What’s been your most formative writing experience since being on Lit?

[EmilyMiller]

Again, I’ll hold off on my - rather obvious - one for a bit and let others post.

It could be a story that you thought yourself incapable of writing before.

It could be a story that was hated, but which gave you determination to prove people wrong.

It could be writing in a new category and this opening new creative channels for you.

It could be adopting a style that’s unnatural for you and managing to do a half decent job.

It could be writing a pure, totally unrealistic stroker and finding it was well-received and lots of fun.

It could be writing a 50k story when all your previous ones had been under 10k (or vice versa).

It could be something entirely different.

What was it for you?

Emily

 

[subdudeme13]

I have not posted a story yet. I should dig them up and post one.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I have not posted a story yet. I should dig them up and post one.

You’ve written but not published, right?

Emily

 

[Helgamite]

for me, once I started writing my first story, my brain has kept coming up with different ideas, almost to the point I could start a hundred at once time. my biggest problem is keeping things clean and simple. working on 1 idea while keeping others in the background and focusing.

 

[EmilyMiller]

for me, once I started writing my first story, my brain has kept coming up with different ideas, almost to the point I could start a hundred at once time. my biggest problem is keeping things clean and simple. working on 1 idea while keeping others in the background and focusing.

Did you view any story as a milestone of sorts?

Emily

 

[NotWise]

The first few stories were all a growing process. I'm not sure I could pin any one of those with the distinction of being formative. Since then, my most recent stories have been fairly important; their reception was so disappointing that I haven't published a new story since last June.

 

[mildlyaroused]

I'll start by saying I haven't posted much here, but my starting to write erotica coincided with my first post here. It's just that most of what I've written is not posted.

The main new thing I've tried is first-person POV. Before writing erotica I never used it... like ever, not in a single novel, short story, nothing. It was completely alien to me. Since writing erotica I've used it a fair bit though, and I've gained a new appreciation for it.

First-person lends itself to being in the mind of your character. Obviously you can argue that to change first person to close third-person all you need to do is replace "I" with "character name." That's technically true, but writing directly in the first person does make it easier to express simple character thoughts (plus it feels more natural to move back into memories or whatever).

I think I'll stick to third-person outside of erotica. It suits my non-erotic style and purpose more. But if I get stuck on a character's motivations maybe I'll rewrite some chapters or passages in first-person before converting them into third

 

[Helgamite]

Did you view any story as a milestone of sorts?

Emily

I would say David's Journey. my original. I had started it long ago but could never find the "creative juices" to work on it until I came to Lit.

When I finished part one, it kinda created a drive in me. But it also created a whole new fear.

If it never did good, or reviews sucked, probably would have ended my writing.

always fought with Low self esteem and confidence.

 

[Trionyx]

I don't know that it was a formative writing experience per se but about a year ago I was reviewing one of my published stories when a thought crossed my mind: Where did that idea come from? I have never been a creative person and my work is nowhere near 'creative' but somewhere deep in my psyche I've found some, if I say so myself, interesting themes to work with.

 

[EmilyMiller]

The first few stories were all a growing process. I'm not sure I could pin any one of those with the distinction of being formative. Since then, my most recent stories have been fairly important; their reception was so disappointing that I haven't published a new story since last June.

That’s so sad. Fuck them in their stupid asses, right?

Emily (who has clearly lived in Jersey too long)

 

[subdudeme13]

I have written but it has been years ago now. I think I still have them but do not know. They are BDSM stories about my real life experiences.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'll start by saying I haven't posted much here, but my starting to write erotica coincided with my first post here. It's just that most of what I've written is not posted.

The main new thing I've tried is first-person POV. Before writing erotica I never used it... like ever, not in a single novel, short story, nothing. It was completely alien to me. Since writing erotica I've used it a fair bit though, and I've gained a new appreciation for it.

First-person lends itself to being in the mind of your character. Obviously you can argue that to change first person to close third-person all you need to do is replace "I" with "character name." That's technically true, but writing directly in the first person does make it easier to express simple character thoughts (plus it feels more natural to move back into memories or whatever).

