Storylines/Genres you hate

[Kelliezgirl]

People go on and on about how a red H doesn't prove the story is well written, and there are certainly some highly rated stinkers.
That said, I've yet to find a story that I thought was exceptionally well written that wasn't well rated.
The red H is an imperfect filter, but it is still a useful filter.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I don't think you'd remember the old commercials with the Coke and Pepsi challenge where people would be blind folded and have to pick which was which. To this day I don't know how anyone cannot tell them apart.

I can. Pepsi taste along the lines of flat Coke Zero, it's not as carbinated, and it's sweeter. After working at Pizza Hut, where all there was, was Pepsi products; my love of coke was restored. Faygo Cola taste exactly like Pepsi.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

A horrible story example I ran into... let's just say sometime this quarter, to be intentionally vague, has a very respectable Red H score, but I thought it was awfully-written.

Yes, there are thousands of those, even 4.75 and up.

I stared at the screen in disgust wondering how anyone could say that.

Well, there is nothing wrong with this. This is a hobby site both for the writers and the readers. 70%-80%-90% of readers (depending on category) don't know what motive is. They do not know what character development is. They do not know what immersion is. Even more have no clue what theme is. If you give them any of that, it just adds to the non-sexy word total of your story and often downgrades your score. So how can one expect to be graded for the quality of one's prose here? Again, there is nothing wrong with this.

You want affirmation of your actual writing and story telling skills? Send your stuff to Margaret Atwood. : P

 

[M_K_Babalon]

As someone new to erotica & this site this is a FASCINATING thread topic! It's so hard to tell what will appeal to people or make them stop reading part-way.

I write about certain things that don't do anything for me, more as a writing challenge.

The one thing I don't think I'll ever touch is the 'Interracial' category. I just can't switch my brain off. Really relies on some HEAVY racist stereotypes & bigotry. To me it's weird it's still a category.

I haven't actually read or written a 'Loving Wife' story yet, so I'm not fully certain what they're like - but I wonder if replacing the Interracial category with a 'Loving Husband' category would be a nice switcheroo?

It doesn't have to.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

People go on and on about how a red H doesn't prove the story is well written, and there are certainly some highly rated stinkers.
That said, I've yet to find a story that I thought was exceptionally well written that wasn't well rated.
The red H is an imperfect filter, but it is still a useful filter.

That is not my experience at all. Scores have no measurable correlation with quality at all.

The correlation that you will find is that readers vote highly with stories that they simply 'agree' with the either the events or the interpretations of and downvote stuff that they disagree with. So tell them what they want to hear, or expect to hear and you will get 5s. Tell them something different and you will not get very many 5s.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Thanks for clarifying. One expression I've never really taken to is the term 'partner' for a de facto spouse. It's used in Australia and New Zealand and has been for many years now, not sure about America, Canada, England, Ireland, South Africa etc. To me, it sounds overly formal, like a business partner or partners in a law or an accountancy firm or medical or dentistry practice. And it just sounds unromantic in everyday speech, "Oh hi John, I'd like you to meet my partner Jane'.

Every time I hear somebody talk about their partner in terms of who they're dating, I just assume they're gay, or some shit. That was always the code word for lgbt when in mixed company, where foes might be present.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Oh ye gods - since you asked: there is a whole genre of stories, often fanfic, often involving werewolves or vampires, but often just a slightly alternative reality where being male or female is less important than Alpha/beta/omega 'gender' - while men and women can reproduce in the usual way, and beta people generally do, a proportion of the population are alpha and omega, where the dominant alpha types desire the usually-submissive omega types. The key feature is that the omega male (the stories rarely mention a/o women) goes into heat at intervals, for a few days, though he may be able to suppress it with drugs.

At this point he will become delirious, helpless, and totally desperate to be fucked by an alpha male, though depending on author, any male, or powerful vibrators, may or may not suffice. And likely produce pheromones, triggering alphas to be desperate to fuck him. The particular mad bit is 'knotting' - after getting penetrated enough times or for long enough, the omega finds the alpha's cock swells up, sealing them together for some time until they calm down, after minutes/hours/days.

The omega getting pregnant from this is optional, as is any BDSM content.

