Shelf Life

[MelissaBaby]

I am aware that most stories posted here, other those that are permanently locked in the upper reaches of the Top Lists, will, sooner rather than later, be lost among the more than twenty five years accumulation of stories.

On the other hand, I still receive a steady stream of favorites and occasional comments on stories that are nearly ten years old, so some stories do leave a more lasting impression

Having recently gone through a life threatening health crisis, I've been thinking a lot about what we leave behind us when we are gone. I thought about which stories I have published here might still be read, at least occasionally, years from now.

The obvious choice is If Only In My Dreams. A romance about a soldier and a woman meeting on their way home at the end of World War Two it is, by far. my most read submission, and it was a Winter Holiday Contest First Place winner, so it draws new eyes every Christmas.

I also thing that my semi-autographical series, My Fall and Rise, a chronicle of my struggle with and recovery from addiction, will continue to draw attention, simply because it is, to my knowledge, unique on the site, and tends to make intense fans out of many of those who read it.

But, if it were up to me, which stories would be remembered longest?

The work of which I am proudest is Queen of the Roller Derby, a lesbian romance about a young woman in the 1950s who finds love while rising to fame on the roller derby circuit. I don't know if I could write anything better.

I'd also wish a long life for my beloved The Gold Dollar Girls. It it a heartfelt and mostly honest tribute to the women I worked with in strip clubs in my younger days.I hope new readers meet them for as long as the site is online.

What are your choices among your work? What do you think will leave a lasting impression? What do you hope will?

 

[Rob_Royale]

I have no illusions about my stories. They are just fun and sexy little fantasies. There's nothing highbrow about them. When I'm gone they probably should be relegated to the discount bin to make room for other writers who work hard at putting out a good product.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I have no illusions about my stories. They are just fun and sexy little fantasies. There's nothing highbrow about them. When I'm gone they probably should be relegated to the discount bin to make room for other writers who work hard at putting out a good product.

Maybe we could start something like The Lit Little Library, where you can put old forgotten stories and see if anyone picks them out.

 

[Actingup]

I am aware that most stories posted here, other those that are permanently locked in the upper reaches of the Top Lists, will, sooner rather than later, be lost among the more than twenty five years accumulation of stories.

On the other hand, I still receive a steady stream of favorites and occasional comments on stories that are nearly ten years old, so some stories do leave a more lasting impression

Having recently gone through a life threatening health crisis, I've been thinking a lot about what we leave behind us when we are gone. I thought about which stories I have published here might still be read, at least occasionally, years from now.

The obvious choice is If Only In My Dreams. A romance about a soldier and a woman meeting on their way home at the end of World War Two it is, by far. my most read submission, and it was a Winter Holiday Contest First Place winner, so it draws new eyes every Christmas.

I also thing that my semi-autographical series, My Fall and Rise, a chronicle of my struggle with and recovery from addiction, will continue to draw attention, simply because it is, to my knowledge, unique on the site, and tends to make intense fans out of many of those who read it.

But, if it were up to me, which stories would be remembered longest?

The work of which I am proudest is Queen of the Roller Derby, a lesbian romance about a young woman in the 1950s who finds love while rising to fame on the roller derby circuit. I don't know if I could write anything better.

I'd also wish a long life for my beloved The Gold Dollar Girls. It it a heartfelt and mostly honest tribute to the women I worked with in strip clubs in my younger days.I hope new readers meet them for as long as the site is online.

What are your choices among your work? What do you think will leave a lasting impression? What do you hope will?

Mostly, I'm replying to express how glad I am that you came through your health crisis. May you live to write many more lasting stories!

The most likely of my stories to endure would be A Game of Snooker or It Just Ain't Going To Happen (cowrite with @PennyThompson), both in Loving Wives, or Memories of Sandy in Incest, which is a real tear-jerker as evidenced by the comments. But if I had my druthers, I wouldn't be remembered for my Loving Wives or Incest stories. I choose my Semi-detached, which is a carefully plotted romance between an engineer and a chemist based on the shared discovery of a ghost of a rape/imprisonment victim underneath an old duplex in London, the journey to bring her soul some release, and with a potent aphrodisiac in the mix. My MCs are sweet, intelligent, and incredibly respectful of each other even while taking decisive action against the Bad Guys, have some great sex, and are going to end up very wealthy. So, that one.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Maybe we could start something like The Lit Little Library, where you can put old forgotten stories and see if anyone picks them out.

