Loving Wives Curse

[Actingup]

There are lots of threads on LW here. For my part, I did a deep dive into story percentile scores, suggesting that while the absolute score that a story gets in LW can't be compared to other categories, you can still can get meaningful results if you look at how a story rates in percentile terms (eg top 10%, bottom 50% etc) within that category. I also suggested that if you get a 'hit' in LW, then there's an immense payback in terms of engagement. When I looked at that and the kinds of themes that my stories had in LW (the orange stars in the graph), I got this pattern:


Absolute score is on the left, percentile score in the category on the right. My stories in other categories are the blue, purple and green ones (there have been more since then), and they tend to score higher. The LW scores range from woeful to 'hot'. But the solitary 'hot' one has had 46000 views and 1300 votes, which is way more than any other story of mine (although since then I've managed an 'almost hot' one that has had 1700 votes). So basically, I concluded that if you're chasing engagement, then LW is absolutely worth it if you have thick skin. And if you're just looking to have fun and damn the torpedoes, it's a great category! Incidently, the vote-sweeping that happens regularly on the site (deleting one-bombs) has meant that the absolute scores of the five orange starred stories shown have moved upwards, with the lowest of them at 3.8 rather than the lamentable 3.3 that it had when I did the graph.

 

[marriedpervs]

This topic has intrigued me for years. I find what is described by most on this thread to be true. Readers in the LW category either LOVE the fact a married woman sleeps around, or totally hate it and think she should be stoned to death. You know what? Who cares? I don't. The beauty of art, literature, tv, movies, etc, is that it stimulates discussion and reactions. Good or bad. My stories have now had over 11 million views/reads and I have seen everything in the comments. I enjoy sometimes getting in a chat with those making comments but also ignore lots too. C'est la vie!
I'm sure well all stilll love LIT, and the Loving Wives category, of which i consider myself to be one.

On with the fun and games - but love discussing this with you all.
P.S. - did anyone else have to change their profile pic because it contained nudity? Wow.........what the fuck is happening with the world?

 

[NoTalentHack]

There are times when I want to write a LW story to see if i can craft something that gets an H, but I don’t think I could come up with something I’d enjoy writing that would please that audience. Maybe someday.

I’ve been toying with doing a story based in the Eagle’s song Lyin’ Eyes that I could put in LW.

It's not as hard as people make it out to be, nor does it require extensive BTB shenanigans. The vast majority of the stories in the LW Hall of Fame are some combination of men's adventure, legal drama, and male-POV romance stories with infidelity as a key plot point in the story and some (but not too much) sex. They do need to be competently written, plotted, etc., but they don't need to end in BTB; hell, they can even end in an earned reconciliation, as several in the top 50 do.

In fact, hard BTB (violence or cruelty to the former spouse) actually makes it more difficult to get a good rating. There's a sort of floor/ceiling thing going on there; BTB has its fans, but it also has its ardent opponents, and you have to sort of thread the needle. The best scores mostly come from "moving on," i.e., the MMC has a good life but doesn't directly strike back at the ex, although it doesn't typically hurt to have the ex suffer some unintended consequences from their choices.

Or, alternately, you can just not write to formula at all. That's the other way to do well there; my only HOF story there doesn't fit into any of these (or, alternately, is BTB, reconciliation, and moving on all at once), and of the others of mine with red Hs, about half of them I'd have trouble putting into any specific category re: those three.

I don't really shoot for scores, though; I like comments, and the best way to get those (give the readers something that's hard to predict and therefore maybe unsatisfying to certain factions) also happens to be my favorite way to write. Well, that and hiding little things for them to think about in the stories, like what virtue actually looks like in an end of the world scenario, or when infidelity is/isn't forgivable, or... well, you get the idea. I could write dude romances and get red Hs, but I'd rather write that kind of thing and get people thinking and talking.

