One Bombs

[SimonDoom]

Speaking of which, has anyone noticed any sweeps in the last few days? Usually they happen right before contest winners are announced, and the Nude Day announcement is in a couple of days.

I haven't noticed any sweeps lately.

 

[Comshaw]

I learned a very long time ago if it's something you can do nothing about, leave it and walk away. It's not worth choking on my own regurgitated bile because some anonymous dumb SOB likes to play games. Let the strokes from those who enjoyed your work soothe the sting from the occasional asshole. From my experience there are a lot more good people than their counterparts.

That said, I am a member of another erotic story site that does post a list of all votes and by whom for the author. It would be interesting if that was a feature here.



Comshaw

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Speaking of which, has anyone noticed any sweeps in the last few days?

Not exactly the last few days but the May monthly contest sweep (on June 27/28) took four votes from my entry and it either stayed the same or went up 0.01 point. While having quite a few votes (for a change) means that a bad score doesn't have as much effect on the total, it also means that having a fraudulent score removed doesn't help (or hurt) much either.

 

[JGittes]

Speaking of which, has anyone noticed any sweeps in the last few days? .......

This morning, early Tuesday UK time, one of my Nude Day stories had the vote total lowered and the score increased. The amounts (total votes down one, total points remained the same, score +.06) didn't allow for a definitive calculation of what happened. My other story remained unaffected.

 

[Fervid]

Is there a reason you believe that two people didn’t read your story, and hate it? . . . .

Qualitatively, could you describe the difference between stories with ratings of 4.72 and 4.84? . . . .

Maybe one typo, an unfamiliar word, or an oxford comma included/omitted offended . . . .[/QUOTEro


Agreed, that's certainly possible! I don't have an editor and I'm a long way from perfect. But it's not the pattern I see. For me, almost all bombing happens in certain categories and not in others, in the New List, and in the Hall of Fame (but not in stories in HoF-scoring territory but not in the Hall because under 100 votes).

And I'm beginning to tell the difference between 4.7's and 4.8's. Sex sells. Amusing dialog sells. Happy, conflict-free stories sell. (It sure would be boring to write this way all the time, though!)

Also, although some of my attempts at Romance are my favorite stories, they all score relatively low, especially for stories in a category with lots of high scores and very little bombing. Granted, I don't emote that easily, but can some of you experts tell me what works here? Is the feminine touch a help? (Can't do that!) Are longer works with lots of ramp up better received? My stories are all pretty quick.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

And I'm beginning to tell the difference between 4.7's and 4.8's. Sex sells. Amusing dialog sells. Happy, conflict-free stories sell. (It sure would be boring to write this way all the time, though!)

Also, although some of my attempts at Romance are my favorite stories, they all score relatively low, especially for stories in a category with lots of high scores and very little bombing. Granted, I don't emote that easily, but can some of you experts tell me what works here? Is the feminine touch a help? (Can't do that!) Are longer works with lots of ramp up better received? My stories are all pretty quick.

I suspect a large slice of Romance readers are women, in the same way that more men than women probably read Anal yarns. So, yes, what works in one category might not work as well in another.

Women readers tend to prefer stories with feelings and emotions in them vice Insert-Tab-A-in-Slot-B, action-based stories. I suspect (with no evidence to back me up) that, on the whole, women prefer stories with a good buildup over a straight ‘stroker’.

I might suggest that you read well-scoring tales by female writers to how they feel and work.

 

[NotWise]

Also, although some of my attempts at Romance are my favorite stories, they all score relatively low, especially for stories in a category with lots of high scores and very little bombing. Granted, I don't emote that easily, but can some of you experts tell me what works here? Is the feminine touch a help? (Can't do that!) Are longer works with lots of ramp up better received? My stories are all pretty quick.

Readers in the Romance category like Romances in the sense widely used in the publishing industry. As described to me by DreamCloud, the stories are broadly formulaic; a man and woman who don't know each other meet and develop a mutual interest. They struggle through adversity and overcome hurdles to build a relationship, and they live happily ever after (or at least, happily for now).

The formula requires good character development. Romances don't have to be novels, but they usually can't be short stories either. Sex is not part of the formula; how you use it us up to you.

 

[LAHomedog]

Readers in the Romance category like Romances in the sense widely used in the publishing industry. As described to me by DreamCloud, the stories are broadly formulaic; a man and woman who don't know each other meet and develop a mutual interest. They struggle through adversity and overcome hurdles to build a relationship, and they live happily ever after (or at least, happily for now).

The formula requires good character development. Romances don't have to be novels, but they usually can't be short stories either. Sex is not part of the formula; how you use it us up to you.

You just perfectly described "Bridgerton" both the books and the first series on Netflix. Very, very good work, in my opinion. I think probably every genre has a formula that has to be met for success, and every once in a while a ground breaker comes through, changes the path, is wildly successful and a new school in that genre develops.

