Annoying whiny thread

[EmilyMiller]

If it helps any; I'm more or less experiencing the same thing.

I know that’s all true, hun.

Still .

Em

 

[gunhilltrain]

In my experience, attention comes in waves, some micro and some tidal. Hang in there, Em.

This seems like a good comment, although there are others here. It goes up and down, and it's hard to predict. (Some people now think that Heaven's Gate is a masterpiece, although I wouldn't go that far.) There is a huge amount of new stuff pouring in here each week; it's just so easy to submit one's scribbles (no offense, fellow authors!). On the three sites I've been on, comments are always scarce, unless it happens to be a contest or some other event. Just take it as it comes.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Personal decline is something each of us has to face in our own way. I've got little wrinkles in my smile that will never disappear. Occasionally I have to use laxative or loperamide - I put it down to anxiety but it may be age. You can splash cold water on your tits every day but gravity is a thing.
Pretty soon, you'll be talking about the good old days of the twenties, when stories where written by human beings, using keyboards, and orgasms weren't on sale even with a prescription. Ah, the twenties!

Ah, the fifties! When I didn't have to use a cane or partial dentures. (Actually, I don't like eating with them. I'm getting on implant in the front,and I'd get more if they weren't almost $2,000 a pop, even at a clinic.) I didn't have to take meds so that I don't have a stroke again. (It could have been a lot worse.) At least I can still have orgasms, and no prescription is needed.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Wow! That’s amazing. So jealous!

Em

Yes, they will show up at times and comment on (or usually favorite) an old story. Sometimes it follows a new story that they like.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Ah, the fifties! When I didn't have to use a cane or partial dentures. (Actually, I don't like eating with them. I'm getting on implant in the front,and I'd get more if they weren't almost $2,000 a pop, even at a clinic.) I didn't have to take meds so that I don't have a stroke again. (It could have been a lot worse.) At least I can still have orgasms, and no prescription is needed.

Ah! The problems of aging! Far better than the alternative, though. I used to open my forensic class with a skeleton laid out on my desk. I'd ask the students (aged 18-20 or so) "who doesn't want to get old?" Many hands would be raised. I'd gesture at the skeleton and point out that he hasn't aged a day in the past 30 years. Then I'd ask again as to who didn't want to get old. No hands went up.
Remember, once you are old, when a morning comes without aches and pains, you're dead.

 

[gunhilltrain]

As chapters progress, there are less comments on average than at the start. It is weird, but maybe also understandable, I don't know... All I know is that if people bothered to comment much more, I would have written far more, and I am certain that is true for a good number of authors. Strange how after all this time readers haven't figured out that simple truth

We have often noted that comments will drop on a series, and I think it's inevitable. I've never written more because of them (or less). If I write ten chapters, that's a lot.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I know, I know. Pot. Kettle. Black.

Why is it, that I feel (I know) I’m getting better as a writer, but the reaction to my stuff is getting worse? It feels like the two things are inversely proportional.

Haven’t had a story well-received since Coleoidphilia. Poor me, right .

Em

I was interested in this, because I experienced a similar thing. I wrote two stories back in 2014 that were deeply average. Then when I started writing again at the beginning of last year, I did three stories before getting my first H, then afterwards I was hitting Hs 2 times out 3 regularly for a period of 9 stories. I thought I had Lit figured out. Then I had a run of 7 stories with only one H (which wasn't even a story!) and it didn't immediately make sense to me. I've somewhat gotten my mojo back recently, but regarding what happened, I don't know. I struggled to pin point it.

Was it because I was being more ambitious in terms of scale? No, my back to basic story struggled as well.
Was it because I was trying out wackier ideas? No, my most batshit insane story marked my return to form (or rather return to H)
Was it because I was more focused on the writing than the sex? Possibly a fair few of them had minimized or no sexual encounters, but that was also a reasonably common complaint of my 'golden period'

For what it's worth, I copied your numbers into a spreadsheet, sorted by date and did a 5-day rolling average. (Why yes, I am actively wanting to avoiding doing a partiuclar piece of actual work at the moment, why do you ask?)

The news is that you are neither at your height or at your peak at the moment. The average of your last five stories is 4.42 (from 'Because I deserve it' to 'Just do as I say'). Your peek was 4.66 (Something has come up to Fishing Trip) and your trough was 4.30 (The Porn Star Experience to Desire).

