What category could you NEVER write?

[SimonDoom]

Not sure why Anal is a category at all. And if so, why not have a category for "Oral"? Or "Doggy" or "Cowgirl"?

It's what the people want. Readers like to read them, and stories in that category tend to do pretty well in terms of views, relative to other categories. Authors like to write them. 36 Anal stories have been published in the last 7 days.

When you think about categories and why they are what they, are you have to completely throw your own internal logic and sense of taxonomy out the window. It's a product number 1 of consumer interest, and number 2 of Site inertia. The Site is not going to change the categories, is my guess, unless it has a really good reason to do so, based SOLELY on its perception of how readers would respond, based on its 25 years of watching how they respond.

 

[Priscilla_June]

I totally get that it's out there, and I'm sure somewhere Hagrid is taking very special care of Buckbeak in ways I really don't want to know about and that Snape is on his knees showing Dumbledore the true extent of his loyalty. I just don't feel I could ever do someone else's characters justice since I don't know them like their creators do.

Oh no, I mean, from what I can see of the Hardy Potter fanfic market, a Hermione spit-roast is essentially the benchmark.

 

[Bamagan]

Oh no, I mean, from what I can see of the Hardy Potter fanfic market, a Hermione spit-roast is essentially the benchmark.

Good ol' Hermione, always seeking that 'O' isn't she?

 

[intim8]

The Site is not going to change the categories, is my guess, unless it has a really good reason to do so, based SOLELY on its perception of how readers would respond, based on its 25 years of watching how they respond.

The site won't do anything other than on that criteria. Anything it does for writers is about getting more eyeballs on more ads via the draw of more and better content.

Which is the way it should be. It's a business. We're in it too, for reasons other than recompense.

That's why when I talk about wished for site improvements, I do my best to cast them in those terms. Even if they would primarily benefit me and other writers, it has to translate to more and better content that readers want.

When I write, I write for me, regardless of the business. I, and the site, are lucky that readers seem to like it. Somebody wants to pay me, I'll write for them.

 

[intim8]

Anything it does for writers is about getting more eyeballs on more ads via the draw of more and better content.

That said, I think a category that could benifit readers might be something like "Literary", or maybe go more fancy and call it "Erotique" or something. I think there is a cadre of readers who are looking for that, and it might draw them back more often. Would probably allow more targeting of ads. Though it might not be a big enough cadre to cater to, and the ads here aren't for very, lets say, thoughtful things.

Allowing people with an account to create curated lists could be good too. Separate from their favorites, more selective and presented as a reading list that a reader can subscribe to, get notified of additions to it from new stories. Gets readers clicking pages faster and more often.

 

[MyBareTorso]

I'm aiming to write a story in every themed category ( no Non-English, Audio, Illustrated etc), all featuring my recurring MC and all featuring some elements of CFNM. While the potential angry response in Loving Wives is an obvious concern, the category that just stirs the least excitement/arousal in me is Incest...I know it's very popular, and I certainly have no issues, but it just doesn't float my boat.

 

[MyBareTorso]

Non English for the fact I don't know another language.

Chain stories - I'm not entirely sure what that even means, honestly. Continuing a story from where someone else left off?

I've collaborated on and co-written on stories with @EmilyMiller and we've built our own little shared Fantasy universe, but I don't know about just jumping in on some random chain story, whatever that entails.

Illustrated- I don't draw and I'm assuming any pictures must be originals.

Interracial- I understand the attraction to people of different skin tones. I don't get nor do I care to get all the racist "white girl / Big Black Bull" nonsense. It's 2024. Grow up.

Non Con - I have an idea in mind for one that flips the typical script on these things. But I'm repulsed by the idea that rape is okay as long as she "likes it."

Transgender/ Cross Dressing - I highly doubt it as I don't feel qualified to write from that perspective. That said, I said the same thing about Gay Male but managed to write a simple 750 word GM that was recieved well enough.

Not being qualified? Don't let that stop you! I haven't been reverse gang-banged by ten beautiful women (yet...), but I've definitely written about it! For me, it's all about fantasy...

 

[MyBareTorso]

I've actually played with the idea of doing a raceplay version of Kayfabe. I've known a couple of women who were into mild raceplay, both PoCs, and their take was really interesting to me. It read to me like consensual noncon; they wouldn't want to touch anyone who was an actual racist with a ten foot pole, but as a sort of turbo-charged version of D/s humiliation kink play, it got them off. Their choice to engage in it was a sign of extreme trust: "you aren't the monster I want you to pretend to be, and you won't use this against me to hurt me outside of this consensual space; because of that, I want to explore this potentially extremely harmful thing with me."

The way they talked about it seemed, honestly, kind of sweet to me. It was a thing they did with someone they really trusted, a long-term boyfriend or spouse. It's also one of those things that's totally forbidden these days; I think someone could say they were into I/T fantasy without catching flak more than saying they were into raceplay, whether saying that as a white person or a PoC. All of that makes for an incredibly interesting sort of character study, at least to me.