 

[TiberiusPrime]

Personally, I enjoy quite a number of LW stories and I've got 2 published there. No, not the highest rated, but they were stories I had in my head that I wanted to do. I currently have a couple of WIP that will eventually be uploaded to LW as well. I expect them to do just as well in the ratings (meaning not well).

 

[HobokenSweat]

What does the LW audience want? I just don't know. Not sure if I care.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

I definitely get the closeted cuck vibe from lots of my angry reviewers, i miss the times when they’d call me a slut for writing such “smut”, now they attack my writing and wish death on fictional characters.. but it does feel a bit like people bagging on trans people while finding out they’re heavy into trans porn.. they get off to it but get hella defensive afterward

My first and (to date) only LW story begins with an Asian woman giving birth to a Black baby in full view of her shame-faced Asian husband. The twist is that they're into the cuckolding lifestyle and he actually kind of enjoys the humiliation.

Needless to say, the story was absolutely torn to shreds by the LW crowd, although I did get one commenter who said that the "offended and humiliated" commenters amused him a lot, even though the story wasn't his thing.

In fact, the story was the subject of my first ever post here in AH!

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

What does the LW audience want? I just don't know. Not sure if I care.

@NoTalentHack has a great essay called "Loving Loving Wives" that you should check out if you're interested.

 

[Lifestyle66]

My first and (to date) only LW story begins with an Asian woman giving birth to a Black baby in full view of her shame-faced Asian husband. The twist is that they're into the cuckolding lifestyle and he actually kind of enjoys the humiliation.

Needless to say, the story was absolutely torn to shreds by the LW crowd, although I did get one commenter who said that the "offended and humiliated" commenters amused him a lot, even though the story wasn't his thing.

In fact, the story was the subject of my first ever post here in AH!

We've had this discussion before.

You're trying to now explain your story and get people to think there was a Loving Wife in the story. But other than tossing the word "Dear" in the title, there was no loving wife in it or any indication that the husband "kind of enjoyed the humiliation." You may now think that's what you wanted to write. But it's not in the words you posted.

That's why the LW crowd "tore it to shreds". The husband was a one-dimensional prop to be her punching bag in the story. The story didn't appeal to any faction in the LW audience, because it had no redeeming value in that category. It would have been more appropriate in Inter-racial, BDSM, or fetish.

EDIT: I have 51 stories in LW. If you want to see what the BTB faction in LW likes, try reading:
Break the Bitch, Drive Her Crazy
Using women, BDSM, and a high-tech house against the bitch!

It's rated 3.92 with 355 votes and over 21k views.

But I have other swinger and sharing stories there which do as well.

 

[RetroFan]

What does the LW audience want? I just don't know. Not sure if I care.

For the most part the LW have a different pay-off than other categories, in that they want to see consequences for the cheating rather than erotic scenes which is the payoff in most of the other categories. This can be separation or divorce, but some readers do call for stronger retribution. For example in one of my stories about a high school teacher whose younger wife has affairs all over town somebody said that they wanted him to get a gun and go postal, starting with his wife then the students at the school.

One good example for the payoff with my stories was one where the brother's sister (a feminist lesbian) discovers her sister-in-law is a serial cheater, and after confronting her things take a series of turns and they end up in bed together. While the girl on girl action might have satisfied some readers, the majority were angry and wanted the wife's infidelity exposed, with consequences for her and the sister for covering up what she knew.

 

[MorraRose]

I think some of the hating is just part of the literotica culture, like egging houses on Halloween, trolls having fun. Anyway, what category does a story about a cheating husband go into?

 

[NuclearFairy]

I think some of the hating is just part of the literotica culture, like egging houses on Halloween, trolls having fun. Anyway, what category does a story about a cheating husband go into?

They go in whatever other category they might fit into. Although it would be nice if people would tag it, because I think open relationships are hot, betraying someone you love is not.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I think some of the hating is just part of the literotica culture, like egging houses on Halloween, trolls having fun. Anyway, what category does a story about a cheating husband go into?

I put my story "Going Down Together" about a cheating husband in LW.

