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

[yowser]

Like all writers, I started as a reader. So those two elements, reading and writing, are the short answers to the post. From very early on I was transported by good stories, and when I got to a stage in my life when erotic aspects beckoned, the horizon just exploded into a fascinating universe of possibilities. The written medium is just so different from any other creative effort, and when a good writer can paint with words, tug your heart, maneuver you around your emotional landscape, and get you all hot and bothered, that is just a marvel.

I like a good, well-crafted story, intelligent and exploratory. There are some wonderful reading experiences here, unfortunately buried under hectares of drek and not so easy of discovery. But when I find something good, I am thrilled, and will read that author's output and marvel at good quality descriptions, settings and characters. That author's favorites and lists often lead to other gems.

I try to forge the best stories I can, and am willing to experiment with topics (and I thought I was fairly broad spectrum until I got here), style and perspective to create optimal works. The wonderful part is that I can do a face-plant (going by my own standards) but then just pick up and try something else next time around. Like the old saying about wood fires at home, you warm yourself twice, both by cutting and splitting the firewood, but then again later when the fire is roaring in the winter hearth. Good erotica works like that for me.

 

[HeyAll]

First time I wrote anything, it was purely for fun, I had an interesting idea I wanted to explore.

Was shocked at the views when it got posted and people enjoying it (yes it was a taboo story).

I like writing because it's enjoyable; the thinking, the writing, the crafting, then people reading it.

I get the most out of writing when I treat it seriously, with struggle to make the right thing. If I wrote passively as a hobby, it wouldn't be as a rewarding or fun.

 

[AchtungNight]

I wrote my stories for entertainment- of myself and others- and to challenge myself as well as settle various emotions. It was helpful in all this. Any future stories I create will have similar motivation.

 

[gordo12]

This: 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

The readership here is like throwing a baited hook into a pool of fish. Success! And feedback, with almost 38,000 votes, 2000+ comments.
I now have 25 shorts here and 6 books available commercially. I'm not getting rich and couldn't live off them but a few bucks drops into the bank every month.
The feedback here has given me info about where to write for the market. And that has helped. Information is GOLD!
The ability to try something and have people cheer or puke is invaluable in directing you.
I'm grateful for Lit!
But beyond that is marketing, the most difficult task of all. That one is still an uphill battle.
And Chloe, if there's an author here who could make it, you're it!

 

[ChloeTzang]

I know you will write what you want to. The downside is SF&F gets the worst views out of any category I post in. I suspect NH is similar or worse. Hand in there, you do get a lot of favorites, especially per view, which means you are at least connecting with people. I have added your stuff to my reading list, which is getting longer, not shorter. But I will try to give you feedback soon. But you probably write better than I do already, so I am not sure how much I can tell you.

That's a BIG downside, and I post my Sci-Fi in other categpries now, where they get far more views and no-ne complained so far. "I Married a Heptapod" was even in the First Time Top 20 Hall of Famefor quite a few months - and it got way more views than it ever would have in Sci Fi

 

[ChloeTzang]

And Chloe, if there's an author here who could make it, you're it!

Ohhhhhhh. HUGE Hug!!!!!

 

[cadeauxxx]

I've been posting stories on here for 10 years now.

I mainly post on Literotica cause years ago, it used to be a great place for finding celebrity stories (mostly what I write). Those days are gone and we're in a new era. Pop culture in general feels dead or at least in a dark ages as people are moving away from it. Few people are writing celebs and fanfiction of all things are more popular than ever. I'm still here posting cause I've used this site forever. Literotica offers me a great deal of freedom in creativity. The older I get, the more I appreciate freedom and feel that people tend to take it for granted when they push for censorship over hurt feelings.

Writing is my great escapism from life. It lets me dig into my imagination and craft fictional worlds that are more interesting than the day to day grind that we all go through. When I'm not writing or working on things, real life tends to drag me down. I wish I could write scripts for movies and such, but we don't all get lucky. At least I can do it in the form of my stories.

 

[gordo12]

Ohhhhhhh. HUGE Hug!!!!!

Ohh, Gordo likes hugs!

 

[PapaRomantic]

I came to read, looking for a chance to read erotic literature at a time when visual porn wasn't good for me at all. I found good stories and not-so-good stories, and as I read, I couldn't help but think that I could write as good or better stories than what I was finding here. Many years ago in the era of dox matrix printers, I wrote out a couple of erotic stories - since long gone by now - so the bug to write had been planted then.

