I just wanted to write smut... why is it getting so complex? XD

[Abyss_Slut]

N00b here.

Been working on a story (haven't published) that I initially started as an excuse to write smutty scenes with a half-assed plot.

Problem is, my characters sort of took on a life of their own, I fell in love, and now it's leaning more romance novel-esque.

(I.e. I have 100+ chapters and only 5 of them have actual fucking. ) I got distracted by worldbuilding, developing a complex plot, exploring characters backgrounds, etc.

Has this happened to any one else? Am I in the wrong place for this? XD

The main problem is I'm enjoying myself too much to stop and go back to the original idea.

 

[AlinaX]

Who cares about the original idea... You've found a story you love with characters you love and hopefully others will love them too.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

N00b here.

Been working on a story (haven't published) that I initially started as an excuse to write smutty scenes with a half-assed plot.

Problem is, my characters sort of took on a life of their own, I fell in love, and now it's leaning more romance novel-esque.

(I.e. I have 100+ chapters and only 5 of them have actual fucking. ) I got distracted by worldbuilding, developing a complex plot, exploring characters backgrounds, etc.

Has this happened to any one else? Am I in the wrong place for this? XD

The main problem is I'm enjoying myself too much to stop and go back to the original idea.

That's what I started to do ... write some erotica that I liked. Now its turned into a multi-story romance ...

 

[SimonDoom]

You definitely are not in the wrong place. I think that's happened to plenty of other writers. It's part of the deal. Have fun with it.


If you are itching to get something published, however, you might set aside your long story and write something quick and short. Force yourself to do it and don't pay too much attention to its artistic merits.
I think it can be satisfying to do that. When I was writing my first story, it was taking me a while, and meanwhile an imminent deadline for a contest loomed so I decided to write a story of about 4000 words in one day. It wasn't a great story, but it was satisfying to get something done. And it helped unlock the creative juices and mojo to get my other story done and published within the following week.


Good luck and have fun.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Nope, you are not alone. Although my very first story was over 110,000 words and took me a year to write. I have others like that and I have stories that are just over the minimum of 750 words.

 

[gunhilltrain]

As the other commenters here have suggested - don't look at it as smut, just look at it as a story in which the adult themes are very explicit. That has already happened in mainstream movies and novels to a great degree. The amount of time spent on the actual sex acts can be whatever you think is appropriate. There is no minimum required.

 

[PoisonPen33]

I've been there - a two-chapter story turned into a sprawling nineteen-chapter tale.

Sometimes you have to let the muse take you by the tail and drag you along.

 

[infusednotes]

I can definitely relate to this. Characters themselves take on a whole new angle when you start to get inside their head and the story unfolds.

It would be fascinating to compare the original notes and the finished piece - side by side, and see how it developed?

 

[Abyss_Slut]

You definitely are not in the wrong place. I think that's happened to plenty of other writers. It's part of the deal. Have fun with it.


If you are itching to get something published, however, you might set aside your long story and write something quick and short. Force yourself to do it and don't pay too much attention to its artistic merits.
I think it can be satisfying to do that. When I was writing my first story, it was taking me a while, and meanwhile an imminent deadline for a contest loomed so I decided to write a story of about 4000 words in one day. It wasn't a great story, but it was satisfying to get something done. And it helped unlock the creative juices and mojo to get my other story done and published within the following week.


Good luck and have fun.

That's exactly how my only published story happened. XD I wanted to write something different, a little silly, and sex-focused. I was also itching to write something holiday themed, so xD

 

[Bramblethorn]

Happens to many of us.

 

[PennameWombat]

N00b here.

Been working on a story (haven't published) that I initially started as an excuse to write smutty scenes with a half-assed plot.

Problem is, my characters sort of took on a life of their own, I fell in love, and now it's leaning more romance novel-esque.

(I.e. I have 100+ chapters and only 5 of them have actual fucking. ) I got distracted by worldbuilding, developing a complex plot, exploring characters backgrounds, etc.

Has this happened to any one else? Am I in the wrong place for this? XD

The main problem is I'm enjoying myself too much to stop and go back to the original idea.

