First Submission to LW - Donning Nomex Suit Now!

[MrPixel]

Obviously it's going to be a few days before it's up, but I just uploaded a story to LW. Same characters and similar settings as my GS material, but the plot was truly LW, being the F character was the only F.

Besides the usual warnings here about the incels and BTB factions, I'm testing these particular waters for a few things. First is writing style. So far most of my stories have been in first-person narrative. Last week I posted one in first-person conversational, and it has not scored nearly as well as my other stuff. It did get a couple of one-bombs in the first couple of days and currently only has 12 votes, so the malicious votes are going to tilt that scale until... whenever. Anyway, the LW story is back to narrative, so we'll see how it does.

Story origins - my narrative stories have been largely about true experiences, anonymized, of course, some with minor embellishment. The lower-scoring story was wishful fiction, but after a higher-scoring origin story, also fiction. The new LW story is from real life.

Comments - mentioned elsewhere, my stories in GS generate very few comments. LW appears to draw more. Is it the audience?

Ripple effects - Will posting to LW amount to being whack-a-mole, where the malicious scorers target the other stuff now that I'm on their radar?

I write for the enjoyment of walking down memory lane in my autumn years, with the recent addition of fiction narrating a "coulda been, if..." alternate reality. So scoring and comments don't mean a lot to me other than a "gee, thanks!" or "well, maybe I should have kept that to myself" dichotomy.

 

[MajorRewrite]

Best wishes. The Loving Wives category isn’t quite as rough as some people like to make it out to be. If you look at the category’s list of highest rated stories in the last 12 months, you’ll see all kinds of stuff that succeeded.

The LW stories that consistently seem to get voted down hard have a gay element or humiliation of the lead male character.

And don’t be too concerned if your story receives a low rating in the first few hours. That’s when the nuts come out. Your rating will trend upward and eventually the 1-bombs will be swept away.

Getting lots of comments is fun. The truly lunatic ones can be hilarious! Cheers.

 

[TxRad]

If you really want to see the fangs come out, murder the abusive asshole husband.... Uh main male character.

 

[MrPixel]

TOTALLY off-topic... but I have to ask somebody since I can't find anything in the forum FAQ, instructions or anywhere else, and the forum help topic area refers to something that isn't there:

How in the heck do you upload an avatar here? I have almost 20 years on forums using this particular software package, and there is NOTHING in the User CP for changing avatars or other profile details. Is this feature broken? Or do I need 2000 posts before being allowed to do it?

Like a steering wheel in my pants, it's driving me nuts!

 

[Agiel]

How in the heck do you upload an avatar here? Like a steering wheel in my pants, it's driving me nuts!

You have to have posted 100 times before you can upload an avatar. Which is why I haven’t got one.

 

[MrPixel]

Thanks!

 

[MrPixel]

OK, I have written a BTB/humiliation story. Do I upload?

In a lunatic pique of consciousness last night, I wrote a short but powerful tale about a wife stepping out on her husband early in their marriage, perfecting the ability to hide the extracurricular activities over the course of several years, and never revealing any of it until a fateful event precipitated by their marriage counselor. There is one minor and one major sex scene, both short, the major one especially erotic but with dire consequences for the protagonist.

I am torn whether to upload. It is a true story from 40 years ago, and I am naming names (first names only), places and events. Anonymizing any of it alters its value, at least to me. The six named characters would recognize the story, but that's about it. The principal antagonist can be "outed" through a mention of his (very famous) work and work product; I am debating altering this mention to keep the lawyers at bay should somebody associated with the work product be a reader here.

Should I upload? With/without alterations?

 

[windar]

In a lunatic pique of consciousness last night, I wrote a short but powerful tale about a wife stepping out on her husband early in their marriage, perfecting the ability to hide the extracurricular activities over the course of several years, and never revealing any of it until a fateful event precipitated by their marriage counselor. There is one minor and one major sex scene, both short, the major one especially erotic but with dire consequences for the protagonist.

I am torn whether to upload. It is a true story from 40 years ago, and I am naming names (first names only), places and events. Anonymizing any of it alters its value, at least to me. The six named characters would recognize the story, but that's about it. The principal antagonist can be "outed" through a mention of his (very famous) work and work product; I am debating altering this mention to keep the lawyers at bay should somebody associated with the work product be a reader here.

Should I upload? With/without alterations?

I really don't know why you would do that, even if you change the names, which would be the minimum you should do. You should also change the details enough that if those involved read it they might wonder, but couldn't be sure it was them. If that makes the story less interesting to you, too bad.

Legal issues aside, why hurt real people by exposing them on a public site? I've done many nasty things to fictional characters in stories, but to potentially hurt a real person is something I would try my best to avoid.

 

[MrPixel]

OK, thanks to both. I posted here because cooler heads would and should prevail. I will alter names and the identifying work product enough to mask the timeline, but the general location is significant to the story; events would be unlikely to impossible if located anywhere else.

As far as "shaming" goes, highly unlikely any involved are LitE readers, nor could anybody else discern from the names and settings who they were. That would be akin to a 1:10,000,000 possibility. If it came to pass, with odds like that I should go buy a PowerBall ticket.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I don't think Lit allows for 'real' stories with people being named and shamed

Yeah, some authors have mentioned getting rejections for claiming their stories as "true". Presumably Lit doesn't want to get mixed up in potential defamation/breach of privacy lawsuits. Even if the risk for any one story is low, when there are a lot of stories posted here it starts to add up.