So I decided to try it, and my first submission - which became the first of a six-chapter project - was very well received. It immediately became addicting. I still feel the thrill of posting a brand new story and then eagerly watching as the comments come in on that first day. I write to satisfy that but from many years ago. But I now also write to make the readers happy. That is my ultimate payment for my time and effort.

 

[KinderRiegel]

To be honest, the only physical books that ended up in my hands were those of the Harry Potter series. Then, a chill vacation ahead, I got myself an ebook reader. Hoping, It'd get me back into reading more again. But that never really happened. The only stuff I kept reading though, were stories on Lit. I like the sexual aspect, of course. But it's also interesting what some amateur writers are capable of creating.

I havent posted many stories myself. Two of them have been on-and-off projects over a span of several months. Mainly to practice my English. But at some point, I wasn't writing to get myself off any more. I wanted to actually engage with my story, see how it could continue and my characters could develop in a meaningful way.

How many people read my stories? I don't really care. My first story from 9 years ago has over 150k views. When I look at it again today, I have no clue why...

Currently, I'm having a blast with it. Hopefully, that feeling will stick around a while longer.

 

[THBGato]

Few people are writing celebs

Maybe not here, but I swear every 10th story on w*****d is a "Billie Eilish dates a fan" story.

 

[kellyt1994]

I've only submitted one story so far, (two parts,part three is acting up), but I've read stories here for years. A few months ago I started feeling a strong urge to sort out the events that first drew me into a kink lifestyle so I started a journal, I guess, but 10 years after the fact. I was living the party life pretty hard in those days so it's all a little hazy. Maybe I'm trying to justify or at least understand some inexplicable paths I took. It eventually dawned on me that it might make for a sexy story that others might enjoy. But as I started trying to turn it into a story I realized that I really didn't know how to write. I really haven't written anything since 10th grade, (baby, GED, yada yada). So I decided to try a couple of practice stories before I tackle the one that's important to me.

From, say, 20-24 years old, I lived a how-to manual on how NOT to do BDSM. I've got a lot of real life stories of things that really happened to me, things that I saw happen, supposedly real life stories that I heard 2nd or 3rd hand. A lot them are hilarious. At least in hindsight.

So my first story is sloppy as hell but I hope to get better. We learn to do by doing, right?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I mainly post on Literotica cause years ago, it used to be a great place for finding celebrity stories (mostly what I write). Those days are gone and we're in a new era. Pop culture in general feels dead or at least in a dark ages as people are moving away from it. Few people are writing celebs and fanfiction of all things are more popular than ever.

Have never done one, but I recently became aware of Debbie O'Toole. The story could almost write itself, but I have no idea how to do a proper Liverpool tart.

 

[lovecraft68]

rotflmao. This is an unexpected tangent.

And yes, 1/2 cup (4 ounces) an hour. Every hour. For 10 minutes. Roughly 113 mls, or as an approximation, 25 ejaculations an hour, every hour, for 10 years. Say, one every 2 minutes, for 10 years.

This is a statistic I can be proud of, and a measurable success factor. Admittedly it's based on approximations, and unconfirmed data, but I like it.

I recall one comment that said "Your story coaxed three loads from these 80 year old balls"

It was one of those moments that I'm sure we've all had where you really question what you do and why you do it.

The meaning of the expression TMI

 

[alexandra_secret]

I wanted to write stories for a few years, but I could not make an interest outline for a regular story. Erotica stories came easier, at least for me.

But contrary to most writers here, I did not started because I was enjoying reading stories here (or anywhere else). Most story I read, I'm bored or annoyed because I feel like there is nothing new. And that's something I also feel more and more with more classic literature. This is the real reason that got me into writing: since I could not find a story that would feel new and exciting, I should try to make my own.

Now, I'm not a very good writer, but I can feel I'm improving with every new story (my first one was posted in December I think, so I should be able to improve, I hope). And my views are very low, most of my stories are between 1k and 5k (some have even less than 1k). The ratings are OK I guess, and I have some nice comments, which is always enjoyable, but I really write for myself, more than for the fame (but I do admit that I'm a bit jealous when people say they just have 200k views).

To answer the original post, I can spend weeks or even months on a story, with very little success. I've been working on several stories since the beginning of the year, with good ideas, and it's still far from being finished, and I don't expect that they will get lot of views but that's OK. A part of me is happy that some people will read them and enjoy them.

