Help a new author start writing

[MechaKing25]

So I’ve been wanting to start writing on here for awhile and I’ve finally gotten around to doing it. I’ve done writing before but I was wondering if there’s some basic information I should as a new writer on this platform. I’d love if anyone can tell me

 

[SimonDoom]

1. Jump into the pool. Just write and publish and see what happens. This is the first and best piece of advice.
2. Read other stories and figure out what you like. Read carefully. I read erotic stories at Literotica for about 15 years before I published anything. You don't have to wait that long, of course, but it helps to read so you can form your own aesthetic sensibility.
3. If you have an idea about the kinds of stories you like, then read some of the "how to" articles at this site about those categories. Start by reading Tx Tall Tales essay "Love Your Readers: Categories" which is the best explanation I've seen of how categories work at this site.

But the main thing is just to write. Don't hold back because you think you've got to do things a certain way before publishing. You don't.

 

[Red_Owl]

So I’ve been wanting to start writing on here for awhile and I’ve finally gotten around to doing it. I’ve done writing before but I was wondering if there’s some basic information I should as a new writer on this platform. I’d love if anyone can tell me

I'd say the basic info you really need is the content guidelines. Also keep your paragraphs to 5 lines in print view as much as possible. Reason being a story can get kicked back for formatting because of how it will look on mobile devices. Sticking to 5 lines keeps that from being an issue. Besides that, have an idea of what category you think will fit best.

 

[gunhilltrain]

1. Jump into the pool. Just write and publish and see what happens. This is the first and best piece of advice.
2. Read other stories and figure out what you like. Read carefully. I read erotic stories at Literotica for about 15 years before I published anything. You don't have to wait that long, of course, but it helps to read so you can form your own aesthetic sensibility.
3. If you have an idea about the kinds of stories you like, then read some of the "how to" articles at this site about those categories. Start by reading Tx Tall Tales essay "Love Your Readers: Categories" which is the best explanation I've seen of how categories work at this site.

But the main thing is just to write. Don't hold back because you think you've got to do things a certain way before publishing. You don't.

My own prejudice is to not read what is on Literotica. Definitely, per Faulkner, read everything and anything else. Or, figure out how to write a story first and then add the sex. The sex is like what is going on "off-screen" in the mainstream works. Well, to be accurate, the mainstream has long since surpassed Lit by quite a bit!

 

[SimonDoom]

My own prejudice is to not read what is on Literotica. Definitely, per Faulkner, read everything and anything else. Or, figure out how to write a story first and then add the sex. The sex is like what is going on "off-screen" in the mainstream works. Well, to be accurate, the mainstream has long since surpassed Lit by quite a bit!

Literotica is the best place in the world to find a lot of erotica for free. So it's the best place to find what you like to read. And knowing what you like to read is probably the best way to know what you want to write. That's how it is for me, anyway.

 

[alohadave]

So I’ve been wanting to start writing on here for awhile and I’ve finally gotten around to doing it. I’ve done writing before but I was wondering if there’s some basic information I should as a new writer on this platform. I’d love if anyone can tell me

Read this: https://www.literotica.com/resources/writer-resources

Lit has particular rules for posting here and some people either aren't aware of them or try to rules lawyer their way to getting unallowed content posted.

There is one god here, and that is Laurel. She has first, last, and only say as to what is acceptable here. No one here in the forums has any power on the story side.

Good luck and try not to obsess over your stats, even though most of us do anyway.

 

[Djmac1031]

My first piece of advice is to not overwhelm yourself trying to write some incredibly complex story out of the gate.

Pick a favorite fetish, pick a simple scenario that explores it.

Second: don't ignore characters or story for the sake of getting to The Sex.

Yes, most readers here want something to get them off.

But unlike porn videos, where we tend to fast forward the setup to get to the sex scenes, many readers appreciate at least a little time setting up WHO these characters are and WHY they end up fucking.

So don't ignore that.

Next: spell checking and editing is your friend. Even if you're not a "great" writer, you can at least take the time to make sure words are spelled right, punctuation used correctly, sentences are complete and not fragments or run ons, etc.

Too many writers rush that process in a hurry to get a story published.

Don't rush. Edit. Then edit again. Get someone else to read it if you can, they'll find mistakes you missed.

