Has it always been like this, or has Lit's standards slackened?

[SamScribble]

I put some thought to it and switched my draft to American English. There are people who'll nag you if they see something different. I don't want to hear that.

Besides, majority of the readers here are American, so custom-tailoring for the crowd won't hurt, I think.

I have visited USA on numerous occasions over the years. For two or three years, I was over there about once every six weeks. And I am reasonably familiar with American spelling, etc. But it seems to me that the old adage ‘write what you know in the language you know’ trumps all. I know that the boys and girls in Newcastle (that’s Up North, my American friends) recognise me as a Nancy Southerner. But it doesn’t seem to worry them one little bit. So why should the boys and girls of Tennessee get their knickers (oops, panties) in a twist?

On the wider question, I think there is definitely less ‘craft’ on the site than there used to be. And, in my opinion, writing for others is more about craft than art. A slightly prosaic story well told trumps a lesser story badly told. The writers I admire here are (almost) all craftsmen (and women). When I first started reading stories on Literotica (maybe seven or eight years ago), there were relatively few craftsmen. There still are. But I think there are a lot more uncraftsmen.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I once taught a technical class at a local community college for a couple of years. ... these kids need to learn how to organize their thoughts on paper at some point. I ... added short assignments that led to the paper all through the semester. Surprise! They got better. Each class the papers got better.
rj

I teach on an unusual university course. Instead of lecturing them on the subject, then testing their subject knowledge twice in an essay and an exam before I send them off to never see them again, I get six or seven assignments with my current students. I am on a Level 1 module so the first assignment almost just says: "Write something, anything!" Gradually the skills they're asked to develop increase. Each assignment has considerable feedback and now that we mark online, I can use Track Changes to edit the punctuation and other errors in their actual essay so as to show them how to write proper. The development in writing is enormous from when they start to when they finish, with structured and planned essays using different types of evidence in a coherent argument. (Ideally! LOL.)

My first story here was rejected for too large paragraphs and improper use of quotation marks That was a little over 3 years ago.

LOL, one of the chapters of my novel was very recently rejected for over long paragraphs. I had a kind note explaining that Lit readers often read on a small screen so stories on this site need to accommodate that. (Delicately implying that my writing is not riddled with amateur errors! So tactful )

A slightly prosaic story well told trumps a lesser story badly told. The writers I admire here are (almost) all craftsmen (and women).

LOL, I think we have had a lot of discussions which show that the readers tend not to agree with you, Sam. Many of them like a Wham Bam Thankyou Ma'am and will switch off if the writing is good but the sex is not quick n' easy. But that's OK. Strokes for folks

Like others have said, many on here are posting stories not because they want to be writers but for the erotic thrill. That's fine too.

Some people are also posting hurriedly, as they have busy lives, and perhaps are writing stories without others in their lives knowing. They may not be able to keep copies open on their big bright laptop screen to carefully go over the typos. It is really annoying to read a fine story which is spoilt by some basic errors, but I would rather see the story with errors than not see it at all.

I was thinking about that, and maybe using the Cloud is a way round that. If you put your story on an online dropbox, you can have an editor who could access it there and tidy it up for you without it being sent to and fro to be flashed up on your email: HEY YOUR LATEST BIT OF FILTHY SMUT IS BACK FOR YOUR NEIGHBOUR TO SEE BRIGHT AND CLEAR!!! You could even pretend it was your editor's filth, and that you were just reading it over for them as an act of kindness although the whole thing disgusted you really.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I have visited USA on numerous occasions over the years. For two or three years, I was over there about once every six weeks. And I am reasonably familiar with American spelling, etc. But it seems to me that the old adage ‘write what you know in the language you know’ trumps all. I know that the boys and girls in Newcastle (that’s Up North, my American friends) recognise me as a Nancy Southerner. But it doesn’t seem to worry them one little bit. So why should the boys and girls of Tennessee get their knickers (oops, panties) in a twist?

On the wider question, I think there is definitely less ‘craft’ on the site than there used to be. And, in my opinion, writing for others is more about craft than art. A slightly prosaic story well told trumps a lesser story badly told. The writers I admire here are (almost) all craftsmen (and women). When I first started reading stories on Literotica (maybe seven or eight years ago), there were relatively few craftsmen. There still are. But I think there are a lot more uncraftsmen.

Over my life I've been many people. I mastered many crafts and am competent to assess the work many people perform. I have the certificates and diplomas. Writing is among these crafts.

Writing isn't impossible or difficult when you know the basics. But I see no evidence basics are taught to any pupil, anywhere. Most of us are clueless of the meanings of common words. Teach a youngster the 50 most common words, and she's competent for half of what she writes or says. 3000 ordinary words makes her competency soar to 98%. The others are wasted effort. And we create chaos when we allow diverse meanings for words. Like GENDER.

GENDER began life, centuries ago, as the word for two cows fucking. When I was a child GENDER was the word for the assignment of pretend sexuality to pronouns. Now its the word for males who wear girl suits. CARNIVAL FREAK worked as well.

 

[TxRad]

Dada Dada Dada *Nothing to add of importance to anyone as usual.*

Same old homophobic rant about the word gender.

 

[tanyachrs]

LOL, I think we have had a lot of discussions which show that the readers tend not to agree with you, Sam. Many of them like a Wham Bam Thankyou Ma'am and will switch off if the writing is good but the sex is not quick n' easy.

