What Makes You Tick?

[AsylumSeeker]

I am so tired of these types of threads before the main intent of the thread has been accomplished. But it's a quiet night, I think all of the editor requests have been sated, and maybe we editors have a moment to relax.

To start with, I'd like to thank each and every editor of the work they put in so that others may savor the "charge" of being published. Thanks to so many of you, even if those who benefit from your work lack the politeness to say so.

And again, as I have already said ad nauseum, thanks to Laurel and Manu.

So what brings you here? Why are you here, of all places?

I'll start. Been writing smut since, well, I can't say, but let's kid ourselves and say "since I turned 18", LOL. It's sad really, but that's the truth. Was very shy but always had an urge to write. Won many writing awards during my school years and always wanted to write professionally, but I'm happy here for the moment. I think I'm capable of more, hope I'm capable of more, but lack the "special" idea.

Remaining hopeful

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... So what brings you here? Why are you here, of all places? ...

I came here to read about the time I retired.
I bought a novel on-line.
I complained that I could write better (after 40 years of technical writing).
The publisher said, "Prove it."
I did.

P.S. I never got my money back!

 

[emap]

Let's see, I am here because my mom liked my dad enough to have sex with him and eventually I sated my wanderlust, or maybe just lust enough to stop somewhere called Arizona.

Oh wait you meant on this website.

Similar to snoopy actually, except I found this site one day while looking for something else, I so forget what and started reading, most of it was pretty bad and I said I can do better than that, so I tried, not sure I managed but I don't read my stories anyway. Well also to bug snoopy and think asylum really should find one.

Before you say hey your not an editor, I have helped a couple writers with stories, mostly in ideas but other parts to.

 

[CopyCarver]

I got recruited by Lit's resident porno-writing nun. (Yes, I'm serious. She keeps a low profile, but her alter ego is among us.) After I finished a line edit, she wanted me to retro-edit her previous work, and I've been here ever since. Lit is a lot like the Hotel California - it's damned hard to check out.

Reason number two: I still harbor the hope that I can sneak the word schediasm into someone's story when they're not looking.

 

[DeeZire]

I was hesitant to reply to this thread, since I'm not a LIT editor, but I do edit songwriters, which could be similar, I suppose. (I also edit my own stories, unless AS is looking for more work...) In fact, in my little corner of the world I'm known as the 'song nazi' because of my insistence that the songs I record in my studio be crafted to the best of the writer's ability. We have thrown away many a verse, and rewritten many a chorus in the pursuit of a more succinct song. This is where I learned the 'less is more' approach, since you only have 3 minutes to tell your story. The 'show it don't tell it' mantra is also big in the songwriting crowd. It can make the difference between a forgettable song and a song that sticks in your mind like a movie.

Perhaps the 'less is more' approach is the reason I get so annoyed with mainstream fiction. There is so much 'color' added, it gets in the way of the forward movement of the story. I could care less what town Aunt Matilda grew up in if it has no bearing on the plot of the story.

I think that's the reason I started writing erotic fiction. I couldn't find the right balance between stroke and plot, so I started doing it myself. Then I discovered this place, and in the forums learned more about the craft. With this new knowledge, I realized how truly bad my writing is. It can be a humbling experience.

I enjoy the contests, since, without a deadline, nothing of mine ever seems to get finished. I also really like the flash fiction thread, since it is all about doing more with less. Plus, with only 100 words, how many times can you edit it before you're going around in circles?

I guess that the trickiest part of writing - knowing when it's done.

Lucky for you all, I'm done, at least with this post.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

Can always count on CC for an imaginative response. Thanks all for your contributions, which I have enjoyed learning a litle bit more about you. And DZ, if you want me to look at one of your stories just PM me to make formal arrangements.

 

[CopyCarver]

Can always count on CC for an imaginative response. QUOTE]

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn't.
--Mark Twain

 

[meg1]

Wish I could be interesting for you, but I was bored and looking around and ended up on the stories side. After a couple of years I came over to the forum side and voyeured for a while and finally when I moved to a new town and was bored again I wrote a story and joined.

Can't say I've regretted it. I enjoy it here.

 

[DeeZire]

And DZ, if you want me to look at one of your stories just PM me to make formal arrangements.

Thanks. Will do, in a few days or so. I actually have to work a bit this week! Life can be so unfair sometimes.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

Thanks for sharing to those who have, and in my mind this wasn't really aimed at editors, I just posted it here because this forum has a slower pace than the others. Geez, post anywhere else and it gets sucked up into a whirlwind of activity and is quickly lost. This forum has a small-town feel to it.

I was just as curious to hear from editors, writers, readers, and lurkers alike. Okay, even trolls, but they rarely make an official appearance.

