Why do you write erotica? Are there things you’d change about it if you could?

[Seadog777]

True, but favoritism is the nature of just about any forum.

I think that is the case in the overwhelming majority of them, even if they don't intend it to be that way. That is rare though.

As for being a member of a clique, I'll pass on that. I'd rather be popular on the story side of things than worry about what people think of me here.

Yeah, I'm not a member of any of these "cliques" that are everywhere.

I've never been worried about what people thought of me, though I am incredibly regretful of some of things that I said, while I was balls deep in my addiction to some people.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think that is the case in the overwhelming majority of them, even if they don't intend it to be that way. That is rare though.

Yeah, I'm not a member of any of these "cliques" that are everywhere.

I've never been worried about what people thought of me, though I am incredibly regretful of some of things that I said, while I was balls deep in my addiction to some people.

Not that its a good thing, but at least you can say it was the addiction speaking, I've never suffered from one, I'm just blunt and unthinking, typical result of crappy early years and being emotionally stunted. Or, maybe I'm a natural asshat. Either leads to the same result.

Hope you're doing well in your recovery.

 

[Seadog777]

Not that its a good thing, but at least you can say it was the addiction speaking, I've never suffered from one, I'm just blunt and unthinking, typical result of crappy early years and being emotionally stunted. Or, maybe I'm a natural asshat. Either leads to the same result.

Part of it was the addiction.
Part of it was how I felt.
I never truly realized how the traumas of my past, shaped my abilities to process emotions through aggression and violence.
And there is a part of me, that is an asshole.
Everyone has that part in them though.

Hope you're doing well in your recovery.

Thank you.
I appreciate that.
I'm doing well.
One day at a time.

 

[SimonDoom]

Things I'd change:

Well, I'm mindful of the fact that the site is run by two people, and their time and resources are limited, so I'm going to amend my wish list to "What I would change if I took over the site and had unlimited funds to implement changes":

1. I would gradually transition the site to a more tag-based system, so both authors and readers could tailor their experience to their specific preferences instead of having to shoe-horn them into the existing category structure.
2. I would beef up staff for reviewing stories so pending stories would get approved and published faster.
3. I would enable authors and reader-members to create custom pages where they could customize daily story feeds based on their preferences.
4. I would enable authors to create blog pages where they could talk about themselves and their story-writing.
5. I would probably keep most of the content regulation roughly the same. My personal preferences are more liberal and permissive than what the Site allows, but the current content rules seem to work pretty well. I would add further instructions that explain in more detail how current content regulations like those applicable to incest and nonconsent work.
6. I would try to beef up resources that would encourage authors to adopt Literotica as their home base to advertise their writing and link to other sites.
7. I would continue the general "free speech" attitude that encourages lively debate, but I would come down harder and faster on personal attacks and shut them down faster.
8. If I were the Site Poobah, I would set up a "Talk to the Poobah" forum that would be more interactive, more revealing, and more responsive than what the Site currently provides. It's not a criticism of what the Site currently does; I'm assuming I have unlimited resources, and therefore, in effect, unlimited time, which the current owners do not.
9. I would set up an Ombudsman feature where members could communicate comments and criticisms and I would try to respond to them quickly.
10. I would get rid of the current red H, and replace it with a red H system based on percentile ranking within a category. So, for example, only the top 20% of stories within a category would get a red H. Red Hs would be more meaningful in this system, and somewhat rarer, but they would be more common in Loving Wives than they are now.
11. I would absolutely NOT, ever, in any way, further restrict the right of anonymous readers to read, vote on, and comment on stories.
12. I would offer some more resources for authors to protect their copyrights--I wouldn't have the Site take on the responsibility, but would look to offer more guidance and means for authors to go to places where their stories are being infringed and have it stopped.
13. I would look for more ways to monetize the site without interfering in author or reader experience.
14. I would look for a way to enable Literotica authors to turn their stories into videos or films. I'm not sure how that would be done, but I think there's an opportunity there.
15. I might add a few categories. I'd add a Bisexual category. I might split Loving Wives into two renamed categories to better reflect the completely divergent camps of readers that frequent the category. I'd have my staff go through the history of the category and reassign all past stories to one of the two categories. I might rename them something like "Extramarital Fun" and "Cheating and Consequences."

 

[Seadog777]

Yeah, I'm not going through all of that @SimonDoom, I wanna get some writing done today.

All love brother.

 

[desecration]

I enjoy the insightful observations by writers in diverse areas both connected and unconnected to sex:

Often, a pretty woman's intelligence gets overlooked because of her looks.

