do with the first chapter. Yes, there's generic two-person cishet sex; however, the main character is only watching from a hiding place, so it seems like it would best fit in Exhibitionism/Voyeur. On the other hand, it's done primarily with the intent of educating the main character, not specifically for the "voyeur experience" or whatever you call it, so I don't know if it really fits in that category. I'm also concerned about limiting the readership by putting the first chapter in a category that gets (I would imagine) significantly less traffic/fewer readers than Erotic Couplings does, or about raising expectations by people who expect the whole series to be E/V stuff because that's how the first chapter is categorized.
I realize I'm probably overthinking the hell out of all of this. I usually do, and even more so when jumping into a new area. Thanks in advance for your help!
But in my own limited experience doing the same thing as you plan (with my "Lifestyle" series):
1. Choose the Series title with the fewest letters, because there's a limit to the total number of characters in the title. A long Series title means fewer letters left for the chapter title.
2. Numbering allows sequencing the chapters in the series, but also reduces the letters left for the chapter title. ie. My "Lifestyle Ch. 11: _____" series left me with reducing the chapter title from "Demons from the Past" or other options to merely "Demons Past".
3. My first four chapters of the series were ALL posted to Erotic Couplings and went from 6K views to 2.7K views, then 2.2K views and finally to 5K views! The main change in that final chapter was the description, which was more erotically suggestive. So, my advice is focus on the titles and descriptions with erotic words, and do NOT try being too subtle.