How do you judge your own work?

[goodpen86]

I just published a story that I was very proud of "Vacation with a Tryst." But the reaction to it has been minimal and right now it is the lowest rated work I have on the site. Before publishing I was proud because I thought it had the perfect ratio of build up to sex. Though now after re-reading post publishing and seeing the weak response I'm thinking that maybe it's to cliche or too predictable of a plot.

How much does your stories ratings lift or lower the perception of your own work? This is only my 11th work I've published, am I giving too much weight to the rating? I was planning on making the work into a series but, if the trend of the current response continues I'm rethinking that. Do you allow ratings to sway the length of the story?

Thank you for your time!

 

[AchtungNight]

I judge my work based on evolving chaotic whims with an eye for overall quality and attention to both merits and demerits. I also modify my judgment based on the opinions of haters and fans when I hear them. And sometimes I have to factor in the demands of the world outside my stories too. It’s a crazy challenge and in retrospect as often exhaustive as it is exhilarating. Not sure if I would trade it for anything else.

 

[Altissimus]

My advice FWIW: judge your stories based solely on how happy you are with them, how much you enjoyed writing them, and how much you've grown as an author since the last time you hit 'publish'.

Easier said than done, but hey. It's an attitude that helps off-set the inevitably cruel voting.

 

[Djmac1031]

Though now after re-reading post publishing and seeing the weak response I'm thinking that maybe it's to cliche or too predictable of a plot.

See, there's a proper mindset.

Yes, we all know it happens: The Great One Bomb Troll Attacks.

But I guarantee not EVERY story that suffers from low ratings or views does so because TROLLS.

including my own.

If you're thinking something about your story is "cliché" or "predictable," it probably is.

Not that cliche and predictable is automatically a BAD thing. Just depends on how it's done.

You're spending more time analyzing your STORY, not your RATINGS.

And that's a great start, IMO.

Learning from mistakes is what improves our writing, not fretting over ratings.

 

[MrPixel]

How do you judge your own work?

Guilty. Next case.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Before publishing I was proud because I thought it had the perfect ratio of build up to sex. Though now after re-reading post publishing and seeing the weak response I'm thinking that maybe it's to cliche or too predictable of a plot.

I'd say you are giving readers too much credit. If they punished stories because they were a cliché or too predictable, then all those mom/son stories where she gets stuck in the washer, accidentally sits in her son's lap, or stumbles upon her son wanking and gets all hot seeing his impressive cock, would have ended up below 3.00
If your story hasn't been received the way you expected it, then it is probably for some other reason

 

[SimonDoom]

At this point, after almost seven years of writing, story ratings have almost no impact on my own appraisal of my work. All things being equal, I'd rather have a high score than a low score, because it will make some difference to how many people read it. But, putting aside other people's works, when I look at the range of scores for my own stories I personally don't see a strong correlation between the scores and the quality of the story. The scores are much more likely to reflect other factors, in particular the extent to which the story meets the expectations of mainstream readers of the category in which it is published.

Story scores have a rough, "30,000-foot" usefulness. 100 stories selected at random with a score of 4.7 are likely to be better on average than 100 stories selected at random with a score of 4.2. But that's about it for usefulness. I use story scores to some degree when I choose stories to read, although I've read many 4.4 stories that I enjoyed far more than some 4.8 stories I've read.

I find comments can sometimes be useful. Comments will sometimes point out something I overlooked when I wrote the story, or some element I introduced that makes the narrative unnecessarily implausible. I find that kind of commentary useful, and in a few cases it may alter my appraisal of the story.

I care more about views than scores. I care much more about whether I connect my stories with a large audience that appreciates them than I do about whether the score is high. I'd much rather have 100,000 readers, 200 favorites and a score of 4.45 than 10,000 readers, 20 favorites, and a score of 4.8. Scenario A tells me that while my reader pool may contain more readers who don't like my story, thereby driving the score down relative to scenario B, I've connected with a significantly larger number of readers who do like the story, and that's what matters.

 

[NotWise]

I always think my next story should win the Pulitzer for porn. The readers usually set me straight, so I keep my opinion flexible.

Maybe I know the story's strengths and weaknesses when I press that last button in the submission process. What I don't know is how those strengths and weaknesses are going to affect the readers. Sometimes they teach me lessons, and I have to be able to learn from them. It can be a bitter pill.

The usual lack of specific comments sometimes makes it hard to figure out why the readers react like they do. I go to the Story Feedback forum when I really feel like maybe I'm missing something, and I ask for input.

 

[MrPixel]

Now for the serious response: I judge on how I feel after reading the story on letting it sit for a day or two in what I think may be the final version. If I'm smiling to myself, or am wiping a tear or two, it's good to go.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I just published a story that I was very proud of "Vacation with a Tryst." But the reaction to it has been minimal and right now it is the lowest rated work I have on the site. Before publishing I was proud because I thought it had the perfect ratio of build up to sex. Though now after re-reading post publishing and seeing the weak response I'm thinking that maybe it's to cliche or too predictable of a plot.

