Creating erotic stories but staying down to earth

electricblue66 said:

PWD = Person With a Disability, the acronym used by folk from that community. I had to look it up, too, but assumed my target audience would self identity (they did). I take your point, somewhat, but fiction with footnotes doesn't quite work, either.

Also, how can any writer know what a reader doesn't know? Rule No. something from my writer's bible is credit the reader with intelligence, don't explain everything .

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I'm impressed. Few people know PWD outside of it. I'm around and in it due to my own experience(s). Many strong and courageous people in that arena. What we can do every day and have a choice of doing, they do not have that choice. They have to work to obtain the ability to have a choice - often.

BiscuitHammer said:

Hopefully not, since I have an entire storyline about it in Humour/Satire. :/

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Well, good. That's what my comment was. (Humor) With gender bending, people get confused by pronouns. With Time involved, it gets in tense.

psiberzerker said:

Well, good. That's what my comment was. (Humor) With gender bending, people get confused by pronouns. With Time involved, it gets in tense.

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Niiiiiiiice. I have not yet used that temporal witticism yet in my story.

Yet...

ThatsTheGuy said:

I'm impressed.

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I have to admit, so am I. You managed to surprise me, as well

Bramblethorn said:

Side note: if you use "wheelchair bound" in a story, people who use wheelchairs may get cranky at you. For those who use them, a wheelchair is the opposite of a bond - it's a vehicle that gives new freedoms, like a bike or an airplane.

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An able bodied reader's words, not the author's and not once used in the story. That was a fundamental piece of research I did do, before publishing Rope and Veil. My characters were bound, though - hence the title.

It's the only story I've edited and re-posted, to take on board some feedback I received from a wheelchair user. Bollocked, is an accurate word . Mind you, she did observe that she had spina bifida, "And we do go on a bit." I didn't know that, either, but by god she was funny. I gave her a cameo in a later chapter.

psiberzerker said:

That's great, if you only have one reader. If you want more than that, don't Assume that every one of them knows everything about anything. The odds don't favor that conclusion. The more readers you have, the less likely that is to be true.

I'm sorry. That was a pretty good story, and the inclusion of a wheelchair bound character was different. Applaudable. You succeeded there, I just had to point out that an able-bodied person might not know that abbreviation. Other than that, a successful story.

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I'm an elitist, and expect readers to keep up. The evidence is, they usually do.

You're probably right, but if one sets the bar by the great unwashed, all you do is trip over the damn thing.

Thank you, by the way. I took a huge risk with that story, but it's been well received by its intended audience. Some of the comments received are very moving, very humbling.

ThatsTheGuy said:

I'm impressed. Few people know PWD outside of it. I'm around and in it due to my own experience(s). Many strong and courageous people in that arena. What we can do every day and have a choice of doing, they do not have that choice. They have to work to obtain the ability to have a choice - often.

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This is the story being talked about:

https://www.literotica.com/s/rope-and-veil

Plus two further chapters, and distant plan for a third.

My readers say it best:

I am a wheelchair user. You have a great sense of what it means. She is beautifully seen, strong and vulnerable. I have never thought to include my disability in my writing, but you inspire me to. I will write and post. Thank you.

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electricblue66 said:

An able bodied reader's words, not the author's and not once used in the story.

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Yep, I should've worded that more clearly - I was responding to a comment, not to your story.

electricblue66 said:

My characters were bound, though - hence the title.

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Yeah, I love wordplay in the title. Wheelchair Bound was just about perfect. It's clever, but also tells you pretty much exactly what you need to know (With a couple story codes added, like MF...) That's pretty much your first chance to catch the reader.

So to speak.

electricblue66 said:

You're probably right, but if one sets the bar by the great unwashed, all you do is trip over the damn thing.

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All the way to the bank? You've received some replies from people who got it, and you haven't from, whom? The good reviews completely drown out anyone you've alienated. Which isn't to say you alienated anyone being an elitist. (I just asked, and got my answer) but how do you know? Because you got positive comments? That doesn't follow.

