How seriously do you take your Literotica stories?

[HeyAll]

I mean, is it simply a fun hobby? Do you treat it like a job? Something in between?

I'm curious about people's efforts on here.


Personally, I treat it like a job, in the sense that I give myself deadlines, and I finish the stories by then. I have a lot of fun doing it too. Frankly, I work harder on Lit than I do my educational stuff.

I have no intention of ever selling anything. My 'payment' is when people read & enjoy it.

 

[rjordan]

I mean, is it simply a fun hobby? Do you treat it like a job? Something in between?

Writing fiction is strictly a hobby. Better than a book of Sudoku puzzles for staying mentally sharp. Like any good hobby, I do my best to constantly improve. If it ever felt like a job, I'd stop immediately.

I go in spurts. Every few years I write a bunch of stories. Then a couple of years in a row, I'll write nothing.

I've been on Lit for 12 or 13 years, but have only posted about 20 of maybe 100 stories I've written. I usually just keep my 10 favorites on Lit. I'm in the midst of a writing spurt this year and will probably be replacing some of my currently posted stories. Or not.

rj

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm obsessive compulsive with everything I get involved in so I'm tough on myself. I set goals and I bust my ass to make them and am pissed when I don't.

But I write two types of stories. Most of my incest stuff flows well because I don't take them seriously. They sell well so I guess I should, but honestly some of it is mind numbing material pandering to the fans of that category.

Then I write other things that I put a lot more of myself into and really take them seriously which means the goals are set higher and I push myself harder for them.

 

[GoldenMaia]

Previously I treated my erotica writing pretty casually however since trying for the contests and seeing how cut-throat porn can be, I have been trying to up my game!

I guess I finally have admitted to myself that I like writing erotica more than fumbling trying to write something 'real'.

 

[oggbashan]

Writing for Literotica is a hobby, a real pass-time, for me. Sometimes I need to sit down and rest my aching body. After all, I am seriously ancient.

But I take my writing seriously and try to improve. I think I have. Not every new story is an improvement on the last one, but over the years they have become better. That doesn't stop me posting an absolute stinker sometimes.

I have left them all on Literotica to remind me of how bad I can be.

 

[SusanJillParker]

The typical story that I write takes 75 to 90 hours over a 3 week period.

I reread it over and again, adding to it and correcting it every time I read it.

Then, even when submitting the story, I just don't copy and paste, I read it as it appears on the screen as if I was a reader reading my story for the first time. Always I find errors and/or things to change.

Then, after I submit it, I read it over again.

It's a long, painstaking process. Yet, those of us who write stories are cursed. While the rest of the population is out having fun, we're sitting in front of a computer writing, reading, and editing.

I never stare at a blank screen. I only write when inspired, which is pretty much all the time now. Inspired writing is the best writing.

 

[Hypoxia]

Stories emerge because they must. Some demand hard work; some write themselves. Some start with an ending; I write to reach it. Some start with an idea and are very difficult to end. Some want to be assembly-line products; I try to stifle those.

Songwriting is easier.

EDIT: Do I take them seriously? I try not to.

 

[jomar]

Definitely a hobby when a story strikes me.

Lately, I'm working on a sci fi short story that I'll submit to a magazine and see what happens.

 

[beachbum1958]

I mean, is it simply a fun hobby? Do you treat it like a job? Something in between?

I'm curious about people's efforts on here.


Personally, I treat it like a job, in the sense that I give myself deadlines, and I finish the stories by then. I have a lot of fun doing it too. Frankly, I work harder on Lit than I do my educational stuff.

I have no intention of ever selling anything. My 'payment' is when people read & enjoy it.

Strictly a hobby, for my own personal enjoyment, and it will stay that way; I worked for years on a variety of arduous assignments in some very scary places indeed, so now I think I've earned the leisure to play, write when the mood takes me, stop and go and do something else when I'm tired of writing, and have a little fun with the stories I write; when it stops being fun, and starts feeling like work, I'll stop, and find something else to pass the time; luckily, ennui has never been an issue with me, I have a whole spectrum of interests to occupy me when I'm done with writing.

 

[sr71plt]

I write them (for pay), but I don't fuss a lot with them after I've written them.

 

[GoldenCojones]

It's strictly a hobby for me. But like many people's hobbies I am trying to be the best at it I can be.

 

[Athalia]

Hobby. I do a lot of writing for a living, and that always takes precedence.

My life has not been conducive to recreational writing, which is why I haven't posted any new stories lately.

 

[TxRad]

I first got the urge to write back in high school but with a handwriting that even i couldn't read after a few hours and typing skills that left a trail of dead typewriters and gallons of whiteout splashed everywhere, i gave up on the idea.

Then I got my first PC and it had a copy of Works on it. I was on a job where they were having more problems than the law allowed and I was bored. So... I decided to write something about a memory from fifteen years earlier. Nine months, twenty chapters, and 287 pages later... Sweet and Spicy Horny toads was finished. Nothing of the original idea remained.

A few people read parts of it here and there and most said, "Holy shit, you're a natural at writing porn."

Yeah, porn was easy to write but was it good porn. Then i found Lit. By then i had several more shorter stories written. I posted a few and the rest is history. More or less.

Erotica/Porn is fun to write. It's quick and easy but it also teaches you to write. Writing, teaches you to write. Then I screwed up and posted a non-erotic story. Someone pointed the story out to someone else and the next thing I knew, there is a lady wanting to know if i have any more stories like that one and specifically if i might have one novel length. That's when I found out how much work goes into mainstream novels.

