New to writing, advice, help, guidance, all welcome:)

[CarefulWhisper]

1. Focus, first, on whatever gives you joy in writing stories. Write for your own pleasure and focus on the aspects of this experience that give you pleasure. That may be completely different from what others like.
2. Don't let yourself be kink-shamed by those who don't share your kinks. Almost nobody likes everything.
3. Be realistic about your writing and if it has some holes take some steps through reading, advice, or practice to fill the holes.
4. Don't get down about downvotes and bad comments. We all get them. Focus on the positive.
5. Participate in this forum, keep your eyes, ears, and mind open, and learn from whatever others say, especially on how this site works. It may save some perplexity and confusion.
6. Most of all, just keep writing.

Wow Guys.. im honoured. Havent even been here a day and Im gettimg a great vibe and fantastic guidance. Im glad I made the leap.

 

[Zenith77]

Indeed. That said, I see no picture and your profile under this name has nothing under gender. That's enough for the more knuckle-dragging crowd.

Right, but I don't get any attention on this profile as I only use it for the forum. My author profile shows me to be male, and that's enough to scare them off I guess. Alas.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I've never been there, but I've heard that some people get a nose-bleed south of Oxford. In the movie The Full Monty, the actors put on a Sheffield accent, and it took me a while to understand what they were saying.

Yeah in the U.K. there’s massively varying accents. Birmingham, West Brom, Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Norwich, Bristol, Geordie, Cockney with hugely varying Scottish and Irish accents.

It’s amazing there’s so many differences in such a small county.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Wow Guys.. im honoured. Havent even been here a day and Im gettimg a great vibe and fantastic guidance. Im glad I made the leap.

Also, as you’re probably working out, we rapidly change subject in threads.

In two days time this thread will probably be about how Cornflakes are satanic.

 

[Zenith77]

In two days time this thread will probably be about how Cornflakes are satanic.

Well not now it won't be. I'll have to derail another thread to get that topic discussed.

 

[TxRad]

Yeah, I'm late but welcome to the madhouse and mayhem. Not a bad group to get to know. Some are strange but you will get used to it.

If all else fails, come by the AH cafe and have a cup of coffee or three. Most of us are caffeine powered.

 

[ronde]

Good Morning everyone, hope you are all well.

Just throwing this out there, finally submitted my first piece, waiting for approval.

Any guidance, tips, experience, assistance you would be kind enough to share and offer, I would be grateful.

Good Writing All !

Here are a few things that have worked well for me.

Write what you know or at least do enough research your words will make sense to someone who does. You don't have to be an expert. You just need to know the common words and enough about the experience that readers can identify with your characters.

Let your characters take care of most of the descriptions about other characters and what's happening. They'll do a much better job that you can, and it will make them seem real instead of just cardboard cutouts with names.

Don't obsess on writing everything in infinite detail. Most readers like to imagine, not be spoon fed. Write enough to generate the "feel" and let the reader do the rest.

If you don't get perfect scores, don't think you've somehow failed. Any comments will help you figure out what you need to change on the next story.

Lastly, and most important - keep writing. Writing is like sex. Everybody knows how to do it, but doing it a lot makes it better for everybody concerned.

 

[jehoram]

First, decide what kind of writer you want to be. You can be like me, and write the kind of story you like to read, and don't give a damn about numbers or red H's, or stupid comments from people who find some kink in your story offensive to them.

Or you can analyze other writers' stories carefully and write for the crowd that gets you the highest scores, using the tropes that seem to be the most popular. Make all your characters with prominent cocks and/or tits and indefatigable libidos, and let them go to town. There are more than a few writers like that out there, and I have no quarrel with them. They do what they do, and they do it well, and get their rewards with high scores.

Either way, have fun! You're not getting paid for this writing, so let it be something you do to divert you from Real Life.

 

[SimonDoom]

First, decide what kind of writer you want to be. You can be like me, and write the kind of story you like to read, and don't give a damn about numbers or red H's, or stupid comments from people who find some kink in your story offensive to them.

Or you can analyze other writers' stories carefully and write for the crowd that gets you the highest scores, using the tropes that seem to be the most popular. Make all your characters with prominent cocks and/or tits and indefatigable libidos, and let them go to town. There are more than a few writers like that out there, and I have no quarrel with them. They do what they do, and they do it well, and get their rewards with high scores.

Either way, have fun! You're not getting paid for this writing, so let it be something you do to divert you from Real Life.

