What you expected when you started writing here

[SimonDoom]

I'm probably like a lot of authors here in that sometimes I get frustrated with my pace of writing and publication. I'm undisciplined and my writing happens in bursts of creativity followed by slow periods. It can be frustrating and discouraging at times.

But then I think back on when I started publishing stories in December 2016, and I had no idea what to expect, because I had no experience as an adult at writing fiction, and if you'd told me then that I would publish 39 stories between then and now I probably would have said, "You've got to be kidding." I know there are plenty of others here who've been far more prolific, but to me, that's a startlingly large number.

When I started writing I had no plan or expectation other than that I wanted to try my hand at writing a story or two like the ones I'd enjoyed reading at Literotica for over ten years. And then I started and things took off and it's been interesting and rewarding to see the creative process play out.

When you started, did you have expectations about what you wanted to achieve at Literotica? What were they, and have you met them? Or have things gone in a completely different direction from what you expected?

 

[KeithD]

I expected just to have a convenient place to store texts of stories so that I didn't have to keep them in my personal computers.

 

[Reshbod]

I didn't have any expectations when Started writing here. I was frustrated with the lack of stories that "did it" for me. I'l admit I have a limited genre I'm into and the rest can pretty much get lost.

I wrote the stories I wanted to read but for the most part couldn't find. When I found that others like the what i liked, it has encouraged me to keep wiring. Though I'm not the fastest writer, I do write what I want to, and for the most part some people do like it.

I guess what I expected was to move on to non-erotic stories, bit so far I have been unable to make the leap to the type of novel I'd like to write some day.

 

[NotWise]

I had a backlog of stories when I started here in 2015, but no readers. I wanted to find out what readers thought of my stories and, most importantly for me, I wanted to write better. I also wanted to write erotic stories that women would enjoy.

I thought Lit might work as a kind of creative writing seminar. Because of the AH and the Feedback forum, I think it has.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I had a story that desperatley wanted out. I found this place.

My expectations were low, but I've certainly exceeded them. This is a hobby so I don't feel the need to grind out stories to maximise my followers etc. Like NW, I've also found this forum to be useful and a good place to hang out.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I think when I started writing here, I had been trying to do a novel, but that is a big lift. The short story form worked better for me. Eventually, I have written series (some not on this site) that could be classified as novellas.

 

[HarryHill]

..
I had already written my first novel, and after having no success in interesting a publisher, decided to see what folks thought about it here.

 

[1950scuckold]

I was definitely very happily surprised at the amount of reach I was able to get with just my first few stories. I also have problems with procrastination but the very positive comments and emails I've gotten in response to my stories (despite the negative ones) have also been very inspiring. It amazes me how much demand there is for this kind of erotica since I actually hardly ever read it myself. I've known about this site for many years and read a few stories from it but I didn't really understand how much traffic it got.

 

[HeyAll]

To my recollection, I had no expectation. I don't recall expecting how many people would be reading it.

If I remember correctly, there was no Top List back then and no way of knowing story views back then. Maybe there was and I missed it.

But I remember the site evolved and views were on the bottom of each story, then the Hubs came you could see more stats, then the Top Lists.

Anyway, I started reading erotica years prior and I felt I had some ideas of my own. It was very awkward writing erotica at first, especially since I had no background in any type of fiction writing.

I only knew my first story was approved when I got a 'feedback' in my email. Then I went to my author's panel and saw the stats. I remember being amazed that thousands of people had already read it.

The reason i continued was because I really enjoyed writing and I didn't have any other real hobbies. That's how it's been ever since.

 

[ElectricBlue]

At most I figured I had one autobiographical story I wanted to tell, because circumstances meant I couldn't tell it to anyone I knew. Having passed that milestone by the end of the first year, and struck a chord with some readers, I discovered that I could write intimate stories that moved people, so I kept going. Along the way I thought a novel length hubris project would be a good idea, so spent a year writing that. Then kept writing. I can't imagine a time when I won't still be writing.

 

[LAHomedog]

I had been a reader on here forever, and had volunteered to edit a few stories, but never written one.

To be candid, I was 6 months into COVID quarantine and I was bored so I wrote and submitted a story. I discovered that I really enjoyed the writing of erotica and wrote another. Then I got hooked on the entire ratings/votes thing, made a few friends on here and kept writing.

The ideas keep flowing, so I'm still writing and I will until the stories run out.

 

[MillieDynamite]

what I expect from any of my writing, where every I put it up, is to get better. I was adopted by a loving family. It's to long a story to go into, but my Pops, my adoptive father, not my birth dad (who wasn't a good person) well, my Pops is a writer and he inspired me to follow in those footsteps. Like me, some of his work has been ghostwriting. He did treatments of books for film. Ghosted Screenplays, novels, short stories. And of course writes westerns.

He liked my early stories (which looking back were dreadful but they were filled with snippets of my PP, (PrePops). The abuse of my father, my running way, my surviving on the streets, all make appearances. They all so contained my revenge writing. the things I wished I done to those who wronged me.

At times, I return to my dark place in the writing. I have an ideas for several stories that contain things I know, a Maneater, a cuckold's story told to me by an actual cuckold, an abusive husband, a cheating husband.

My goal is tell these stories (and many others) in a way where what I write is better than any of stories before it. I know I fall flat on my cute button nose at times. but sometimes, I hate the sweet spot and watch the ball go over the fence.

