Some readers don't recognize a stroker when they read one

[Kasumi_Lee]

My most recent story is a Loving Wives stroker called Asian Wives Breeding Party, which should tell you everything you need to know about the plot - to the extent it has one. The response was surprisingly positive, given the reputation of the LW crowd, but two recent comments made me laugh (quoted verbatim below):

It was an okay story, but gor me it seemed a little antiseptic. I would have preferred a little more character development and physical description of the wine, husbandss and studs.

In retrospect, I too believe the wine deserved a lot more development and description than it received, and it pains me that I neglected to include a single mention of wine being served or drunk anywhere in the story.

Adequate at best. No backstory as to why they were there, or really any character development at all. The synchronized sex was more silly than sexy. Unless labor was induced, there is almost no chance all five women went into labor at the same time.

Both commenters are absolutely correct in their criticisms of my story. The only problem is that these criticisms are also totally irrelevant precisely because I wrote this story as a stroker. It doesn't need a backstory, the characters don't even have or need names, let alone development, and the details of the synchronized breeding of the wives by the studs in front of the husbands, not to mention the simultaneous labor in which all five women birth their studs' babies while their husbands watch, are obviously fantastical.

I understand that these are intended as constructive criticisms, but criticizing a stroker for lacking a plot and character development is like turning your nose up at a cheeseburger because it doesn't match the culinary standards of a medium-rare steak.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Did you write in the foreword: This is a purely stroker story that's deliberately silly and outrageous. The lack of sensible plot or character development is entirely intentional.

As far as I can see, you didn't, so their reaction is totally understandable and spot on. There's no foreword or tag that paints the story as an intended senseless stroker. Nobody can read your mind and know what was intentional in your story and what wasn't.

Also, no offense, but the "all the stuff that the story lacks is purely intentional" is the oldest excuse in the book, so it's no wonder commenters react like that. You wrote the story a certain way, and the readers see what they see. You reap what you sow.

 

[AlinaX]

Don't tease us. What wine wasn't mentioned? If it was Pinot, I hope it was Venetian.

 

[TheLobster]

I neglected to include a single mention of wine being served or drunk anywhere in the story.

And that is precisely why commenters had to fill in and bring their own whine.

 

[BeechLeaf]

I would probably never click into a story called Asian Wives Breeding Party, in fact I would probably have to wash my hands and bathe my eyes after seeing it, but I agree with your point that it pretty much spells out your idea that this is not going to be Brideshead Revisited. And frankly, a commenter who types 'wine' when they probably meant 'wives' is probably not a commenter in whom one can repose the utmost confidence.

Given the average response here on Literotica, is does seem a little odd that any commenters are more concerned with literary technique than with animal passion.

 

[Rob_Royale]

My most recent story is a Loving Wives stroker called Asian Wives Breeding Party,

Now I've got to read it!

 

[AG31]

Did you write in the foreword: This is a purely stroker story that's deliberately silly and outrageous. The lack of sensible plot or character development is entirely intentional.

As far as I can see, you didn't, so their reaction is totally understandable and spot on. There's no foreword or tag that paints the story as an intended senseless stroker. Nobody can read your mind and know what was intentional in your story and what wasn't.

Also, no offense, but the "all the stuff that the story lacks is purely intentional" is the oldest excuse in the book, so it's no wonder commenters react like that. You wrote the story a certain way, and the readers see what they see. You reap what you sow.

I disagree. You shouldn't have to announce what kind of story you've written. The story should speak for itself. And strokers (I prefer "simple erotica") need not be lacking in literary quality. I didn't read @Kasumi_Lee's story. It doesn't HAVE to have quality to be entertaining. But it might have quality.

 

[SmilingLez]

I disagree. You shouldn't have to announce what kind of story you've written. The story should speak for itself. And strokers (I prefer "simple erotica") need not be lacking in literary quality. I didn't read @Kasumi_Lee's story. It doesn't HAVE to have quality to be entertaining. But it might have quality.

I 100% agree with you. In my 750 word story, the only one left on this site, the title speaks for itself. It was my experiment writing 100% flash fiction porn and having it post on a commercial for profit porn site. The fact that I could fit it into Valentine's Day contest, the pink orchid challenge, and the 750 word challenge was just icing on the xxxx cake

 

[DTales]

Did you write in the foreword: This is a purely stroker story that's deliberately silly and outrageous. The lack of sensible plot or character development is entirely intentional.

Are you asking for a trigger warning?

 

[Britva415]

You shouldn't have to announce what kind of story you've written. The story should speak for itself.

100%. A reader should read the story in order to decide whether they'd like to read the story.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

That's probably better than readers complaining that your more complex stories aren't strokers, right?

 

[ellebrooks]

I don’t know much about the whole breeding thing or hot wives. I do know about Asian fetishes, but is Asian Wives Breeding a thing? Maybe I’m overthinking this, such is my personality, but since most men here are white, I would think you can only breed an Asian wife if her husband is unsuspecting and white. Unless an Asian husband was aware, it would be a major red flag.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I don’t know much about the whole breeding thing or hot wives. I do know about Asian fetishes, but is Asian Wives Breeding a thing? Maybe I’m overthinking this, such is my personality, but since most men here are white, I would think you can only breed an Asian wife if her husband is unsuspecting and white. Unless an Asian husband was aware, it would be a major red flag.