It's your bar. But you asked. You get more readers by lowering it. You're an elitist, so you don't care about that (And I'm sure you were before it was cool) but the "Unwashed masses" have money, a lot of it. That's what an artist has to be gained by selling out to the masses. I can't do it either.

psiberzerker said:

It's your bar. But you asked. You get more readers by lowering it. You're an elitist, so you don't care about that (And I'm sure you were before it was cool) but the "Unwashed masses" have money, a lot of it. That's what an artist has to be gained by selling out to the masses. I can't do it either.

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Yes, it's my bar (the one the poets walked into), no money is made here on Literotica (and listening to the professional writers, not much is made in other places, either), so that's a moot point.

Volume is easy on Lit, just ask the Incest folk. Meanwhile, I'll make my little corner of the world my own, and give my readers somewhere to escape to, those that choose to wander by.

electricblue66 said:

no money is made here on Literotica (and listening to the professional writers, not much is made in other places, either), so that's a moot point.

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I know. In fact, if you scroll up to my first post, I mentioned it. First. However, I also mentioned Sellouts, and I answered your question. Money is to be gained from dumbing it down to the lowest common denominator. If you had asparitions of becoming a professional writer, which I just assumed you don't. You did ask, though.

Some amateur writers (Present company excepted) do have aspirations of becoming rich, and famous authors. From the success of Twilight fanfics, and sequels of reboots of comic book adaptions, I'd say that there is actually some money in sacrificing your work for the masses. Up to you if it's worth it.

psiberzerker said:

And, just based on that, I'm going to check it out! (Well, that, and a female writer. When male writers say "realistic," and "natural." Iiiiii'm just going to say that I have been disappointed before. or, sometimes it just means "I have never touched a willing woman.")

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Hey fuck you, I can totally write realistic and natural. When my female protagonists stop whatever they're doing (off to work, headed to a hot date, defusing a hostage crisis) to check themselves out in the mirror, they have perfectly kissable 34C-cups, not ridiculous 38DD funbags. SMDH

member9458 said:

Hey fuck you, I can totally write realistic and natural. When my female protagonists stop whatever they're doing (off to work, headed to a hot date, defusing a hostage crisis) to check themselves out in the mirror, they have perfectly kissable 34C-cups, not ridiculous 38DD funbags. SMDH

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Thing is, the women I know have giant tits (in comparison to this). In the Es, often. I can only assume male writers are writing the tiny wee women of telly, since I rarely meet a woman in real life over the age of twelve who has breasts smaller than a D. (UK and Aus as my reference points).

And yes, I know because I ask them (the adults, that is), and yes, that's a perfectly acceptable dinner table conversation if you look like a sixteen year old boy yourself.

It's called 'research'.

member9458 said:

Hey fuck you, I can totally write realistic and natural. When my female protagonists stop whatever they're doing (off to work, headed to a hot date, defusing a hostage crisis) to check themselves out in the mirror, they have perfectly kissable 34C-cups, not ridiculous 38DD funbags. SMDH

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LOL, and they can fly on a stream of cum gushing out of their spastically climacing cervexes! Look, it's a bird, it's a plane! No, wait, it's just Carly late for work again.

Shrug.

They really should replace those mirrored windows.

Here, I brought my chamois.

I love writing shit like that too. The "Diffusing a hostage crisis" got a snarfle out of me.

that's another one that kind of makes me cringe. All women gush explosively, every time they have an orgasm. Which is every time they have sex.

JasonClearwater said:

Thing is, the women I know have giant tits (in comparison to this). In the Es, often. I can only assume male writers are writing the tiny wee women of telly, since I rarely meet a woman in real life over the age of twelve who has breasts smaller than a D. (UK and Aus as my reference points).

And yes, I know because I ask them (the adults, that is), and yes, that's a perfectly acceptable dinner table conversation if you look like a sixteen year old boy yourself.

It's called 'research'.

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My post was, uh, an attempt at a joke, and the "ridiculous 38DDs" comment was part of it—of course that's not a ridiculous breast size. I'm not sure if you're repudiating me here or if you realized the joke and just wanted to add that for academic purposes. If it's the former, though, I'm really, truly sorry for not making the joke obvious enough; I probably shouldn't have made it in the first place.

