Newbie Musings

[jezzaz]

Relatively new here. Had my first story published. Well, some of it anyway - I submitted all 4 chapters with days of each other, but it's been a week since part 2 was published and no sign of part 3 - guess there's quite a backlog and the people doing it are doing it for free, so can't really complain.

Annnnnnyway...

I've never really been that interested in the comments of stories till I wrote one of my own. Wow, it's quite...shocking, how binary most of the comments are, isn't it?

There seems to be a lot of both closet and open misogynists. If a woman cheats, she's automatically a slut, whore, bitch etc and deserves to die, or have her face pushed in her mistake. Basically, at root, there seems to be a lot of this anger out there. From where I sit, it's either a lot of men have been hurt by women (either intentionally or through their own stupidity. Never underestimate the stupidity of a man who has two organs he thinks with, but only enough blood for one at a time) or whom have never been given the chance to be hurt through their own social inadequacies.

Looking through the comments to most stories really does just hammer home to me how much I don't want to look at the comments to my own stories.

Still - comments aside, it's not hard to see why some of the comments are the way they are - lots and lots of the stories seem to be very basic, have a couple of memes that get repeated and most seem very binary and one sided - in the cheating wife section, the guy is always whiter than white, never even contemplating why his wife is doing what she's doing, and she's never given any desires beyond "I want cock and I'm going to get it". It's really quite sad in a way; human relationships and dynamics are way more involved in this, but it seems like most people want to read about black and white situations so they can get their righteous indignation on?

I mean, don't get me wrong, at the end we are writing sex stories - smut with a smidgen of a plot, so it's hard to get indignant that we are aren't all Chekhov - but it does occur to me that we can be a bit more sophisticated than we mostly seem to be? I dunno, perhaps I'm expecting LitErotica to be something it's never meant to be - certainly not trying to say that everyone here is crap by any means - I think the fact that this place exists at all is pretty damn awesome. I'd LOVE to know what the business model here is, since there's obviously more than one server behind this and things like these forums are not free.

Incidentally, why, given that a good 50% of the stories in Loving Wives are about women cheating and getting their just deserts, is it called "Loving Wives" in the first place? Doesn't sound very loving to me? Where are all the guy cheating and the wife putting her life back together stories, as well? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not all about those stories either, but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of balance?

Wouldn't it make more sense to further subdivide and have a couples section, where you can have "Cuckolding", "Cheating Wives", "Exploring sex" etc? I wouldn't normally think this was a good idea - niching for the sake of it rarely is -, but given how many stories there are in that section now, some degree of filtering is probably necessary at this point? Just a thought.

I do have a couple of questions - I've seen a few stories in LW where a premise has been explored, the story come to a conclusion and then someone else has added a further chapter, with the same characters and taken the story in a completely different direction, one that not only completely contradicts the characterizations in the original story but completely disrupts the conclusion the original author sought to have.

Does this happen a lot? How do you stop this? Is this an accepting thing here? I know there are specific sections where this is intended - where authors share a story, and that's great - why is that happening in LW though? Idly curious. I feel quite attached to the stories and situations I'm writing - I have an entire set of serials coming out of the prequel I'm currently writing and I'd rather that other authors left it alone, at least for the time being, until there's a blueprint to be had.

Anyway, just a newbies musings.

With all that said, Hey everyone, nice to meet you!

 

[sr71plt]

Reinventing a very tired wheel. But hi back and welcome.

 

[jezzaz]

Yeah, I kinda figured this would have probably already been covered somewhere - but bearing in mind there are like a trillion threads on this thing, it's almost impossible to know where to go and continue the conversation, ya know?

So like all good newbies, I thought I'd innocently drop this in and let every one start fighting again, while I sit in my volcano lair and say things like "One meeeelllion dollars".

 

[Saxon_Hart]

Welcome to the AH!! I'd been wondering where Ch. 03 went. Did you look to make sure it wasn't rejected for some stupid reason?

