A question re. submitting stories

[john_mcleod]

Hi,

I have a question about submitting stories to literotica, nothing too important, just wondering really.

I have submitted a story before, but at the moment i have a rewrite of that one, and two other new stories being processed...

...i was wondering if anyone could fill me in on any more details of the screening process

i saw that the stories were already registering views (one as many as 12) without yet being approved - and it got my mind wondering how this could be happening.

thanks for your help in advance

John

 

[jfinn]

i saw that the stories were already registering views (one as many as 12) without yet being approved - and it got my mind wondering how this could be happening.

thanks for your help in advance

John

Hi John,

First, welcome to Lit. You know I asked this question myself last week. Laurel kindley PM'd me and told me that the count includes all those times we nervously check out our own submission page to see if anything has been accepted yet. Also, if you've done any editing on your story, either at the time you posted it or later that also counts.

Hope this helps.

Jayne

 

[MathGirl]

i saw that the stories were already registering views (one as many as 12) without yet being approved

One of the DurtGurl stories got 16 views, then it was rejected. Go figger.
MG

 

[openthighs_sarah]

Re: Re: A question re. submitting stories

One of the DurtGurl stories got 16 views, then it was rejected. Go figger.
MG

Maybe Laurel kept bringing in different linguistic experts to have it translated?

 

[john_mcleod]

ah thankyou, now that would make sense, since i've fiddled with the page quite a bit while submitting the 3 stories

i did notice something odd though yesterday, did quite a bit of reading/editing as a last check through of two stories before submitting (something like a total of 15 000+ words which i read, corrected, reread, corrected once more, and read again for good measure - sigh, very tedious)

that the more i read, the hornier i wasn't, infact it was down right killing any mood i had - considering i'm supposed to be a teenager with hormones raging, then my stories must be one hell of an anti-lust-agent

i sincerly hope thats an effect of reading then so many times - is that common? or am i to take it as a sign that i'm crap

oh and on the subject of crapness i could do with someone who knows what they're on about taking a look and telling me what i'm doing wrong/could improve, everything and anything really... i'll post on the feedback forum when the other couple of stories are up ...

but hell, why not angle for a bit of help here too

the problem is i was a bit of a sciver at school, failed my gcse (age 16 - mainly through complete lack of being there) and I haven't studied english at a higher level - so i'm a bit unsure of myself to be honest. and when i say 'a bit' i actually mean 'very', never been known for my linguistic talents

if anyone wants to give me a hand and take a look at at the rewrite of the one i posted a few months ago here it is:

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=76112

it's a femsub humiliating kinda thing, to be honest it's not what i usuallt get off on, more my girl's type of thing, but i'm a bit of a kinky devil - if it makes me feel a bit naughty, i love it

anyway, I best stop rambling.

thanks for reading my waffle,

John

 

[john_mcleod]

oh and i have so far written all 3 stories in what i beleive to be the second person perspective - simply because that ss what came most natural to me

i've had a look around and unfortunatly it looks as if it's generally not well received

hopefully the subject i chose lends itself well to second person though, all three are written where the reader is assumed to be submissive - the stories are written as if you are led, commanded and told what to do... so perhaps that's a good fit

if a reader is not submissive, not female, and don't want to be lead through a sexual experience - then the story wasn't targetted at them anyhow

am i clutching at straws, or is second person occasionally viable?

John

 

[TheEarl]

2nd person? Brave man. If you can pull it off, then it's as viable a POV as any other, but it's more difficult to write in than any other POV. Had a quick glance at your story and you haven't really written it in a straight 2nd person, more of a quasi 1st person/2nd where the two main characters are 'you' and 'I.' Brave man again. I'm not femal and I'm not into BDSM, but I'll have a look through it and get back to you.

Nothing wrong with not being turned on by your stories. I almost never get turned on by mine. Can't get anything out of them, which is ironic, cause I started writing what I wanted to read. Sigh. Trust me, as soon as you get the e-mails flooding in saying: 'Oh my god I came 12 times. You're the hottest thing ever,' you'll feel a lot better.

If you're not sure about your English, then I'd suggest having a look at Killer Muffin's guide to English Grammar on the Writer's Resources section. Definitely worth having a look at.

The Earl

 

[Chicklet]

hopefully the subject i chose lends itself well to second person though, all three are written where the reader is assumed to be submissive - the stories are written as if you are led, commanded and told what to do... so perhaps that's a good fit

Hey John,

I haven't read your stories, so don't take any of this personally. Being submissive, being female, but knowing I'm reading erotica, I always click BACK! when I find myself in a 2nd person story.

To me, using the "you read my erotic story and love it" pov really tears me out of the story. I'm here to read, and if I want to have the fantasy myself, I'd rather go do it. When I read, I prefer 1st or 3rd person, 1st most of all (however "unprofessional" that is)

That doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with your stories, or that you should change your style. If it's what you like to write, write like that. But, sometimes people can try new things and find out they like them better. Maybe try a 3rd or 1st pov and see what you think of it? Maybe you could write a BDSM story 1st person from the Dom Male's pov. That could be nice = )

Chicklet

 

[TheEarl]

Chicklet: Have a look at the link. It's not really a 2nd person, more of an involved 1st/2nd.