I encourage reading other stories as well. You'll quickly discover what you like, don't like, get ideas, and learn from their successes as well as their mistakes.

Finally: HAVE FUN with it.

Oh, and welcome.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I remember when my first story, 'Nice Spread' got posted five years ago this month. I could hardly believe it happened. I didn't care about the score, or how many people read it. It was just such a heady feeling to see that a story I had written had been published online. That first day, I thought that three people had read it, and I thought that was great. Until I realized that it was actually 3,000, and that really shocked me.

I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I did, and still do, whenever I post a new story.

Welcome!

 

[ronde]

Before you write anything, read the submission guidelines and don't overthink them. They're pretty simple and staying with in the guidelines will make your writing experience a lot more pleasing.

Write about something that you know and would appeal to you if you were looking for something to read. There are enough readers with different preferences here that you'll find several who like the same things you like. Writing about what you know and like is also a lot more fun than trying to force the words about something you don't know or don't like.

Try to make your characters seem like real people. To do that, they need a personality either described in the text or voiced in dialogue. Stereotypes are fine as long as you don't make them too extreme to believe.

Don't get hung up on how you're going to get them into bed together. Just let that happen because your characters seem ready for it to happen. That's called a plot, and is the way you take your characters from meeting to the end of the story.

Turn of "auto correct" on your word processor. Spell checkers are notorious for changing the spelling of words to something you didn't mean to write. Let the spell checker flag the word and then review to see if it's actually wrong.

Write the story, read over it once to see if it's what you meant to write, and then don't look at it again for at least a week. Two weeks is better. That's to let your brain "forget" what you intended to write so you'll see what you actually wrote. This is the time to check spelling and punctuation too. An editor may help, but don't let an editor change what you wanted to write into something they'd want to read. In the mean time, start on your next story.

Once you've been through the story after a week or so, take a deep breath and submit it. Chances are it won't be perfect, but few of us ever write stories with perfect spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax.

Check your home page at least six times a day to see if your story has been published. Once an hour is better, but you probably have other things to do like eating and sleeping. It might take longer than a couple days for your story to be published since you'll be an unknown to Laurel.

Once your story is published, look at any comments and at the number of votes, but don't get too hung up on either. Since you'll be new, you won't yet have a following so you might not get many. You're doing this to have fun anyway, so they don't really matter except as a way to improve your writing.

Above all, once you start, keep writing and keep submitting. Writing is like sex. That first time, you don't know a whole lot about how and what's going to happen. It's only by practicing that you'll get better.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My first piece of advice is to not overwhelm yourself trying to write some incredibly complex story out of the gate.

This !!

Yes, do an apprenticeship with half a dozen or so short stories (5k - 10k words) - long enough to develop a story with some decent characters. Do this to nail your technical chops, discover your natural style, discover what you like when telling a story. Grammar, spelling, punctuation - get it right. Learn good habits and discard the bad ones.

Once you can walk, stretch your legs, tackle something more complex. But the next great American novel can usually wait a year or two.

Writing though, keep doing that.

 

[Rob_Royale]

First, welcome to Lit.
I advise adding a brief intro paragraph to the beginning or end of your story, telling the reader, THIS IS MY FIRST STORY. PLEASE TELL ME HOW I DID. Because I did this, my first story has 4 to 10 times the amount of comments that every story after it has. People seem to critique more frequently if asked to.

Download Grammarly or at least use an MSWord type program with built-in grammar/spelling check.

Have fun and write what turns you on. It will find an audience.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I'm just here to say welcome to Literotica, because you've gotten an enormous amount of very positive very helpful information from the writers here in AH. I really can't think of anything extra to add! So welcome, and happy writing to you.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Oh, and the minimum length for a story is 750 words, but aim for the 5-10k EB suggested.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Well, I'm just going to continue my contrary ways...

Write what you want within the content guidelines of the site. Make it as long as you feel it needs to be to tell the tale you want readers to experience. Although erotic content is what the majority of readers come here for, it is not the only content that can do well here.

I posted my first story here almost exactly nine years ago in Novels and Novellas. It is 95.9K words long and remains on the top list for stories in that category, with no graphic sexual content. I also have eleven other non-erotic stories here doing well with readers. Many of those are over 50K words.

This isn't to say that you shouldn't write erotica, just don't limit yourself by that being some perceived requirement here.

