Frustrated author asks fo advice

[djrip]

I feel like stepmom and such can do well, at least some of my favorites have gone that route. The Man of the House by BadPup. Stepmom and stepsister. Daddy Needs his Blowjob by dannyboy111. Though that one was step-daughter. There are different dynamics to explore, stepmom might be only a few years older, for instance. Stepsister might be uninterested in getting to know new brother at first. I've considered writing a Brady bunch style blended family with (adult) step siblings all hooking up, maybe, some day.

 

[PandemicReader8]

Advice given me by a long time mentor.

"Sculptors will tell you that the secret to creating art is to select your stone, then remove every piece that does not convey the desired image.

Writing is much the same. We pick our story, be it scene or the entire plot; this is our stone. Then we take a mass of words and remove every one of them that does not contribute meaningfully to story."

She was talking primarily about editing, but I think it's fair to say, picking your stone and remaining true to it matters.

 

[KeithD]

I can't say that my writing goes in that direction. it builds rather than taking away.

 

[SimonDoom]

Advice given me by a long time mentor.

"Sculptors will tell you that the secret to creating art is to select your stone, then remove every piece that does not convey the desired image.

This reminds me of a joke I always liked from a book I had as a kid, called The Dinosaur Joke Book.

The joke was, one guy asks another, "How do you sculpt a dinosaur?" The other guy says, "Simple. Start with a block of stone and chip away everything that doesn't look like a dinosaur."

 

[Euphony]

I feel like stepmom and such can do well, at least some of my favorites have gone that route. The Man of the House by BadPup. Stepmom and stepsister. Daddy Needs his Blowjob by dannyboy111. Though that one was step-daughter. There are different dynamics to explore, stepmom might be only a few years older, for instance. Stepsister might be uninterested in getting to know new brother at first. I've considered writing a Brady bunch style blended family with (adult) step siblings all hooking up, maybe, some day.

Can, but on the whole will preform worse than similar quality sanguine siblings.

Sure, there are quality examples but I'd say you are a quality over details expectations met reader.

We are higher in number than it might feel but outmanned by the quick, dirty, and I'm out readers.

 

[PandemicReader8]

One other thing: include your story submissions page link in your signature if you want people to respond to your stories.

I'm told there is a cheat sheet somewhere for the coding needed to add a link in the profile or signature line. Anyone know where that might be? I've chrcked the FAQ with no l7ck.

 

[Seadog777]

If you are writing to please other people. You are doing it for the wrong reason...
Write for yourself, forget scores, and ignore nasty comments.
The only person you have to please is yourself.
Not trying to be a bitch, just saying. If you enjoyed writing the story, then you are the winner.

Damn right!!!

 

[KeithD]

I agree you write to please yourself, but you publish to please others, I think. Unless you're getting paid for it, I think pleasing yourself comes first.

 

[PandemicReader8]

Could you please explain the meaning of "to please yourself"? Do you feel a sense of joy or enthusiasm as you type?

Long story short, yes.
When I finish a paragraph or a chapter or even a sentence and I know it speaks to the idea I want to convey, it does feel like an accomplishment.

 

[KeithD]

Could you please explain the meaning of "to please yourself"? Do you feel a sense of joy or enthusiasm as you type?

Yes, I do. This is entertainment for me. I'm at the "all for pleasure" end of life.

 

[Lorelei907]

Write for yourself, forget scores, and ignore nasty comments.

B: Trolling assholes who will trash a story because they can.

One of my stories that was released that I had put a lot of mental energy and hard work into to create a good readable story. The morning after it was released it had a score of 4.8. I was ecstatic! Then over the next few day it plummeted to about 3.5. I was so heartbroken but got to thinking that it’s trolls being assholes and give it a score of 1. Like really? The story was so horrible that it deserved a 1? Not to toot my own horn but the story certainly deserved a lot higher score.

So, I put my big girl panties on and just accepted it. Then I realized that the comments was what made me feel good, not the score.

We all want the coveted H but it’s just a number. Feedback from the readers tells you how good your story is. Also watch the number of times it’s read, especially over a given time period. If it’s being read a lot, people like it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

. Also watch the number of times it’s read, especially over a given time period. If it’s being read a lot, people like it.

