Do you have a writing death wish like me?

[EmilyMiller]

Why do I think I have a death wish?

Speaking reverse chronologically (and skipping over a few crowd-pleasers) I have recently written:

1. A Lesbian Sex story with - so far (I have only published two chapters to date) - no lesbian sex
2. An Incest & Taboo story with a robustly negative view of father / daughter incest and an, at best, twisted view of sisterly sibcest
3. Twenty 750 word stories - that format is so universally unpopular it’s kinda scary
4. A Loving Wives story about a married sex worker
5. A Non-con / Reluctance story in which the only real coercion the FMC faces is her own abysmal self-esteem

Thing is, none of the above were intentionally provocative. They were just stories I wanted to tell.

Now I know some authors spend time figuring out their market and then giving it just what it wants. There is an undeniable skill to that. It takes talent and discipline to pull off. But… I seem to be drawn to the opposite - telling stories that are likely to find, at best, a narrow audience. And often to draw a hostile reaction.

Now I don’t want to over-stress this. A counter example is my Eden Baker stories which are very attuned to an E/V audience - mostly due to @Djmac1031’s input. And my Angel and Demons stories don’t run counter to a SciFi / Fantasy vibe. But, I find more and more of my work is niche, not because it features lesbian piss-drinking (which it does - thanks mostly to @EStaccato), but because I’m writing stories in which the sex is something secondary to the plot. And I find I’m worrying about the plot and the pre-sex human interactions much more.

Am I just contrarian, or do you do the same?

Emily

 

[samhasstories]

My erotica is generally pretty basic. But I can relate to the impulse from other writing I do. I write things because I think writing them would be an interesting experience, or I want to see what I can do with turning some tropes and expectations on their head. Once I write them, I want them to be read, and I want people to like them. But I don't write them with other people in mind at all.

I don't write erotica with readers in mind either. I write it for me. But I haven't done as much experimentation in this world, with the possible exception of the one 750-word story I did. I write what turns me on, and it just so happens that seems to turn on some readers as well. So I haven't - yet - seemed to really piss anyone off, apart from anyone who may have gotten impatient when I didn't post anything for three-plus years in there between 2019 and 2023.

All that to say, I do the same, but you have to take my word for it, because around here I'm a basic vanilla crowd pleaser, writing strokers for the sticky masses.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm a basic vanilla crowd pleaser, writing strokers for the sticky masses.

I do that too. And just recently. And more than one story. But I find this is nowadays mostly blowing off steam while writing stuff I’m more invested in.

And what I’m invested in seems to fit poorly into the categories, or to be tweaks on them. I’m gonna end up in Novels and Novellas at this rate.

Emily

 

[samhasstories]

I do that too. And just recently. And more than one story. But I find this is nowadays mostly blowing off steam while writing stuff I’m more invested in.

And what I’m invested in seems to fit poorly into the categories, or to be tweaks on them. I’m gonna end up in Novels and Novellas at this rate.

Emily

I'd say that's a good thing. That's how writers get better. You start writing following all the rules - whether it's grammar or kink - and you write between the lines, then after awhile you start to figure out which rules you want to break. And the more you do it the more you figure out how to break them to good effect. There's an audience for that. They might be few, but they are mighty*.

* I don't know if they're actually mighty. But it was fun to say.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I don't know if they're actually mighty. But it was fun to say.

 

[Bazzle]

I publish on a erotica site and I tend to cut the sex?

 

[EmilyMiller]

I publish on an erotica site and I tend to cut the sex?

I’ve got multiple stories with sex in the first sentence. But I write less of them as I go along.

 

[Djmac1031]

Am I just contrarian, or do you do the same?

I don't know that it's "contrarian." Different from the usual, or from what is expected, maybe.

I think the only time I intentionally pushed against the grain was My Daughter The Nudist.

Readers certainly expected father / daughter sex despite my clear hint of putting it in EV that wasn't gonna happen.

Fortunately most readers did get my intent and rolled with it.

There's plenty of tropes here. Plenty of us who write them. No shame in it. Not mocking anyone for it. I've written plenty of them myself.

But there's nothing wrong with going against the expectations of any given trope, category, kink, etc.

Sometimes the story dictates something different.

Some readers might not get it. Like your incest story. But that's okay. The story just wasn't for them, then.

It was for the readers who found it and had it speak to them.

