Your Literotica Successes & Failures in 2019

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

The year isn't over yet. I have a story pending. I'm not ready to close the books. But since this year was my first here, I'm willing to say that it's been interesting and informative.

Since I'm not getting paid and I'm using a pseudonym, I'd have to scale down 'success' and 'failure' from my usual definitions. Some readers seemed to like what I've posted. Some didn't. Mostly I've enjoyed the writing. I've had sex scenes in other things I've written, but making sex the focus of a story is new to me.

After 31Dec I may submit a way overthought summary of my 2019 here.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Biggest accomplishment was finding this place, and publishing six stories. All but one have been well received, and the other was written as a self imposed challenge so I’m not fussed.

I suppose my biggest highlight is my editing. That’s been a bigger challenge than writing, and most of those stories have had a good response.

Oh, and meeting you lot. This has been a great place to hang out.

 

[Asbel]

I submitted the final, 31st chapter of my first full work, Hematoma, early in the year. I was overwhelmed with the support for it, honestly... It was a Gay Male vampire erotica from the point of view of a masochist who uses body modification for his sexual outlet, with heavy overtones of realistic social and mental issues. I lost a lot of readers who enjoyed the work but said they couldn’t continue knowing the direction it was going. And I don’t blame them.

But in the end, I had a series with a little red “H” next to every chapter except 1 and 2. And that was a serious source of pride for me, k owing that people enjoyed something I made that much.

Now, you might notice I don’t have any works that have 31 chapters. I don’t even have Hematoma up anymore.

And that’s because I got a book deal. I... couldn’t tell you how. Hard work and dedication? Luck? Karma? I was pretty much tripping over my dick through the whole process so I guess someone just really saw value in what I had.

I don’t really know what else to say. But yes. In 2019 I completed and then sold my first book. I also got to start my second book, which I’ve been really excited to write - a story that isn’t nearly as dark or depressing as Hematoma was.

I’m also suffering from massive impostor syndrome now. Woo!

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

However, seasonal depression and a lot of personal life stuff mixed with all the negative stuff on here has me real, real low.

Kindness has been lacking around these parts lately. For me anyway.

Wwts— I’m sorry that it feels kindness has been lacking and empathize. As NW said, the “happiest season of the year” is not that for many, and I, too, wish you lots of better, brighter days.

This is my first year on Literotica, and so perhaps my accomplishment is that I survived I’d never written anything before joining; since Dec 2018, I’ve had 27 posts, participated in two events and created/hosted an event. Last December, I planned to just submit my one series of novels and to be done by the end of this year. As they say, “You plan, and God laughs.” Instead, I’ve found here a community of people that I care about and a seedbed of inspiration, while meanwhile, IRL, 2019 was a mind-blowingly blessed year with tons of outrageous over-the-top distraction.

The highlight for me is the satisfaction of publishing. The feeling comes with each completed chapter and yellow “Published” stamp. I’m addicted to that rush.

I’ve also been surprised by the positive response to my writing, which admittedly is quite dense. A chapter of my “Lamentations” retelling of the Cupid & Psyche myth lingered a few months as the #1 story (votes) on the site, and chapters of my story “Counting Pennies” floated, at brief intervals, to the top of the I/T HoF. All that was nice and I’m grateful, but what really thrills me is that my stories are finding their audience; it takes time to build a brand in any arena, and I’m fortunate to have some readers that “get” my writing.

 

[PennameWombat]

2019 is my first full year here. I have fifteen stories that were published in 2019, but three of those went up the first fortnight of January and were all essentially written in 2018. But I have one that I just submitted pending and hope to submit at least two more.

About lows, I've been surprised that my shortest ever story (Night Train) has been rated as lowly as it is. Not sure if it's the length (1500 words) but it's a complete little tale. I was slogging through a longer work and an idea came to me and I wanted to submit something.

I'm also annoyed for making the mistake myself of moving a series to a different category (Chronicle: Mel & Chris). The new category fit for how I'd originally envisioned it, but it had morphed somewhat in emphasis. My thought is to move it all once I'm ready to submit the next chapter.

As to high/lows, my series output slowed because of the contests. I used those though to explore other aspects of my universe and introduce broader themes. Those have also been some of my highest-rated stories and some of the most fun to write. For the Winter Holidays contest I stepped away from my usual work and took an idea I was offered from a reader (theme, characters) and ran with it (A Mermaid Christmas). Yesterday it had the magical 'H', today not... But I was happy I could craft something that hasn't been percolating in my head forever.

