Choosing a story to read

[hairyhead]

How do people decide which story to invest time in and actually read?

My process has been fine tuned over the years I have been exploring Literotica but I still choose some which are not that great.

I have my goto topics - Loving Wives, First Time, E & V, Erotic Coupling. I also have my never touch topics - Gay Male, Taboo/Incest, BDSM, Transgender.

I'll start with the list of new submissions. Then I look at the title and if it suggests, to me, that there is a story to be read I will then look at the author's profile. Once in the profile I'll look at the topics he/she covers and then look at how their stories are rated. If they regularly rate below 3.5 I will, generally, go elsewhere except I may still look at the new story which attracted me in the first place. If it starts with a good introduction I may stay but if it's not to my liking I'll simply go back to the new submissions list.

If the author has a good general rating I'll Follow and then explore the rest of their stories ignoring any which fall under my "never touch" list of topics.

If I find a theme within a story I will, sometimes, then search for that theme and try other authors who incorporate it in their stories.

There are some fantastic stories here and I really appreciate the effort put in by the authors. There is also a lot of poorly written stuff and whilst people need feedback to improve there are some people who, despite feedback, guidance and suggestions, will never produce something worth reading.

 

[UnexpectedLuggage]

I'll usually pop into the categories that interest me and browse through the latest postings. Anything that has a chapter number I tend to avoid, and descriptions help a lot.

That said, I feel like a lot of stories lose me pretty quick for a variety of reasons: no build up or character development, everyone being built like generic porn stars (no, I don't need every girl in a story to have E cups tits, thanks), or just a total lack of detail in the writing.

But when I find something good, they can certainly hook me.

 

[hairyhead]

Completely agree.

 

[Brains_N_Boobs]

Choose wisely my friend!


https://www.literotica.com/s/attorney-cum-laude

 

[Shaglus_Ziegler]

How do people decide which story to invest time in and actually read?

My process has been fine tuned over the years I have been exploring Literotica but I still choose some which are not that great.

I have my goto topics - Loving Wives, First Time, E & V, Erotic Coupling. I also have my never touch topics - Gay Male, Taboo/Incest, BDSM, Transgender.

I'll start with the list of new submissions. Then I look at the title and if it suggests, to me, that there is a story to be read I will then look at the author's profile. Once in the profile I'll look at the topics he/she covers and then look at how their stories are rated. If they regularly rate below 3.5 I will, generally, go elsewhere except I may still look at the new story which attracted me in the first place. If it starts with a good introduction I may stay but if it's not to my liking I'll simply go back to the new submissions list.

If the author has a good general rating I'll Follow and then explore the rest of their stories ignoring any which fall under my "never touch" list of topics.

If I find a theme within a story I will, sometimes, then search for that theme and try other authors who incorporate it in their stories.

There are some fantastic stories here and I really appreciate the effort put in by the authors. There is also a lot of poorly written stuff and whilst people need feedback to improve there are some people who, despite feedback, guidance and suggestions, will never produce something worth reading.

I just look for titles that intrigue me. Sometimes hit gold usually not. Check some of mine!

 

[AG31]

I've tried several approaches, without much success in any. I have very narrow tastes. I started out skimming the new stories in my favorite category, but that led nowhere. My latest planned approach is to look at the favorites of people who have favorited me, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[dirk2024]

One thing to look for is the Story Tags an author may use to help potential readers find their stories when performing a search. See the image below, this is what you'll see when you first open a story. Click on the second image from the left (the one circled in red below). When you click on it, the tags will show. (next image down). Some authors either don't use tags or forget to insert them when they submit for publishing. But it helps me when I am deciding on whether or not to read a story. Some authors get...quite "creative" with their tags. They insert words or phrases that no one is going to use to in a search field. Oh well.

Story tags might also offer words that would be red flags for you, stories to avoid.

 

[StillStunned]

There are some fantastic stories here and I really appreciate the effort put in by the authors. There is also a lot of poorly written stuff and whilst people need feedback to improve there are some people who, despite feedback, guidance and suggestions, will never produce something worth reading.

I'm probably one of the more vocal posters in the Authors' Hangout, and I spend a lot of time going on about "the craft".

But not every writer here feels the same way, and nor does every reader. For a lot of people, it's enough for a story to present a premise that turns them on, and lists the acts and dialogue that move the action forward through the scene. Those writers and readers are happy, from what I can tell, to picture what's happening and fill in the details for themselves.

A sort of written description of a porn clip, as it were. To me, it's not erotica, but for thousands of writers and readers it's all they want from a story.

