Lesbian category

[Rob_Royale]

So I'm thinking about my first lesbian story. Young lesbian woman falls for 40ish neighbor. So far, so good. However through some voyeuristic scenes she has witnessed her neighbors liaisons with women and men. It will also be a dom/sub scenario.

Would the voyeur scenes make it so that a lesbian looking for like-minded stories would be put off? I'd rather put it in EC than alienate a reader with a bad category choice.

 

[Filipinawife]

So I'm thinking about my first lesbian story. Young lesbian woman falls for 40ish neighbor. So far, so good. However through some voyeuristic scenes she has witnessed her neighbors liaisons with women and men. It will also be a dom/sub scenario.

Would the voyeur scenes make it so that a lesbian looking for like-minded stories would be put off? I'd rather put it in EC than alienate a reader with a bad category choice.

I was seduced by a lecturer at university she was early 40’s

 

[Rob_Royale]

I was seduced by a lecturer at university she was early 40’s

Thank you for that terrific mental image. That will make me smile for the rest of the evening.

 

[ElectricBlue]

So I'm thinking about my first lesbian story. Young lesbian woman falls for 40ish neighbor. So far, so good. However through some voyeuristic scenes she has witnessed her neighbors liaisons with women and men. It will also be a dom/sub scenario.

Would the voyeur scenes make it so that a lesbian looking for like-minded stories would be put off? I'd rather put it in EC than alienate a reader with a bad category choice.

As always, apply the Simon test: what's the primary theme of the story? Lesbians can be voyeurs too, but surely, first and foremost, they're lesbians?

You're over-thinking this, and why are you trying to "not alienate readers". They're meant to be adults, I'm sure they can cope.

If you want to please everyone, don't pile too much into a story. But really (chorus), write what you want to write, and stop worrying about the reaction.

 

[HordHolm]

So I'm thinking about my first lesbian story. Young lesbian woman falls for 40ish neighbor. So far, so good. However through some voyeuristic scenes she has witnessed her neighbors liaisons with women and men. It will also be a dom/sub scenario.

Would the voyeur scenes make it so that a lesbian looking for like-minded stories would be put off? I'd rather put it in EC than alienate a reader with a bad category choice.

In the voyeur scenes what is the reaction of the young lesbian woman? The danger I see is on focussing a male gaze on her reactions to seeing her object of desire fucking a man. Basically, how would a woman with (presumably exclusive) same sex desires feel about this woman sleeping with a man? I would imagine it would leave her conflicted at best, but more probably uninterested or fairly cold, whilst seeing her with another woman might stimulate a very different set of reactions, more passionate in both positive (arousal) and negative (jealousy) ways.

 

[lustychimera]

So I'm thinking about my first lesbian story. Young lesbian woman falls for 40ish neighbor. So far, so good. However through some voyeuristic scenes she has witnessed her neighbors liaisons with women and men. It will also be a dom/sub scenario.

Would the voyeur scenes make it so that a lesbian looking for like-minded stories would be put off? I'd rather put it in EC than alienate a reader with a bad category choice.

I'd be interested to know if an author with a masculine sounding name could do well writing a lesbian erotica for actual lesbian women. There's already going to be some preconceived notions of stereotypical fetishizations just from that. It'd be an uphill battle to get those readers on your side, I think.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I'd be interested to know if an author with a masculine sounding name could do well writing a lesbian erotica for actual lesbian women. There's already going to be some preconceived notions of stereotypical fetishizations just from that. It'd be an uphill battle to get those readers on your side, I think.

I am a male and no doubt you're correct. It is for those reasons I'm wondering if I should avoid the lesbian category.

 

[Rustyoznail]

You've got a teddy bear as your avatar. Cuteness wins!

 

[stickygirl]

As always, apply the Simon test: what's the primary theme of the story? Lesbians can be voyeurs too, but surely, first and foremost, they're lesbians?

You're over-thinking this, and why are you trying to "not alienate readers". They're meant to be adults, I'm sure they can cope.

If you want to please everyone, don't pile too much into a story. But really (chorus), write what you want to write, and stop worrying about the reaction.

Proof that you and Simon are the same person

 

[Rob_Royale]

You've got a teddy bear as your avatar. Cuteness wins!

Well of course. I'm also rather adorable in real life.