 

[nock]

I get a thrill. A well-earned thrill. I work in a highly creative field with equally creative people. Our work is as far afield from erotica as you could imagine, so I draw great pleasure from writing erotica that would shock my colleagues. Not that they are very uptight, just that I'm the last person they would suspect was writing about pegging my man, going down on my neighbor's wife, or having sex with my 70-year-old father-in-law. I liken it to wearing something incredibly risque under my proper attire to attend a funeral or a christening. I know it's there and that excites the hell out of me.

So when I push the button to submit another story, I usually celebrate by putting on something trashy under my preppy New England attire and go out for drinks and whatever.

You are amazing, Wendytrilby, with your gorgeously dirty mind and your talent to put it into glittering--or glistening--sentences.

 

[MickTheKick]

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.

Oh boy, try writing in the German section then. Your numbers will be skyrocketing... ehhh dive to a few hundred at best...

We German authors can only dream about the numbers you english authors achieve here in Literotica...

 

[DeMont]

That, my dear Chloe, is a very good question.
There are many genres of the art today that have strayed farther into the "sex" scenario but in a mostly perfunctory way, suggestive scenes in movies, subtle innuendo in romance fiction or no suggestion of it at all. It is, to my mind, something that is tailored to a specific audience (Think ESRB and American Film and Television Ratings)

I have been writing, seriously, since around 2002 and my early forays into the sexual realm were just as subtle. Left to the reader's imagination. I have started writing for this venue, and audience because as much as anything else the human sex drive is one of the most powerful urges that the species can experience - just ask any caveman...!!! LOL

Here we do not have to worry about ratings or censorship, we can write (within the rules of Literotica) whatever we want and express ourselves that would not be completely palatable to a wider audience. In short, "Freedom of expression".

Deepest respects,
D

 

[AG31]

That, my dear Chloe, is a very good question.
There are many genres of the art today that have strayed farther into the "sex" scenario but in a mostly perfunctory way, suggestive scenes in movies, subtle innuendo in romance fiction or no suggestion of it at all. It is, to my mind, something that is tailored to a specific audience (Think ESRB and American Film and Television Ratings)

I have been writing, seriously, since around 2002 and my early forays into the sexual realm were just as subtle. Left to the reader's imagination. I have started writing for this venue, and audience because as much as anything else the human sex drive is one of the most powerful urges that the species can experience - just ask any caveman...!!! LOL

Here we do not have to worry about ratings or censorship, we can write (within the rules of Literotica) whatever we want and express ourselves that would not be completely palatable to a wider audience. In short, "Freedom of expression".

Deepest respects,
D

Since I know you're new here, can I suggest that you use the REPLY button and save whatever bit of the previous post you're addressing. So I don't have to go back up the thread and find Chloe's question.

 

[DeMont]

Ahhhh... yes.... my bad AG. I have discovered the "quote" button since I was blundering around in the dark yesterday trying to find things I knew I had seen.
I shall make a better job of it from hereon.

My apologies.
Deepest Respects,
D

 

[Ssbbw4u1974]

I write because I have a kink of turning men on.
When I get positive feedback that my stories have excited a man to the point it gets them extra hard, that makes me wet!

I write men's fantasies that they think, but need it written in words..

 

[AG31]

Ahhhh... yes.... my bad AG. I have discovered the "quote" button since I was blundering around in the dark yesterday trying to find things I knew I had seen.
I shall make a better job of it from hereon.

My apologies.
Deepest Respects,
D

Ah, but you didn't use it here. OR, if you'd written @AG31 instead of just AG, I would have gotten an alert. Keep at it, @DeMont!!! You're doin' good!!!

 

[DeMont]

@AG31 - I feel like a stumbling, demented court jester...!!! Please, stay on my case and make me a good "literer" - I beg you...!
I promise I will attend to my duties more diligently and one day you will declare Jedi, not a mere Paduan

 

[ChloeTzang]

I recall one comment that said "Your story coaxed three loads from these 80 year old balls"

It was one of those moments that I'm sure we've all had where you really question what you do and why you do it.

The meaning of the expression TMI

Now I would consider that the highest of tributes!!!! A comment like that justifies one's writing!

 

[BrokenSpokes]

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.)

Geez, no pressure (starts banging away at my keyboard)