I'll admit that I have little interest to do what many do here and aim to submit in every category. It's not about the reader reactions but more about my own inclinations and abilities. I'm just not into putting in the work to learn enough about the required subjects or craft appropriate characters to reach all categories. It's not that I actively avoid, in 2019 I did newly submit in Fetish (A Dream of Age & Beauty) and Group Sex (The Princess & the Queen) and both of those stories have had consistent 'H' marks. Those stories just fit those categories (well, the former could've possibly gone in Mature...) But my Fetish story is way overdue for the sequel to the sorta-cliffhanger but it's been rough to get to.

As to reader reaction, posters here who mention "hundreds of comments" on a story... I don't have a hundred cumulative comments on all of my stories. But my favorite comment is one that indicated the reader HAD read and understood multiple of my stories. The newest story publication-wise is set chronologically earlier than previous stories I'd published with the same characters and the reader noticed .

 

[Bramblethorn]

I only posted one story this year, back in February. Life's been busy. Hoping to get some writing done over the break, but we'll have to see.

 

[YDB95]

Got eleven stories done this year, which I'm fairly pleased with (and a 12th has been submitted - we'll see if it gets posted before year's end). All but three got an H and I'm optimistic that the most recent one will get it after a sweep.

I don't really feel any of them have been among my best work, although D-Cup Blues Again is by far the longest standalone work I've published here, so it's good to know I was able to pull off something that ambitious. It does probably have some of my best character development - I ended up feeling like I really knew Dave and the girls, and like I knew how they would handle a given situation before I even wrote it. So I'll call it a win that I was able to pull off at least one story like that this year.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

I only started posting in March, so I'm still so very new to this.
Like some of the other newbies, I'll say that my biggest accomplishment is just submitting something to publish. I never thought of myself as having any talent in writing, or the basic ability to tell a good story on "paper". But I'd had some ideas rattling around in my head (for personal use, you understand? ), and they finally bugged me enough that I tried it out.

I have fifteen stories currently, with nine red Hs. Two stories are at 4.83 and few more around the 4.7 mark.

I'm (right now) proudest of "Catharsis", which pulls from my real life in a way I didn't plan at first. It's also one of my highest rated.

I'm not really disappointed in any. I'm new enough at this that all the stories are learning opportunities. There are a few that I liked better than their scores (if that makes any sense). But for two of those I think it reflects a mismatch between the readers' expectations for the categories they're in and my idea for the story. Live and learn, right?

As far as views and votes go, the category I write in mainly (BDSM) just doesn't get as many of those as a lot of the other categories**. I was a little stunned when a quick one page stroker I submitted to Group ["The Birthday Presents"] blew all my other stories out of the water (it now has 200 votes, and is my most viewed and most favorited story). It was an idea that arrived while I was driving to work one day, and that I banged out (heh) in a few hours when I got home.

I've also really enjoyed getting to know some of the regulars here, it's clearly a diverse group of people and I find that so much fun.

I do have flightes of fancy about getting money from writing, but then, I also have flights of fancy about winning the lottery...

Like some others have said, I'm sure looking forward to 2020.

eta: ** someone upthread had mentioned an accomplishment of getting 1 Million views over all their stories, and I think they had roughly the same number published as me. I just did a quick count, and my fifteen stories have approximately 156K views combined, with 35k just of the short group sex story I wrote. It really is all about which category you gravitate to, innit?

 

[yukonnights]

Well dang. I had to go back and check — and I must be getting forgetful because I was thinking it was only a few. In 2019 I posted out five stand alone works and one four part series. So is it six or nine total? That's a busy year for me since I don't write much in the spring/summer months.

Like RubenR, this was a year to explore more about writing for me. The Choosing Her series was a Lesbian story which was well received. Another one is a lesbian/bi-female themed story that I doubt I'll get done in time for posting this year — but I'm currently deep into this FFM story...that I'm afraid is getting too long . — yukon is not a female if anyone is wondering (even if he seems so cute and sweet ).

I almost didn't submit my One Night entry...got talked into it...and it surprised me. The readers seemed to relate to that one a lot...a nostalgic look back, etc.