So, my advice maybe stop being annoyingly whiny [Tried and failed to find an emoji blowing a raspberry to indicate I'm being tounge in cheek, I'd be very greatful if you could all use your imagination]

I suspect the reason you feel you've been doing less well is that 4.5 counts as definite hit, 4.4 is a near miss that you can mentally write off, and 4.3 and lower feel like a misfire and you've just had three of those in a row, which is probably just a statistical fluke. You've also been writing in categories that are different from your usual (Toy and Romance) which may contribute to you not getting your 'usual' scores.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I was interested in this, because I experienced a similar thing. I wrote two stories back in 2014 that were deeply average. Then when I started writing again at the beginning of last year, I did three stories before getting my first H, then afterwards I was hitting Hs 2 times out 3 regularly for a period of 9 stories. I thought I had Lit figured out. Then I had a run of 7 stories with only one H (which wasn't even a story!) and it didn't immediately make sense to me. I've somewhat gotten my mojo back recently, but regarding what happened, I don't know. I struggled to pin point it.

Was it because I was being more ambitious in terms of scale? No, my back to basic story struggled as well.
Was it because I was trying out wackier ideas? No, my most batshit insane story marked my return to form (or rather return to H)
Was it because I was more focused on the writing than the sex? Possibly a fair few of them had minimized or no sexual encounters, but that was also a reasonably common complaint of my 'golden period'

For what it's worth, I copied your numbers into a spreadsheet, sorted by date and did a 5-day rolling average. (Why yes, I am actively wanting to avoiding doing a partiuclar piece of actual work at the moment, why do you ask?)

The news is that you are neither at your height or at your peak at the moment. The average of your last five stories is 4.42 (from 'Because I deserve it' to 'Just do as I say'). Your peek was 4.66 (Something has come up to Fishing Trip) and your trough was 4.30 (The Porn Star Experience to Desire).

So, my advice maybe stop being annoyingly whiny [Tried and failed to find an emoji blowing a raspberry to indicate I'm being tounge in cheek, I'd be very greatful if you could all use your imagination]

I suspect the reason you feel you've been doing less well is that 4.5 counts as definite hit, 4.4 is a near miss that you can mentally write off, and 4.3 and lower feel like a misfire and you've just had three of those in a row, which is probably just a statistical fluke. You've also been writing in categories that are different from your usual (Toy and Romance) which may contribute to you not getting your 'usual' scores.

Can you do this for me on an ongoing basis? The way to this girl’s clit is via statistics .

All my early stuff was either auto-biographical or plain and simple stroke stories. Of late, I have been making up plots. My work still has wall-to-wall sex. But it also has more character and plot development. Maybe that’s a problem round here?

Em

 

[Bisexguy70]

Can you do this for me on an ongoing basis? The way to this girl’s clit is via statistics .

All my early stuff was either auto-biographical or plain and simple stroke stories. Of late, I have been making up plots. My work still has wall-to-wall sex. But it also has more character and plot development. Maybe that’s a problem round here?

Em

Hey Em. I work as a contractor at a statistical analysis company that writes software. I don’t really know too many statistics and if I did, I’d have to Google it which I think would be cheating. Does that count in any way of getting access to your clit? .

 

[EmilyMiller]

Hey Em. I work as a contractor at a statistical analysis company that writes software. I don’t really know too many statistics and if I did, I’d have to Google it which I think would be cheating. Does that count in any way of getting access to your clit? .

Baby, I am so wet right now

Em

 

[Bisexguy70]

Baby, I am so wet right now

Em

Oh baby. I was hoping it would. Im hard. 99.9% of men get hard when a woman tells them their getting wet from something they said…. Hey, whatta ya know, i mentioned a statistic!

 

[EmilyMiller]

Oh baby. I was hoping it would. Im hard. 99.9% of men get hard when a woman tells them their getting wet from something they said…. Hey, whatta ya know, i mentioned a statistic!

Swoon…

Em

 

[AwkwardlySet]

But it also has more character and plot development. Maybe that’s a problem round here?

Em

It is not. Readers love character development and plot, I can vouch for that and my stats can do the same, I suppose. Try going for the longer stories, maybe a new chaptered story same as you did with Coleoidphilia, but maybe something that would be less alien and off putting as a subject than tentacle stuff. Short stories can be a hit and miss, it depends. Longer stories will give time for your readers to get invested in your characters and plot.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Swoon…

Em

Well that opportunity passed me by quick.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Oh baby. I was hoping it would. Im hard. 99.9% of men get hard when a woman tells them their getting wet from something they said…. Hey, whatta ya know, i mentioned a statistic!

