New author 'hello' and advice sought

[ClarenceBeeks]

Hey. I'm new to publishing on Literotica; been a reader for many years.

I'd welcome some input from more established authors on here. I'm not looking for hard and fast rules, I know that all of this is personal and subjective, but still I'm curious to get some insights from the Lit hive mind.

Firstly, a quick technical question. I've had some lovely feedback on my first 3 stories. But I received one piece of feedback via email, rather than as a comment on the story itself. The email states that: This feedback was sent by a visitor to the Literotica.com website without revealing any information about you to the person who wrote it.
Further: *DO NOT hit the REPLY button to respond to this email.*

How exactly do I respond to feedback left this way? I couldn't even find this feedback via my Lit author profile. Thanks.

In terms of the writing then, I'm keen to build up a library of stories, rather than focusing on building out many chapters of one single plot. That said, I always leave my stories open-ended, and usually with some deliberately unresolved foreshadowing. How do you balance writing fresh storylines with advancing existing plots?

Have you ever had less favourable feedback to a second part, simply because it's not where the reader expected things to go? i.e. Not a critique of the writing per se, but more a "oh, I would have done this instead..."?

How much credence do you give to comments and reviews - both good and bad? Like I say, still very new to sharing my writing and I'm finding it difficult to separate my anxiety surrounding what people think of my writing, from my nervousness of what people will think of my personal kinks and proclivities.

Thanks for humouring the noob.

Clarence.

 

[NotWise]

Hey. I'm new to publishing on Literotica; been a reader for many years.

I'd welcome some input from more established authors on here. I'm not looking for hard and fast rules, I know that all of this is personal and subjective, but still I'm curious to get some insights from the Lit hive mind.

Firstly, a quick technical question. I've had some lovely feedback on my first 3 stories. But I received one piece of feedback via email, rather than as a comment on the story itself. The email states that: This feedback was sent by a visitor to the Literotica.com website without revealing any information about you to the person who wrote it.
Further: *DO NOT hit the REPLY button to respond to this email.*

How exactly do I respond to feedback left this way? I couldn't even find this feedback via my Lit author profile. Thanks.

You can't respond by email unless the commenter included his email address with the comment. You can give an open reply in the public comments on your story, or even here.

In terms of the writing then, I'm keen to build up a library of stories, rather than focusing on building out many chapters of one single plot. That said, I always leave my stories open-ended, and usually with some deliberately unresolved foreshadowing. How do you balance writing fresh storylines with advancing existing plots?

I try to end stories that I don't intend to continue. If you do intend to write multiple chapters, then it's a good idea to write all the chapters before you start posting them. That avoids the open-ended, multi-chapter series that readers dislike. Personally, I mostly write stand-alone stories. Some of them get to 30k+ words, but I still keep them in one story.

Have you ever had less favourable feedback to a second part, simply because it's not where the reader expected things to go? i.e. Not a critique of the writing per se, but more a "oh, I would have done this instead..."?

Sure. People vote any way they want, for any reason they want.

How much credence do you give to comments and reviews - both good and bad? Like I say, still very new to sharing my writing and I'm finding it difficult to separate my anxiety surrounding what people think of my writing, from my nervousness of what people will think of my personal kinks and proclivities.

They are not the word of God. Hmm, they're not a confidence from a good friend. They usually aren't a well thought-out comment from someone who carefully reviewed your work -- but there are cases like that. They might express pent-up frustrations that have nothing to do with you or your story. They might be ignorant, stupid, and hateful.

Ya just gotta filter out of them what you can get.

Oh! And welcome aboard.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Firstly, a quick technical question. I've had some lovely feedback on my first 3 stories. But I received one piece of feedback via email, rather than as a comment on the story itself. The email states that: This feedback was sent by a visitor to the Literotica.com website without revealing any information about you to the person who wrote it.
Further: *DO NOT hit the REPLY button to respond to this email.*

How exactly do I respond to feedback left this way? I couldn't even find this feedback via my Lit author profile. Thanks.

Unless they have provided a return email, you can't.

