How did writing spoil reading experience for you?

[AwkwardlySet]

I am grateful that, by and large, it hasn't had any effect on my enjoyment. I write, I professionally correct for publication, and I read for pleasure, and I can switch between the three without any effect. Obviously, my writing could always improve, but any errors in style or content are not due to correcting or reading. Equally, neither writing, nor correcting, has affected my enjoyment of reading. Lucky me, I guess.

Lucky you indeed
I am honestly having trouble finding something I would enjoy reading... I envy the teenage me who thought quality comic books were amazingly well written. Well... they can be decently written actually, it's just that I am not the same person anymore.

 

[32aa]

On the other hand, being a writer makes me appreciate good writing and good storytelling even more than before.

Totally agree!!!

 

[Mogrem]

Many of my stories don't reach the 750 mark. It's sad because they work well just as they are, and adding a lot of fluff just to bring them up to 750 seems counterproductive.

Simple - combine two.

I also think we should have more combined vignettes. If they can tie together in some way then all the better. But it could even just be a theme that ties them together.

For example It's a Small World by @TrampsAnThieves

 

[_Lynn_]

This is something that often crosses my mind when I take a look at some Lit stories, or when I start reading some mainstream novel. I am certain that before I started to write, before I realized I could do it myself, before I understood the process, I was cutting a lot more slack to various authors. I mean, I would often see something that hadn't been done right; I would see that some plot was thin, that some characters were weak and undeveloped, that some worldbuilding was lazy and superficial, but I was always telling myself that I shouldn't be so spoiled and that writing was hard, even when it hadn't been done perfectly.

Good old days. Now, I simply cringe when I see it in mainstream novels or Lit stories. It has spoiled my view of some stories and novels I had previously enjoyed. I think it has also enhanced my enjoyment of the stories and books where those things were done exceptionally well. Last but not least, it has changed my opinion of the first stories I have written. I remember feeling quite proud when I first wrote them. When I go through them now, I often find things that go beyond the grammar issues I knew I had at the start. Clunky sentences, too much exposition, too much detail, problematic pacing... The ideas and certain moments still look good to me but there are things that spoil the experience considerably.

Did the same happen to you as well? Did writing and, let's say, a better understanding of the story-creation process and its nuances, change your perspective and enjoyment of other stories?

Yes. The first time I find a typo/error in a book I'm done with it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I also think we should have more combined vignettes. If they can tie together in some way then all the better. But it could even just be a theme that ties them together.

For example It's a Small World by @TrampsAnThieves

Tie them together in a Series, or a chaptered story, like my

Brooke Works at the Hardware Store

Four x 750 word vignettes, told from alternating points of view.

 

[intim8]

Did writing and, let's say, a better understanding of the story-creation process and its nuances, change your perspective and enjoyment of other stories?

Definitely. Though I've been writing since my age was in the single digits (though only more seriously in the last year or two). But it works both ways. There are some books I appreciate a lot more than I would otherwise.

There's a long standing trope that knowing how the sausage is made works against the awe and majesty of something. Knowing how stars work and how they come to be ruins the awe of the night sky, things like that. I reject that completely. To me, it increases the awe. Same with writing, when reading something worthwhile. Though it has made me more critical of crappy writing. There's a lot of it out there.

 

[LadyLibido]

I can't say my writing has 'spoiled' my reading at all. I was already critical of what I read, long before I started writing regularly.

 

[HeyAll]

Same with me, I go to the Target book section very often and browse the books.

These days I'm really suprised by how basic the writing technique is best sellers. Especially with authors like James Patterson and so forth, it's super basic.

On the flipside, I appreciate fine writing a lot more. Authors like Taylor Jenkins Reid has amazing technique and craftiness.

 

[TheSoaringCrow]

This is something that often crosses my mind when I take a look at some Lit stories, or when I start reading some mainstream novel. I am certain that before I started to write, before I realized I could do it myself, before I understood the process, I was cutting a lot more slack to various authors. I mean, I would often see something that hadn't been done right; I would see that some plot was thin, that some characters were weak and undeveloped, that some worldbuilding was lazy and superficial, but I was always telling myself that I shouldn't be so spoiled and that writing was hard, even when it hadn't been done perfectly.

Good old days. Now, I simply cringe when I see it in mainstream novels or Lit stories. It has spoiled my view of some stories and novels I had previously enjoyed. I think it has also enhanced my enjoyment of the stories and books where those things were done exceptionally well. Last but not least, it has changed my opinion of the first stories I have written. I remember feeling quite proud when I first wrote them. When I go through them now, I often find things that go beyond the grammar issues I knew I had at the start. Clunky sentences, too much exposition, too much detail, problematic pacing... The ideas and certain moments still look good to me but there are things that spoil the experience considerably.

