What have you learned since you started writing stories for Literotica?

[MelissaBaby]

I've learned that I'm not a writer at all.
I'm just a reader who penned a few stories to see if I could do it. I have no literary knowledge, and no real desire to dive off into the technical aspects or analytics of writing. I got a little taste of acceptance with my eight submissions, and thought briefly about pursuing it more, but after finding AH and hanging around for six months, I've realized that I'm not a writer. I have no feeling of dedication to the craft, like most of the people here. Anything decent in my writing was strictly by accident while I was just trying to tell an interesting story, using my own imagination and wit. I'm a simple pantster, and wrote all of my stories straight into the lit writing tool, using the "save draft" function until I was finished. It was fun, until it wasn't. I'm okay with just being a reader.

You have the satisfaction of knowing you made an honest effort, and that is something you can be proud of.

 

[Voboy]

When titling an English-language story, don't use a German word to do it.

More generally, titles are an art. On Lit, they are very important. They deserve thought and inspiration.

 

[SmilingLez]

What I've learned since being on Literotica, is that I can be myself with my unique writing style, and still be accepted by this creative community as a whole

 

[dirk2024]

The things I have learned are best reflected in @SimonDoom and @Erozetta 's responses.


Like Simon, I started late in life with this. While I still have much growth to go as a writer, I can see what growth I have done and can appreciate where I am.

Like Erozetta, I have made friends here. Plus, it works as a type of therapy, shutting out the negative thoughts as I concentrate on crafting the story.

 

[BeechLeaf]

 

[SimonDoom]

I've also learned I'm not the "deviant" those who surrounded me most of my life would have me believe I am. That my fantasies and desires aren't some darker, sinful thing I should be ashamed of.

That there are others, MANY others like me, who enjoy their sexual fantasies and embrace them for what they are without shame.

I forgot to mention this, but I feel this, too. I've learned a level of acceptance concerning my kinks and fantasies.

 

[lovecraft68]

Or hitting that “flow” stage, almost an out of body experience….

Yes! I call that "The click" you're writing and maybe you're scuffling a bit or it feels 'okay' than all of a sudden you're not writing you are writing and its one hell of a rush. Whenever I experience that I always thing, this is so easy! Why isn't it always this easy?

 

[FrancesScott]

I had written before I started writing here. The biggest learning here has been to avoid making assumptions about your audience. Not necessarily to know them, but more to take a more neutral view of who they are and what they prize in writing.

 

[Bramblethorn]

More people are into my weird niche stuff than I expected.

When writing a big work, have a system for keeping track of what you've already written. Planning is all well and good but planning alone won't save you from continuity glitches on the small stuff. (I got away without this on my first big story, because I was working on it steadily over a year and able to keep a lot of the detail in memory, but the second one got interrupted halfway through and picking it up again was a huge pain.)

Learned some stuff about myself in the course of writing a story to express that stuff.

Yes, there are people out there who will tear strips off you for even the smallest fault in your story. But there are far more people who will love an imperfect story for what's good in it.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I've learned that I'm not a writer at all.
I'm just a reader who penned a few stories to see if I could do it. I have no literary knowledge, and no real desire to dive off into the technical aspects or analytics of writing. I got a little taste of acceptance with my eight submissions, and thought briefly about pursuing it more, but after finding AH and hanging around for six months, I've realized that I'm not a writer. I have no feeling of dedication to the craft, like most of the people here. Anything decent in my writing was strictly by accident while I was just trying to tell an interesting story, using my own imagination and wit. I'm a simple pantster, and wrote all of my stories straight into the lit writing tool, using the "save draft" function until I was finished. It was fun, until it wasn't. I'm okay with just being a reader.

If you write, you're a writer. Don't diminish yourself because you aren't an obsessive one. You've written 8 more stories than 99% of humans.

I've learned that I was totally wrong about my own ability to write. I was sure I'd be a very fast plotter and outliner. Turns out I'm a fairly slow pantser.