Probably the thing I would pick as my favorite success is the evolution from my go to third person omniscient pov to a more energetic, immediate and immersive first person. (I also enjoyed causing such a fuss about the Deep POV discussion on the AH.) I'm not there yet on the Deep POV, but I'm trying.

And again picking up on something RubenR said, I've made some meaningful online "friends" to help me along and keep my spirits up.

Failures: Thankfully all of my failures are still hidden on my computer. I had one long story that I really was into. Sadly, I over did it in some ways, and under did it is an important way. In frustration, I scrapped it to the dust bin. A short while back I got to thinking about some of the suggestions my beta-reader/friend had suggested and to my good fortune they still had a copy. So, maybe not all is lost on that one — it just needs to be rewritten and tweaked. (next year)

Literotica has come to mean a lot to me over the years. Friends have come and gone, but finding this place a few years before I joined helped me better understand myself in a sexuality sense. I truly value this place and so many of the good folks here — I offer a shout out of thanks to the owners for keeping the place open.

 

[Polyacrylate]

...

As to high/lows, my series output slowed because of the contests. I used those though to explore other aspects of my universe and introduce broader themes. Those have also been some of my highest-rated stories and some of the most fun to write. For the Winter Holidays contest I stepped away from my usual work and took an idea I was offered from a reader (theme, characters) and ran with it (A Mermaid Christmas). Yesterday it had the magical 'H', today not... But I was happy I could craft something that hasn't been percolating in my head forever.

"A Mermaid Christmas" was pretty ambitious, and was one of my favorite stories I read this year, so thanks for sharing it with us.

2019 was a fantastic year for me IRL. Ridiculously busy, but good. Which may be part of the reason why my output on Lit was absolutely nothing. I've mentioned before that my writing time is mostly my lunch break, but that has been intruded upon by a busier job, and my efforts for an organization where I volunteer now only seem to get done over lunch, too.

Of course, I still found time to write a little - I just spun my wheels on 5-6 stories throughout the year. Foremost among them was an interracial love story (originally a Commedia delle'arte set in New Orleans) that was supposed to be for the One Night in XXX event. I was most of the way done and decided it wasn't right, and I wasn't doing justice to the city or the base material. I finished a rewrite and nearly submitted it for the Summer Lovin event, with most of the pretentiousness scrubbed away. But on the final reread, it just felt too flat, so I didn't submit. I'll come back to it at some point. Probably.

Another one I worked on this year was a dream-logic-y haunted house story, but that didn't quite come together for Halloween, so I pushed it aside. It's technically finished, but I like my stories to address a theme in some way, and this one mostly just says "madness bad," which didn't seem like enough.

I read a lot of stories this year, and many very good ones were submitted by posters on this board. Thank you all for contributing and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to you!

 

[SimonDoom]

Also, Suzie. I got to know Suzie quite well .

Once you go Suzie, you don't go back.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Once you go Suzie, you don't go back.

Wong. You’re Wong about Suzie. if you’re not careful you’ll end up married to Suzie

 

[SimonDoom]

Wong. You’re Wong about Suzie. if you’re not careful you’ll end up married to Suzie

Obviously, there's a story I need to read. I better get to it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I only posted one story this year, back in February. Life's been busy. Hoping to get some writing done over the break, but we'll have to see.

...though, now I think about it, I did also edit/beta for a few other people's stories. That counts too, right?

 

[Sonatatre]

...though, now I think about it, I did also edit/beta for a few other people's stories. That counts too, right?

That is perhaps an even more important accomplishment. Well done and thank you for helping others

 

[RejectReality]

Well, I climbed a tad higher on the top 250 authors list as RR. Slowly creeping my way toward the top 100. As always, it's a little depressing to see the names of authors who no longer visit slipping below me, because I know they'd still be far beyond me if they were still here, and they're missed.

Nothing else of particular note, really. No huge, breakaway stories that exceeded expectations or anything.

Failures? Not getting a "Magic of the Wood" story out as Les... Again. Not finishing a Halloween story I started a couple of years ago... Again. Not getting a Christmas story I've had on the books for years to work... Again. Not getting anything new out as Dark... Again. Especially new chapters of SOTM.

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

Well, I climbed a tad higher on the top 250 authors list as RR. Slowly creeping my way toward the top 100. As always, it's a little depressing to see the names of authors who no longer visit slipping below me, because I know they'd still be far beyond me if they were still here, and they're missed.

Nothing else of particular note, really. No huge, breakaway stories that exceeded expectations or anything.

