The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 04: Come On In

[NotWise]

Thanks for the explanations, Taken and NW! Fascinating that category is so critical to stories being matched with the audiences who would like them. I'll need to understand them better. Do you find that tags play a significant role?

Tags are important to readers searching for specific kinds of stories and they may generate a little traffic for stories that aren't visible on a category hub, contest page, new list, top list, or any of the sidebars that suggest other stories. The tags themselves are only visible at the bottom of the story, so they don't seem to have much effect otherwise.

I've read that the site plans to go to a more tag-oriented design, but making that change may not be a very high priority.

 

[NotWise]

I had coffee and a bagel for breakfast, and now some guy working on the building's facade is singing loudly in Spanish. It's more distracting than annoying.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

Thanks for the explanations, Taken and NW! Fascinating that category is so critical to stories being matched with the audiences who would like them. I'll need to understand them better. Do you find that tags play a significant role?

NW's is probably from experience so I'd say it's more accurate. Anyway, I got linked this story recently. It gives a general overview of what the readers in each category expect, or at least what they give high scores. Maybe it's useful to you as well.

Taken, I'm still waiting to see your mastermind title!

Oh boy, I feel like I've hyped it up more than I should have, it's not that brilliant... But as I have submitted the story last night, I guess I can reveal it. It's called Undress to Impress. As I said, simple wordplay and I was really surprised no one has used it before, especially since I'm pretty sure there have been more Nude Day contests in the past. Oh well.

 

[srosa]

NW's is probably from experience so I'd say it's more accurate. Anyway, I got linked this story recently. It gives a general overview of what the readers in each category expect, or at least what they give high scores. Maybe it's useful to you as well.

Oh boy, I feel like I've hyped it up more than I should have, it's not that brilliant... But as I have submitted the story last night, I guess I can reveal it. It's called Undress to Impress. As I said, simple wordplay and I was really surprised no one has used it before, especially since I'm pretty sure there have been more Nude Day contests in the past. Oh well.

Thanks for that story.

A very clever title! I am Impressed.

 

[JPGmvny]

Literotica is owned and operated by Laurel and Manu, who are a couple. Laurel is the solely responsible for Literotica's content, so if you're an author here, then you need to mind your manners. Manu works the technical side, and he seems to have a staff.

It's pretty remarkable that one couple with minimal help can assemble and operate a site as large and complex as Lit, but they do it (and have done it for more than twenty years) with a huge personal commitment, for which we should always be grateful but sometimes fail at.

TxRad pointed out the stickies at the top of the author's forum. There are also a "resources" link on the story index page (where the categories are listed), and an About/Help link at the bottom of the home page.

Thanks NW. I suspected that was the case, but I appreciate being told so.

Laurel did right by me when I raised a 1-bombing issue for a story that dropped to the low-3s. It seems that people in some categories are quick to bomb if a story doesn't fit within their expectations. Even if you post a note at the top saying that it may not fit their expectations.

My Stories

 

[NotWise]

Laurel did right by me when I raised a 1-bombing issue for a story that dropped to the low-3s. It seems that people in some categories are quick to bomb if a story doesn't fit within their expectations. Even if you post a note at the top saying that it may not fit their expectations.

Aside from posting in LW, I think the most easily guaranteed way to get 1*-bombs is to post a story in the wrong category. Love Your Readers is a guide to Lit's different categories and how to choose among them. It's one of the most heavily offered bits of advice on how to get along in Literotica Land.

 

[JPGmvny]

Aside from posting in LW, I think the most easily guaranteed way to get 1*-bombs is to post a story in the wrong category. Love Your Readers is a guide to Lit's different categories and how to choose among them. It's one of the most heavily offered bits of advice on how to get along in Literotica Land.

I know. I had a 5-parter and went back-and-forth as to whether I'd put it in Lesbian or Romance. Some parts had straight sex, but it was suggested that I keep it all in one category. Because it had an large lesbian arc, that's where it is. I warned about it, but still got hit. That's where Laurel helped me out. Now the whole thread is at about the same rating.

