Can you top yourself?

[lovecraft68]

There was a thread yesterday about it being frustrating to see high rated stories that you think are poorly written.

That idea is crap because most of us know that everything here is too subjective to play this 'It's not worth its rating because my stories are better" game. Or comparing one author to another. It's pointless.

But, what we could do is ask ourselves the question can we beat what we feel is our own best story?

Think about it. What story is your best? Now, you can determine best by whatever metric you want. Score, vote total, comments, just a general "Man, I rocked the shit out of this one!"

Now, sit back and think to yourself can I top it?

This is more of a question to look at your own work and back at your muse, than it is the type of topic that brings other authors or lists or etc into it, it's purely mano a mano with yourself.

Now of course I know there are factors. This was the best in this category and such and such, but it's a knee jerk reaction. I say "what's your best" you would have that answer in your mind, so that's the one you need to look at and ask yourself could you do better?

Or, do you think there's such a thing as the all timer that was a perfect storm of everything and you're not hitting that again? Doesn't mean you don't have plenty of good stories left in you, but not another like that one.

If you choose to answer, what is it that you're looking to top? Straight up stats or that "Nailed it" feeling.

 

[NotWise]

Depth of emotion and levels of intent (for lack of a better word) are two things I could build on to top anything I've written, but I don't know if I can do it.

And I might be the only one who noticed.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I may have with my Summer Lovin' entry, but no one will know for a month.

Date with Mom and the Nerd's Plaything might be tough to beat for me though.

And I don't even want to try another heartwrencher like Our Private Place. That one still bothers me.

 

[AG31]

Interesting question. I record fantasies, and I'm pretty much not having them any more, but I would designate my longest (first) story, and one of my shortest, and close to last stories, as my best. What would make a better story? I can't imagine.

 

[filthytrancendence]

I like the question. Interesting to think about.

I've always taken it as an interesting sign that my highest rated story is probably the best chunk of 12k words I've ever written. It's right in the middle of a series, the total of which is about 50k words, so it is dependent on and benefits from the preceding parts (which are also well-rated, just not as high). And I expect if I grouped all of A Wind Blew Through Me together, the whole work would not sit has high as part 4 has for so long. So that makes it a bit of a different kind of anomaly to try and top or replicate.

It does a lot of things well, and most of them work together:

• I had to spend zero of the 12k words establishing the MCs.
• It starts at the tail end of the second most interesting setting in the series (a private jet going across the pacific).
• The main scene begins with the vivid introduction of by far the most interesting setting in the series (a palatial estate-turned-resort in New Zealand)
• It contains the introduction of my best side character in the series (the concierge)
• The build up to the sex scene is extremely long and sensual and infused with vivid descriptions of food.
• The sex scene is so good I often forget I wrote it. I remember buzzing with energy as I wrote it in a way I've never experienced before or sense. That comes through on the page, I think.
• The characters hit an extremely important story beat after the sex scene, which suffuses the sexual intimacy with emotional weight.

So could I top that? I hope so. But it's kinda like just judging the imported maraschino cherry on top and forgetting the rest of the Sunday.

I think what I've developed in the intervening years is more emotional storytelling. So if I top it, it's probably going to be via raising those emotional stakes while achieving a similar level of sensuality at the same time.

While I don't put a ton of stock in the numeric rating, in this case it seems warranted. Or at least, my best work seems to have floated to the top amongst my other stuff. Seems a reasonable assumption that if I do truly top it, the new one will float to the top as well.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I've heard that some guys can suck themselves, but top themselves?

 

[ChuckWolf]

Hard for me to judge my best stories based on ratings, partially because I have a knack for often publishing them in the wrong category.

Also, and I get that I'm not alone in this, I feel like the occasional sweeps erase a lot of legitimate votes as well as the ones logged in by bots or whatever.

 

[lovecraft68]

I've heard that some guys can suck themselves, but top themselves?

I do that all the time.

"Jesus, you're fucking pathetic! One more set, loser!"
"Sorry, sir"
"You're sorry, sorriest most worthless excuse for a man!"

Okay, I'll stop now. That self-care stuff is just not working for me these days.

 

[SimonDoom]

I like this question, too. It's more productive and healthy to think about how you can better yourself than to be thinking about other writers' performances.

And my answer is: it's tough. My personal experience is that it's difficult for me to predict how one of my stories will do compared to other stories I've written.

I have a few stories in the 4.78-4.8 range, but none higher than that. I've written a few stories with the idea that I'm going to break past that barrier, and it hasn't quite happened. I don't care that much because I'm very happy with the favorites and feedback I've received for the stories.

One of my stories caught fire when I was a newbie writer, and it rose to number 1 on the 12-month most-viewed list. Since then I've sometimes thought I should be able to beat that, because I think I'm a better writer, but I've never come close.

After 8 years of publishing here I've come to adopt the Literotica version of the Serenity Prayer. I don't worry about what I can't control. I worry about what I do up to the point of hitting the "submit" key. After that, I have no control. I brace myself and accept what happens. I take pleasure when the results are good and I shrug when the results aren't what I want.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Definitely. I think I've become better as a writer over time, and since I have no problems with inspiration or ideas, I'd say that I'm gonna be topping myself more than once in the future. Of course, my only metric will be the way I feel about a story, not stats.

