What do you aspire to?

[Bamagan]

Unironically, I'll drink to that.

 

[SimonDoom]

I care about continuing to get better as a writer. I want my writing to be better. But I think it's foolish to aspire to "be a genius." Genius is as genius does. Focus on getting better and the rest will come, whatever it is.

 

[StillStunned]

I want my writing to be the best I can produce. That's basically my reason for writing.

People are generally very kind about my prose, but I don't think my stories have enough depth to be qualified as literature, let alone genius. But I enjoy reading them, and my wife enjoys me reading them to her.

 

[Omenainen]

Interesting conversation. I think relevant to this is also the question about internal versus external validation. If I aspire to fulfill my own goals, be a literary genius by my own standards, then that’s theoretically attainable; aspiring to be “so good that everyone will acknowledge it”… well that’s not likely to happen.

 

[HordHolm]

My aim is to tell the story I have in mind well enough for someone else to a) understand what is happening and, b) enjoy it. If I fail at 'b', I at least want to succeed at 'a'.

I cherish a four word Anon comment I received recently on a story: "Well written, but boring." It means I did 'a' but not 'b' for this reader. It tells me I need to work harder to achieve the goal I set myself.

EDIT: I also aim to achieve 'c': to get those bloody voices in my head to stop going on about the damn story. The only way to do that is to write it and publish it. Only then do they shut up. Unfortunately, not for long...

 

[Areala-chan]

To have people read and enjoy the stuff I write. If that happens, then I won one round of the game, simple as that.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Interesting topic.
When I write, I try to craft the story to the best of my ability, as well as learn and improve. I'd say that I've improved considerably compared to the time when I wrote my first words here.
That being said, I limit the amount of time and effort I put into the story because of where and what I write. So, to contradict myself immediately, the story that comes out probably doesn't represent 100% of my writing ability for that reason alone. The fact that English is my second language contributes as well.

Simply put, if I were to write mainstream and under my own name, I would likely obsess far more over more subtle details such as word flow, foreshadowing, etc. I would burn far more time in that case, time I'm unwilling to invest in Literotica stories.
Also, I can't say that I've read many of Lit's authors, but the same as some others have said, I don't believe there are any great authors here. I don't think anyone who is aware of their talent, genius even, can be satisfied with publishing here. Good authors? Yeah, I'd say there are such authors here, although I'd also say they are a stark minority.

By the way, since there were several mentions of Dostoevsky's work, I think many would find his story an interesting read. I've been a fan since my teenage days, and I still find some aspects of his life fascinating.

 

[Katie_Mae]

Can you expound on that? Why would you want to only aspire to be a literary genius elsewhere? Why not everywhere you publish? Is it like a pearls before swine type of thing?

To clarify, I don't aspire to be a literary genius, so I wasn't referring to myself in the second paragraph.

But people can have different attitudes to the same or similar thing at different times and/or places in their life.

Eg, you could be the world's most famous wedding cake decorator, known for your ultra-realistic sugar flowers which take many weeks to craft. But maybe you also like to bake basic not-much-effort cupcakes to give away to kids on your country's national day.

Enjoying a thing one way doesn't mean you don't enjoy it in another way. In making the sugar flowers the decorator find joy in honing his skills and making the best flower he can, every time, for high end consumers. In the cupcakes he finds joy in bringing a smile to a kid's face. It doesn't matter that the cupcakes are far from his best workand look ugly. Because, fuck it, they're free cupcakes for kids. It's just not that serious.

For myself, if I go through my files, find an unfinished first draft of a silly little fantasy, and think "can't be bothered finishing this, but someone might enjoy the concept," Then what's stopping me from wacking a hurried ending on it and sticking it here as-is? Nothing. Lit is a free site, I'm not asking for money. No one knows me IRL. And if someone enjoys the story? Great. (And some people did.) But a silly fantasy about getting fucked with a dick the size of a forearm just isn't something I necessarily want to put much more than the minimum effort into. Because... come on. A forearm sized dick? That's not serious. But, this is Lit. It's just not serious (to me.)

However, that doesn't mean I can't also enjoy doing more serious writing. Without the... you know... forearm sized dicks.

___

I know it might sound silly, but what drew me to publish stories on lit wasn't a desire to share my writing. So, for me, my aspirations here on Lit aren't literary based, but that doesn't mean I've never had literary focused goals elsewhere or elsewhen.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Do you aspire to be a literary genius even though you publish on this free site? Or is your attitude more like - It's only Literotica, so fuck it, who cares?

Well, at first I was just aspiring to put out a good product that people like. I feel I've accomplished that and now I aspire toward improving with every story and someday turn this into a side-hustle.

