Reading Competition Stories

[Actingup]

@Actingup, how do you identify new authors?

Obviously there's the 'do I know them / follow them / sleep with them' answer, but I quite often click on an author's story page and have a look before deciding whether to read them. I'm sure others do the same.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I search for the tag, sort by descending rating, and pick out the ones that sound interesting by title, description, and tag. It's a very biased method but a lot of stories are just really bad.

 

[Erozetta]

As we are in the mist of the Halloween competition, do you read all the stories that are submitted to a contest or a competition?

If not, how do you select what story to read?

Do you read just writers you follow and/or respect?

How do you discover new writers?

More generally, how many stories do you read in average on Literotica in a day?

Do you just read the ones in the category you like best?

I know this is a lot of questions but I know that one way to become a better writer is to read well written pieces. However, my experience here has been underwhelming to say the least. Any tip is appreciated.

For contests, I typically read stories under 15k and by author names I don't recognize first. Then I go by titles that appeal to me. Outside of contests, it's always the title that appeals first, then the teaser line; who wrote it doesn't come into play.

I do contests this way because I mostly assume the people I recognize are also recognized by many others, while the ones I don't recognize may or may not get as many views/reads/votes as others and since there's a minimum number of votes needed to even qualify for the contest, I feel it's the best use of my limited reading window. I don't comment on contest stories typically.

I read 1-2 stories a week, usually.

All categories are on the table for me, but erotic horror is my favorite category, and it's a difficult category to get right because there's a fine line to walk between the two realms without straying too far on either side to detract from the other.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Anyway, I read all of T's stories, and that kinda ruined the rest of Literotica for me.

What, you got a thing for a poor man's Proust? I read a few before he took them down and found them a bit turgid. Like swimming in treacle but not as much fun.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

How do you know what story would appeal to you?

For the Halloween contest, there is a just title and author and honestly, I only figured out two writers that I really enjoy.

So I click on it and look at the category and click back (I don't read T/I and LW) for example.

Assuming it is a category I might be interested, I start reading and get mad at myself for having wasted time reading crap.

I look for interesting titles. I look for authors I know. Then I go look at the AH board to see what people are talking about. The contest support thread is actually a great place to see what stories people think are worth reading, and authors that post there will usually have something more in depth to say about their stories.
Another option is to click on the Halloween 2025 tag if it’s on the story, then sort by rating. Great way to find the best stories. You’ll miss some of them, maybe even great ones, but it’s better than wading through mud.

BTW- I loved Gypsy Lake.

 

[Bamagan]

As we are in the mist of the Halloween competition, do you read all the stories that are submitted to a contest or a competition?

If not, how do you select what story to read?

Do you read just writers you follow and/or respect?

How do you discover new writers?

More generally, how many stories do you read in average on Literotica in a day?

Do you just read the ones in the category you like best?

I know this is a lot of questions but I know that one way to become a better writer is to read well written pieces. However, my experience here has been underwhelming to say the least. Any tip is appreciated.

In order:
No. Even in the dim recesses of history there were usually more entries to read than my time permitted, and the list now is longer than the trope-iest penis on Literotica.

I largely ignore the competition lists and just check the category hubs and look for things that sound promising. Sometimes they're competition stories, but that's coincidental in my case; the 'holiday' themes don't usually add much to the reading experience for me, so I see little reason to seek them out.

No, but I'm more likely to give their stories a look-see even if the title/blurb don't seem like my cup of tea.

Mostly by chance, but occasionally by the 'similar stories' suggestions, or by checking out the favorites of people who have favorited one of my stories.

Rarely more than one or two a day, unless they happen to be quite short. I tend to avoid longer works these days, whether serialized or not, because of the time commitment, but there are exceptions.

There are about six categories I check regularly and several others I check occasionally. On days when there's nothing new-ish that seems intriguing I'll do tag searches for stories that might have landed in the categories I rarely examine.

 

[crookedletter]

I would love to be the type of AHer that reads and comments on stories of all the people that seem interesting to me here, and I often plan to, but then I blink and the day's almost over and I still have to do my own writing. So I say "maybe tomorrow" and I close the window. And in the end I don't read much at all here.

Maybe tomorrow.

 

[DEFCOM5]

Another option is to click on the Halloween 2025 tag if it’s on the story, then sort by rating. Great way to find the best stories. You’ll miss some of them, maybe even great ones, but it’s better than wading through mud.

I wish the contest stories would show the categories. They are categories I have no interest in (e.g. T/I) so it would avoid unnecessary clicking.

BTW- I loved Gypsy Lake.

Thank you. I appreciate you spending the time to read it and leaving a comment.