Why Do YOU Write on Literotica and What Do YOU get out of it?

[ChloeTzang]

I've been asked about this - and about my reaction to stories with low view counts and is it worth writing when you only get a few k views, and I did put some thinking into this. I'd be interested to hear what yu all think about this one too?

For myself - some of my stories have low views for the effort I put in - my last 3 Jeong Park chapters have about 10k views each - but they score 6.5 / 4.7 / 4.7 - the readers of Jeong that are following the story love them, but I think it's down to dedicated fans now - which I don't mind at all because I'm pretty sure at this stage those are dedicated readers - and 10k ain't bad. My absolutely lowest view is a short sci-fi story that was written for an invitation-only event and again, I dn't worry about it - it was fun to write and the story was something that I wanted to write.

Well over half my stories have less than 50k views but again, a lot of them were semi-experimental and me trying out new things or a different genre so again, I don't worry about it- I treat Literotica as a learning curve and somewhere to try things out and if it doesn't work, I try and figure out why and use it as a learning experience.

It's funny because it was a lot of my earlier stories that get the 60k-100k views. The ones between 100-200k views are a bit of a mixed bag.

I only have 4 stories with more than 200k views each - and those and a couple of the 100k+ ones are the ones I am focusing on redoing to self-publish - that combo of views and ratings is how I prioritize if I am going to do anyhing else with them. The rest are just fun and to learn from. LOL

All of that said, I joined Literoticas and started posting stories here as a "learn to write and see if readers like my stories" exercise. Getting a novel published by a mainstream publisher is a diabolically hard exercise and you have to get thru the filters to even be seriously considered - and erotica is almost impossible to do that with. What Literotica was for me was a trial run - do readers like my stories? Turned out they did, but it also turned out my early writing was pretty crappy to start with - you're much better in your head than you turn out to be on the display or on paper to start woth LOL - which is why you see so many crap Kindle ebooks that are self-published. Ego overrides skills - and a lot of kindle writers just churn out crap and I didn't want to go there so instead of adding to the crap I used Literotica to develop and hone my writing - and got it to where a small erotica publisher approached me (back in 2018) and a fairly well-known published sci-fi author asked me to co-write a novel with him back a couple of years ago (I still have to write that one). So as an approach, it worked for me.

So my approach is, disregard the views and the ratings and just write for myself and to develop my writing skills - too many writers on Lit don't focus on that part of it because it doesn't interest them and it's not their priority and nothing at all wrng with that- they are writing to get the stories and fantasies in their heads out and read, without worrying about improving because they have n real interest in being published or whatever - we all have our own reasons for writing and for publishing them here on Lit

Whereas MY aim longer term is to self publish and publish and go commercial and maybe even make a livimg out of it if I can. I'd love to do that - so I have an objective, the focus, and a plan to get there - and I see Literotica as my training ground, with Laurel and Manu providing me with millions of readers to try my stuff out on and it doesn't cost me a thing except my time. From that POV, I dont worry about views - I write to learn and to entertain readers and I experiment all the time with stories, genre, subject, and I try to learn from each story I write.

To start with the big thing I had to tackle was dialog and characterization - and then hooks - those hooks are a big thing - you have 50 words to hook a reader, and then you need to keep reeling them in and jerking the hook tighter with each chapter. My aim is to make a story un put downable. When I get a comment saying I stayed up until 5am because I couldn't put it down, THAT is a winner for me. Now I'm into plot and plotting which has always been a toughie for me. My stories are very linear and not at all complex. I probably won't change that too much but understanding plot and story structure and things like that really helps - when I starrted it was sort of instinctive because I read so much and I guess I just absorbed it, but it helps to know all the theoretical underpinnings - and now I have 2 shelves in one ff my bookcases on writing. All sorts of subjects, and they're quite useful. I have 3 or 4 books on revisions LOL. Synrax. Structyure (even grammar and speling LOL). Dialog. Characterization. Plotting,

So when I started on Lit, I already had a goal and 10 years later I am waaaay closer to being there - and the only thing slowing me down is my own innate ability to procrastinate LOL. Literotica's been everything I wanted and just writing here has helped me so much along my path, as has the encouragement and help of a lot of people here on the AH as well as my readers.

So what do you want to achieve and where do you want to go and how is Literotica going to help you get there.