I agree with this, but I'll add the wrinkle that you don't have to have one overarching writing philosophy or approach. You can try different approaches. I've done that, and it makes it more fun for me.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Good Morning everyone, hope you are all well.

Just throwing this out there, finally submitted my first piece, waiting for approval.

Any guidance, tips, experience, assistance you would be kind enough to share and offer, I would be grateful.

Good Writing All !

Hi hun,

I’m not really in any position to offer advice as I’m pretty new as well. Then maybe that helps.

In a do what I say, not what I do, sort of way. Try to not get despondent (I’m aware I started a thread about being despondent, thanks for pointing that out). Your best work will be ignored or down-voted, the stuff you threw together will be more successful. It’s social media and social media is the opposite of a meritocracy.

Instead of paying heed to the stupidity of crowds, seek out other authors. Try to form relationships. Listen to suggestions from those whose writing you like.

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback on published stories, or drafts (you might need to PM people with these, or use email if you are comfortable to do so). Have fun writing and try not to take the hoopla too seriously.

Full disclosure: I was close to tears about something today. So it’s OK to get annoyed or upset sometimes. Usually someone will listen.

Oh, and if it ever gets tough, go and award one of my stories five ️s. You will feel so much better for doing so.

Em

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yeah in the U.K. there’s massively varying accents. Birmingham, West Brom, Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Norwich, Bristol, Geordie, Cockney with hugely varying Scottish and Irish accents.

It’s amazing there’s so many differences in such a small county.

That's because England was well developed before 1800, when there were no telephones, telegraph, trains, etc. Probably few people travelled more than fifty miles from their home town. At least it isn't like Eastern Europe, where people speak different languages.

Now that we've digressed this far (sorry CarefulWhisper), did you ever hear Catherine Zeta-Jones talk in her real-life Welsh accent? She is certainly good at doing that "American" voice through an entire movie.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Hi hun,

I’m not really in any position to offer advice as I’m pretty new as well. Then maybe that helps.

In a do what I say, not what I do, sort of way. Try to not get despondent (I’m aware I started a thread about being despondent, thanks for pointing that out). Your best work will be ignored or down-voted, the stuff you threw together will be more successful. It’s social media and social media is the opposite of a meritocracy.

Instead of paying heed to the stupidity of crowds, seek out other authors. Try to form relationships. Listen to suggestions from those whose writing you like.

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback on published stories, or drafts (you might need to PM people with these, or use email if you are comfortable to do so). Have fun writing and try not to take the hoopla too seriously.

Full disclosure: I was close to tears about something today. So it’s OK to get annoyed or upset sometimes. Usually someone will listen.

Oh, and if it ever gets tough, go and award one of my stories five ️s. You will feel so much better for doing so.

Em

I'd say that the readers are here mostly pretty reasonable. They try to give a story a fair shake I think. Sometimes - often - they won't comment at all, even if they do vote. Of course, sometimes it's the subject matter that will bother them. One reader told me why a couple of satires about Dr. Phil flopped. Apparently, Phil is so disliked here that I failed to rip him enough.

 

[gunhilltrain]

First, decide what kind of writer you want to be. You can be like me, and write the kind of story you like to read, and don't give a damn about numbers or red H's, or stupid comments from people who find some kink in your story offensive to them.

Or you can analyze other writers' stories carefully and write for the crowd that gets you the highest scores, using the tropes that seem to be the most popular. Make all your characters with prominent cocks and/or tits and indefatigable libidos, and let them go to town. There are more than a few writers like that out there, and I have no quarrel with them. They do what they do, and they do it well, and get their rewards with high scores.

Either way, have fun! You're not getting paid for this writing, so let it be something you do to divert you from Real Life.

I would agree that you shouldn't try to analyze other stories here. For one thing, what they did to get a high score may be more elusive than it first appears.

I don't think anyone here has mentioned "sweeps." Periodically, the site will go through and eliminate "suspicious" votes, usually ones that are very low but sometimes ones that are high. The criteria they use is not known to us and is probably a site "secret." The point is that you may suddenly see a vote or two disappear, which will probably but not always help you. It seems most common during contests and events.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Can't help you there, I only speak English.

I exaggerated a bit. It does seem to get more comprehensible after the first few minutes. Robert Carlyle, who is actually from Glasgow, seems to be the most intense with it, but it's been a while since I've seen it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Wow Guys.. im honoured. Havent even been here a day and Im gettimg a great vibe and fantastic guidance. Im glad I made the leap.

