Do people really want to read slowburns?

[calmlikeabomb]

The right audience will put up with a simmering heat as long as you write it well.

Source: my longest story (The Courtesan in Red) has very few views, but pretty decent ratings.

Write the story you want to write. Write the story you want your readers to read. The rest is gravy.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

There is a hall of fame slow burn story on here I've tried to read so many times ..just can't do it. It's like .....Enough already!!!!!

Which one?

 

[SpecterNecter]

Which one?

A mother's worry. The story keeps kind of repeating itself as well. You feel like your stuck in a loop. Idk how it is rated as high as it is.

 

[APilgrimSquare]

It depends what we mean by "slow burn." 50k words of intense gazing before the long-telegraphed-never-in-doubt sex finally happens is not all that interesting. Establishing stakes and misdirecting the reader / creating uncertainty can be interesting.

I probably write more smut than I read these days, but when I do read it, I want the concept established quickly and my fantasies to be immediately engaged. That doesn't mean getting right to the fucking. But endless pages of slice-of-life and descriptions of endless, unfulfilled wanting for the love interest isn't what I'm looking for on Literotica.

 

[Statius]

Good question. Because novels were what pulled me into writing. My first ever story written was an 80,000-word long saga about a sailor who is shipwrecked and stranded on an island and stumbles upon a mermaid mother-daughter duo. The first 20k was about the drama on the ship, with many plot and sub-plots. It was fun writing the story, NGL. But I find strokers to be a more sophisticated, more difficult-to-write form of erotica. An ideal to strive for. And, to this day, I struggle to write strokers.

Really? I find strokers to be easy, low hanging fruit; it's what I've almost exclusively written up until recently; incredibly hard to break away from actually. The premise of a stroker doesn't have to be complicated, or even realistic, you can almost make it as preposterous as you want because the stroke reader isn't concerned, they just want the sex to be hot and the focus. Like a porn movie. Sure it's better if the premise is realistic/ relatable, but the jump from an everyday situation to unrealistic sex doesn't have to have a realistic, semi rational build up.

 

[onehitwanda]

When I have time to read, I want it to be something thought-provoking, something that touches me deeply. ( Shut up @Jackie.Hikaru )

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Why not just infuse the 'slow burn' with bits of kink to keep everyone happy? I know there are some on here that think their 'art' can't be compromised but if their 'art' isn't read then it's just a lot of nothing.

That's difficult. A large chunk of the readership will scroll over extended sections of plot to get to the sex. If they have to do too much of that, it's a nope or a downvote.

You can't please everyone. There is no compromise. You just have to tell the story that you feel should be told.

But ... if you are writing just to be popular and get scores, just write strokers. Not that you can't do that with plot stories and slowburns, but it's far easier with fap sheets in hot categories like Incest, E/V, etc. This will build you a following much quicker.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Really? I find strokers to be easy, low hanging fruit; it's what I've almost exclusively written up until recently; incredibly hard to break away from actually. The premise of a stroker doesn't have to be complicated, or even realistic, you can almost make it as preposterous as you want because the stroke reader isn't concerned, they just want the sex to be hot and the focus. Like a porn movie. Sure it's better if the premise is realistic/ relatable, but the jump from an everyday situation to unrealistic sex doesn't have to have a realistic, semi rational build up.

Yup, the pizza man deliver'eth and he has a surprise in the box. ; ) 5 stars! 5 stars! 5 stars!

 

[SpecterNecter]

That's difficult. A large chunk of the readership will scroll over extended sections of plot to get to the sex. If they have to do too much of that, it's a nope or a downvote.

You can't please everyone. There is no compromise. You just have to tell the story that you feel should be told.

But ... if you are writing just to be popular and get scores, just write strokers. Not that you can't do that with plot stories and slowburns, but it's far easier with fap sheets in hot categories like Incest, E/V, etc. This will build you a following much quicker.

I always enjoy the condescension. "If you are writing just to be popular" as if your writing is on some higher ethereal plane by being unpopular. As if writing to the masses is demeaning to you which means you are soooooo very special.

 

[Statius]

Yup, the pizza man deliver'eth and he has a surprise in the box. ; ) 5 stars! 5 stars! 5 stars!

It is possible to write a stroker with an original premise and story, I have several. I just keep it light hearted and fun. Lots of humor and jokes; try to turn semi realistic situations into something they would never become in reality. Using tropes without manipulating them is boring, but you can change that with engaging characters, off beat humor, a twist here and there, they can still be fun and entertaining.

 

[big_cane_sugar]

In the romance category, slow-burns can do very well.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I always enjoy the condescension. "If you are writing just to be popular" as if your writing is on some higher ethereal plane by being unpopular. As if writing to the masses is demeaning to you which means you are soooooo very special.

