What kind of reader do you think your stories attract?

[EveAnna]

I've been rereading my stories and I've come to realise that they are more geared towards a female reader. I didn't intend this when I wrote them but I was pleased with how they turned out even though one of my stories was written from a male perspective.

So it got me thinking - What kind of reader do you write for when you plot a story out or do you specifically write for a male/female/gay/ reader?

 

[sr71plt]

For most of my stories posted here I write for the gay or bi male. Most of my readers appear to be curious females.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Demented perverts.

 

[polynices]

I don't consciously write 'for' anybody, beyond writing for the obvious audience of the category I'm writing in at the time, and it's difficult to tell who reads my stories, since all scores and a lot of feedback are anonymous. That said, I suspect that most of my readers are male - or, at least, that the readers who enjoy the stories are. However, I've had a certain amount of positive feedback from women and I've been especially pleased to get that.

It may be that women are simply more reticent about giving feedback to a male writer, so even when it's possible to identify the sex of commenters, that may not indicate the sex distribution of an overall readership. In the end, unfortunately, I think there's no reliable way of finding out who's reading the stuff, though I'd love to know, of course.

- polynices

 

[YoursSINSerely]

I think I'm getting readers who are equally from the male population and the female population, but they are definately straight. The majority of my public comments have been from men. My personsal female friends who have read my stories are shocked with me about writing smut, but also smile and say, "Wow, I didn't know you could write," with a big grin on their face. They giggle when I tell them I have a new one, but they still take the time to read it. I wish more people would leave public comments. It would help me as a writer.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I write for me or loved ones who request special fare.

 

[polynices]

I write for me ...

To me, 'writing for myself' means writing with a reader in mind who is the same as me. That is, I assume that most readers will be very similar to me deep down - though I'm a bit more doubtful about that with regard to women than to men.

This isn't a consciously thought-out strategy, by the way. It's just the way I work. In fact, I can't really imagine writing for somebody who didn't have a similar set of attitudes and responses to my own.

- polynices

 

[EveAnna]

To me, 'writing for myself' means writing with a reader in mind who is the same as me. That is, I assume that most readers wil be very similar to me deep down - though I'm a bit more doubtful about that with regard to women than to men.

This isn't a consciously thought-out strategy, by the way. It's just the way I work. In fact, I can't really imagine writing for somebody who didn't have a similar set of attitudes and responses to my own.

- polynices

I think this must be how I write too - I haven't written anything for a long time now but I still love to read the stories I have up. I didn't intend writing for women but I think that is how my stories work out.

 

[bronzeage]

I have written for many different audiences. Most of my posted work appeals to women, usually 35 or older.

Erotica has to appeal to either the writer or the reader. If it doesn't affect one of the two, there is no point to any of it.

It's much easier to write for a specific reader. What appeals to one person is sure to appeal to many others if it is well written.

Women readers give much better feedback.

 

[Handley_Page]

I write for me: To amuse, to twist the tale of the language.
If someone likes it, that's all the better.

 

[polynices]

Erotica has to appeal to either the writer or the reader.

I have to admit there are some categories of reader I actively resist. I dislike the super-macho intensely and I often make a point of disappointing the expectations of readers who want to hear about an eleven inch cock pumping in and out of an adoringly wet vagina forever. (I doubt that I'm alone in this.)

So, though I said earlier that I don't consciously write 'for' anybody, I do sometimes write 'against' certain kinds of reader. As I'm writing, I sometimes reach cruxes where I think 'This bit won't please the X crowd.' (Supply your own favoured descriptor for X.) But then I think 'Well, tough!' and carry on with what I was gong to write anyway.

- polynices

 

[Liar]

Other writers. They're way too artsy-fartsy and not enough to wank to.

 

[bronzeage]

I have to admit there are some categories of reader I actively resist. I dislike the super-macho intensely and I often make a point of disappointing the expectations of readers who want to hear about an eleven inch cock pumping in and out of an adoringly wet vagina forever. (I doubt that I'm alone in this.)

So, though I said earlier that I don't consciously write 'for' anybody, I do sometimes write 'against' certain kinds of reader. As I'm writing, I sometimes reach cruxes where I think 'This bit won't please the X crowd.' (Supply your own favoured descriptor for X.) But then I think 'Well, tough!' and carry on with what I was gong to write anyway.

- polynices

There is no crowd, X or otherwise. Erotica is seldom read to large groups. It's a solitary pursuit.

There are many sub-genre's and each has followers. I don't think anyone reads more than a page of a story if it hasn't caught their interest in the first few paragraphs. The gap between the number of reads and number of comments or votes, reflects this.

I have posted stories which were blasted in the feedback because the readers were expecting more of the same. New characters and situations upset a lot of them. I listened and learned. If I were writing just to amuse myself, it wouldn't matter, but the story is for them to enjoy.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

To me, 'writing for myself' means writing with a reader in mind who is the same as me. That is, I assume that most readers will be very similar to me deep down - though I'm a bit more doubtful about that with regard to women than to men.