Many if not most of my stories have a limited number of actual sex scenes. A key instance is my Winter Holidays 2020 entry (link in sig.) It’s 10 Lit pages (over 30,000 total words) and has only two relatively short sex scenes. And both of those are no more explicit than appears in plenty of non-erotic works. And it’s doing quite well in terms of ratings and comments (the red ‘H’), although it wasn’t near to winning the contest. I have other stories with more explicit sex and a higher ‘ratio’ but the readers here will definitely appreciate works that aren’t wall to wall sex.

As to publishing, a few options:
- Release your large work in ‘chapters’, which is common around here. That allows you to see some of it ‘in print’ without having to finish the whole work. Downside can be time between releasing chapters (trust me on this...)
- My first few releases weren’t that long but I did this so I could share them and see them Out There, but mostly with those I followed up with each subsequent chapter quite quickly. Since then, I have some serial stories that have longer gaps.

- as others have suggested, publish other, shorter works, while you work on your primary one.
- I’m working on a relatively long and involved Valentine’s Day entry and suddenly came up with an idea that absolutely didn’t fit. But, it was doable in around 10,000 words so I took a few days to write and edit and submitted it a couple of days ago.
- I do this as well in my various ‘universes,’ where I ‘fill in’ by introducing new characters or take a side character on an adventure of their own.

 

[Handley_Page]

N00b here.

Been working on a story (haven't published) that I initially started as an excuse to write smutty scenes with a half-assed plot.

Problem is, my characters sort of took on a life of their own, I fell in love, and now it's leaning more romance novel-esque.

(I.e. I have 100+ chapters and only 5 of them have actual fucking. ) I got distracted by worldbuilding, developing a complex plot, exploring characters backgrounds, etc.

Has this happened to any one else? Am I in the wrong place for this? XD

The main problem is I'm enjoying myself too much to stop and go back to the original idea.

I wonder how far you've got with it so far ?
If the story is getting to be a significant proportion of the whole, you could be veering toward - 'literature' !
But don't panic about how often someone fucks. It ain't that vital.

 

[LexxRuthless]

N00b here.

Been working on a story (haven't published) that I initially started as an excuse to write smutty scenes with a half-assed plot.

Problem is, my characters sort of took on a life of their own, I fell in love, and now it's leaning more romance novel-esque.

(I.e. I have 100+ chapters and only 5 of them have actual fucking. ) I got distracted by worldbuilding, developing a complex plot, exploring characters backgrounds, etc.

Has this happened to any one else? Am I in the wrong place for this? XD

The main problem is I'm enjoying myself too much to stop and go back to the original idea.

It certainly happens to me on occasion. My suggestion is to keep that original idea in a separate document. You can always turn it into a standalone short story with new characters. Just make sure they don't go off on another extended excursion once you start telling their story!

 

[ChloeTzang]

N00b here.

Been working on a story (haven't published) that I initially started as an excuse to write smutty scenes with a half-assed plot.

Problem is, my characters sort of took on a life of their own, I fell in love, and now it's leaning more romance novel-esque.

(I.e. I have 100+ chapters and only 5 of them have actual fucking. ) I got distracted by worldbuilding, developing a complex plot, exploring characters backgrounds, etc.

Has this happened to any one else? Am I in the wrong place for this? XD

The main problem is I'm enjoying myself too much to stop and go back to the original idea.

Happens to me all the time. I even have a couple of stories with no sex, and one almost- novel with only one sex scene. It’s embarrassing

 

[JaxRhapsody]

It get like that sometimes. 100 chapters though? Being on this site got me trying to write shorter. But same thing is happening to a fanfict I started writing last week. Was supposed to be shorter than the other one and I fear it might exceed it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Happens to me all the time. I even have a couple of stories with no sex, and one almost- novel with only one sex scene. It’s embarrassing

EB looked at Chloe closely. "Only one sex scene? But it's fifty thousand words long, so how does that not count?"

 

[TarnishedPenny]

EB looked at Chloe closely. "Only one sex scene? But it's fifty thousand words long, so how does that not count?"

