Is Lit good with ongoing, multichapter stories where the sex doesn't happen right away?

[Just_Darkjazz]

Hello everybody! I've been coming to this site from time to time as a reader, but I never really cosidered approaching it as a creator considering my previous work did not seem site friendly (format wise, not content wise ). That all changed when I started working on my current WIP though, a multichapter story closer to a novel size wise than a oneshot, that I'm used to writing. Before going ahead and submitting my stuff and clogging the machine for other people, I want to present my format and ask if it would be acceptable in order to avoid goofing up and wasting everyone's time. So, the story that I'm working on is a fantastical roadtrip type adventure, where the group of main characters are set in an adventure through a fantasy sword and sorcery type world. The format that I work with is multiple chapters, 2-3k words a chapter, and updating as much as I can, with a hard minimum of one per month. It is story first, sex second. Not every chapter has sex, but the scenes that I have planned are plentiful, and the story gradually builds up to them, so they feel natural when they happen. Or at least thats what I'm going for, its not on me to say if it works out or not According to my understand of the FAQ that I read, my story is not against the rules. But when I checked the posting process I noticed the UI said nothing about multiple chapters, and it got me thinking. I could, potentially, post every chapter as a seperate story, but again not every chapter has a sex scene and it makes me think that that wouldn't be correct. Alternatively, I could compile multiple chapters into one big story with a sex in it and the like, but if possible I would rather avoid doing that for the sake of the story. What's yall's thoughts on this? Would it be something that would be welcome by the site, or should I post someplace else?

 

[StillStunned]

If it's fantasy, it shouldn't be a problem. The SF/F crowd are very much into story and worldbuilding. Sex is good, but not strictly necessary.

But I'd still aim for longer chapters. 2-3k words is quite short for Lit, and in particular for SF/F. For your readers to be drawn in and engage with your world, you'll probably want more text.

Good luck!

 

[EmilyMiller]

Is Lit good with ongoing, multichapter stories where the sex doesn't happen right away?​

It’s a little problematic. I’ve had this issue before. There are attractions to chapters. Probably you get more overall views because your work stays in the sun for longer, each new chapter advertising the previous ones.

But, it is problematic if the sex is back loaded. Maybe as @StillStunned says combine then chapters to create 6k or 9k ones and thus (hopefully) include some sex.

Emily

 

[ElectricBlue]

Multiple chapters are fine, but 2k - 3k is one medium length Lit page, which is very short; while at the same time, your proposed release schedule of one a month is very long.

A story like that will, I think, sink like a stone. You need to give readers more each time, and more often. Try 10k - 12k word chapters (three Lit pages) once a week, if you want to grab and keep readers.

When you say it's planned to be a "long" story, what's your definition of "long"? I suspect it won't be long by Lit standards, which can be hundreds of thousands words, not tens of thousands.

 

[Bamagan]

I have a similar experience that might provide you with a small amount of context. I posted a novel-length (~170k words) work here in chapters, most of them between 3k and 5k words per chapter, which took about five months at an average of about two chapters per week. In a general sense it is a fantasy story since it involves impossible things happening, although the setting is otherwise contemporary and realistic. The reception has been mostly positive, although like a lot of people here I don't get a lot of feedback from readers.

A few important differences: my story has a sex scene of some kind, or at least some kind of sex-adjacent or fetish-tingling action in every chapter. That was by design, as it was intended to be a kind of serialized account of the lives of a fairly large cast of characters. And, as mentioned, since the setting is basically the real world, I didn't have to devote any time or attention to table-setting, allowing me to focus almost entirely on characters and action(s), which I thought would be important for being served in small morsels. Also, I get the impression that your work is unfinished. Mine was about 80% done before I started posting (aside from final editing passes), so the posting schedule was mostly dictated by convenience (and the site's quirks). There's no golden number, but the further you are from being finished with at least the full first draft, the more I'd suggest holding off until you're closer to done before posting.

I think you could potentially find success, but I'd echo the sentiments above that ~3k words a month, or even ~6k, might not be enough to keep things fresh in the minds of a reasonably large audience. That being said, long-running chaptered works will be more visible than single submissions of comparable length, so once the whole thing is posted, it might be a little easier for interested readers to find, although the number of new reads after the first week or so, when the story is on the New lists, is a mere trickle.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’d echo @Bamagan - I have stories with chapters that around the size you mention, but I aim to have them drop every three or four days in that case (though sometimes life intervenes and it’s a little longer).

Emily

 

[EmilyMiller]

For example (note the dates)

—

Teaching Eden Ch. 01: The School
Eden has a new job, and a lot of interesting new colleagues.
10/14/2023 in Exhibitionist & Voyeur Stories

Teaching Eden Ch. 02: The Coach
A blossoming relationship proves problematic for Eden.
10/20/2023 in Exhibitionist & Voyeur Stories

Teaching Eden Ch. 03: The Misfit
Eden finds solace in an unexpected place after a break-up.
10/24/2023 in Exhibitionist & Voyeur Stories

Teaching Eden Ch. 04: The Principal
Eden’s crime receives its proper punishment.
10/27/2023 in Exhibitionist & Voyeur Stories

Teaching Eden Ch. 05: The Prodigal
Do Eden and Michele have a future?
10/29/2023 in Exhibitionist & Voyeur Stories

 

[Just_Darkjazz]

Thank you for the responses, compiling the chapters I have into bigger ones is very possible and I will go with that. 6-9k words per upload shouldn't be too bad.