Myself, I love the huge #'s of readers - any story will find an audience here, and they're readers who WANT to read erotica - so unlike Amazon, for example, a lot of audience filtering has already been done for us. So even what we might think of as a paltryt 6k or 7k views translates into thousands of readers who took the time to read our story. I think the stats say the average book only sells about 1200 copies, so putting aside that Lit is free, 6-7k views is ALREADY thousands of readers ahead of where the average book is on Amazon.

Readers generally translated into followers, and what I've found myself is that for the few things I have published, a lot of Literotica readers have followed across to Amazon and THAT translates into sales. Hasn't made my fortune and I'm not retiring on it but it's paying fr the coffee. LOL

So what's your take? What are YOU using Literotica for?

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

Because I started as a fantasy writer and while I've had some success there (financially), I had some different types of stories in my head and Lit seemed a good avenue to try those out. It's a chance to take a break from writing sword-and-sorcery-style books ... and readers seem to mostly like them, so it's all good.

 

[Meekly_Anna]

The question as such is interesting, I've been asked it a few times, but it never occurred to me to make a thread out of it.
The answer is quite short and simple: I wrote a story for a friend. It's not that successful, it only has 10k readers. The friendship is over, the story still exists, so I decided to publish it here.
If anyone is interested in the reason for the end of the friendship, discuss politics with a US American. Then you'll know. They don't distinguish between important and personal. But anyway, that's not the topic here.
I find it funny that the second part has twice as many readers, I guess because "gangbang" is in the title. That seems to raise certain expectations and those same expectations then explain the deeply felt disappointment of the readership when the protagonist doesn't have cum running out of all her orifices at the end of the story.
In short, I had fun writing it, and as soon as I have time, I'll finish the third part.
If you want to read it, you'll find it.

 

[Bazzle]

I get turned on by the thought of the scene and the words hit the screen.

I have to get them out of me.

That's why I write on literotica, and help others with ideas, as I have them!

 

[ChloeTzang]

Thinking about this a little more - once you clarify what motivates YOU - and with that clear in your mind, you can focus on what YOU want - and the rest becomes extraneous - maybe a nice to have, but not essential - and once yu are clear as to your own motivation, you can focus on writing with that goal in mind and not freaking out over views or ratings or whatever else temporarily psyches you out.

When I get asked, my advise is always always always write what YOU want to write. It's the "want" that's the primary motivation. If it's therapeutic, even more so. If you lose that "want" by writing something you're not interested in, you force yourself, and you'll lose motivation and interest.

Now my motivations are two fold - get better at it AND write stuff I'm interested in. Fortunately for me, my interests are totally eclectic so I can happily go off on all sorts of tangents. LOL

Because I started as a fantasy writer and while I've had some success there (financially), I had some different types of stories in my head and Lit seemed a good avenue to try those out. It's a chance to take a break from writing sword-and-sorcery-style books ... and readers seem to mostly like them, so it's all good.

And THERE is a clear motivation and goal.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I get turned on by the thought of the scene and the words hit the screen.

I have to get them out of me.

My stories are like that for me - one of tehr easons I started writing was I'd read the "hot"scenes in roamce novels and think, boring, I can do better than that. LOL. So I started wiring the things I enjoy reading. Which should probably make me blush, but then 50 Shades, well, LOL

That's why I write on literotica, and help others with ideas, as I have them!

Why on Literotica tho? Audience size? It's there? You like the vfreebie side of it? Because I see a LOT of erotica on Kindle that is way worse quality than a lot of stories here on Literotica.

 

[THBGato]

I got hooked on stories by writers like @onehitwanda @BrokenSpokes and @bi_cathy among others. But I'm a reading addict, and they can't publish fast enough to satisfy my addiction (nor should they), so I thought I'd better write more of the kind stories I like to read... and now I'm addicted to writing AND reading. DOH!

(This is why I don't have either a TV or a games console in my house, and haven't for nearly 25 years. I have an addictive personality when it comes to media.)

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Essentially to pass time and I'll leave it at that.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Essentially to pass time and I'll leave it at that.

LOL. And why not!

 

[NotWise]

When I get down to it, I'm here because I like to write. I've always liked to write.

I originally came here to get experience. "They" always said that erotica was the low-hanging fruit in publishing, so I started here with the idea that I ultimately wanted to publish in the broader market. Now that I've seen more of what it takes to publish in the broader market, and how little authors get from the effort, I'm more inclined to stay here and write for the crowd that likes my work.

