Any advice for an aspiring Literotica writer?

[JohnNhoj0000]

Looking for some advice. Yes I know I need a good editor but I'd like more than just that obviously. Please please please

 

[TheRedChamber]

First piece of adivce would be don't post in the Story Discussion Circle. No-one posts here except to occassionally bump the thread that asks why it hasn't been shut down yet. Go over to the Author's Hangout, there's a bunch of people there who will help you (or at least talk endlessly about their own writing processes) and just about every topic under the sun has been already been discussed.

You'll need to say more than just 'help' though. What specifically are you having a problem with?

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

Looking for some advice. Yes I know I need a good editor but I'd like more than just that obviously. Please please please

Without narrowing down to story or category specifics, I can just highlight a few specific pitfalls that will cause a reader to flip away form your story, that have nothing to do with the quality of the writing:

- Do your best to ensure SPAG (spelling, punctuation, and grammar) are as correct as you can manage. If you don't have a good handle on those or have test reader who is, wash it through several automated checkers, like Word's built-in one, and Grammarly. Don't rely on just one. Too many of those errors, especially around dialogue, will derail reader reception.
- Speaking of dialogue, read it out loud to yourself and see if it feels natural.
- Don't go too short or too long. 2-3 Lit pages, or 5 to 10K words, seems to be a sweet spot, though it varies by category. A one page story won't satisfy a lot of readers and you'll get very few takers for your 100K word omnibus until you're known.
- If you're writing chapters, have them all written before you post the first one, and make sure you note that (that the whole thing is done) when you post the first one. Readers are leery, since new writers sometimes let months pass between chapters and you will lose all your momentum if you do that.

Beyond that, I'd advise you to read a number of stories in the category where you're looking. Find popular authors with either good scores or strong followings, and scan a few.

Good luck!

 

[KeithD]

Read lots of other stories in the genres and themes you want to write in and then write--a lot--yourself.

 

[Defluer]

- Speaking of dialogue, read it out loud to yourself and see if it feels natural.

- If you're writing chapters, have them all written before you post the first one, and make sure you note that (that the whole thing is done) when you post the first one. Readers are leery, since new writers sometimes let months pass between chapters and you will lose all your momentum if you do that.

The others are great advice too but I gotta highlight these specifically. There are so many stories I come across with really bad dialogue. Where at least in my head, everyone sounds like robots or actors in a bad movie. Reading it aloud is really good, also listen to people around you. Be a snoop or nosy whatever. Listen to how people talk in real life. So many times authors around here try to be too descriptive in "conversation":

"Hello Rachel, remember when we met seven years ago at the state fair? Your brown hair was longer back then but it is just as lovely now that it is cut to the length of your chin. Although I do miss it long because I could pull on it during our most intimate times together, just like at the state fair when you begged me to have sexual relations with you even though we barely knew each other." I said as I woke on that morning, which was like any other morning except now it felt like somebody who didn't know us was around so I felt the need to over explain.

"Yes Steven I remember, but it was actually eight years ago. When I was twenty and you were twenty-three. Now that makes you thirty and me twenty-eight. Married for about eight years with no children. Please remember that my mother is coming to visit today. I know you two have had a contentious relationship since we got married after that pregnancy scare because of our first time at the state fair on the Ferris wheel." My wife explained to me, I nodded as we made breakfast. "Our home is not that big with only one bathroom. So please try not to walk in on her and see that her body is super hot still for a woman her age. Especially not while I'm at work and don't use our bad sex life as an excuse to be with her."

Obviously I went overboard here but the big take away is... Nobody talks like that! This isn't a play where you have to get all the backstory out in dialogue.

And this other point too, because I am guilty of it, I agree. Have it all done and ready. Edited and locked in but maybe as a new author, write some shorter stuff. 4k to 10k range so it's just one story and you aren't learning things during the course of a big continuing story.

 

[thomas1965]

Don't make your dialogue too natural. People use lots of umms, ers, and ahs. People interrupt, change the topics .
Nobody wants to read that.

A book about dialogue I recommend:

HOW TO WRITE DIALOGUE - A Busy Writer's Guide by Marcy Kennedy​

 

[TarnishedPenny]

All of the above, plus...

Be real. The average penis is 5 1/2" erect, not 10". Very few women have enormous bosoms. And on that topic (pet peeve), learn what bra sizes actually mean before you start throwing them around; they're not intuitive. Third on that, there are a lot of readers (me, for one) who view a story including a line like, "...my wife's perky 36DD tits..." as a red flag; find a better way to describe her.

Male readers tend to be more visual/sensory and female readers tend to want more feelings and emotions (in movie terms, think Mama Mia vs Dirty Harry). Those are generalizations and there are overlaps, but jumping right into a physical description of sex will work well with some men but fewer women. Spending a lot of time describing how a character feels about being touched (or whatever) will lose you some male interest, gain on the female side. The trick is to balance the two.

Your pen name suggests male. If so, you're pretty solid on male anatomy and physiology. Do some research on women. Seriously. Some of the gross anatomy errors in Lit (and elsewhere) are appalling. And most women don't have an orgasm with two minutes of intercourse. To make it hot, make it credible.

Edit, edit, edit. Spelling, punctuation and such are more important to some than others. For me, somebody who cannot write a coherent sentence without a lot of spelling errors is somebody who doesn't get read, a waste of screen space. One trick is to read it out loud; errors and clumsy wording will be surprisingly apparent. Find an editor or beta reader.

Good luck. More later if and when I think of more.

 

[8letters]

Check out my big list of writing tips. There's a link in my sig.

