Getting Started

Hey everyone!

I've had an account for a minute and have been meaning to write for a while, but haven't gotten around to it yet, whether because of regular procrastination or because I've no experience writing erotica. So, I'm making this post to ask more experienced literotica writers for your advice getting started. Any/all advice would be a huge help, I hope to hear from you!

Edit: I'm also not very familiar with the forums yet: if this isn't the right place to post this please let me know and I'd be happy to delete/repost elsewhere.

AH is just the right place for your inquiry. You want advice? Read LIT categories you want to write for. See what works there. Tailor your writing to go with the flow, or disrupt it. Decide *WHY* you write. For your own amusement? For exercise? To pander to readers to gain views and brownie points? To piss off creeps?

Basic advice: Write. Write more. Post some. See if reactions do anything for you. Write more. Keep going. Failure here does not translate to the real world, so do what you want.

Write a story, submit a story, agonize over what the hell the scoring system means, ask why people don't comment much, and what's a View anyway? Then ask why some commenters carry on as if your fictional story was real, learn all about the grammar police and the category tribes. Do it a dozen times or so, and you'll be an expert, just like the rest of us.

Key thing, though, is the writing bit. Futzing about here at Author's Hangout is just another form of procrastination, but don't worry, we all do that too. Welcome aboard .

Take some multivitamins to grow some really thick skin, then post in Loving Wives.
Just for fun, even if you aren't interested in the genre, open a few stories to look at the comments alone, skipping the writing (if you want). Some commenters are asshats, and you will get evil comments if you allow them, regardless of genre.

Also... WELCOME TO THE CLUB!. The best way to become a more betterer author is to write more.

CeasarBoobage said:

Take some multivitamins to grow some really thick skin, then post in Loving Wives.

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You forgot to recommend an emergency medical kit for Loving Wives.

So I started a couple of years ago with a single story. I posted it on another website that shall remain nameless and when I went back six months later I found they had a policy of deleting threads over six months old and it was gone. Thank God! In retrospect it was terrible.

I wrote the next one, and the next one and....80 starts and half finishes later I finally got the guts up to write a 7 page short and post it for an event.

I have to admit hitting that submit button for the first time had my bowels twisted in a knot.

So read through the categories and find one you like. Look for the top scoring stories and the bad scoring stories.

Start reading those stories and decide what you like and don't like. Emulate the first and discard the second. Keep practising until you feel you're getting somewhere and then post. With luck feedback will follow.

Hopefully after a period of time you'll look back and get nauseated over your old stories. That's a good sign!

Jump in with both feet.

I became a writer here after I’d been a reader for many years, so I knew what the general expectations were and what kind of stories I wanted to write. I write what I’d want to read, which is what I’d suggest to you.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm definitely still nervous to start writing, but these all sound like great places to get started, and it's good to know that there's such a strong community on here. (Also, it's very comforting to get confirmation that other people have been in the same place at one time) I hope to be more involved in the future!

This is helpful. I've even printed out a copy for myself:

Love Your Readers: Categories

https://www.literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories

It's good to know what the categories are and what usually sells in them, but the best thing to do (IMO) is ignore all that at first. Get a story idea that you like, that means something to you. Write that story. Edit it, and get someone else to edit it if you can. Submit it in the category you think it fits in.

Then do that again.

Getting the idea is the hardest part at first. But I'm convinced that doing this a few times exercises the part of the brain that generates them, so that sometime later you will discover a new one when you weren't even consciously thinking about it. You might find yourself having two or three stories cooking at the same time. That's when the fun really starts.

On the InterWebz, nobody knows you're a neutered poodle. On LIT, nobody knows who/what you are beyond who/what you say you are. You can take any ID you want. Write different sorts of stories under different .alt IDs. If bigoted readers start to hate you as ImaDork, become BouncyBalls and post other stuff.

But write write write and don't be afraid. Nobody here can touch you unless you allow it. Stay private and you can do pretty much what you want. Freedom, yeah! BTW you may notice that 99.9% of LIT authors don't participate in the forums -- they just post stories. We're pretty much ignored here. Ratz.

I would add the Beta Reader to the above.
Or (better) an EDITOR. These can screen out some of the worst examples of a problem.

rebel_code said:

It's good to know what the categories are and what usually sells in them, but the best thing to do (IMO) is ignore all that at first. Get a story idea that you like, that means something to you. Write that story. Edit it, and get someone else to edit it if you can. Submit it in the category you think it fits in.

Then do that again.

Getting the idea is the hardest part at first. But I'm convinced that doing this a few times exercises the part of the brain that generates them, so that sometime later you will discover a new one when you weren't even consciously thinking about it. You might find yourself having two or three stories cooking at the same time. That's when the fun really starts.

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1. I agree about the categories. I meant that they mostly should be considered when the time comes to submit. Sometimes a story will fall into a "gap" between categories and the article I linked to helps. (There was even a thread about the site adding needed categories but that's another topic.)

2. I agree with the second statement too. With some luck and diligence the number of your new ideas should increase in tandem with the ones you've already taken to completion.

Write for you

I began reading stories on here several years ago and not immediately, but not all that much afterwards, began writing stories for my own amusement. A few years later, last year, I decided to submit them. I like the stories I’ve written. I enjoy them. If not I wouldn’t submit them. I hope those that read them also enjoy them. But if they don’t that’s life.

No one on here gets paid for their stories. Bear that in mind and write for you.

Some good advice above.

IMHO, there's only one way to get started and that's the way the cat learned to swim.

So - write, submit, see what you could have done better, repeat.