 

[off2bed]

I'm here because I like reading other people's sexual thoughts, and it's fun to share my own. I haven't found any other online place with enough critical mass and user-friendliness to participate, and after years of lurking I decided to jump in and not worry about what happens.

I've thought about volunteering to edit, but I'm not sure I'd have the patience. If someone had some pretty professional writing to start with, I'd be glad to assist, but if someone handed me a piece of garbage I wouldn't want to waste my time on it.

But mostly, I'm here because I'm not all there.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

I'm here because I like reading other people's sexual thoughts, and it's fun to share my own. I haven't found any other online place with enough critical mass and user-friendliness to participate, and after years of lurking I decided to jump in and not worry about what happens.

I've thought about volunteering to edit, but I'm not sure I'd have the patience. If someone had some pretty professional writing to start with, I'd be glad to assist, but if someone handed me a piece of garbage I wouldn't want to waste my time on it.

But mostly, I'm here because I'm not all there.

Maybe I've been truly blessed and am the odd exception, but I have really enjoyed and grown as a writer by editing. I have learned differing viewpoints and adopted other terms learned through editing. I have had a few "tough edits" but mostly have discovered some truly gifted writers that I otherwise would have never discovered because I write when I have time, not read.

I'd say my experience has been most positive. Other editors may balk. Maybe I've just been lucky in my "blind" selection.

 

[off2bed]

Maybe I've been truly blessed and am the odd exception, but I have really enjoyed and grown as a writer by editing. I have learned differing viewpoints and adopted other terms learned through editing. I have had a few "tough edits" but mostly have discovered some truly gifted writers that I otherwise would have never discovered because I write when I have time, not read.

I'd say my experience has been most positive. Other editors may balk. Maybe I've just been lucky in my "blind" selection.

Indeed, editing others is one of the best tools to help your own writing. You learn a lot by teaching. I'd like to think that writers who seek editors are probably leaps and bounds better than those who think they don't need an editor.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

Indeed, editing others is one of the best tools to help your own writing. You learn a lot by teaching. I'd like to think that writers who seek editors are probably leaps and bounds better than those who think they don't need an editor.

Not sure if this is my creation or a copy of something else as I'd been saying it so long, but, "If you ain't learning, you ain't lving!"

And there's a nice warm-all-over feeling when a struggling writer says "thank-you".

Of course a reach-around is even better, lol.

 

[J.Q. Hack]

I found Literotica much like some of the other posters have. I was bored one day and I was looking at a website that had a link to "dirty stories." I had also just finished up my master's work and I wanted to read other things than dry scholarly works with footnotes. I clicked on the link and found a list of websites that offered erotic tales, but I quickly found most of them were very user unfriendly -- either organized poorly, impossible to navigate, next to no stories. After the third or fourth site I visited I came to Lit.

I read a few stories, I liked the layout so I kept coming back. After a few days of this I thought I could do this. I tried to write a story and in a few days I decided to post it and low and behold it was accepted. My first story got favorable comments so that just encouraged me. So several years and several stories later I'm still here enjoying myself.

J.Q.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

I found Literotica much like some of the other posters have. I was bored one day and I was looking at a website that had a link to "dirty stories." I had also just finished up my master's work and I wanted to read other things than dry scholarly works with footnotes. I clicked on the link and found a list of websites that offered erotic tales, but I quickly found most of them were very user unfriendly -- either organized poorly, impossible to navigate, next to no stories. After the third or fourth site I visited I came to Lit.

I read a few stories, I liked the layout so I kept coming back. After a few days of this I thought I could do this. I tried to write a story and in a few days I decided to post it and low and behold it was accepted. My first story got favorable comments so that just encouraged me. So several years and several stories later I'm still here enjoying myself.

J.Q.

Glad you're here J.Q., and thanks for the input!

Would love to hear from more!

 

[desertslave]

My Master is more of a reader here than I am. Lately he's been finding more stories that he likes and thinks I'll like, and since I can't say no, I read them! (I still prefer reading books I'm holding in my hands, and there's not quite enough good sci-fi here to satisfy me.) Anyway, he convinced me to start posting some of my stories. So far so good!

I'm a bit of a grammar geek, and I used to edit as part of my job (medical journal articles, yawn), so next I'll get up the nerve to volunteer edit. I do like the forums here! There's the usual contentious bunch, but the ratio of good folks to jerks is pretty high.

 

[amber03]

Why am I here?

In truth it is because very recently I have learned the meaning of true love and true heartbreak. I thought I had it before, but it was nothing compared to what I have shared with a man who I have never touched and yet He has touched my soul and owns my heart. Life's circumstances have cruelly dictated that our affair had to end before it truly begun, but now I know that my 'One' exists. He is out there and if there only ever is just 'one' for each of us, I am glad it is Him.

I have the inspiration to write again, after many years of remaining silent.

That is why I am here, that is what makes me tick

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