Is it okay to be a bad writer if you enjoy what you write?

[gunhilltrain]

There probably is, but maybe you just can't see it.

Why did you do that? Ask a human being, not some device in its own reinforcement loop, pushing you towards being bland and predictable.

That's self-defeating, and now you've got a machine reinforcing your own doubts. Did you mean, that you didn't know about your writing?

As the others say, it's completely down to you and what you get out of it. I'd keep away from the AI "assistance" though - not sure that's going to really help.

Wow, DeepSeek? "Hi, I'm from the Tyrell Corporation and I'm here to help you."

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2eba...ter/2242.jpg?width=620&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none

More Human Than Human.

 

[Comshaw]

I haven't posted anything in several months, but I've been slowly working on a couple stories.

I've known since I started that I'm not a good writer, but I liked what I was posting up. I don't really have the drive to be the best writer ever, but I was hoping that there would be some improvement.

Today I put a draft of a story in DeepSeek and told it to give me a harsh critique. It said it was bad and that I should delete the draft and start over (among other things).

Fine, I told it to be harsh and it was, but it also told me things that I know about my writing.

I don't know what I'm looking for, but is it okay to suck at writing and know you suck, if you like what you write?

Is it okay to do something someone told you (a fucking machine at that) you ain't good at but you enjoy? How many people in the world play golf but couldn't hit an 80 round if their life depended on it? How many ride motorcycles but will never come close to the level of Isle of Mann riders? How many paint or act in community plays or or or and never rise above the level of average??? The one thing all those people have in common is they enjoy the hobby they do and fuck a bunch of people (or machines) that tell them they suck at it. It pleases THEM and that's what counts.

But I can't believe your stories suck. While I haven't read any of your work (which will be remedied post haste) almost all your stories are over 4.0, some high enough to earn a red H. Your readers are enjoying your work. Good stories are more than the sum of the parts. A machine doesn't have the capacity to judge the emotional content of a tale. They are stone blind and deaf when it comes to that part of it and that part of it is the heart and soul of a good story. I'll bet $10.00 against a hole in a doughnut that is what your readers appreciate and the thing that can't be measured by AI. Sit back, smile at the machines and keep on keepin' on because you have something that you have the capacity to impart to others that machines don't ( and probably never will) have, emotions.


Comshaw

 

[Cagivagurl]

I haven't posted anything in several months, but I've been slowly working on a couple stories.

I've known since I started that I'm not a good writer, but I liked what I was posting up. I don't really have the drive to be the best writer ever, but I was hoping that there would be some improvement.

Today I put a draft of a story in DeepSeek and told it to give me a harsh critique. It said it was bad and that I should delete the draft and start over (among other things).

Fine, I told it to be harsh and it was, but it also told me things that I know about my writing.

I don't know what I'm looking for, but is it okay to suck at writing and know you suck, if you like what you write?

Personally....
I think you answered your own question....
You obviously enjoy writing, and perhaps even posting...
Most of us here are amateurs... Writing is a fun hobby, that gives us some release from the pressures of life.
So long as you enjoy it, then do it. You said yourself, you can't be bothered putting in the extra effort to become the best....
If you're happy, and get joy from the exercise then do it...
Other people apparently enjoy your creations, so you have a voice, and an audience...

Cagivagurl

 

[MelissaBaby]

Yes.

I'll qualify this with: You don't even ever have to get better. If it brings you joy, nothing else really matters. Do the thing that makes you happy. You aren't hurting anyone by doing it so fuck anyone who says otherwise.

This, all of this.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

There are always options....

 

[Rob_Royale]

This is a hobby, man. That means you do it as long as it makes you happy. Creativity is good for the soul.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Ah dunno, by the readers you're probably doing better than both of my accounts. So what's that say about you versus me? I didn't start getting Red H's until a few years ago, and I been here since 2011. Now that I "started over" I haven't gotten a single one.

 

[Omenainen]

I haven't posted anything in several months, but I've been slowly working on a couple stories.

I've known since I started that I'm not a good writer, but I liked what I was posting up. I don't really have the drive to be the best writer ever, but I was hoping that there would be some improvement.

Today I put a draft of a story in DeepSeek and told it to give me a harsh critique. It said it was bad and that I should delete the draft and start over (among other things).

Fine, I told it to be harsh and it was, but it also told me things that I know about my writing.

I don't know what I'm looking for, but is it okay to suck at writing and know you suck, if you like what you write?

Yes it’s okay. Creative hobbies aren’t a competitive sport. Hell, even sports, as a hobby, don’t need to be competitive. It’s perfectly fine to do something just for the creative outlet, or to pass time, or whatever reason. More than fine actually, I think it’s what humans are meant to do, to express our unique personalities in the way that’s most suited for us.

Carry on. Stop asking machines what they think about your writing and ask yourself what you think about your writing. It’s the only opinion that matters.

 

[StillStunned]

People want different things out of any activity. Some want to master it, to be challenged to improve. Some just enjoy the activity, and have no motivation beyond fun. Others have a mix of both to varying degrees. It’s all good .

I'm awful at boardgames. I don't plan, I don't strategise, I barely even think. From one turn to the next, I do what seems most fun there and then. When I get together with my friends to play, I invariably lose.

But I play how I want to, and I have fun with the game and with my friends. I have no plans to change that. I'm already playing according to how I measure "good".

 

[Wonderer67]

Post what you wanna post!

It’s your story. Fuck what people think.

having said that, do you want to improve as a writer?