Just to approach this thread seriously: My work tends to have a wank-fantasy bent to it, but I personally enjoy when I try to set said wank fantasy in a more grounded world. It comes with mixed success; with Stay Sweet, which was a romance between a guy and a childhood friend who just escaped from an abusive marriage, I was a little over-cautious about trying to evade certain unhealthy pitfalls of relationships that form under those circumstances. As a result, most who cared to comment felt my male lead ended up being a weiner who got "trapped" by my female lead. (The real shitty thing is, I feel like there's some useful criticism in there but I can't sort it out from the crypto-sexist rhetoric. Honestly, I'm close to washing my hands of the story and asking Laurel to just pull it; it was tricky material, and the thought that I got it wrong and possibly did some damage really fucks with me.)

On the other hand, I feel like I got it right with Graduation, which is a student-teacher story that I wrote because I couldn't shake it from my head. The rules I set out for the story were "No blackmail, no rants about how society doesn't get them, both parties know this is a horrible idea despite their hormones telling them otherwise." I tried to treat the subject realistically and honestly while still playing to my base kinks, and the crowd went fucking wild for it.

I don't think I can claim to know how to do it right or wrong, but I think I can confidently say there's an audience for grounded stories on here.

member9458 said:

My post was, uh, an attempt at a joke

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I thought it was a joke in response to my joke, and joked back... (I think I used the 38DD joke earlier. It's about the mode size. Also, 5'2" blond, and blue... Comes from Playboy Centerfold dimensions in the late 80s-early 90s, when that was the "Ideal' woman. With implants, bleached blonde, landing strip... One of the ways you can tell he's a male righter is she wakes up in the morning, and blesses God for having 38DDs before she yawns.)

member9458 said:

My work tends to have a wank-fantasy bent to it, but I personally enjoy when I try to set said wank fantasy in a more grounded world.

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I tend to think how the narrator, or primary narrator would write it. I mean yeah, if he's a self absorbed prick, then it's going to cold start straight into the sexual action, with whatever characterization i can cram into the dialog, but if she's got a horror/stranger/sexual assault fantasy role play with her lovers, then she's going to get as Lovecrafty, with black, and blue prose. Visual thinkers will go for superficial description (Down to inches) artists will focus on a feature... Also, a lot of variety for my readers, so someone will more likely find something they like.

Stay Sweet, which was a romance between a guy and a childhood friend who just escaped from an abusive marriage, I was a little over-cautious about trying to evade certain unhealthy pitfalls of relationships that form under those circumstances. As a result, most who cared to comment felt my male lead ended up being a weiner who got "trapped" by my female lead. (The real shitty thing is, I feel like there's some useful criticism in there but I can't sort it out from the crypto-sexist rhetoric. Honestly, I'm close to washing my hands of the story and asking Laurel to just pull it; it was tricky material, and the thought that I got it wrong and possibly did some damage really fucks with me.)

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So, yeah. Don't listen to aquaintance rapists who believe in the #FriendZone. You know Betas got that from Seniors in high school so they'd never talk to their girlfriends, so they socially stunt themselves, and make up this mythology to eventually become Incells, or at least look at their posts in the comments, right?

On the other hand, I feel like I got it right with Graduation, which is a student-teacher story that I wrote because I couldn't shake it from my head. The rules I set out for the story were "No blackmail, no rants about how society doesn't get them, both parties know this is a horrible idea despite their hormones telling them otherwise." I tried to treat the subject realistically and honestly while still playing to my base kinks, and the crowd went fucking wild for it.

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Yeah, the sociopolitical rants rule is really hard for me. (couldja tell?) Sounds remarkably similar to my latest one, only instead of the "Society doesn't get us" part, it was him trying not to let the situation got to his head so he could concentrate on satisfying 2 hyperaroused coeds. (I don't always do cliche scenes, but when i do, i lampshade the myths that they tend to be chock full of.)

I don't think I can claim to know how to do it right or wrong, but I think I can confidently say there's an audience for grounded stories on here.

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That's why we need these discussions, so we can learn from each other's experiences, instead of taking decades of making the same mistakes until someone finally comments, instead of just hitting the dis/like button.

member9458 said:

My post was, uh, an attempt at a joke, and the "ridiculous 38DDs" comment was part of it—of course that's not a ridiculous breast size. I'm not sure if you're repudiating me here or if you realized the joke and just wanted to add that for academic purposes. If it's the former, though, I'm really, truly sorry for not making the joke obvious enough; I probably shouldn't have made it in the first place.