You can go to the Options -> My Options tab in your profile and set "Accept Anonymous Feedback" to No, which will force people to provide an email address when they send feedback through that portal. But the site doesn't verify that this is their real email address, and this option will also block anonymous comments on your stories, which I generally don't recommend unless you're having a lot of trouble with abusive commenters.

In terms of the writing then, I'm keen to build up a library of stories, rather than focusing on building out many chapters of one single plot. That said, I always leave my stories open-ended, and usually with some deliberately unresolved foreshadowing. How do you balance writing fresh storylines with advancing existing plots?

Be aware that some readers will get grumpy about what they see as unfinished stories. When I write, I always have a rough plan for how I'm going to conclude that story; I might modify the plan along the way as better ideas come along, but I'm always trying to work towards a satisfying ending.

Have you ever had less favourable feedback to a second part, simply because it's not where the reader expected things to go? i.e. Not a critique of the writing per se, but more a "oh, I would have done this instead..."?

It was a twelfth part, but yes. I took the story in a direction some readers weren't expecting, and one of them yelled at me that I'd got it wrong and needed to write an extra chapter to fix it. I did not.

How much credence do you give to comments and reviews - both good and bad? Like I say, still very new to sharing my writing and I'm finding it difficult to separate my anxiety surrounding what people think of my writing, from my nervousness of what people will think of my personal kinks and proclivities.

Depends very much on the comment.

A lot of comments are more about the reader than about the story, whether it's "I loved this story and I came" or "I don't like this kind of story but for some reason I read the whole thing anyway and now I'm mad about my own bad choices" or "this character reminds me of my ex, one star". Allow yourself to feel good about the readers who enjoyed it, allow yourself to feel good about pissing off assholes who deserve it, otherwise shrug and mutter "thanks for sharing".

If it's about the story, I'll think about what they've said and ask myself whether it's relevant, whether it's accurate, and whether I actually care.

I'm always up for having my ego stroked, but the comments I treasure most are "this changed how I think about X" and "I see and appreciate the thing you were trying to do with this chapter". With criticism, it depends on whether it's justified. Sometimes it's uninformed (people "correcting" me on spelling or grammar that was already correct). Occasionally it's accurate; I once deleted a scene from a published story because a reader's comment nudged me to see that it was heavy-handed and unnecessary.

 

[Bramblethorn]

You can't respond by email unless the commenter included his email address with the comment. You can give an open reply in the public comments on your story, or even here.

Although either way, the commenter isn't likely to see the reply.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Welcome!

I’d agree with much of what NW has said, with some differences.

You can certainly roll out a series without finishing all of them. It’s easy enough with light fluff like my House of Feathers series - just-for-fun quick reads with no pretence of being literature. There, I just needed a central theme or skeleton on which to build individual chapters. If on the other hand you’re looking for depth, one long story in bits as opposed to a bunch of related shorts, then NW is right; knowing where you’re going to end up becomes far more important, if only in the form of basic notes.

I’ll consider negative comments if they’re signed. Anonymous negativity is like four-letter words on walls and i don’t waste my time worrying about it.

Again, welcome.

A P.S. You might want to put a link to your stories in your signature.

 

[KeithD]

You can't respond to anonymous e-mailed feedback.

I take minor interest in comments/voting here, as it's largely meaningless response by strangers of unknown ability to be giving feedback and most stories I posted here are at a two-or-three-year tail end of being in the paid marketplace. There isn't anything I'm going to do with anything someone legitimately points out as wrong or substandard about them at this point, and this is a free-use "you're getting it as a gift" site. They can take it or leave it. That said, I get pretty good response, which is reason enough (along with this being a place I can store them rather than in my home computer) to post here.

 

[SamScribble]

Welcome to the writer's world, Clarence.

If you are worried about scores and 'anonymous' comments, you probably should think about writing what the majority of Lit readers seem to want to read (although even that doesn't come with any guarantees). If, on the other hand, you want to write what you want to write, just ignore the scoreboard and Mr Anon E Mouse.

Good luck. Have fun.

 

[gunhilltrain]

You can't respond to anonymous e-mailed feedback.

