Been a while. How ya been?

[RandomMcHill]

MacHill here.

I was active at literotica about 15-20 years ago, back when we used to write using pencil. Those were the days. Anyway, signed up again, looking for erotica. Been a while. Not sure what has changed, but it seems more subdued than back in the day. Not sure, but it looks like fewer writers here, too, not sure yet-- I got 30K hits in three days on one story back then, not sure if there is enough activity here to interest me further. We shall see.

How ya been?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Not sure, but it looks like fewer writers here, too, not sure yet-- I got 30K hits in three days on one story back then, not sure if there is enough activity here to interest me further. We shall see.

There are multiples more authors, so views may be spread out more among them

 

[Djmac1031]

Welcome back.

The views factor has been a cause for debate around here for ages, but the general consensus is that it really depends on what category you publish in.

Incest rules the roost and will generate the biggest audience the fastest.

I wrote a Mom / Son incest story a couple years ago that amassed 50k views in 24 hours, meanwhile all my others average far, far less.

for details (if you care) see ...

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-great-todd-everman-experiment

 

[lovecraft68]

MacHill here.

I was active at literotica about 15-20 years ago, back when we used to write using pencil. Those were the days. Anyway, signed up again, looking for erotica. Been a while. Not sure what has changed, but it seems more subdued than back in the day. Not sure, but it looks like fewer writers here, too, not sure yet-- I got 30K hits in three days on one story back then, not sure if there is enough activity here to interest me further. We shall see.

How ya been?

Welcome back. The lack of views now compared to then is a result of how much bigger the site is. 20 years ago, there weren't a couple of hundred thousand stories here and far less new ones coming out every day. Any story now is a pebble in the ocean until you build yourself a base.

As for less people here, I agree, there were a lot more folks around in 2010 when I started and up through the 20 'teens'.

There's less now because a lot of members have drifted off and some have passed on. That and the last three years the forum has become more about begging people to read their stories, whining about stats, middle school level humor. drama and forum divide based on who you get along with and who you don't.

There are good people and still some good threads, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're really serious about you're writing.

 

[TheRedLantern]

I wouldn't recommend it if you're really serious about you're writing.

I disagree respectfully with @lovecraft68 on this point. There aren't many substitutes for Literotica and none that approach its size, reach, and usefulness. Perhaps it's not what it once was, but as someone who hasn't seen those days and can't make the comparison, it's still the best game in town.

 

[Rob_Royale]

middle school level humor.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Welcome back! Your query is likely to get as many opinions as there are tastes in erotica, so I encourage you to just take things as they are and draw your own conclusions. It is still worthwhile to post stories here as there is no better alternative for free erotica. There are a lot of very good readers here and they appreciate good work.

 

[TheLobster]

I disagree respectfully with @lovecraft68 on this point. There aren't many substitutes for Literotica and none that approach its size, reach, and usefulness. Perhaps it's not what it once was, but as someone who hasn't seen those days and can't make the comparison, it's still the best game in town.

I read that as referring to AH specifically, which, uh, I can’t say I disagree with.

Sincerely,
Avowed Purveyor of Middle School Humor

 

[caleb35]

MacHill here.

I was active at literotica about 15-20 years ago, back when we used to write using pencil. Those were the days. Anyway, signed up again, looking for erotica. Been a while. Not sure what has changed, but it seems more subdued than back in the day. Not sure, but it looks like fewer writers here, too, not sure yet-- I got 30K hits in three days on one story back then, not sure if there is enough activity here to interest me further. We shall see.

How ya been?

Welcome back. Hard to say precisely if readership is down across the board or not but it definitely seems that way. My own anecdotal experience, I only have one story posted prior to 2020, but that has triple the views of any my other stories posted in 2021 or later. As @Djmac1031 pointed out, views also vary widely depending on category. Still, there’s some nice stuff being posted, and it’s always good to have the input of an older reader who remembers the website back in the day.

 

[lovecraft68]

I disagree respectfully with @lovecraft68 on this point. There aren't many substitutes for Literotica and none that approach its size, reach, and usefulness. Perhaps it's not what it once was, but as someone who hasn't seen those days and can't make the comparison, it's still the best game in town.