His Loving Wife was surprised, and sought her revenge.

 

[Actingup]

I think some of the hating is just part of the literotica culture, like egging houses on Halloween, trolls having fun. Anyway, what category does a story about a cheating husband go into?

I've had really good responses from a couple of LW stories about wives cleverly dealing with their cheating husbands - much more so than for open relationships/swinging. LW readers can come across as a misogynistic bunch, but I think that they are far more motivated by a sense of justice (and some are obviously carrying some tough real-world hurts).

 

[peter49parker]

Loving Wives the category well known for featuring hot steamy affairs to suspense filled BTB stories. But there is this one thing that makes this category stand out.

And that is its comments, every story featuring a cheating wife gets destroyed in the comments, from hating on the author to the wife in the story, no one escapes the curse.

As a dude I'll say it's because of underlying fear of getting cheated on, sometimes victims of cheating gets triggered and one more thing is that this word called cold male insecurity (don't what it clearly means), I think it plays an important role?

But in the end people hates cheating wives.......... and husbands.

Anything to add?

While I have written only one story for the Loving Wives genre, I have to agree with you. It's a foregone conclusion that the haters, will rain down their malignant vitriol on you. They will hate your story, hate your characters, and hate the author. They will insult you personally, for creating a story, in such a category. I have often wondered, why would any half assed, normal person, who obviously hates Loving Wives, read story after story, only to shred the author, and his/her readers. It's like a vegan going to a steakhouse, ordering a T-bone, eating every last drop, then insulting the waiter who brought it out to him, the chef who cooked it for him, the owner who built the restaurant, and the farmer who raised the cow. If I don't like a specific category of stories, I simply do not read them, but encourage those who do like them, to enjoy each and every one. And please be kind to those who provide the story to read.

 

[lc69hunter]

Loving Wives the category well known for featuring hot steamy affairs to suspense filled BTB stories. But there is this one thing that makes this category stand out.

And that is its comments, every story featuring a cheating wife gets destroyed in the comments, from hating on the author to the wife in the story, no one escapes the curse.

As a dude I'll say it's because of underlying fear of getting cheated on, sometimes victims of cheating gets triggered and one more thing is that this word called cold male insecurity (don't what it clearly means), I think it plays an important role?

But in the end people hates cheating wives.......... and husbands.

Anything to add?

I tend to mock the haters (especially the anons), but am getting tired of the threats, some actually being messaged to me by email. Everyone thinks I love cuckolding, and cheating because I am a cuck. I love them because, especially in consensual cucking, it creates a hotwife (a married woman in play, with no guilt), God's gift to the rest of us. It is personal at that point. I am 74 years old, with a body count of 32, and 14 of those have been married women. So I may be an outlier, but don't think so. The others like me have been bullied into silence by the pack of hyenas.

 

[lc69hunter]

There was very well written story published recently. It turned out to be a morality tale for those that like that thing (wife cheats, but brings the sexual energy home to hubby, yada yada yada). He divorces her after three pages of angst, etc, she loses and comes to regret it (typical story in that genre).

I responded with the following, and it was not well received.

Well written, but very disappointing. You turned it into a morality tale, refusing to give credit to Amy's position, and he, like most men, does not understand that it sometimes takes a third party affirmation for a women to recover their libido and bring that renewed sexual energy back home to the marital bed. Most married men live in this little cocoon, shielding themselves from the reality of love, sex, and desire, and when that cocoon is shattered, they fall apart. Like I said earlier, though, very well written.

 

[BlazonG]

I have totally avoided this category since I have dealt with a cheating wife for real. I know it would piss me off. Maybe the readers would want my weird real-life BTB story with kinky punishment sex though.

 

[LilyBright]

There was very well written story published recently. It turned out to be a morality tale for those that like that thing (wife cheats, but brings the sexual energy home to hubby, yada yada yada). He divorces her after three pages of angst, etc, she loses and comes to regret it (typical story in that genre).

I responded with the following, and it was not well received.