My stories, which tend to be less formulaic, do less well in the ratings now than they did eight years ago. I used to get comments appreciating my use of language, now I mostly get requests for more formulaic follow-ups. I think the readership has changed and so the site is responding with what the readers want (less Lit, more erotica). As long as the son has butt sex with the mom, no one cares if a comma got missed.
Then you head over to Amazon and look at the state of self-publishing and wonder if in 20 or so years anyone will know where the comma should have gone anyway.

 

[LaRascasse]

I think Lit's standards now are the same as they always were. What's gone up is the volume of stories. So say previously if 50% of the stories that made it to the site were grammar-impaired, it's still probably 50%, but since the overall number has gone up it amounts to more stories.

I try not to be overly critical about grammar (knowing that I myself am guilty of several copy-editing gaffes). If a storyline is interesting enough, I can tolerate a lot of bad grammar. If it isn't, even the best prose can't sustain my interest beyond a page or so.

 

[Sammael Bard]

I have visited USA on numerous occasions over the years. For two or three years, I was over there about once every six weeks. And I am reasonably familiar with American spelling, etc. But it seems to me that the old adage ‘write what you know in the language you know’ trumps all. I know that the boys and girls in Newcastle (that’s Up North, my American friends) recognise me as a Nancy Southerner. But it doesn’t seem to worry them one little bit. So why should the boys and girls of Tennessee get their knickers (oops, panties) in a twist?

Some people get traumatised when they see an extra 'u' and a 's' instead of their regular 'z'. I really don't want to pick up a fight on my comments section with these dimwits.

Otherwise, unless I'm going gung-ho with British English, they won't notice a thing.

LOL, I think we have had a lot of discussions which show that the readers tend not to agree with you, Sam. Many of them like a Wham Bam Thankyou Ma'am and will switch off if the writing is good but the sex is not quick n' easy. But that's OK. Strokes for folks

I think it's more like a balance between the two. I'm yet to see a piece making it to the Hall of Fame only on the basis of its erotica content and vice-versa. Unless, a reader is here on the sole purpose of getting his rocks off, I'm assuming a mid-point balance is required between writing style and erotica, give or take a few.

 

[IncognitoBandito]

I just received my first rejection on my third submission to Lit for spelling errors. Was having some problems with a temperamental 's' key one night and the typos escaped my eyes for a few paragraphs. I had a few spelling errors/mistakes on my first submission as well which was accepted, so I'm wondering if they're more lenient with first time writers to encourage them to stay?

 

[HeyAll]

I think Lit's standards now are the same as they always were. What's gone up is the volume of stories. So say previously if 50% of the stories that made it to the site were grammar-impaired, it's still probably 50%, but since the overall number has gone up it amounts to more stories.

I try not to be overly critical about grammar (knowing that I myself am guilty of several copy-editing gaffes). If a storyline is interesting enough, I can tolerate a lot of bad grammar. If it isn't, even the best prose can't sustain my interest beyond a page or so.

Has the volume actually increased though?

Posting a story seems to take 2 days now. And the new list is only 1 page or so.

Years ago, it took 4-5 days for a story to post, and the list was roughly the same length.

 

[RejectReality]

You just got lucky on the first one. ( or unlucky, depending upon how you feel about the errors getting through )

I doubt Laurel gives new authors a break on anything. If anything, she probably looks at them a little more carefully for content violations, if not grammar.

I just received my first rejection on my third submission to Lit for spelling errors. Was having some problems with a temperamental 's' key one night and the typos escaped my eyes for a few paragraphs. I had a few spelling errors/mistakes on my first submission as well which was accepted, so I'm wondering if they're more lenient with first time writers to encourage them to stay?

 

[LaRascasse]

Has the volume actually increased though?

Posting a story seems to take 2 days now. And the new list is only 1 page or so.

Years ago, it took 4-5 days for a story to post, and the list was roughly the same length.

The approval time going down could be due to a number of factors. I believe it's due to the front page on the Hubs getting bigger, meaning Laurel can release more stories daily and all of them will get a reasonable amount of time on the "New Stories" section.

 

[AZMotherLover]

As long as the son has butt sex with the mom, no one cares if a comma got missed.

This must explain the acceptance of my stories, typos and all.

 

[HeyAll]

The approval time going down could be due to a number of factors. I believe it's due to the front page on the Hubs getting bigger, meaning Laurel can release more stories daily and all of them will get a reasonable amount of time on the "New Stories" section.

Unless I'm mistaken, the size of the New List appears to be the same.

Submissions take 2 days now. Before it was 4-5 days.

To me, that means there are less stories being submitted. Unless I'm mistaken somewhere...

 

[sr71plt]

Unless I'm mistaken, the size of the New List appears to be the same.

Submissions take 2 days now. Before it was 4-5 days.

To me, that means there are less stories being submitted. Unless I'm mistaken somewhere...

As I remember at the time, Laurel just did doubletime on pass throughs for a couple of days to bring what she was working on more current.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Unless I'm mistaken, the size of the New List appears to be the same.

Submissions take 2 days now. Before it was 4-5 days.

To me, that means there are less stories being submitted. Unless I'm mistaken somewhere...

Think of it like counting people on and off a train. If you count 1000 people getting off the train every week, you can be pretty sure there are about 1000 people getting on the train every week. Knowing that the journey used to be 40-50 minutes and now it's 20 minutes doesn't change that.

I think the New List is stories that have been added in the last week? That tells us roughly how many are being submitted (minus the ones that get rejected - I'm assuming that's a relatively small fraction of the total). If the New List is about the same size as it used to be, then that tells us that people are submitting at about the same rate.