 

[Statius]

I've learned that I'm not a writer at all.
I'm just a reader who penned a few stories to see if I could do it. I have no literary knowledge, and no real desire to dive off into the technical aspects or analytics of writing. I got a little taste of acceptance with my eight submissions, and thought briefly about pursuing it more, but after finding AH and hanging around for six months, I've realized that I'm not a writer. I have no feeling of dedication to the craft, like most of the people here. Anything decent in my writing was strictly by accident while I was just trying to tell an interesting story, using my own imagination and wit. I'm a simple pantster, and wrote all of my stories straight into the lit writing tool, using the "save draft" function until I was finished. It was fun, until it wasn't. I'm okay with just being a reader.

Me. Only difference is I'm still trying to write things. I do not have the time to be an analytical writer, study the craft, the art of it, nor do I have the patience for that. I try to pick up on a few things here and there from the AH, try to figure out what I did right in my more popular works, where I went wrong somewhere else, but in general terms, not overly specific; it's far too easy for me to over analyze, critic too much, and fall down that rabbit hole. How much longer will I write? How much longer will I be in the AH? No idea really. I have a few more stories to tell, one specifically that's extremely complicated and I'm not sure I'm capable of pulling it off but I'll keep working it, one sentence at a time. With all that there's one post that will probably always be my favorite and I don't know what thread it's in or how long ago it was stated, but it resonated with me and I hold on to it. I think it was @lovecraft68 who said,

I'm not a writer, I tell stories

Ill hold to that because there are extremely talented writers who actually know what the fuck they're doing, and to read these posts and the writing conversations that happen here let me know I'm in way over my head ( including the one who made that post); but that post says to me that there's room on Lit for my stories, too.

 

[Jeb56]

I’m probably too detail oriented. And it’s fun to collaborate with a talented writer.

 

[big_cane_sugar]

I'd written quite a bit when I started here and I had an agenda, so my first stories didn't really respect the genre. Since then I've learned to have more fun. I've also learned, to repeat what many others have said in my own, that compared to some people out there I am the purest vanilla that ever tied a lady up to be nice.

 

[norafares]

When I first started publishing here in 2018, I had extremely low expectations. I was also incredibly critical of my work and very hard on myself. What I have learned since then, after hundreds and hundreds of comments, emails, and recognition from authors that I spent years admiring, was that I'm an idiot. And I need to be kinder to myself. I understand in calling myself an idiot, I have not achieved this, lol. It's a work in progress.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I learned that I wasn't doomed to never write again Honestly wasn't sure prior to publishing my first couple stories if I'd ever get back into writing. Nearly 20 years, then 6 years of nothing for "reasons." The fact I haven't been laughed out of here has been nice, too.

Other than that, I learned I kind of have a bizarre affinity for rom-com, which is something I never would've guessed or realized if I hadn't written a couple for the Valentine's Day contest.

Also, sex scenes can be way more involved than just "sex scenes sexy." I realized very quickly on that the positions and actions of a sex scene, much like very other aspect of a story, reveal things about the characters. (Rather, they can if it's done intentionally.) It shouldn't have taken me by surprise, as I've been an intentional writer for most of my time writing, but I hadn't really evaluated sex scenes as much beyond being titilation prior to writing, which was a massive oversight on my part and incredibly obvious in retrospect, one that I'm fairly embarassed by not realizing a long-ass time ago.

I've also learned that there are lots of really fun, thoughtful people here, and I've very much enjoyed interacting with them I've enjoyed learning from people here and being able to share my knowledge. Something that, again, I didn't think I'd really get much of a chance to do ever again, and am very grateful to have been welcomed both in the forums and by readers overall.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I started writing professionally in high school. Three-act plays and movie screenplays supplemented my income while in college.

Then real life found me.

Over the years, I would spend idle time on flights jotting down ideas for stories and then sit in a strange hotel room and compose them. Writing became a side gig for me and an escape from the drudgery of business travel. I had been contract writing and publishing works for years before finding Literotica in 2014.