I'm not being condescending. Many writers write for this and there's nothing wrong with that. The most popular writer on the site silkstockinglover readily admits it. She's really cool that way, very grounded and self aware as an artist. She has no delusions. That's probably why she enjoys her craft and her time here so much more than most of us.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

It is possible to write a stroker with an original premise and story, I have several. I just keep it light hearted and fun. Lots of humor and jokes; try to turn semi realistic situations into something they would never become in reality. Using tropes without manipulating them is boring, but you can change that with engaging characters, off beat humor, a twist here and there, they can still be fun and entertaining.

Absolutely you can. Most don't though. That's all right. It's a free site where anyone can contribute.

 

[Statius]

Absolutely you can. Most don't though. That's all right. It's a free site where anyone can contribute.

There's definitely a challenge in taking a trope or just writing any stroker really, and trying to make it somewhat interesting or different. It's a good way for a new writer to get their feet wet and gain experience; also think it's a good way to ground yourself if you're like me and you get in over your head with your ambitions. I'm trying to change how and what I write and that's been challenging to say the least, so there's still some elements of stroker simplicity in my WIPs.

 

[AlexBailey]

Slow burns and quick trysts are both things that happen in real life to real people. Mimesis is a legitimate thing for creative writing. You can even overlap both styles within a narrative.

My first wife and I hooked up the night we met, then got married, had a kid, and got divorced within two years.

My current wife and I have spent years looking back and finding new memories of times we crossed paths and interacted for nearly a decade before we even knew each other’s names. When we finally started hanging out we were both commiserating our recent breakups. Our first kiss was nearly ten years in the making.

I like both types of stories. Which one I go for on any given time depends on my mood and available time.

It would be nice if story length was shown in the lists before you click on them. I check that first thing and often click right out if it isn’t the length I’m looking for. That one feature is responsible for a lot of story ‘views’ that don’t become ‘reads’.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

There's definitely a challenge in taking a trope or just writing any stroker really, and trying to make it somewhat interesting or different. It's a good way for a new writer to get their feet wet and gain experience; also think it's a good way to ground yourself if you're like me and you get in over your head with your ambitions. I'm trying to change how and what I write and that's been challenging to say the least, so there's still some elements of stroker simplicity in my WIPs.

I'm always pushing myself to write something new and different to what I've written before.

 

[Erozetta]

I have to say that my favorite thing is when I write what I consider a stroker and people in the comments call it a slow burn, but it's under 20k words.

Or when people say "I normally skip the (sex or narration, I've had both comments) but..." on my stories. So... at least a few times I've convinced a couple of people who normally like strokers to read and enjoy a slow burn, and people who normally like slow burns to read and enjoy a stroker.

People here like to read. They always have preferences, but most aren't so set in their ways that they can't or won't read something else when it strikes them. Don't be afraid to take chances on writing all the things.

At some point, I will write a slow-burn stroker and confuse the fappability out of everyone who reads it.

 

[big_cane_sugar]

a slow-burn stroker

They have pills now that'll cure that.

 

[Erozetta]

They have pills now that'll cure that.

I wonder how many people on Viagra are on fairly routine antibiotics for burning sensations.

 

[shewantsmore]

I enjoy the slow starts, building up a story ,starting slow but over many chapters the characters are fleshed out

 

[Statius]

I have to say that my favorite thing is when I write what I consider a stroker and people in the comments call it a slow burn, but it's under 20k words.

Or when people say "I normally skip the (sex or narration, I've had both comments) but..." on my stories. So... at least a few times I've convinced a couple of people who normally like strokers to read and enjoy a slow burn, and people who normally like slow burns to read and enjoy a stroker.

People here like to read. They always have preferences, but most aren't so set in their ways that they can't or won't read something else when it strikes them. Don't be afraid to take chances on writing all the things.

At some point, I will write a slow-burn stroker and confuse the fappability out of everyone who reads it.

That's called writing ability! You have it, some of us to a lesser degree, but we do try, or are trying.

 

[Britva415]

Slow burn is gradual evolution

Exactly. It has to evolve (burn).

Scene-setting, backstory, world building, atmosphere evoking, scenario description are all fine but if they aren't doing two things then they aren't burning:

They have to establish tension and create desire in the reader for resolution, and, they have to advance the plot/ action/ evolution.

When they're only there to "make the story richer" but aren't actual story happenings, that's no-burn.

 

[Britva415]

I always enjoy the condescension. "If you are writing just to be popular"

This is hilarious and it would be ironic if it weren't so asinine. I put that person on ignore a long time ago for the shit they give people for not striving to "be popular."

Someone who wants to have it both ways, it seems.

 

[MrPixel]

Slow burns? If there's an engaging story, or engaging characters, I'm with that. If it's page after page after friggin' page of neuroses and anxieties, I'll bail. I was reading a series like that which is otherwise well-written, but after eight chapters of, "Are they going to do it, or aren't they?" I gave up.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

This is hilarious and it would be ironic if it weren't so asinine. I put that person on ignore a long time ago for the shit they give people for not striving to "be popular."

Someone who wants to have it both ways, it seems.

Yeah, you got me in tears. (eyeroll) Fuck you too.