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No repudiation, agreeing with you on the average author's idea of 'large' breasts.

member9458 said:

Just to approach this thread seriously: My work tends to have a wank-fantasy bent to it, but I personally enjoy when I try to set said wank fantasy in a more grounded world. It comes with mixed success; with Stay Sweet, which was a romance between a guy and a childhood friend who just escaped from an abusive marriage, I was a little over-cautious about trying to evade certain unhealthy pitfalls of relationships that form under those circumstances. As a result, most who cared to comment felt my male lead ended up being a weiner who got "trapped" by my female lead. (The real shitty thing is, I feel like there's some useful criticism in there but I can't sort it out from the crypto-sexist rhetoric. Honestly, I'm close to washing my hands of the story and asking Laurel to just pull it; it was tricky material, and the thought that I got it wrong and possibly did some damage really fucks with me.)

On the other hand, I feel like I got it right with Graduation, which is a student-teacher story that I wrote because I couldn't shake it from my head. The rules I set out for the story were "No blackmail, no rants about how society doesn't get them, both parties know this is a horrible idea despite their hormones telling them otherwise." I tried to treat the subject realistically and honestly while still playing to my base kinks, and the crowd went fucking wild for it.

I don't think I can claim to know how to do it right or wrong, but I think I can confidently say there's an audience for grounded stories on here.

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You sound as if you approach it the same way I do; trying to do no harm, while writing fantasy. It's a delicate line to walk. I largely stay away from writing women for this reason (no confidence I can do no harm with what I'm writing).

electricblue66 said:

PWD = Person With a Disability, the acronym used by folk from that community. I had to look it up, too, but assumed my target audience would self identity (they did). I take your point, somewhat, but fiction with footnotes doesn't quite work, either.

Also, how can any writer know what a reader doesn't know? Rule No. something from my writer's bible is credit the reader with intelligence, don't explain everything .

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I wrote one story where the main character was disabled, a lesbian story called 'April Leads Julie Astray' set in 1963. Julie had contracted polio as a child in the early 1950s, and her left leg never recovered properly requiring her to wear a brace. I made a good effort to get readers inside the character's mind and emphasize with her, by describing how frightening the experience of getting sick with polio was for her; her frustration as she got older of not being able to do things other kids could; and her hurt of being called a cripple by kids, teenagers and adults.

Given the serious nature of the story - the other main character April was the victim of serious physical and emotional child abuse as a little girl - I was worried that readers would dislike it because of this, but they loved it, giving the story some of my highest scores and positive comments. So I must have done a reasonable job writing this story, given Julie's problems and the issues that led to April's traumatic childhood took place so many years in the past and would not (thankfully) have been encountered by most Literotica readers in real life.

In reply to DigitalAge

I know how you feel.

I published something that was a bit off the wall, and the disapproval was rather resounding.

I think I shot myself in the foot by submitting in the wrong category, but that was part of the humor. Or maybe it's just not anyone's cup of jizz.

I have another piece that's hit it's ending, and all I need to do is go back and fill in some unfinished sections, but I get distracted... I have 4 pieces in the pipeline that I alternate between depending on my mood.

…..
SO. I figured I'd just knock-out a 6 page stroker, just to see if I could.

The initial story became the outline for something longer. I've done two 2-day sprees without sleep. Now I'm 78 pages and over 32k words in, and there's NO sex worth mentioning until the end.

But it's my fav at the moment so I churn away at it. I still wonder if there any welcome for sexless content around here.

But the sex is already written, at the end. It also may work well for the mainstream, so that kinda keeps this site on the radar.

I hate thinking about it. What category? Is anyone going to want to read something sexless? It follows tropes I'm already known for. It's the most masturbatory thing I've ever done regarding the writing, yet not in its erotic content. More like a diary than anything else.

I have no idea. I guess I'll finish it, fling it somewhere, and see if it's wet enough to stick.

…..
I was going to check out your story, but it's 13 parts. That's more of a diversion that I'm prepared for at this moment. I need to keep writing.