Yeah, that's what I expect from here, for me to become better in my stories and my ghostwriting.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Posted one story for a friend because I didn't want to send it to his work email!
Posted another couple to see if I could get one of those red Hs. (yes)
Found AH and wondered if people posting here might also be writing more interesting stories than a lot of the stuff on the site (also yes)
Tried writing a few different experiments, often in the middle of the night waiting for painkillers to kick in. People seemed to like reading some of my stuff.
Got Covid and spent about 9 months mainly in bed with a bit of writing and editing.
Posted a series which got practically ignored (I was a bit miffed, but people who did read it liked it)
Tweaked a story I was about to post to fit the Valentine's contest theme (literally added about 100 words to a 20k story). Placed third. Did not expect that! Actual money from writing porn!
Tried a new category to get more readers - certainly more votes if not views, always hard to tell how many readers that means.
Wrote a story with the same characters as my series and a shameless 'if you liked this, read that' plug at the end - was hoping for say 100 new readers on the series but it's got over 300, so that's nice.

Basically it's a fun place to play around with writing.

 

[LAHomedog]

Basically it's a fun place to play around with writing.

Totally.

 

[PennameWombat]

I can't say I expected anything specific. I'd never written down my ideas for fiction and had ideas for both erotic and non-erotic (but not exactly chaste) works. A couple of short workshops showed me how to do the basics and put something together so it wasn't a total mishmash. But I remember the expressions that were directed at me when I mentioned erotica...

But my favorite comment was from another participant in an 8 session workshop. "You finished a story!" Well... yeah. The assignment was to do a 2500-3000 word short story, beginning, middle and end. Was it good? Not so much. But her actual shock stuck with me, more that a couple of others nodded along at the seeming impossibility of 'finishing.'

That said, I hoped to find a few things here. One was to see if people would actually read and enjoy my writings. Second, that we're writing explicitly erotic stories. But, I have some stories here with very little explicit sex that seem quite popular (for me... likely wouldn't even be ripples to some of you here), so that's even better. But the third is this forum.

I draw on my life and experiences but nothing heavy. One of my characters having my old nickname of 'Black Cloud' is about as terrible as it gets

 

[Omenainen]

I had written a few stories for myself and I had been reading here for years. Somehow it was still quite a long step from all that to publishing my own, maybe because I’m not a native English speaker and it felt a stretch to publish in a foreign language. After making that step I was curious to see what kind of a reaction I’d have. It was favorable, and I was encouraged to continue. I didn’t have any goals originally. I have made up a few since. Latest was to participate in all contests once over, and now I have achieved that.

What I did not anticipate at all was how interested I would be in interacting with other authors. AH was a pleasant surprise, and what I most cherish are the few actual relationships I’ve made over this site.

 

[mordbrand]

I expected stories to be placed in the category the author selected. I expected stories to not take a week for edits to be posted. I also expected stories to be easier to be removed.

 

[sirhugs]

I expected to contribute one story that was rotting my brain (was a long time reader). 160 stories later, my brain is still rotting.

 

[Emirus]

I can’t remember how I came across this site, a few years ago, because I had no interest in reading any stories on the internet let alone erotica.

After a couple of years of reading some absolutely excellent stories, and coming across a mountain of crap (with apologies to those writers who fall into that category who I’m absolutely sure try their best as does everyone else) I decided to join in and submit a story.

I had over 50 years of stories, or fantasies, to call upon. Immediately after my first story was published I discovered, far from being lauded as the best thing since sliced bread, I wasn’t as good as I thought I was, hence my signature, and have sought ever since to improve with each story.

 

[Agiel]

I expected stories to be placed in the category the author selected. I expected stories to not take a week for edits to be posted. I also expected stories to be easier to be removed.

You’re a grumbling Texan. I can accept about not expecting it to take over a week for edits. It’s been mentioned on here many times but perhaps you don’t normally read threads and comments in the AH.

Your story will be placed in the category you’ve selected if you select the appropriate category. I’ve never had a story moved and I think the same will apply to thousands of other writers. I don’t know where you’ve got the idea it’s difficult to have a story removed. I’ve done it and it was gone in much less than a week. From memory, about three days.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hmm... I started writing here when I ran out of stories I liked to read here. My first took me about a year to complete. I was proud of what I did and just kept having ideas for story after story so I kept writing.

I write for me. If it happens that others like what I write, great, I glad they enjoy them or don't. I write for myself and share them with others here.

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

I had stories I wanted to try. Writing romance and fantasy novels, this was an adventure into something different, to flex a different set of writing muscles, and experiment with a few different story elements to see how they went over.

I had no idea what kind of feedback I'd get ... figured some good and some bad, maybe get a few views and a handful of comments. I've been pleasantly surprised. There have been some negatives but a lot of positives and I still feel like I'm learning and improving.

If for nothing else, that makes me consider my time here a success.

 

[mordbrand]

You’re a grumbling Texan. I can accept about not expecting it to take over a week for edits. It’s been mentioned on here many times but perhaps you don’t normally read threads and comments in the AH.

Your story will be placed in the category you’ve selected if you select the appropriate category. I’ve never had a story moved and I think the same will apply to thousands of other writers. I don’t know where you’ve got the idea it’s difficult to have a story removed. I’ve done it and it was gone in much less than a week. From memory, about three days.

Sadly, my experience differs from yours.

 

[TadOverdon]

I didn't expect, but I hoped that our sales at Smashwords would rise if I started posting chapters here. Another writer pointed me to this as the most active erotica story site.

I think that has worked out although I can't be sure.

But, as I was telling a member yesterday, I discovered the Authors' Hangout and love talking to other people who write erotica and porn. It's been eye-opening and you've been welcoming and really helpful.

I have one F2F friend who knows about my "hobby," but we treat it as an inside joke between us. She doesn't know what our pen name is and has never read any of my writing. I haven't really let on what kind of kinks I write, either.

 

[TxRad]

I came here because the site I had been posting stories on went to an all pay site. A friend recommended Lit. It has become my home on line for a very long time.