Not necessarily. A View means a reader has clicked into the story, but you don't know when they clicked out. It's unwise to think Views = Reads. My rule of thumb (based on chaptered stories) is that maybe one in five will finish a story.

 

[Lorelei907]

Yes, that’s actually true. I didn’t think of that, of which I’m guilty of myself. I’ll click on a story, read a few paragraphs and lose interest, for any of a number of reasons, and click back out. But, there’s also stories that I’ve read two or three times, too. One out of five? That’s probably not to far off.

 

[Djmac1031]

Not necessarily. A View means a reader has clicked into the story, but you don't know when they clicked out. It's unwise to think Views = Reads. My rule of thumb (based on chaptered stories) is that maybe one in five will finish a story.

Yeah I try not to get TOO excited about "views" either.

My highest VIEWED story currently is 63.4K. Not too shabby.

Divide that by 5 and 12.6K actual potential readers sounds great.

Out of that potential number, 1K actually left ratings.

So realistically, for me anyway, I can really only confirm a thousand or so people out of the 63 thousand who clicked it actually read the whole damn thing.

Not bad at all, not complaining. But it's a huge difference.

 

[gunhilltrain]

This reminds me of a joke I always liked from a book I had as a kid, called The Dinosaur Joke Book.

The joke was, one guy asks another, "How do you sculpt a dinosaur?" The other guy says, "Simple. Start with a block of stone and chip away everything that doesn't look like a dinosaur."

I heard somewhere that Michelangelo said something like that when asked how he did his sculptures. Probably apocryphal; sounds too snarky, too modern for that era. In any case, he could take away stone, but he couldn't add any back. I'd be tempted to cheat a bit. What is that stuff they use for automobile body work? Yes, it's called Bondo.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm told there is a cheat sheet somewhere for the coding needed to add a link in the profile or signature line. Anyone know where that might be? I've chrcked the FAQ with no l7ck.

Can somebody answer this? I did it a while ago but I've forgotten how it goes.

 

[alohadave]

Can somebody answer this? I did it a while ago but I've forgotten how it goes.

@PandemicReader8

https://forum.literotica.com/account/signature

You can use the Link icon to add the link below and change the text to something nicer looking.

https://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=5485196&page=submissions

 

[Duleigh]

Hi everyone !
I've just published my eighth story and I am at a bit of a loss. Only one of my stories was hot, and my laest one didn't even make it to 4 stars. I've tried analyzing top stoies, and they are longer and mostly use first person narration as opposed to mine. Is there anyone whose stories sucked (like mine) who managed to change and get better comments and ratings ? Thanks in advance !

I'm not doing too bad, so here's what I do - pay attention to grammar. I have a degree in English, but you don't need that to know if it sounds bad, it is bad, so read your stories over and over before posting. Modern word processors have grammar checkers and functions to read back your work, use them. Grammarly is free. It may be annoying but it works.

Make your characters likeable. Most people have to put up with jerks all day long at work, they don't want to do that in their free time unless they're going to get payback.

Don't skimp on romance. Love is a very important part of making love.

Don't worry about what other people are writing, worry about what you are writing. I also suggest not reading someone elses work when you're preparing a story to post. You want to post your work, not theirs.

Duleigh's Demandment #1 - Thou shalt write what thou knowest. Write about things you know. If all you know is sweeping streets in the Bronx, that's where you start. Readers can figure out if you're being realistic, so if you're only familiar with your neighborhood, give your neighborhood a different name and write about it.

If all you're going to write is strokers, I can't help you. People love them one day and hate them the next

Comments? Forget about it. Comments happen when they happen, there's countless numbers of threads about how to get comments and the only thing we can determine at this end of the process is that comments happen when they happen. There's no magic spell that makes a reader write a comment. Just try to write the best story you can write.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm not doing too bad, so here's what I do - pay attention to grammar. I have a degree in English, but you don't need that to know if it sounds bad, it is bad, so read your stories over and over before posting. Modern word processors have grammar checkers and functions to read back your work, use them. Grammarly is free. It may be annoying but it works.

