Thinking of Submitting My Story, But Stuck on the Age Issue

[englishnospeak]

Hey guys, thinking about submitting my story here, but it’s in another language. I used AI to translate it into English and made sure the phrases make sense for English speakers since some didn’t quite work.

The thing is, my story has characters under 18, which I know is against the rules here. I’m wondering if I should just change their ages, but that would mean changing a lot of other stuff—like their school, college, jobs, etc. There are a lot of characters, but only three are underage.

What do you think? I’m kinda not in the mood to go through all that, so I’m just looking for some opinions.

 

[Bamagan]

Hey guys, thinking about submitting my story here, but it’s in another language. I used AI to translate it into English and made sure the phrases make sense for English speakers since some didn’t quite work.

The thing is, my story has characters under 18, which I know is against the rules here. I’m wondering if I should just change their ages, but that would mean changing a lot of other stuff—like their school, college, jobs, etc. There are a lot of characters, but only three are underage.

What do you think? I’m kinda not in the mood to go through all that, so I’m just looking for some opinions.

If the underage characters are having sex or sex-adjacent activities, your only choices are to rewrite whatever parts you need to for aging them up or not publishing here/publishing elsewhere. Underage characters are allowed, though, as long as they're not involved in any way with sex acts (as participants, voyeurs, objects of voyeurism or fantasy, etc.).
As a secondary issue, several people have (apparently) gotten stories rejected because they used machine translation and it triggered the AI detection filter the site uses to try and screen out AI-written stories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Hey guys, thinking about submitting my story here, but it’s in another language. I used AI to translate it into English and made sure the phrases make sense for English speakers since some didn’t quite work.

The thing is, my story has characters under 18, which I know is against the rules here. I’m wondering if I should just change their ages, but that would mean changing a lot of other stuff—like their school, college, jobs, etc. There are a lot of characters, but only three are underage.

What do you think? I’m kinda not in the mood to go through all that, so I’m just looking for some opinions.

You've got several things going against you here. First, an AI translation could be very problematic. I don't know how AI translation algorithms work, but you might up with an English version that's full of the things that identify text as AI, and that's not going to pass here.

Secondly, if you want to up-age your three characters, you've got to make their circumstances convincing as being older. If you're not willing to do that, they'll come across as teenagers, and that would most likely get a rejection.

 

[englishnospeak]

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’d need to adjust their body size and everything. But tbf a lot of stories on this site have 18-year-old characters acting like 12-year-old virgins, scared shitless of sex

 

[ChloeTzang]

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’d need to adjust their body size and everything. But tbf a lot of stories on this site have 18-year-old characters acting like 12-year-old virgins, scared shitless of sex

Just adjust the age to 18, leave the settings unchanged but tweak any behavior to more or less match the age - and make sure you identify the age right at the start to make it clear - like a birthday party or something. Without being blatant about.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’d need to adjust their body size and everything.

If you've written those characters as young teenagers physically, you've got another layer on the age policy line. You'd have to look closely at every description to make sure the text has no sexual connotations. If English is your second language, that could be tricky.

 

[grey228]

For English speakers the easiest edit is to have the characters 18th birthday as the first line. 17 yesterday, but 18 today. I'm sure most people will look exactly the same physically.

 

[ElectricBlue]

For English speakers the easiest edit is to have the characters 18th birthday as the first line. 17 yesterday, but 18 today. I'm sure most people will look exactly the same physically.

The implication is, he's written them younger than seventeen, going on eighteen - "I'd need to adjust their body size and everything."

It's how the characters are written that counts, not some artificial age disclaimer.

English is the OP's second language, so he's got that issue as well. His awareness of sexual nuance in the English language might not be the same as it is for a native English writer. Look how many English as first language writers get rejections on the age line, because they missed some sexual connotations in their text. It's twice as hard if you're from a different cultural background, and your first language isn't English.

 

[grey228]

The implication is, he's written them younger than seventeen, going on eighteen - "I'd need to adjust their body size and everything."

It's how the characters are written that counts, not some artificial age disclaimer.

English is the OP's second language, so he's got that issue as well. His awareness of sexual nuance in the English language might not be the same as it is for a native English writer. Look how many English as first language writers get rejections on the age line, because they missed some sexual connotations in their text. It's twice as hard if you're from a different cultural background, and your first language isn't English.

Makes me wonder why he chose such a difficult topic in a language he doesn't fully grasp.

Some people just need a difficult hobby, I guess.