Did the same happen to you as well? Did writing and, let's say, a better understanding of the story-creation process and its nuances, change your perspective and enjoyment of other stories?

To some extent, I find myself being more critical. It takes me out of it when I see overused character tropes, or if the author gets super specific (like measurements of a woman's body), I no longer feel like I can use my own imagination to view the character how I perceive them. They are just forced into being without any room for what I might fantasize about, regarding the character. And, to a certain extent, I get it. As an author of erotica you tend to create characters that turn YOU on, rather than leaving them a little vague for the reader to fill in the blanks, but I mean when you spend at least two paragraphs simply just describing the physical attributes of your female character... I just back out of the story at that point. Grammar has always been a sticking point for me, too, with spelling being the main issue.

When I was in college for Radio/TV/Film, I had an awesome screenwriting class where our big project was to write and re-work a short-film screenplay, and the most valuable lesson I took away from that: natural, flowing character dialog. My god does that make a world of difference in erotica! If I read a story that has well written dialog, I always leave a comment letting the author know how much I appreciated it. Too many go into this weird introspection during a sex scene, and I find myself thinking, "Who the fuck talks like this during sex? Did they think about that before they typed this out?" So, yeah, in a way it has pulled back the curtain on what I can tolerate when I am finding something to read on here.

 

[desecration]

I am certain that before I started to write, before I realized I could do it myself, before I understood the process, I was cutting a lot more slack to various authors.

For me, it was the opposite. I started to have more of an ability to read into what the author was trying to say and less of a concern for mechanics, aesthetics, and awkwardness.

 

[THBGato]

Writing hasn't spoiled the reading experience for me BUT Literotica has. For instance, I was reading a book the other day and I found myself getting discombobulated by the main female point of view character fancying a man and then getting together with him.

I kept reading, expecting a short-haired, smirking butch to turn up on a Harley at any moment and and show her the error of her ways. But no. They stayed together. I was totally weirded out. The story no longer made sense to me.

My wife reminded me that most of the world was, sadly, straight and that perhaps it was time I climb out of the Literotica Lesbian Romance rabbit hole I've been down for the last 4 months. (I've probably read something close to 3 million words worth of LS stories in that time.)

I ignored her, started re-reading Limentina's stories again, and all was once more right with the world.

 

[Jmanchu]

This is something that often crosses my mind when I take a look at some Lit stories, or when I start reading some mainstream novel. I am certain that before I started to write, before I realized I could do it myself, before I understood the process, I was cutting a lot more slack to various authors. I mean, I would often see something that hadn't been done right; I would see that some plot was thin, that some characters were weak and undeveloped, that some worldbuilding was lazy and superficial, but I was always telling myself that I shouldn't be so spoiled and that writing was hard, even when it hadn't been done perfectly.

Good old days. Now, I simply cringe when I see it in mainstream novels or Lit stories. It has spoiled my view of some stories and novels I had previously enjoyed. I think it has also enhanced my enjoyment of the stories and books where those things were done exceptionally well. Last but not least, it has changed my opinion of the first stories I have written. I remember feeling quite proud when I first wrote them. When I go through them now, I often find things that go beyond the grammar issues I knew I had at the start. Clunky sentences, too much exposition, too much detail, problematic pacing... The ideas and certain moments still look good to me but there are things that spoil the experience considerably.

Did the same happen to you as well? Did writing and, let's say, a better understanding of the story-creation process and its nuances, change your perspective and enjoyment of other stories?

Personally, that's part of the reason why I started writing. I've read my fair share of stories(books and shows) that left me unsatisfied in one part, even if it's enjoyable. Or others that the premise was good but I hated the way it was written, or somethings that felt like I wish would have been developed further, serves as inspiration for me for some of my own stories, though most are WIP. And I've noticed that though I'd like to think my writing has gotten better, rereading a lot of times my stories,I go through a similar "oh, I could have done this better... I should have fleshed that part out more... Maybe I focused too much on this part... I could have shortened this or reworded it..." or something like that. I just make peace with the fact that there is no such thing as perfection in any story, mine or anyone else's, just accepting, or even enjoying the flaws as kind of a flair to the writing and focusing on what makes me enjoy it. I see it as it's not how perfect your story is, as much as it is how well-written the writing style and how the story overall is presented. If it's good enough, if you hook them, people can gloss over some of the mistakes or amateurish moments or even enjoy them.

After doing a bit of writing myself, I do notice these things in stories more often, especially with popular fantasy, or japanese anime shows. But overall, it doesn't prevent me from enjoying the parts I like, for the most part. Some turn into guilty pleasures, even if I know the story is kind of cheesy or bad in a way I personally wouldn't like.