Make your characters likeable. Most people have to put up with jerks all day long at work, they don't want to do that in their free time unless they're going to get payback.

Don't skimp on romance. Love is a very important part of making love.

Don't worry about what other people are writing, worry about what you are writing. I also suggest not reading someone elses work when you're preparing a story to post. You want to post your work, not theirs.

Duleigh's Demandment #1 - Thou shalt write what thou knowest. Write about things you know. If all you know is sweeping streets in the Bronx, that's where you start. Readers can figure out if you're being realistic, so if you're only familiar with your neighborhood, give your neighborhood a different name and write about it.

If all you're going to write is strokers, I can't help you. People love them one day and hate them the next

Comments? Forget about it. Comments happen when they happen, there's countless numbers of threads about how to get comments and the only thing we can determine at this end of the process is that comments happen when they happen. There's no magic spell that makes a reader write a comment. Just try to write the best story you can write.

Did I remind you of The Bronx reference or was that just a coincidence? In any case, most of the street sweeping is done by tractors. The leaves in the park usually are done by hand with the assistance of leaf blowers, often by women who seem to be working off some welfare requirement. Department of Sanitation versus Department of Parks - different responsibilities. The tractors look like this:

https://www.wnyc.org/story/no-quick...ide-parking-rules-says-department-sanitation/

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Hi everyone !
I've just published my eighth story and I am at a bit of a loss. Only one of my stories was hot, and my laest one didn't even make it to 4 stars. I've tried analyzing top stoies, and they are longer and mostly use first person narration as opposed to mine. Is there anyone whose stories sucked (like mine) who managed to change and get better comments and ratings ? Thanks in advance !

I did a similar post on this called “don’t sweat the score” and in a way my situation is worse as I get no comments.

Don’t focus on your score focus on the craft of telling your story, and enjoy it, even though sometimes it is a royal pain in the ass.

 

[Duleigh]

Department of Sanitation versus Department of Parks - different responsibilities. The tractors look like this:

For all its faults (including draining the life blood out of the rest of the state) NYC leads the nation in cute little unitasker vehicles. My favorite is the Zipper, a little truck that moves the cement lane dividing barriers one lane over. I believe I saw one on the Throgs Neck Bridge. (and who or what is a Throg?)

 

[gunhilltrain]

For all its faults (including draining the life blood out of the rest of the state) NYC leads the nation in cute little unitasker vehicles. My favorite is the Zipper, a little truck that moves the cement lane dividing barriers one lane over. I believe I saw one on the Throgs Neck Bridge. (and who or what is a Throg?)

It was named after John Throckmorton, who settled in the area in 1642. Eventually the little peninsula on the Bronx side become "Frockes Neck" and finally Throggs Neck. Master bridge builder Robert Moses didn't want to go back to Throckmorton because it would have taken too much room on signs.

 

[Duleigh]

It was named after John Throckmorton, who settled in the area in 1642. Eventually the little peninsula on the Bronx side become "Frockes Neck" and finally Throggs Neck. Master bridge builder Robert Moses didn't want to go back to Throckmorton because it would have taken too much room on signs.

Robert Moses is an interesting fellow, he built a beautiful highway on my end of the state from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. You know it's beautiful because the government wants to tear it down.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Robert Moses is an interesting fellow, he built a beautiful highway on my end of the state from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. You know it's beautiful because the government wants to tear it down.

I thought that was only done for a few sections of highways (usually elevated) in an urban area. (Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco.) It's only the section within Buffalo, not the entire road to Niagara Falls? It wouldn't be elevated outside the city limits anyway..

 

[Duleigh]

I thought that was only done for a few sections of highways (usually elevated) in an urban area. (Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco.) It's only the section within Buffalo, not the entire road to Niagara Falls? It wouldn't be elevated outside the city limits anyway..

The Robert Moses Parkway was surface road all the way up to Niagara falls, there's a road on the Canadian side that does the same thing, I forget the name of it. The problem with the Robert Moses Parkway was that it used up a lot of valuable property fronting on the Niagara River so Handy Andy Cuomo decided to tear down the parkway. Personally I didn't like it because it had concrete curbs, which are kind of stupid for a 65 MPH road.