 

[Andreas_Kreuz]

I have done something very bad: I have configured an AI to pre-read a story for me and look for red flags, rate writing quality, and provide general tagging. The AI is configured so that the stories are not used to train the AI. The output looks like this for a story in the BDSM category:

• Red Flags: probable-objection, psychological-manipulation, boundaries-overrun, consent-under-duress, unable-to-disagree, unable-to-revoke, non-consent, complicit.
• Writing Quality: 2/5. The writing has numerous negative factors, including a choppy and repetitive style, static and one-dimensional characters, and unoriginal metaphors ("my quim was wet," "sins of the flesh," "she-devil"). The story's tone is overtly religious, which is jarring and distracting given the depraved acts described. The author presents the character's internal conflict without any real depth or exploration, and the narrative voice feels unplausibly naive while simultaneously participating in and enjoying the described acts. The prose often uses hackneyed expressions and lacks subtlety.
• Erotic Content: bdsm-metalevel-tags: mdom_fsub, consensual_abuse, bdsm_reflection, dom_reflection, submissive_reflection.
• bdsm-play-tags: slave-trade, tears, spanking, face_slapping, torture, blood, public_display, slave, whore, humiliation, public-humiliation, caging, cuffs, forced_anal, caning, whipping, bondage.
• sexual-practices-tags: penetration, blowjob, anal, cunnilingus, fellatio, rimming, fingering, gagging, titfuck, a2m, a2togm, gangbang, golden_showers, deep_throat, exhibitionism.

 

[NOBGE]

How do people decide which story to invest time in and actually read?

My process has been fine tuned over the years I have been exploring Literotica but I still choose some which are not that great.

I have my goto topics - Loving Wives, First Time, E & V, Erotic Coupling. I also have my never touch topics - Gay Male, Taboo/Incest, BDSM, Transgender.

I'll start with the list of new submissions. Then I look at the title and if it suggests, to me, that there is a story to be read I will then look at the author's profile. Once in the profile I'll look at the topics he/she covers and then look at how their stories are rated. If they regularly rate below 3.5 I will, generally, go elsewhere except I may still look at the new story which attracted me in the first place. If it starts with a good introduction I may stay but if it's not to my liking I'll simply go back to the new submissions list.

If the author has a good general rating I'll Follow and then explore the rest of their stories ignoring any which fall under my "never touch" list of topics.

If I find a theme within a story I will, sometimes, then search for that theme and try other authors who incorporate it in their stories.

There are some fantastic stories here and I really appreciate the effort put in by the authors. There is also a lot of poorly written stuff and whilst people need feedback to improve there are some people who, despite feedback, guidance and suggestions, will never produce something worth reading.

I scroll through the new stories list till I find one that might interest me. Then I click on the author to see how the rest of their stories rate. Low 4’s and below, I skip.

 

[Lifestyle66]

How do people decide which story to invest time in and actually read?

My process has been fine tuned over the years I have been exploring Literotica but I still choose some which are not that great.

I have my goto topics - Loving Wives, First Time, E & V, Erotic Coupling. I also have my never touch topics - Gay Male, Taboo/Incest, BDSM, Transgender.

I'll start with the list of new submissions. Then I look at the title and if it suggests, to me, that there is a story to be read I will then look at the author's profile. Once in the profile I'll look at the topics he/she covers and then look at how their stories are rated. If they regularly rate below 3.5 I will, generally, go elsewhere except I may still look at the new story which attracted me in the first place. If it starts with a good introduction I may stay but if it's not to my liking I'll simply go back to the new submissions list.

If the author has a good general rating I'll Follow and then explore the rest of their stories ignoring any which fall under my "never touch" list of topics.

If I find a theme within a story I will, sometimes, then search for that theme and try other authors who incorporate it in their stories.

There are some fantastic stories here and I really appreciate the effort put in by the authors. There is also a lot of poorly written stuff and whilst people need feedback to improve there are some people who, despite feedback, guidance and suggestions, will never produce something worth reading.

MOST of my 73 stories are in Loving Wives.

But which of the factions of that audience do you fall into: for or against extra-marital sex.

My overall average story rating is 3.66 because I sometimes push the buttons on the 1-bombers. But if you have any appreciation for a long military-oriented "loving Wives" story, try reading "A Band of Sisters and Brothers". (It's 25k words long, but you can take breaks as it's logically broken into five parts within that single story.)

If you really READ it and not merely skim, you'll learn WHY they both behaved the way they do. Then please rate it and leave a comment to tell me you really understood it.

 

[OneEyedSteve]

I read much less since I started writing (which is a bad idea). But generally I try to find stories where there is some sort of development of the scenario before is becomes sexualised (which is how I try to write). I find things a re more exciting if there's a build up