 

[jezzaz]

Ahh, it was! I didn't realize I had to constantly go back and check.

They don't like my writing style, apparently. I've just discovered that there are, apparently, coding standards to how writing has to be submitted. Everyone's dialog has to be on different paragraphs apparently, or some such. There's no actual examples in the rejection that says "Don't do this", but whatever.

It seems a bit anal - I have to go figure out what, specifically, they didn't like and work out which bit it was that I have to rework, which could be several attempts at going back and forth until I find the specific bug bear that is blocking it -, but then I guess a line has to be drawn some where or people will start submitting stories written in texting format!

O....K.

 

[sr71plt]

Yeah, I kinda figured this would have probably already been covered somewhere - but bearing in mind there are like a trillion threads on this thing, it's almost impossible to know where to go and continue the conversation, ya know?

So like all good newbies, I thought I'd innocently drop this in and let every one start fighting again, while I sit in my volcano lair and say things like "One meeeelllion dollars".

Oh, you can't go far in the forum without tripping over a Loving Wives rant.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

Yeah, it's a game we're made to play at times. I do look forward to reading the rest of your story.

 

[slyc_willie]

Ahh, it was! I didn't realize I had to constantly go back and check.

They don't like my writing style, apparently. I've just discovered that there are, apparently, coding standards to how writing has to be submitted. Everyone's dialog has to be on different paragraphs apparently, or some such. There's no actual examples in the rejection that says "Don't do this", but whatever.

It seems a bit anal - I have to go figure out what, specifically, they didn't like and work out which bit it was that I have to rework, which could be several attempts at going back and forth until I find the specific bug bear that is blocking it -, but then I guess a line has to be drawn some where or people will start submitting stories written in texting format!

O....K.

Sounds like you got yourself tripped up in a grammatical snafu. Laurel will sometimes kick back a story that has two characters speaking in the same paragraph, or if the dialogue doesn't follow basic, but loosely defined, conventions.

 

[jezzaz]

Sounds like you got yourself tripped up in a grammatical snafu. Laurel will sometimes kick back a story that has two characters speaking in the same paragraph, or if the dialogue doesn't follow basic, but loosely defined, conventions.

This is obviously someone's foible - having seen some of the absolutely dire stories written on here, I am surprised that it's _this_ that gets kicked back, but ok, I guess the game has to be played.

It's a bit like accepting a big mac but kicking back a Mortons Steak because it doesn't have ketchup on it.

Still, it's not my website and other people make the rules, so off I go.

 

[slyc_willie]

This is obviously someone's foible - having seen some of the absolutely dire stories written on here, I am surprised that it's _this_ that gets kicked back, but ok, I guess the game has to be played.

It's a bit like accepting a big mac but kicking back a Mortons Steak because it doesn't have ketchup on it.

Still, it's not my website and other people make the rules, so off I go.

True, there's a lot of crap on Lit that has been sitting there for years. But even if it's badly written, a lot of it still conforms to basic rules of grammar. Of course, some of it doesn't, but it was approved at a time when, I believe, a bot program scanned stories for red flags and they weren't individually assessed by a human being.

I think just about everyone has had a story kicked back. I've had it happen twice, once by a bot, once by Laurel. Both required minor changes. Don't take it seriously. Just go with the flow on this one.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

I think just about everyone has had a story kicked back. I've had it happen twice, once by a bot, once by Laurel. Both required minor changes. Don't take it seriously. Just go with the flow on this one.

I think the most ridiculous reason I ever had one rejected was I had used a line of dashes to separate story segments, and the bot said it "ran into the blue." I said WTF? and changed my dashes into a small string of asterisks.

 

[slyc_willie]

I think the most ridiculous reason I ever had one rejected was I had used a line of dashes to separate story segments, and the bot said it "ran into the blue." I said WTF? and changed my dashes into a small string of asterisks.

