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Warning to first time writers

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LonelyMom

Experienced
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Posts
97
I recently submitted my first story. I sure wish there had been a warning posted somewhere to aspiring writers that your life would be turned upside down if you wanted to have a story placed on this site. I've never been through such worrying and stress ! - And I'm a mother of six - I know what worrying is !!

First there was the stress over writing a story of a sexual nature. In my circles, that is not a subject open for discssion ever.

Then, you finally submit it and you stress over why it is taking so long to be posted. I was so green that I started looking for it about an hour after I sent it in and about every 20 minustes or so after that ! As the days rolled by I became convinced that the powers-that-be must have hated it and wondered why I thought I had the nerve to waste their time.

Finally it was posted and I thought I would feel releived. However, I found myself going back over and over to see how it was doing in the scoring department. If it dropped so much as 1/100 of a point, I stressed all over again.

Thankfully, it was pretty well recieved and I got many wonderful emails voicing their appreciation. I even received one proposal of marraige ! Don't laugh....I'm still considering it !

Now, it all starts again. Sure I did it once, but can I do it a second time ? Did I just get lucky with the first one ? What if they hate the next one ?

So, if anyone out there is thinking about submitting their first story....YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!!!
 
Welcome to the AH...

That's one of the things this place is for... mutual stress release... we call it flirting but that's what is really is..... or at least that's my story and i'm sticking to it.... :eek:

Oh and the stress is still there after a dozen or morte stories only now you have to throw in the Trolls and anymouse.... Oh you haven't met them yet.... :D Thank your stars....
Now you have something else to worry about.... it never ends.... :rolleyes:
 
Welcome to the AH. And congrats on your first story!

Yeah, the first time is stressful. But it's also wonderful how you feel when it goes up and you get good feedback.

Put a link to your stories in your sig so we can read it.

Again, welcome to the AH.
 
That's why you use stress relieving techniques... I know more than one way to relieve stress if you know waht I mean... ;-)
 
That's Ok, it just gets worse. When you get your first #1 story, only to see it hit by a flurry of 1 votes within hours, you'll be back here swearing and screaming about trolls. I'll offer condolences in advance.

BTW, congrats on getting a successful story on the 1st try. It is a great confidence booster (and trust me, a lot of us here identify with the stress about following it up). Welcome and hang out here often. You'll definitely get marriage proposals, or at least illicit ones (from women and men :D ).
 
Welcome to the AH. :rose:

(yes, you have been assimilated now. :D )
 
cloudy said:
Welcome to the AH. :rose:

(yes, you have been assimilated now. :D )
Click to expand...
Yeah a Cloudy sighting..... :rose: :kiss:

It is futile to resist.... assimilation and/or Cloudy...... :D
 
rgraham666 said:
Welcome to the AH. And congrats on your first story!

Yeah, the first time is stressful. But it's also wonderful how you feel when it goes up and you get good feedback.

Put a link to your stories in your sig so we can read it.

Again, welcome to the AH.
Click to expand...

Here is the link to my story. I didn't put it in the first time because I didn't want to seem desperate, but I guess my insecurities are in plain view now anyways....

http://english.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=274761
 
I still agonize after a year and eight stories later. I had two of them actually get rejected. It's not a good feeling. It only took minor modifications to get them through (they thought the characters in my one story were underage, when I had them in my head as being 20+, I just never told the readers that, oops ;) ).
 
Congrats and welcome to the AH. :)

A warning for you: This place will quickly grow on you and you'll get hopelessly addicted! ;)
 
Welcome to the AH and congrats on your posting. I'll look for and read the story soon.

The stress you mention is not something that will get easier- it was always with me through all the stories I did and remains so now. It (along with RL) is the main reason I have stopped writing erotica and become an editor/beta reader instead. You have to put your personal taboos aside when you write a sex story and it's never easy. But they say consience is good and I congratulate you on yours.

Best of luck with your next erotic story- hopefully it will go better for you than my second one did. My first (Fear, Lust, and Vanity) was an instant bestseller, lots of people read and cheered and I really wanted to keep going. For my second (it's not on Lit) I got very little notice or feedback other than rejection letters. Things were wishy-washy but mostly great after that. It was a wonderful ride and something I will always be proud to have indulged in- might again with the right inspiration and time someday, who knows? Hopefully you can say the same.
 