The Earl

 

[john_mcleod]

chicklet,

i'm not tied to writing in the second person in the future, and it's deffinetly not something i set out to do to begin with - it just made sense in the circumstances to write em that way

and to be honest i don't truly know if it's second or first or well whatever. a painful admition, but when others were learning how to express themselves in school, i was busy practicing playing pool - sigh - so i wouldn't know how to technically describe it...

what theearl said sounds right to my ears though 'an involved 1st/2nd.'

that is exactly how i intended to write it.

i should explain - i didn't write the story(s) intending to release them to the internet

they were actually for a specific person, my girlfriend.

she is into the male-dom, fem-sub type of a thing - i didn't fancy my chances of writing the story from her fem-sub point of view, so i wrote from mine. but as they were for her benefit, writing about domination from a dom's point of view seemed a bit of a tangeant.

so i ended describing events from my point of view, but the emphasis deffinetly on her, the 'you' person in the story

i figure it worked, for the most part atleast, becuase i knew exactly who i was dealing with. when i said 'you did...' or 'you said...', it was pretty much the sort of thing she would do or say...

i hope that makes sense...

 

[MathGirl]

You just wait!

Ha! Just wait until my story written in the fourth person comes out. You'll all grovel at my feet.
MG

 

[jfinn]

i should explain - i didn't write the story(s) intending to release them to the internet

they were actually for a specific person, my girlfriend.

she is into the male-dom, fem-sub type of a thing - i didn't fancy my chances of writing the story from her fem-sub point of view, so i wrote from mine. but as they were for her benefit, writing about domination from a dom's point of view seemed a bit of a tangeant.

so i ended describing events from my point of view, but the emphasis deffinetly on her, the 'you' person in the story

i figure it worked, for the most part atleast, becuase i knew exactly who i was dealing with. when i said 'you did...' or 'you said...', it was pretty much the sort of thing she would do or say...

i hope that makes sense...

What you're describing is a perfect example of why second person narrative works so well for a small targeted audience, but not always so great for mass appeal. When you write for one person you can specifically appeal to their personal likes and dislikes. It can be very powerful when you know them well enough to pull that off. But getting a larger audience to go along with those same triggers can be very tricky.

Instead of a reader thinking something you've just written makes them hot, they very well might think, I'd never do that! right before they hit their browsers back button or even worse, scroll down to the end and give you a low score. The reason is you've forced them to consider the actions of the story in a very personal manner. They aren't just reading about someone else in a certain situation, they're thinking of themselves. That can put a whole new spin on things and not always in a positive way.

I read your story just now. You're an excellent writer and if there is any type of story that lends itself well to second person it's one with a bdsm theme. After saying everything I did above, I really think you did a really wonderful job. Still, I'd really like to see what you can do with a first or better still third person perspective. It would give you a great deal more leeway and I think would broaden your audience appeal.

Jayne

 

[TrinaT]

John:

A change of heart, I've decided to also leave additional encouragement here. As I indicated in my feedback, your story is very well written, although not of a subject matter that I would usually read. I would encourage others to read your work and I look forward to future submissions.

Forever,

TrinaT

 

[john_mcleod]

thanks for the postive opinions, but i best move this conversation over to the feedback forum itself...

and just nipping back into the conversation a little, theearl mentioned a guide to grammer by killer muffin - i didn't spot that, BUT i did read through her punctuation help a while back.

rather sad (of me), but i did love it, very informative at the very least. although i should point out that from now on, any mistakes in my punctuation should be clearly levelled at her feet - she taught me everything i know

just joking of course - but i thought i'd say that i did think it most excellent, if there did happen to be any newbie's to writing i'd recomend it, although this isn't quite the place for that.

i'll get right onto the gramma tutorial though - thanks for the tip

John

 

[reohoko]

ah thankyou, now that would make sense, since i've fiddled with the page quite a bit while submitting the 3 stories

i did notice something odd though yesterday, did quite a bit of reading/editing as a last check through of two stories before submitting (something like a total of 15 000+ words which i read, corrected, reread, corrected once more, and read again for good measure - sigh, very tedious)

that the more i read, the hornier i wasn't, infact it was down right killing any mood i had - considering i'm supposed to be a teenager with hormones raging, then my stories must be one hell of an anti-lust-agent

i sincerly hope thats an effect of reading then so many times - is that common? or am i to take it as a sign that i'm crap

John

When I start my stories... usually they are some erotic take on some fantasy or other I have played out, or such.

By the second rewrite I can read it through....

By the third rewrite I can read the first half without any response...

By the fourth I can start the real editing not just the filling in important missed details....

By the fifth I am usually so sick of it I put it away for a week....

Usually around the 7th or 8th reading I can start editing without any response what-so-ever.

However, I have story lines I write, that are not even a little erotic to me. I have one (maybe I will submit it when it is done, going on my site for sure), that borderline grosses me out. It is a necessary part of the character's development... so it is getting written, and even harder to edit then the ones I enjoy when I write them.