To be honest, it's hard for me to believe that anyone would say that there is a story they wouldn't be able to top in the future. I don't think I'd understand such a mindset, assuming the author hasn't mentally declined or something like that. I like to think that my next story will always be better than all the previous ones, as long as I invest time and effort.
And to be clear, I am saying this from the standpoint of how well-written the story is, not how good the idea behind it is. Some story ideas have simmered and evolved over a long period of time, so that part of the story can't always be topped.

 

[Yogma]

I tell myself that I write for my own enjoyment only and that I'm not interested in ratings or comments . . . but if I ever actually said that out loud to anyone else then I'd be lying

I have had some stories that got rated higher than I expected and others that I was really pleased with, but didn't do quite as well as I had expected/hoped. Also, there are some genres and topics that I know won't score well, but I write for them anyway, because I want to.

Can I top my previous work? Sure I can. I only started writing fiction two years ago, so every story for me is a chance to improve.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Top myself? Only if I write and film a custom JOI for myself, perhaps...

Nevertheless, I think anyone gets better every time they put one word after the other. In order to start producing diamonds, you have to make a lot of coal first. To determine what's my best among my published work it's pretty difficult due to the fact that only around 2% of what I've written as erotica has seen the light of day. I know that I've improved, but the story that I consider my top was written five years ago, and it was the last non-erotic piece I made before I switched to erotica. While it still remains a first draft as of yet, I know it's the best I've done, and there are a few eroticas that follow; one written last year.

 

[Voboy]

I've got a few "best stories," measured in different ways; I suspect anyone with over (say) 30 tales here might have difficulty coming up with a single best one.

And no, I can't top them. For one thing, I wouldn't care to try: I love them because they're good as they sit. But for another, each of my stories is an artifact of its time and place in my life. I doubt the circumstances that produced them will recur. I edit very minimally, relying on my instincts to spew out good shit: if those instincts have done so, I look at it as serendipitous.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I don't want to think that I can never do better, but I do have one story that sets what I consider a particularly high bar.

I have an enormous amount of emotional attachment to those stories that have drawn primarily from my own experiences, but there is a bit of extra pride in achieving success with an entirely fictional creation.

In my own opinion, Queen of the Roller Derby is my best work.

It's a lesbian coming of age story, and a romance, and something I never imagined I'd write, a sports story. It was the first real period piece I ever wrote, set primarily in the 1950s, and through writing it, I felt like I was expanding my horizons and discovered that I really like the learning experience of writing stories set in other times and places.

At every point during its creation, I felt that I was "in the zone". I loved the main character and first person narrator, Kitty Boyd, and felt I gave her a distinctive voice and pov. Creating the supporting characters came easily. I am definitely a plotter, but I've never had a narrative come to me so easily.

It was probably a mistake to submit it in Novels and Novellas, rather than in Lesbian, but as it is 14 pages long, more than 52k words, I thought that was more suitable. To date, it has a rather low viewer count, only about 11k.

But the reception among those who did read it was gratifying. It received 98 consecutive 5 votes, and when it passed 100, was briefly number one on the All Time Top List. Of course, we all know what happened next. It currently has a score of 4.86 and is still on the N&N Top List after two years.

Can I top it?

I will sure as hell keep trying.

 

[lovecraft68]

Can I top it?

I will sure as hell keep trying.

That's the answer I've been waiting for.

Like they say in sports records are made to be broken.

 

[Voboy]

That's the answer I've been waiting for.

Like they say in sports records are made to be broken.

Oh. I interpreted your premise as "can you improve that one story."

Nevermind.

 

[NoTalentHack]

There was a thread yesterday about it being frustrating to see high rated stories that you think are poorly written.

That idea is crap because most of us know that everything here is too subjective to play this 'It's not worth its rating because my stories are better" game. Or comparing one author to another. It's pointless.

But, what we could do is ask ourselves the question can we beat what we feel is our own best story?

Think about it. What story is your best? Now, you can determine best by whatever metric you want. Score, vote total, comments, just a general "Man, I rocked the shit out of this one!"

Now, sit back and think to yourself can I top it?

This is more of a question to look at your own work and back at your muse, than it is the type of topic that brings other authors or lists or etc into it, it's purely mano a mano with yourself.

Now of course I know there are factors. This was the best in this category and such and such, but it's a knee jerk reaction. I say "what's your best" you would have that answer in your mind, so that's the one you need to look at and ask yourself could you do better?

Or, do you think there's such a thing as the all timer that was a perfect storm of everything and you're not hitting that again? Doesn't mean you don't have plenty of good stories left in you, but not another like that one.

If you choose to answer, what is it that you're looking to top? Straight up stats or that "Nailed it" feeling.

3BR, 2BA, 1 Story. Hands down. It’s the story I write that has straight up anti-reconciliation folks going, “come on, man, give them a happy ending,” was intensely sad yet uplifting at the same time, felt real, and probably had the tightest editing of any story I’ve written. It’s only at 4.5ish, but I understand why; lots of “wonderful writing, too sad, 4 stars” kinds of comments.

