How much do you share beforehand?

[usable001]

How much do you share, and with whom, when you are writing, and the story isn't done yet?

I glanced at a trio of sentences at the end of chapter four of a novel and said to myself, "Those sentences are a really cool microcosm of the story as a whole." Then it occurred to me that I don't know anyone who would care and wouldn't want to also read the whole thing immediately.

 

[Duil2]

I've chosen not to tell anyone in my family or friend circle that I'm writing erotica and even if I did, they probably wouldn't read it.
I do sometimes send my stories to beta readers or editors found here on Literotica but that's usually when the story's finished.
During writing I tend to use these forums. AH is just the place for that and there are a few threads you could use.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I've made some online friends, people from Lit and similar spaces, that I'll sometimes run things by, and who run things by me. One person in real life knows what I do, but she's not that interested.

Plus, like Duil2 said, some of the threads in AH are about sharing cool things you wrote as you're writing (One Line, Share your Writing Gems, etc) or asking for help (creating a thread about a specific question, or something like How Do We Feel About...? for quick opinions).

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I don't write or publish anything that would embarrass me, so I have several people, including my wife and close friends, who alpha and beta read for me. One of these is a retired Navy Chaplain who has taken to writing and publishing his own stories here.

My stories are not smut-free, but people I know recognize them as fictional works that do not reflect on me or my real-world beliefs/behavior.

I think a lot of others would be surprised at the reception they would receive among people that they know with, "Hey, I'm thinking of writing a rather steamy story. Would you mind taking a look at it for me and give me your thoughts?"

 

[sirhugs]

I'm not telling.
They know who they are.
I've had Lit chums that I've shared with almost from the beginning almost 25 years ago, but the identities have changed over time.
Very few people in my non-Lit life know about this.

 

[NotWise]

People in the AH coffee shop hear way more about my stories than I expect they want to, but I rarely quote the text.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I bounce ideas off @Eosphorus every now and again. We have similar tastes in erotica. Aside from that, not much sharing going on.

 

[Areala-chan]

I have a small cadre of beta readers and friends that I will share WIPs with, and who occasionally share theirs back with me. Mostly they are online, but I have a couple in my offline existence who know what I write and read it as well.

 

[JohnBJohn]

My wife knows that I write here, I had to justify the time I'm spending on the computer. She's read one or two stories with me, but for some reason never managed to finish...

 

[deathlynx]

I post some hints here at AH. Sometimes a bit more than hints. Share Your Writing Gems does sound like a thread that would suit your example, and is somewhere I shared a particularly pithy couple of lines of dialogue that I really appreciated.

 

[ColtonWrites]

I wish I had someone to bounce ideas off of. I do have those moments where I go "oh, man, isn't (x) a good example of (z)?" And there's nobody to share them with.

But that's why I publish!

 

[deathlynx]

I wish I had someone to bounce ideas off of. I do have those moments where I go "oh, man, isn't (x) a good example of (z)?" And there's nobody to share them with.

But that's why I publish!

There are undoubtedly people here (on Lit, if not AH) that would be more than willing to work with you on that. I'm not very familiar with the other forums, but someone can certainly direct you to one where you might be able to post to find someone.

Or, if you find a fellow author who's work you like/respect you could reach out and ask. The later, obviously takes quite a bit of self-confidence and be prepared for people to decline (hopefully politely) as many of us have so much on our plates that we don't really have the time for more than brief brainstorming.

 

[SmilingLez]

I've always been open, so visability is not an issue for me. Erotica is only a tiny slice of my pie. I do thank you for bringing up the topic because it inspired me to write a micro fiction story. For your enjoyment

+++

I see you in those dark corners, hunched over your keyboard at midnight. Terrified of the browser history. The search terms. The words you've committed to a screen.

You've got this whole other life locked away like it might infect everyone around you. Your family. Your friends. Your partner. Gawd forbid they knew what you actually think about. What makes your pulse quicken.

So you write it all down in the shadows, clinical and careful, compartmentalized like a disease you're managing. And the saddest part? You think you're protecting them. You think your silence is love.

But really you're just terrified they'll leave. That they'll see the real you and decide you're not worth staying for. So you keep writing. Keep hiding. Keep telling yourself it's fine, it's fine, it's fine.

All while the thing you created sits there, brilliant and true and completely untouchable. Because admitting it exists means admitting you exist. And that's the real cowardice, isn't it? Not what you write.

That you won't let anyone know you're brave enough to write it at all.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

One of the toughest things about writing (and I assume other creative hobbies in general), is that no one else cares. Especially when you're an amateur.