but it has sex in it!

[PennLady]

Okay, I'm curious. My story Morning Sun posted today. It's an erotic couplings, although it could have gone into romance, and perhaps it should have. The rating on it has been dropping as I've checked through the day, although it's still above 4.5. So I'm not complaining or anything. But I do find it curious that when I've done a story like this (Island Encounter is another) -- more sex than anything else -- it tends to get lower ratings. I suppose there could be trolls, which is fine.

Should I have put it in another category (romance)? (I'm thinking perhaps so, in terms of the rating; I mean, perhaps it wasn't "erotic" enough for EC in the minds of those who voted.)

Mostly I'm just amused that on a site like this, when a story actually is pretty much just a sex scene, it scores lower (for me) than others.

Anyway, just curious for thoughts, and to know if it happens to anyone else.

 

[Fyrewing]

I can see it as "Romance" over "E/C" but that wouldn't affect my scoring it. Sorry I can't provide any qualitative insights on scoring, since my first story is "pending." That's an interesting question, though.

(and it was a very nice story - comments posted on the story's page)

 

[PennLady]

I can see it as "Romance" over "E/C" but that wouldn't affect my scoring it. Sorry I can't provide any qualitative insights on scoring, since my first story is "pending." That's an interesting question, though.

(and it was a very nice story - comments posted on the story's page)

Thanks very much, and for commenting. I appreciate you taking the time.

I always advise people not to live and die by ratings, views, comments, etc. Still this is a trend I've noticed and it intrigues me.

 

[Grimfalcon]

I found it a 'sweet' EC, and believable from the aspect of a couple that's been apart for an extended period of time, the desperation and haste between two people in love, I mean. Been there a few times myself.
I suppose it is more romance oriented, than just a freaky, wham-bam sex scene that some people have come to expect from what I've noticed. Maybe that's the reason for the lower score? To much intimacy, not enough pile-driver fuzz bumping, blah, blah... There's plenty of that out there if that's all they're looking for.

It was good, I enjoyed it, well presented, but too short.

 

[PennLady]

I found it a 'sweet' EC, and believable from the aspect of a couple that's been apart for an extended period of time, the desperation and haste between two people in love, I mean. Been there a few times myself.
I suppose it is more romance oriented, than just a freaky, wham-bam sex scene that some people have come to expect from what I've noticed. Maybe that's the reason for the lower score? To much intimacy, not enough pile-driver fuzz bumping, blah, blah... There's plenty of that out there if that's all they're looking for.

It was good, I enjoyed it, well presented, but too short.

"Pile driver fuzz bumping"? Hahahahhaha. I like that.

And yes, I had the same feeling about it -- that it could go either way in terms of EC or romance. And I do think that when people go to something like that and don't get quite what they expected, they vote lower. Ah well. I appreciate you taking the time to read it.

My original intention/expectation was that it would be longer, with another scene in the morning, but then... it ended as it ended.

 

[lovecraft68]

"Pile driver fuzz bumping"? Hahahahhaha. I like that.

And yes, I had the same feeling about it -- that it could go either way in terms of EC or romance. And I do think that when people go to something like that and don't get quite what they expected, they vote lower. Ah well. I appreciate you taking the time to read it.

My original intention/expectation was that it would be longer, with another scene in the morning, but then... it ended as it ended.

I think the erotic encounters category is a bit more about the "stroke" than romance. It was a nice piece but nice being the operative word if I read it blind I would assume it was in the romance category.

In the end though the one pattern I have noticed on voting and scoring is there is no pattern.

I think I may have achieved something somewhat unique however, I have commnets in my incest series saying less sex, get to the story. I don't know whetehr to be flattered they like the story or wonder if the sex sucks.

 

[PennLady]

I think I may have achieved something somewhat unique however, I have commnets in my incest series saying less sex, get to the story. I don't know whetehr to be flattered they like the story or wonder if the sex sucks.

Thanks for your comment, and you're right on the romantic content. It's with stories like this that I think SOL has the right idea with tags instead of categories.

Well you're not entirely unique -- I had similar comments on a story or two that I had posted (and have since taken down). They said they skipped the sex to get on with the plot. I decided to take it as a compliment.