An anime I once watched, Overlord is a great example in my mind. It's technically flawed: the characters a lot of them are stereotypical anime cheesy kooky kawaii desu kind of shallow the majority of the time. The magic is very shallow, basically it's not much more than RPG game system attacks instead of a properly fleshed out magic system with lore and depth. Which is a trend in a lot of fantasy and isekai manga and anime that I HATE seeing most of the time. The story itself is mostly shallow as well with some interesting or sort of deep moments(kind of). The main character is all-powerful, basically untouchable, and is surrounded by his cast of adoring subordinates that see him as perfect. And there's so much more I could criticize about it. But somehow, someway, I thoroughly enjoyed that show even its flaws I enjoyed it, despite the fact that I normally hate those kinds of things when I see them in shows or stories in general.

Although, other stories I've read, I notice I'm a lot more critical though, especially with dialogue, if it's just stiff it's hard to enjoy. A lot of stories, online like Literotica and books, to me, is very hard to make myself finish them sometimes.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Although, other stories I've read, I notice I'm a lot more critical though, especially with dialogue, if it's just stiff it's hard to enjoy. A lot of stories, online like Literotica and books, to me, is very hard to make myself finish them sometimes.

I don't even know the number of not only stories but novels too that I abandoned after deeming them too badly written to bother with them. It's not that it didn't happen even before, but after I started getting a grasp on writing, I am much less forgiving than I used to be. I am still to figure out if that is for the better or for the worse.

 

[Jmanchu]

I don't even know the number of not only stories but novels too that I abandoned after deeming them too badly written to bother with them. It's not that it didn't happen even before, but after I started getting a grasp on writing, I am much less forgiving than I used to be. I am still to figure out if that is for the better or for the worse.

Haha, I feel you on that. Sometimes I'm feeling like one of those critics that just see problems with everything when I'm trying to enjoy a simple piece of fantasy or sci-fi. Sometimes I can turn off that "critical brain" and just let myself enjoy the story I'm reading, but sometimes... I just can't read it.

ALTHOUGH, sometimes, if the story is bad enough not only can I read it, but I get a twisted kick out of how bad it is. I've read books that were not only disappointing, but so stupid or bad it's entertaining, that I put myself through reading it just to get a kick out of how crappy the story is as a whole. Though this might be because I'm an enjoyer of really, really bad or overly cheesy movies whether they're ironic parodies of bad movies, or just bad. I love Birdemic, Tommy Wisau's The Room (but anything that is Tommy Wisau you know it's going to be top tier garbage), Sharknado, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra... Dunno if you've seen or heard any of them.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Dunno if you've seen or heard any of them.

I did, yeah.

I remember being very enthusiastic about the movie Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus based on this scene from a trailer.

I approached it as an absurd comedy and it worked perfectly. But I didn't have any enthusiasm for the movies that followed, such as Sharknado, because the joke was getting old.

 

[SimonDoom]

ALTHOUGH, sometimes, if the story is bad enough not only can I read it, but I get a twisted kick out of how bad it is. I've read books that were not only disappointing, but so stupid or bad it's entertaining, that I put myself through reading it just to get a kick out of how crappy the story is as a whole. Though this might be because I'm an enjoyer of really, really bad or overly cheesy movies whether they're ironic parodies of bad movies, or just bad. I love Birdemic, Tommy Wisau's The Room (but anything that is Tommy Wisau you know it's going to be top tier garbage), Sharknado, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra... Dunno if you've seen or heard any of them.

There's definitely something to be said for movies that are so bad they're . . . well, not good, exactly, but entertaining in a purely low-rent, "I can't believe somebody actually filmed that shit" kind of way.

I'm a big fan of Plan 9 from Outerspace, where Bela Lugosi died halfway through filming and they replaced him with an actor who looks nothing like him, so they had him hold his cape in front of his face throughout his scenes.

Birdemic was jaw-droppingly horrible. The birds didn't start attacking until around 40 minutes into the movie, after excrutiating, pointless exposition, and when they did it made no sense and the special effects were the worst ever.

Sharknado, I have a lot of affection for. The scene where Ian Ziering jumps into the flying shark's mouth carrying a chain saw is an all-time classic in brilliant cinematic stupidity.

 

[Jmanchu]

Okay, I'm hooked already. I'm putting Shark vs. Octopus on my "to watch" list. Haha

an all-time classic in brilliant cinematic stupidity.

"all-time classic in brilliant cinematic stupidity." Haha. That's a funny way to put it. That was one of the most entertaining scenes I've seen in a long time. I just loved how they took Jaws, and Twister and made a fucking "Frankenstein" of a movie with it. You know they made fucking 5 or 6 sequels (I'm not sure exactly how many)? I never seen them, but I wanna see the one with time travel in it where they're supposed go to the past to stop the Sharknado's from fucking up the present.