I imagine it started with authors wanting to write gay porn and needing some 'we just had to fuck' justification to get their characters together. It generally seems to be a trope used by inexperienced young writers, though it's hard to tell if they're clueless about biology or just worse at inventing it.

Wikipedia will give you more info than you ever wanted. Or there's nearly a quarter of a million stories on AO3 with the tag "Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics"...

Also, if I recall; omega males have vaginas, and alpha or beta females have dicks. It's all loosely based on what one guy thought all wolves were like, by studying some in captivity. I avoid it like the plague it is.

 

[GeTee]

People go on and on about how a red H doesn't prove the story is well written, and there are certainly some highly rated stinkers.
That said, I've yet to find a story that I thought was exceptionally well written that wasn't well rated.
The red H is an imperfect filter, but it is still a useful filter.

I agree with this. It is pretty rare that you find something in the 3.0s that is well written, the well written stories do tend to be a bit higher, but, a high score doesn't necessarily mean well written. It is kind of like a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle isn't always a square. A well written story is often decently rated, but a decently rated story isn't always well written.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

That is not my experience at all. Scores have no measurable correlation with quality at all.

The correlation that you will find is that readers vote highly with stories that they simply 'agree' with the either the events or the interpretations of and downvote stuff that they disagree with. So tell them what they want to hear, or expect to hear and you will get 5s. Tell them something different and you will not get very many 5s.

Show me an exceptionally well written story that scores poorly.

There are plenty of highly rated stories that don't follow some supposed "formula" that gives people "what they want".

 

[ShinyCrazyDi]

Oh ye gods - since you asked: there is a whole genre of stories, often fanfic, often involving werewolves or vampires, but often just a slightly alternative reality where being male or female is less important than Alpha/beta/omega 'gender' - while men and women can reproduce in the usual way, and beta people generally do, a proportion of the population are alpha and omega, where the dominant alpha types desire the usually-submissive omega types. The key feature is that the omega male (the stories rarely mention a/o women) goes into heat at intervals, for a few days, though he may be able to suppress it with drugs.

At this point he will become delirious, helpless, and totally desperate to be fucked by an alpha male, though depending on author, any male, or powerful vibrators, may or may not suffice. And likely produce pheromones, triggering alphas to be desperate to fuck him. The particular mad bit is 'knotting' - after getting penetrated enough times or for long enough, the omega finds the alpha's cock swells up, sealing them together for some time until they calm down, after minutes/hours/days.

The omega getting pregnant from this is optional, as is any BDSM content.

I imagine it started with authors wanting to write gay porn and needing some 'we just had to fuck' justification to get their characters together. It generally seems to be a trope used by inexperienced young writers, though it's hard to tell if they're clueless about biology or just worse at inventing it.

Wikipedia will give you more info than you ever wanted. Or there's nearly a quarter of a million stories on AO3 with the tag "Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics"...

Thank you SO much for taking the time to explain it for me! I think I've read something that fits the genre before. Or got part-way through it. It's not my cup of tea

 

[designatedvictim]

Yes, there are thousands of those, even 4.75 and up.

Well, there is nothing wrong with this. This is a hobby site both for the writers and the readers. 70%-80%-90% of readers (depending on category) don't know what motive is. They do not know what character development is. They do not know what immersion is. Even more have no clue what theme is. If you give them any of that, it just adds to the non-sexy word total of your story and often downgrades your score. So how can one expect to be graded for the quality of one's prose here? Again, there is nothing wrong with this.

Well... I haven't run into many that were all that atrocious. Perhaps they simply tend to be in categories I don't read?

My non-example was just enough of an outlier for me that it stuck out enough for me to recheck it's score every once in a while to see if reality has suppressed it's badness. (News Flash: it hasn't and it's still humming away at 4.7+)

The Red H is certainly an imperfect filter, but, regrettably, it's the only filter we have to apply.

You want affirmation of your actual writing and story telling skills? Send your stuff to Margaret Atwood. : P

Ouch... tough audience.

I suppose what I'm really saying (in my case) isn't so much as 'is my writing good?' (which it probably isn't) so much as 'is my writing bad?' (which I'm not really qualified to claim).

