Category Confusion

[sistemic]

I hope this isn't too much of a repetition of other threads, but it would be really helpful to have some general advice for writers on here about categories.

I know some people always stay within a category or categories, and others look for story tags. But when does erotic couplings become loving wives, or romance? When does a May to December affair become a romance story, or an interracial one?

The background: I'm currently obsessed with writing a story about a lonely, sexually frustrated divorcee who begins to find her liberation from her marriage and her loneliness. It begins with an anonymous encounter, and her desires for doing something transgressive. But it turns into a love story.

Is it common to put different chapters of a series in different categories?

What is your experience as authors (I'm a complete noob) as to how different things go down in different categories? I'm a complete romantic as a writer, so it's slightly obvious where the story will go just by the way I write I think, but nevertheless the story does have some deliberately "down and dirty" encounters.

I'd really appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Bazzle]

EC is when you don't have a wife in the story?

 

[anthrodisiac]

My rule of thumb is whatever the biggest element of the story that has a corresponding Lit category is usually where a story ought to end up. So if romance is the big draw and focus, it should be in Romance, if the age element is the biggest, then Mature, etc. Obviously, there are plenty of exceptions and it can be tricky to determine which one it is, but generally speaking, it's the element that, if removed, would most change/ruin the story.

To me, it sounds like your story should probably be in Romance, even if the initial chapters aren't necessarily Romance. If it winds up being that, then it'll fit most neatly. But if you want to have the series across multiple chapters, then probably EC or Mature until you get to the more romance-heavy chapters. I think Romance readers on Lit are pretty used to seeing slow-burn romances, but I'm not well-versed in that category, this is just the vibe I've gotten based on what others have said.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I hope this isn't too much of a repetition of other threads, but it would be really helpful to have some general advice for writers on here about categories.

I know some people always stay within a category or categories, and others look for story tags. But when does erotic couplings become loving wives, or romance? When does a May to December affair become a romance story, or an interracial one?

Determine the major theme of your story, and choose a single category accordingly.

The background: I'm currently obsessed with writing a story about a lonely, sexually frustrated divorcee who begins to find her liberation from her marriage and her loneliness. It begins with an anonymous encounter, and her desires for doing something transgressive. But it turns into a love story.

Romance or Erotic Couplings, based on that description.

Is it common to put different chapters of a series in different categories?

It is, but it's not recommended. Category stalwarts won't always follow a story into other categories.

Look at it this way - do you find individual chapters of printed novels on different shelves in the library or the bookshop? No, you don't. The same principle applies to any story, I reckon.

What is your experience as authors (I'm a complete noob) as to how different things go down in different categories? I'm a complete romantic as a writer, so it's slightly obvious where the story will go just by the way I write I think, but nevertheless the story does have some deliberately "down and dirty" encounters.

There's your answer.

My suggestion (not being a category specific writer, but with 140 or so chapters/stories in half the Lit categories) is: don't be influenced by what folk think should be be in this category or that category, but trust your own instincts. If you're still in doubt, read a bunch of stories in the various options, and make your own mind up.

 

[sirhugs]

Likely not an issue for you, but there are some categories which are "trump" categories. For instance, any bit of incest should land the story in Taboo/Incest.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Likely not an issue for you, but there are some categories which are "trump" categories. For instance, any bit of incest should land the story in Taboo/Incest.

"Should" being the operative word. Incest isn't always the auto-category thing most people think it is. I've got half a dozen stories where incest is a sub-theme, but they sit in other categories (my preferred choices) with a Author's or Editor's note at the top, "This story contains incest themes."

 

[sirhugs]

"Should" being the operative word. Incest isn't always the auto-category thing most people think it is. I've got half a dozen stories where incest is a sub-theme, but they sit in other categories (my preferred choices) with a Author's or Editor's note at the top, "This story contains incest themes."

On the other hand, Laurel may put stories in the T/I category if she believes they belong there, regardless of what category you pick.

this has happened to me with It Ain't Incest If..., and its sequel, despite the fact that in both stories, the parents annd daughter were on opposite sides of the bedroom wall, just listening and roleplaying.

 

[ElectricBlue]

On the other hand, Laurel may put stories in the T/I category if she believes they belong there, regardless of what category you pick.

True, but the fact remains, it's not the absolute trump category some folk think it is.

this has happened to me with It Ain't Incest If..., and its sequel, despite the fact that in both stories, the parents annd daughter were on opposite sides of the bedroom wall, just listening and roleplaying.

