Advice for New(-ish) Authors

[iwatchus]

I would like to use this thread to collect wisdom for aspiring writers, welcoming them to our illustrious world.

My How To for new others just posted (How To Be an Author on Literotica), so I'll start self-servingly with that. It was an attempt to gather much of the collected wisdom I have seen offered here.

But I've also had multiple conversations here with new-ish authors over the last few weeks.

I'm hardly a seasoned veteran, closing in on my 9month anniversary of my first story, 7 months on AH. Many of you have far more experience than I do,

What advice would you give people just starting out? And be nice, starting out is scary enough as is.

 

[lc69hunter]

Try and avoid the porn trope version of whatever genre you are writing

 

[cw5523729]

Don't get hung up on scores or haters. Write what makes you happy without worrying about pleasing everyone.







Then let me know how you did that.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

The best way to get started is to write a story that you'd take time to read if you came across it at a site like Literotica. Write what you know and then, once you're comfortable with writing, stretch your brain by writing something that you may not be an expert at. Whatever you do, don't make a job out of it. That takes all the fun out of doing it.

 

[stickygirl]

Don't write to please the crowd - write for yourself. Be brave, think emotionally not visually. Have fun.

 

[StillStunned]

It gets easier. Then it gets harder.

 

[Bamagan]

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

 

[cw5523729]

It gets easier. Then it gets harder.

That sounds backwards. Was Viagra involved?

 

[SimonDoom]

Try and avoid the porn trope version of whatever genre you are writing

I have to disagree with this. I dove head-first into the tropes of the story categories I was writing in early on (primarily incest and exhibitionist and voyeur), and I was very successful doing it, and I've never looked back. The views and votes and favorites I accumulated in my first year set me up for the rest of my time here at Literotica. Views begat views, and more views begat favorites and followers, which begat more views. One of the reasons I don't complain about scores the way many newer authors do is that I've accumulated enough favorites and followers that I get views even when I don't get high scores. This is a result of a deliberate strategy I followed in my first year as an author. I didn't complain about the system; I learned how it worked, and I used it. And as a result I write now with perfect freedom to write strange stories that tickle my personal fancy and that I know won't score well, and the reader response, even when negative, doesn't bother me.

I'm going to post my own comment on this thread giving my advice, but this is my main theme: Figure out what your goal is, and make your choices accordingly.

 

[m_and_em_stories]

I have no real personal advice, but my collection of others advice and how I'm trying to start writing:

Don't worry about meeting other peoples definitions of good at the start, just start! If you don't have an idea or starting point, pick a common theme, even a trope and write it out in your words. Do it again but add a twist you thought of, a way you think it could be improved, fix the things you didn't like in your first attempt. Then pick a different theme and write it out, combine different themes you like. Try writing a new story with a different focus and a different voice than previous writings. Expect all of them to suck, try to enjoy how hilariously bad some of it will be, and enjoy the odd gems you find sprinkled throughout.

My view for life is you don't become good at something until you've tried and failed in enough ways to truly understand what you're doing. Success alone isn't a great teacher. So to get better at something you have to embrace failing at it many times, so the above advice is what I personally found appealing.

Learning to enjoy failure I'd love suggestions on though, I still suck taking criticism even when I agree with it

 

[Off_base]

Have realistic expectations.
Be aware that there's a huge difference between how regular readers will receive and react to you and your stories, and how other authors will.
Writers are programmed and competitive in ways that readers aren't.
It's hard to be seen as the hottest girl, by a room full of other hot girls, so don't get discouraged by not being adored by other writers.
Your readers will give you all the recognition your story deserves.

 

[Erozetta]

Don't start with a big complex story. Start simple, grow from there.

 

[SimonDoom]

My advice for a new author:

1. Take all advice with a big heap of salt. Figure out what YOU want to do, and do it. I read stories here for over 10 years before writing my first one. I knew what I wanted to do, I did it, and I enjoyed success doing it, in part because I had goals and I pursued them.

2. Ignore everybody's advice about what you "should" or "should not" write. Write what you want. Write what you enjoy.

3. Do your homework. Before you complain about the site, or start asking newbie questions, figure out how the site works. Take the time to navigate it, figure out its parts, learn its content guidelines, read about its categories and what they entail, learn how tags, taglines, categories, search tools, etc. work; know the rules.

4. Write for yourself as a reader. What do YOU like? Literotica has so many readers that I can guarantee there are other readers who like what you like. Write for them, and for you. Don't write for the critics; they're not going to like your stuff anyway, and you're wasting your time trying to please them.

5. Write as well as you can. Learn the basics of grammar, punctuation, and spelling if you are a bit weak on these things. Again, do your homework. There's no excuse for submitting a story that shows you know nothing at all about how to handle dialogue. You can learn everything you need to know about dialogue in a 3000-word article, several of which exist at this site. The prose-style bar at Literotica is not high; put in the minimal effort needed to clear it.

6. Market your story well, using Literotica's tools. This means being smart about your choice of title, tags, tagline, and category choice. Again, do your homework about how these work.

7. Join the Author's Hangout and be a positive contributor. Get your name out there in a positive way. Engage.

8. Don't get discouraged by setbacks or negative feedback. We ALL get negative feedback as writers. It would be boring if we didn't. Look at negative feedback as a challenge and learning opportunity. Keep moving forward.

9. Have fun. That's what it's all about.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Glad to see this published and thanks for the acknowledgment

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It gets easier. Then it gets harder.

My experience too.

 

[FrancesScott]

Thank you @iwatchus for linking to my two How To… essays.

 

[Statius]

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

Is that what Dante meant? Instead of commenting on the hellscape he created, was he commenting on writing poetry, especially the inventive way he did it?