I write primarily for myself and because, for some perverse reason, I found that I enjoyed writing the dialog and byplay between the two MCs.

 

[ShinyCrazyDi]

Thanks for clarifying. One expression I've never really taken to is the term 'partner' for a de facto spouse. It's used in Australia and New Zealand and has been for many years now, not sure about America, Canada, England, Ireland, South Africa etc. To me, it sounds overly formal, like a business partner or partners in a law or an accountancy firm or medical or dentistry practice. And it just sounds unromantic in everyday speech, "Oh hi John, I'd like you to meet my partner Jane'.

Kiwi here, personally, I'm so used to using the term 'partner' as a gender-free, grown up relationship-context that it feels totally normalised (particularly in the part of the country I'm based).
BUT there are plenty of kiwis who still get tripped up when someone says partner as in 'business partner' & I think a bunch of kiwis would agree with you that it can be funny/awkward when that happens

 

[ShinyCrazyDi]

You want affirmation of your actual writing and story telling skills? Send your stuff to Margaret Atwood. : P

I would sooner DIE than have Maggie Atty read any of the shit I publish here! OMG, can you even imagine? I would be full-cringing with embarrassment. & poor Maggie! She'd wonder WTF was wrong with me!! XD

 

[designatedvictim]

Also, if I recall; omega males have vaginas, and alpha or beta females have dicks. It's all loosely based on what one guy thought all wolves were like, by studying some in captivity. I avoid it like the plague it is.

(A potentially dangerous smiley to use in these parts, I'll admit.)

I'd never really heard of the... genre, myself, either.

Your additional detail just raised kqq's comment to a whole new level of Nope.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Kiwi here, personally, I'm so used to using the term 'partner' as a gender-free, grown up relationship-context that it feels totally normalised (particularly in the part of the country I'm based).
BUT there are plenty of kiwis who still get tripped up when someone says partner as in 'business partner' & I think a bunch of kiwis would agree with you that it can be funny/awkward when that happens

I'll second that in American usage boyfriend or girlfriend is normal even for older people and partner usually implies either gay or something unusual going on.

 

[ShinyCrazyDi]

I'll second that in American usage boyfriend or girlfriend is normal even for older people and partner usually implies either gay or something unusual going on.

Yes! I've found with Americans visiting NZ they're tripped up by the usage of 'partner' as it's frequently even used by heterosexual couples. My 60yo mum & her partner (see even then I automatically used it) - her boyfriend? De facto dude? Anyway - the guy she's in a committed relationship with but not married to (they're both divorced) is ALWAYS referred to as her 'partner'.

I was with my last partner (a het relationship with a guy) for 5 years.

Kiwis/Aussies seem to have no issue with the term, even in het relationships but whenever I've met an American visiting this place they always get tripped up thinking it ONLY applies to LGBT+ relationships.

In NZ I think it started as a way to make it easier for LGBT+ people to talk about who they were seeing without having to 'come out' to people like work colleagues or whatever. But even the het community here seemed to adopt it, kind of to make it so general that the LGBT+ people who didn't want to 'come out' would have some cover. & It took off.

NZ is backwards in SO MANY WAYS but the ubiquitous usage of 'partner' by het&LGBT+ peeps is something I'm fully down for. By making it apply to everyone, it means that LGBT+ folk who may not feel comfortable 'coming out' to certain groups can still participate in relationship discussions without having to. Does that make sense?

 

[ShinyCrazyDi]

Last time I was in the States (way back before Covid) I found myself getting confused looks whenever I called my partner my partner without thinking & I could SEE the gears turning as they tried to work out the twist. Awkward. I had to consciously remind myself to call him 'boyfriend'.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Last time I was in the States (way back before Covid) I found myself getting confused looks whenever I called my partner my partner without thinking & I could SEE the gears turning as they tried to work out the twist. Awkward. I had to consciously remind myself to call him 'boyfriend'.

I work at a law firm. In my world partner means something altogether different.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I work at a law firm. In my world partner means something altogether different.

The same for cowboys.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

The Red H is certainly an imperfect filter, but, regrettably, it's the only filter we have to apply

But it's not effective, so why use it as a filter at all?