I think I'll stick to third-person outside of erotica. It suits my non-erotic style and purpose more. But if I get stuck on a character's motivations maybe I'll rewrite some chapters or passages in first-person before converting them into third

I’ve only ever written erotica. So first person is my go to, for the reasons you state.

Emily

 

[EmilyMiller]

always fought with Low self esteem and confidence.

Emily

 

[EmilyMiller]

I don't know that it was a formative writing experience per se but about a year ago I was reviewing one of my published stories when a thought crossed my mind: Where did that idea come from? I have never been a creative person and my work is nowhere near 'creative' but somewhere deep in my psyche I've found some, if I say so myself, interesting themes to work with.

That’s so cool. And I kinda identify with it too. My academic and professional work is technical. Writing this stuff is so different.

Emily

 

[EmilyMiller]

Just writing erotica is a formative milestone for me. It's not something I've ever done before, and to be honest, I find romance had to write. This is stepping wayyy out of my comfort zone, but it's been interesting.

Nice to see you around

Emily

 

[NotWise]

That’s so sad. Fuck them in their stupid asses, right?

Emily (who has clearly lived in Jersey too long)

Sure, but I also needed to get my head wrapped around the reasons why it happened. That's taken a while.

 

[EmilyMiller]

They are BDSM stories about my real life experiences.

Hey, we should form a club .

Emily

 

[Voboy]

An early story I wrote here caught the attention of a publisher, who reached out wanting to work with me. This led to several commercial stories, which sold well enough to make me think I'm not deluded when I tell myself I can write reasonably well.

Lit is a great place to publish, but the external validation felt good. I was pleased that a Lit story drew that kind of notice.

 

[subdudeme13]

Have a name for the clug?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Have a name for the clug?

Club Emily?

Emily

 

[EmilyMiller]

An early story I wrote here caught the attention of a publisher, who reached out wanting to work with me. This led to several commercial stories, which sold well enough to make me think I'm not deluded when I tell myself I can write reasonably well.

That’s so super cool

Emily

 

[karina_jayde]

Two stand out:

My lesbian cozy romance Christmas story:

https://literotica.com/s/silver-screens-silver-bells

Was a change of pace in so many ways for me, and the response to it was lovely and indeed quite heartwarming

And my straightforward, femdom samurai stroker story:

https://literotica.com/s/a-samurais-punishment

Was a change of pace writing a male POV and a BDSM-focused story. Also well-received and changed up my approach to future stories. Will definitely be shifting to other stories like this in the future

 

[ElectricBlue]

Rope and Veil - because of the risk I took writing it, that I might get essential details wrong, then seeing the reaction I got from readers, especially some with disabilities who thanked me for, "Giving us an erotic voice." That's when I realised that erotica can actually make a difference to people's lives. That's a powerful thought, which has informed what I've written ever since.

It's got some technical flaws that I could go and fix, but it also demonstrates that if the story is good enough, people don't really care about that. That story pushed my writing up a notch, though.

 

[DrHappy]

The first story I published here “Untrusted,” is special to me. It’s still my highest rated story and has the most votes. I had been writing for my wife and she suggested that I publish here. I researched the heck out of the locations (Moscow, Latvia, etc…) to make sure that the weather matched the timeline, clothing, prostitution laws, and also to checked some nuances of the languages and male-female greetings. I used Google Maps to find and align my descriptions to real locations. I became attached to the characters as if they were real people.

My stories tend to be long (+30K words), so they probably don’t get as many votes or comments as shorter stories. It was validating to see that complete strangers seem to like that story as well.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Rope and Veil - because of the risk I took writing it, that I might get essential details wrong, then seeing the reaction I got from readers, especially some with disabilities who thanked me for, "Giving us an erotic voice." That's when I realised that erotica can actually make a difference to people's lives. That's a powerful thought, which has informed what I've written ever since.

And I’ve not read it yet

It's got some technical flaws that I could go and fix, but it also demonstrates that if the story is good enough, people don't really care about that. That story pushed my writing up a notch, though.