 

[Statius]

I get the advice about avoiding tropes, but I tend to like them. I use them in an absurd way, and my most popular stories are the ones that take them to an extreme, with humor and grounded characters.

Use your own voice and try not to get distracted by those who write better than you; easier said than done as this is a huge problem for me.

If you're good at writing 'simple' stories, ie: not overly complicated plot lines, then do that with energy. Don't let the envy set in because others here are wildly successful at complicated, deep stories. There's room for all.

 

[cw5523729]

Tropes work for virtually every tv series ever created and will continue to be recycled for every future tv series so those guys must be doing something right.

 

[ChloeTzang]

My advice for a new author:

1. Take all advice with a big heap of salt. Figure out what YOU want to do, and do it. I read stories here for over 10 years before writing my first one. I knew what I wanted to do, I did it, and I enjoyed success doing it, in part because I had goals and I pursued them.

2. Ignore everybody's advice about what you "should" or "should not" write. Write what you want. Write what you enjoy.

3. Do your homework. Before you complain about the site, or start asking newbie questions, figure out how the site works. Take the time to navigate it, figure out its parts, learn its content guidelines, read about its categories and what they entail, learn how tags, taglines, categories, search tools, etc. work; know the rules.

4. Write for yourself as a reader. What do YOU like? Literotica has so many readers that I can guarantee there are other readers who like what you like. Write for them, and for you. Don't write for the critics; they're not going to like your stuff anyway, and you're wasting your time trying to please them.

5. Write as well as you can. Learn the basics of grammar, punctuation, and spelling if you are a bit weak on these things. Again, do your homework. There's no excuse for submitting a story that shows you know nothing at all about how to handle dialogue. You can learn everything you need to know about dialogue in a 3000-word article, several of which exist at this site. The prose-style bar at Literotica is not high; put in the minimal effort needed to clear it.

6. Market your story well, using Literotica's tools. This means being smart about your choice of title, tags, tagline, and category choice. Again, do your homework about how these work.

7. Join the Author's Hangout and be a positive contributor. Get your name out there in a positive way. Engage.

8. Don't get discouraged by setbacks or negative feedback. We ALL get negative feedback as writers. It would be boring if we didn't. Look at negative feedback as a challenge and learning opportunity. Keep moving forward.

9. Have fun. That's what it's all about.

All of the above +

10. Figure out your own goals. What do YOU want to get out of writing here

11. If you're serious about writing well, study and learn the art WHILE you write. Don't study and study and study. Start writing and work to improve as you go. Try and improve something with every story you write.

 

[MrHereWriting]

If you want an honest evaluation of your work, find someone that has no attachment to you.

 

[SimonDoom]

I have to add this:

10. Read. Be a reader. If you want to be a writer, be a reader. If you want to write erotic stories, then read erotic stories, read them closely, figure out what you like, and figure out WHY you like what you like. And then learn from that. I guarantee you this is a far more useful way to become a writer than to take advice from other writers in the abstract. You learn by doing, and by paying attention to what you are doing. It's like learning to play baseball. You don't interview baseball players; you watch others playing baseball, and then you play baseball, and you learn by practice.

 

[lc69hunter]

I have to disagree with this. I dove head-first into the tropes of the story categories I was writing in early on (primarily incest and exhibitionist and voyeur), and I was very successful doing it, and I've never looked back. The views and votes and favorites I accumulated in my first year set me up for the rest of my time here at Literotica. Views begat views, and more views begat favorites and followers, which begat more views. One of the reasons I don't complain about scores the way many newer authors do is that I've accumulated enough favorites and followers that I get views even when I don't get high scores. This is a result of a deliberate strategy I followed in my first year as an author. I didn't complain about the system; I learned how it worked, and I used it. And as a result I write now with perfect freedom to write strange stories that tickle my personal fancy and that I know won't score well, and the reader response, even when negative, doesn't bother me.

I'm going to post my own comment on this thread giving my advice, but this is my main theme: Figure out what your goal is, and make your choices accordingly.

good points. I was thinking of me the reader and not the author when I posted that

 

[EmilyMiller]

I would like to use this thread to collect wisdom for aspiring writers, welcoming them to our illustrious world.

My How To for new others just posted (How To Be an Author on Literotica), so I'll start self-servingly with that. It was an attempt to gather much of the collected wisdom I have seen offered here.

But I've also had multiple conversations here with new-ish authors over the last few weeks.

I'm hardly a seasoned veteran, closing in on my 9month anniversary of my first story, 7 months on AH. Many of you have far more experience than I do,

What advice would you give people just starting out? And be nice, starting out is scary enough as is.

Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

- Eric Arthur Blair

 

[Nynah]

I get the advice about avoiding tropes, but I tend to like them. I use them in an absurd way, and my most popular stories are the ones that take them to an extreme, with humor and grounded characters.

Tropes are popular for a reason. Avoiding them in traditionally published literature is the prevailing advice but here on Literotica, I would be willing to bet that they're what a decent chunk of the readership is after. Obviously write what you want to write here, but if you just want to write something tropey and fun, go for it. There's a decent chance people will read and like it, especially if you do it well. Tropey stories that are well-written are rarer than you think, so there's plenty of opportunity if you want to dive into that pool.

@iwatchus This is a great resource! I read through it this morning and you've hit on most of the major pain points in AH, so good job!

The only caveat I would have added would be an addendum to AI. When you said:

Can I use AI? No. Not in any way.

I would add specifically for writing and for image creation. Literotica's own AI guidelines and the Illustrated Stories guidelines make no mention of gen AI images but all of what is said there can and should apply to using AI to create "art" as well. AI-generated images are "created" in the same way AI-generated stories are; they steal from actual human creators and should have no place on a website that explicitly calls out its dedication to human creativity.