I also live in them by the mantra, “I gotta be better tomorrow than I am today”

 

[Jmanchu]

I think a lot of writers on literotica, *me included*, are "bad writers" just writing what we like. Maybe except for some of us that actually have experience as professional editors or writers that just want a nice outlet for some dirty stories. We're just looking for fun smut. Some want thought out stories, some just want to get straight into the dirty action. As long as it's readable and the grammar isn't shit.

 

[TheRedLantern]

I don't know what I'm looking for, but is it okay to suck at writing and know you suck, if you like what you write?

Every good writer was a writer who sucked but liked what they wrote.

 

[Jmanchu]

I haven't posted anything in several months, but I've been slowly working on a couple stories.

I've known since I started that I'm not a good writer, but I liked what I was posting up. I don't really have the drive to be the best writer ever, but I was hoping that there would be some improvement.

Today I put a draft of a story in DeepSeek and told it to give me a harsh critique. It said it was bad and that I should delete the draft and start over (among other things).

Fine, I told it to be harsh and it was, but it also told me things that I know about my writing.

I don't know what I'm looking for, but is it okay to suck at writing and know you suck, if you like what you write?

ALSO, on AI behavior. If you tell it to give "harsh critique", then that will be its logic and tone.

I checked DeepSeek R1 Chimera and tested the same prompt.

Took this out of the "thinking process" of the LLM before it made its response: 'Wait, should I balance it by noting its strengths? The user said "harsh," so maybe not.'

It described Lord of the Rings: "...a glorified hiking simulator with elves", "...flat, boring characters...", "...dragging pace...", "...morally simplistic", "...outdated...", "archaic... overly ornate, at times, purple prose"... and said that "its glaring issues undermine its status as a literary masterpiece."

Dickens, a Tale of Two Cities? "Cardboard characters in corsets", "Melodrama masquerading as depth", "Prose that loves the sound of its own voice", and compared reading through the book and its 'pacing issues' to "A snail's pace to the guillotine", with tedious characters and forgettable subplots.

And boy it went on like that in depth for both. Now could there be legitimate things in there? Yeah, some people find Tolkien's LOTR to drag sometimes, and some people might find his prose a little hard to approach and old. And people can find Dickens boring to read through, despite it being used as a standard of English literature for high schools and colleges.

Anyways, my point is don't sweat it. If you tell AI to give a harsh critique, it will go full roast mode, it means nothing.

 

[HordHolm]

It described Lord of the Rings: "...a glorified hiking simulator with elves", "...flat, boring characters...", "...dragging pace...", "...morally simplistic", "...outdated...", "archaic... overly ornate, at times, purple prose"... and said that "its glaring issues undermine its status as a literary masterpiece."

Dickens, a Tale of Two Cities? "Cardboard characters in corsets", "Melodrama masquerading as depth", "Prose that loves the sound of its own voice", and compared reading through the book and its 'pacing issues' to "A snail's pace to the guillotine", with tedious characters and forgettable subplots.

Hmm, maybe AI isn't so bad after all...

 

[alohadave]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts. I'm trying to enjoy the process and just take my time.

Anyways, my point is don't sweat it. If you tell AI to give a harsh critique, it will go full roast mode, it means nothing.

It certainly did that, and I'll avoid torturing myself with it in the future.

 

[AG31]

I'm awful at boardgames. I don't plan, I don't strategise, I barely even think. From one turn to the next, I do what seems most fun there and then. When I get together with my friends to play, I invariably lose.

I used to drive my hubby and in-laws crazy when I played cards at random in hearts. They tried and tried and couldn't figure out my strategy. I don't remember if I ever won. Didn't care.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Wait, isn't bad writing an art form?

 

[StillStunned]

Wait, isn't bad writing an art form?

It was a dark and stormy night; Cassandra breasted boobily to the stairs, except at intervals, when the rain fell in torrents, cascading over her naked chest.

 

[Statius]

It was a dark and stormy night; Cassandra breasted boobily to the stairs, except at intervals, when the rain fell in torrents, cascading over her naked chest.

How hard did you have to work on that? I mean I'm not a great writer, but for a good writer that had to be difficult. Actually could be funny as an intentionally bad story, wonder what the ratings would be on that. Could be an interesting experiment

 

[Statius]

It was a dark and stormy night; Cassandra breasted boobily to the stairs, except at intervals, when the rain fell in torrents, cascading over her naked chest.

Ironically you would have to be a good writer to pull it off

 

[StillStunned]

How hard did you have to work on that? I mean I'm not a great writer, but for a good writer that had to be difficult. Actually could be funny as an intentionally bad story, wonder what the ratings would be on that. Could be an interesting experiment

Most of the work was looking up the precise quotes. I'd planned to throw a few more adverbs in there, but this seemed like a good enough start.

 

[HordHolm]

Most of the work was looking up the precise quotes. I'd planned to throw a few more adverbs in there, but this seemed like a good enough start.

It reminded me of Les Dawson's bad piano playing.

 

[nice90sguy]

It's not okay to be a bad writer. You should feel disgusted with yourself and punish yourself severely while you read the awful, terrible stuff and get aroused by such poor quality prose.

That's what I do anyway

 

[StillStunned]

It's not okay to be a bad writer. You should feel disgusted with yourself and punish yourself severely while you read the awful, terrible stuff and get aroused by such poor quality prose.

That's what I do anyway

I sometimes feel so disgusted with myself that I have to clean my insides with alcohol.

 

[TheLobster]

It's not okay to be a bad writer. You should feel disgusted with yourself and punish yourself severely while you read the awful, terrible stuff and get aroused by such poor quality prose.

That's what I do anyway

Ah yes, the surprisingly common fetish known as litdom.