How long have you all been writing?

[SuperWriter]

And how long did it take you to feel like your writing style was perfected? And can you keep getting better or is how you write now basically stayed the same? Is it even possible to get better after a certain point or do just your ideas change?

For me, 3 years writing and only now do I feel I've mastered my own style and don't see a need to change anything

 

[oggbashan]

How long have I been writing?

First published work was over 6 decades ago in a school magazine - the first of many for school magazines.

Getting better at writing? Sometimes I still write crap. Sometimes I surprise myself. But I don't think I'll stop trying to get better until I'm dead. Perfection is an impossible aim.

 

[Jada59]

I began writing when I could first hold a pen. I think I perfected my style when I actually knew how to make letters. So... 55 years ago.

 

[SimonDoom]

I wrote fiction to some degree from the age of 6 until the end of high school (a long time ago), and didn't start doing it again until I started writing and publishing stories on this site, in December 2016.

I have not perfected my writing style, and I expect I never will. I hope to keep improving.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Been writing in a business environment for decades, started writing fiction here on Lit four years ago.

I settled into a recognisable fiction style maybe two years in, and now have more confidence to stretch and subvert myself. I'd never say I've "perfected" a style - in my mind, that would mean I've gone stale and predictable, shoot me now.

 

[NotWise]

I've been writing for a long time, but that answer is probably irrelevant.

I started writing Lit-like material almost 10 years ago. I think I have a consistent voice, but I hope I'm not done tweaking my writing style. I still use "then" far too much.

 

[KeithD]

I've been writing professionally since 1970. Initially nonfiction and journalistic copy, though. I didn't really get into writing fiction until 1992. By 1996, after completing my sixth published novel, though, I pretty much stopped trying to readjust my style and voice to anything other than it was/is.

 

[SamScribble]

I began earning my living from my writing 56 years ago. After the first eight or nine years, I got a bit dispirited, did a catering course, and tried my hand at cheffing. But then, in my early 30s, the writing urge returned and it has remained with me until this day.

Perfection – for me at least – has been a moving target. The pieces I wrote in my 30s and 40s were often ‘clever’. That was what my publishers, editors, and producers were looking for. These days, my objective is simplicity. I’m not quite there yet – at least not consistently. But I like to think that I’m getting there.

 

[Bramblethorn]

And how long did it take you to feel like your writing style was perfected? And can you keep getting better or is how you write now basically stayed the same? Is it even possible to get better after a certain point or do just your ideas change?

For me, 3 years writing and only now do I feel I've mastered my own style and don't see a need to change anything

I've been writing since I was a kid. I'm still learning new stuff.

 

[MelissaBaby]

When I was young, I was always ahead of my class and I would usually finish assignments before all the other kids, and I'd get bored and act out. A teacher coaxed me into writing stories to keep me occupied. When I was twelve or so, I wrote a whole series of stories about a girl named Regina Greentree, who was a guide in the Maine woods. As I got older, I fell away from it, though, only to begin seriously writing about a year and a half ago.

As to whether or not I have "mastered my style", I'm not sure how a person would know if they done so or not. I try to write in what seems to me my natural story telling voice. I don't attempt to be clever or overly tricky. I just tell the story in a way that feels emotionally true. If I do that, I suppose I've mastered my style.

 

[TxRad]

I began writing about twenty years ago, although i had wanted to write far younger. My handwriting was terrible, my typing was fast but not very accurate, my spelling sucked so I gave up after a few tries. When computers came along and Works showed up for Windows, I now had the tools.

As for my voice, I started out writing like people talk and have stuck with it. It worked and I see no reason to change now.

As for learning new things. Every chance I get.

 

[KindofHere]

................

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I had my first poem published away back in my undergrad days, long enough ago that one of the profs sometimes came to class directly from the duck blinds. His Lab would lie down at his feet and go to sleep, the prof would lean his shotgun in a convenient corner and we'd be off - no fuss, no complaints, no SWAT teams. (Yes, that long ago!) After that, like Keith, it was mainly nonfiction and some journalism. I actually restarted writing fiction less than a year ago.

I will consider my style perfected when my most devoted troll turns off the auto-bomb programme, exits Mom's basement and gets a job not involving driving around to the second window.

