Name your strengths and weaknesses as a writer

[TheRedChamber]

The premise of this thread is to simply and plainly state two strengths and two weaknesses you think you have as a writer. So, for me

Positive
+ Most of my stories are distinct from each other - I write in a lot of different categories and don't tend to repeat the same situations, settings or characters very often.
+ I'm fairly tight with structure and plotting and keep the stories rolling along.

Negative
- I'm not actually particularly great at describing sex yet and tend to rush this section if I'm not careful.
- I need to be tighter editing and often let stupid mistakes slip through.

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

Positive
+ I think I'm good at writing realistic characters with depth.
+ I'm happy with how I write sex.

Negative
- My prose can be florid if I'm not careful. A beta reader rightfully chided me to "ditch the adverbs" recently.
- When I get locked into a good flow, my tenses can start flying all over the place, and they're a huge pain to clean up.

 

[Phantom300]

Strengths? That's tough. When it comes to writing, I consider myself a Jack of all trades and master of none. I think I'm good at a lot of aspects and great at none of them.

Weaknesses? I really don't write sex scenes all that well. They tend to all come out almost the same. There are only so many combinations of pussy, cunt, dick and cock you can use, and other descriptors usually come across as goofy to me; I can't take a scene seriously that has his purple headed warrior penetrating her quivering mass of love pudding. In a perfect world, I'd develop the plot and characters, and get them into position, then let someone else write the details of the sexual interactions.

I suck at ending my stories. I generally have a scene or two in mind when I start to write. But then, I struggle to wrap them up properly.

 

[SimonDoom]

Positive:
+I have a good kinky imagination that generates innumerable story ideas. I am never short of ideas.
+I think my prose and vocabulary are pretty solid.

Negative:
-My proofreading and editing could be better. I do it all myself, and sometimes I'm sloppier than I should be. I still cringe about writing "waste" where I meant "waist." And of course, it was pointed out to me. Ugh.
-I give short-shrift to character development or character plausibility sometimes because I'm more focused on the story "concept" or getting to the sex scene. I read the work of other authors who take more time with their characters and sometimes I think, "I need to do that in my next story." I'm working on this.

 

[Jmanchu]

---What I like about my writing---
+Dirty and crazy imagination
+Very easy for me to write in a flow. Very much seat of the pants kind of writer so writing is a crazy adventure where even I don't know where the story going half the times.
+I like to think I've got my story flow skill on lockdown. For the most part.
+ I don't have to think or plan dialogue. I just let them characters play out like they're action figures and I write that shit down.
+I like to think I'm open minded when it comes to constructive criticism and helpful tips to improve the story.
+It's easy for me to sit down, read and edit my stuff as I go and after I finish


---Stuff I'm working on improving---
- Hard for me to plan a detailed story outline(character and setting background no problem) that I can keep to. Not uncommon for planned scenes turn out completely different or planned events just not happen. Trying to force myself to follow the plan when the story changes can risk writer's block.
-sometimes my writing gets disorganized. Sometimes too verbose when I should be concise, and sometimes too undetailed when I should be more descriptive.
-Can't come up with title names for shit.
-Grammar can always be better.
-It's too easy for me to sit down, read and go overboard editing my stuff before I finish.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Damn, ummm...

Negatives:

1) I can't write a short story to save my life.
2) I sometimes paint myself into corners and then need to retcon things because I had a bigger and much better idea AFTER I published a chapter. I'm really bad about that, I can't help it. Ideas aren't always there when I need them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Good questions. I couldn't answer the positives In any kind of definitive way, so I asked my editor:
1.) Your creative construction and use of sensory imagery. You have found the most inventive and precise ways to inflame the senses, often several at once. You write vividly, in technicolour.

2.) The slow burn. From the first sentence, you seed each moment with erotic touches. With your stories, there's never any need to "skip to the good stuff" - it's all good stuff. A woman crossing her legs or lighting a cigarette is written with the same erotic pulse as fingers slipping into a dress.

Weaknesses:
1) rubbish at imposing deadlines on myself, which means I have several sequels planned that keep missing Anthology publication dates. I've missed two years in a row for one sequel, despite knowing pretty much the whole outline.

2) continued use of the same male leads because I'm fundamentally lazy and couldn't be bothered articulating different men. But then, the men in my stories aren't my focus, so writing essentially the same character (younger version or older version) makes that part of a story much easier.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Strengths:

Developing emotional arcs
Spelling

Weaknesses:

I tend to write protagonists who are fairly close to myself - that's not all bad, gives me plenty to work with, but a bit more breadth wouldn't hurt.
Perfectionism often gets in the way of actually completing stories.

 

[RelentlessOnanism]

Hmmm...an interesting challenge.

I think I've got a pretty good, easy-to-read, writing style. I've got a good imagination and I can write quite funny dialogue.

