Do you know your audience?

[Elianna]

Okay, so I just went back and looked at everyone who bothered to post feedback on my latest chapter and you know what.... they're all women!

GASP! (Yeah, I kinda knew that.)

So that got me thinking. Do you write specific stories that appeal to specific audiences just to get that "group?"

What kind of stories have you written that appeal to your "group?" Have you written something that crosses over?

Just curious.

 

[tickledkitty]

I write whatever I write, and whoever likes it, likes it. I seem to get more e-mail from men, but I would think women would like my stuff better. *shrugs*

 

[rgraham666]

Nope. I never consider my audience.

Sometimes I'm write something for a particular person. I will worry about their opinion.

I've done a fair number of crossovers, usually in my vampire stories. One was described as a reader as "a cross between Anne Rice and Dean Koontz." Another has elements of scifi, Wild West and vampire fiction.

But generally I just write the story I want and slot it, badly, in a genre after I'm done.

 

[Elianna]

Nope. I never consider my audience.

Sometimes I'm write something for a particular person. I will worry about their opinion.

I've done a fair number of crossovers, usually in my vampire stories. One was described as a reader as "a cross between Anne Rice and Dean Koontz." Another has elements of scifi, Wild West and vampire fiction.

But generally I just write the story I want and slot it, badly, in a genre after I'm done.

I kinda knew you wrote vampire stories, too. I'm in the middle of one as well, and I've been doing as you said: just spitting it out. Then I started thinking. Who ARE these people who like this stuff?

I've never even read a vampire romance before, but after doing investigation, I got curious. Even if I'm just writing for me, I find it interesting to see who's reading it, too. And for me... (sorry SR I had to use it) it's mostly women.

 

[Darkniciad]

I write whatever's striking me. I'm still a little stunned that better than half of my regular readers are female ( at least those that comment )

I have two distinct sets of readers, really, which was intentional. That was the whole purpose of creating the Les Lumens name. A few people cross over between both pen names, but most are generally with one or the other. I still have the mix of >50% female on both, though.

Probably my norm of writing female protags.

I will occasionally write something specifically for a group of my readers -- or even an individual -- that have been a bit deprived of their kink in recent postings, but it's always something that's in line with whatever I was already mulling over anyway.

 

[TE999]

I have a goal of writing at least one story for every cat on Lit, and I'm getting there. I am partial to Lesbian Sex, Erotic Horror and Sci-Fi/Fantasy tho.

My PC's and e-mails run 50/50 men and women (anon's. excepted) and 50/50 AH authors and readers. I am always pleased when another author sees fit to comment on my work. I must be doing something right.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Almost all my readers are female, and most of what I write is essays or humor. Women like to laugh and they like to read about relationships.

 

[Tricialen]

I write what I like....erotic horror....erotic couples...romance...I don't write for anyone but myself...but I like to share it

 

[Carnevil9]

I agree with most of the above: I write what I feel like writing. If anyone else reads it or likes it, that's just a bonus. Of course, if I wrote for a living, I'd have a totally different approach......Carney

 

[sr71plt]

I write whatever I write, and whoever likes it, likes it. I seem to get more e-mail from men, but I would think women would like my stuff better. *shrugs*

Me too.

I do wonder, though, how anyone can tell what sex any of the readers really are here.

 

[Darkniciad]

Me too.

I do wonder, though, how anyone can tell what sex any of the readers really are here.

Not without a doubt, but "Made me wet" or "Made this horny old man happy" is at least a fair reason for a guess *laugh*

"Of those who make claims of gender identity" is a better qualifier, I guess.

 

[DeeZire]

I've written a couple of things for AH'ers - a satire based on Scouries, a satire about trolls, an upcoming satire that ties into Limewire (which was instigated by a AH flame war about illegal downloading I accidentally got myself into.)

The rest of my stuff (most of it languishing, waiting for an editor) is written for the non-stroke fan. Oh, it's got sex in it, but it's perverted sex. I like odd characters, unpleasant situations - definitely not middle-of-the-road erotica. I write for myself, and hope that my stories will find kindred spirits. I suppose I'm also exorcising demons left over from my past, which might be why I don't write as much as I used to - the demons are gone, (until the sound of the rain brings them back.)

 

[Selena_Kitt]

My one attempt at fan fiction was the only time I really considered my audience (and I failed miserably.)

I won't do THAT again!

 

[sethp]

A lot of my stories are requests, so I write with that person in mind. I have a couple groups of stories that appeal to different groups. I have a dedicated hair fetish following, and I write some stories with them in mind. Most of my stories are inspired either by a circumstance or a person and I write it to that person or situation.