 

[Blind_Justice]

My first proper, non-school-exercise short I wrote when I was 16, circa 1991. I've been on my first skiing trip and the majestic Bavarian winter landscape inspired me. Grabbing everything from napkins to graph paper, I laid down the first draft when everyone else was partying. I translated it to Braille for my then-girlfriend later. A simple heroes vs. ice dragon thing, but the reception was kind

I kept writing afterwards, but most of my creativity went into gamemastering for my roleplaying group. I published a few shorts on a German fiction repository. During that time I became a bit frustrated with my native tongue's inability to describe sex. In German, it feels, there are only three ways to describe sex. Very flowery and roundabout, clinical and emotionless and very "rough". Maybe reading most of my smut in English gave me a better vocabulary or English simply does have more options. *shrug*. I translated one of my racier Sci-Fi pieces and showed it to a Lit author I edited for at the time and got an emphatic "Come on, publish it already!"

That was 2012 and the then one-shot was "Ghost in the Machine 01".

Now, six years later, I'm no closer to a movie deal than I was in 2012.

In all seriousness though, I know I still have ways to go to improve. There are so many nuances a native speaker doesn't actively think about when writing and I need to triple-check. Without my editor, I'm severely handicapped.

I know my strengths (world- and character building), but I don't realy feel like I've found my style. My dialogue could be snappier and my sex scenes hotter. I'm working to improve and if the scores on my four most recent pieces are any indication, it's slowly paying off.

Maybe when I'm wise and distinguished like Ogg, I can earn money with my pipe dreams.

 

[Emirus]

As far as writing for my job is concerned that was in my very first job 55 years ago and it wasn’t fiction. As far as fiction is concerned about four years ago, after starting reading Literotica, and then only for my own amusement. But in reality 5 months ago. When I began I was bad but now I’m a little better.

As for how good someone is, or thinks they are, it’s as well to remember that the perfect man is an idiot because only an idiot would believe they are perfect.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

...it’s as well to remember that the perfect man is an idiot because only an idiot would believe they are perfect.

Most wise.

 

[Requiax]

Erotic fiction? Well I once wrote a story about a girl in my science class performing a striptease and I was probably 12 or 13 then...

As an adult I have spent a long time with fanfiction, half-done shorts and fragments of novels, both erotic and vanilla, but never as anything more than a dabbler’s hobby.

About two and a half years ago I randomly gave myself a kick up the arse and began putting more effort in, and I’ve been writing publishable stuff ever since.

 

[carsonshepherd]

]

I won't quote you but you should write a memoir. I'd read it.

 

[KindofHere]

.............

 

[SolarRay]

I was fortunate that my mom detected a desire to tell stories early on and fostered that in me. Before I could write them down she used to prompt me to make them up and tell them on the spot. It wasn't until the mid-90s that I started having some short stories published. I maintained a blog. Then I got more into poetry and started publishing it. It's the main thing I write now and I'm currently working on a new poetry book. Erotic fiction is still a newish hobby, but I'm really enjoying it. I don't know about "mastering" anything. Developing a "voice" sure, but I think in certain ways all of my writing slowly evolves and will probably continue to do so.

 

[FEELINGLUCKYPUNK]

My family tree is filled with writers who mattered. Two Named Samuel Johnson mattered most, they were uncle and nephew. I took the TEX route with prose that's original and excellent; but like TEX the original suff aint excellent and the excellent stuff aint original.

 

[carsonshepherd]

.

I'm intrigued by the storytelling in the above post though.

I've been telling stories since I can remember. Telling them to myself as a way to understand things, to deal with feelings of being different. I always, always wanted to express myself and yet I couldn't share this with others; I knew I was different and I didn't want to be, so I put that into my stories. I dreaded judgement. I feared ridicule.

When I discovered Lit, I shared my stories with the world. I discovered that praise can be addictive and that it was a double edged sword. My stories were popular but they didn't belong to me anymore, and I became somewhat paranoid about my privacy and my identity, while exposing my deepest self in my stories. So I gave up not only writing for an audience, but writing altogether.

I started writing again after 7 years of nothing. I realize how much I need that self expression and I do it for myself alone now. My style is always evolving, I hope. I struggle to get closer to the words I really want to say. I've given up adverbs at last

 

[KindofHere]

...............

 

[blozo]

Since May.

 

[SpermBankHoliday]

I've just started here, but writing has always been a strength. In school, I always crushed the essay test, and my papers always got good marks, but I've never written anything without a deadline.

After reading a lot on this site, I finally decided to start writing the kind of stuff I want to read.