Story Quality

[HSWriter]

Have any of the other authors on this site noticed the somewhat declining quality of the stories around here? Now, I know that my stories aren't that great, so I really have hardly any room to talk, but I have noticed a serious trend in the writing of the new breed of authors here on Lit. Now, don't get me wrong, every so often an amazing story arises, but let's just take the 2000 Literotica Awards as an example. In the few categories that have more than 10 nominations, it is usually the same story being nominated over and over again. And some categories have very few, if any nominations in them. I interperet this as a lack of quality stories to nominate. Is this the case or am I just not looking hard enough?

This topic is now open for discussion...

 

[KillerMuffin]

I think it has more to do with the audience than the writers, actually. Most of the people who read stories want a quick jerk. They don't want plot, characters, just a nice fuck description the jack off to. A number of people read the stories because they like to read stories with sex in them.

It's not easy to please all of the people all of the time. I think that, while irritating to me, there is a place for the "lockerroom" style of description. It keeps sitegoers happy. Not to mention there has been a severe backup of the system, and Laurel is cleaning out the ol' pipes.

To those of us like you and I who are more literarily minded, the quality may seem to have depreciated. To those of us who just want to read about hot sex, the quality may have risen in their estimation.

 

[christo]

Quality and Quantity

I think too many stories have a rushed sense about them, the author doesn't take the time to develop the situation and the characters before getting down to the good stuff. I'm not talking about a 50 page exposition detailing every thought every character has had in the last 10 years, or an obsessive description of the object of desire ("Her elbows were like twin alabaster pestles, her armpits shaved smooth as Egyptian silk"). But a story where the delivery boy shows up with the pizza and has his shorts around his ankles a paragraph later, ehh...

If you take the time to set up the story the reader gets much more involved, more interested. It turns the story from a textbook description of sexual practices to an erotic tale about two (or one, or fifteen, depending on the category) people indulging in the most pleasurable activity there is.

And if you can relate to the people in the story AS people, can picture yourself in their shoes, imagining what it would be like to find yourself in the unusual and interesting situation these people are in, it makes the story much more arousing, much more erotic.

 

[Whispersecret]

I think that KM is right. There are a lot of people who read the stories, but don't care a whit about the awards.

I also think Christo is right. I've heard many an author wonder if they didn't introduce the sex quickly enough. I'm editing a story right now where the sex doesn't appear until Chapter Three. I think an author has to choose for himself when the sex should appear. The people looking for a quick jerk will scroll to the sex anyway and skip the preliminaries.

 

[Laurel]

I read nearly every story that's posted, so I can say this with authority: the quality of submissions has increased, not decreased. Considering that this is an amateur writing site, I'm shocked at how many talented writers we have who submit poetry and stories regularly. We have quite a few submitters who are professional writers in their real lives who write erotica under pseudonyms as a hobby.

However, though the percentage of well-written stories has increased, the quantity of story submissions has also increased. This means that on any given day, there is a greater chance that everyone will be able to find a story that intrigues them. The purpose behind listing the story description, category, and author name is to give the reader the most information possible so that they can decide if a story is right for them. No one is expected to read each and every story - rather, you can pick and choose that which interests you and leave the rest for others with different interests/focuses to enjoy. i.e. You can check out all the new Fetish stories, while your friend can enjoy the Lesbian tales.

The narrowness of what gets nominated has less to do with any lack of quality and more to do with people having trouble remembering what stories they liked/disliked. Also, not everyone takes the time to go over to the forum and make a nomination. There are some amazing stories that aren't even being mentioned, and it's rather annoying, but inevitable. Like I've said before, writing is not a sport, and most writers are not doing it to win a tacky prize on a porn site. They do it because they enjoy sharing their fantasies, because they enjoy writing. The stories and authors who win the awards are far from being the only worthwhile works and writers on the site. Many, many fine writers will be left out in the cold, and many, many fine stories will go unlauded. These awards, like the rest of the site, are meant to be fun. Taking them too seriously will only end in hurt feelings and unnecessarily bruised egos.

 

[Laurel]

I also think Christo is right. I've heard many an author wonder if they didn't introduce the sex quickly enough. I'm editing a story right now where the sex doesn't appear until Chapter Three. I think an author has to choose for himself when the sex should appear. The people looking for a quick jerk will scroll to the sex anyway and skip the preliminaries.

Absolutely...You have to write the story how you feel it should be written. If there's a menage a trois in an elevator in the first page, fine. If there's not so much as a kiss till page 4, fine. You can't please everyone, so for nature's sake, please yourself. Write the story how YOU would like it to be written. If you're happy with it, chances are others will like it, too. No matter what anyone says, EVERYBODY prefers a well-written story to a poorly written one. Write the best story you can, whatever that means to you, and you can't lose.

 

[SpankerSam]

Interest!!!

