1st story did ok, 2nd not so much, help?

[milwife]

I'm new to writing. I've enjoyed reading the stories on Literotica, some of your stories just pull me right in, others don't. I have yet to put my finger on why that is and I think that's why my stories aren't as good as they can be. Could I get some help?

My first story was under "Letters & Transcripts" and titled "Letter to My Sailor", it did ok.
My second story was under "BDSM" and titled "What He and the Rain Made Me Do", not doing so well lol

So some honest constructive feedback would be appreciated. I would like to improve my writing but maybe I'm just not a writer and that's ok.

 

[AchtungNight]

Could be the different genres. I think L&T has more readers than BDSM. Could be you're better at one than the other. Could be readers in each have different expectations. Also, maybe your second story just hasn't reached its true fans yet. Give it time. Don't lose heart.

 

[fieryjen]

Could be the different genres. I think L&T has more readers than BDSM. Could be you're better at one than the other. Could be readers in each have different expectations. Also, maybe your second story just hasn't reached its true fans yet. Give it time. Don't lose heart.

L&T has more readers than BDSM? Are you kidding? That isn't true at all.

I'm new to writing. I've enjoyed reading the stories on Literotica, some of your stories just pull me right in, others don't. I have yet to put my finger on why that is and I think that's why my stories aren't as good as they can be. Could I get some help?

My first story was under "Letters & Transcripts" and titled "Letter to My Sailor", it did ok.
My second story was under "BDSM" and titled "What He and the Rain Made Me Do", not doing so well lol

So some honest constructive feedback would be appreciated. I would like to improve my writing but maybe I'm just not a writer and that's ok.

First off, it would be in everyone's interest that if you ask about your writing, you provide a link to the stories in question or at least one to your Author page on Lit. People here are lazy, we're much more likely to look at your stuff and reply to your question if it takes us less time to find it.

Without looking, I can give you a more general guess why it might not have done so well. The BDSM crowd is rather picky in what they like and what they don't like. If you can write, anything in L&T can do well. In BDSM, some things that don't fit the mold that the BDSM readers are used to are more likely to gather negative responses.

In short, it's more difficult to write what the readers are looking for in BDSM. That doesn't mean what you wrote was necessarily bad at all, though I can't tell for sure without looking at it. It's always difficult to compare two stories across different genres, and L&T and BDSM and very different indeed, when it comes to readership.

AN is right though, don't give up just because of one story! You'll get better with practice, and you'll learn to love the positive comments, take what you can from the critical ones, and dismiss the plain rude ones.

 

[CWatson]

Also, I've heard of a theory called the "sophomore slump," which Amy Tan (at least) mentions in her memoirs. The theory is that, very simply, after your successful/breakout first story, it's almost impossible to top it with your second--possibly due to creative burnout, possibly due to inflated expectations from readers, possibly due to pure psychological pressure. Amy Tan feels that she, personally, managed to avoid this problem, and more power to her; I know plenty of others, myself included, that didn't. (I didn't even try.)

 

[AchtungNight]

Jen: Thanks. You know Lit better than me, so I'm sure you're right.

Sophomore Slump: I've seen signs of that. My first story ('Fear, Lust, and Vanity') got tons of votes and views (not just on Lit), and none since has come anywhere near. I have always been delighted for what I have gotten, though. Hope people will send more feedback soon.

 

[starrkers]

Jen: Thanks. You know Lit better than me, so I'm sure you're right.

Sophomore Slump: I've seen signs of that. My first story ('Fear, Lust, and Vanity') got tons of votes and views (not just on Lit), and none since has come anywhere near. I have always been delighted for what I have gotten, though. Hope people will send more feedback soon.

I guarantee she's right. I have one BDSM story and two L&T. One of the L&T has a W. It has 2755 reads. The BDSM story has 10222. Its score is lower. I think it goes with the territory. There are fewer readers of Letters, but they are more generous in their votes, if they vote at all.

 

[milwife]

lol Ok, duh, didn't think about the fact that technically I was writing to two different audiences. So thanks for not only pointing that out, but giving me some information about the two. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to make comments. I'll remember next time to post links!

I've enjoyed reading here on Literotica so thanks for your many contributions!