Author 'Support' systems - Do you have one? How do you get one on Literotica?

[TheRescuer]

Some if not most writers are lonely creatures, or at least the process for their writing can be.

Often the end result of all that angst and hard work can feel like just throwing it all out into a dark void. I will agree that meaningful and constructive feedback on ALL writing websites seems to have dropped off dramatically over the last few years and even decades.

While not needing a LOT of hand holding for my new series, I do miss having a few fans that would send meaningful comments about the plot and characters, and how the story was affecting them personally. I used to get MOST of my 'adoration - cajoling - grounding - common sense - reality checks - kicks in the pants" from my pre-readers.

Most other authors I connect with, on whatever website, have their own projects worrying them. Their help understandably HAS to come and go, based on the ebb and flow of their own lives and work. As does mine for them.

For those of you, both new and old, does the 'current' culture and audience on Literotica become MORE or LESS supportive over time? Or do you find such help and encouragement only 'outside' of the system and even the forums here?

Looking forward to your comments.

Thanks as always!

TheRescuer/Sextified

 

[NotWise]

The community in the Author's Hangout can be pretty supportive once they get to know you. There are social threads, contest support threads, and threads that people start for specific questions. There's also the Editor's Forum, where you can engage with beta readers as well as editors, and the Story Feedback forum, where readers will praise your deeds and frown upon your frailties.

Support from general readership is usually not very personal for the simple fact that there are millions of readers. Despite the impersonality of big numbers, you can build a community of followers familiar with your work, and maybe even interact with them for support.

But honestly, it's a bit of a problem to come in looking for support from the public. It's a diverse bunch, and for every one that loves what you do, there are others who hate it.

I haven't explored social media as a way of organizing a support group, but there's that route, too.

PS. The basic technique for building support is to publish, and publish, and publish.

 

[SimonDoom]

This is meant to be supportive and helpful, not dismissive. The worst attitude for a newbie author is to come here with great expectations, and then to be negative and cynical about the response. There's an awful lot of that. I'm not saying you're that way, but we DO see a lot of that.

When I started publishing stories almost 6 years ago, I had almost no expectations. I did a lot of homework. I spent 15 years reading Literotica stories before I published one. Once I started writing I joined the Author's Hangout, learned what I could, read "how to" guides written by experienced authors, and closely studied other stories, the category system, and how things happened. I learned from mistakes and profited from what I learned.

I feel much less disappointed in Literotica than many others seem to because I do not expect much out of a site for which I pay nothing. I don't get a great deal of comments, but I get some, and I'm appreciative of what I get.

As to whether the culture gets more supportive over time, I'd say it's totally up to you. I believe I get value from trying to participate in this forum in a constructive way. So I'd say over time it gets better, not worse, but it's definitely the case that the more you give the more you get.

And what NotWise said: the best thing you can do is listen to your muse and keep writing and writing. Nothing else matters as much as that.

 

[TheRescuer]

I agree that the AH and Editors forum has been very helpful to me, both recently and in the past.

On my Sextified account, which I started here in 2007 before jumping to another website, I still try to keep an eye out for new authors needing help in the genres I think I have the most experience with.

Most people there just want a more experienced eye to look over a chapter or opening. To give them the confidence to continue. And I am happy to help whenever I can.

< < < < > > > >

One of the best private comments by a reader at my old website was the 'adamant' insistence that one of my characters would 'never do that!'

I wrote them back and we started a conversation. It lead to me rethinking the backstory the readers had seen and how it CERTAINLY did conflict with what THEY could 'expect' from the posted material.

I indeed hadn't done MY job as an author to prepare them for things to come for that actor.

So for the next few chapters, that reader got to see PDFs early and I used them as a 'proper sounding board' to make sure I steered that story thread back on course.

< < < < > > > >

In my experience, both looking at other authors public comments and my own, most feed back has become limited to:

Great story!
Keep it going!
When's the next one coming out?
Can "A" get together with "B" in the next scene?

< < < < > > > >

I know that it will take time on the new account here to build up a following. I was just wondering how best I could help others, while that process is getting started.

 

[NotWise]

. . .

In my experience, both looking at other authors public comments and my own, most feed back has become limited to:

Great story!
Keep it going!
When's the next one coming out?
Can "A" get together with "B" in the next scene?

< < < < > > > >

I know that it will take time on the new account here to build up a following. I was just wondering how best I could help others, while that process is getting started.

Those are the sort of public comments you can count on. You have to cultivate contacts if you want more than that.

Engaging as a beta reader is probably the best way to help others.

 

[KeithD]

I get valuable support from several named readers who seem to "get" and appreciate my writing. I don't get much in the way of support from those posting to the discussion board.

 

[SamScribble]

I get valuable support from several named readers who seem to "get" and appreciate my writing. I don't get much in the way of support from those posting to the discussion board.

Yes. I seem to have collected five or six readers who 'get' what I write too. In fact, they sometimes see things in what I have written that I didn't especially notice myself. I realise that five or six is not exactly a throng, but then I write what I write, and I really appreciate them.

 

[thomas1965]

How much time and effort are you willing to put into it?
Many authors on Amazon have their own website, accounts on social media, newsletter to keep in touch with their readers.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I know that it will take time on the new account here to build up a following. I was just wondering how best I could help others, while that process is getting started.

Offer to be a beta reader, I'd say.

I had the good fortune, several years ago, and at the point where I thought, "I think I can do this erotica stuff," to have a great pair of beta readers, just when I needed them. They nursed me through the Dark Chronicles, my take on the Arthurian myth, for a year, with just the right balance of enthusiasm and gentle persuasion.

One passes through here on occasion (I have a tribute to her in the second part of The Fantastic Hotel), while the other sadly, no longer writes or communes here. But if I ever get stuck or uncertain, I still think, "What would C or J say?"

Our friendship started here in the AH, and strengthened behind the scenes. I couldn't say now how we started to talk, but we did. I'm a much better writer because of them.