I'm not talking about the site itself as a platform to showcase your stories.

I'm talking more about the forum.

The site has writing resources in the sense of a great How To category, but the forum itself is more about fellating each other and drama than anything that's going to make you a better writer.

IMO the only way to really improve is to keep writing, get better with practice. Listening to others changes your natural voice. Go with what you have, you're better off.

Keep in mind writing has long been known as the hobby of the introvert. Its better off that way.

 

[iwatchus]

It predates my involvement beyond as a reader, but I have seen multiple people describe a spike in 2020, during the lockdown. More stories publishing, more readership. Which all makes sense when we had nothing else to do.

 

[caleb35]

It predates my involvement beyond as a reader, but I have seen multiple people describe a spike in 2020, during the lockdown. More stories publishing, more readership. Which all makes sense when we had nothing else to do.

Possibly. My story was published in 2018. However, I don’t know when the bulk of the views of the story came in, so it’s possible a lot of it was in 2020.

 

[ronde]

Welcome back. The lack of views now compared to then is a result of how much bigger the site is. 20 years ago, there weren't a couple of hundred thousand stories here and far less new ones coming out every day. Any story now is a pebble in the ocean until you build yourself a base.

As for less people here, I agree, there were a lot more folks around in 2010 when I started and up through the 20 'teens'.

There's less now because a lot of members have drifted off and some have passed on. That and the last three years the forum has become more about begging people to read their stories, whining about stats, middle school level humor. drama and forum divide based on who you get along with and who you don't.

There are good people and still some good threads, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're really serious about you're writing.

I have to agree that the site has changed since I joined in 2000. I was just a reader for a year and while there were a lot of stories on the site compared to other similar sites, I don't remember so many being published per day. The number of stories were low enough that stories Laurel thought were particularly good got a little green "E" denoting editor's choice. Those seem to have disappeared.

The other change I have seen is in the forums and particularly the Author's Hangout. The Author's Hangout used to have the same threads about which category has the most readers, which category gets the most votes, etc., but a huge part of the threads were about writing techniques. Although I took a couple writing courses in college, they were designed to teach what I'll call "business writing". It was on this forum that I learned most of what I know about writing fiction, and I learned it from several really great writers. The game threads seemed to be more on the General Board and while there was some self-promotion, most of the threads were fairly technical in nature and most threads didn't degenerate into a poster trying to impress me with his/her witty additions.

I believe it was Killer_Muffin who started a thread in the Author's Hangout for writers to submit their stories for a formal review and comments by other authors. That was where most of the "Please read my story" threads went.

There were also some really good "How To" stories about writing in general and writing in specific genre. What I see in the "How To" genre now seems to be more along the line of "How to (fill in your favorite fetish or sex act here)."

 

[JimmyFlagstaff1964]

MacHill here.

I was active at literotica about 15-20 years ago, back when we used to write using pencil. Those were the days. Anyway, signed up again, looking for erotica. Been a while. Not sure what has changed, but it seems more subdued than back in the day. Not sure, but it looks like fewer writers here, too, not sure yet-- I got 30K hits in three days on one story back then, not sure if there is enough activity here to interest me further. We shall see.

How ya been?

Dave Mason??

 

[RandomMcHill]

My, what an active forum. I have one story pending, with lots in the pipeline, looking to see if my style is well-met. My work shall be well-polished, and rather conservative in comparison to the current rage. We shall see. Thanks for the warm welcome. Please review my stories and help me become an improved writer. HUGS
PS Might add I am dyslexic, with a life-long struggle to improve my writing skill sets, which is why I try. Done well with fiction, now erotica, with my panicle topic soon to be realized: comedy. It's the irony in erotica and comedy that make it the most difficult medium, especially with a brain that is more apt to process music instead of language. hhehe

 

[AwkwardMD]

The site has writing resources in the sense of a great How To category, but the forum itself is more about fellating each other and drama than anything that's going to make you a better writer.

Some of us are basically war criminals (by which I mean they put pinapple on pizza)