 

[Handley_Page]

Ah, categories; yes. . .
I've several stories which require categorising.
Maybe over a mug of decent Tea. . . .

 

[TxRad]

Back from town. Bills paid, groceries bought, lunch had. Work done on the trucks A/C.

Most everything is put away so I think it is nap time.

Fresh coffee for the afternoon and evening crowd.

 

[Javahead]

My current story went into Novels and Novellas because of the classification problem. Part 1 could have fit several categories, and part 2, about halfway through, would add a couple more - including a huge technically but not in the spirit LW chunk.

I sometimes think there should be a Kinky Couples category for swingers and associated we’re all on board naughtiness, but way too late now ...

 

[NotWise]

My current story went into Novels and Novellas because of the classification problem. Part 1 could have fit several categories, and part 2, about halfway through, would add a couple more - including a huge technically but not in the spirit LW chunk.

I sometimes think there should be a Kinky Couples category for swingers and associated we’re all on board naughtiness, but way too late now ...

Novels and Novellas is good for stories that don't fit in other categories. The problem is that few people read Novels and Novellas.

Stories about kinky couples and swingers sound like they would go to Erotic Coupling and/or Group.

 

[Javahead]

Novels and Novellas is good for stories that don't fit in other categories. The problem is that few people read Novels and Novellas.

Stories about kinky couples and swingers sound like they would go to Erotic Coupling and/or Group.

Except all the other things going on. Part 1 is 28k words, Part 2 is at 12k so far but from the outline will be as big as part one or bigger. I have a side story outlined that will be smaller, maybe just 15k or less, but I’ve got to finish Part 2 first. As a whole, it has elements of exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetish, interracial love, erotic couples, group, loving wives ... so since the whole thing may top 80k if I just write what’s already outlined, and the first installment is already novella sized I just chucked it there.

I was trying for over the top smut - but ChloeTzang outdid me by far on that with her latest. Doing 1st person for someone very different than yourself is hard, and I need more practice. We’ll see if I can do a better job with the side story - the POV character is female, less than half my age, and a lot less inclined to over analyze everything.

 

[NotWise]

Except all the other things going on. Part 1 is 28k words, Part 2 is at 12k so far but from the outline will be as big as part one or bigger. I have a side story outlined that will be smaller, maybe just 15k or less, but I’ve got to finish Part 2 first. As a whole, it has elements of exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetish, interracial love, erotic couples, group, loving wives ... so since the whole thing may top 80k if I just write what’s already outlined, and the first installment is already novella sized I just chucked it there.

Most categories are fairly accepting of other topics in the story as long as they don't become a main theme. Interracial, for instance, could go anywhere. There are trump categories (unrelated to the current US president), and that's really the only content you have to be careful about posting to the wrong place. GM content needs to go to GM, incest needs to be in I/T, etc.

The size is mostly irrelevant. I think you can post novels in any category, and Novels and Novellas contains short stories.

I was trying for over the top smut - but ChloeTzang outdid me by far on that with her latest. Doing 1st person for someone very different than yourself is hard, and I need more practice. We’ll see if I can do a better job with the side story - the POV character is female, less than half my age, and a lot less inclined to over analyze everything.

Chloe is the queen of smut.

Some people are really good at putting themselves in the dissimilar 1st person POV (real example: young dingbat Debbie is written by a 50+ male truck driver). I haven't tried it.

 

[Javahead]

Most categories are fairly accepting of other topics in the story as long as they don't become a main theme. Interracial, for instance, could go anywhere. There are trump categories (unrelated to the current US president), and that's really the only content you have to be careful about posting to the wrong place. GM content needs to go to GM, incest needs to be in I/T, etc.

The size is mostly irrelevant. I think you can post novels in any category, and Novels and Novellas contains short stories.



Chloe is the queen of smut.

Some people are really good at putting themselves in the dissimilar 1st person POV (real example: young dingbat Debbie is written by a 50+ male truck driver). I haven't tried it.