 

[mpeters]

I think I know the feeling, my one incest story, “The Crazy Days,” was written as an experiment, to see if I could write a good incest story and also provide a solid reason for why it happened aside from the characters all happening to have that same kink. I even threw in a major clue early on as to what was happening, for anyone who could pick up on it. That doesn’t mean I held back on the sex scenes, and the readers seemed to have enjoyed it, but enough people didn’t like the ending (which revealed the why and has the characters trying to deal with what happened) that it’s my only story that doesn’t have the H rating. But it’s okay!

 

[EmilyMiller]

I don't know that it's "contrarian." Different from the usual, or from what is expected, maybe.

I think the only time I intentionally pushed against the grain was My Daughter The Nudist.

Readers certainly expected father / daughter sex despite my clear hint of putting it in EV that wasn't gonna happen.

Fortunately most readers did get my intent and rolled with it.

There's plenty of tropes here. Plenty of us who write them. No shame in it. Not mocking anyone for it. I've written plenty of them myself.

But there's nothing wrong with going against the expectations of any given trope, category, kink, etc.

Sometimes the story dictates something different.

Some readers might not get it. Like your incest story. But that's okay. The story just wasn't for them, then.

It was for the readers who found it and had it speak to them.

We just need to write Traffic 3 you mean

Emily

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I always said my writing was experimental. I don't read enough here to really compare my work and see where it stands. There's generally more to them than sex and the sex happens when it should ideally. Maybe I'm just an aquired taste... like vegimite.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I think I know the feeling, my one incest story, “The Crazy Days,” was written as an experiment, to see if I could write a good incest story and also provide a solid reason for why it happened aside from the characters all happening to have that same kink. I even threw in a major clue early on as to what was happening, for anyone who could pick up on it. That doesn’t mean I held back on the sex scenes, and the readers seemed to have enjoyed it, but enough people didn’t like the ending (which revealed the why and has the characters trying to deal with what happened) that it’s my only story that doesn’t have the H rating. But it’s okay!

Sounds spookily familar

Emily

 

[Djmac1031]

We just need to write Traffic 3 you mean

Emily

I already pitched you my idea for it.

Ready whenever you are I suppose.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I already pitched you my idea for it.

Ready whenever you are I suppose.

I need to finish Bouncing Back - can’t leave the same obscene gap as between Ch 1 and Ch 2.

Would be fun then

 

[ElectricBlue]

Am I just contrarian, or do you do the same?

My favourite comments run along the lines of, "That's not the usual story you find around here. Thanks for writing something different."

The last thing I ever want is to write stories like everybody else does.

That's one of the reasons I hardly ever enter Contests. The other reason is, I'm not good at imposing deadlines on my writing.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Most everything I wrote early on could have ended my career as a writer before it ever started. On another discussion board, I was called, "A minor female writer based in Oklahoma. Possessing a merger talent and overly violent imagination which she, all too freely and often, puts down in print."

I felt like, "Dagger meet heart! Heart, prepare to be stabbed."

 

[EmilyMiller]

Most everything I wrote early on could have ended my career as a writer before it ever started. On another discussion board, I was called, "A minor female writer based in Oklahoma. Possessing a merger talent and overly violent imagination which she, all too freely and often, puts down in print."

I felt like, "Dagger meet heart! Heart, prepare to be stabbed."

People suck don’t they? The idea of actually encouraging talent is totally foreign to some.

Emily

 

[Cagivagurl]

Why do I think I have a death wish?

Speaking reverse chronologically (and skipping over a few crowd-pleasers) I have recently written:

1. A Lesbian Sex story with - so far (I have only published two chapters to date) - no lesbian sex
2. An Incest & Taboo story with a robustly negative view of father / daughter incest and an, at best, twisted view of sisterly sibcest
3. Twenty 750 word stories - that format is so universally unpopular it’s kinda scary
4. A Loving Wives story about a married sex worker
5. A Non-con / Reluctance story in which the only real coercion the FMC faces is her own abysmal self-esteem

Thing is, none of the above were intentionally provocative. They were just stories I wanted to tell.

Now I know some authors spend time figuring out their market and then giving it just what it wants. There is an undeniable skill to that. It takes talent and discipline to pull off. But… I seem to be drawn to the opposite - telling stories that are likely to find, at best, a narrow audience. And often to draw a hostile reaction.

Now I don’t want to over-stress this. A counter example is my Eden Baker stories which are very attuned to an E/V audience - mostly due to @Djmac1031’s input. And my Angel and Demons stories don’t run counter to a SciFi / Fantasy vibe. But, I find more and more of my work is niche, not because it features lesbian piss-drinking (which it does - thanks mostly to @EStaccato), but because I’m writing stories in which the sex is something secondary to the plot. And I find I’m worrying about the plot and the pre-sex human interactions much more.