Yeah, Lit writing is fun and mainstream writing is work and never shall the two meet. That's in the contract.

 

[sinagainChris12]

Writing erotica is a hobby for me. I've also been writing some tamer stuff for years and may or may not be close to looking to publish something more mainstream eventually. My "real" career is where I get my paycheck from and I love it and it's very fulfilling.

I don't want to write erotica for money, I think I wouldn't enjoy it half as much.

 

[karaline]

Far Too Seriously

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

The typical story that I write takes 75 to 90 hours over a 3 week period.

I reread it over and again, adding to it and correcting it every time I read it.

Then, even when submitting the story, I just don't copy and paste, I read it as it appears on the screen as if I was a reader reading my story for the first time. Always I find errors and/or things to change.

Then, after I submit it, I read it over again.

It's a long, painstaking process. Yet, those of us who write stories are cursed. While the rest of the population is out having fun, we're sitting in front of a computer writing, reading, and editing.

I never stare at a blank screen. I only write when inspired, which is pretty much all the time now. Inspired writing is the best writing.

Yeah yeah I have to say all of this sounds recognizable to me.

It's just that for me this is how I IMAGINE I write stuff... It's not how I actually do write, although it probably was at one point... I'm pretty sure it was...

None of the modern published books, or the mainstream movies, seem to speak to any of my own life experience. And so I have to reflect these things off my own pen, as it were, mostly.

That's WHY I write. Not how I write.

 

[coochiebarber]

I write for fun.

 

[Handley_Page]

I write for fun.

Amen.
And laughter.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

My Literotica stories started as nothing but writing exercises in a place where I might get some feedback. Mostly, I play with POV and length. I think I have a handle on how to fill a canvas as large as a novel now. I don't think I could have done that before.

After getting to know some of the other authors around here, particularly here in the AH forum, I started putting more effort into polishing my stories. They're not quite as rough, though I think most of them still qualify as "rough drafts."

 

[DreamCloud]

A serious hobby. Writing is my personal therapy. I write and I feel better. I post on Lit and receive comments about my horrible weaknesses as a writer and a human being. This causes me to need to write more. A vicious cycle.

 

[JKendallDane]

When I started writing for Lit back in 2009, it was just for shitz~n~giggles. The first half dozen or so were simply strokers that received reasonable decent receptions in spite of my very rusty writing skills and occasionally horrible grammatical errors.

Then the Muse and one of my main characters huddled together and decided they wanted to have me crank out a novella starring a pizza delivery boy. But once I was six or eight chapters in, the novella grew into a full blown novel...which continued to morph and ended up as twenty chapter, 158,000 word work that is the first book of a trilogy-in-process.

Even with stuff ending up in the HOF lists and respectable placings in a few contests, it was all simply a hobby until recently. After I dipped my toes into the paid market and saw what could be, I took a new look at my motivations. Will I get rich from writing romantica and gay erotica? Probably not any more than I will win the lottery, but if I end up with enough rolling in regularly to cover the food, treat, and vet bills for the cat collection I'll be thrilled.

Yeah, I am taking my stories very serious now.

.

 

[legerdemer]

Quite. I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing, and I confess to being a grammar Nazi. When I started posting here, it was a challenge to myself to match in quality some of the stories I'd read, from some very good authors. One of my favorites remains Dr_Mabeuse. The challenge soon extended to POV (foo example, could I write credibly from a male POV?) and to more complex and complete plot lines from my original "vignettes."

My own opinion for my own writing is that it is not worth doing if I don't do it well. I have plenty of instances of writing scenes that end up, unedited, in the trash because they've fulfilled their purpose for my personal pleasure. But if I post something for other eyes to see, I try to make it worth it for them. It gives me satisfaction to do so.

 

[jsmiam]

Not seriously, but not exactly hobby either, since that could be viewed as being just for fun.

So I will say "For exercise." To get better, similar to going to the gym and drinking water and eating a somewhat balanced diet.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Writing fiction is strictly a hobby. Better than a book of Sudoku puzzles for staying mentally sharp. Like any good hobby, I do my best to constantly improve. If it ever felt like a job, I'd stop immediately.

I go in spurts. Every few years I write a bunch of stories. Then a couple of years in a row, I'll write nothing.

rj

I'll echo this. I write for two reasons - one, I get off on the idea that hundreds of women have gone panty-diving while reading my stories. I'd love to know how many orgasms I've caused... Two, there's a challenge in writing realistic characters who are also erotic. Not much of real life is erotic; not many erotic stories reflect anything like real people. So I work hard to have realistic personalities in my stories, even if it's only in the narrow band of 18-30 year old women I focus on. I also love complex backdrops - worldbuilding - and I write because that's both hard and fun.

I do it strictly for me, in other words, but I work hard on my stories. I don't know if I could write commercially - I have more than enough skill, but I'd have to pander to what the masses like, and since Lit has convinced me that most people like incest, GM, vampires, violent rape and hearts and flowers romance... yeah. I don't have the discipline to cater to what people want (or I just find it revulsive).

I've met a small handful of fascinating people through my writing. It wasn't my original incentive, but I have no complaints, either...

 

[LucidLucifer]

I haven't written anything, but as far as the stories posted on here, I'm far more interested in the written equivalent of a porn film, as opposed to searching for the erotic writer equivalent of Hemingway or Brontë.