 

[lovecraft68]

Thanks for your comment, and you're right on the romantic content. It's with stories like this that I think SOL has the right idea with tags instead of categories.

Well you're not entirely unique -- I had similar comments on a story or two that I had posted (and have since taken down). They said they skipped the sex to get on with the plot. I decided to take it as a compliment.

No problem. Not usually my thing but very well done. I will have to check out some of your "Hockey" stories this weekend.

I was not implying I was that unique, I just think for the incest categorry that it is a bit different. In Romance people want a story in incest well not to knock my own audience but let's face it this is usually a stroke crowd and it oly takes words like "sis" and "mom" to get them hot.

Then again my series gets less views and votes than a lot of the big ones so maaybe I found the "highbrow" keeping it in the family crowd.

 

[ChrissieLecker]

Hiya PennLady,

I glanced at both of your stories, and it's hard to find any fault with them - beside perhaps, at least in lit standards, a lack of explicitness. You're hardly ever using the buzzwords - no cunts or pussies, no prominent mentions of body juices or appendages, besides perhaps the occasional rubbing of a clit - and it could well be that the one or other eager wank*cough* reader feels let down by that

Don't worry too much about ratings. It's the written feedback that really matters, anything above a 4.0 shows that you did well, and the ratings above that quite often depend on your visitors' current moods.

But back to buzzwords, I think that the biggest problem is very often the brevity of the synopsis here on lit. It's almost impossible to describe the story plot and its setting adequately in ten or so words, and thus it is prone to blow the readers' expectations out of proportion.

 

[estragon]

Should Have Been Romance

SA Penn Lady, As I commented, Morning Sun was beautiful and sweet. Yes, of course it was erotic, but the love and gentleness, despite Cody's eagerness to get it on, made it romantic. It brought back a happy memory of coming home to Herself years ago, and how sweet it was.

As for voting, I have long since given up on the process. I don't disable votes, but only consider them for statistical purposes. How is it I may get 2500 views for story, and only 18 votes? Did everybody drop out after the first sentence?

 

[Tyro999]

Except for that "pile driver fuzz bumping" [which may be why Grimfalcon is a writer and I'm not], he/she said what I would have. I'd have expected a vignette like that in Romance rather than EC; on the other hand, I often see stories in one or the other and vice-versa that cause a momentary "why isn't this in ...?" I liked it a lot and hit the 5 button (not unusual with your stories, PennLady.

 

[evanslily]

I only have the one story in 'Erotic Couplings' and it's not listed under 'evanslily'

But I think this is a category thing more than anything else. 'Romance' readers are kinder with their scores - I suspect it's as simple as that. Or, to put it another way, I suspect there's a strong subsection of the readership of Literotica who wouldn't venture into the 'Romance' category if you paid them - that's not what they're here for. Whereas 'Erotic Couplings' is fair game...

So I suspect your average score has just been a bit dented by the odd person who came looking for a wilder ride, LOL. For what it's worth, I loved it, of course.

 

[sr71plt]

How is it I may get 2500 views for story, and only 18 votes? Did everybody drop out after the first sentence?

No. Very few readers are here to vote; they're here to read. And there's no requirement that they either vote or comment. Voting and comments are the author's obsession, not the reader's.

 

[Grimfalcon]

Except for that "pile driver fuzz bumping" [which may be why Grimfalcon is a writer and I'm not], he/she said what I would have. I'd have expected a vignette like that in Romance rather than EC; on the other hand, I often see stories in one or the other and vice-versa that cause a momentary "why isn't this in ...?" I liked it a lot and hit the 5 button (not unusual with your stories, PennLady.

A term like that didn't come from my writting, and I've never used it actually; I learned that one, along with a few other humerous ones, from having a bunch of delinquent, old bikers as friends.

I wouldn't expect to see something like that in PennLady's writting anyway, from what I've gathered of it thus far. That kind of silly vulgarity just dosen't suit her classy style, in my opinion.

 

[sr71plt]

I doubt Penn Lady does any "writting."

 

[scouries]

its the category baby...

OWLWHISPER produced figures (from his famous 2009 story):

http://www.literotica.com/images/illustratedstories/2009/2009_02/owlwhisper_literoticanumbers_03.gif

2011 Comparison: last 30 days EC vs Romance:

EROTIC COUPLING: 240 stories rated from 4.81 to 1.67 with a median score of 4.15.