How much does your stories ratings lift or lower the perception of your own work? This is only my 11th work I've published, am I giving too much weight to the rating? I was planning on making the work into a series but, if the trend of the current response continues I'm rethinking that. Do you allow ratings to sway the length of the story?

Thank you for your time!

I think the key phrase is "just published." You're probably going to have to wait a day or two for your story's score to recover from the inevitable, early downvotes we all seem to get. While you wait for that to happen, start on that sequel and see how you feel about it.

 

[EmilyMiller]

How do you judge your own work?​

I’m a pretty new author. I have only been doing this for a year and a bit. My style is a bit all over the place and my writing can be immature and uneven. Then what do I expect at this stage?

The novelty of writing means it’s also novel for me to appraise my own work. I need to get better at that as well.

Having said that, I know I’m better than when I started. I also know I have a long way to go.

Em

—

UPDATE: Autocorrect changed that last line to “a long way to ho”. Kinda appropriate I guess.

 

[SimonDoom]

UPDATE: Autocorrect changed that last line to “a long way to ho”. Kinda appropriate I guess.

When you gotta ho, you gotta ho.

 

[Euphony]

am I giving too much weight to the rating?

Always. Most do. Almost all do in their vulnerable moments.

Threads on the (I'll be charitable) "nuances" to the voting system are plentiful. Core takeaway being numerical scores are a poor gauge of a stories actual proficiency.

Different categories are softer/harder in their voting. Popularity contest dynamics abound. (both is raising all and authors ships and some nut jobs fandom expressing themselves by sinking their beloved's competition)

Sometimes it's just about delivering on expectations. Some readers want fungible, "Big Mac" erotica. Nothing wrong with that but the bar is often not screwing it up and the expected parts being there. Rare is a Big Mac an "experience."

And underserved fetishes get bumps. They don't see their kink often so they use their votes to encourage more of that content. To get more quality, they encourage any and all attempts.

Reading AH authors who've shown themselves as having a firm grasp on the art of storytelling illuminates more to me than just about anything. I'll see things I can't even imagine my "future writer" self pulling off done with an ease and proficiency that belies all the immense time and effort spent learning to write.

And a lot of those pieces struggle to hold on to a red H.

If you've ever worked with a beta reader, you know how it's difficult even for them (a relation, not an inet rando) to always get what you're trying to do, where you're coming from, and the efforts involved.

Whatever you need to frame the voting system as the imperfect beast that it is, do it.

A motley crew of (median) keyboarding kink pirates are a terrible focus group for you to justify your creativity.

Trust in your creativity. Seek out more legitimate,focused feedback from collaborators you build a relationship with.

It's a better use of your energies and time than trying to find truth in the noise that is story score data.

 

[Euphony]

When you gotta ho, you gotta ho.

YUP

https://imgur.com/RdzBc

 

[mirafrida]

Every story is a fairly predictable roller coaster for me.

While writing i feel very sure readers will recognize how genius it is, and LOVE it. I understand intellectually thay most people hate my kinks, but feel convinced that THIS time, I've got just the right mix of up-front text and keywords to curate my audience properly.

Then it publishes, and i'm never happy. If the response is bad, i start to believe the story sucks. And even if people rate it well, the good vibes never quite reach the exalted image in my head. If the likes are strong, i wonder why the score is low, or vice-versa.

Then the activity quickly fades and that's frustrating in a different way.

Later, if i go back and read the story fresh, i will usually (though not always) conclude that it is indeed great.

Having done it a few times, i can put these feelings in more perspective. But i haven't found a way to turn them off. It's hard not to care.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I can never judge my own work. I get my other half to proof-read before I submit, and I always ask, "So, what did you think?" If I get it, "It was okay, or pretty good," I consider that high praise. But that still doesn't mean that the readers will like it.

Even if a story does well, I always wonder if I could have written it a little better.

 

[Baztrachian]

I just published a story that I was very proud of "Vacation with a Tryst." But the reaction to it has been minimal and right now it is the lowest rated work I have on the site. Before publishing I was proud because I thought it had the perfect ratio of build up to sex. Though now after re-reading post publishing and seeing the weak response I'm thinking that maybe it's to cliche or too predictable of a plot.

How much does your stories ratings lift or lower the perception of your own work? This is only my 11th work I've published, am I giving too much weight to the rating? I was planning on making the work into a series but, if the trend of the current response continues I'm rethinking that. Do you allow ratings to sway the length of the story?

Thank you for your time!