To add to this discussion, I think that it all depends on what the reader wants to get from the story itself. If all he or she is looking for is a quick get me off, then all they want to see is sex, sex and more sex. But some readers appreciate the finer quality of having the story and characters develop in the read. As a writer, I have tried to do just that in my stories. And some readers have written to me ssaying so. But as one person remarked, this is a site for new writers as well as experienced ones.

 

[Andra_Jenny]

Awards & Nominations

I think it is a pretty small subset of Literoticans who have a lot of interest in the awards. That is why the nominations cluster around a group of writers and their favorite stories.

I think things are getting better. The volume is getting overwhelming and I am tending to stick with genres that interest me and discard the rest, so I do not know what to nominate or vote on in the majority of the categories. But please do not try to determine my intentions when I do not vote

 

[Closet Desire]

I have to...

...go with Laurel on this one. I'm stunned by quality of many of the stories and even more stunned to find that the authors are amateurs and don't even consider themselves "writers" (they are, by the way). I don't spend much time looking at stories that don't interest me so I suppose I can't really compare how much rubbish there is compared with gems, but the gems are often so good that I don't notice.

 

[chatbug]

I'm published!

I think it's pretty amazing that I can put one of my erotic stories on Literotica, on the Internet, and the whole world (the whole computerized world anyway) can look at it and enjoy it (or laugh at it)!

I still have the problem of letting the world know my great stories are available, but at least I have a shot. Twenty years ago, I could not have done this. Twenty years from now, who knows what might be possible!

So, in another bit of shameless self promotion, my two posted BDSM stories are:

Angel with a Devil Inside
Lawn Mowing Torture

 

[Mark Singer]

Well, that answers THAT question...

Good topic, H.S.W. And a good circle of responses. So I'll toss my own two cents in, if you don't mind....

When I initially read the subject post, my first response was to agree with you, H.S.W. But, after eading the replies, I could see that my initial response was simply a selfish one. I must say that the majority of stories posted here are not to my liking. They just don't do it for me. That's the bottom line.
But are all those stories that MR. SINGER doesn't like not any good? Absolutely! No...I'm just kidding. Of course they're not 'bad'. That's the wonderful thing about this whole project that Laurel and Manu have put together. It gives EVERYONE a chance to express themselves in whatever manner they choose to. While there is some admittedly BAD writing on this site (a lot of it my own), the majority of stories show a true and honest attempt, at the least, to present an erotic concept...hoping that there is someone out there who appreciates that same concept.

For myself, I hack out 'suck me - fuck me' stories that I know are distasteful and sophomoric to some readers. But I also get a lot of e-mail telling me I'm the next Hemmingway, for Christ's sake. (Maybe they mean Margot or Murriel...) 'Jessica's Big Dick Adventures' is getting a LOT of nominations for the 2000 cLITty Awards, but, myself, I didn't care for it at all. What that tells me is not that a 'bad' story is getting attention, but rather that my own concept of what constitutes a 'good' story, or a 'popular' story is skewed.

It's a huge world and sex and sexuality are the two most individual concepts in it. The very fact that I am, even as we speak, trying to get my pet monkey to mate with my cat is a testament to this. Just so I can get it on video.

Okay... The point I'm struggling to make here is that Literotica is a wonderful venue for ALL writers. And even the 'bad' ones can get a shot. For someone such as myself to have the opportunity to 'vent' those concepts that I find appealing, and to get intelligent feedback regarding my ramblings is a huge thing.

Is the writing at Literotica getting worse? Nah... there's just more of it. We just have to sift a little more to find the 'good' ones. And that's a very good thing.

-Mark-

BTW: Laurel! What do you mean by 'tacky little prize on a porn site'?? Do you mean that the winners don't get that gold statue?? There's no televised ceremony?? What the HELL are we writing for???

 

[Ask For More]

I agree with Mark. The content in here is way up than from before. So it's just a matter of going through more to find what you like.

I think the participation for nominations is a bit lacking because it's a big jump from reading stories to trying to get into the literotica community and contribute as well. I have been reading stories on this site for well over six months now but it's only recently i've come into this forum.

Another thing with the stories is that there may be too many one off stories. I decided to write a series when i started my first story because that was the only way i could get any sort of character development and consistency, this is the same reason why i prefer long stories. But in a lot of cases people are just experimenting and if we don't encourage them then the content and quality will dry up. So is it worthwhile sacrifice?

 

[circe!]

"published!!"

I guess I'm kind of embarrassed to admit how really excited I was the other day to see my story published on this site. I thought it was kind of like writing in a vaccum in that it's all anonymous, writers and readers alike, and therefore it doesn't really "count." But I was so thrilled to receive feedback, and I felt so... validated, somehow.

My husband refused to read my writing. I can't share it with casual friends and certainly not with family. But it makes me feel so good to have people I'll never know read it and respond to it. Go figure.