I know, right? I sometimes think Chloe has been kidnapped and is sending veiled messages for help.

AbyssSlut - welcome to a writer's reality. I agree with everything people have said to date, but will add one more thing.

Your characters taking over is a good sign. Characters are supposed to be human (mostly, although the odd auditor does slip in). That your characters have character is an indication that you're doing a good job.

 

[MColton84]

I wonder how far you've got with it so far ?
If the story is getting to be a significant proportion of the whole, you could be veering toward - 'literature' !
But don't panic about how often someone fucks. It ain't that vital.

I agree. The more I write, the less focused I am on the actual sex. If you have a story you find compelling and characters you care about, then why freak out about how often tab A is plowing Slot B. After all, they aren't paying you.

 

[gunhilltrain]

N00b here.

Been working on a story (haven't published) that I initially started as an excuse to write smutty scenes with a half-assed plot.

Problem is, my characters sort of took on a life of their own, I fell in love, and now it's leaning more romance novel-esque.

(I.e. I have 100+ chapters and only 5 of them have actual fucking. ) I got distracted by worldbuilding, developing a complex plot, exploring characters backgrounds, etc.

Has this happened to any one else? Am I in the wrong place for this? XD

The main problem is I'm enjoying myself too much to stop and go back to the original idea.

It sounds like you are doing great, even if you don't recognize it. The one story you did publish a few weeks ago did very well.

I saw one writer on another site who has forty-six chapters so far. (I don't know what the record on Literotica is.) If you think you can justify more than one-hundred chapters, then go for it. Put it in the Novels and Novellas section. You could release a new one every seven to ten days; I don't know what the ideal timing would be on spacing them out. Maybe it should be less frequent than that.

 

[EddieTheMuse]

Yep, pretty much every story I've started writing ends up several chapters long. I can't write short stories. I've tried, I failed.

 

[ChloeTzang]

EB looked at Chloe closely. "Only one sex scene? But it's fifty thousand words long, so how does that not count?"

From memory, it was one ten thousand word sex scene in a 60k word story. Now the one I am just finishing is chapter 6 of Jeong Park and is looking to be 65k words so I might break it in two because really, it’s 64k words of almost non stop sex and the 1k that’s not is an intro basically letting the reader know it’s non stop abusive sex.

I’m figuring 65k words of non stop hotness might be a bit daunting to your average male reader. And I don’t want any heart attacks on my conscience!

 

[PoisonPen33]

I’m figuring 65k words of non stop hotness might be a bit daunting to your average male reader. And I don’t want any heart attacks on my conscience!

That's...um...wow. That's a lot of...you know...

*whispers*...sex...

 

[Andrewlongcock]

Wow....

N00b here.

Been working on a story (haven't published) that I initially started as an excuse to write smutty scenes with a half-assed plot.

Problem is, my characters sort of took on a life of their own, I fell in love, and now it's leaning more romance novel-esque.

(I.e. I have 100+ chapters and only 5 of them have actual fucking. ) I got distracted by worldbuilding, developing a complex plot, exploring characters backgrounds, etc.

Has this happened to any one else? Am I in the wrong place for this? XD

The main problem is I'm enjoying myself too much to stop and go back to the original idea.

Wow, the same thing happened to me! I fell in love with a character as he was falling in love during a sex scene!

In my story “Three Women and one Big...” the main character is being deep throated and he looks over and sees.....a cheeseburger. Not just any cheeseburger, THE cheeseburger, and he knows he cannot live without it! At that moment I knew this character had a depth and texture that had to be explored.

Almost 10,000 words later I feel I have just about plumbed the depths of this complex and interesting man.

....Sorry, I could not resist....

 

[ChloeTzang]

Yep, pretty much every story I've started writing ends up several chapters long. I can't write short stories. I've tried, I failed.

I have written short stories, she says, proudly. I once wrote only 10k. It was a long time ago....

 

[EddieTheMuse]

I just looked at one of my shorter stories and it's only 2700 words, so I guess I can write shortish stuff.

I think I had that one posted here at one time but I can't really remember.