Getting unexpected low views on a story is a real buzz kill for me, but when that happens it's usually because the title and/or short description were bad, or because of some unfortunate combination of category and events. I spent six months working almost exclusively on one story that, a year-and-a-half after posting, still has less than 8K views--and one comment that came months after it was posted.

That was followed by two stories that weren't well-accepted and it became a crisis for me. I lost interest, and to write again I had to remember that I write because I like to write.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I don't recall how I stumbled across the site. As to why I started publishing here, I thought it would be fun and I wanted to practice my technique.
I'm not sure if I'll ever write anything more serious than this but it's fun to try.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I have always required a creative outlet to be happy, period. Painting, model kits, poetry, whatever. And now I've found one that will give me an erection. I'm totally winning at life.

 

[iwatchus]

Almost all of my adult life, I have programmed as my creative outlet (for those of you who have never done it, it can be very creative).The last time I wrote any non-fiction before four moths ago was back in high school, when I was writing silly little stories for a love interest. They stopped when we broke up, but I also just realized, a few weeks before I learned to program.

I had a major concussion several years ago, the inspiration for my WIP although I did not become telepathic, alas. I could not read (or program) for six months and I suddenly was drawn to photography, that is a background hobby.

I suddenly stopped wanting to program this winter. Maybe my impending full retirement. I don't know. I moped around a bit and then remembered that I had toyed around with writing for the site a decade ago (I was a long time reader), but never wrote more than a few lines -- an earlier version of what turned out to be my first story here.Once I put one story out, I was hooked. @THBGato mentioned he is addictive towards consuming media. I become compulsive about producing. My SO considers me obsessive.

I had been a longtime reader but I had never noticed how many views some stories get. My stories don't seem to draw well. That is what it is. But I am ecstatic when I get 10K views on a story. I was expecting tens or hundreds when I first published.

I do overly crave the validation. That is a constant struggle for me. Here and elsewhere. My first fifteen stories did very well, with a median score in the upper 4.7's, which set me up for unrealistic expectations. What I really want is people to love my story. And favorites are my favorites. Even one favorite on a story means you made someone's day. Someone was happy enough with what you gave them to say so with a click. I am disappointed with low ratings, but as long as a story has favorites I am happy.

 

[Meekly_Anna]

To be honest, I find most of the explicit scenes, as they are mostly described, boring to die for. And the descriptions of the characters, for goodness sake. "I'm in my early thirties, have shiny blonde hair down to my hips and DD breasts that are high-set and firm. I'm completely hairless underneath." The only woman this applies to is from Mattel.
When a story starts like this, it ends like this for me, namely after the first sentence.
‘I'm naturally horny and like to read stories while I lie alone and wet in my marital bed’ might be more accurate, and I'm sure people are more likely to want to read something like that. Maybe I should start a story like that. It also explains my motivation for being here and writing quite well.
I have the impression that many people here write about how they would like to be instead of how they are. Hence the many ‘superman’ stories in which the protagonist is wronged and the reader learns after a few lines that the protagonist is actually a former elite soldier and now a secret agent, who strangely enough never realised that his wife was having it off with her boss.
I tried to avoid that. Well, OK, not everything is realistic with me either and I would like to expressly warn against inserting a horseradish root anally into others or yourself, even if the recipient of the treatment deserves it.
To summarise, I can say that my favourite thing to read is stories that make me smile. So I try to write in the same way. Very few people here seem to like that, but so what? I'm having fun.

 

[filthytrancendence]

Chloe, I have to say your perspective is really inspiring, and your spelling errors are really endearing.

I view this in a similar way. I'm improving my craft, trying out new things, and learning a lot in the process. We get a ton of eyes on our work here and there is a lot of value in that, both in terms of feeling like I've accomplished something worthwhile and broadening my perspective. I'm like 7 years behind you on that ladder I guess and so my 'big' hits are 25k views and my duds are 2-4k. But that's still a ridiculous number of people relative to what I'd get if I went through the brain damage of turning them into an ebook and tried to sell that for $2 (which is basically zero... don't ask me how I know).