Looks like your work is well rated too. Seems like you're doing just fine. For this reason, I know I'll have to read it. To see what kind of content is wonderful but still gave you pause. I'll learn from that.

Let's see. The first time Mary and Alvin had sex, they bailed out because they didn't have a condom. Luckily Mary remembered where she'd put them and they could carry on.

In the flashback to losing her virginity, she wasn't sure if she had an orgasm or not.

Then there was the time Alvin's back was bothering him, so she just gave him a hand job.

And the first night she came to his house...well, that's an important plot point I don't want to give away.

I have tried to keep things as real as possible, and my readers seem to like and accept it.

psiberzerker said:

I thought it was a joke in response to my joke, and joked back... (I think I used the 38DD joke earlier. It's about the mode size. Also, 5'2" blond, and blue... Comes from Playboy Centerfold dimensions in the late 80s-early 90s, when that was the "Ideal' woman. With implants, bleached blonde, landing strip... One of the ways you can tell he's a male righter is she wakes up in the morning, and blesses God for having 38DDs before she yawns.)

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Oh yeah, I saw that you had caught on, so now I guess I have to apologize for ruining the joke by explaining that I was totally joking!

I tend to think how the narrator, or primary narrator would write it. I mean yeah, if he's a self absorbed prick, then it's going to cold start straight into the sexual action, with whatever characterization i can cram into the dialog, but if she's got a horror/stranger/sexual assault fantasy role play with her lovers, then she's going to get as Lovecrafty, with black, and blue prose. Visual thinkers will go for superficial description (Down to inches) artists will focus on a feature... Also, a lot of variety for my readers, so someone will more likely find something they like.

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This is some incredibly thoughtful characterization theory, and I'd love to check it out in practice!

So, yeah. Don't listen to aquaintance rapists who believe in the #FriendZone. You know Betas got that from Seniors in high school so they'd never talk to their girlfriends, so they socially stunt themselves, and make up this mythology to eventually become Incells, or at least look at their posts in the comments, right?

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(This is a major derail and I'd like to apologize in advance for it. If any of you guys want to engage this you're welcome to PM me; the only reason I'm replying here is that I felt weird slipping into berzerker's PMs without warning.)

I do know that...in theory. Here's the thing. Without telling more than anyone needs to know, I don't have a lot of relationship experience. It's part of my reason for getting into erotica; it's a good way to blow off steam while I slowly work on myself. Tradeoff for that is, I'm either a little naive about sexual politics, or I can be led to believe that I'm naive. Either way sucks.

But I do know enough to know when a dude just has a hateboner for women. So I know I can throw comments like this one right in the trash:

Some Anonymous Asshole said:

Wounded But Still A Psycho
on 11/17/2017
He is a cuck in waiting. Just a matter of time before she cheats on him because she needs reassurance again and he will just stand there and take it.

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Okay, buddy, thanks for playing, sorry you didn't get to fingerbang Alyssa Bakersfield at the senior prom afterparty. But then I'll get a few comments like this that are dressed (even just barely) as in-depth story critique, and it's harder to ignore:

Some Asshole I'd Rather Not Name Even Though You Can Go To My Comments Page And Find Him said:

I just don't know...
on 04/04/2018
I can't say I'm too sure how to feel about this one.

There's none on this planet that can argue, you've got your syntax down. It's a solid storyline with progressing characters told with a very astute tone. I wouldn't be surprised if you did this formally.

What I can't wrap my head around is why Pete got such a short end of the stick. If we're leaving out the word 'cuck'; then this is a girl that is marginally older than him, can't have kids, has baggage to boot and has a nasty habit of cutting ties cold turkey.
Yet she holds all the cards over a guy with a (probably) fully functional reproductive system, holds a higher success pinnacle as far as working employment goes. And this is all before we get to stregnth of character...

You see where I'm going with this? Sure we can label this as love, but even more than that, I see exploitation. Even more so when we start using the word 'cuck'. That word may not have been utilised explicitly but it's there.

For her to stay loyal to an abusive jackass, then use him as a rebound before vanishing to have sexcapades with random people and give them all the things she wouldn't give him... Then she finally decides to waltz back into his life like she doesn't know any better. Yet all the while, he, in all his chivalry, is busy stressing over his positive worth to her?