Then I’m wet 99.9% of the time. I’m a well-lubricated kinda girl .

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

It is not. Readers love character development and plot, I can vouch for that and my stats can do the same, I suppose. Try going for the longer stories, maybe a new chaptered story same as you did with Coleoidphilia, but maybe something that would be less alien and off putting as a subject than tentacle stuff. Short stories can be a hit and miss, it depends. Longer stories will give time for your readers to get invested in your characters and plot.

I guess my final security blanket is being a bit warped. The closest I wrote to normal is probably The Kiss.

Em

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I guess my final security blanket is being a bit warped. The closest I wrote to normal is probably The Kiss.

Em

Wayyy too short. All four chapters aren't even 5k words in total. There are synopses longer than that...

 

[EmilyMiller]

Wayyy too short. All four chapters aren't even 5k words in total. There are synopses longer than that...

It was written to please a - now sadly departed - Lit girl. The first two chapters were transcripts of PMs to her.

Em

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It was written to please a - now sadly departed - Lit girl. The first two chapters were transcripts of PMs to her.

Em

Huh. I didn't expect THAT. I just summed up the word count. I am mildly intrigued now, so I guess I should read the story.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Huh. I didn't expect THAT. I just summed up the word count. I am mildly intrigued now, so I guess I should read the story.

We are still in touch. But she found Lit a bit difficult. She is young and people were quite demanding of her. You need quite a thick skin to be a female round here.

Em

 

[gunhilltrain]

It is not. Readers love character development and plot, I can vouch for that and my stats can do the same, I suppose. Try going for the longer stories, maybe a new chaptered story same as you did with Coleoidphilia, but maybe something that would be less alien and off putting as a subject than tentacle stuff. Short stories can be a hit and miss, it depends. Longer stories will give time for your readers to get invested in your characters and plot.

He just said here what I was thinking There is no "right" way or "wrong" way to do it.

 

[oneagainst]

Stats from me - showing pretty consistent across the board across 201 days. The early rise was Alena's Game rolling out at 2x ch per week and then a couple of special event entries. Obv I don't have a decade of stats, but it doesn't bear up the theory of a general slide unless it's multi-year...?

 

[Djmac1031]

Readers love character development and plot, I can vouch for that and my stats can do the same,

I'll second that.

While no longer having the HUGE numbers it had at the beginning, my series The Jenna Arrangement has continued as long as it has mainly because READERS have told me, on a regular basis, how much they enjoyed the STORY and CHARACTERS, not just the sex.

They grew to care for my characters, wanted to know what happened next, enjoyed watching the slow buildup, growth and development of their relationships with each other.

World building is a lot harder than just writing some sex scenes.

But it's worth it if your readers come to actually care about your characters and not just the sex.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I'll second that.

While no longer having the HUGE numbers it had at the beginning, my series The Jenna Arrangement has continued as long as it has mainly because READERS have told me, on a regular basis, how much they enjoyed the STORY and CHARACTERS, not just the sex.

They grew to care for my characters, wanted to know what happened next, enjoyed watching the slow buildup, growth and development of their relationships with each other.

World building is a lot harder than just writing some sex scenes.

But it's worth it if your readers come to actually care about your characters and not just the sex.

I agree. My highest rated stories are slow burns. Readers love getting to know the characters and learning about their backstory, probably even more than the sex, especially if you can draw them into the story.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Can you do this for me on an ongoing basis? The way to this girl’s clit is via statistics .

The easiest thing to do is to download your stats from the Literotica submissions page, sort them by date and then add =AVERAGE(D26) into the first free column (J2) and then cut and paste it all the way down.

Unfortuntaly as a married man, I'm limited to a sample size of one otherwise I'd be asking to see your bell curves straight away.

All my early stuff was either auto-biographical or plain and simple stroke stories. Of late, I have been making up plots. My work still has wall-to-wall sex. But it also has more character and plot development. Maybe that’s a problem round here?

Em

As people are going to say, it takes all sorts and generalizations. I suspect (and I've read some but not all of your stuff) that the early stories had a nice mix of straight into the sex combined with an effective inner dialogue for the character as you were writing real stuff. On that basis, there's often not a lot for people to complain about and a lot for the trousers-around-ankles brigade to love (not that there's anything wrong with that). The longer and slower your burn, the more likely people are to find that where you end up isn't where they wanted to be. I find that in the range 5-4 there's not really that much difference in quality of writing, it's how neatly the kinks on display match what the majority is looking for.