As for the monthly upload, a chapter od 2-3k is the bare minimum I can promise. I cant commit into something more with life getting in the way, I'm juggling a lot of things and writing doesn't come easy to me. Its definetely not what I will be delivering though, if things don't change I can upload weekly for some time.

Maybe it won't do well, but I'm not trying to do well. I write as a hobby, and success is relative.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Thank you for the responses, compiling the chapters I have into bigger ones is very possible and I will go with that. 6-9k words per upload shouldn't be too bad.

As for the monthly upload, a chapter od 2-3k is the bare minimum I can promise. I cant commit into something more with life getting in the way, I'm juggling a lot of things and writing doesn't come easy to me. Its definetely not what I will be delivering though, if things don't change I can upload weekly for some time.

Maybe it won't do well, but I'm not trying to do well. I write as a hobby, and success is relative.

Good luck!

Emily

 

[Just_Darkjazz]

Good luck!

Emily

Thank you!

 

[toughfire]

I recommend including at least one sex scene in every chapter. And don't expect the chapters to be as popular as chapter 1. Seeing the way numbers drop substantially with each new chapter has discouraged me to write a long series.

 

[SimonDoom]

You can only do what you can do, and you can't feel guilty about that. Life intrudes. But I echo what others have said: If it's a long story, don't publish a chapter until you've got at least 6000 words or so. The story will get higher scores with longer chapters.

If it's a fantasy story, then it won't necessarily be a problem that every chapter isn't loaded with sex. Readers of that category read stories for more than just the sex.

 

[THBGato]

Hello everybody! I've been coming to this site from time to time as a reader, but I never really cosidered approaching it as a creator considering my previous work did not seem site friendly (format wise, not content wise ). That all changed when I started working on my current WIP though, a multichapter story closer to a novel size wise than a oneshot, that I'm used to writing. Before going ahead and submitting my stuff and clogging the machine for other people, I want to present my format and ask if it would be acceptable in order to avoid goofing up and wasting everyone's time. So, the story that I'm working on is a fantastical roadtrip type adventure, where the group of main characters are set in an adventure through a fantasy sword and sorcery type world. The format that I work with is multiple chapters, 2-3k words a chapter, and updating as much as I can, with a hard minimum of one per month. It is story first, sex second. Not every chapter has sex, but the scenes that I have planned are plentiful, and the story gradually builds up to them, so they feel natural when they happen. Or at least thats what I'm going for, its not on me to say if it works out or not According to my understand of the FAQ that I read, my story is not against the rules. But when I checked the posting process I noticed the UI said nothing about multiple chapters, and it got me thinking. I could, potentially, post every chapter as a seperate story, but again not every chapter has a sex scene and it makes me think that that wouldn't be correct. Alternatively, I could compile multiple chapters into one big story with a sex in it and the like, but if possible I would rather avoid doing that for the sake of the story. What's yall's thoughts on this? Would it be something that would be welcome by the site, or should I post someplace else?

I don't know about other genres, but Lesbian Sex is definitely fine with this. Indeed, I think readers there prefer slow burn stories. To give a few examples, the first chapter of Nanny Sarah by JCMcNeilly has 286,000 views, a ranking of 4.83 and has no sex (there is a masturbation scene, but that hardly counts). Broken Spokes' Wheels in Motion story, Chapter 1, won the April 2020 contest, and has no sex in it. 4.86 ranking, 77,000 views. The whole series won a Readers' Choice award. Another personal favourite, is Bi_Cathy's I'd go gay for you series, which has no sex anywhere in the series. yet all 3 chapters are ranked hot and have over 100,000 views.

And, um, I have a story in the top 20 Lesbian Sex stories that has no sex in it either.

So if you made your protagonists women, you'd have no problem! ;-)

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If it is a chapter story and not a series of related, stand-alone stories, finish the entire story before posting any part of it. You relinquish too much control over the story by being impatient. By being able to look at the entire story as a whole piece of work, any breaks you want for posting it become more supportive of the completed work. If you desire feedback on the story as you write it, ask here for beta reader help.

If it is a long story, there is absolutely no problem with keeping it long and posting it that way. I originally posted four novel-length stories here that did well as chapters, but readers commented that they would prefer single, longer stories, so that is what I started giving them. I even had the four chapter submitted stories removed and replaced with a single file for each. The scores for each have increased slightly since the change.

 

[dadadadiox]

Thank you for the responses, compiling the chapters I have into bigger ones is very possible and I will go with that. 6-9k words per upload shouldn't be too bad.