I dunno. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe he's just a machosist, and if that's the case; jackpot. There's obviously plenty more hurt where that came from. If not, if he's just plain oblivious to his own value, then... Damn... He got shit on. It just sucks for him, y'know? If that's the treatment love gets you then why bother? He doesn't even get kids as a consolation prize.

Gotta love happy endings...

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Okay, the more I read this over, the more I have to ask myself "How would I defend this comment as legit criticism?" And the more I do that, the fewer answers I have. But remember, the dominant thought on my mind is, "This is a very sensitive subject that I have no practical experience with, please God tell me I got this right."

Now, before publishing, I made a post on the editor's forum asking for women to give me feedback (I don't know any women personally who also know that I write erotica), but I didn't get any immediate bites—probably because the story was 41K words long and I was asking for a lot of specific thoughts—and my shitty lack of patience won out after a few days. So I'm already worried that I'm glorifying a toxic romance, which means I'm sensitive to criticisms that confirm those fears—regardless of whether they're coming from people who have lived through this shit and have concerns about how I handled it, or people who...Jesus Christ, people who count "stay[ing] loyal to an abusive jackass" against "stregnth[sic] of character," as if that's how it fucking works.

If there's any way this ties in to what we're actually supposed to be talking about in this thread, it's this: if you (the general "you") are trying to write grounded, don't be like me; as someone upthread said, do your due dilligence. You are a writer. You have insecurities. And the less confident you are in what you're talking about, the more those insecurities will fuck with you, and the more open you might be to wrongheaded and even poisonous lines of thinking.

(And not for nothing, but if you've got half a day to spend on a long-ass romantic jerkoff story, you're welcome to judge Stay Sweet for yourself.)

Yeah, the sociopolitical rants rule is really hard for me. (couldja tell?) Sounds remarkably similar to my latest one, only instead of the "Society doesn't get us" part, it was him trying not to let the situation got to his head so he could concentrate on satisfying 2 hyperaroused coeds. (I don't always do cliche scenes, but when i do, i lampshade the myths that they tend to be chock full of.)

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I like to do that too! I'm working on a story where a somewhat recent transplant to LA is approached by a guy who wants to pay money to photograph her, and when he explains his situation, she tells him straight up, "I think I saw some movies on the internet that started just like this." (The premise is that he actually tries to be professional and supportive, but she's super into him and in the mood to play. What could possibly go wrong?)

JasonClearwater said:

You sound as if you approach it the same way I do; trying to do no harm, while writing fantasy. It's a delicate line to walk. I largely stay away from writing women for this reason (no confidence I can do no harm with what I'm writing).

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Interesting! I could never do that because I'm not much for gay male stories, but I definitely respect that.

member9458 said:

I just don't know...
on 04/04/2018
I can't say I'm too sure how to feel about this one.

There's none on this planet that can argue, you've got your syntax down. It's a solid storyline with progressing characters told with a very astute tone. I wouldn't be surprised if you did this formally.
>
What I can't wrap my head around is why Pete got such a short end of the stick. If we're leaving out the word 'cuck'; then this is a girl that is marginally older than him, can't have kids, has baggage to boot and has a nasty habit of cutting ties cold turkey.
<
Yet she holds all the cards over a guy with a (probably) fully functional reproductive system, holds a higher success pinnacle as far as working employment goes. And this is all before we get to stregnth of character...
<
You see where I'm going with this? Sure we can label this as love, but even more than that, I see exploitation. Even more so when we start using the word 'cuck'. That word may not have been utilised explicitly but it's there.
<
For her to stay loyal to an abusive jackass, then use him as a rebound before vanishing to have sexcapades with random people and give them all the things she wouldn't give him... Then she finally decides to waltz back into his life like she doesn't know any better. Yet all the while, he, in all his chivalry, is busy stressing over his positive worth to her?
>
I dunno. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe he's just a machosist, and if that's the case; jackpot. There's obviously plenty more hurt where that came from. If not, if he's just plain oblivious to his own value, then... Damn... He got shit on. It just sucks for him, y'know? If that's the treatment love gets you then why bother? He doesn't even get kids as a consolation prize.