I have two or three others I think can top it on deck, but I have to, you know, actually write them first.

 

[PapaRomantic]

I've been thinking about this all evening. I think it depends on how you judge what you think your best is. The one of mine that I'm thinking of does have a very nice rating, but I more appreciate the nature of the comments that were left, showing me that for many of those who commented, it really reached down deep inside of them. I know some of the stories I write aren't going to be very deep at all, but it gives me great incentive to keep on writing when I know that at least once in a while, a reader is going to have a deep experience with my words.

I'll keep on trying as well. But I'm also going to keep on writing others that aren't deep!

 

[Erozetta]

"How Villains are Made" is the one to top for me. The characters in that still live in my head to the point I'm working on a script for a story game for them that my husband will code for me. I need the chance to give them a happy ending and that's the only way to do it.

How will I top it? By finishing my other murder based story. But that one isn't erotica, it's just a thriller.

The only one I have in the works that I think would top both of those is a young adult fantasy action story I've had in the works for a while, but that would be under a different name for obvious reasons.

 

[filthytrancendence]

but that would be under a different name for obvious reasons.

Speaking of different, can we talk about how much I miss the cupcake? Cookies are neat and all, but not quite as photogenic

 

[TheRedChamber]

'A Day with Miss May' is not my highest rated story, but it is my highest rated story with any significant number of votes. It's basically Brief Encounter on an Italian nudist beach (and bridal suite) with a Playboy model.

If I want to replicate its success there would seem to be a number of things I should do - have two uncomplicatedly nice people meet (not sure if they also need to part), have the female be unarguably stunning, stick to vanilla but passionate sex, engage in travel porn writing, have some nominally deeper emotions (bittersweet) but keep them simple.

I've often thought about attempting a story deliberately with exactly those elements but have never quite arranged them into a plot I wanted to kneed, let alone a story I wanted to tell.

I'm not sure that trying to top a story is a good way to go about things. You should struggle to make your current story the best version of itself that it can be.

 

[HeyAll]

-- Problem is, stories that I consider my best don't do that well, either with views or score or favs

-- Yes I can top it

-- I'm objective looking at the plot, writing, originally, etc... I can look at my story after editing and be honest about where it ranks.

-- I still remember nearly a decade ago releasing "Quarantined with Mom" thinking it's not that good, but it's one of my biggest stories still.

-- On the flipside, I think "Detective's Gangbang, Town Secret" is one of my best, but the score is low and so-so reaction.

 

[TheRedLantern]

Now, sit back and think to yourself can I top it?

Yes, absolutely. I'm still new (started writing seriously during the pandemic, although I've been writing as a sometimes hobby since forever), and so still learning a TON. I just watched a video by KM Weiland the other night that changed how I think about writing scenes. So, the easy lessons are still there for me. I'm learning by watching the rest of you talk about your writing and then going to checking your works to see applications of your thought processes.

I'm still at the phase where I'm looking at each story as it comes together and thinking "this is the best I've ever done in my life. It's all my best moves that I've ever learned, PLUS this new thing that I'm trying."

If you choose to answer, what is it that you're looking to top? Straight up stats or that "Nailed it" feeling.

This goes right to the heart of who we each are as writers, maybe the best question you can ask any one of us. "Success" to me means two things ... I expressed my ideas in a way that I'm proud to call my own, and someone I trust and respect has seen it and acknowledged its value as art (with a very, very broad definition of "art").

I was lucky to get some very practical advice about ratings on Lit as I published my first time, so I see the stats and consider them interesting but not very informational. (The other advice I got that day was to stay away from LW until I was ready for a volcano mosh pit in the comments)

 

[TheLobster]

Yes, absolutely.

Out of my thirty-ish submissions, there about for or five stories that I consider to be a cut above the rest. But the difference isn’t some kind of a vast, gaping chasm; they are better, but not overwhelmingly so.

Among this small handful, there is one (“Foreign Festivities”, last year’s Halloween entry) which is again noticeably better than the other. But again the difference isn’t night and day; it’s simply better conceived and better executed, but it’s not soaring up there in the stratosphere.

Which means that I can totally see myself topping it at some point, and hopefully sooner rather than later. It’s mostly the matter of whether I’d be motivated enough to put in the work.

 

[THBGato]

I'm fairly certain I could. But because of trolling, we'll never really know - if any of my stories peek above 4.86 they get down voted, thus it's hard to know which of my stories the readership thinks is my best, as my scores have a fairly flat profile. Could we judge by comments? Favourites? Maybe...

The other factor is comparability. To really beat myself, I'd have to write a very similar story to a prior one and try to make it even better. For example, Twenty is what I would term a 'rescue' story; could I write a better rescue story that addressed the issues readers flagged in the comments and got a higher score? I'm fairly certain I could BUT I'm not interested in doing so. I don't want to write another rescue story, and to do so just to beat myself seems cynical. I'd rather just write what I want to write and strive to be better without compromising the stories I need to tell.