What I have learned here is:

• Appreciate your audience - and I don't always mean this in a good way. The slightest plot twist, dialogue phrasing, big word, unfamiliar literary technique, or cerebral challenge can throw many readers here for a loop. I don't try to "dumb down" my stories, but I know before publishing that the comprehension level of the readers who find my stories is likely to be a bit lower than the target of my writing (ninth grade).
• This apparently isn't all that hard - otherwise, there wouldn't be that many people doing it. That's not saying that they are writing well, but they are telling stories, which I applaud. I have embraced this concept in helping aspiring writers that I meet in real life. Close your eyes and tell your tale. Someone wants to hear it.
• Too many writers are ashamed of their stories, which limits them. I wish that more would either "come out of the closet" or learn to express themselves in ways that they feel more comfortable sharing who they really are. A good story with respectable sexual scenes is generally acceptable to most people beyond Literotica.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

I like to think that writing and sharing erotic stories has taught me not to take everything so seriously. When I started writing here, I was not just upright about writing, but about pretty much everything in general.

But after posting here and trying to get my non-erotic writing into the world, I've learned that, at the end of the day, I should just write for myself. How others receive my work is honestly out of my hands, so I should just write works that I'm proud of and share them.

Making money as an author has always been a lifelong dream, but once I quit trying to make money, writing became fun again. As a hobby writer, I can write and share whatever I want. I can just have fun and walk away thinking of myself as "successful".

 

[lovecraft68]

Appreciate your audience - and I don't always mean this in a good way. The slightest plot twist, dialogue phrasing, big word, unfamiliar literary technique, or cerebral challenge can throw many readers here for a loop.

I call that a speed bump where in the middle of the story there's a word, phrase etc...that makes you stop and say, wait, what, and have to think for a moment, breaks flow.

But the main part of what I'm replying to is the plot twist. We talk about tropes here and how often people can just read-or watch-the same thing over and over and where's the originality/creativity. Then we mix something up, try to give a new spin or take a familiar trope in a different direction and....often the reaction is a mixed bag and you'll get some "don't reinvent the wheel' type of comments.

 

[calmlikeabomb]

1. You are not alone
2. Your audience will find you
3. People are wierd
4. Your fetishes aren't
5. Ratings don't matter, neither do the comments
6. But a red H feels good
7. Some readers will replace your story with theri fantasies, especially in comments. And that's ok.
8. Loving Wives is a battleground
9. Consistency of output beats everything
10. You owe others nothing
11. Someone somewhere has masturbated to your words, and that's AWESOME
12. Your output is soleley up to you
13. What people judge you on isn't, and that's ok.
14. It's a pleasure to write
15. It's a privelege to find people who 'get' you
16. No concept is silly enough
17. Following Plot Bunnies sometimes leads you to the strangest of places, and it can be a lot of fun!

 

[lovecraft68]

Me. Only difference is I'm still trying to write things. I do not have the time to be an analytical writer, study the craft, the art of it, nor do I have the patience for that. I try to pick up on a few things here and there from the AH, try to figure out what I did right in my more popular works, where I went wrong somewhere else, but in general terms, not overly specific; it's far too easy for me to over analyze, critic too much, and fall down that rabbit hole. How much longer will I write? How much longer will I be in the AH? No idea really. I have a few more stories to tell, one specifically that's extremely complicated and I'm not sure I'm capable of pulling it off but I'll keep working it, one sentence at a time. With all that there's one post that will probably always be my favorite and I don't know what thread it's in or how long ago it was stated, but it resonated with me and I hold on to it. I think it was @lovecraft68 who said,

I'm not a writer, I tell stories

Ill hold to that because there are extremely talented writers who actually know what the fuck they're doing, and to read these posts and the writing conversations that happen here let me know I'm in way over my head ( including the one who made that post); but that post says to me that there's room on Lit for my stories, too.

I did say that, more than once, I'm sure.

Thing is everything in your post still applies to me after all this time. Published my first story here in 2010 and although I've improved in general, I am still raw and much more of a story teller than a writer. Look around, I don't get involved in the deep dive discussions on writing technique, grammar, use of this and when to do that and all the important things about writing that many people here are well versed in. Great for them, I admire their knowledge and how they apply it, but its not me and reading through it makes my head hurt.