I even thought about doing it for Geek Pride with the title "Cos and Affect," with a pair of cosplayers who drill into the question, "Is it wrong that this makes me hot? Is it wrong that, after you got over the squick of saying these awful things to me, you did, too?" and drawing parallels with how cosplayers (not just people that put on costumes, but the folks that go to cons and mostly stay in character) put it on and take it off, the "cosplay does not equal consent" stuff and how that mirrors the "only in this context, only with you" aspect of humiliation kink, etc.

Just to add to this somewhat obviously, I assume that a lot of authors post content (racially charged, misogynistic) here that they would never condone IRL. For instance, I don't think women should *really* run around stripping and sexually using men as they please, but I love writing stories that feature this particular kink. With this in mind, I wouldn't necessarily call someone a misogynist for submitting a misogynist story etc...

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

I'm aiming to write a story in every themed category ( no Non-English, Audio, Illustrated etc), all featuring my recurring MC and all featuring some elements of CFNM. While the potential angry response in Loving Wives is an obvious concern, the category that just stirs the least excitement/arousal in me is Incest...I know it's very popular, and I certainly have no issues, but it just doesn't float my boat.

If you ever decide to venture into LW, be sure to read NoTalentHack's essay Loving Loving Wives first. You'll learn a lot about why the category is the way it is today.

 

[MyBareTorso]

If you ever decide to venture into LW, be sure to read NoTalentHack's essay Loving Loving Wives first. You'll learn a lot about why the category is the way it is today.

I've read some of it, which was very, very interesting, and will definitely read through the rest very soon...

 

[nice90sguy]

- Mature
Which for me means sex between older people, not just the main character. I am 28, I doubt it would become a relatable story that is fun for me and the reader.

I've posted two stories in that category (since taken down), one IS what you take it as, two older people, but the other is 22 y/o with a 50 y/o -- which is what the category is intended for:

 

[nice90sguy]

I remember being a little shocked when my humor story, a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes , got re-categorized to "Celebrities + Fanfics".

Really? What if I'd written a story about Jesus and Mary Magdelene?

 

[nice90sguy]

the category that just stirs the least excitement/arousal in me is Incest...I know it's very popular, and I certainly have no issues, but it just doesn't float my boat.

My story "I married my Sister", is pure humour, and was easy to write -- because I don't have a sister.
My two father/daughter incest stories were also easy to write -- because I don't have any daughters.
My mother/son story was raw and painful to write.

 

[nice90sguy]

you have to completely throw your own internal logic and sense of taxonomy out the window.

I love it when you trash-talk me

 

[RejectReality]

Poetry & Non-English. I've seen how they treat rhyming couplets, and that's the most I could possibly accomplish. Spanish was over 20 years ago, and all I half-assed remember is how to order beer, ask where the bathroom is, and say a few rude words.

Trying to think of what I'm missing in the purely written categories... Reviews and Essays. I had one, but Laurel put the kibosh on it. Haven't come up with another idea since. Celeb & Fanfic. I was tempted to continue my VR: DQ series, bringing in the newer games, but I can't think of a way to continue it without ruining the happy ending I had in the first story, which was in Chain. I've got another idea or two — with an Agents of Shield one even started — but I hit a snag on it. Biggest problem with Novels & Novellas for me is coming up with an idea that doesn't fit better in another category with more traffic. What's left is non-con, which I have serious issues writing in a real world setting. I'm fine in a fantasy setting, but it gives me the heebie-jeebies once I remove swords and sorcery from the equation.

I'll probably come up with some sort of reluctance story eventually that will absolutely bomb here, but will probably do fine where I need it to fill the same category elsewhere.

T&CD and GM used to be on that list, but I had ideas that panned out for both of those back-to-back a couple of years ago.

 

[orangecurious]

I'm starting to feel I should branch out more, so far just EC, E/V, FT, GM (it was posted as FT, but got moved when published) and N/N - oh, one Mature, which was probably a mistake, but the series is about an age gap relationship and one side struggling with it - the previous episodes had been in EC, which may be a better home, given the cool reaction.

I agree with some of the comments about Anal. Many of mine include that, bit I do struggle with the actual category. I have an idea for that, but it doesn't seem 'hardcore' enough, it's almost a romance.

Romance is a category I, maybe, should post in as one of my N/N stories would certainly fit, but I have always been worried about the amount of sex you can include before it veers into another zone.

I read a good few stories, just starting at the new lists, if it doesn't grab me in the first page, then I move on. I have read from most categories, but there are a couple that I tend to pass over.

The trouble with having more categories is that it does dilute some reads and the crossover can be big in some stories - some of my E/V ones have GS, Anal, LS, GM and I have added a warning on some, but figure, this is a sex site, get over it, when people object to same sex stuff, or "their" character having sex with someone other than their significant other. I am the one writing this, go read another story if it upsets you.