The problem was I wanted to post in logical pieces that were complete in themselves (not see-chapter-next-week), and at the same time try to keep it all in one category.

I was likely over-ambitious. Part one could be E & V or EC, with a strong IR component. Part two could be LW, even if the characters mindset and motivation are pretty far from the typical LW story - and still has all the earlier possibilities.

If LW wasn't such a cesspit of trolls, I would have chosen that as the master category, and I probably should have, ratings be damned.

At least the side story should fit neatly into EC or Group - and I'll need to stretch to do a good job of handling a college aged female viewpoint character.

I also rather painted myself into a corner by using an established character from several other stories as a secondary character - her presence sets bounds on how crazy the other characters can get without breaking her existing characterization. Since she came from several stories I wrote long ago for M'lady - and in many ways is based on her real-life personality and appearance - I really don't want to retcon the characterization too much. As it is, I needed to eliminate/rewrite about 6000 lines of Part 1 that went off the rails.

I've also need to get my male viewpoint characters further from my own mindset, while still being able to get inside their head enough to write them believably.

I know it can be done. A lot of the authors here do a great job of it, and some like Chloe manage to make it look effortless (I'm currently reading her White Wedding, for instance: Trixie is deliberately over-the-top - but she's still believable, just highly exaggerated.)

I just need to up my game.

 

[NotWise]

I just need to up my game.

There's a lot of noise in the AH, but at the bottom line, "upping your game" is a lot of what the forum is about.

I've never moved my male main characters very far from myself. I have no violent misogynists as main characters, for instance -- nor do I really want to. As secondary characters, yes, but as a main character they don't suit my needs.

 

[Javahead]

There's a lot of noise in the AH, but at the bottom line, "upping your game" is a lot of what the forum is about.

I've never moved my male main characters very far from myself. I have no violent misogynists as main characters, for instance -- nor do I really want to. As secondary characters, yes, but as a main character they don't suit my needs.

If I can get a main character who shares my basic worldview but doesn't redundantly over-analyze everything it will be a good start. In person, I can only manage "spontaneous" if I deliberately left a chunk of time free - it's really hard for me to change plans on the fly unless forced by circumstance, and I tend to do risk analysis of new activities.

None of these traits work particularly well in erotic stories, unless well watered down. Being sensible about decisions - or, occasionally, knowingly rejecting common sense - works. Being stodgy, not so much.

 

[NotWise]

If I can get a main character who shares my basic worldview but doesn't redundantly over-analyze everything it will be a good start. In person, I can only manage "spontaneous" if I deliberately left a chunk of time free - it's really hard for me to change plans on the fly unless forced by circumstance, and I tend to do risk analysis of new activities.

I suspect you're being a little hyperbolic.

Calendar entry: "July 11, 2019 21:40 - 21:45 -- do some joyous stuff."

I've worked mostly in public planning and on expert testimony for 35 years. I can sympathize a little. Most of my main male characters are professionals who plan their lives around work. One of them pretty much had his life destroyed by the demands of his job.

I don't really feel a need to change that. It's reality for a lot of people, and it's the traditional male role. Readers understand that.

On the other hand, if you gotta plan niches in your schedule then make them big enough to contain a life.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

If LW wasn't such a cesspit of trolls, I would have chosen that as the master category, and I probably should have, ratings be damned.

Oddly enough, on thinking about it, I'm not sure the LW thugs are actually trolls, at least not by the current book definition.

In context, your typical troll is a lowbrow who flames and downvotes simply for the sadistic pleasure it gives them, for the distress it gives the author and for the disruption it brings to the community.

I suspect that much of the harassment in LW is in large part due to genuine displeasure at the portrayals of a cheating spouse. I know, I know, it's illiterate, it's over-the-top and it's Buchenwald nasty, but am I wrong in assigning the LW neckneards a different motivation?