I always use this example because I think it is indicative of what I'm discussing. A few years back someone left me a nice comment and in it they praised my use of unreliable narrator. I had to go and look up what that meant. If someone sees some type of technique or style or method in my writing I can assure you that it was never deliberate and just how the story came out.

I always tout two things. The KISS principle and Nike's old-and to me powerful in its simplicity-ad 'Just do it."

I don't plan, I don't fret, I don't say, "Crap I did this instead of that and that wasn't how this should...." Nope, sit down, start typing, get lost in my story, and hope people here or in the market will enjoy it, and if they do? What more can I ask for?

Another comment I received that has stayed with me came from another author here-no longer here-who described reading my stories as sitting in your favorite comfortable chair and just relaxing and seeing/hearing the characters in your mind because my style is like listening to an old familiar friend. Not difficult or complicated, nothing pretentious that will force you to really think, just going for the ride and letting the characters tell you their story.

Its a nice compliment although I always joked with him that he was calling me simple, but then again...I pretty much am.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I call that a speed bump where in the middle of the story there's a word, phrase etc...that makes you stop and say, wait, what, and have to think for a moment, breaks flow.

Yes, but too frequently on Literotica, it is a "speed bump" due solely to the reader not having a comprehension level adequate to the task. Sometimes it might also be a language translation issue.

There is nothing inherently wrong with readers not being capable of appreciating nuances in a story. Writers just need to understand the audience here and the potential for some of them not to be reading at an adult level.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Me. Only difference is I'm still trying to write things. I do not have the time to be an analytical writer, study the craft, the art of it, nor do I have the patience for that. I try to pick up on a few things here and there from the AH, try to figure out what I did right in my more popular works, where I went wrong somewhere else, but in general terms, not overly specific; it's far too easy for me to over analyze, critic too much, and fall down that rabbit hole. How much longer will I write? How much longer will I be in the AH? No idea really. I have a few more stories to tell, one specifically that's extremely complicated and I'm not sure I'm capable of pulling it off but I'll keep working it, one sentence at a time. With all that there's one post that will probably always be my favorite and I don't know what thread it's in or how long ago it was stated, but it resonated with me and I hold on to it. I think it was @lovecraft68 who said,

I'm not a writer, I tell stories

Ill hold to that because there are extremely talented writers who actually know what the fuck they're doing, and to read these posts and the writing conversations that happen here let me know I'm in way over my head ( including the one who made that post); but that post says to me that there's room on Lit for my stories, too.

There's nothing wrong with being "just a story teller." You don't need to compare yourself to anyone here. Your only competition is your own sense of achievement. If you are proud of what you produce, you are succeeding.

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

This brings to mind a lesson I'm trying to internalise at the moment: you have to allow yourself be a "bad" writer in order to become a great writer.

The guides are fantastic — Literotica has amazing writer's resources and a fabulous community — and there are platforms like Tumblr and Reddit where you can learn a lot about how to write "well." That's a good place to start, but it shouldn't come to define you.

Uniqueness is enthralling. Technical precision and conforming to norms is valuable, but it doesn't create an engaging experience in and of itself.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yes, but too frequently on Literotica, it is a "speed bump" due solely to the reader not having a comprehension level adequate to the task. Sometimes it might also be a language translation issue.

There is nothing inherently wrong with readers not being capable of appreciating nuances in a story. Writers just need to understand the audience here and the potential for some of them not to be reading at an adult level.

I don't want to say people here have limited reading ability, its more about this being an erotica site and people who come here more to get off than do any serious reading prefer to have their fix quick and dirty and save the thinking for something else.

 

[CalBishForNow]

I learned that I had a thicker skin than I realized. I remember taking any criticism or momentary failure deeply to heart as a child or even into my 20s. At some point since then, things have changed. Negative comments here? Eh. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Abuse of the type in comments here is harmless, often comical.