That could be fun. Library of Litxandria. Just hope nobody burns it down...

Anyway, I dunno if any of my stories are gonna have long-lived impacts. Maybe The Goat Who Came for Christmas for anthro-loving people looking for Christmas stories, but those are few and far between. I'm just too niche to have staying power if I were to stop publishing. I mean, I pull in a handful of views a day on each of my stories unless it's new or I published something that draws attention to other stuff. Only one thing I have is over 10k views.

But I'd really like to be remembered for A Tongue-Tied Valentine. It's the thing that most encapsulates my being and stories, an autistic tamandua dealing with masking both her autism and her more animal tendencies to fit in and be cute for her human boyfriend. It's my second-least-engaged-with story, behind only Diary of a Clutch Slut (which is autobiographical, honest). It doesn't escape my notice both of them are FPOV stories, which is disappointing, but not surprising in a space that has a largely male readership.

But Tongue-Tied is really something special that I feel transcends being sexy. It's an earnest piece about masking and struggling to fit in with a society that just isn't quite suited to one's special needs, and I really love Iraci as a character.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Mostly, I'm replying to express how glad I am that you came through your health crisis. May you live to write many more lasting stories!

The most likely of my stories to endure would be A Game of Snooker or It Just Ain't Going To Happen (cowrite with @PennyThompson), both in Loving Wives, or Memories of Sandy in Incest, which is a real tear-jerker as evidenced by the comments. But if I had my druthers, I wouldn't be remembered for my Loving Wives or Incest stories. I choose my Semi-detached, which is a carefully plotted romance between an engineer and a chemist based on the shared discovery of a ghost of a rape/imprisonment victim underneath an old duplex in London, the journey to bring her soul some release, and with a potent aphrodisiac in the mix. My MCs are sweet, intelligent, and incredibly respectful of each other even while taking decisive action against the Bad Guys, have some great sex, and are going to end up very wealthy. So, that one.

Thank you, I appreciate your good thoughts.

Semi-detached sounds like a great story!

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I don't know... My most meaningful work for me, the ones that I feel will leave a lasting impression, are either unwritten still, in progress, or unpublished. I'm not a prolific writer by any means (shit, I'm probably the fastest writer here, but also the slowest on sending stuff to be published), quite frankly I don't pull the numbers that many of you do, and I don't really care. I think it's a matter of public in my case because the readers that I seek out are not exactly on Literotica. Don't get me wrong, again, I'm not leaving this place, and I like it here, it's just that readers here are more about consumption than connection. I can do stuff for consumption, but if I do that all the time, it gets boring.

I know people don't like it when I say Lit is a porn website. You don't have to like my take. That's just my experience in the low amount of works I've been publishing, the stories I've been reading, and in my tenure in the forum side.

As for the works I mentioned... well, a lot of reasons of them being unwritten, in progress, or unpublished. Part of it is because they don't belong on Literotica, and that's because it either goes against the guidelines (and tailoring it to the guidelines misses what I envision for these works), or the readership for those is simply not here. Another reason is that I have twelve novels in my head, but I can't write them unless I live through it. One of those novels has been in progress since the moment things cooled down after summer of 2024 due to being hunted down and all of that, and right after that episode of my life ended, and another episode of my life that's been ongoing since I was nine years old ended just this year, and I'm living under a third episode under scorched earth. The reason I write them so slow is because life gets in the way. Other than also nearly dying last year for a health crisis, I have no money, no job, no tradeable skills on demand, and live in a place where everyone wants everything for free. I can't, for the life of me, go back into the school system just to not get paid again, and the vibes here overall have been terrible. We just went through a natural disaster that nearly wiped out two cities off the map, and left people nearly as anxious as they were two years ago, when the whole thing was a full blown one-sided civil war. There's been days where I had no food on my pantry, and I'm on the last numbers of my savings. Yet I'm still the most stubborn woman in the world because I made it this far out of spite of this system that has fucked me inside out many times.