You know, I had a conversation with another author at one point about this, and we both came to the same conclusion to use a series of four asterisks, separated by spaces, to indicate a division between scenes. It's all I've used ever since.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

You know, I had a conversation with another author at one point about this, and we both came to the same conclusion to use a series of four asterisks, separated by spaces, to indicate a division between scenes. It's all I've used ever since.

It seems funny some of the things that get a story rejected, and then you see some shit that would be rejected by a kindergarten teacher and you just have to say 'Huh?"

 

[geronimo_appleby]

i can't say i've seen a story that's been taken up by a different writer with a complete turn-around in character traits and outline. still, with LW, a disgruntled anon could well stoop to such.

which reminds me, it's about time to give them a bit of a tweak.

 

[slyc_willie]

I do have a couple of questions - I've seen a few stories in LW where a premise has been explored, the story come to a conclusion and then someone else has added a further chapter, with the same characters and taken the story in a completely different direction, one that not only completely contradicts the characterizations in the original story but completely disrupts the conclusion the original author sought to have.

Does this happen a lot? How do you stop this? Is this an accepting thing here? I know there are specific sections where this is intended - where authors share a story, and that's great - why is that happening in LW though? Idly curious. I feel quite attached to the stories and situations I'm writing - I have an entire set of serials coming out of the prequel I'm currently writing and I'd rather that other authors left it alone, at least for the time being, until there's a blueprint to be had.

i can't say i've seen a story that's been taken up by a different writer with a complete turn-around in character traits and outline. still, with LW, a disgruntled anon could well stoop to such.

which reminds me, it's about time to give them a bit of a tweak.

I caught that in the OP as well, and wondered about it. I haven't seen an instance in which a story, or series, has been taken up by a different author and turned around into something else. Sure, I suppose it's possible, and I won't doubt that it has been done on Lit. I just haven't seen it. I guess there's nothing to keep someone from penning their own take on a story published on Lit, but my thinking is that any such instances would be very rare.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

I caught that in the OP as well, and wondered about it. I haven't seen an instance in which a story, or series, has been taken up by a different author and turned around into something else. Sure, I suppose it's possible, and I won't doubt that it has been done on Lit. I just haven't seen it. I guess there's nothing to keep someone from penning their own take on a story published on Lit, but my thinking is that any such instances would be very rare.

solves the issue of anon griping on because you didn't write the story (s)he wanted.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

I caught that in the OP as well, and wondered about it. I haven't seen an instance in which a story, or series, has been taken up by a different author and turned around into something else. Sure, I suppose it's possible, and I won't doubt that it has been done on Lit. I just haven't seen it. I guess there's nothing to keep someone from penning their own take on a story published on Lit, but my thinking is that any such instances would be very rare.

There's a guy right now "re-writing a story" if you will. The original author left the ending in the air a bit, but this other guy has taken the story and made it garbage. He claims to have the author's permission.

 

[slyc_willie]

solves the issue of anon griping on because you didn't write the story (s)he wanted.

There's that. I know I'm not alone in receiving comments that suggest how "the next chapter" should go. Not too big a stretch to think that, now and then, someone would take up the mantle and pervert it to their own desires.

There's a guy right now "re-writing a story" if you will. The original author left the ending in the air a bit, but this other guy has taken the story and made it garbage. He claims to have the author's permission.

And he very well may have the original author's permission. Who are we to argue? When it comes to a case like this, I'd hope that readers would see the difference between the original and the new version, and not automatically link them together.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

There's that. I know I'm not alone in receiving comments that suggest how "the next chapter" should go. Not too big a stretch to think that, now and then, someone would take up the mantle and pervert it to their own desires.