 

[Ask For More]

Forgot to shamelessly promote myself. My new story has just been put up, called Never Turn Back II! So everybody be nice to me and read it

 

[Ask For More]

Forgot to shamelessly promote myself. My new story has just been put up, called Never Turn Back II!

 

[Ask For More]

Just though of something else. Perhaps the lack of nominations is due to much higher content so people just don't know who to vote for?


Forgot to shamelessly promote myself. My new story has just been put up, called Never Turn Back II!

 

[christo]

Well put

My undergraduate degree is in writing, and I can say with total confidence that the average story on Literotica is better than the stories I read in fiction workshops in school. With so many stories posted every day there's bound to be a few that are lacking, bur many others are extremely well done.

I think I'm like most writers here in that I write stories that I'd like to read. I prefer stories with a longer setup, so that's how I write 'em. Other people like stories that cut to the chase right out of the gate. If a story is well-done, it doesn't matter.

Actually, that would be an interesting contest-- write an erotic story in under 100 words. Or 50 words. There may have been a similar idea brought up here before, but we had to do that in one of my classes and it was an interesting challenge.

It would be neat to be nominated for an award (hasn't happened yet, sob) but like Mark I get a total thrill when people e-mail me about how much they liked my stories and how they can't wait for my next installment. And almost 900 people cast votes about my stories, and that's a pretty good-sized audience. There are a lot of people out there who love to write who never had a chance to get their work out there before the 'Net and sites like this one came along. And quite a few talented people have found an eager audience here.

 

[Weird Harold]

Another thing with the stories is that there may be too many one off stories. I decided to write a series when i started my first story because that was the only way i could get any sort of character development ...

I too prefer longer stories, however, I write short stories.

There are two reasons I write short stories. First, because my first attempt finished at 160,000 words and was horrible. It will (probably) never see publication because fixing it for public consumption would be a life's work. <G>

Second, I like the challenge of creating characterizations in as few words as possible. If I can perfect concise and efficient characterizations in short stories, then when and if I turn to longer stories they will be that much better.

So far, everything of mine has been a "one-off" only because they have been based on a singular concepts that can't be stretched to a series. One starteed off implying up to 48 sequels, but the concept (Identifying one particualr woman by her addictive tasting pussy,) would have gotten very stale very quickly. I rewrote it as a one off "bar tale." I may reuse Clancy's Bar, but not the main characters.

 

[Ask For More]

Opps messed up my post and it came out three times.....apologies for that!

Which category is your story in Harold? Would like to read it...

 

[Mark Singer]

Jeez, Ask For More....talk about shameless self-promotion!

-M-

 

[Ask For More]

I know Mark, actually i'm lying about the mistake!

Have you read my story? Wouldn't mind some constructive comments....

 

[Mark Singer]

Actually yes, A.F.M... I caught a sense of your sense of humor from your posts, went off to check out your stories and I found the two very enjoyable. As Roger recently pointed out to me about my own offerings though, I did notice a few typo's and such, but not enough to take away from the gist of the story, which was a wonderful fantasy. Do keep on with your stories. I'll be looking forward to the next chapter(s).

I also appreciate your comments and feedback on my own stories. As I said to H.S.Writer earlier, I think we should all get more involved in the 'feedback' process. It will only benefit everyone.
Of course, any negative comment isn't feedback... it's just bullshit.

Cheers...

-M-

 

[Ask For More]

How dare you criticise me! ;op

Thanks for taking the time to read them Mark i really appreciate it! I submitted the third installment a few days ago so i guess it'll be a couple of weeks before it goes up. I guess i should try and send them all together but i like to take my time over them. But if i sent them all in together i'd probably get more votes!

 

[skywriterxxx]

I'm new here, just posted my first story, and I'm NOT a writer - I love to write, sure, but that's as far as it goes - I was interested by the post about 'story quality' and have read the previous replies, and all have made very valid points.

In my limited experience, I've found a wide disparity in 'story quality'. Perhaps because I prefer a longer setup, and more information than just "I fucked her and I fucked her".

I've found stories that were of the highest quality as well, with actual emotional buildup, fascinating description, believable characters, and intersting plot. Bravo to those authors. (you know who you are!)

One thing I have noticed, though, is that there seems to be a large number of stories with errors in spelling and grammar. (not that I'm perfect, of course)

a side note - my first story reaped a response from someone telling me about the use of the word "que" vs "cue" and the writer was right on the money! I screwed up!

That told me a litte about the 'quality' of Literotica readers in general.

As for the awards - you mean there are AWARDS??? wow....


OH, one more thing...to you Brittish writers...the word is ASS, not arse! hahaha

You all have a lovely day!! take care!

 

[Ask For More]

I'm sorry, to all you american ignoramus' it's ARSE not ASS!
And it's alumInium (note the I in the middle)
I'm not even going to get started on spelling ;op