Gotta love happy endings...

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This is GOLD. Pure 24 karat solid gold. I'm not going to tell you how to write, but I personally can't wrap my head around this mindset, and these guys aren't honest with me, because I'm openly transgender. So, i get their lies. I don't get to read their inner conflict, because they don't consider me someone they can sway with the same persuasive argument they underpin their mindset with. I just get the backlash.

So, you get the "I don't want to sound like a self absorbed prick, so here's my rationale." Thank you for sharing. Now, I can write a character like that, from his PoV, without making up what I Think goes through his head. It's right there, where I can see it. So, thanks for sharing this.

(The arrows indicate the back, and forth, then doubling down to reinforce his excuses, then realising how he sounds, so tries to mollify it, so he doesn't sound like that to you. Oh, and he started out complimenting your "syntax" so you'll be flattered, and keep reading...

"We're not going to use the word cuck."
<...>
"Now, I can use the word Cuck.")

member9458 said:

I don't have a lot of relationship experience...

Now, before publishing, I made a post on the editor's forum asking for women to give me feedback (I don't know any women personally who also know that I write erotica)

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This is how you do it. You admitted that you need a woman's perspective, if you wanted to have any hope of women reading this.

(You probably know women who Read erotica, and know what they like. It's just hard to tell which ones they are. However, it's not an easy conversation to have with someone you know personally IRL. It can change how they think of you, and possibly come off as a clumbsy ploy to turn them on. Up to you how much you want to risk that.)

Carnal_Apple said:

I know how you feel.

I published something that was a bit off the wall, and the disapproval was rather resounding.

I think I shot myself in the foot by submitting in the wrong category, but that was part of the humor. Or maybe it's just not anyone's cup of jizz.

I have another piece that's hit it's ending, and all I need to do is go back and fill in some unfinished sections, but I get distracted... I have 4 pieces in the pipeline that I alternate between depending on my mood.

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SO. I figured I'd just knock-out a 6 page stroker, just to see if I could.

The initial story became the outline for something longer. I've done two 2-day sprees without sleep. Now I'm 78 pages and over 32k words in, and there's NO sex worth mentioning until the end.

But it's my fav at the moment so I churn away at it. I still wonder if there any welcome for sexless content around here.

But the sex is already written, at the end. It also may work well for the mainstream, so that kinda keeps this site on the radar.

I hate thinking about it. What category? Is anyone going to want to read something sexless? It follows tropes I'm already known for. It's the most masturbatory thing I've ever done regarding the writing, yet not in its erotic content. More like a diary than anything else.

I have no idea. I guess I'll finish it, fling it somewhere, and see if it's wet enough to stick.

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I was going to check out your story, but it's 13 parts. That's more of a diversion that I'm prepared for at this moment. I need to keep writing.

Looks like your work is well rated too. Seems like you're doing just fine. For this reason, I know I'll have to read it. To see what kind of content is wonderful but still gave you pause. I'll learn from that.

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Thanks for the reply! Yeah, it has been sort of stressful putting all this energy into a story and then having all these looming questions in my head about am I doing this right, what category, what will people think about this and that? The whole reason I even posted this question is because I'd just submitted my latest story and I could have sworn I was about to be crucified. I gave the reader every expectation of a "bad end" with a sister on sister section coming but I went with a good end where it was avoided. And I followed that up with an ending full of emotional conflict and one that you couldn't easily drop into the happy or sad ending category. By some miracle that chapter is currently rated at 4.67! The only disappointment I have is that nobody has commented their thoughts on it.

As for the 13 chapter story, I think I made each of them too small. Some are less than 1 page and none are over 2 pages. I probably should have shortened it to maybe 6-7 chapters but I didn't really know what I was doing when I published it I think making it less chapters would have left it being less intimidating and more people would have read it. You live, you learn

DigitalAge said:

The only disappointment I have is that nobody has commented their thoughts on it.

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By far my most popular story here has been up for 15 Years. 160,000 views. Not one comment. No upvotes, no downvotes, and it's only 2 pages. I'm just saying, if you're waiting for a comment, or disappointed because nobody took the time to actually write something about it.

https://www.literotica.com/s/doors-in-the-mind

Just for reference.