How long have you all been writing?

I posted my first story here in mid-2015, so 3 years on Literotica, but I started writing when I was about 12 or 13, some my own and some romance novels that I "improved" to suit my own tastes. I kind of stopped writing much when I was around 15 and switched to making up hot stories for my boyfriend(s) and screwing with their heads, which was a lot of fun. I did write off and on but it was very spasmodic up until about 3 years ago when my partner told me my imagination was wasted on one guy and I should write hot a bigger audience. So I started.

Have I perfected a style? No way. I try to learn new stuff with every story and there's so much to learn and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.

I'm reading an autobiography of Howard Huighes. He was a polymath and natural born expert with 4 or 5 industries. At the age of 19 he made award winning movies, airplanes. oil drilling machines. etc. He dropped outta college at 19. He died with billions in the bank.

Some things you cant learn from OGG and PILOT.

And you most certainly can't learn them from JBJ, who is, as TxRad might say, all hat and no cattle.

I didn’t start writing lengthy fictional stories until I became a member on this site about 2 &1/2 years ago. I wouldn’t say I have prefected a “style”, but I am comfortable with how I write and try to improve with each chapter. My unorthodox approach to beginning a chapter by writing all the dialogue up front and writing the story around it might not work for anyone, but it works for me nonetheless.
Kant

KeithD said:

And you most certainly can't learn them from JBJ, who is, as TxRad might say, all hat and no cattle.

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I set you up but your bullshit is safe with me.

Writing...I've been writing code for some odd 40 years. Software. I have also been writing technical manuals for about 20 odd years.

As for fiction, back in the '90s I wrote a couple of fiction stories, but lost them when the disk crashed.

I started writing and publishing on Lit back in 2003 or so. I truly hope I have gotten better over the years. I to find I use then a lot more than I should.

I've been writing on and off for about fifteen years. When I look back at the first stuff I wrote (terrible fanfiction) I can't help but cringe. I can still get with the ideas, but the writing style was... *Shiver*.

Even now when I edit something I've written I could rewrite it a dozen times and still not be content. My style also changes and evolves with every new novel I read or story I write. Outside of writing, I am one for continual personal improvement, so I think that just flows on to my fiction. And yet I still have a long way to go.

I've been writing ever since I could remember. Mostly forgettable fiction, fanzine fare, and so on.

I wrote my first erotic story when I was in a creative writing class in college. I a friend of mine talked me into re-writing it so that it didn't suck so much. I posted it here:

https://www.literotica.com/s/endymion

But I really didn't start writing erotica in earnest until about ten years ago, when that friend agreed to be my beta reader and editor. (And I do that for him.) His encouragement was what brought me into the Lit fold.

Athalia said:

His encouragement was what brought me into the Lit fold.

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Glad to help!

And it was two-way, really. I didn't think I was a very good writer outside my field, which was writing technical manuals, owner's manuals, and the like. I considered myself an explainer, not a storyteller. Athalia thought otherwise when I sent her some of the stuff I've done after she sent me the original version of "Endymion."

The reason I'm telling you about this mutual appreciation society is that it's a microcosm of what this forum should really be about: authors supporting other authors, giving encouragement and criticism. But people sometimes get self-conscious when confronting the entire Litster population, so breaking off into smaller "buddy" groups can be a good thing. It worked for me.

I try to write. I'd hesitate before saying I write. I have wanted to write all my life and have worked at it throughout. It takes a lot for me to have something on a page that isn't severely disjointed. I had to talk at a funeral once. I had it all written ready. Started to read it , discovered it was so disjointed it didn't make sense so I put it in my pocket and just talked. It went ok but was very embarrassing. Now, when I talk at funerals I don't write anything. If you want aspies, you can have mine. I guess it isn't so bad, it does have its compensations. I'd like to do an autobiography as I have a story to tell. At the moment I think It's impossible though.

I've been writing fiction since I was a child. It wasn't until college that I was recognized for my writing (though then it was only for literary criticism). I always dreamed about writing fiction for a living, but for years I had a block of some kind.

Seeing a therapist earlier this year helped me deal with the things that were keeping me from writing; I finally started writing fiction in earnest this May. I submitted some work for publication and got accepted -- I'll be published in print in October.

My writing style is not perfect, but I sense that I am on the track toward doing truly good work. I just need to spend some more time reading and writing instead of goofing off.