Write for yourself. In other words, what makes you turned on? If you write well enough that you are, it's pretty likely that others will like it too.

(Oh, and stay the heck away from Loving Wives until you have an ego like a methadrine rhino. It's just not pretty in there.)

I started writing for LIT not long after I started reading here. I saw so many stories with decent plots but horrible orthography that I thought, "I can write better than THAT!" So I have, hopefully. So can you. The bar here ain't very high. Have fun.

I think that focusing on "an idea" for a story can be intimidating. I mean, you aren't likely to have an idea that hasn't been explored already, many, many times.

For a new author, a less terrifying approach can be to create a few interesting characters, based on people you know, a favorite movie star, a TV character you like. Throw them together, in a bar, on a train or at work, and play around with how they interact. A story will emerge.

MelissaBaby said:

I think that focusing on "an idea" for a story can be intimidating. I mean, you aren't likely to have an idea that hasn't been explored already, many, many times.

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Too many 'ideas' stay as plot bunnies going nowhere. A story needs more than a setup to grow.

For a new author, a less terrifying approach can be to create a few interesting characters, based on people you know, a favorite movie star, a TV character you like. Throw them together, in a bar, on a train or at work, and play around with how they interact. A story will emerge.

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That's one of my three storytelling techniques:

* Create a setting, a few plot points, and a cast of players. Set them loose; see what happens. My ex-SIL the NYT-BS novelist says a story written like that is usually too obvious but hey, it's fun!

* Start with an ending. Visualize the last bit a reader will see. Write the story to reach that point. Maybe have the story circle around. Start with the MC wondering why they must flee a pursuing mob. How did they get there?

* Work from a journal or script; you know the overall structure. Visualize it as a video and blog what you see, hear, and feel. Edit and flesh it out to be sexy.

My other suggestion: Read. See how successful LIT stories are structured. That's akin to "learning at the feet of the masters," like art students. I purposely try to model some tales on classic SF pieces. Anything good enough for Azimov is good enough for me.

The only way to get started is just to start. Start writing, finish the story, and submit it. The only way to get better at writing is to write.

I read stories here for over 10 years before I wrote and publishing anything, so by the time I did it I had a stock of ideas inspired by what I'd read and I was ready to go. Or so I thought. I've learned a lot since publishing my first story 27 months ago.

My advice is two-part: Write for yourself, but in submitting your stories be mindful of the peculiarities of the site -- in particular, how categories work. If you learn about the site you'll do a better job connecting with the audience that will appreciate your story best.

Hypoxia said:

I started writing for LIT not long after I started reading here. I saw so many stories with decent plots but horrible orthography that I thought, "I can write better than THAT!" So I have, hopefully. So can you. The bar here ain't very high. Have fun.

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I did the inverse: I started writing and found the site months later. (I still have stuff from that period that I haven't submitted here yet.) And I fooled around with fan-fiction screenplays years ago.

Thus I had no "template/standard" for what an erotic story was. I had stories that had explicit scenes - that's the way I saw it. Is that a good thing? I don't know.

I did decide to submit things that I figured would not be popular - and I guessed right, they weren't popular! (See my series about Valerie Solanas.) But I'm still glad I submitted them.

The one piece of advice I would offer is work on your craft. There are only a dozen or so plots. So chose one and put your effort into drawing the characters and telling the story.

There are thousands of writers with stories posted on Literotica, and the overwhelming majority of them can’t write for toffee (as my grandfather used to say).

Most of the people who contribute to the discussions here at the AH are good writers or very good writers. Some are very, very good writers. Even the village troll has some serious skills. (Trust me. Some of his stuff is very good indeed.) But, once you get beyond the hard core, it’s a very long tail.

Which is not to say that you can’t accumulate red Hs while churning out crap. You can. Readers vote for what they like rather than for what is literate. Bastards. But do you really want to spend your hours illiterately mumbling about your 44DD mom sitting on your 14-inch cock when you could be writing something that will still make you smile or cheer or feel like shagging the girl next door in five years’ time? No. I thought not.

Good luck.

All good advice, but here’s some suggestions to get the ideas flowing. (For sake of simplicity, I’ll assume you’re a hetero male, but the concept would apply for all genders & sexual orientations).

Have you ever had sexual fantasies about a woman (or women) you know or saw somewhere? Fantasies that could come true by the magic of fiction. Possible scenarios:

1. A co-worker whom you never asked out for fear that it might jeopardize your job.

2. The wife/girlfriend (of a relative, friend, neighbor, or co-worker) who came onto you, but you were too decent a guy to go forward with it.

3. A new gal you flirted with at a party or bar or at school whom you didn’t want to get involved with because of various reasons but wished you had.

4. An old female friend whom you never had sex with (you were too young at the time, she wasn’t available, or you didn’t want to spoil the friendship) but you now wonder what-if?

5. A woman who was 'of age' but too young for an old guy like you and would probably never be interested in you 'that way', but it turns out to be otherwise (gender/age situation could be flipped).

The possibilities are almost limitless. You could tell the story in first person (usually easiest for a newbie), but third person allows the ability to get inside the head of all the characters. Or you may be more creative than I am, imagining a historical setting or sci-fi/fantasy elements or sexuality that exists outside the mainstream.

And I strongly endorse the advice from Handley Page re getting a beta reader or editor if you can – that’s assuming your mom or English teacher won’t help.

Another story arousal: What-if? Look at some point in your own or someone else's life -- a choice made or imposed, an accident, a cusp -- and speculate on alternatives. What would have happened if... or if not... ??