I started writing what I liked about lit when I first got here, intense short strokers and then started evolving from there. It's suprising then that I have a large number of women readers?

 

[SpicyPepper]

I write for horny people.
I love reading kinky sex stories and hope that I can write to sate the masses... well maybe not all the masses but I hope that people want to touch themselves after they've read my stuff.

Is that writing for a specific group?
I love putting my characters into really scary/ridiculous/funny situations and see how they get out of them.

 

[sr71plt]

A lot of my stories are requests, so I write with that person in mind.

I wrote one story by request, and I found the parameters the requester set quite confining and they never bothered to say anything at all to me after it posted here--so, screw that, I say. The story's done all right here; I just don't particularly like it myself.

I've had many say or message something that set my mind off on its own story extracted from that, though.

 

[sethp]

I wrote one story by request, and I found the parameters the requester set quite confining and they never bothered to say anything at all to me after it posted here--so, screw that, I say. The story's done all right here; I just don't particularly like it myself.

I've had many say or message something that set my mind off on its own story extracted from that, though.

I had one guy that wanted me to write a story about his wife and he had strict guidelines, but during the process of writing, I had to change it to fit my style and leave out a couple of parts that I found distasteful. He wasn't that thrilled with it. I've had good responses from everyone else though.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

I just write what feels true and if it feels that way to me, I hope it comes across that way to readers.

 

[meg1]

well, i write mostly for women, but oddly enough, i got a ton of feedback from men. i didn't expect that at all, because my story was all mushy, i thought they would run away from that. public comments women outnumbered the men. private feedback men outnumbered the women

 

[fifty5]

In general, my feedback has followed POV - the one with most female feedback was the one where the POV switched between one bloke and two girls.

Having said that, a secondary thread is feedback from other authors; that is heavily female dominated (thanks ladies - You Know Who You Are, and I hope you know how much I value it).

As others have said, I never wrote for a particular audience, just recounted my own fantasies...

It has happened, but unlike some comments about feedback I've read from others, Anonymous has mostly been kind to me. The exception was one thing I wrote that had no sex, just yearning. The mistake was mine in so far as I didn't explain that up front. I got some flack about that! I still don't know whether it was a crap story (2.55 - the only one scored below 4) or just disappointing to folk who expected explicit sex on a porn site and didn't get it.

 

[Elianna]

The exception was one thing I wrote that had no sex, just yearning. The mistake was mine in so far as I didn't explain that up front. I got some flack about that! I still don't know whether it was a crap story (2.55 - the only one scored below 4) or just disappointing to folk who expected explicit sex on a porn site and didn't get it.

Now the sex topic is one I find interesting. When I started writing here, my first 2 chapters didn't have any sex, but people liked them. At first I was a little worried about that, you know? I mean, this is a PORN site, right? (Ooh!Writing to please your constituents or staying true to your story. Mmm...) However, I don't think you have to have sex in every chapter or even every story to make people happy here. I just read a comment on the editor's forum that stated that it's tough to get the red H if there's no sex, but, well... no.

Several of you who have commented here on this thread have had stories that are quite successful without sex.

That makes me thoughtful, too. Do you write the sex just for the ratings, or because the sex is what makes the story be true to itself?

 

[SpicyPepper]

I think if I took the sex out of my stories, I wouldn't really have any story to work with.
Particularly because this is an EROTICA site, I make sure I have lots of sex in my stories because that's what I like to read.
If I want to read stories with little or no sex, I can just go to Amazon or Chapters...
I prefer it when stories have sex, or at least the promise of sex to come... the build up is half the fun!

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I always write with someone in mind. I think of her as my muse. She's an idealized woman I'm trying to explain things to and seduce, although often she's someone real as well.

I really can't imagine not writing for a "someone", either real or ideal. Writing is communication, so you must be talking to someone. As for writing for yourself, what the hell do you have to say to yourself? I mean, why bother? Write it and then tear it up? I don't buy it. Everyone writes for someone.

 

[sr71plt]

I always write with someone in mind. I think of her as my muse. She's an idealized woman I'm trying to explain things to and seduce, although often she's someone real as well.

I usually write with a story twist or device in mind--the characters usually are serving that.

 

[damppanties]

I read this as having an audience for all of my collective works, and no, I don't. Perhaps that's why I don't have a 'fan following' or repeat readers.
Or maybe I suck.

About individual stories, do I write to an audience? Not really, no. I know what my story is going to be, and the type of people who will probably enjoy the story come to mind only after I've written it. I don't start out by saying, now I am going to write for the 25 year old college-going virgin boy who is shy, lives alone and delivers pizza for extra cash. No.