I feel like I know enough about what it looks like to get a novel published that I don't want that badly enough to bring that brain damage on myself. Or maybe a better way of putting it is, I believe there is a lot more value in the quick process of writing and publishing and receiving feedback here than iterating on one draft for several years to get it the way a publisher wants it. Maybe value is the wrong word, but I can learn a lot more a lot faster doing this as long as learning is what I'm trying to do. And it is.

Not saying I'm never going to try and get traditionally published. Just that this is a much more productive venue to hone my craft. And it is a lot more creatively free. And I've just got a sense that I'm going to have to be extremely skilled at the craft in order to have much hope of convincing suits to publish something I'd actually want published, if that makes any sense.

But that's a background, long-term aspiration. Right now I'm writing to write, to improve for the joy of it, and to increase my capacity to tell engaging stories about topics that matter to me.

 

[MrPixel]

It's funny because it was a lot of my earlier stories that get the 60k-100k views. The ones between 100-200k views are a bit of a mixed bag.

I only have 4 stories with more than 200k views each

Oh, Chloe... sigh... my most read story is 40K views, and that after five years.

But then, readership is not my priority. Like @Bazzle said, I need to get the stories out.

In my case there's a little bit of Thurbur's Walter Mitty in me, writing to express a life I wish was possible. And, occasionally, to bend the rules, thinly veiling recalled IRL events in a life with rich moments.

 

[Otto26]

I've been here for twenty years, longer really, and most of my stories have read counts less than 20K. Doesn't matter. I write what I want to read and I try to do a better job each time I write.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

An excellent question and a refreshing topic.

I started writing here for two major reasons.

To see if I can actually write or not, and in a foreign language on top of that.
To let some of my ideas and fantasies live.

I used to get plenty out of publishing here at the start. The high that came after publishing a story, the joy of seeing comments, views, and ratings surge... It made the effort totally worth it. I've never had any inclinations towards writing for financial profit, so exposure and feedback are all I've ever been after. I've enjoyed most of the interaction on this forum also.

Over time, my perspective of Literotica has changed. I've realized that whoever isn't using Lit only as a stepping stone for something more, be it Patreon, or Amazon, Smashwords, and such, or whoever isn't using Lit to hone their writing skills to employ them in mainstream writing, is getting the short end of the stick, so to speak.

I think that, and I realize that many here will disagree, Literotica treats its authors unfairly, and that's why I stopped publishing here. I really don't want to get into a discussion about these convictions of mine. That's how I see Literotica now, and that is why I haven't written anything for a year, even though my brain is swimming in ideas. I want to write and publish without any bad taste in my mouth, and I don't think that's possible here anymore. Well, or on any of the similar story sites, to be fair. It's all different shades of the same short end of the stick, in my view.

I am still hopeful that I will eventually find a satisfying platform, or that maybe something somewhere will change, so I can enjoy publishing my stories again. Well, either that or my mindset shifts towards financial gain, in which case I have a cunning plan...

 

[ChloeTzang]

Getting unexpected low views on a story is a real buzz kill for me, but when that happens it's usually because the title and/or short description were bad, or because of some unfortunate combination of category and events. I spent six months working almost exclusively on one story that, a year-and-a-half after posting, still has less than 8K views--and one comment that came months after it was posted.

Low views and low ratings were a buzz kill for me when I first started, I think because I was looking for that validation, but the more I got into it the more I realized I just really enjoy writing, and if the story satisfies me, I'm good - and if readers like it as well, that's a bonus. I have stories I really like and put a tremendous amount of work into with what I consider really low views but it no longer phases me at all. I think you get to that point where you're confident in yourself, you have a core of readers that you know enjoy your stories, and from there on it's fun. Hard work LOL, but fun.

And for those of you who are a lot newer here - it took me ten years to get to that state of mind - NotWise was around here when I started and he knows LOL. He held my hand a couple of times early on, for which he has my eternal gratitude.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I've been here for twenty years, longer really, and most of my stories have read counts less than 20K. Doesn't matter. I write what I want to read and I try to do a better job each time I write.

And after 20 years you know what you're here for LOL. Hope I'm here in anotehr 10 and I can say the same

 

[redgarters]

TL;DR I write because its fun and I get to be someone else for a while. Few people read but seem to enjoy, so I'm happy.

I've been reading on Lit for like 20 years, even wrote a lust fueled story back then that has thankfully been lost. Please don't try to find it, or I shall expire from embarrassment.