 

[lustychimera]

I am a male and no doubt you're correct. It is for those reasons I'm wondering if I should avoid the lesbian category.

Yeah, and then there's the bisexual stuff, which there's a surprising amount of bigotry against in the gay community.

I'm not familiar enough with the category on this website, though, but I do believe those two things will get you some grief.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Yeah, and then there's the bisexual stuff, which there's a surprising amount of bigotry against in the gay community.

I'm not familiar enough with the category on this website, though, but I do believe those two things will get you some grief.

Thanks for the input. That's what I was looking for.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I am a male and no doubt you're correct. It is for those reasons I'm wondering if I should avoid the lesbian category.

You are so overthinking this. As far as I know, Lesbian Sex category accepts a wide variety of stories and is actually quite friendly compared to many other categories. Your story clearly belongs there. Write what you want to write and don't think in advance if you will satisfy every type of reader out there, or if someone will get offended by you inserting this or that theme in the story. Someone will always be unsatisfied with your story, but very likely many will enjoy it. If we all start worrying about our stories appeasing the mainstream readership of each category, then our stories will soon become just a bunch of generic crap aimed to please the crowd. Well, there is plenty of that here already, so let's not make things worse

 

[Rob_Royale]

You are so overthinking this. As far as I know, Lesbian Sex category accepts a wide variety of stories and is actually quite friendly compared to many other categories. Your story clearly belongs there. Write what you want to write and don't think in advance if you will satisfy every type of reader out there, or if someone will get offended by you inserting this or that theme in the story. Someone will always be unsatisfied with your story, but very likely many will enjoy it. If we all start worrying about our stories appeasing the mainstream readership of each category, then our stories will soon become just a bunch of generic crap aimed to please the crowd. Well, there is plenty of that here already, so let's not make things worse

Fair enough. Thanks for replying.

 

[MelissaBaby]

So I'm thinking about my first lesbian story. Young lesbian woman falls for 40ish neighbor. So far, so good. However through some voyeuristic scenes she has witnessed her neighbors liaisons with women and men. It will also be a dom/sub scenario.

Would the voyeur scenes make it so that a lesbian looking for like-minded stories would be put off? I'd rather put it in EC than alienate a reader with a bad category choice.

I don't think it would be a problem.

I also don't think the majority of readers in the Lesbian category are lesbians.

 

[HordHolm]

I also don't think the majority of readers in the Lesbian category are lesbians.

This is true, of course, but I wonder what RobRoyale's aim is here - to write a 'lesbian' stroker for men to enjoy, or a story which lesbians might appreciate. Those are generally two different things.

 

[HordHolm]

So I'm thinking about my first lesbian story. Young lesbian woman falls for 40ish neighbor. So far, so good. However through some voyeuristic scenes she has witnessed her neighbors liaisons with women and men. It will also be a dom/sub scenario.

Would the voyeur scenes make it so that a lesbian looking for like-minded stories would be put off? I'd rather put it in EC than alienate a reader with a bad category choice.

What is your actual aim with this story?:

1. A 'real' story about lesbians, i.e. verisimilitude, and with a lesbian audience in mind
2. A stroker about girl on girl for a mostly male audience
3. A 'real' story without necessarily focusing on a lesbian audience but with elements of believability

A lesbian story could look very different depending on the audience you have in mind.

 

[DickandDoof]

I agree 100 percent, MelissaBaby. Lesbian stories are my favourites.

 

[Voboy]

If I'm clicking on a story in EC, I expect M/F content. Fairly or unfairly.

If I'm looking for a story with lesbian content, the Lesbian category is the first place I'll click.

I don't look at the voyeurism piece as being important, category-wise, since the voyeurism isn't the sexual point of the story: the lesbian relationship is.

 

[Winter_Fare]

So I'm thinking about my first lesbian story. Young lesbian woman falls for 40ish neighbor. So far, so good. However through some voyeuristic scenes she has witnessed her neighbors liaisons with women and men. It will also be a dom/sub scenario.

Would the voyeur scenes make it so that a lesbian looking for like-minded stories would be put off? I'd rather put it in EC than alienate a reader with a bad category choice.