Complete your story before submitting it. You maintain more control over the content, characters, and overall continuity if you remain patient and don't rush yourself by posting the first chapter before you have finished the last.

Definitely read the advice on selecting the right category and learn all you can about using story tags when you submit your story.

Utilize tools to assist you, such as Grammarly.

Be patient during the submission process since new contributors face greater scrutiny of their work by Laurel.

Feel free to ask others here (including me) to be beta readers for you before submitting.

Have fun, and good luck.

 

[la_ruche]

Another newbie chiming in; thank you for all friendly advices.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Oh, and the minimum length for a story is 750 words, but aim for the 5-10k EB suggested.

10,000 K is a bit more than I can do for most stand-alone stories, but that's just me. Rather than worrying too much about length, just write it and see what happens. Some intuition will tell you - one hopes - when it's done. But yeah, it's quite satisfying when it goes right, so enjoy! Just don't read the forums too much.

 

[BgDaddy33]

10,000 K is a bit more than I can do for most stand-alone stories, but that's just me. Rather than worrying too much about length, just write it and see what happens. Some intuition will tell you - one hopes - when it's done. But yeah, it's quite satisfying when it goes right, so enjoy! Just don't read the forums too much.

Reading this was helpful, I was reading over someone else's story comments and was a bit surprised at the hate he/she was getting for writing short chapters, especially since I was finding the story so well done. It made wonder if there was an unwritten rule here about how long a story should be to get decent respect (just don't do a search for "length" by itself, it will send you down a labyrinth of rabbit holes )

 

[alohadave]

Reading this was helpful, I was reading over someone else's story comments and was a bit surprised at the hate he/she was getting for writing short chapters, especially since I was finding the story so well done. It made wonder if there was an unwritten rule here about how long a story should be to get decent respect (just don't do a search for "length" by itself, it will send you down a labyrinth of rabbit holes )

Ask 10 different people and you'll get 12 different answers. 3-4 lit pages is the commonly quoted length as 'ideal', but there are plenty of opinions.

 

[Euphony]

Reading this was helpful, I was reading over someone else's story comments and was a bit surprised at the hate he/she was getting for writing short chapters, especially since I was finding the story so well done. It made wonder if there was an unwritten rule here about how long a story should be to get decent respect (just don't do a search for "length" by itself, it will send you down a labyrinth of rabbit holes )

Dave is here.

Length is all about reader preference and, hell, even that can change based on category, current life commitments, similar.

If trolls are coming for you, the "not my fetish, how dare you!" mob will easily outvote any persnickety length people.

It's hard to qualify but the story you write to avoid other's hang-ups 99.99% of the time is materially worse than if you write the story you are motivated to tell.

You can't please everybody. Scores here are volatile and only so indicative of quality. (usually popularity, prolificness, and "you did my fetish! wins out)

Use tags honestly. Be deliberate in your category choice. Write the story you want to tell. You'll be fine (and, if somehow not, what dinged you was out of your control.)

 

[AchtungNight]

I know I’m late to the party, but my advice is to condition your mind to enjoy your writing style through spiritual meditation. Condition it to find weaknesses in your writing style also, and address them. Develop a muse that can also be a good editor at times.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Reading this was helpful, I was reading over someone else's story comments and was a bit surprised at the hate he/she was getting for writing short chapters, especially since I was finding the story so well done. It made wonder if there was an unwritten rule here about how long a story should be to get decent respect (just don't do a search for "length" by itself, it will send you down a labyrinth of rabbit holes )

There are no unwritten rules. And the readers themselves don't know what they want. There is some estimate that 20% (?) of the American population has some form of diagnosed mental illness, and from being here a while I could believe that.

Personally, I have trouble reading long stretches of text on-line, but that's me. I don't think I've ever written a story or chapter here that is more than 11,000 words, and many are much shorter than that. I think I have a story - it's actually an essay - here of about 2,000 words.

Factoid: I don't know how up-to-date this is, but according to the tags portal there are 575,165 stories on Lit by 99,669 authors. I'd guess that there must be at least 100,000 more people here only to read or to post stuff on boards like the Playground sub-forum of Personals. Supposedly, two million have registered here since the site as created more than two decades ago. I doubt that old accounts are ever removed. It would be a huge undertaking just to identify who to cut.