ROMANCE: 111 stories rated from 4.87 to 3.09 with a median score of 4.40.

This is the main reason EC stories hardly ever win monthly contests while Romance ones win every second month. If you're worried about story rating I'd suggest you submit in Romance in future.

[size=+2]james r scouries esq.[/size]
Multiple A.I.R. AWARD winner, MILLION SELLER,
Author of the MOST COMMENTED on
and the MOST VOTED on story on LITEROTICA

 

[PennLady]

Thanks everybody.

Chrissie -- you're right. I rarely use the explicit words like cock or pussy. I did in one story, In the Red Parlor. As I say in the author's note, I did that as an exercise to see if I could use those words. I find that in terms of romance, the usual words for genitalia strike as pretty crude and hence ruin the mood, so I don't usually use them. They don't seem to fit. Nor, as I'm sure you've noticed, do I use much profanity beyond hell, shit, damn.

Grimfalcon -- I may have to find a way to work "pile driver fuzz bumping" into a story. That's just too good. Maybe I can work in an old, delinquent biker to say it.

evanslily, estragon, Tyro and anyone I forgot -- Thanks so much for taking the time to read and chiming in. I totally agree it should have gone into romance, but that's fine. Everyone who's read and taken the time to comment has enjoyed it, so that's what counts.

sr71 -- As for "writting," well you don't see my firstt draftss.

 

[sethp]

Seems just trolls to me. If I'm reading and I don't like the story or it's not my cup of tea, I don't tank it, and I think most normal people/readers won't either. I expect many EC stories to contain heavy elements of Romance in them and possibly little sex, but maybe that's just me. I know within the first "Lit" page or first few paragraphs if I will like the story or not. And if I don't, I move on. I'm on lit for the sex usually but when I'm in the mood for something longer or whatever, I know if a story is well written even if I don't like it. You should never tank a story without reason. I don't read Shakespeare for fun, but I would NOT vote it a 1 out of 5 because it isn't titillating enough. lol

I'm just ranting. I think you should write a multi part story with each part in a different category just to see what happens.

 

[sr71plt]

I think you should write a multi part story with each part in a different category just to see what happens.

I did ("Tuscan Twilight") just to see if I could get some green Es. I did on most parts of it. Straight, bi, lesbian, gay male.

It was published as an e-book too (with added elements). But that hasn't sold too well. As described as a unified piece, it's probably more that it has something to turn everyone off than that it has something to turn everyone on.

 

[PennLady]

I'm just ranting. I think you should write a multi part story with each part in a different category just to see what happens.

Seth -- thanks. The multi-part story is an interesting idea, although I'm not sure I have the wherewithal for that right now. Too many other things going on. I'll admit to some envy of sr71's green Es, though. I have none. le sigh.

 

[PennLady]

Oh, and I had this feedback on Morning Sun today, anonymous of course.

Bland, over sentimental and whilst technically sound is below your usual standard.

I haven't marked it because while clearly better than most other stories on this site, your standards have led us to expect better

Guess that told me.

 

[PennLady]

Apologies for the wrong link in the first post -- I've corrected it. Also, in case anyone is interested, here is a YouTube link to the song itself.

 

[Shinzon]

If it was allowed, I think it would be an interesting experiment to past a story such as Morning Sun in both categories to evaluate the statistically responses and see if any correlations could be drawn. It would also be interesting to note how many votes/views/comments are issue per story in each of the categories. Is responsible to believe that some categories may generate more just because there are larger numbers of readers drawn to that particular category. I have also wondered just how much the random element plays a role in the equation and since it is often hard to decide where to post a story, chance or fate may have as much to do with it that anything else.

 

[sethp]

Oh, and I had this feedback on Morning Sun today, anonymous of course.



Guess that told me.

LOL well, when you are one of the best, you are held at a higher standard!

 

[ishtat]

Oh, and I had this feedback on Morning Sun today, anonymous of course.



Guess that told me.

Possibly it might. I looked through all the other comments and to my mind they were well meant flattery rather than criticism of any useful type.

Anon in this case was fairly gentle but at least was challenging, which might be more useful than undiluted praise,