None of those in the series could make it to Lit. Even if those works are exorcisms, even if those works are made with a purpose, even if those works are built upon myth symbolism... they won't make it here because the guidelines don't allow it, and if there's one thing I don't want to clean is my own life story. Besides, since these are long, other more important works, abiding the guidelines, and more pressing are keeping me from putting a pen down on my life's story. It's just that writing, unless it's bringing money like right in this instant, is not as important to me as it used to be.

I'd leave it up to AH, or the readers, whether they follow me or not, be the ones to choose, because of what I've got in my profile, none of it is something that I hope it'll leave an impression, because I know deep down I have more to offer, and better. But it's not the guidelines that are making it hard, actually they never did. It's life that seems to have picked summers to always bury me down to the neck, and stone me until I die, but for some reason I don't. Good. That'll only make me more pissed off anyway.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I'm sorry to hear about your health and glad that I am hearing about it---because you came through all right. Here's hoping it was a full recovery with no lingering consequences.

As for me, I hope my best is yet to come. I see myself as just starting out, so I'd be disappointed if anything I've got already turned out to be my legacy.

 

[SimonDoom]

Once again, I am sorry about your health crisis, and I hope you come through it with flying colors and continue to write for many years. You are over two decades younger than I am, but I think of you as one of the old and wise souls here, and I think you have things to say, and I hope that you carry on saying them for many years to come.

I've thought about this question. I write here at Literotica mostly to give myself and to give others erotic pleasure. I think erotic pleasure is in and of itself worthwhile, without having to justify itself by appealing to something else. I have yet to write something that I think leaves any sort of profound mark. I'm perfectly OK with that. I hope that I have enough years left to one day write something more "important," but I'm content with what I've done so far.

I don't have one story to hang my hat on. If there's one thing I hope to get across with my stories, it's a form of sex positivity based upon individual fulfillment and self-expression. I'm turned on by, and also inspired by and curious about, people exploring their sexuality in the face of societal disapproval and personal internal conflict. I like the idea of pushing limits. Breaking taboos (in our imagination, at least--some things should not be done in real life). I think it's a fundamental part of our humanity. I hope that some of that comes through in my stories, even though many of them may seem very silly. I like to think that in my own small way I've helped advance that ball with my stories.

 

[Britva415]

Maybe we could start something like The Lit Little Library, where you can put old forgotten stories and see if anyone picks them out.

I think that favorite lists are like this. I look at the favorite lists of:

Authors I like
Readers who favorited my work
Forum members whose taste interests me
Readers who follow authors I like
Authors who are followed by authors I like
etc

Each one of them is like a Lit Little Library.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Having recently gone through a life threatening health crisis

I’m very happy to see that you have pulled through. Your crystalline writing enriches us all.

 

[anthrodisiac]

@MelissaBaby, I'd also like to add that I am relieved that you seem to be doing better. Hopefully you continue to recover

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I'm sorry to learn about your health crisis, but I'm glad you seem to be doing better. You're such a talented writer, I'm sure your stories will be enjoyed for many years to come.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Having recently gone through a life threatening health crisis, I've been thinking a lot about what we leave behind us when we are gone. I thought about which stories I have published here might still be read, at least occasionally, years from now.

Keep going, you've got that half century to catch up!

 

[AchtungNight]

I think my God of War, X-Men, Metal Gear, Pathfinder, and Ghost of Yotei stories will have the most staying power simply because of their franchise fans. A surprising addition is A Step Up, the story I did shipping Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway. It’s always been more popular than I expected- maybe because the actresses worked so well together. Among the original works, I expect Girls Dorm Gathering and Swap Event to be the most memorable. They’ve gotten the most fan acclaim thus far.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Glad that you are doing better, and I hope that your words of wisdom helps others to appreciate that their mortality is finite.

Carpe diem

I think it would be nice if a new category (or badge) was added to this site, called "Classics". It would only include stories published for a minimum time for example, denoting the longevity and continued interest of readers that @MelissaBaby alludes to.

How these would be selected and troll-proofed is always the challenge.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Hi @MelissaBaby, glad to hear you managed to get through whatever health scare you had. Hopefully, it's not a reoccurring thing.