 

[NotWise]

I suspect that much of the harassment in LW is in large part due to genuine displeasure at the portrayals of a cheating spouse. I know, I know, it's illiterate, it's over-the-top and it's Buchenwald nasty, but am I wrong in assigning the LW neckneards a different motivation?

If the LW readers are trolls, then Lit has assembled a large part of the internet's troll population in one place. I don't think they're trolls. I think they're a very polarized reader population.

 

[Javahead]

I suspect you're being a little hyperbolic.

Calendar entry: "July 11, 2019 21:40 - 21:45 -- do some joyous stuff."

I've worked mostly in public planning and on expert testimony for 35 years. I can sympathize a little. Most of my main male characters are professionals who plan their lives around work. One of them pretty much had his life destroyed by the demands of his job.

I don't really feel a need to change that. It's reality for a lot of people, and it's the traditional male role. Readers understand that.

On the other hand, if you gotta plan niches in your schedule then make them big enough to contain a life.

A little. Mostly, I just try to avoid making detailed plans when I don't need to.

"Walk around city X - these are the things that we could do" works fine. But if I schedule "At 1:30 PM, go to the Y Museum", it takes a conscious effort to remind myself that if I see something more interesting along the way I can actually change my mind on the fly.

And yes, I'm an engineer. Making detailed plans is a bit of an obsession.

I like big blocks of unallocated time, when I can get them.

 

[Javahead]

If the LW readers are trolls, then Lit has assembled a large part of the internet's troll population in one place. I don't think they're trolls. I think they're a very polarized reader population.

I think part of the problem is that the LW category shoehorns in several very different, and mutually conflicting, sets of motivations.

Uncaring cheater != revenge cheater != make a mistake, genuinely sorry != member of swinging couple with hubby's OK

And wimp victim != swinging hubby who gave permision != blind/stupid hubby

In the story I'm working on now, the wife goes through a *lot* of men - with her husbands OK (and some voyeurism) while he goes through a lot of other women.

With permission on both sides, and both being turned on by it. But they genuinely care for each other, while the others are just for fun.

Granted, I'm not trying to be too realistic - the story's deliberately over the top. But although it's "Loving Wives", their motivations are a lot different than the classic "slut wife cheated" trope.

 

[NotWise]

I think part of the problem is that the LW category shoehorns in several very different, and mutually conflicting, sets of motivations.

Totally. Readers there have suggested (begged?) that it be split.

What you described doesn't sound to me like an LW story.

And I have to wonder how many forum readers understand "!=" to mean "not the same as." It's a C'ism, not actually English.

 

[Javahead]

Totally. Readers there have suggested (begged?) that it be split.

What you described doesn't sound to me like an LW story.

And I have to wonder how many forum readers understand "!=" to mean "not the same as." It's a C'ism, not actually English.

Is it? Yes, I know - but I've been using C so long (since before many board members were alive, by now) that I sometimes forget. I'm an old techie, even if I eschew the neckbeard, long hair, swag belly, and poor hygiene of the stereotype.

As I said - the story isn't LW, but of the available categories is appears to match it best as I understand the available categories. Which may just be my misunderstanding of how to classify story elements.

 

[NotWise]

Is it? Yes, I know - but I've been using C so long (since before many board members were alive, by now) that I sometimes forget.

We should all speak C, but only in the privacy of our own offices.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

At least the side story should fit neatly into EC or Group - and I'll need to stretch to do a good job of handling a college aged female viewpoint character.

Interestingly enough, over the years I've started to prefer writing from the female perspective. Not sure why that is, actually. I started writing stories featuring male protagonists, as I think most beginning writers pick a character that shares their gender and often age and such. Eventually I decided to branch out an give a female protagonist a shot, and while it took some adjusting I found that it wasn't as hard as I expected. Now that I'm writing erotica though, I'm running into a few different problems. I like to think I am decent at anticipating the way a woman thinks, but writing the way their body reacts to sex or excitement from their own perspective is still quite a challenge. Believe me, I've asked my female best friend quite a few awkward questions over the last few weeks, haha.