Other key things everyone wants to know, eventually:

One Lit page is approximately 3,750 words.

A Red H is at least ten votes with an average of 4.5.

Sweeps - refer to Gunhill's post up above, they're conducted at least monthly, and more frequently during Contests. Don't speculate how they might work, but suffice to say, they do. You don't have to have a story in a Contest to get swept, the process goes through the whole data file, not just the more recent stories.

Contests have winners and prize money, Anthology collections don't.

Roughly speaking, you can expect one Vote per hundred Views, one Comment per thousand - but some categories have comment rates far higher, and there are a few categories where the response is tumbleweeds.

Learn your categories!

Don't assume a View means that number have read your story. A View is a click in, but a potential reader might click out in a paragraph or two (my rule of thumb is that maybe twenty percent of those who click into a story will actually read the whole thing).

A story must have at least 750 words to get published, unless it's poetry. We now have an annual 750 Word story collection. They're a good writers' exercise.

There is no known upper limit on story size. The biggest I've seen was 80 Lit pages, about 300,000 words.

The no sex under eighteen rule allows a mention of teenage sex, but a sentence only, no detailed sexual description. See the sticky above. This is a frequent topic for new writers, when they've had a story knocked back - usually it's something innocent that's triggering the vetting process, but often it's people pushing the line. Don't push the line, and everything works out fine.

Forget about legal ages of consent, they're irrelevant. The eighteen year line is a site policy, not negotiable.

Laurel is Kitty Mama. She's da boss, her website, her rules.

Others will chime in, but these are the most frequent Q&A.

 

[Wifetheif]

A thick skin is essential. If you can't handle criticism, writing may not be for you. Seriously consider another category before you post in "Loving Wives" A Nobel prize winner for literature could post a story in "loving wives" and be one-bombed into oblivion. Ignore the nasty comments. Readers are forgiving of typos and misspellings on stories they like but it's best to eliminate them entirely. If you are not cabable of editing your stories or don't have beta reader, Word will read your work back to you. That is excellent at catching typos and dropped words. Take the final story of the web and feed it through Google's Grammarly that will catch what word misses. Commit to writing every day as possible, at least a thousand words. Practice makes perfect.

 

[gunhilltrain]

A thick skin is essential. If you can't handle criticism, writing may not be for you. Seriously consider another category before you post in "Loving Wives" A Nobel prize winner for literature could post a story in "loving wives" and be one-bombed into oblivion. Ignore the nasty comments. Readers are forgiving of typos and misspellings on stories they like but it's best to eliminate them entirely. If you are not cabable of editing your stories or don't have beta reader, Word will read your work back to you. That is excellent at catching typos and dropped words. Take the final story of the web and feed it through Google's Grammarly that will catch what word misses. Commit to writing every day as possible, at least a thousand words. Practice makes perfect.

I think this is the first mention of Grammarly. It's useful (I just have the free version) but it requires some judgment calls on your part. Other people here have other programs they prefer; I'd have to check on that. Scrivener is one, I believe.

If you run it through Grammarly, (or another program) copy and save the output of that with a new title, like simply Fear of Flying, Ch. 02 Grammarly.* That way you'll be sure you did it and that you are using the correct file. You still need to proofread it again afterwards, a couple of times at least. The Lit preview mode is best for that. One thing, I sometimes will make content changes in the Grammarly mode, just because I'm going through it anyway.

Grammarly will automatically save files in their site without you having to save it yourself. If you don't finish a pass, you can just pick it up a day later and get back to where you left off.

* The sequence I use is Grammarly, then into the Lit Submission box next for previewing. So the Grammarly "name" is on the Word or whatever file only.

 

[gunhilltrain]

A thick skin is essential. If you can't handle criticism, writing may not be for you. Seriously consider another category before you post in "Loving Wives" A Nobel prize winner for literature could post a story in "loving wives" and be one-bombed into oblivion. Ignore the nasty comments. Readers are forgiving of typos and misspellings on stories they like but it's best to eliminate them entirely. If you are not cabable of editing your stories or don't have beta reader, Word will read your work back to you. That is excellent at catching typos and dropped words. Take the final story of the web and feed it through Google's Grammarly that will catch what word misses. Commit to writing every day as possible, at least a thousand words. Practice makes perfect.

