Your biggest writing weakness?

[lovecraft68]

Procrastination at getting started each day.

This forum doesn't help with that.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I waste too much time trying to get things perfect the first time. Where I could just say that a couple stopped at a restaurant for lunch, I go over and over it, rather than sketch in the details in a rewrite. Should I say restaurant, or should I say diner? Cafe? Maybe it's a coffee shop. I can't say they stopped at a coffee shop, it's too close to a rhyme. Maybe they dropped into a coffee shop. Ducked in? Ducked in makes it sound like it's raining out. Maybe it is raining. Did it start raining just as they got there, so that they had to run for the door...BITCH! JUST SAY THEY ATE LUNCH AND MOVE ON!

 

[MelissaBaby]

This forum doesn't help with that.

And some people think Lit should give us blogs??

 

[lovecraft68]

And some people think Lit should give us blogs??

Two months after the blogs,
Laurel "Wow, Manu, we're hardly getting any stories submitted these days, what's going on?"
Manu "Huh?"
Laurel "Pay attention, I said we're not getting anywhere near the stories we used to."
Manu "Oh, sorry, I was just reading through all these blog updates, these people are posting like mad!"

 

[MelissaBaby]

Two months after the blogs,
Laurel "Wow, Manu, we're hardly getting any stories submitted these days, what's going on?"
Manu "Huh?"
Laurel "Pay attention, I said we're not getting anywhere near the stories we used to."
Manu "Oh, sorry, I was just reading through all these blog updates, these people are posting like mad!"

Laurel: "Anything interesting?"

Manu: "No, mostly just complaints about one bombs and arguing about the under eighteen rule."

 

[Djmac1031]

Echoing the "sex scenes are hard to write" sentiments. I find myself repeating words and descriptors. There are only so many ways to say cock, dick, pussy, ass, etc... before you get into the ridiculous. Quivering love pudding and purple headed gladiator just doesnt do it for me.

Agreed. I've been working VERY hard lately to eliminate unnecessary and over used words during my sex scenes, especially the standard "cock" and "pussy."

But I also hate overly colorful descriptors, many of them are either downright crude or just plain silly.

It's a really fine balancing act sometimes.

 

[Djmac1031]

I think my main two struggles are second guessing myself, and the tendency to write too linear.

"He did this. Then she did that. After, they did another thing." I spend a lot of time editing and rewriting so things don't sound like a check list.

Second guessing is harder. Should this happen here? Or later? Are things happening too quickly? Or is it dragging?

Would this character even behave this way? Why are they behaving this way? Is there a good reason for it, or am I just trying to force the sex?

It's a two edged sword. Second guessing your story CAN lead to better writing, but it can also lead to writers block when you simply can't pull the trigger and make the choice one way or another.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Writing side projects, then taking years to get back to the first work in progress. And side projects to side projects. Everything I've published in the last three years has been a side project to something else.

 

[yukonnights]

Self indulgent, which leads to my stories being longer than they need to be. I tend to meander while describing a characters background, putting in some things that most likely the reader doesn't need to know. When I edit I'll think that I could lose that part, then I just say, why? Who cares if its a little longer? I enjoy little details that make people real, and the readers often do as well....but I do think I interfere with the flow at times.

The other thing is the lead in to sex scenes, I tend to build the conflict which is fine, but when the time comes and the characters are close and you think okay there they go...I have one of them hesitate once more, or something happens to stall them. Sometimes I do this to where in my own mind I'm like FFS let's go. But again I tend to not edit out more than a few words here and there and leave it intact.

I have had some complaints about being to wordy, but when I did a couple of shorter pieces that were more stroky and to the point I received a lot of comments that they preferred my usual style.

That's when it hit me that sometimes even if something isn't 'proper writing' people enjoy it and you can build a base here and in the market by consistently following your own method

I'd totally disagree with your "doubts" of too long being a concern. Just because these are online stories we create here doesn't mean we should dumb them down so they can be consumed quickly. IMO, pieces like the 750 word contest are Blah. Yeh, it's a challenge to nail the word count — but I've not read any that are blockbusters.

I write to pass time — but I also try to write a story — not a sex scene — a story. A tale where characters take shape, a slice of life that can come across as possible in the real world, etc.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

This forum doesn't help with that.

Yeah, and for some stupid reason, I got on here today, and it was Sabbath, so, you know, didn't keep holy.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yeah, and for some stupid reason, I got on here today, and it was Sabbath, so, you know, didn't keep holy.

That's the advantage to believing in nothing. I have no rules.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

That's the advantage to believing in nothing. I have no rules.

I can't say how sad I feel for you. Almost as sad as feel for those who believe that human life the pinnacle in the universe. If were the best there is, the universe is a sad state of affairs.

 

[SexualisPhantasia]

Procrastination. Not only does it delay my ability to complete stories, but it takes a toll on the continuity in my stories. If I delay a week or more in writing, then when I come back to the story the narrative thread is no longer fresh, and I may even have forgotten things that I wrote before. When I've done my best writing, it's usually because I've taken whatever creative inspiration I have and pushed as hard as I can to keep writing to complete the idea or the scene.

I have found writing a detailed outline helps me remember important things in the story.

 

[SexualisPhantasia]

The answer is both because it depends on the type of story. I have a couple of milf series(some here most in the market) and for them I'm not overly invested in the characters because its pretty much straight up niche delivering erotica. That's not to say I get lazy, they all have back story and motivations, but they don't stay with me past the story.

In my horror series and some of my more involved erotica stories I get deep inside the characters and who they are and what they're dealing with and do it to where if I think back on one of them from a story I wrote several years ago its like thinking about an old friend and I recall everything I wrote about them.

I try to maintain a balance in what I write because to do too many 'pandering' stories would dull the muse, but to always be so intense and serious for a long stretch can also throw me off.