But I think I tend to overwrite and I'm terrible at editing. I sometimes think my sex scenes are a bit repetitive.

 

[thomas1965]

...Weaknesses? I really don't write sex scenes all that well. They tend to all come out almost the same. There are only so many combinations of pussy, cunt, dick and cock you can use, and other descriptors usually come across as goofy to me;...

Have you tried to use all 5 senses? They sex scenes I really found hot used them.
Sex is much more than getting the cock into some hole.
To me it seems that most women in Literotica stories don't use perfume, make-up, body lotion and good smelling soaps.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I think I can weave some interesting tales, but I need to work harder on checking for mistakes. I cringe every time I see something wrong, of course, only after it's published.

 

[Omenainen]

+ imagination
+ good eye for details, what to include and what to leave out to tell the story I’m telling

- writing in a language that isn’t mine limits my expression (and frustrates me to no end)
- I don’t listen to advice even when I probably should

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

I think I can weave some interesting tales, but I need to work harder on checking for mistakes. I cringe every time I see something wrong, of course, only after it's published.

Ugh. I can relate. In my latest story, I noticed a few mistakes after it was published. A character “snubbed out her cigarette” instead of stubbing it out.

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

+ imagination
+ good eye for details, what to include and what to leave out to tell the story I’m telling

- writing in a language that isn’t mine limits my expression (and frustrates me to no end)
- I don’t listen to advice even when I probably should

What you do in English would shame most native speakers. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

Strengths:
- I think I write dialogue fairly well.
- Most of the response to my characters has been positive--if in depiction as 3-dimensional humans, if not always likable.

Neutral:
- I like to experiment with different character archetypes and story arcs, and branch out to try different things (I think this is a positive but maybe also distracts me from writing the stories that are my strengths).

Weaknesses:
- I echo and overuse the same words all the time.
- I am the absolute worst at copy editing and can read the same story ten times and still skip my own typos and missing words.

 

[MrPixel]

Positives:

Pretty good at flow, at least most of the time.
Grammatically competent. I can thank a couple of great English teachers for that.
Surprised myself writing sex scenes. Seem to imagine something new and fun every time. I wish my real life was like that.
Dialog conveys the different personalities.

Bad stuff:

Flow problems. Ideas are coming faster than the ability to incorporate them into the consciousness stream. Huge editing project when that happens.
Overuse of odd words and repetitive phrases.
Stilted dialog markers trying to label who said what without constantly leaning on "Amber said,". "Amber elated," and stuff like that.

Double-edged sword:

Falling in love with my characters.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

+ I am a very organized writer. That doesn't mean that everything is planned out in advance, but I maintain control of the details, dialog, and narrative to maintain continuity throughout the story.
+ I am very patient when I write. Nothing gets published until the final period has been placed for the entire story.

- Distinguishing the details that matter to me when telling the story from those that matter to the readers when reading the story.
- Giving many readers credit for having greater reading comprehension skills than they actually do. I sometimes need to write to a lower grade level.

 

[Lifestyle66]

To me it seems that most women in Literotica stories don't use perfume, make-up, body lotion and good smelling soaps.

That's an excellent way to put it. I'll need to include that in my own efforts to correct a negative I always hear for my stories.

Thanks.

 

[Lucy_Lastic]

My spelling and grammar are both good

I don't think I put enough detail in but I feel like people have imaginations...

My stories so far haven't been very long and im not sure why.

 

[Comshaw]

Strengths:
An imaginative, believable story line and characters
dialog

Weaknesses:
Spelling. How bad is it? Well when the spell checker pops up a question mark and a "wtf?"'cause it can't figure out what the hell I'm trying to spell, it's bad.
Mistakes like typing "form" instead of "from" which even programs like Grammerly have difficulty spotting. Why? That comes from getting in a rush and being a two fingered peck at the keyboard typist.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

Strengths:
- Dialogue
- Description

Weaknesses:
- Conveying emotion - most of my stories involve casual hookups - I do lust, not love
- Catching errors - too often I rush a story into print before I have done sufficient proofreading
- Too many mechanical details - I tend to get caught up with every step in a process, rather than skipping to the important parts

 

[MrPixel]

- Giving many readers credit for having greater reading comprehension skills than they actually do. I sometimes need to write to a lower grade level.

I don't consider that a negative. The old trope of writing to 7th grade comprehension levels is fine if you're a newspaper reporter. So what if you flex your vocabulary and your prose skills are at a higher level? Send 'em running to a dictionary (or search engine!) if the word or words convey what you have to say. What's the downside if your porn takes your readers' intellect up a notch?

 

[Bubo_bubo]

Negative:
I keep getting plot in my porn.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Negative:
I keep getting plot in my porn.

How is that a bad thing?

 

[Bubo_bubo]

How is that a bad thing?

The plot takes over!

Also I'm better at setting the scene and situation than actually describing the whole well, fucking and sucking.