Newbie questions

[raysofdawn]

Hello! I've been reading Literotica off and on for years, but just recently created an account to publish a story. It went up yesterday and I'm very happy with it, but I do have some questions about the process and it seemed like this was the best place to ask.

First, the story worked out to around 7,500 words in a word document. I wasn't sure how that would shake out once it was converted to Lit pages. It ended up being two and a half pages on the site. I was wondering, is there a way to ensure where the pages break? I'm not too worried about this one, but going forward it would be nice to be able to choose where the pages break, if possible.

Second, I had a character who started off at seventeen, but the story happens on her birthday and she turns eighteen before anything sexual happens. It was rejected as having an underage character. Is this always the case? I was under the impression that as long as everyone involved was 18+ before sex happens, it's okay. Or is it just safer to start everyone out at 18?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[SimonDoom]

Hello! I've been reading Literotica off and on for years, but just recently created an account to publish a story. It went up yesterday and I'm very happy with it, but I do have some questions about the process and it seemed like this was the best place to ask.

First, the story worked out to around 7,500 words in a word document. I wasn't sure how that would shake out once it was converted to Lit pages. It ended up being two and a half pages on the site. I was wondering, is there a way to ensure where the pages break? I'm not too worried about this one, but going forward it would be nice to be able to choose where the pages break, if possible.

Second, I had a character who started off at seventeen, but the story happens on her birthday and she turns eighteen before anything sexual happens. It was rejected as having an underage character. Is this always the case? I was under the impression that as long as everyone involved was 18+ before sex happens, it's okay. Or is it just safer to start everyone out at 18?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I don't think there is a way to ensure exactly where the Lit page breaks. A lit page has approximately 3750 words on it, but the precise number varies based on things like the use of spacing, etc.

This site is very strict about underage. It's best just to start everyone at 18. It's acceptable for an 18 year old character to have a memory or flashback of being younger so long as no sex is described in a way that violates the letter OR the spirit of the rule. The site owners seem to be averse to anyone trying clever ways to get around the under 18 restriction.

 

[raysofdawn]

I don't think there is a way to ensure exactly where the Lit page breaks. A lit page has approximately 3750 words on it, but the precise number varies based on things like the use of spacing, etc.

I thought that might be the case. No big deal, then. It'll work out anyway.

This site is very strict about underage. It's best just to start everyone at 18. It's acceptable for an 18 year old character to have a memory or flashback of being younger so long as no sex is described in a way that violates the letter OR the spirit of the rule. The site owners seem to be averse to anyone trying clever ways to get around the under 18 restriction.

I hope I didn't come off that way. I wasn't trying to sneak in underage sex. I was trying to engineer a reason for her to still be living at home with her parents and subject to those kinds of rules. Seventeen, turning eighteen seemed more believable than eighteen, turning on nineteen. I think it worked out okay with the change, regardless. That was just the first scenario that came to me.

 

[beachbum1958]

Page breaks: I don't know too much about how to paginate the story to ensure page breaks out of the box, as it were, so what I tend to do is go to the old control panel, open the 'submit' page, insert the Word document previously saved as a plain text .txt file into the text box, and click on 'preview'; this then presents a reasonably accurate view of how the story will appear on the site, and if I'm happy with it, I'll click 'submit', or if not, I'll click back and make changes, resubmit, and check the view again. A trifle clumsy, maybe, but it appears to work, at least for me. There are no doubt more streamlined ways to do it, Authors, over to you...

As far as an underage character, my take is that if your (below 18) character was either viewing or discussing acts or situations of a sexual nature, even if no such acts actually occurred involving that character, then it's a no-no; even descriptions of heavy teenage petting are suspect, and probably not allowed. Anyone under the age of 18 has to be seen to be completely uninvolved in anything of a sexual nature, even if only by implication, and that includes stating a character is 'over 18', but then describing them in a way that could only be construed as being a very young individual, so no 'tiny frame and tight, budding breasts' kind of things; this will set Laurel's radar off and she'll junk the story. Best practice is to describe and detail your characters as fully developed adults over the age of 18 if they're going to be near or viewing any sexual goings-on.

Of course, I may be taking too narrow a view of things, but it's probably better to err on the side of caution than try and extend the envelope and hope Laurel sees it your way; these are my yardsticks and they work for me.

 

[raysofdawn]

Page breaks: I don't know too much about how to paginate the story to ensure page breaks out of the box, as it were, so what I tend to do is go to the old control panel, open the 'submit' page, copy and paste the Word document into the text box, and click on 'preview'; this then presents a reasonably accurate view of how the story will appear on the site, and if I'm happy with it, I'll click 'submit', or if not, I'll click back and make changes, resubmit, and check the view again. A trifle clumsy, maybe, but it appears to work, at least for me. There are no doubt more streamlined ways to do it, Authors, over to you...

That makes sense, thank you. I'll give that a try next time.

As far as an underage character, my take is that if your (below 18) character was either viewing or discussing acts or situations of a sexual nature, even if no such acts actually occurred involving that character, then it's a no-no; even descriptions of heavy teenage petting are suspect, and probably not allowed. Anyone under the age of 18 has to be seen to be completely uninvolved in anything of a sexual nature, even if only by implication, and that includes stating a character is 'over 18', but then describing them in a way that could only be construed as being a very young individual, so no 'tiny frame and tight, budding breasts' kind of things; this will set Laurel's radar off and she'll junk the story. Best practice is to describe and detail your characters as fully developed adults over the age of 18 if they're going to be near or viewing any sexual goings-on.