 

[englishnospeak]

It's not that hard of a topic. I think anyone can write sex stories just fine. The thing is, I wrote mine in Spanish! And when you translate it directly into English, a lot of it doesn’t make sense. I tried using Google Translate, but it doesn’t really get the weird phrasing, so I switched to ChatGPT. If you've ever used it, you know it gets pretty tricky, especially if the phrases touch on anything controversial (ChatGPT treats pretty much anything sexual as controversial)

Makes me wonder why he chose such a difficult topic in a language he doesn't fully grasp.

Some people just need a difficult hobby, I guess.

 

[Jorunn]

Anything sexual and under 18 will get kicked out. If school is part of it, move it to university.

I have never written a story in Norwegian and used artificial translations. I may think of ideas or look at notes I made, but then I write in English. That is why I am here, to learn and get better writing in English.

The result is not always pretty, but I use free Grammarly to find problems. Often hundreds! But I go through one at a time and correct my original trying to learn.

 

[englishnospeak]

That might explain why so many stories on this site feature characters who are 18 or older but still come across as virgins or unbelievably naive about sex to the point where it just feels off. Like they’re in college, but their mindset is not of college students. Makes you wonder if they were originally written as younger but had their ages bumped up to meet the site's guidelines. I mean in many parts of the world, the age of consent falls within 15-16, just saying. Anyway I've decided not to post my story here for now, it's too much of hassle to tweak everything. Translating into english is already enough a headache as it is

 

[grey228]

That might explain why so many stories on this site feature characters who are 18 or older but still come across as virgins or unbelievably naive about sex to the point where it just feels off. Like they’re in college, but their mindset is not of college students. Makes you wonder if they were originally written as younger but had their ages bumped up to meet the site's guidelines. I mean in many parts of the world, the age of consent falls within 15-16, just saying. Anyway I've decided not to post my story here for now, it's too much of hassle to tweak everything. Translating into english is already enough a headache as it is

Good going, friend. This isn't the only site that publishes smut.

It's not that hard of a topic. I think anyone can write sex stories just fine. The thing is, I wrote mine in Spanish! And when you translate it directly into English, a lot of it doesn’t make sense. I tried using Google Translate, but it doesn’t really get the weird phrasing, so I switched to ChatGPT. If you've ever used it, you know it gets pretty tricky, especially if the phrases touch on anything controversial (ChatGPT treats pretty much anything sexual as controversial)

When I leaned English, I just used ESL programs.

 

[Omenainen]

Look at it this way: which would you rather be good at doing, writing in English or futzing with machine translation until it’s remotely passable? Why wouldn’t you improve your English skills? Judging by the posts of OP in this thread, their language is well good enough to start writing in English. There’s lots of us non-natives here doing the same. But translating is a different issue altogether, and I would wager that most people who like writing are not interested in translating.

 

[alohadave]

That might explain why so many stories on this site feature characters who are 18 or older but still come across as virgins or unbelievably naive about sex to the point where it just feels off.

Believe it or not, but not everyone has sex before they are 18. I was 20 when I first had sex, and I've only had two partners.

Sure there are tropes involved, but they aren't that far off for a lot of people.

 

[englishnospeak]

Look at it this way: which would you rather be good at doing, writing in English or futzing with machine translation until it’s remotely passable? Why wouldn’t you improve your English skills? Judging by the posts of OP in this thread, their language is well good enough to start writing in English. There’s lots of us non-natives here doing the same. But translating is a different issue altogether, and I would wager that most people who like writing are not interested in translating.

I guess my English is fine for everyday conversations. But I just keep 2nd guessing everything. Like am I supposed to call it a vagina in narration but switch to pussy or cunt in dialogue? what about penis, too clinical? Should it be dick or cock instead?
Same with breasts or do I go with boobs or tits? then there's butts, asses, assholes, buttholes… see where this turns into a headache for me?
So how do you guys handle this balance between proper narration and the downright filthy words?

 

[alohadave]

So how do you guys handle this balance between proper narration and the downright filthy words?

You can treat it as a progression from non-sexual to fucking. As the action heats up, the terms get more dirty.

Or, how the characters speak reveals their character/experience. Less experience or more uptight may use and think in more clinical or tame terms, while a highly sexual person may use the harder terms.

 

[lovecraft68]

It shouldn't be too hard to make them 18

But someone mentioned watching how they speak, which for me makes no sense. Ever talk to an 18 year old? They are not the most mature conversationalists out there and don't speak much differently than they did at 16.

However, you can't have them saying anything that is outright childish, and not in maturity sense like a brat, but sounding like its not much above baby talk, that's an issue.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Believe it or not, but not everyone has sex before they are 18. I was 20 when I first had sex, and I've only had two partners.

Sure there are tropes involved, but they aren't that far off for a lot of people.