I originally wrote an I/T story because of all of the discussion on here, and I wanted to see what would happen. Then the characters demanded a longer story so now Part 2 and then there will be a Part 3. I knew I was breaking the formula a bit with this one. I joked with my wife (who hates that I'm writing in I/T) that I was going to get hammered in the voting because I broke a rule and in the ending he comes on her rather than inside her. So far, that seems to be true. We'll see.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Granted, I don't emote that easily, but can some of you experts tell me what works here? Is the feminine touch a help? (Can't do that!) Are longer works with lots of ramp up better received? My stories are all pretty quick.

Yes, generally speaking: longer stories, character driven, with lots of intimacy and emotion.

You don't need to be a woman to write romance, you need to be a romantic. I'm male, and three of my top ten stories are romances, another two probably could be - but are in Group and Mature). They're character driven, slow burn, where the protagonists interweave their sex with their lives. They're all observational mood pieces with dream like story structures and lots of intimacy.

One (female) reader said, "My God, your stories are almost too intimate. You get right next to them on the pillow, whereas I just want to leave them and close the door."

Other readers I am sure think many of my stories are real - I've had several comments saying, "Thank you both for sharing," when the characters were fictional. They're intimate human dramas, closely told.

People first, sex second, when it comes to Romance, if I was to coin a rule.

 

[LAHomedog]

I think everyone on here would agree writing is fun (if not why would someone do it?) and for some it is a passion. You’ve already been advised how complaining on here about 1 votes is dangerous and saying “I think I’m good at it” is probably setting yourself as a target as well. That isn’t my personal criticism of your stories, by the way, because I’ve never read any of them.

Thank you for your comment. I'm sorry if it seemed as if I was complaining about the 1-bombs. I didn't mean it that way. I was merely reporting since it seems to be a continuing topic on AH especially around the Nude Day stories.

I'm also sorry if it seems as if I was bragging about my writing. In context, I just thought we all were having a "dining room table" discussion. Regarding my writing, I'm a bad pulp fiction writer compared to some of the superb writers on here within this group. I've read works from most of them and there is a gigantic pile of talent assembled here. I'm constantly in awe and learning from them everyday.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think I saw a Lars von Trier movie once, but cannot recall its title.

The only movie I walked out of though, was Reservoir Dogs. It would appear I have a major problem with Quentin Tarantino. I don't think I've been impressed with single thing he's made, except the one he did with Rodriguez, Grindhouse.

I swear you're the only other person I've heard say that other than me, Over rated doesn't cover it, never mind he's an admitted rape enabling piece of shit, but all the people who cry "believe survivors" run to his movies anyway.

I wouldn't shit in his mouth if someone paid me.

 

[lovecraft68]

I haven't closely watched a story in a long time, but back when I did my stories would do okay then I'd get a slew of bombs between 12-1pm...apparently a lot of my detractors all read lit at lunch break

 

[Comshaw]

I suspect a large slice of Romance readers are women, in the same way that more men than women probably read Anal yarns. So, yes, what works in one category might not work as well in another.

Women readers tend to prefer stories with feelings and emotions in them vice Insert-Tab-A-in-Slot-B, action-based stories. I suspect (with no evidence to back me up) that, on the whole, women prefer stories with a good buildup over a straight ‘stroker’.

I might suggest that you read well-scoring tales by female writers to how they feel and work.

Readers in the Romance category like Romances in the sense widely used in the publishing industry. As described to me by DreamCloud, the stories are broadly formulaic; a man and woman who don't know each other meet and develop a mutual interest. They struggle through adversity and overcome hurdles to build a relationship, and they live happily ever after (or at least, happily for now).

The formula requires good character development. Romances don't have to be novels, but they usually can't be short stories either. Sex is not part of the formula; how you use it us up to you.

I have to disagree with the bolded part of your assessment. Readers come here for erotic stories. They can find run-of-the-mill socially acceptable romance stories in quantity on other sites. They come here because the stories are not only romances, but contain erotic couplings. They want that warm fuzziness of a romance but also desire the titillation of erotic imagery. The erotic component is part and parcel of what they desire and therefore a required part of the formula.

That's just my take on it.

Comshaw

 

[NotWise]

I have to disagree with the bolded part of your assessment. Readers come here for erotic stories. They can find run-of-the-mill socially acceptable romance stories in quantity on other sites. They come here because the stories are not only romances, but contain erotic couplings. They want that warm fuzziness of a romance but also desire the titillation of erotic imagery. The erotic component is part and parcel of what they desire and therefore a required part of the formula.

That's just my take on it

I don't disagree with you, but I stick with what I said. The formula that DreamCloud cited is essentially the same formula used by the Romance Writers of America. Sex isn't part of the formula.

But you're right, this is an erotica site. Readers expect there to be some sex in their romances, but how much there is and how it's used is up to the author, and it varies quite a bit. That's also true of mainstream Romances.

In my most popular Romance, the main couple have explicit sex five times in the story, but the detail drops as the story becomes more important. Someone commented that there was no sex in the story. Someone else commented that my main female character was a whore (in all caps) for having sex on the first date. I counted it as the second date, but at any rate, I deleted both comments.

I can't remember for sure, but my second Romance may have only had sex twice, and it didn't start until half way through the story. It takes a while to get romance going after boy meets girl at the business end of her high-powered rifle.

Oh, and that story got nicked in the comments because she carried a rifle in the wild.