Am I just contrarian, or do you do the same?

Emily

I produce stories in several different categories, and many don't have a lot, or any sex contained within.
Personally, I have always valued the story over the sex.
Sometimes it is through obligation that I include a sex scene. It is after all an erotic story site.
There is a rebellious streak within me that pushes me to try and be different. I could follow the plot lines and produce what others have done.
My preference is to colour outside the lines, be inventive.
Off course that means you ruffle a few feathers... So be it.
I have said many times in here. I write for myself. For my own pleasure and entertainment.
I don't care about scores, or whether it will be well received. It is just a story...
If you enjoy what you write. You have achieved success.

Cagivagurl

 

[MillieDynamite]

Ummm, some do!

People suck don’t they? The idea of actually encouraging talent is totally foreign to some.

Emily

 

[Zootonius]

Why do I think I have a death wish?


Emily

So, the Liebestod of Literotica?

 

[EmilyMiller]

So, the Liebestod of Literotica?

Not a Wagner girl - Fidelio is about as far as I go with opera.

Emily

 

[Rob_Royale]

I think you've just gotten to the point where you are writing to entertain yourself. I've recently arrived in that special place myself and it's very liberating.

 

[Zootonius]

Not a Wagner girl - Fidelio is about as far as I go with opera.

Emily

What's not to like. Plenty of incest in the ring cycle.

As Anna Russell put it, "Sigmund runs off with Hunding's wife, Siglinda, which is immoral. And she's his sister, which is illegal!"

 

[darkride]

Why do I think I have a death wish?

1. A Lesbian Sex story with - so far (I have only published two chapters to date) - no lesbian sex
2. An Incest & Taboo story with a robustly negative view of father / daughter incest and an, at best, twisted view of sisterly sibcest
3. Twenty 750 word stories - that format is so universally unpopular it’s kinda scary
4. A Loving Wives story about a married sex worker
5. A Non-con / Reluctance story in which the only real coercion the FMC faces is her own abysmal self-esteem

Thing is, none of the above were intentionally provocative. They were just stories I wanted to tell.

Ok, I gotta laugh at that.

Like you, I write a story. I don't write to a market. Stories pop into my head, and that is what the story is.

I think this site in particular has its own quirks regarding particular story-types - presumably groups of people who like to hang out and make sure that they "own" their particular haunt, and enforce their will and opinions on anyone who ventures therein. And - hey - that's the online world for you. In fact - that's just humanity for you, really.

It sounds like you're embracing your own particular approach not just to writing, but accepting that publishing those stories here could result in less than desirable results. And good on you for taking that stance. You're a writer, sharing your words with the world. Not everyone can do that.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Why do I think I have a death wish?

Speaking reverse chronologically (and skipping over a few crowd-pleasers) I have recently written:

1. A Lesbian Sex story with - so far (I have only published two chapters to date) - no lesbian sex
2. An Incest & Taboo story with a robustly negative view of father / daughter incest and an, at best, twisted view of sisterly sibcest
3. Twenty 750 word stories - that format is so universally unpopular it’s kinda scary
4. A Loving Wives story about a married sex worker
5. A Non-con / Reluctance story in which the only real coercion the FMC faces is her own abysmal self-esteem

Thing is, none of the above were intentionally provocative. They were just stories I wanted to tell.

Now I know some authors spend time figuring out their market and then giving it just what it wants. There is an undeniable skill to that. It takes talent and discipline to pull off. But… I seem to be drawn to the opposite - telling stories that are likely to find, at best, a narrow audience. And often to draw a hostile reaction.

Now I don’t want to over-stress this. A counter example is my Eden Baker stories which are very attuned to an E/V audience - mostly due to @Djmac1031’s input. And my Angel and Demons stories don’t run counter to a SciFi / Fantasy vibe. But, I find more and more of my work is niche, not because it features lesbian piss-drinking (which it does - thanks mostly to @EStaccato), but because I’m writing stories in which the sex is something secondary to the plot. And I find I’m worrying about the plot and the pre-sex human interactions much more.

Am I just contrarian, or do you do the same?

Emily

Probably I have, if you see the kerfuffle I started in the Story Feedback section recently. Lovecraft helped bail me out on that one. Next up is an incest story with a stepmom, not a real mom. We'll see how that goes. There are others I could mention.

When you wrote death wish, I thought of this. Yeah, a lot of the stations still had incandescent bulbs; it was a bit dim down there. And there's the long gone AA 8th Avenue local.