From "The Adulteress." Is it obvious? Maybe. Is it overlooked? Definitely. Rediscovering life through fiction.

 

[lovecraft68]

One day at a time.

My old man has been sober 40 years now, and he still says that and that no matter how long its been you're not healed, you're still recoving and need to be mindful and the moment your not, you can fall back in a heartbeat. Addiction recovery means being ever vigilant.

I've dealt with rage issues my entire life. I meditate every morning, and have developed several things I use daily to avoid arguments and confrontations. I slip sometimes on the net, but maybe its on purpose, a little venting that can't lead to real life trouble.

 

[Seadog777]

My old man has been sober 40 years now, and he still says that and that no matter how long its been you're not healed, you're still recoving and need to be mindful and the moment your not, you can fall back in a heartbeat. Addiction recovery means being ever vigilant.

Congratulations to your old man.
I hope I live long enough to hit 40 years of being clean and sober.

I've dealt with rage issues my entire life. I meditate every morning, and have developed several things I use daily to avoid arguments and confrontations. I slip sometimes on the net, but maybe its on purpose, a little venting that can't lead to real life trouble.

I continue to learn that I don't need to say everything that pops into my head, and that aggression and violence isn't warranted most of the time.
I still get into the ring and teach mouthy punks a few lessons, so that helps.

 

[desecration]

There's a lot of good ideas here:

1. I would gradually transition the site to a more tag-based system, so both authors and readers could tailor their experience to their specific preferences instead of having to shoe-horn them into the existing category structure.

I might suggest here that the categories make it easy for people to click and start reading. There's a reason the big blogs use both category and tags.

4. I would enable authors to create blog pages where they could talk about themselves and their story-writing.

Interesting concept. I wonder how many who want a blog, do not just do it offsite on their own blog... or in the forum.

7. I would continue the general "free speech" attitude that encourages lively debate, but I would come down harder and faster on personal attacks and shut them down faster.

Sounds sensible to me. I guess I expect forums to be acrimonious. If they are not, they turn into little cliques.

10. I would get rid of the current red H, and replace it with a red H system based on percentile ranking within a category. So, for example, only the top 20% of stories within a category would get a red H. Red Hs would be more meaningful in this system, and somewhat rarer, but they would be more common in Loving Wives than they are now.

Another one where I find this interesting but have no answers. Red Hs are easy for readers to spot and use to peruse the top voted in a category or by an author. I see a utility in the simplicity of this (at, as you noted, the cost of accuracy).

11. I would absolutely NOT, ever, in any way, further restrict the right of anonymous readers to read, vote on, and comment on stories.

Heartily agreed.

15. I might add a few categories. I'd add a Bisexual category. I might split Loving Wives into two renamed categories to better reflect the completely divergent camps of readers that frequent the category. I'd have my staff go through the history of the category and reassign all past stories to one of the two categories. I might rename them something like "Extramarital Fun" and "Cheating and Consequences."

Strong agree on Bisexual, and maybe just convert Extramartital Fun to Swinging?

 

[gunhilltrain]

Things I'd change:

Well, I'm mindful of the fact that the site is run by two people, and their time and resources are limited, so I'm going to amend my wish list to "What I would change if I took over the site and had unlimited funds to implement changes":

Hi Simon, I hope you realize that these comments are meant to be understood as tongue-in-cheek, not as criticism per se. So there is site with more categories, and another one with a built-in blog, but none with both! You'd probably you'd have to set up your own site to get most of these done.

So this is where I'm really kidding, I think. Wish lists remind of the plans that the essentially bankrupt New York MTA has been issuing in the last eighty years and that never get done. They just put out a multi-billion-dollar 20-year "needs assessment" study that everyone knows is not getting funded. They might even be needed, but it's essentially a wish list.

 

[desecration]

So there is site with more categories, and another one with a built-in blog, but none with both!

There are also pretty good third party blogs. We are all sort of over Blogger and Medium, I guess, but new ones like write.as are promising because they use markdown and make it relatively simple to post.

 

[StillStunned]

Its like watching dogs sniff each other's asses in the park.

If you're feeling left out, I'm sure most people here would gladly let you sniff their arses.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Well I like writing. A lot. I love being creative and artistic. BUT, finding a subject that holds my attention (thanks ADHD) is hard to find. Sex. THAT holds my attention. Go figure, right? So I gave it a try and the positive responses provided something else I didn't realize I needed.

View attachment 2337969

I can outdo you in artistic narcissism. When I get a story published, I'd like to come home to this. The only nearby street wide enough for that is probably the Grand Concourse.