Are you sure it wouldn't be a better fit for BDSM? Very accepting category in terms of sexual preferences.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

What is your actual aim with this story?:

1. A 'real' story about lesbians, i.e. verisimilitude, and with a lesbian audience in mind
2. A stroker about girl on girl for a mostly male audience
3. A 'real' story without necessarily focusing on a lesbian audience but with elements of believability

A lesbian story could look very different depending on the audience you have in mind.

As I said, this obsession with the audience is simply ridiculous. Why wouldn't he just write the story he really wants to write and then see the comments and reactions? If he was getting paid for the story, if he wanted to sell as many copies as possible, this discussion would be quite reasonable, but he is posting a free story on a free site, for crying out loud.
Researching the kinks and the likes of the audience just to be able to say "Oh look, the story that was specifically engineered to cater to the tastes of the crowd is pleasing the crowd!" What a shocker. Are we really so obsessed with scores and likes that we are willing to write what the audience wants? As I said, if he were doing this for the money, I would understand it 100%, but as it is, writing a story engineered in such a way just so he could enjoy a somewhat better score? I believe that the OP is much better than that and that his question was just some general caution and fear of rejection from a specific part of the readership.

 

[HordHolm]

As I said, this obsession with the audience is simply ridiculous. Why wouldn't he just write the story he really wants to write and then see the comments and reactions? If he was getting paid for the story, if he wanted to sell as many copies as possible, this discussion would be quite reasonable, but he is posting a free story on a free site, for crying out loud.
Researching the kinks and the likes of the audience just to be able to say "Oh look, the story that was specifically engineered to cater to the tastes of the crowd is pleasing the crowd!" What a shocker. Are we really so obsessed with scores and likes that we are willing to write what the audience wants? As I said, if he were doing this for the money, I would understand it 100%, but as it is, writing a story engineered in such a way just so he could enjoy a somewhat better score? I believe that the OP is much better than that and that his question was just some general caution and fear of rejection from a specific part of the readership.

Ok, I take your point, but what does he actually want to achieve is my point. If he actually wants to appeal to a particular audience, then his story might need to be tailored in a particular way. If he doesn't have an audience in mind then it doesn't fucking matter, does it? I fail to see why asking that question gets such a response.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Ok, I take your point, but what does he actually want to achieve is my point. If he actually wants to appeal to a particular audience, then his story might need to be tailored in a particular way. If he doesn't have an audience in mind then it doesn't fucking matter, does it? I fail to see why asking that question gets such a response.

I might be coming across as a bit more aggressive than I originally intended. Yet your comment implied that we should maybe think about appealing to the audience, and that was what prompted my reaction. There is no reason why he should be tailoring his story for any audience or any category. The whole point of writing here is to indulge our own fantasies, artistic inclinations, and desires. Unless of course, one wants to build readership for commercial purposes. Writing a story to indulge a certain part of the readership is like asking a crowd:
"What do you want me to do in order to get a big applause from you?"
"Give us ten bucks each."
" Here you go. Oh my god, what an incredible applause, I am so good!"

I am sure you had good intentions with your suggestions, but I am just pointing out that that whole line of thinking is quite wrong on principle.

 

[HordHolm]

I am sure you had good intentions with your suggestions, but I am just pointing out that that whole line of thinking is quite wrong on principle.

Hang on, but how is that wrong in principle? Are you suggesting that on principle it is wrong for any author here to have an idea of an audience that they might prefer to appeal to, and then write their submission with that audience in mind? That seems very... restrictive, actually.

There are a lot of comments on these boards about 'writing what you want' and 'writing for yourself', but what if what you want to do is to appeal to a particular audience over and above another one? Is that not a legitimate choice? Some authors might want to write for a particular audience because that is the one most likely to appreciate their kink/viewpoint/etc, and others might want to do so as a writing exercise. Suggesting that any author approaching a story from that viewpoint is 'wrong in principle' is a bit, well, who made you King of Writing?

 

[alohadave]

I'd be interested to know if an author with a masculine sounding name could do well writing a lesbian erotica for actual lesbian women. There's already going to be some preconceived notions of stereotypical fetishizations just from that. It'd be an uphill battle to get those readers on your side, I think.

I have a couple posted in Lesbian, and while the comments haven't said "I'm a lesbian and this is great", they've done well.

I imagine that telling a good story that resonates with readers is more important than your gender. Treat your characters like real people and not stereotypes.