A Note of Thanks to Literotica

[ThatNewGuy]

Warning: earnest post to follow.

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a writer. I wrote my first stories―silly Twilight Zone knockoffs―longhand on wide-ruled notebook paper and gave them to my parents and my aunt to read.

My parents, of course, loved them. My aunt one-bombed them. She's always been a troll. Still, the thrill I got from creating a story and having people read it stuck with me.

Then I got older. Got a job. Got married. Started a family. I didn't have time (didn't make time, if I'm being honest) to write.

The thought of "being a writer" faded. I stopped seeing it as something I'd actually wanted to do and came to think of it instead as a child's pipe dream: no different from wanting to be an astronaut or a professional sportsball player.

A handful of years ago, I discovered Lit. I'd be lying if I said I came here looking for great stories or talented writers invested in their craft. But guess what? I found both.

They inspired me. Made me dust the cobwebs off some old dreams. Got me thinking, "Hey, maybe I can do this too."

And then I did.

I wrote a story. And then another. They had characters and plot and conflict. People (strangers!) read them. Some even liked them.

This site has a lot of story-related stats. They're all fine. But for me, nothing beats that childhood thrill of creating something out of whole cloth and having people read it. That's the one thing I always wanted, way back when.

So thanks Lit, for helping me to remember something I'd forgotten.

 

[Djmac1031]

that's awesome.

I personally never had any lifelong aspirations of being a writer. Certainly not a professional one lol.

For me it's more of a recent hobby thing.

But I definitely relate to the feelings brought on by creating something out of mere words that people besides just me find entertaining, interesting, inspiring, or if nothing else, at least gets them off too

 

[intim8]

Warning: earnest post to follow.

That whole post sounds like my story. I "published" my first "book" in 1972. Mom typed it and made Xerox copies, I gave it to relatives. Now my hard drive is jam packed with decades of unpublished scribblings. I've put a few things on other sites, but it's this place that really lets me scratch that itch.

I made money at it once. When I didn't go to college and a lot of people I knew did, I ghost-wrote research papers, doing the research at the dead-tree warehouse (public library). Subjects I had some knowledge of and some I had none. A couple hundred bucks for a few pages, 50% bonus to me if it got an A. So, in a way, I got straight A's in college without ever attending. Haven't made a dime since all my friends graduated.

So yeah, I'll second that Thank You to Literotica.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Warning: earnest post to follow.

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a writer. I wrote my first stories―silly Twilight Zone knockoffs―longhand on wide-ruled notebook paper and gave them to my parents and my aunt to read.

My parents, of course, loved them. My aunt one-bombed them. She's always been a troll. Still, the thrill I got from creating a story and having people read it stuck with me.

Then I got older. Got a job. Got married. Started a family. I didn't have time (didn't make time, if I'm being honest) to write.

The thought of "being a writer" faded. I stopped seeing it as something I'd actually wanted to do and came to think of it instead as a child's pipe dream: no different from wanting to be an astronaut or a professional sportsball player.

A handful of years ago, I discovered Lit. I'd be lying if I said I came here looking for great stories or talented writers invested in their craft. But guess what? I found both.

They inspired me. Made me dust the cobwebs off some old dreams. Got me thinking, "Hey, maybe I can do this too."

And then I did.

I wrote a story. And then another. They had characters and plot and conflict. People (strangers!) read them. Some even liked them.

This site has a lot of story-related stats. They're all fine. But for me, nothing beats that childhood thrill of creating something out of whole cloth and having people read it. That's the one thing I always wanted, way back when.

So thanks Lit, for helping me to remember something I'd forgotten.

Cool to read - I think we get too caught up in the minutiae (OK I do) this is a great antidote.

Emily

 

[yowser]

Sweet. Creation is so much more satisfying than destruction. Enchanting, seductive, addictive - may your efforts proliferate with pleasure.

 

[THBGato]

Yep. Could be my story too. Literotica is great.

 

[StopT]

Creation is so much more satisfying than destruction.

Oh, no, sir. You might regret it afterwards, but while you're at it, it's the most satisfying thing in the world...

 

[elizaloo]

Same...it's fabulous to have an outlet such as Literotica.

My friends got tired of reading my erotic stories (well, the women anyway).....and when I found Lit and was able to publish to the 'world' - it was and still is such a rush.

Thank you for making your post, I often forget how fortunate we are to have this channel for publishing.

 

[Not2Pervy]

Thanks to the OP for posting this. It is a great reminder of that core value this site provides: an audience. There are people here who will actually read our stories, and in far greater numbers than most of us could hope to reach through any other platform.

It’s easy to lose sight of that amidst all the concern over ratings, and the natural competitive impulse to try and do better, accompanied by frustration that stories we think worthy aren’t rated as highly or read as widely as we might hope for.

I thought of being a writer back in college, then laid all that aside when it hit me that I didn’t really have anything interesting or unique to contribute. Now many years later thanks to this site I’ve been able to scratch that old itch. And although I may not have acquired anything profound to add over the years, maturity has given me a little experience to share, and the humility to be content with hopefully adding a little entertainment a few people appreciate and enjoy.

 

[Omenainen]

I wrote a story. And then another. They had characters and plot and conflict. People (strangers!) read them. Some even liked them.

Such good stories, too! How’s it going with the one you’re fleshing out? I really liked the first part of that one.

 

[ThatNewGuy]

I thought of being a writer back in college, then laid all that aside when it hit me that I didn’t really have anything interesting or unique to contribute. Now many years later thanks to this site I’ve been able to scratch that old itch. And although I may not have acquired anything profound to add over the years, maturity has given me a little experience to share, and the humility to be content with hopefully adding a little entertainment a few people appreciate and enjoy

Well said. One of my problems in college was that I thought my stories had to be about Big, Important ideas. I didn't understand that stories usually start with small, real characters. The ideas grow from the characters.

A quick example. I wrote a vampire story here. College-me would have looked down his nose at such a thing. But writing should be fun, and that story was fun as fuck to write!

In the course of writing it, some interesting themes emerged: shame and self-acceptance, grappling with family legacy, and the way we sometimes use "the greater good" to justify doing terrible things. I wasn't thinking about any of those themes when I started the story. They grew from the characters.

Writing here has been a great learning experience in a bunch of ways. But it's also helped me to rediscover the joy of writing a fun story, which is what first drew me to writing as a kid.

 

[ThatNewGuy]

Such good stories, too! How’s it going with the one you’re fleshing out? I really liked the first part of that one.

Thanks for the kind words. That one still needs time to percolate. I've also been distracted by an idea for a longer piece in a completely different genre (also non-erotic). I'm struggling right now, but I'm only two chapters in, so I'm still kind of finding the characters.