True, pop fiction is a category of it's own, I prefer better writing myself, but good writers don't churn out volume - Lord of the Flies is more harrowing than anything King has ever written, but King has outwritten Golding by orders of magnitude - you have to be more eclectic if you like writing because there's less to choose from, whereas a genre fan can read horror or mystery at a rate of a book a day for the rest of their lives and never run out. I'm an SF/Fantasy fan myself when it comes to pop lit, and there's no shortage of stuff I haven't read, but you run across truley memorable novels like Triton or Synthajoy only occasionally.
You are the kind of reader who inspires me to write more and smuttier stories.
I asked this question(s) with ulterior motives.
I've been watching this forum on and off for a few years. I've noticed a lot of people screaming about 1 votes and complaining about how their stories didn't do so well in voting while other, more badly written stroke stories consistently hang out way above them in the top lists.
I've been watching people complain about the lack of quality writing--not just the really badly done second person, typo-laden, barely 750 word long cookie cutter "this is what me and my partner did!" confessional--but the ones who write stroke stuff with almost no plot. There have been ideas about two Lits, one for stroke and one for quality writing.
I've always known that Lit was about letting the reader judge quality, not the editor. With publications, the editor is the first judge and gets rid of most of the drek. After that, the reader gets a chance. With Lit, the editor makes sure the story falls within policy guidelins (eg, no bestiality) and has a certain adherence to spelling, punctuation, and formatting to make the story legible. Subjectively, the story is judged by the reader.
I used to scream about 1-bombs. There is this one author I hated so much because she always had high rated stories and won prizes and adoration and I didn't. I felt I was the better writer. My stories had better plot and characterization. Hers? Bad porno video! The truth? I didn't consider the entire Lit audience. She successfully merged engaging characters and hot sex almost from the beginning. It took me quite a few paragraphs to get to the sex. I had build up before sex. She had sex and build up at the same time. She was in tune with the average Lit reader. She got the high votes because she gave them what they were looking for.
I started thinking about the average Lit readership, myself. I gave it a lot of thought and this is what I came up with. It's not an accurate picture, because who can know what other people are thinking, but I think it's a decent enough idea of what the general person likely to click open any one my stories is like.
The primary reader is generally a literate adult intent on masturbation. Stroke stories with a good plot woven score the absolute best with readers. The plot and character development make the story unique and interesting, but they don't want to spend a lot of time getting to the sex part. They like short stories, but not too short, because they've spent too much of their alloted Lit time searching the archives for a story that hits their kink. Anything too long? They'll do it when they have time, but they come to Lit to cum, not find a bestseller. The best rated stories have sex and plot from the beginning to the end, so the reader can match his or her arousal arc with the plot arc. They want to get on, get off, and either do it again or go do something else. They do judge writing quality, but masturbatory experience will usually guide them in their vote choices. I think that most of the readers are in this group, like about 90%. They might write some, but it's more along the lines of fantasy sharing for them. It's always about the sex when they do. They tend to start in second person or confessionals. Some of them do it to meet people. I doubt they ever use the forums or chat rooms.
The secondary reader is generally a literate adult intent on arousal, but not necessarily masturbation. They like well written, plottier stories that lead up to good sex. They'll spend more time browsing before settling in to read. I think they're also more discriminating with their votes because they judge writing quality over masturbatory experience. These are the people who are more likely to read longer stories, I think. They'll come back to cum, if they have to, for a well written story. They'll forgive amateur authors for doofy typos and such, but not too much. Grammar whores live here.
The tertiary reader is the serious writer. Sometimes it's about the sex, particularly if they like the writer they're reading. Mostly, Lit's about the writing for them. It's a small group of people, comparatively. They read stories and note the writing just as much as they do the sex. If it's not well written, they won't like it. They don't like stroke stories very much, but will occasionally read them. If they leave feedback, it's to comment on the writing itself, never about the sex or arousal. Well, unless they know the writer and feel a camaraderie with them.
The last group is the nutjobs. They read just to get offended or to find places to proseltyze. I spelled that wrong. They're not important because they're only on Lit to use writing for purposes other than enjoyment. Unless you count being offended or leading people to Jesus/Zoroaster/Flying Spaghetti Monster as enjoyment.
My writing tends to appeal to the secondary group. It's pretty good, if I do toot my own horn, but tends to drag a little before the sex gets there. And when it does, it's a bit tame. I never took it seriously enough to really appeal to Lit's full audience. Maybe that's not quite accurate.
When submitting a short story or poem for publication in a print magazine, a writer should read at least 6 back issues to get a feel for what kind of writing the editors and readers like so they can find out if their writing fits or not. And if it doesn't, can they tailor it a bit to make it fit. With Lit, the editor doesn't have to be pleased (other than a few flat policy points) but the reader does. You can't browse the archive and get a feel for what fits the publication because it's just so varied. So I never bothered to really think about who the reader is.
In the end, though, it's pretty simple. It's not where they're from, how old they are, how much money they make or all of the other usual demographics. It's what motivates them to be here and to vote/leave feedback. Tailoring stories to meet those needs is pretty simple at times, if someone's a good writer and has an interest in doing so. Not tailoring stories to those needs? I never did. And not meeting the needs of the reader in the first few paragraphs leads to a lot of back clicks. They don't have time to leave feedback to say I didn't hit their kink or the story dragged to long before I hit the sex part, sorry, but I'm shopping elsewhere. That's something I'm willing to take. I'm also willing to state that my success (mediocre) on Lit is of my own making, not someone else's. My scores reflect how well I meet the needs of Lit's primary readership.
I wanted to know what other people thought about Lit's readership because I wanted to see how well my opinions reflected others. I'm not an authority. I'm not the only person who has received feedback both positive and negative. I'd hoped to see what, if anything, others had come up.
I appreciate it. You folks have helped out.
You must never visit the "Story Ideas" forum.
It is fairly taboo isn't it? I think the average lit reader appreciates a degree of anonymity
I found out incest was the most popular a while back. So I checked a couple out.