I take minor interest in comments/voting here, as it's largely meaningless response by strangers of unknown ability to be giving feedback and most stories I posted here are at a two-or-three-year tail end of being in the paid marketplace. There isn't anything I'm going to do with anything someone legitimately points out as wrong or substandard about them at this point, and this is a free-use "you're getting it as a gift" site. They can take it or leave it. That said, I get pretty good response, which is reason enough (along with this being a place I can store them rather than in my home computer) to post here.

Hello Clarence!

It is nice when one can wow a reader who doesn't know you (obviously) and who owes you nothing, yet they like your work anyway. Someone who does know you personally is always going to be a bit cautious about being too honest - usually, that is the case.

 

[TheRedChamber]

In terms of the writing then, I'm keen to build up a library of stories, rather than focusing on building out many chapters of one single plot. That said, I always leave my stories open-ended, and usually with some deliberately unresolved foreshadowing. How do you balance writing fresh storylines with advancing existing plots?

That's largely on you - people go for all kinds of approaches. Personally, I've started writing by solely one-shot stories however increasingly my idea file is filling up with stories that would probably need more than one part to do them justice. And with the experience I've already got I'm more aware of what I'm capable of writing and what is currently still a bit too much. I do try to make my stories complete in themselves, if you leave things unresolved you may feel pressured to write something you're not really interested in.

That said, as I write more stories, its more common that you find story ideas might fit with characters you've already developed. If I've already written one mature female BDSM enthusiasts, when a new story idea calls for a mature female BDSM enthiast, why not use that's already assembled on the shelf. Or another example, one of my stories is set in a strip club and features 6 named dancers (but only 1 who is developed in any detail). I'm currently outlining a completely different story that also involves stippers in a completely different context and will require 8 named characters. Why not use at least some of the same characters and flesh them some more? (pun intended)

Have you ever had less favourable feedback to a second part, simply because it's not where the reader expected things to go? i.e. Not a critique of the writing per se, but more a "oh, I would have done this instead..."?

My next story is my first ever part two. I'll let you know.

How much credence do you give to comments and reviews - both good and bad? Like I say, still very new to sharing my writing and I'm finding it difficult to separate my anxiety surrounding what people think of my writing, from my nervousness of what people will think of my personal kinks and proclivities.

I doubt your kinks are the worst on the site (I won't go and check though, just in case). A well written and thoughtful comment can be useful. A more direct one can hurt, but also have some value, but I've also had comments that say 'This is terrible.' - there's not a lot you can do with that.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Unless comments are posotive, or concrit; I don't care what they say. I have anon turned off

 

[ClarenceBeeks]

Thanks everyone for your kind and considered responses. Plenty of sage advice that I'm taking on board; especially the 'have fun' bit that a couple of people stressed. I suppose, in the end, that's what it all boils down to.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Clarence, enjoy your writing, and don't get upset with those who give you shit about it. I'd also complete the whole story before posting a single chapter or story in a series unless they are Novella length or longer. What I'm saying longer tales, which are part of an overarching narrative, one novella or novel at a time, would work well. But do complete the novella or novel before you begin to post it.

 

[nice90sguy]

Another new writer here.

I read your stories, because they're Mind Control, which most of my stories are too (published elsewhere, on a site that is all mind-control stories). I really like your writing!

I turned off anonymous comments shortly after posting my first story here, because the flurry I received were mostly pointless blurts, whether positive or negative. And of course I reply to all my comments. The email comments I got all had a reply address. I didn't know that people were obliged to include one until reading Bramblethorn's post above.

 

[Voboy]

In terms of the writing then, I'm keen to build up a library of stories, rather than focusing on building out many chapters of one single plot. That said, I always leave my stories open-ended, and usually with some deliberately unresolved foreshadowing. How do you balance writing fresh storylines with advancing existing plots?

I connect all my stories, though very loosely. They all stand alone, but people who follow me can still find fun little easter eggs in them. Side characters in one story often inspire the plots of subsequent stories.

Have you ever had less favourable feedback to a second part, simply because it's not where the reader expected things to go? i.e. Not a critique of the writing per se, but more a "oh, I would have done this instead..."?

There's an active thread about this very subject right now. I delete those. If they want the story to go somewhere else, cool; they're damn well welcome to go write their own shit. My story is my story, and with all the love in my heart? I don't care where they "expected" it to go.