What were the major themes of the story? The title tells me you're baiting the dog...

 

[sirhugs]

True, but the fact remains, it's not the absolute trump category some folk think it is.

What were the major themes of the story? The title tells me you're baiting the dog...

Mom and Dad listen to daughter masturbate through the wall, then Mom roleplays that she is daughter having sex with Dad. In the sequel, it is from daughter's POV listening to Mom and Dad.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Mom and Dad listen to daughter masturbate through the wall, then Mom roleplays that she is daughter having sex with Dad. In the sequel, it is from daughter's POV listening to Mom and Dad.

I can see why Laurel placed it into the category. Couldn't be much else, really.

 

[sirhugs]

I can see why Laurel placed it into the category. Couldn't be much else, really.

it was a long time ago. I think I submitted part one as EC. I was trying to avoid T/I to not attract negative votes and comments by readers expecting the parents, or at least Dad, to actually have sex with daughter.

 

[FromManyOne]

EC is when you don't have a wife in the story?

I would put a hot encounter between a married couple in EC, since LW seems to always mean "adultery" in 2026.

(I don't know if a hot encounter among a married polycule would be EC or GS. Would depend on the way it plays out, I guess.)

 

[bmeyem8]

You can put the same story in different categories. I've done it several times. In my cases I simply added an (M) mature or (T/I) after the original title and changed the category to whatever when I submitted the story ( one submission for LW , a 2nd or 3rd for different categories. I never heard of this being possible until I tried it, but I did try it and it works

 

[ElectricBlue]

You can put the same story in different categories. I've done it several times. In my cases I simply added an (M) mature or (T/I) after the original title and changed the category to whatever when I submitted the story ( one submission for LW , a 2nd or 3rd for different categories. I never heard of this being possible until I tried it, but I did try it and it works

That's odd. Usually the site will reject duplicate stories, but I guess, how does it know, if they're (re)submitted over a period of time?

 

[NotWise]

Back to the original question for a moment...

Tx_Tall_Tales Love Your Readers: Categories is the long-standing best resource on how to select a story's category.

Advice from Tx_Tall_Tales' essay is embedded in some of the discussion above.

Tx_Tall_Tales wasn't familiar with the Romance category, so I'll add that being "romantic," however you perceive that, is generally not sufficient for the category.

Readers of Romance include a prominent cadre that down-votes stories they don't believe fit in the category. The safest approach is to follow the formula for a mainstream Romance. More generally, relationship should be the focus of the story and the ending should be emotionally rewarding for the reader. That usually means a happy ending, but that isn't the only kind of ending that works.

The story described in the OP may end well enough, but beginning with a need satisfied with anonymous sex will probably not make Romance readers happy. Erotic Coupling may be a better choice for that story. Erotic Coupling has more stories than any other category. Inexperienced authors, especially, tend to post there. It's a convenient catch-all category. The problem is that there aren't a lot of readers, and stories can fall through the cracks. It's good to have an attention-getting title and short description when you post there.

I've never posted different parts of a story in different categories. Other authors' experiences vary. It may be a way to lose your readers.

 

[AG31]

I hope this isn't too much of a repetition of other threads, but it would be really helpful to have some general advice for writers on here about categories.

I know some people always stay within a category or categories, and others look for story tags. But when does erotic couplings become loving wives, or romance? When does a May to December affair become a romance story, or an interracial one?

The background: I'm currently obsessed with writing a story about a lonely, sexually frustrated divorcee who begins to find her liberation from her marriage and her loneliness. It begins with an anonymous encounter, and her desires for doing something transgressive. But it turns into a love story.

Is it common to put different chapters of a series in different categories?

What is your experience as authors (I'm a complete noob) as to how different things go down in different categories? I'm a complete romantic as a writer, so it's slightly obvious where the story will go just by the way I write I think, but nevertheless the story does have some deliberately "down and dirty" encounters.

I'd really appreciate your thoughts.

Another illustration of why categories should either be about identities or behaviors. They shouldn't have been mixed.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Just because the site allows for different pieces of a story to be published in different categories doesn't mean that you should.

@ElectricBlue has provided the most sage advice on the subject. Finish the story and then the overriding theme for the work as a whole should be evident, and what you use for all of its pieces.

I will add, as I have in similar threads, that the site treats stories written serially (chapter stories) the same as an episodic series of stand alone stories. They are not the same. A chapter cannot stand on its own and should be categorized based upon the story as a whole. A stand-alone episode within a series can exist without any other pieces, and thus could be placed into a different category from other episodes.