Every now and then, I get a comment or something on my six (!) year old stories. Personally, I like my Cricket series. It's rough around the edges, but I think overall it's a fun read.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I don't know... My most meaningful work for me, the ones that I feel will leave a lasting impression, are either unwritten still, in progress, or unpublished. I'm not a prolific writer by any means (shit, I'm probably the fastest writer here, but also the slowest on sending stuff to be published), quite frankly I don't pull the numbers that many of you do, and I don't really care. I think it's a matter of public in my case because the readers that I seek out are not exactly on Literotica. Don't get me wrong, again, I'm not leaving this place, and I like it here, it's just that readers here are more about consumption than connection. I can do stuff for consumption, but if I do that all the time, it gets boring.

I know people don't like it when I say Lit is a porn website. You don't have to like my take. That's just my experience in the low amount of works I've been publishing, the stories I've been reading, and in my tenure in the forum side.

As for the works I mentioned... well, a lot of reasons of them being unwritten, in progress, or unpublished. Part of it is because they don't belong on Literotica, and that's because it either goes against the guidelines (and tailoring it to the guidelines misses what I envision for these works), or the readership for those is simply not here. Another reason is that I have twelve novels in my head, but I can't write them unless I live through it. One of those novels has been in progress since the moment things cooled down after summer of 2024 due to being hunted down and all of that, and right after that episode of my life ended, and another episode of my life that's been ongoing since I was nine years old ended just this year, and I'm living under a third episode under scorched earth. The reason I write them so slow is because life gets in the way. Other than also nearly dying last year for a health crisis, I have no money, no job, no tradeable skills on demand, and live in a place where everyone wants everything for free. I can't, for the life of me, go back into the school system just to not get paid again, and the vibes here overall have been terrible. We just went through a natural disaster that nearly wiped out two cities off the map, and left people nearly as anxious as they were two years ago, when the whole thing was a full blown one-sided civil war. There's been days where I had no food on my pantry, and I'm on the last numbers of my savings. Yet I'm still the most stubborn woman in the world because I made it this far out of spite of this system that has fucked me inside out many times.

None of those in the series could make it to Lit. Even if those works are exorcisms, even if those works are made with a purpose, even if those works are built upon myth symbolism... they won't make it here because the guidelines don't allow it, and if there's one thing I don't want to clean is my own life story. Besides, since these are long, other more important works, abiding the guidelines, and more pressing are keeping me from putting a pen down on my life's story. It's just that writing, unless it's bringing money like right in this instant, is not as important to me as it used to be.

I'd leave it up to AH, or the readers, whether they follow me or not, be the ones to choose, because of what I've got in my profile, none of it is something that I hope it'll leave an impression, because I know deep down I have more to offer, and better. But it's not the guidelines that are making it hard, actually they never did. It's life that seems to have picked summers to always bury me down to the neck, and stone me until I die, but for some reason I don't. Good. That'll only make me more pissed off anyway.

Stay alive, stay healthy, and stay strong. Better times will come, and with them, the time to write something you'll be proud of.

I've seen what repression looks like, although nothing like what's going on in your country. Still, if life taught me anything, it's that nothing lasts forever. Not good times, but also not bad times. The trick is to stay sane during bad times. So, among other things, use Literotica for exactly that - staying sane.

It's true what you said, mostly. Lit is 95% pure porn website. It's far, far more PornHub than, I don't know, Project Gutenberg, but there is a tiny part of readership that wants more than just a sexual, or even emotionally-erotic, fix, and it should be enough, even if it often isn't.

My point is that the real trick is to accept Lit for what it is rather than regretting what it could have been. Positive thinking, and all that. It does wonders in life for those who can do it, even if it's sometimes hard as fuck.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

Most of my earlier work is pretty terrible. My current work is terrible.

I like to think that if  I can chronologically read through my stories and see improvement, then others will be able to do so as well.

Maybe my work could be an encouragement to others to keep writing or even to start. And that if we keep writing and trying to learn, we can keep improving.

Also, wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[Voboy]

Glad you're on the mend, Melissa.