 

[KeithD]

I am torn whether to upload. It is a true story from 40 years ago, and I am naming names (first names only), places and events. Anonymizing any of it alters its value, at least to me.

No, and it's not worth the risk. If you can't simply change names and locations, you have too much tied up in it and aren't fairly considering others originally involved.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Obviously it's going to be a few days before it's up, but I just uploaded a story to LW. Same characters and similar settings as my GS material, but the plot was truly LW, being the F character was the only F.

Besides the usual warnings here about the incels and BTB factions, I'm testing these particular waters for a few things. First is writing style. So far most of my stories have been in first-person narrative. Last week I posted one in first-person conversational, and it has not scored nearly as well as my other stuff. It did get a couple of one-bombs in the first couple of days and currently only has 12 votes, so the malicious votes are going to tilt that scale until... whenever. Anyway, the LW story is back to narrative, so we'll see how it does.

Story origins - my narrative stories have been largely about true experiences, anonymized, of course, some with minor embellishment. The lower-scoring story was wishful fiction, but after a higher-scoring origin story, also fiction. The new LW story is from real life.

Comments - mentioned elsewhere, my stories in GS generate very few comments. LW appears to draw more. Is it the audience?

Ripple effects - Will posting to LW amount to being whack-a-mole, where the malicious scorers target the other stuff now that I'm on their radar?

I write for the enjoyment of walking down memory lane in my autumn years, with the recent addition of fiction narrating a "coulda been, if..." alternate reality. So scoring and comments don't mean a lot to me other than a "gee, thanks!" or "well, maybe I should have kept that to myself" dichotomy.

Good luck with your LW story.

When the dust settles after a week or two, the average for the top 25 LW stories is a 3.57 rating. So, after Laurel and Manu scrape a few dozen 1's, if you rate that well, it's a good story. But expect comments from the haters.

As one beta reader advised me: post it to LW if it belongs there and just live with the consequences. I like to think of that as "Look on the brighter side of that outhouse."

 

[MrPixel]

FWIW, after sleeping on it again I've decided to leave the BTB/humiliation story in the can even after anonymizing it. It is still a compelling drama and cautionary tale, with a strong eroticism that was not a made-up fantasy.

The decision was made after letting it sit for a few hours after the changes, re-reading and then realizing I was wallowing in it. I'll reconsider after it mellows a while in the barrel and I feel better, and can tone it down.

 

[lovecraft68]

FWIW, after sleeping on it again I've decided to leave the BTB/humiliation story in the can even after anonymizing it. It is still a compelling drama and cautionary tale, with a strong eroticism that was not a made-up fantasy.

The decision was made after letting it sit for a few hours after the changes, re-reading and then realizing I was wallowing in it. I'll reconsider after it mellows a while in the barrel and I feel better, and can tone it down.

I think that's the issue with the LW readership in general, they wallow. They wallow in bitterness, in their hatred, in their self loathing and inadequacy, then take it out on fictional characters and the authors that write them.

If your story is really that much of a story it would go over their heads anyway, spending most of their time on four legs they're not very tall.

 

[Lifestyle66]

FWIW, after sleeping on it again I've decided to leave the BTB/humiliation story in the can even after anonymizing it. It is still a compelling drama and cautionary tale, with a strong eroticism that was not a made-up fantasy.

The decision was made after letting it sit for a few hours after the changes, re-reading and then realizing I was wallowing in it. I'll reconsider after it mellows a while in the barrel and I feel better, and can tone it down.

After re-reading your original post on this thread, I would advise being careful about writing stories of real-life experiences if it's a cathartic exercise, particularly in the LW category. Their comments are aimed at Burn-the-Bitch.

 

[MrPixel]

After re-reading your original post on this thread, I would advise being careful about writing stories of real-life experiences if it's a cathartic exercise, particularly in the LW category. Their comments are aimed at Burn-the-Bitch.

Yeah, the second story I mentioned that's going to stay in the can and mellow is definitely cathartic. I'm backing off of it even further having done a little more research into the zeitgeist of the 1980s. Back then, easy access to cocaine and irresponsible sexual behavior went hand-in-hand, and addiction to either or both defined the crushing end of innumerable relationships.

 

[MrPixel]

... I just uploaded a story to LW. Same characters and similar settings as my GS material, but the plot was truly LW, being the F character was the only F.

Besides the usual warnings here about the incels and BTB factions, I'm testing these particular waters for a few things. ...

Wow. It's been up for... five hours?... and the one-bombers immediately came out in full force, 47 votes so far, and not even breaking a '2'. A couple of negative comments already, too, both laughable. Entertaining laughable. My GS material never gets this kind of response.

These guys, and I safely presume it's all guys, have a pretty distorted and troubling worldview, evidently. Just like everybody said. I take solace in their incel-ness, as they must be incels for very good reasons. A Mr. Charles R. Darwin had a little bit to say about that.

It appears that the haters are not yet targeting my GS stories, they have been untouched at this point. Fingers crossed.

And thank you, @Djmac1031! Appreciated!