For me a good example is an e-book "The Devil In Mom" which in spite of the hokey title and premise of a demon who inspires incestuous thoughts and actions in the women she possess, (and has some good humorous lines) is a deep and series dive into sexual guilt and repression brought on by religious beliefs and also the sins of the MC's past before finding God...who ultimately let her down in her eyes when her husband died.

Its 90k so a full length novel, but there's only two sex scenes between mother and son and they're both towards the end. Its one of my favorite pieces of my own work. In some ways I consider it my "mic drop" taboo tale. But if that was the only type of story I wrote I feel I'd burn out pretty fast because I 'method' write meaning when I'm writing darker material my personal darkness and issues rise to the surface and its not good to let that mindset hold sway for too long.

I feel the same way when writing my non erotic poetry. It's like method writing in a way.

 

[Euphony]

It would be lovely to not be so slavish to microscopic plausibility.

Unlike some, I don't find stroke/porn/whatever we're calling smut forward story as inherently lesser.

Sure, there is more throw it against the wall overconfidence in posting awful examples here but there are some true creatives that maximize the form and have an efficiency of words I envy.

Of course, novelty is a must but there's a certain artform to truly "commiting to the bit" of stroke by leaning hard into trope at just the right moments while keeping a foundational dignity of narrative.

I appreciate high level examples for doing what I can't do even if I poured myself into it.

 

[djrip]

Sometimes I feel like I'm disappointing the luminaries of AH with all the stroke oriented fantasies I write. But you've perfectly described what I'm going for with them. I do try to make them the best stroke stories I can!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Sometimes I feel like I'm disappointing the luminaries of AH with all the stroke oriented fantasies I write. But you've perfectly described what I'm going for with them. I do try to make them the best stroke stories I can!

The thing is, though, "stroke" means different things to different people. I've got several pieces that I consider stroke (relative only to my own body of work, nobody else's) that are shorter and faster paced, but anybody else would probably say, that's typical EB. It's not something where I say, "Oh, I must change my style, this is stroke." I just give her a tighter dress and get her out of it faster.

 

[Djmac1031]

The thing is, though, "stroke" means different things to different people

I suppose what constitutes a "stroke story" could be an entirely new thread lol.

To me the difference between a "stroker" and an "erotic story" is character.

Strokers generally (not always) are short on character development. There is no "will they? won't they?" tension. Two attractive characters meet and fuck.

The "erotic" story makes me care about who these people are and WHY I want them to fuck.

We all know they will, of course, but there's usually more conflict or tension building up to it.

Both types have their place here, and can be enjoyable.

 

[Euphony]

I suppose what constitutes a "stroke story" could be an entirely new thread lol.

To me the difference between a "stroker" and an "erotic story" is character.

Strokers generally (not always) are short on character development. There is no "will they? won't they?" tension. Two attractive characters meet and fuck.

The "erotic" story makes me care about who these people are and WHY I want them to fuck.

We all know they will, of course, but there's usually more conflict or tension building up to it.

Both types have their place here, and can be enjoyable.

I would suggest motivation is another sticking point with "stroke."

It's wild seeing an author who got the memo about character's mattering so they build out these crazy detailed people who's motivations (or lack of) bash into disbelief until they have finally freed it.

Quick and dirty, I'd say "stoke" tends towards sex being possible being the reason for sex.

"Erotica" being more about there being a reason for sex outside of genitals being within proximity and within reasonable reason and understanding of who the characters are.

Honestly, there's a lot more erotica traits writers content to call their story stroke b/c of some "less than" mentality floating around that deep psychoanalysis of the characters/motivations is the bar for erotica making it a superior story form.

Sometimes I need to carve chess pieces (rock hammer,) sometimes I need to drive some fucking fence posts. (sledgehammer)

Chess may be considered socially more refined. I'll tell that to the wolves staking out my property.

 

[12oclocktales]

Oh, I know how to use them. I just tend to do it more than I should.

I love semicolons; I use them all the time. I'm surprised you didn't substitute the period in the above with one; it would've worked perfectly.

 

[12oclocktales]

I sympathize totally with those who despair at all the re-editing/revising they do; I do exactly the same thing, to the point of making myself nuts. Usually I'm happy I did, however, because the revised copy is often better than the original. But sometimes I have to just say to myself, "OK, whatever I have at 6 pm tonight, that's what I'm going with, come what may!" I've read that some very famous writers used to continue revising their stories/novels even after they were published, and not to issue a "revised" edition: these were found in folders after they had died! I placate myself when I'm hashing over the umpteenth draft that at least I'm not that bad. Maybe.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

I come up with great ideas for stories, but lack the concentration to write.

 

[Dearelliot]

Reminds me of a story: An old guy in Italy, working in a factory where they made large brass doors. It was his job when the door was finished to polish the brass door until it looked like a mirror.
A man walking by asked him, "How do you know when you are finished shining, when is it good enough."
The old guy said, "I just keep shining until they come and take it away." Sometimes I think it would be nice if I had that. When I write a story someone would come and take it away.

 

[Euphony]

I come up with great ideas for stories, but lack the concentration to write.

Maybe try small outlines or, if you can stretch a little, mini-stories.

Writing is much like walking a significant distance, the starting is often much harder than much of the keeping going.

Get your creativity used to starting by having a bunch of starts (that you don't judge yourself on/for.)

It'll start feeling more natural and just "a thing I do." You can then carry that momentum forward.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

Maybe try small outlines or, if you can stretch a little, mini-stories.

Writing is much like walking a significant distance, the starting is often much harder than much of the keeping going.

Get your creativity used to starting by having a bunch of starts (that you don't judge yourself on/for.)

It'll start feeling more natural and just "a thing I do." You can then carry that momentum forward.

Thank you