LonelyMom said:
I recently submitted my first story. I sure wish there had been a warning posted somewhere to aspiring writers that your life would be turned upside down if you wanted to have a story placed on this site. I've never been through such worrying and stress ! - And I'm a mother of six - I know what worrying is !!

First there was the stress over writing a story of a sexual nature. In my circles, that is not a subject open for discssion ever.

Then, you finally submit it and you stress over why it is taking so long to be posted. I was so green that I started looking for it about an hour after I sent it in and about every 20 minustes or so after that ! As the days rolled by I became convinced that the powers-that-be must have hated it and wondered why I thought I had the nerve to waste their time.

Finally it was posted and I thought I would feel releived. However, I found myself going back over and over to see how it was doing in the scoring department. If it dropped so much as 1/100 of a point, I stressed all over again.

Thankfully, it was pretty well recieved and I got many wonderful emails voicing their appreciation. I even received one proposal of marraige ! Don't laugh....I'm still considering it !

Now, it all starts again. Sure I did it once, but can I do it a second time ? Did I just get lucky with the first one ? What if they hate the next one ?

So, if anyone out there is thinking about submitting their first story....YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!!!
Click to expand...

*grin* As long as I've been on this site, this is the first time I've submitted a story. Poetry, yes. Story, no. It's chapter one of a series, and I keep checking to see when the hell it will be accepted. I know how you feel. :rose:
 
I love you all !! I feel so much better knowing that you each felt the same way while going through this process. I guess that if this were a movie or a novel, this would be the point where I felt inspired to produce prolific amounts of stories that would catch the eye of some big time producer or publisher and they would be banging down my door to offer me truck loads of money for my next offering !

If it happens, you guys will the first to know....
 
It's funny, I've never worried...

about a story being rejected. Which is odd, because I know I'm not a writer, at best an apprentice working on becoming a journeyman. My first was a class project... a grad class taken as an undergrad. I do empathize with you about the scores. I'm a competitive person, a jock. However, in writing you aren't really competing with other writers, but with how well you connect with your audience.

It's why I hate 1-bombs. By distorting the score they rob me of feedback. I hasten to add I don't mind 1 scores. Those tell me that the reader has had a very strong reaction to my story, and I actually treasure that and the emotional PC and emails some of my stories have received.

I can even enjoy the ones that tear my work apart... like the one on my most recent story that pointed out a serious disconnect in how I present one of my characters. That's how I learn.

All of this to say, do worry, my last two stories were rejected! One because I sent it in in the wrong format, the other because I included a link to the source of a quote (I'm still a student.) Both have managed to achieve an "H" so even rejection isn't always a bad thing.
 
I just submitted my first story yesterday. I read yours, lonelymom, and voted. I may have to retract mine. It's not as good as your's. I'm told in other threads that the wait time for acceptance is three days to several weeks. I'll check it each day when I log in, but I'm not gonna get stressed out about it. The yo-yos that inhabit this forum won't let me. They keep me in stiches with their antics.

And they are the cream of the crop. And they give good advice.
 
LonelyMom said:
I recently submitted my first story. I sure wish there had been a warning posted somewhere to aspiring writers that your life would be turned upside down if you wanted to have a story placed on this site. I've never been through such worrying and stress ! - And I'm a mother of six - I know what worrying is !!
Click to expand...


LMAO. Darlin', you ain't seen nothin' yet... Submit a story for a contest. Now, THAT'S stress. :D

On a serious note, welcome to the AH and congrats on a positive response to your first submission. :rose: :kiss:
 
Hiya LM and welcome :)
The apprehension diminishes a bit over time, heck I had to submit my first story 8 (yes 8!) times before it was accepted...editors..they ARE a good thing
 
Antfarmer77 said:
Hiya LM and welcome :)
The apprehension diminishes a bit over time, heck I had to submit my first story 8 (yes 8!) times before it was accepted...editors..they ARE a good thing
Click to expand...
My first idea was rejected (many thanks to our hosts) and still resides on my hard drive. Maybe I'll cannibalize it some day, but I'm just glad I don't have to go to the effort of asking to remove it *shudder*. It taught me all about the necessity for an editor. Then my first accepted submission taught me all about the need to actually listen to your editor. :p
 
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