Failures? Not getting a "Magic of the Wood" story out as Les... Again. Not finishing a Halloween story I started a couple of years ago... Again. Not getting a Christmas story I've had on the books for years to work... Again. Not getting anything new out as Dark... Again. Especially new chapters of SOTM.

I didn't even know there was such a thing.

Successes and failures? I'm not sure. Not even sure how many stories I posted this year.
I did decide to try to be a better writer. Not really sure what that means though and how to accomplish that but I did delete everything I've posted in the places I had posted so I can hopefully one day reread and rework everything to perfection. Is there such a thing?

 

[RejectReality]

"Favorites" from the menu of your author control panel, and then the more link at the bottom of the top 20 authors section.

https://literotica.com/stories/favauthorsv2.php

I didn't even know there was such a thing.

Successes and failures? I'm not sure. Not even sure how many stories I posted this year.
I did decide to try to be a better writer. Not really sure what that means though and how to accomplish that but I did delete everything I've posted in the places I had posted so I can hopefully one day reread and rework everything to perfection. Is there such a thing?

 

[TxRad]

Lets see, 2019 in review. 17 stories posted to Lit and 2 60k+ novels to mainstream. Not bad. Of the 17 stories, 13 have an H. The one I'm most proud of is the one where I stepped completely out of my comfort zone into a category I had never even thought of before. A 4.82 for that story surprised me. 21 pretty much positive comments did also.

I'm still chasing the 50th place on the top 250 list but at least it is good to see that whomever was gaming the list is either gone or is too busy to mess with it. I'm pretty sure RR knows what I'm talking about.

It has been a good year made better by the good people here in the AH.

 

[JamesMiehoff]

This was an interesting year. Twenty three stories published this year, including finishing the "Journey never begun" series first arc (all 10 of which are 4.50+ and a couple made the top 250 in Sci-fi). Of the twenty three, all but eight are above the coveted 4.50 rating for the red H. Of those, a couple have nudged up above the line for a while, but are now currently just below the line.

I ventured into Loving Wives for my 50th story and survived. Very interesting and scary territory.

My 3 entries into the "One Night In …" event all started in the low 4s but now 2 of the 3 are 4.5+. That was fun.

I have gotten a lot of requests to continue both the "Journey" series and the "PSI Plague" series, but real life keeps intruding. I have sketches for both series but have yet to finish the next installments.

"Favorites" from the menu of your author control panel, and then the more link at the bottom of the top 20 authors section.

https://literotica.com/stories/favauthorsv2.php

Wow. Now I am depressed. I have 546 Favorites. I guess if I am going to pull enough favorites in my lifetime, I am going to have to hit Loving Wives again if I am going to beat 1706 (the last one).

James

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

Wow. Now I am depressed. I have 546 Favorites. I guess if I am going to pull enough favorites in my lifetime, I am going to have to hit Loving Wives again if I am going to beat 1706 (the last one).

James

Is that followers? If so I have 81, LOL!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Wow. Now I am depressed. I have 546 Favorites. I guess if I am going to pull enough favorites in my lifetime, I am going to have to hit Loving Wives again if I am going to beat 1706 (the last one).

If you want followers, write incest stories. The traffic in that category is a quantum jump higher than you see elsewhere (excepting LW, maybe, but I don't ever go there).

 

[RejectReality]

Wow. Now I am depressed. I have 546 Favorites. I guess if I am going to pull enough favorites in my lifetime, I am going to have to hit Loving Wives again if I am going to beat 1706 (the last one).

It's harder than that, because the bottom of the list gets farther away every day.

Not so sure Loving Wives is the best place to pick up followers LOL People who follow you around and bomb everything you write... That's a different story.

 

[KeithD]

Writing a large volume of stories is more helpful for being favorited than writing in high readership (especially contentious readership) categories, I think.

 

[whowrotethisshit]

it's unfortunate, but the holidays aren't usually the time when people get out of their funks. I wish you better days and lots of sunshine.

Wwts— I’m sorry that it feels kindness has been lacking and empathize. As NW said, the “happiest season of the year” is not that for many, and I, too, wish you lots of better, brighter days.

Thank you both.
I'm switching it up and writing really messy chunks of story in a notebook right now. Slows my brain down and allows me to live in the story a bit more than quickly typing sentences down.

I wish both of you luck with your stories.