This isn't a consciously thought-out strategy, by the way. It's just the way I work. In fact, I can't really imagine writing for somebody who didn't have a similar set of attitudes and responses to my own.

- polynices

I try to be me so that people know exactly where the snake is. Its the best way to sort friends from foes and keep from getting stepped on.

 

[_Lynn_]

I've been rereading my stories and I've come to realise that they are more geared towards a female reader. I didn't intend this when I wrote them but I was pleased with how they turned out even though one of my stories was written from a male perspective.

So it got me thinking - What kind of reader do you write for when you plot a story out or do you specifically write for a male/female/gay/ reader?

I don't plot out a story. Instead I begin with a thought or sentence and take it from there. And I never write for a specific audience. Then again, it's rare that I write erotica anymore.

Women readers give much better feedback.

Yet the greater share of feedback I receive is from men. Maybe the category factors into it though.

 

[oggbashan]

Most of my stories are aimed at fetishists.

The trouble with that is that whatever fetish turns you on, there are probably dozens that turn you off, so I can't win.

Og

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Uh...trolls.

My audience on most of my stories has been about 60/40, male/female. It really depends on the category they are in though.

Loving Wives - 90/10
Voyeur/Exhibitionism - 50/50
Romance - 40/60
Non-Consent/Reluctance - 90/10
BSDM - 100/0
Erotic Couplings - 50/50
Sci-Fi/Fantasy - 80/20
Humor/Satire - 40/60
Non-Erotic - 50/50

These are the only Categories I have posted in so far. A further breakdown would be according to POV.

The numbers above are estimates based on comments submitted.

 

[TxRad]

In writing for Lit I write the story and place it in a category. Those that want to read it find it.

In my mainstream writing, I have to keep my target audience in mind at all times. If I don't the legal department gets testy.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I write for myself-- Back in the day, there was no smut written for me, so i wrote it myself. There are so many more of "me " now-- lots of women writing to get women off-- that "I" have become a demographic.

My gay writing is for women, my dyke writing is for women, my het writing is about the kind of het men that many women want to read about. No, they are not entirely realistic men-- but that's why we read, isn't it?

 

[alwayswantedto]

Like MistressLynn, I do not plot my stories; I start with an idea and follow the story from there. I write for the story, not a particular audience. I guess that could be a way of saying I write for myself except that sometimes I don't particularly like where a story goes.

Most of my readers seem to be men, older ones, because of the more languid pace of my stories. But I get quite a few women which pleases me given the preponderance of male readers on Lit. I also get a few bi men, which surprises me.

 

[MzDeviancy]

Most of my stories are aimed at fetishists.

The trouble with that is that whatever fetish turns you on, there are probably dozens that turn you off, so I can't win.

Og

I hear that. I myself am a fan of incest/heavy nonconsent combos. Unfortunately, the majority of incest lovers don't like nonconsent (or at least not heavy nonconsent), and a lot of nonconsent folks are skeeved out by a brother raping his sister. But I do receive enough positive feedback that I know there are some pervs out there who swing the same way as me, so I write for those guys. And myself, cuz it's cheaper than therapy.

 

[The_Fool]

I think mine came for the pictures and back-clicked when they realized there were none...

 

[oggbashan]

I hear that. I myself am a fan of incest/heavy nonconsent combos. Unfortunately, the majority of incest lovers don't like nonconsent (or at least not heavy nonconsent), and a lot of nonconsent folks are skeeved out by a brother raping his sister. But I do receive enough positive feedback that I know there are some pervs out there who swing the same way as me, so I write for those guys. And myself, cuz it's cheaper than therapy.

I started by writing stories for Yahoo's Adult Groups. I saw the theme of the Group as a challenge and I was sure I could write better stories than those already in the Group.

Once I had started writing fetish stories, for particular obscure fetishes, I began to get positive feedback. I didn't get much, but enough to encourage me to write more. I got the best feedback from a now-deleted Yahoo Group about Unbirth (hence my unbirth stories). The Virgin Unbirth developed through various drafts with the input of a few of the group's members.

I'm still stuck on my ultimate challenge: writing a believable story for the members of a Yahoo Adult Group whose shared fetish is South Indian Women's Hairy Armpits. The story has got to about 1 Lit page but it isn't really working. I can't emphasise with a fetish for hairy, and sweaty, armpits belonging to South Indian "aunties". "Aunties" appears to be their equivalent of Cougars, so the armpits are not only hairy and sweaty but mature...

(And of course, being me, I want a credible plot as well )

Maybe I'll succeed someday.

Og

 

[glynndah]

Anonymous seems to be genderless most of the time.

 

[The_Fool]

Anonymous seems to be genderless most of the time.

I like that phrase...