I liked the story. It had a nice flow of development to it and the connection between your characters was very credible. Note that I said credible and not 'believable'? Believable is a much lower threshold than credible is and I would say you went that extra mile.

Five stars.

How could you do better? I'd say you could research your subject a little better. If you're going to set the story in Brazil then Brazil becomes one of your characters and you should flesh it out with details that help the reader place the story there. A big thing you could have found out from a study of Brazil is that big butts are a very popular thing down there. Your character Tanya would have had more attention than just from Adam if she were in Brazil. Lots of local eyes would have also viewed her quite favorably.

You mentioned a hotel. Make it a specific hotel. Name the hotel. Watch a You Tube video on that hotel and have your characters interact with it. Is there a lot of crime in the area? Tell us about it. Maybe there's something really neat to see in that location, have your characters interact against that backdrop.

You put this line into the story: The next day was a tour of Rio and this was your opportunity to take your readers on that tour. Sorry you missed it.

Your characters put a lot of effort into going to Brazil...maybe have their fun time in Brazil contribute to why they came together? It adds to the credibility to flesh out location details especially with readers who are familiar with Brazil. Oh, and you could mention the food! Brazilian food is awesome! Treat yourself sometime and go find a Brazilian restaurant!

I loved this passage:

Over the coarse of the meal, the three shared cliff notes versions of their life stories. Adam was 45 years old, recently divorced after fifteen years of marriage to his high school sweetheart. He had two kids, both in middle school who now lived with their Mom. This trip was his first attempt to regain himself after what he termed a less than stellar divorce.

There was something strangely familiar to Tanya in Adam's story. He was older, and had kids where she didn't. He was divorced where she was still married. But there was a loneliness there that Tanya empathized with. Her and Brad had been drifting for a while. The little romance that had existed when they were first together, had long ago faded. Since her recent health kick, Brad didn't seem to know what to do with her, and hadn't shown much interest in figuring it out. If she let herself she could see them ending up like Adam and his ex.

You did all the right things here! You showed us why these two would come together and it was more emotional and credible than the usual bullshit I read in stories about "his giant cock" or "her 99DDDDD tits".
Adam was recovering from a divorce and Tanya was contemplating one. Now you never explicitly told us that Tanya was thinking about a divorce and I deeply appreciate that! You let the reader take the information you offered and then let them come to it on their own. Well played.

Adam and Tanya coming together was now established as a credible possibility. And for legitimate emotional reasons. You had two people looking for solace and comfort and the sex was actually an enhancement to their main goal which made it all the more credible.

Overall, a great story.

 

[jehoram]

How do I judge my work? Harshly.

At least at first. Then, after tinkering with it, I consider it good enough to release into the wild. I seldom re-read my own stuff anymore, because I see all the things that I could have done better. So I just say "Screw it" and move on.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

When it's done and it feels good to read back then I know that it's good. Simple answer of course, but what makes it feel good? If the plot says all the things that I wanted to say, nothing left out, all the characters have their place and are alive, their motives all add up and they convey the emotions that I wanted to convey. From a technical standpoint, if the piece reads well, flows well, the dialogue and the descriptions and imagery all works and is used at the right moments, when it's necessary and not excessive to bog things down, then i know that it's good.

One more word of wisdom: if you thought your work was good when you posted it, then after seeing the scores you start thinking it's not so good, just remember that the scores don't change a single word, not even a comma in your work. Your story is just as good after the feedback as it was before.

 

[davion2308]

My first story posted in 2006 (I think?) and I posted just a few months ago.

I don't judge anything I did in the past but I recognize that I have many more "H" stories in the most recent years since I'm taking my time to develop stories, I'm learning and getting more patient at getting to the sex scenes. I ultimately figured out I enjoy the development of the personalities, the relationships, and it shows with the voting.

I don't judge but I see where I was raw and underdeveloped as a young writer. I like the progression.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I judge my own work on Literotica by:

• Did I enjoy writing it?
• Does it tell the story I wanted to tell?
• Did my beta readers enjoy it?

If the answers to all of those are "yes", then I will publish it and then judge it by:

• Did it get posted without any rejections?
• Do I start seeing more followers?
• Does it start getting marked as a favorite?
• Is the feedback mostly positive?
• Do the views start increasing on my other stories?

I don't focus on the score since that is something best evaluated after a few months at a minimum. If the story hasn't completely bombed, which I am fortunate to say none of mine have, I will consider posting it elsewhere on the web to see how it does on a different site.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I just published a story that I was very proud of "Vacation with a Tryst." But the reaction to it has been minimal and right now it is the lowest rated work I have on the site. Before publishing I was proud because I thought it had the perfect ratio of build up to sex. Though now after re-reading post publishing and seeing the weak response I'm thinking that maybe it's to cliche or too predictable of a plot.