Well written, but very disappointing. You turned it into a morality tale, refusing to give credit to Amy's position, and he, like most men, does not understand that it sometimes takes a third party affirmation for a women to recover their libido and bring that renewed sexual energy back home to the marital bed. Most married men live in this little cocoon, shielding themselves from the reality of love, sex, and desire, and when that cocoon is shattered, they fall apart. Like I said earlier, though, very well written.

Thank you for this. That's kind of what I am trying to explore in my (still in the works) story. Which Is making me think that LW is not the right category.

 

[MorraRose]

I think the haters just feel good about venting, because, come on, I bet the majority of loving wives stories are totally fictional. If someone truly hates cheaters, why would they read any LW stories? I think the caustic rants and comments are a fetish of their own.

 

[MorraRose]

Personally, I enjoy quite a number of LW stories and I've got 2 published there. No, not the highest rated, but they were stories I had in my head that I wanted to do. I currently have a couple of WIP that will eventually be uploaded to LW as well. I expect them to do just as well in the ratings (meaning not well).

I wonder if the lowest rated stories in LW are actually the best.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I wonder if the lowest rated stories in LW are actually the best.

Not usually, no. There's a lot of good stuff in the 3 range, but I can only think of a couple stories (neither of them BTB) lower than that that are in any way well-told or well-constructed. Even if someone's looking for hard cuckolding stories, the stuff in the 1s and 2s is pretty much terrible.

It's kind of weird; part of the issue is not just the hatred heaped on those stories, but the fact that so many of the cuckold and hotwife stories have a very "Dear Penthouse Forums, I never believed it would happen to me, but..." vibe to them, sometimes all the way down to literally starting with "I never believed it would happen to me, but..." I'd expect some of that, since it shows up in most categories, but there's an absolute ton of it in LW, especially the older stuff. I think this, too, is a sign of the typically older readership in there.

 

[lc69hunter]

Thank you for this. That's kind of what I am trying to explore in my (still in the works) story. Which Is making me think that LW is not the right category.

I think that it is the right category. As it doesn't fit anywhere else. However, both you and the story will be attacked, but don't let it get to you. The haters are a very loud minority

 

[Actingup]

I think the haters just feel good about venting, because, come on, I bet the majority of loving wives stories are totally fictional. If someone truly hates cheaters, why would they read any LW stories? I think the caustic rants and comments are a fetish of their own.

I think that some of them have been hurt very badly in relationships, and might be looking for validation (not necessarily a healthy thing to do). Anything that confronts their self-narrative gets hated on.

Not that I'm the slightest bit qualified to advance that as a theory, of course...

 

[TiberiusPrime]

I wonder if the lowest rated stories in LW are actually the best.

Definitely not, but look at the writer's other work in other areas to see what rankings they're usually getting if you're curious. IMO, if they're getting something like a 4.3 in LW, that's probably a 4.7 elsewhere.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Two years ago, I went to each category's page and averaged those 25 latest story rating.

The difference in rating between LW and other categories is that the average for those LW stories and the other categories was 0.8 to 1.0 lower. Now that difference may change from day to day, depending on the story quality changes and who is published each day. But it gives us a snapshot using that average.

Knowing that you'll get a lower rating in LW, just accept it and treat it like a sport, where you're playing against your own score and trying to improve your own game. You may never be a pro golfer or able to compete against the other three in your foursome. But you can still appreciate sometimes getting that par on one hole in the game.

My story averages in LW are about 3.68 - 3.70. But my latest is 2.52 with 73 votes! And I KNOW it's because I "poked the bear" with the comments from the husband dissing those who are adamantly opposed to any extra-marital sex:

"I don't define my masculinity based on YOUR pussy or what you put in it! Only a guy who thinks like a douche would define himself that way, worrying his wife might prefer a different douche! That would give you too much power over me. I'd be forced to worry and constantly watch over you like a hawk! I'm stronger than that. "

I'll take the rating hit and enjoy thinking their heads exploded!