I have a few stories here that seem to have struck a chord, but they're generally not the ones I was expecting great things from when I wrote them. I'm often taken by surprise when a story really catches fire, which is a good reminder that if there's a "formula" for a successful story in the categories where I post, I've not found it yet.

I still return to a few favorite stories by a writer who is no longer here, and who last posted a story in 2010. I can only hope to have that kind of shelf life.

 

[yowser]

There is nothing like a health scare to get the mortality/legacy film running in your head, and like others, I am supremely grateful that you have pulled out of the tunnel, not just because we will benefit from your further writing, but because you have been a positive and sane presence here at Lit, and I am sure, in real life.

To your question, I have always been puzzled, and ultimately amused, that my own favorite tales, often ones that took a good deal of time, effort and imagination to produce, don't land very well here. Readership, here and the world over, really can never be understood to any meaningful degree. To me, my favorite offspring are reflected in my 'top ten' list on my signature, and a couple of them are unique stories, couple would make interesting short movies. (Nolan, you reading this?)

But of course, I am ever hopeful that my next story will be the best one.

 

[MelissaBaby]

My point is that the real trick is to accept Lit for what it is rather than regretting what it could have been. Positive thinking, and all that. It does wonders in life for those who can do it, even if it's sometimes hard as fuck.

I have always thought of myself as a niche writer at Lit. After nine years, I only have 1,360 followers. But I am very satisfied with my "standing" here. What I feel I have done is to just try to get better all the time at what I do. In place of popularity, I believe I have cultivated a loyal following of readers.

I appreciate all the kind comments on my recovering health. The basic story is that, early in May, I developed a urinary tract infection. I was treated with antibiotics and felt better but it came back, again and again, defeating three different antibiotics. Eventually, it spread into my kidneys, and came close to causing a complete systemic breakdown.

I was hospitalized on a cipro IV drip, and the infection seems to be defeated, but I ill do a urine culture once a week for at least another month. But it did some damage that needs to heal. I'm feeling better now that I have in months. Even better, knowing that there are folks who care.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I have always thought of myself as a niche writer at Lit. After nine years, I only have 1,360 followers. But I am very satisfied with my "standing" here. What I feel I have done is to just try to get better all the time at what I do. In place of popularity, I believe I have cultivated a loyal following of readers.

That's not "just." It's a good number, but still it's hardly a benchmark by which anyone of us should measure ourselves. We all know that "what" matters more to readers than "how." After all, everyone can compare stories of authors with different levels of popularity. There are so many factors that influence the number of followers.

I appreciate all the kind comments on my recovering health. The basic story is that, early in May, I developed a urinary tract infection. I was treated with antibiotics and felt better but it came back, again and again, defeating three different antibiotics. Eventually, it spread into my kidneys, and came close to causing a complete systemic breakdown.

I was hospitalized on a cipro IV drip, and the infection seems to be defeated, but I ill do a urine culture once a week for at least another month. But it did some damage that needs to heal. I'm feeling better now that I have in months. Even better, knowing that there are folks who care.

Huh, talk about a common malady that can escalate... I suppose it was some resistant strain of bacteria? It really makes one ponder how something so mundane can almost cost us our life.

Get well quickly. Maybe writing will be therapeutic.

 

[THBGato]

Very pleased to hear you are on the mend. Personally, I would have picked Oyster River as my favourite of yours @MelissaBaby (though I do like Roller Derby a lot too).

Of mine... Forty is by far my most personal story. I hope it might have a long shelf life. Particularly because it is a tribute to a whole load of musicians who (mostly) never made it and are largely forgotten despite their abundant talent. I live in hope that readers might be curious enough to check out the accompanying playlist and discover some of that music for themselves.

I've also been told that reading Love is a Place changed a reader's life, so I hope that it keeps getting read by anyone who needs it. (And also because I use it to plug a load of my favourite Lit stories and writers.)

 

[MelissaBaby]

Huh, talk about a common malady that can escalate... I suppose it was some resistant strain of bacteria? It really makes one ponder how something so mundane can almost cost us our life.

Unfortunately, it's becoming more common lately. Over prescription of antibiotics, (and insane policies like using them to fatten livestock) has led to the proliferation of more resistant bacteria.

Get well quickly. Maybe writing will be therapeutic.

It always has!