How much does your stories ratings lift or lower the perception of your own work? This is only my 11th work I've published, am I giving too much weight to the rating? I was planning on making the work into a series but, if the trend of the current response continues I'm rethinking that. Do you allow ratings to sway the length of the story?

Thank you for your time!

Well, you wrote what appears to be a loving wives story, and you tucked it into Erotic Couplings. It's understandable, but ...

I just post stories that I think are good. I've recently come to the conclusion that rating means very little as I've found very poor work, rated very well. The red H is nice because it helps people find my work, but that's as far as that matters as well.

 

[MayorReynolds]

Lately, I'm not so sure.

I used to think I had something going. Now, I didn't 100% think I was hot shit, bursting with talent. I always had a mantra I ran in my head that, "Anybody who says 'I'm a good writer' is not a good writer, because they don't think there's anything left to learn."

But as of late, I have been beset with anxiety about my writing. I have called every aspect of my supposed 'talent' into question, the prose, the hooks, everything. Is there too much dialogue? Is this boring my audience to tears? This isn't just an issue with erotica, either. It extends to the non-erotic writing that I do as well. And I tried to calm myself down by going with that old, "Write for yourself first, and then other people second." I think a lot of it comes from a lack of peer review, too. Outside of Literotica, there is no one in my family or circle of friends that ever has the time or the interest to read my stuff. Even my own wife doesn't do it. If no one wants to read it, how will I know if it's any good? And if no one wants to read it, isn't that a sign that it ISN'T good?

As far as Literotica goes, the last story I submitted was an Incest/Taboo story called Casual Saturday (Get it? Like Casual Fri..anyway.) It's the first incest story I've written and posted on here and years. I banked on the idea that because it's about a family that's so casual with free use and fucking each other, especially with the way the mom responds to all the sex, that the nonchalant attitude was going to be just as hot as the sexual descriptions. And I thought, mainly because writing it was getting me so turned on that I couldn't sit still (even after masturbating) that I had a supposed hit on my hands. But the feedback hasn't been as expected.

You lost me when the girl went to wake up her father. It was fairly good until then.

Delusional crap for chronic masterbaters

I was still bored with it by the time I got to the top of the last page...sex just kept going on and on with no ending in sight...1/5

And it's sitting at a 4.34.

So what am I left with? I used to think "If I think it's good, then others will" and "If I feel like something is wrong and needs to change, there's a good chance others will." Now it's a crapshoot. Could be good, could be crap.

 

[MillieDynamite]

For me, anything over 3.99 is a good score. But maybe being above average isn't good enough for some of us. I don't strive to be the best writer, only the best writer I can be. There are readers for every writer. Some will love it, some will hate it, and some will express opinions in the jerkiest way they can.

Lately, I'm not so sure.

I used to think I had something going. Now, I didn't 100% think I was hot shit, bursting with talent. I always had a mantra I ran in my head that, "Anybody who says 'I'm a good writer' is not a good writer, because they don't think there's anything left to learn."

But as of late, I have been beset with anxiety about my writing. I have called every aspect of my supposed 'talent' into question, the prose, the hooks, everything. Is there too much dialogue? Is this boring my audience to tears? This isn't just an issue with erotica, either. It extends to the non-erotic writing that I do as well. And I tried to calm myself down by going with that old, "Write for yourself first, and then other people second." I think a lot of it comes from a lack of peer review, too. Outside of Literotica, there is no one in my family or circle of friends that ever has the time or the interest to read my stuff. Even my own wife doesn't do it. If no one wants to read it, how will I know if it's any good? And if no one wants to read it, isn't that a sign that it ISN'T good?

As far as Literotica goes, the last story I submitted was an Incest/Taboo story called Casual Saturday (Get it? Like Casual Fri..anyway.) It's the first incest story I've written and posted on here and years. I banked on the idea that because it's about a family that's so casual with free use and fucking each other, especially with the way the mom responds to all the sex, that the nonchalant attitude was going to be just as hot as the sexual descriptions. And I thought, mainly because writing it was getting me so turned on that I couldn't sit still (even after masturbating) that I had a supposed hit on my hands. But the feedback hasn't been as expected.




And it's sitting at a 4.34.

So what am I left with? I used to think "If I think it's good, then others will" and "If I feel like something is wrong and needs to change, there's a good chance others will." Now it's a crapshoot. Could be good, could be crap.

 

[MayorReynolds]

For me, anything over 3.99 is a good score. But maybe being above average isn't good enough for some of us. I don't strive to be the best writer, only the best writer I can be. There are readers for every writer. Some will love it, some will hate it, and some will express opinions in the jerkiest way they can.

That is true. A 4 to me means mostly right. A 3 means something went wrong. Maybe I was expecting it to be higher? I guess the comments were what threw me the most. There was a lot more anger than I expected. Also, "too much sex?" I thought that was the goal here...