(In those days, there was no CGI for spectacles. The Egyptian Army actually gave thousands of off-duty soldiers to work as extras. I assume they got paid-off for that. Jack Hawkins hams it up as the pharaoh.)

 

[lovecraft68]

If you're feeling left out, I'm sure most people here would gladly let you sniff their arses.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not a joiner.

Besides, looking around story side and the lists, you guys are the ones staring at my ass.

 

[lovecraft68]

I can outdo you in artistic narcissism. When I get a story published, I'd like to come home to this. The only nearby street wide enough for that is probably the Grand Concourse.

(In those days, there was no CGI for spectacles. The Egyptian Army actually gave thousands of off-duty soldiers to work as extras. I assume they got paid-off for that. Jack Hawkins hams it up as the pharaoh.)

Love those old epics. Long before green screen and other effects we had those "And a cast of thousands" movies.

 

[SimonDoom]

Yeah, I'm not going through all of that @SimonDoom, I wanna get some writing done today.

All love brother.

Sometimes I want to "TLdNR" to my own posts. I just can't help myself.

 

[desecration]

I'm sure most people here would gladly let you sniff their arses.

That's... (deep sigh)... that's my fetish.

 

[yowser]

It's not hard to slap together a basic box with some scrap wood and a fistful of nails (hammer feels good in the hands, then the satisfaction of measuring, cutting pieces to fit, and assembly - all has value for you as a creator of something-out-of-nothing.)

But a new lovely piece of furniture? Exotic hardwood, no nails, mortise and tenon joints, sanded down with 800 grit sandpaper and given a nice lacquer polish? Something that took some serious time and effort to conceive and produce? Sure gives a nice little jolt to the heart when you get it finished.

I love every part, from the dream-inspired design-in-your-head to the blueprint stage, then picking out nice wood at the lumberyard. Pulling out your best tools (handcrafted always better than power) days and weeks of pleasure in the making. Sweet to admire when you're done and put it out front in your Lit yard, maybe the neighbors will even notice. The observant ones will saunter over and note the fine time-intensive details, fondling them lovingly in their hands.

And then you have this urge to make a better piece...

 

[desecration]

Yeah, I'm not a member of any of these "cliques" that are everywhere.

I don't trust any cliques or cults. It's why I avoid political parties, organized religion, and insider social groups.

 

[AG31]

and this site is the best I've found of any kind of writing site for getting readers and feedback

I agree.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't trust any cliques or cults. It's why I avoid political parties, organized religion, and insider social groups.

I'd say welcome to the club, but then that would be against our beliefs.

 

[KeithD]

Why do I write erotica? I had to think that over and what I came up with, sorry, is quite bald. I first wrote erotica because a graphic sex scene intruded on a mainstream mystery book I was writing. Of course I excised it, but then whipped it up as a story of its own to post here and elsewhere. It was at that point that I found I could write something--keeping that door open on what happened in the bed when I normally would close it for the mainstream--that sexually aroused me. It was a time when what I was getting in real life after a very active sex life was waning. Writing the erotica made me--and kept me--sexually aroused. My mainstream writing didn't. So, it probably is no surprise I started writing more erotica than mainstream.

 

[karina_jayde]

I write erotica because it's fun to arouse myself with fictional situations I'll likely never find myself in, and because writing fantasy adventures with an erotic streak satisfies my urge to get eyes on my fantasy writing.

I've tried traditional publishing and self-publishing before, and the work that went into it just wasn't worth it. This way I can get my kinky thrills in and get the added thrill of knowing that people are reading my work for the kinky stuff and for the character development/adventures.

 

[AchtungNight]

I write erotica because it's fun to arouse myself with fictional situations I'll likely never find myself in, and because writing fantasy adventures with an erotic streak satisfies my urge to get eyes on my fantasy writing.

I've tried traditional publishing and self-publishing before, and the work that went into it just wasn't worth it. This way I can get my kinky thrills in and get the added thrill of knowing that people are reading my work for the kinky stuff and for the character development/adventures.

This is a large part of why I write too.

 

[desecration]

I've tried traditional publishing and self-publishing before, and the work that went into it just wasn't worth it.

Adding to this: at this point, the stuff that gets rewarded there is not worth it. Mostly boilerplate genre stuff and therapist novels. Underground writing is where it is at, and literary erotica basically serves as a framework from which you can explore just about anything else. It's like offensive speech in general... it abolishes the rules, and so you can finally speak clearly. Reminds me of Gravity's Rainbow and Naked Lunch of course (portions of those could not actually be posted here).