Most writers here are hobbyists. I'm near the end of a series. I do 6-9k chapters, 2-3 Lit pages, and that works for me. I try to avoid going over 10k per submission. I did some 13k and 15k chapters in my first series and felt that was too long... IMO.

If you have long stretches between submissions you'll lose readers. They won't remember where you left off. Once a week would be fine. I try to drop a new submission every three or four days. That's doable because I'm submitting a rewrite of an old story. If you're submitting a first draft that would be a tall task.

The limited sex part is tricky. This is my opinion. I know it's not shared by all. There's no category well suited for soft porn or limited sex. My current series is non-erotic. When I wrote a very short sex scene that left most of the action to the reader's imagination, the clean content seekers punished me with poor ratings. I've seen my soft porn approach struggle in other categories, with far more views but fewer ratings, and general indifference from those seeking erotic stories.

If you have a good story it will find an audience. Many Lit readers place the story and characters above the sex. It might take time to find your home.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Hello everybody! I've been coming to this site from time to time as a reader, but I never really cosidered approaching it as a creator considering my previous work did not seem site friendly (format wise, not content wise ). That all changed when I started working on my current WIP though, a multichapter story closer to a novel size wise than a oneshot, that I'm used to writing. Before going ahead and submitting my stuff and clogging the machine for other people, I want to present my format and ask if it would be acceptable in order to avoid goofing up and wasting everyone's time. So, the story that I'm working on is a fantastical roadtrip type adventure, where the group of main characters are set in an adventure through a fantasy sword and sorcery type world. The format that I work with is multiple chapters, 2-3k words a chapter, and updating as much as I can, with a hard minimum of one per month. It is story first, sex second. Not every chapter has sex, but the scenes that I have planned are plentiful, and the story gradually builds up to them, so they feel natural when they happen. Or at least thats what I'm going for, its not on me to say if it works out or not According to my understand of the FAQ that I read, my story is not against the rules. But when I checked the posting process I noticed the UI said nothing about multiple chapters, and it got me thinking. I could, potentially, post every chapter as a seperate story, but again not every chapter has a sex scene and it makes me think that that wouldn't be correct. Alternatively, I could compile multiple chapters into one big story with a sex in it and the like, but if possible I would rather avoid doing that for the sake of the story. What's yall's thoughts on this? Would it be something that would be welcome by the site, or should I post someplace else?

If you're good with it, Lit will welcome it regardless of what is in it (within the rules of course).

 

[gunhilltrain]

I recommend including at least one sex scene in every chapter. And don't expect the chapters to be as popular as chapter 1. Seeing the way numbers drop substantially with each new chapter has discouraged me to write a long series.

I find it very difficult to have sex in every chapter, especially in the first one (usually the meeting) and the last one (often the break-up). Here's one that is in the middle of a series that is almost entirely dialogue.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/my-summer-with-nora-ch-05

 

[pink_silk_glove]

If you have long stretches between submissions you'll lose readers. They won't remember where you left off. Once a week would be fine. I try to drop a new submission every three or four days. That's doable because I'm submitting a rewrite of an old story. If you're submitting a first draft that would be a tall task.

Not if you finish the whole thing before you start posting.

 

[toughfire]

I find it very difficult to have sex in every chapter, especially in the first one (usually the meeting) and the last one (often the break-up). Here's one that is in the middle of a series that is almost entirely dialogue.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/my-summer-with-nora-ch-05

I understand. What I meant is adding a horny moment in every chapter; it can be masturbation or a blowjob, or sometimes a sex dream. My perspective as a reader is that when I read erotica I'm waiting for the sexy parts. I also think that will make your stories more popular.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The limited sex part is tricky. This is my opinion. I know it's not shared by all. There's no category well suited for soft porn or limited sex. My current series is non-erotic. When I wrote a very short sex scene that left most of the action to the reader's imagination, the clean content seekers punished me with poor ratings. I've seen my soft porn approach struggle in other categories, with far more views but fewer ratings, and general indifference from those seeking erotic stories.

Categories suited to soft porn or limited sex abound here:

• Non-erotic
• Romance
• Novels/Novellas
• How To
• First Time
• Letters & Transcripts
• Reviews & Essays
• Sci-Fi & Fantasy
• Exhibitionist/Voyeur
• ...and many more
  
  A well written and arousing story stimulates the readers' mind and doesn't require graphic sexual content to do so.​

 

[Dark_Logan_]

For the OP

Just expect the standard ‘boring’ and ‘took too long to get going’ comments from the reader

I always prefer to set a scene irrespective of the content but you have to allow that the majority are likely here for the intensity of a ‘striker’ and any adjectives or character development within your prose just get in their way

The kind of reader that fast forwards the set to where the washing machine repair man seduces the lonely bored housewife if they’re watching porn

 

[jehoram]

In one of my series stories where the sex doesn't happen in the first chapter, that story got a lower rating than the others. Of course, there are some story series where the rating of the first one is lower, anyway, so maybe that doesn't mean much. But it may be a consideration for you where ratings are important to you.