Of course, I may be taking too narrow a view of things, but it's probably better to err on the side of caution than try and extend the envelope and hope Laurel sees it your way; these are my yardsticks and they work for me.

I should have just done that in the first place. I kept thinking my story "had to be" this way, but I know that's not true. A good writer can make it work and I know that. I'll have to try to be better next time.

Thank you for the advice.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Second, I had a character who started off at seventeen, but the story happens on her birthday and she turns eighteen before anything sexual happens. It was rejected as having an underage character. Is this always the case? I was under the impression that as long as everyone involved was 18+ before sex happens, it's okay. Or is it just safer to start everyone out at 18?

Thanks in advance for your help.

You can allude, but not describe. As an example, this passage from My Fall and Rise Chapter 2 passed muster.

In a small town fifteen miles from the nearest movie theater, thirty miles from the nearest shopping mall, there were only a few means by which I could appease my restlessness. By the time I graduated from high school, I was well acquainted with liquor, with marijuana and with men.

 

[SimonDoom]

I hope I didn't come off that way. I wasn't trying to sneak in underage sex. I was trying to engineer a reason for her to still be living at home with her parents and subject to those kinds of rules. Seventeen, turning eighteen seemed more believable than eighteen, turning on nineteen. I think it worked out okay with the change, regardless. That was just the first scenario that came to me.

You didn't come across that way. But IMO, don't worry about it. This site is more squeamish about underage sex than afternoon network television. It's their prerogative to do things the way they want to, and I can understand why they do, but sex under 18 is, after all, completely normal.

 

[raysofdawn]

You can allude, but not describe. As an example, this passage from My Fall and Rise Chapter 2 passed muster.

Thank you for the example; that does help.

Very good story, too. I enjoyed reading it. You're very good at balancing description and dialogue.

 

[raysofdawn]

You didn't come across that way. But IMO, don't worry about it. This site is more squeamish about underage sex than afternoon network television. It's their prerogative to do things the way they want to, and I can understand why they do, but sex under 18 is, after all, completely normal.

Gotcha. I'm not strictly against stories with sex under 18, myself, but I do try to follow the rules of the house.

 

[KeithD]

No, on the controlled break question.

On the underage one, the edges on this aren't clear or uniformly enforced. If there was no sexual activity (which would include voyeurism) before the eighteenth birthday, you might refile the rejection with comments in the note column saying there is no sexual activity before eighteen. The submissions editor (Laurel) does not read the stories. She wouldn't have time to for the number she processes in every day. She's running to a great extent on supposition of what's in the story from a quick scan. A story can be initially rejected that doesn't have underage sex and subsequently passed, as written, when she's asked to have a second look at it. I've both had stories go right through with the same circumstances you give and stories rejected and subsequently accepted as originally written when I've pointed out that what Laurel has suggested might be in the story isn't in the story.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Thank you for the example; that does help.

Very good story, too. I enjoyed reading it. You're very good at balancing description and dialogue.

Thank you. Good luck with your writing.

 

[NotWise]

Gotcha. I'm not strictly against stories with sex under 18, myself, but I do try to follow the rules of the house.

There's another approach to the problem that I may have never seen offered. Don't mention the character's age. I rarely find it necessary to give an age, and doing so can be asking for trouble.

Make it clear in the characterization and in the story that she is reasonably adult. She should be (according to the site's own guidance) at least a senior in high school.

 

[ElectricBlue]

First, the story worked out to around 7,500 words in a word document. I wasn't sure how that would shake out once it was converted to Lit pages. It ended up being two and a half pages on the site. I was wondering, is there a way to ensure where the pages break? I'm not too worried about this one, but going forward it would be nice to be able to choose where the pages break, if possible.

I wouldn't bother trying to determine where the page breaks. I've got a story where the the very last sentence rolled to a third page. Bugger, I thought, so I went and lost a hundred words from the whole story, which should have been enough to keep it to two pages. The last sentence still rolls to the third page, so all I did was waste time.

If a page break is so very important (and when is it really that vital?) you could make it a chapter break, and submit your story in two or more chapters. Just number them Story Title Chap.01, 02 and so on (so chapter 10 remains in sequence).

The age thing: just up-age them. It's a Lit tradition, to lose your virginity on your eighteenth birthday.

 

[SamGrifter]

There's another approach to the problem that I may have never seen offered. Don't mention the character's age. I rarely find it necessary to give an age, and doing so can be asking for trouble.

Make it clear in the characterization and in the story that she is reasonably adult. She should be (according to the site's own guidance) at least a senior in high school.

Another thing that helps is to put a disclaimer that all characters are 18 or older and fictional. I don't think Lit really cares how old the characters are, they fear a backlash from people who do.

 

[Handley_Page]

Another thing that helps is to put a disclaimer that all characters are 18 or older and fictional.
I don't think Lit really cares how old the characters are, they fear a backlash from people who do.

Well, not so much as a backlash, but a reaction from those who regard sex as not a wholesome activity. Once an organisation has got it into its head that the age of a character is too young, all manner of things can happen. Suddenly, the source's Bank finds itself at the point of reaction; customers close their accounts and find a different Bank [which has happened a time or two].
So it is decided that a minimum age of 18 provides a clear division just about anywhere in the West, so the rule is "Over 18".