I've written sibcest stories to about the same formula. They work.

 

[1950scuckold]

Greetings from LW

https://i.imgflip.com/4sv633.jpg

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't disagree with you, but I stick with what I said. The formula that DreamCloud cited is essentially the same formula used by the Romance Writers of America. Sex isn't part of the formula.

But you're right, this is an erotica site. Readers expect there to be some sex in their romances, but how much there is and how it's used is up to the author, and it varies quite a bit. That's also true of mainstream Romances.

In my most popular Romance, the main couple have explicit sex five times in the story, but the detail drops as the story becomes more important. Someone commented that there was no sex in the story. Someone else commented that my main female character was a whore (in all caps) for having sex on the first date. I counted it as the second date, but at any rate, I deleted both comments.

I can't remember for sure, but my second Romance may have only had sex twice, and it didn't start until half way through the story. It takes a while to get romance going after boy meets girl at the business end of her high-powered rifle.

Oh, and that story got nicked in the comments because she carried a rifle in the wild.

I've written sibcest stories to about the same formula. They work.

I've written three stories I would consider romances, two in mature, one in first time...all three are in the 6-8 page range, all three have no sex until the last 1.5 pages, but the sex is explicit, proving the point you're making that this is a sex site, if you put XXX sex in romances on other sites it would be too much for the soccer moms who think Nora Roberts is risque.

 

[lovecraft68]

Greetings from LW

More like this, the incels defending their BTB stories and the authors who write them.

 

[RetroFan]

My new I/T story landed tonight and on the third vote I was one-bombed. Third vote! I don't believe the story was read. The timing doesn't jive. I think it was story posted and bombs away.

Was your story a humorous story?

For whatever reasons some readers in the IT crowd do not appreciate efforts to try to make them laugh, and take it as an act of provocation, 1-bombing the said stories and leaving angry comments.

 

[MillieDynamite]

As a woman, the erotica that appeals to me most contains a lot about emotions instead of how it feels physically. From the men I know, I understand that it’s far more about how he feels physically and that feeling good about how he is doing in the sack helps. But that isn’t an emotional thing. It isn’t an emotional reaction.

In sex, the act of sex, not the writing about it, I can get off from physical stimulation. I mean, some women climax when they are raped. But, with that said, it isn’t the same thing. And I think, with long-term partners, you often fall into a pattern of lovemaking which becomes rote. This is why the magic disappears, in my opinion, after so many years.

As a woman, I’d be disappointed if sex always happened the same way every time. Jo and I have been married for some time. Years, in fact, and we have been an item many more years. My wife works to keep things different. She’s more the aggressor in the bedroom, but at times I surprise her. After all, it takes two to do it right.

With all this said, I don’t want my stories precisely the same each time. I don’t like scenes to play out the same or for the fucking to be the same as last time. Not when I read and not when I write. Hell, I don’t want the same genre all the time either.

What I do want is emotions to be present, expressed, and acted upon. Love, hate, anger, disgust, pleasure, the whole gambit. I fail a lot of the time to write it that way or to find stories that do it for me.

 

[LAHomedog]

As a woman, the erotica that appeals to me most contains a lot about emotions instead of how it feels physically.

With all this said, I don’t want my stories precisely the same each time. I don’t like scenes to play out the same or for the fucking to be the same as last time. Not when I read and not when I write. Hell, I don’t want the same genre all the time either.

What I do want is emotions to be present, expressed, and acted upon. Love, hate, anger, disgust, pleasure, the whole gambit. I fail a lot of the time to write it that way or to find stories that do it for me.

I agree, and I always attempt to focus on the feeling, emotions, sub-text and motivations. I believe those are essential to create a fully 3-D character.

In college, I always got bored when professors lectured about Chekhov's mastery of sub-text. Now I get it.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'm probably guilty of writing aggressive men as one dimensional characters. Maybe, to a degree, I do the same to the aggressive women, but I don't think it's as blatant.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I'm probably guilty of writing aggressive men as one dimensional characters. Maybe, to a degree, I do the same to the aggressive women, but I don't think it's as blatant.

Out of curiosity and more on your terminology vice the differences between men and women, but if an aggressive man is written as a one-dimensional character, what would you call the description of what, oh, say used to be called ‘a gold-digger’, a young woman deliberately using her sexuality to win favours from men, especially rich men?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Any character can be written as a three dimensional person. I simply don't think I write rapist or overly aggressive men that way. I have a bias against aggressive, cold men, and I'm certain this bias gets in the way of fleshing them out fully. I have a bias against certain types of women, but I know what makes them tick better than the men. I hope I don't write any character (other than throw away back ground individuals) as one dimensional. But fear I do.

But writing about woman that's a money grubber, I can make her unlikeable and her still be fully formed. At least I think I can.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm probably guilty of writing aggressive men as one dimensional characters. Maybe, to a degree, I do the same to the aggressive women, but I don't think it's as blatant.

Most men are one dimensional in real life to make them three dimensional is a true work of fiction.

 

[NotWise]

Most men are one dimensional in real life to make them three dimensional is a true work of fiction.

You have my condolences. That does not describe men I know.