That isn't uncommon at all. I'll have to see if I can find it again, but last time this topic came up I found a study showing the average age for losing one's virginity was 18 or 19 and that number is going up.
It isn't at all unrealistic to have a 19 year old virgin in college who is nervous about his or her first time, and that doesn't make the character some socially awkward nerd.

 

[Omenainen]

I guess my English is fine for everyday conversations. But I just keep 2nd guessing everything.

This is where I am too. And even more so back when I started.

Like am I supposed to call it a vagina in narration but switch to pussy or cunt in dialogue? what about penis, too clinical? Should it be dick or cock instead?
Same with breasts or do I go with boobs or tits? then there's butts, asses, assholes, buttholes… see where this turns into a headache for me?
So how do you guys handle this balance between proper narration and the downright filthy words?

Just write what sounds right to you. A lot of stories on this site aren’t perfectly written and yours don’t need to be either. If you happen to make friends with other authors that are native, exchange beta reading favors and they can help you with all this. Then you’ll get more and more fluent and aren’t dependent on external crutches, be it editors or machine translators or whatever. It’ll serve you well in all your English communication forever after.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I guess my English is fine for everyday conversations. But I just keep 2nd guessing everything. Like am I supposed to call it a vagina in narration but switch to pussy or cunt in dialogue? what about penis, too clinical? Should it be dick or cock instead?

Native speakers wrestle with these questions too. There's no universal answer; every author needs to develop their own 'voice'. My language in stories is usually more formal than other writers might be, I'm more likely to use "vulva" or "vagina" than "pussy", because that's how I talk. But if I'm writing from the POV of somebody who'd say "pussy", I'll use "pussy".

As far as I know, using AI translation would be banned under Literotica's rules if detected.

 

[madelinemasoch]

Maybe Lit shouldn't have content rules.

The writer must stay true to their vision and stay true to their ideas. Without that we have nothing real to ground our work. We're not performing monkeys set out to please other people.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I'll second the advice you were already given about writing directly in English. You don't need to be perfect at it. Hell, many native speakers make mistakes, too.
I'd say that there are more than a few of us non-native speakers who write in English, and sure, sometimes readers notice some awkward wording, but your writing will most certainly improve with time. It's more than worth it. Or you can write in your own language and let AI butcher your sentences.
Take the bold step forward, and you won't be sorry.

 

[WittyUserName]

That might explain why so many stories on this site feature characters who are 18 or older but still come across as virgins or unbelievably naive about sex to the point where it just feels off. Like they’re in college, but their mindset is not of college students. Makes you wonder if they were originally written as younger but had their ages bumped up to meet the site's guidelines. I mean in many parts of the world, the age of consent falls within 15-16, just saying. Anyway I've decided not to post my story here for now, it's too much of hassle to tweak everything. Translating into english is already enough a headache as it is

I mean, plenty of people are naive about sex much older than 18, for various reasons. Not everyone loses their virginity in high school, not even close. I'm not sure why people think it's weird to lose your virginity in your mid-twenties, or even later. It's really not. Not everyone goes out and parties. Take it from a neurodivergent, some of us sat in the dark and stared at the wall instead.

The age of consent is usually younger than 18, but this is a privately owned website. Their rules go. There are other erotic literature sites that do allow characters under 18 have sex. I can't list them here since they frown on mentioning other sites, but you should be able to find a place to post your story online if you look.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I guess my English is fine for everyday conversations. But I just keep 2nd guessing everything. Like am I supposed to call it a vagina in narration but switch to pussy or cunt in dialogue? what about penis, too clinical? Should it be dick or cock instead?
Same with breasts or do I go with boobs or tits? then there's butts, asses, assholes, buttholes… see where this turns into a headache for me?
So how do you guys handle this balance between proper narration and the downright filthy words?

Follow your intuition, your gut, and the context. If something is starting to sound way too formal, you may have to switch a few words here and there... I mean, you may need to write a few vignettes and practice a little until you find your style.

However, there are more words than the filthy or scientific ones. John Cleland and Marquis de Sade proved that you can come up with so many creative euphemisms for genitals. Sure, it may end up sounding silly at the end of the day (Cleland does sound silly, but de Sade's sillyness makes it a bit creepier, but also humorous, depending on how dark your humor is), but if you're really struggling with using the typical words, you might want to consider thinking outside of the box.

My spartan way to deal with that issue is that everything that I do takes place in a fictional(ized) place/world/universe, where the dialect is more of a merge of a bunch of different cultures, and this is especially noticeable in my stories that are neon-noir. Characters may sound American, but it could come as a shock for them to use kiwi expressions, suddenly borrow words from another language (something that the Filipino does), or outright do literal translations from idioms taken from another language and then put in English. This is largely because I come from the Blade Runner-esque Cyberpunk genre, and cityspeak is one of the things that really stuck with me.