I usually write or edit something on most days because I'm retired and have the time for it. It becomes a habit after a while. I don't try to write a thousand words a day unless I have some idea on hand. I have a lot of ideas, but I'm not that prolific. Just a brief look at something may be enough for a certain day.

It is surprising (at least to me) how much time editing and proofreading this all takes. Take your time and don't rush it.

 

[Zenith77]

Personally I struggle with artificial targets like '1k words a day'. I'll write nothing for a week then do 14k words the next day. It's too much work to force something if I'm not feeling it, and when I'm feeling it it comes easily. Just my experience.

ETA: I find that if I'm stuck or 'not feeling it' with a particular story, then thinking about it while I do other mundane tasks often gives me ideas. This leads to me wanting to write again. I find this combo of write-pause-think-write makes it flow far more easily than the sit-at-my-desk-staring-a-blank-page-with-only-1k-words-more-to-go approach, which I've also tried in the past.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

A lot of good advice so far. I will only add:

Be patient. Don't post any part of a story until it is completely finished. Avoid the urge to toss the first chapter of a story out to the masses to gauge their interest. Find a few trusted readers or an editor to review your work privately so that you can maintain control over your characters and plot as the story develops.

Abstinence is perfectly acceptable. True, Literotica is predominantly a site where readers come for arousal and to stimulate their kinks, but as long as you place non-erotic content in the proper categories, interested readers will find it.

Be wary of "do it this way or fail" advice, regardless of how well-meaning it might seem. As others have mentioned, this site has one arbitrator of what is acceptable content, and that is Laurel. Content submitted by one author might be accepted while similar content by another author gets rejected. There could be various reasons for this, and it's pointless to guess. If this ever happens, simply send a polite message to Laurel and she'll explain her reasoning.

 

[alohadave]

Don't post any part of a story until it is completely finished. Avoid the urge to toss the first chapter of a story out to the masses to gauge their interest

I don't necessarily agree with this.

Not having a story planned and completed isn't the worst thing if you have an idea of where you want it to go.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I don't necessarily agree with this.

Not having a story planned and completed isn't the worst thing if you have an idea of where you want it to go.

I’ve done both.

I think it depends on the type of story.

Em

 

[MelissaBaby]

I don't necessarily agree with this.

Not having a story planned and completed isn't the worst thing if you have an idea of where you want it to go.

I also disagree. I spent three years writing and publishing my Mary and Alvin series as I went along. Without the feedback I received, chapter by chapter, I would never have finished it, and even if I had, I would not have improved as a writer in all that time.

But, as you said, that takes a great deal of planning. I think I am unusual in my methods, as I never start a story without knowing how it ends. In some cases, I have written the ending first, then worked toward it.

I think of writing a story like it's taking a long road trip, when you know where you are leaving from and you've determined your final destination. You've got a pretty good idea of your route; you figure you'll visit Aunt Maude and Uncle Bernie on the way, and you want to stop at that BBQ joint outside of Kansas City you heard about, but generally, you're open to wandering a bit along the way.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I don't necessarily agree with this.

Not having a story planned and completed isn't the worst thing if you have an idea of where you want it to go.

There are no absolutes.

Some writers do quite well posting as they go, but I think you'll find that these are generally more seasoned authors who are less likely to write themselves into a corner than a newer author would be.

Waiting until the story is complete allows for more control. It allows the author to adapt earlier scenarios to align with what develops later. It allows for characters to not outgrow their earlier personas. Waiting is sound advice for a new author to follow.

 

[gunhilltrain]

A thick skin is essential. If you can't handle criticism, writing may not be for you. Seriously consider another category before you post in "Loving Wives" A Nobel prize winner for literature could post a story in "loving wives" and be one-bombed into oblivion. Ignore the nasty comments. Readers are forgiving of typos and misspellings on stories they like but it's best to eliminate them entirely. If you are not cabable of editing your stories or don't have beta reader, Word will read your work back to you. That is excellent at catching typos and dropped words. Take the final story of the web and feed it through Google's Grammarly that will catch what word misses. Commit to writing every day as possible, at least a thousand words. Practice makes perfect.

The other side of this is: the readers really don't know who you are, for the most part, and really owe you nothing. Thus if you can make a good impression on at least some of them, you are really getting somewhere. (I suppose it's different in creative writing courses, but I've never been in one. Don't they have to reach to each other?) So fear of criticism shouldn't stop you.

By the time I did put something in Loving Wives (I felt it belonged there), I knew it was all bullshit over there.