There's a lot of Ninjitsu involved...keeps the husband from finding out.

 

[Emma_O]

Where is the story?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I disagree. You shouldn't have to announce what kind of story you've written. The story should speak for itself. And strokers (I prefer "simple erotica") need not be lacking in literary quality. I didn't read @Kasumi_Lee's story. It doesn't HAVE to have quality to be entertaining. But it might have quality.

I wasn't aware that my sarcasm was that subtle. My point was entirely different. The author can't control how readers perceive a story. What seems "obvious" to the author, might not be that obvious to the reader.

Most of all, authors shouldn't be frustrated by readers' ability to perceive the story in a certain way. If anything, the author should wonder whether they couls have told the story better. Of course, the feedback sample is too tiny to form some conclusion, so I'm just saying this in general.

 

[onehitwanda]

Did you write in the foreword: This is a purely stroker story that's deliberately silly and outrageous. The lack of sensible plot or character development is entirely intentional.

Come now. Surely you don't expect readers to actually read? That's ludicrous!

 

[BobbyBrandt]

My most recent story is a Loving Wives stroker called Asian Wives Breeding Party, which should tell you everything you need to know about the plot - to the extent it has one. The response was surprisingly positive, given the reputation of the LW crowd, but two recent comments made me laugh (quoted verbatim below):

In retrospect, I too believe the wine deserved a lot more development and description than it received, and it pains me that I neglected to include a single mention of wine being served or drunk anywhere in the story.

Both commenters are absolutely correct in their criticisms of my story. The only problem is that these criticisms are also totally irrelevant precisely because I wrote this story as a stroker. It doesn't need a backstory, the characters don't even have or need names, let alone development, and the details of the synchronized breeding of the wives by the studs in front of the husbands, not to mention the simultaneous labor in which all five women birth their studs' babies while their husbands watch, are obviously fantastical.

I understand that these are intended as constructive criticisms, but criticizing a stroker for lacking a plot and character development is like turning your nose up at a cheeseburger because it doesn't match the culinary standards of a medium-rare steak.

Obvious typos in the reader's comments explains a lot.

The diverse audience attracted to LW stories will typically be reflected in story comments. There is nothing wrong with strokers, but you also need to recognize that the top stories in this category have zero sex in them at all. So, obviously, strokers are not the end-all-be all for this category.

 

[SimonDoom]

Did you write in the foreword: This is a purely stroker story that's deliberately silly and outrageous. The lack of sensible plot or character development is entirely intentional.

As far as I can see, you didn't, so their reaction is totally understandable and spot on. There's no foreword or tag that paints the story as an intended senseless stroker. Nobody can read your mind and know what was intentional in your story and what wasn't.

Also, no offense, but the "all the stuff that the story lacks is purely intentional" is the oldest excuse in the book, so it's no wonder commenters react like that. You wrote the story a certain way, and the readers see what they see. You reap what you sow.

I agree that no reader is bound by the author's intention. Once a story is released to the world, readers are free to read it and enjoy it or not enjoy it as they wish. The author is "responsible" for any plausible interpretation or experience of the story, and the author should be prepared for whatever happens.

I've always thought that the stroker/non-stroker distinction is somewhat dubious. Even the strokiest of short strokers can be improved, and the experience of it made more enjoyable, with some attention to character, details, dialogue, and good mechanics.

I scanned Kasumi's story. It's 6,800 words, so it's short enough to be a stroker but long enough to be more than JUST a stroker. The one thing I noticed in particular about it that might have diminished readers' enjoyment somewhat is that it treated the people involved collectively. They were not individuals, but a mass of people who moved in lockstep doing the same things sexually. I think the story might have worked better as both art AND stroker if it had focused on one of the couples in the group, perhaps a couple that was new to the group fucking experience and nervous about it, and focused on that couple's experience, exploring their inner thoughts and adding some dialogue between them. Doing this would have personalized the story more. I think doing this would have immersed the reader more into the story and made it both strokier and more artful.

 

[MrStill]

Are you asking for a trigger warning?

"If you are an easily upset sommelier please do not read on."

 

[StillStunned]

Don't forget that it's a question that even as writers we don't always agree on: Stroker or Not?

 

[bumpercars]

"If you are an easily upset sommelier please do not read on."

More wining, less whining, as they say.

(Nobody says this)

 

[AG31]

100%. A reader should read the story in order to decide whether they'd like to read the story.

In my experience stories speak for themselves when skimming the first few paragraphs. At least at the level we're discussing here.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Did you write in the foreword: This is a purely stroker story that's deliberately silly and outrageous. The lack of sensible plot or character development is entirely intentional.

As far as I can see, you didn't, so their reaction is totally understandable and spot on. There's no foreword or tag that paints the story as an intended senseless stroker. Nobody can read your mind and know what was intentional in your story and what wasn't.

Also, no offense, but the "all the stuff that the story lacks is purely intentional" is the oldest excuse in the book, so it's no wonder commenters react like that. You wrote the story a certain way, and the readers see what they see. You reap what you sow.

I honestly can't tell if you're joking or not.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Don't tease us. What wine wasn't mentioned? If it was Pinot, I hope it was Venetian.

I was gonna go with a California red or maybe a Spanish vintage.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Are you asking for a trigger warning?

The literary connoisseurs might be traumatized by the absence of plot and character development.