 

[bestkeptsecret678]

Same. In my case it's because I'm genuinely just kinda vanilla. AH authors pooh-pooh EC all the time, but it's the biggest category for a reason

Three cheers for EC! although I've recently written a NC/R - BDSM narrative that is definitely outside my normal comfort zone. I haven't decided if I'll publish it yet. Its also another of my 2nd person female perspectives which is not for everyone.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Just to add to this somewhat obviously, I assume that a lot of authors post content (racially charged, misogynistic) here that they would never condone IRL. For instance, I don't think women should *really* run around stripping and sexually using men as they please, but I love writing stories that feature this particular kink. With this in mind, I wouldn't necessarily call someone a misogynist for submitting a misogynist story etc...

I agree. Some people seem to think that if you post an interracial story that makes you racist (or at least guilty of stereotyping), and that if you post a non-con story that makes you an advocate of rape (or at least hateful of women), yet they never claim that a movie like The Godfather promotes or advocates cold murder, or that Saving Private Ryan promotes or advocates mass killing and destruction, or that Rocky perpetuates the fraud that the underdog white guy hero always beats the big bad black villain.

Or who knows, maybe they have even written a loving wives tale where the wife wasn't so loving and the cunt was left destitute and sorry for her actions in the end themselves?

Just my contemplation, but it probably has to do with the fact that we all know that there is a real human behind the keyboard writing all of these stories and that some of us forget that Hollywood movies aren't just churned out by a soulless machine. They are written by real humans sitting behind keyboards too.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Same. In my case it's because I'm genuinely just kinda vanilla. AH authors pooh-pooh EC all the time, but it's the biggest category for a reason.

And that reason is that the admin won't update the categories, which creates this huge grab bag of vanilla that no one searches to read. At the very least EC could be split into Hookups and Couples, perhaps even Holidays, Parties & Clubs, Conventions. These are all common enough themes to have their own category that readers might actually search through.

 

[Britva415]

And that reason is that the admin won't update the categories, which creates this huge grab bag of vanilla that no one searches to read. At the very least EC could be split into Hookups and Couples, perhaps even Holidays, Parties & Clubs, Conventions. These are all common enough themes to have their own category that readers might actually search through.

It doesn't bother me that (apparently a lot of) readers don't seem to use tags or the search feature. (It bothers me a little that apparently a lot of authors don't.)

I for one am not going to contrive story content just to justify posting in a "more popular" or "more engaging" category.

I'm not saying there are people who do this, or that it's heinous if there are, I'm just saying that, the way I've been writing, that's what it would take for me to post in another category - contrivance.

 

[intim8]

the way I've been writing, that's what it would take for me to post in another category - contrivance.

I've posted in six different categories, but there was never some idea that I wanted to aim for that category ahead of time. Except maybe my first stories, which were in E&V, but that was because it's my favorite category and I like both reading and writing those stories.

My problem is, I have trouble finding any category that a lot of my stories are a good fit for. My current WIP won't fit anywhere, I'm going to have to pick one that it at least won't be completely out of place in or bother the readers. And in that case, E&V is often a default, since it's the closest we have to "Misc", and I can fit some public nudity in without it being a stretch. It might even turn out to have it organically.

Oh, duh, the very first scene (non sex scene) has outdoor nudity and being spotted by someone. I hadn't even thought of it that way.

 

[desecration]

For me it's probably interracial -- not because I have anything against it, it's just not a turn-on for me. It would be like trying to write in the "freckled" category. I don't have a problem with freckles, some of my best friends are freckled. Really.

To be fair, for me, this is most categories. Incest provides no positive stimulus, ditto interracial. Exhibitionism is cool; BDSM is not my thing. I thought about trying to write one for Gay Male but I really have no idea what I'm talking about. I might just write poems about penises instead.

 

[bestkeptsecret678]

I've posted in six different categories, but there was never some idea that I wanted to aim for that category ahead of time.

Ditto. I will write the story as it needs to be written. Category decisions come later when submitting final copy. I didn’t set out to write something for T&M or BDSM, it just… became that along the way.

My first (as yet unwritten) non-erotic novel is the same, going to freak out my family and piss off some other people. Not my intent, it’s just the story as it meeds to be written.

 

[intim8]

Category decisions come later when submitting final copy.

Same here, often enough. But for intance, my last story, I was stuck on it until I realized I was writing the wrong kind of story. When I figured out it had been telling me it was a romance, it all clicked. Not in the sense of the Romance category, just as that was the nature of the story that was there that I hadn't seen. So obviously, from that point, the category was a given.

That's happened more than once.

 

[nice90sguy]

I might just write poems about penises instead

I'm sick of looking at Renaissance Venuses
And white marble statues with minuscule penises
My stomach lurches, I can take it no more,
And barf Jackson Pollocks all over the the floor