 

[alohadave]

Seriously. Some of the gross anatomy errors in Lit (and elsewhere) are appalling.

I especially like when men are able to go past the cervix, into the uterus. Nothing kills the mood like imaging that she starts screaming bloody murder. It's one of the things that absolutely shows that the author knows nothing about anatomy.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Read lots of other stories in the genres and themes you want to write in and then write--a lot--yourself.

I would recommend you read stories if any type, not just the ones on Literotica. This is a good quote from William Faulkner. "Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad; see how they do it. When a carpenter learns his trade, he does so by observing. Read! You’ll absorb it. Write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”

 

[jehoram]

I would recommend you read stories if any type, not just the ones on Literotica. This is a good quote from William Faulkner. "Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad; see how they do it. When a carpenter learns his trade, he does so by observing. ”

I'm reminded of what the Car Talk guys once said about auto mechanics. They learn their trade by making mistakes on other people's cars.

All I can add is that your first few thousand words are going to be crap. If you can write past that barrier, you're on your way.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Reading, Writing, and research are necessary. Most research is reading but doing helps as well. Read good writers. Write what you want. Research anything you don't know in the area you are writing. Enjoy what you do.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm reminded of what the Car Talk guys once said about auto mechanics. They learn their trade by making mistakes on other people's cars.

All I can add is that your first few thousand words are going to be crap. If you can write past that barrier, you're on your way.

Yes, that's true - about the first few thousand words. I wasn't on Lit yet (that was almost a year later) so fortunately I didn't try to submit any of my first stuff; I had no place to publish it. It wasn't all wasted, however. Eventually I was able to salvage pieces of the earlier work and rewrite and reuse some of it. But man, the premise of the first chapters and the actions of the characters (I thought it was going to be a novel) were simply absurd.

 

[SamScribble]

Write every day.

 

[lovecraft68]

Just do it. Write the story to the best of your ability, then write another, and repeat as many times as you have stories. The process gets easier, you will improve in all facets just by gaining confidence and experience.

There are basics things like grammar rules that need to be adhered to, after that everything is fair game.

Listen to well meaning suggestions, ignore people who's 'advice' is their personal preference, which isn't advice, and especially ignore people who's advice is based around pimping their own writing. Their writing won't, and shouldn't, be yours.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yes, that's true - about the first few thousand words. I wasn't on Lit yet (that was almost a year later) so fortunately I didn't try to submit any of my first stuff; I had no place to publish it. It wasn't all wasted, however. Eventually I was able to salvage pieces of the earlier work and rewrite and reuse some of it. But man, the premise of the first chapters and the actions of the characters (I thought it was going to be a novel) were simply absurd.

I did the same thing, just writing a few scenes, then conversations, sex scenes, etc. Not publishing, just getting the process down. Also thought it could be a novel. My first published story here was salvaged out of that mess, I did end up writing the novel based on the characters and a few more usable scenes, which proves its never a waste, even when its well...kind of crappy.

 

[TallGlassOfSarcasm]

Yes, that's true - about the first few thousand words. I wasn't on Lit yet (that was almost a year later) so fortunately I didn't try to submit any of my first stuff; I had no place to publish it. It wasn't all wasted, however. Eventually I was able to salvage pieces of the earlier work and rewrite and reuse some of it. But man, the premise of the first chapters and the actions of the characters (I thought it was going to be a novel) were simply absurd.

So much this.

I have been writing a non erotica novel for about 10 years. (Eat your heart out, George RR Martin. I'll make you look downright speedy.)

My own skill level has improved over the years to the point where I have rewritten the first half of the novel at least 4 times because it keeps sounding like crap by by my current standards.

 

[Northstar4695]

https://www.literotica.com/storyxs/writ_stor.shtml

I found a great deal of helpful advice on this page when I first got started.

 

[sweetdreamssss]

All of the above, plus...

Be real. The average penis is 5 1/2" erect, not 10". Very few women have enormous bosoms. And on that topic (pet peeve), learn what bra sizes actually mean before you start throwing them around; they're not intuitive. Third on that, there are a lot of readers (me, for one) who view a story including a line like, "...my wife's perky 36DD tits..." as a red flag; find a better way to describe her.

Male readers tend to be more visual/sensory and female readers tend to want more feelings and emotions (in movie terms, think Mama Mia vs Dirty Harry). Those are generalizations and there are overlaps, but jumping right into a physical description of sex will work well with some men but fewer women. Spending a lot of time describing how a character feels about being touched (or whatever) will lose you some male interest, gain on the female side. The trick is to balance the two.

Your pen name suggests male. If so, you're pretty solid on male anatomy and physiology. Do some research on women. Seriously. Some of the gross anatomy errors in Lit (and elsewhere) are appalling. And most women don't have an orgasm with two minutes of intercourse. To make it hot, make it credible.

Edit, edit, edit. Spelling, punctuation and such are more important to some than others. For me, somebody who cannot write a coherent sentence without a lot of spelling errors is somebody who doesn't get read, a waste of screen space. One trick is to read it out loud; errors and clumsy wording will be surprisingly apparent. Find an editor or beta reader.

Good luck. More later if and when I think of more.

Hahaha...

I can relate to this , not just in lit but every other story site . Every woman has DDD size and every man has 10 inch cock..
Vaginas are so elastic to accommodate every size without any issues and so does your mouth
they can do for 30 to 40 min before he comes out in gallons....

Just to parody it ,i wrote a story wher the man has an average dick and in one instance comes before the woman and then she gets disappointed..