I suppose what I'm really saying (in my case) isn't so much as 'is my writing good?' (which it probably isn't) so much as 'is my writing bad?' (which I'm not really qualified to claim)

But good or bad you are still judging your work by the judgment of others. It's the exact same principle. One either writes the stories that they wish to tell or writes for the affirmation of the audience. One cannot do both, at least not fully.

And as for my use of the term 'you' in my previous post, I did not mean you specifically. However, be wise to take note that your defensive reaction betrays your need for my approval, which you absolutely do not need.

 

[ShinyCrazyDi]

I work at a law firm. In my world partner means something altogether different.

It still does here, in my day-job I work for many companies that are run by partners.

You sort of adapt to figuring out the context in conversation. Plus, it's OK to ask if someone means business partner or romantic partner if there's confusion.

 

[ShinyCrazyDi]

But it's not effective, so why use it as a filter at all?



But good or bad you are still judging your work by the judgment of others. It's the exact same principle. One either writes the stories that they wish to tell or writes for the affirmation of the audience. One cannot do both, at least not fully.

And as for my use of the term 'you' in my previous post, I did not mean you specifically. However, be wise to take note that your defensive reaction betrays your need for my approval, which you absolutely do not need.

I think it would be almost impossible not to do both simultaneously. We're all influenced by feedback & the people around us, it's natural. I think the ratio of influence is different for each person (& different in different contexts/times etc) but honestly, I don't think people can ever be fully immune to how others might see them or their creations.

It's how we filter or prioritise other people's responses that we can have a bit of control over, & I think (I hope) you get better at it the older you get. Because I still definitely find myself second-guessing myself when something doesn't connect with someone else. It's like when you show a funny video clip to someone & they don't laugh & you're like, hang on, I couldn't BREATHE when I watched that!

BTW FWIW I didn't pick up on a defensive tone in the other post.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I'll second that in American usage boyfriend or girlfriend is normal even for older people and partner usually implies either gay or something unusual going on.

In UK usage, partner is a preferred term by many younger people. The graduates in their 20s I work with in London say 'partner' as a default, and in most cases the partner is the other sex. I'm 50s and it is more common among non-straight people, but in the last decade at least it's become a very neutral term.

And boyfriend/girlfriend does feel rather twee for anyone older than 20. I can't imagine a Brit using it about anyone in a nursing home, but it's not a word used IME for anyone middle-aged, either. There will be regional variation.

In fields where partner might be a work-related term, people manage to avoid confusion.

Also, if I recall; omega males have vaginas, and alpha or beta females have dicks. It's all loosely based on what one guy thought all wolves were like, by studying some in captivity. I avoid it like the plague it is.

I've not come across any stories where those are the case. Thankfully. A few a/o authors get into interesting societal implications of the system, (OK, not many), but many just use it as a reason to get two preferred characters into bed and get a whole hurt/comfort kink going. In some fanfic genres, ruling out all a/o would eliminate a fair bit of the rare good stuff.

The mainstream idea of the 'alpha male' etc comes from some studies on wolves that have since been disproven; I'm fairly sure they didn't involve anal sex or mpreg, though!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I think it would be almost impossible not to do both simultaneously.

But it is a spectrum. If you wish to do both in equal parts then you can only commit 50% each way. That's why I said 'not fully'. So for whatever amount one seeks approval, that amount compromises the art.

Now again, there's nothing wrong with that but one would be wise to understand the principle at hand. It's a yin yang thing.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Kiwis/Aussies seem to have no issue with the term, even in het relationships but whenever I've met an American visiting this place they always get tripped up thinking it ONLY applies to LGBT+ relationships.

Copy this. Here in Oz, "partner" has been commonly used since about 2010 in most states, following legislation, both for cis couples and LGBT+. It's pretty much ubiquitous for "not married". However, since same sex marriages were made legal in 2019, it's all a bit academic nowadays.

is backwards in SO MANY WAYS but the ubiquitous usage of 'partner' by het&LGBT+ peeps is something I'm fully down for. By making it apply to everyone, it means that LGBT+ folk who may not feel comfortable 'coming out' to certain groups can still participate in relationship discussions without having to. Does that make sense?

Waiting for the world to catch up, it would seem. It's obviously more than the International Date Line.