When I started again it was mostly to pass time. A mix of being horny and having an idea that wouldn't go away. But then, much like @THBGato I found that I wanted to try to write something similar to the stories I found most interesting here - @onehitwanda, @JCMcNeilly, @BrokenSpokes. Lesbian romances where the slow burn romance is queen and the sex is almost an optional extra. So I tried and no one was more surprised than me when people actually liked it (I almost peed myself fanboying when Onehitwanda herself left a beautiful comment that I still cherish).

I have a stressful exec level job and reading has always been my great escape from reality. SciFi, fantasy and Lit are the top three ways that I leave my life behind and immerse myself in another world. And now I've found that writing for Lit is another way of doing exactly that. And here I get the added thrill of seeing other people reading and loving my stories as well, sinking into their worlds, connecting with my characters. It's beautiful. The comments are my drug and some of them have absolutely made my day/week/month.

My stories usually don't get a lot of views - the only one above 40k is my contest 2nd place that reached over 60k. Most are around 9-20k. But the people who do read them seem happy with them and they get good ratings, much better than I ever dreamed they would.

So I'm happy to have a hobby that I love that also seems to give a few people something in the way of fun and happiness too.

 

[Erozetta]

If I don't write them, the stories just continually play out in my head and I can't sleep.

I write the stories to clear my mind so I can sleep.

I post them because I don't have any other use for them.

What I get out of posting them is curiosity about their reception. Which ones do better and why. The reactions people have tend to be pretty fascinating. The thought they put into my stories is often so much deeper and more complex than the thought I had when writing them.

I guess I just like seeing how weird I can be before someone feels I've gone off the deep end, which hasn't happened yet, but I'm trying.

 

[redgarters]

‘I'm naturally horny and like to read stories while I lie alone and wet in my marital bed’ might be more accurate, and I'm sure people are more likely to want to read something like that.

Now you have us waiting...

 

[ChloeTzang]

To be honest, I find most of the explicit scenes, as they are mostly described, boring to die for. And the descriptions of the characters, for goodness sake. "I'm in my early thirties, have shiny blonde hair down to my hips and DD breasts that are high-set and firm. I'm completely hairless underneath." The only woman this applies to is from Mattel.

I know. I have a book called "The First 50 Words" - all about how to use that 50 words to capure the reader - but eually, you can lose them in that first 50 words just as fast or even faster.

As soon as I see "36-C or B or D," I am so outta that story. LOL and one of the first things Learnt was drop the long narrative background at the start. "My name is Joe Roberts, and I'm a Highway Patrolman in Nebraska, married, three pint five kids and I like drinking Budweiser down at the....." I see that and I'm outta there too. Yikes!

The thing is, we all have to start somewhere, and we all start out making the same mistakes. Literotica is a very forgiving place to make thse mistakes and learn from them and that's one of the thing I LOVE about this site. It's very very tolerant, and everuone has a chance to shine (or sink like a stone LOL) but you gets out what you puts in.

I have the impression that many people here write about how they would like to be instead of how they are. Hence the many ‘superman’ stories in which the protagonist is wronged and the reader learns after a few lines that the protagonist is actually a former elite soldier and now a secret agent, who strangely enough never realised that his wife was having it off with her boss.

Oh, Mary-Sue's are so popular with writers for a reason. I do a bit of that quite a lot with my characters - most of them are really good at taekwondo (I am middling) and some of them are cold-eyed killers (fantasy and wish fulfillment there LOL) and some like tentacle sex (okay and - uh - ovipositers - she blushes) but it's all fun. I do enjoy some of the superman stories tho.

I tried to avoid that. Well, OK, not everything is realistic with me either and I would like to expressly warn against inserting a horseradish root anally into others or yourself, even if the recipient of the treatment deserves it.
To summarise, I can say that my favourite thing to read is stories that make me smile. So I try to write in the same way. Very few people here seem to like that, but so what? I'm having fun.

But what about gerbils?

 

[ChloeTzang]

I have a stressful exec level job and reading has always been my great escape from reality. SciFi, fantasy and Lit are the top three ways that I leave my life behind and immerse myself in another world. And now I've found that writing for Lit is another way of doing exactly that. And here I get the added thrill of seeing other people reading and loving my stories as well, sinking into their worlds, connecting with my characters. It's beautiful. The comments are my drug and some of them have absolutely made my day/week/month.

Snap, but without the stressful exec job.