I remember seeing Plan 9 from Outerspace when I was a kid, I think on late night Sci-Fi channel, but I never knew the name of it. but thanks for telling me the name, I finally found it again. I just remembered sitting through it, watching the "zombies," and the cheap Alien spaceships obviously dangling on strings from a fishing pole or something. I don't know if you've ever watched Mystery Science Theatre 3000, but seemed like the kind of movie that would be on that show. Loved that show btw.

I love showing people Birdemic. That awkward dialogue and writing, the cgi fowl that looked like they were made on a cheap laptop with free software, them swipe the crappy low quality birds just floating there with thin coat hangers, and the whole thing being because of "global warming," it's just so beautifully bad.

 

[SimonDoom]

Okay, I'm hooked already. I'm putting Shark vs. Octopus on my "to watch" list. Haha

"all-time classic in brilliant cinematic stupidity." Haha. That's a funny way to put it. That was one of the most entertaining scenes I've seen in a long time. I just loved how they took Jaws, and Twister and made a fucking "Frankenstein" of a movie with it. You know they made fucking 5 or 6 sequels (I'm not sure exactly how many)? I never seen them, but I wanna see the one with time travel in it where they're supposed go to the past to stop the Sharknado's from fucking up the present.

I remember seeing Plan 9 from Outerspace when I was a kid, I think on late night Sci-Fi channel, but I never knew the name of it. but thanks for telling me the name, I finally found it again. I just remembered sitting through it, watching the "zombies," and the cheap Alien spaceships. I don't know if you've ever watched Mystery Science Theatre 3000, but seemed like the kind of movie that would be on that show. Loved that show btw.

I love showing people Birdemic. That awkward dialogue and writing, the cgi fowl that looked like they were made on a cheap laptop with free software, them swipe the crappy low quality birds just floating there with thin coat hangers, and the whole thing being because of "global warming," it's just so beautifully bad.

I've seen Mystery Science Theater 3000 and enjoyed it a lot.

I grew up with low-budget, cheesy science fiction movies on TV shows like Creature Feature. I have so much affection for those movies even though I know they are terrible. "The Crawling Eye." "The Giant Gila Monster." I have fond memories of that crap.

Birdemic set new thresholds of stupid movie-making, though. The attacking bird special effects are possibly the worst of all time, even worse than 50s-era special effects. But equally bad are the long sequences of pointless dialogue that precede the attacking bird scenes.

 

[Jmanchu]

I've seen Mystery Science Theater 3000 and enjoyed it a lot.

I grew up with low-budget, cheesy science fiction movies on TV shows like Creature Feature. I have so much affection for those movies even though I know they are terrible. "The Crawling Eye." "The Giant Gila Monster." I have fond memories of that crap.

Birdemic set new thresholds of stupid movie-making, though. The attacking bird special effects are possibly the worst of all time, even worse than 50s-era special effects. But equally bad are the long sequences of pointless dialogue that precede the attacking bird scenes.

Science Theatre 3000 was the shit growing up for me. I think the 50's were the golden era of crap movies.

Yeah, Birdemic looked like it could have been edited on Windows Movie Maker, CGI included. The first time I saw it, I thought it was made to be just intentionally bad, but apparently the director was serious about trying to make it a good movie.

They really lowered the bar with that, the stupid plot, the crap romance, dumb office talk, and global warming being the reason the birds to attack for whatever reason), the scene of them swiping at the "birds" with coat hangers, etc.

 

[ClaireDescending]

Joke’s on y’all. I’ve always been a writer, ever since I was a little kid. I’d write little books and bind them, started writing full books as a teen, still write books. It’s the #1 thing I’m known for. I don’t bother with crap. I’ve seen too many authors who try to claim shit like “grammar doesn’t matter, you do you” as an excuse to pass off poor writing as legitimate art. I hold the books I read to the same standard I hold for myself for my published books.

 

[ClaireDescending]

So now, when I see authors who obviously didn't bother, but just went back to the same stock tropes and cardboard characters without apparently trying to bring anything new, I get exasperated. Even though it still may be a well executed story that pushes the buttons most readers (including maybe my earlier self) are looking for.

No one can convince me that a lot of writers like the idea of seeing their names on books more than they like writing them. There are so many formulas out there what will even tell you how many pages should be dedicate to “dark night of the soul” and such that people don’t have to make much effort anymore. It makes it harder to find that cream that should be at the top.

 

[32aa]

As far as reading posted stories here on Lit... it's made me less tolerant of poorly written stories. I can handle punctuation goof, God knows I've made my share. But poorly written plots.

Maybe, it's just me.