 

[WCSGarland]

To clarify, I don't aspire to be a literary genius, so I wasn't referring to myself in the second paragraph.

But people can have different attitudes to the same or similar thing at different times and/or places in their life.

Eg, you could be the world's most famous wedding cake decorator, known for your ultra-realistic sugar flowers which take many weeks to craft. But maybe you also like to bake basic not-much-effort cupcakes to give away to kids on your country's national day.

Enjoying a thing one way doesn't mean you don't enjoy it in another way. In making the sugar flowers the decorator find joy in honing his skills and making the best flower he can, every time, for high end consumers. In the cupcakes he finds joy in bringing a smile to a kid's face. It doesn't matter that the cupcakes are far from his best workand look ugly. Because, fuck it, they're free cupcakes for kids. It's just not that serious.

For myself, if I go through my files, find an unfinished first draft of a silly little fantasy, and think "can't be bothered finishing this, but someone might enjoy the concept," Then what's stopping me from wacking a hurried ending on it and sticking it here as-is? Nothing. Lit is a free site, I'm not asking for money. No one knows me IRL. And if someone enjoys the story? Great. (And some people did.) But a silly fantasy about getting fucked with a dick the size of a forearm just isn't something I necessarily want to put much more than the minimum effort into. Because... come on. A forearm sized dick? That's not serious. But, this is Lit. It's just not serious (to me.)

However, that doesn't mean I can't also enjoy doing more serious writing. Without the... you know... forearm sized dicks.

___

I know it might sound silly, but what drew me to publish stories on lit wasn't a desire to share my writing. So, for me, my aspirations here on Lit aren't literary based, but that doesn't mean I've never had literary focused goals elsewhere or elsewhen.

I guess I'm just having trouble understanding why the two are mutually exclusive... literary genius and stories with whatever fantasy fuck is available; genius level baking and free cupcakes, or whatever.

 

[WCSGarland]

Well, at first I was just aspiring to put out a good product that people like. I feel I've accomplished that and now I aspire toward improving with every story and someday turn this into a side-hustle.

Wouldn't most of us like to be making a bit of cash for our stories?

 

[Omenainen]

I guess I'm just having trouble understanding why the two are mutually exclusive... literary genius and stories with whatever fantasy fuck is available; genius level baking and free cupcakes, or whatever.

I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive, but the point is that even if someone is very good in something, it doesn’t necessarily manifest in everything they do, even if it’s related. The fastest swimmer in the world is capable of soaking in the pool on a hot day with their kids and just by observing them doing that you couldn’t tell. (Okay, bad example, probably their physique would be a giveaway. Coming up with examples isn’t my strong suit.)

 

[Jorunn]

I have two aspirations. First is to (sadly) abandon my nomadic lifestyle in a few years for a real job. The ability to write well in English may be a needed skill. So I am practicing here.

Second (down the road) is to write an historical novel on the life of Jorunn Skaldmaer, one of the only known female Skaldic poets from the Viking Age. Little is known about her, so it is to be historical fiction, but the standards to do this are obviously much higher. An English version of this story would have a wider potential audience.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Wouldn't most of us like to be making a bit of cash for our stories?

Of course, and I have been since January, but just a few dollars here and there. But as I've been adding to my library, sales are increasing, so the goal is to keep adding to it and building a fanbase.

 

[AG31]

Do you aspire to be a literary genius even though you publish on this free site? Or is your attitude more like - It's only Literotica, so fuck it, who cares?

Nothing. Aspirations aren't part of my makeup. I haven't read the thread yet. I'll be interested to see what others think.

 

[iwatchus]

I aspire to get better, regardless of platform or arena. I think I am a notably better writer than I was when I started. Although I worry I may have already written my best story I ever will

In terms of writing here, I have no shame in the quality of writing produced at the top end of the site. Yes there is dreck. A lot of it. But there are also very well written pieces. There are writers here who are cleary better at making the words dance than I expect to ever be able to do. There are better story tellers with richer characters. There are more creative authors than me. But I can keep trying to approach closer to their skills.

My reason to move beyond here would not be to be more recognized or something like that. There are non-erotic categories I would like to try my hand at. At some point, I may try to find a comparable site to this for some other genres, but I still have a ways to go here, a lot to still learn from my fellow writers and me readers. And myself.

 

[UnexpectedLuggage]

I write entirely for fun here. Yeah, I don't want my stuff to be utterly shit, but I will admit I tend to be a little less thorough in my proofreading than I am of stuff I'm considering sending to publishers.