And he very well may have the original author's permission. Who are we to argue? When it comes to a case like this, I'd hope that readers would see the difference between the original and the new version, and not automatically link them together.

sometimes i offer input during a preamble. it can be handy to gauge the readers' wants, but it's the anon who rants on about what 'you shoulda written'. the one who slates the piece because the character's hair colour was wrong, or because 'yoo dint mek the cheeting ho git pregnunt'.

etc

 

[slyc_willie]

sometimes i offer input during a preamble. it can be handy to gauge the readers' wants, but it's the anon who rants on about what 'you shoulda written'. the one who slates the piece because the character's hair colour was wrong, or because 'yoo dint mek the cheeting ho git pregnunt'.

etc

The assumption of continuation gets me sometimes. I've written several stand-alone stories that could, I admit, be the beginning of a series. But I have no reason or interest in going on with it. But the comments of "In chapter two, she should do xxxxxx and then xxxxx should happen. Can't wait to read it" make me shake my head. I'll be the first to admit I don't write to satisfy every audience; I write to appease myself and hope that my readers enjoy what I've submitted. Don't expect more than that.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

The assumption of continuation gets me sometimes. I've written several stand-alone stories that could, I admit, be the beginning of a series. But I have no reason or interest in going on with it. But the comments of "In chapter two, she should do xxxxxx and then xxxxx should happen. Can't wait to read it" make me shake my head. I'll be the first to admit I don't write to satisfy every audience; I write to appease myself and hope that my readers enjoy what I've submitted. Don't expect more than that.

hell, it's an impossibility to satisfy (no pun) everyone. the LW crowd seem to be polarised in their expectations and views as it is. some seem to crave a slutty white woman being gang-banged by bulls (while wimpy cuckold hubby looks on and strokes his inadequate dick), or they howl with derision and make noises like doomsday preppers with a rat in the larder.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

The assumption of continuation gets me sometimes. I've written several stand-alone stories that could, I admit, be the beginning of a series. But I have no reason or interest in going on with it. But the comments of "In chapter two, she should do xxxxxx and then xxxxx should happen. Can't wait to read it" make me shake my head. I'll be the first to admit I don't write to satisfy every audience; I write to appease myself and hope that my readers enjoy what I've submitted. Don't expect more than that.

We happily support the Celebs category and approve 'fanfic' so we should embrace the first amendment and accept that others can use our characters. Once they are out there, they have a life of their own.

 

[Darkniciad]

*laugh* I haven't continued a single one of my Reject Reality stories ( although Nude Holly Day is likely to be the first )

It's the formula that I've found works perfectly. Short ( about 3 Lit pages or a little less ), one step up the ladder from "Is there another way I can pay for this pizza?" ( sometimes only a half-step ), sex-heavy, and a conclusion that's satisfying as an ending, but still leaves the readers wanting more - which they declare constantly in the comments and emails.

They're fluff, but they draw in the readership and feedback. I sort of use RR as an alternative fuel source to keep me smiling when I'm working on longer, more involved stories in my other names. They don't draw as much response, but I'm usually even more tickled by the responses they do draw.

As to rejections and tracking down things such as improper punctuation in dialogue or multiple speakers in a single paragraph, try changing the font face/size to something radically different from what you usually write in, and then read it that way. It makes things jump out at you.

 

[Bramblethorn]

There seems to be a lot of both closet and open misogynists. If a woman cheats, she's automatically a slut, whore, bitch etc and deserves to die, or have her face pushed in her mistake.

Yep. I've never been quite sure whether it's a lot of different misogynists or one guy with far too much time on his hands, but one way or another there's a lot of misogyny in LW. If you do piss off the woman-haters, wear it as a badge of honour

I mean, don't get me wrong, at the end we are writing sex stories - smut with a smidgen of a plot, so it's hard to get indignant that we are aren't all Chekhov - but it does occur to me that we can be a bit more sophisticated than we mostly seem to be?

There are quite a few authors around who aim for the "lit" side of Literotica, and quite a few readers looking for that. The problem is finding them - unfortunately the category/search systems aren't much help, and I haven't found a better way than "skim a lot of stuff and when you find an author you like, remember them".

 

[geronimo_appleby]

We happily support the Celebs category and approve 'fanfic' so we should embrace the first amendment and accept that others can use our characters. Once they are out there, they have a life of their own.

the first amendment is fine for youz 'merrycans, what about the rest of us?