Why Has the Quality of Submissions to Literotica Plummeted so Dramatically?

[Auden James]

Dear authors (and lurkers),

I’d really like to know what you think has caused the sad phenomenon indicated in the title of this thread.

Let me clarify if need be.

I know and acknowledge Sturgeon’s law (“90% of everything is crap”), which is why I don’t talk about the vast majority of submissions that are bad today and have been that way since the day Literotica went online. But what I talk about is the remaining 10 % and the evident qualitative decline observable in that upper range which has come down like a crashing truss in recent years. I remember a time when good stories where submitted and published on the regular, and ambitious authors like dr_mabeuse and Colleen Thomas conversed openly and actively in this community, not only inspiring each other but their readership as well. And I remember truly astonishing works of art to adorn this site, every once in a while, like ”Will” by BlackShanglan or “Narcissa” by villanova (the latter author, tellingly, having deleted her entire oeuvre from this site).

Where are the heirs of those authors, where are their stories today?

Show them to me. Try it. Try hard. Good luck in your search around here!

If I search the different story hubs these days for the latest submissions, all I find is one-pagers, stroke shit, never-ending serials of soapy “hardcore” romance, and leftovers that the submitter didn’t know where else to place—and not a single pearl cast before swine.

So, what gives?

Sincerely
–AJ

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's fighting talk.

I'll have the balls to step up, with the comment that many people have said of my work, cudos for doing something that's not the norm around here (or words to that effect).

Try Rope and Veil, The Dark Chronicles, my two Songs of Seduction, the Floating World series. They're a bit different, and range about some.

Of the authors you cite, I only know Dr Mabeuse, but I wouldn't presume to be in his league. But he's in my Favourite authors list, if that counts.

 

[TxRad]

I know Dr. Mabeuse and knew Collen quite well. I've talked with the horse, a very smart person. No gender ever revealed. Villa was a very close friend. So what happened to all these writers? Time, real lives, and years of political asshats among other things.

There are still great writers around but you do have to wade the swamp to find them. Quite a few of them still hang out in here.

You might want to pass on your criteria for what is a good story and what is a better story. Tastes vary widely. If you want suggestions, what category? What size? name your poison and you will find it.

 

[KeithD]

Dear authors (and lurkers),

I’d really like to know what you think has caused the sad phenomenon indicated in the title of this thread.

I think your premise sucks eggs unless you read all of the stories being posted, which I'm pretty sure you haven't. And the premise being rotten, there's no particular reason to read on in your post. I call bullshit and go sit in the corner, facing the corner.

(P.S., I have edited Dr. Mabeuse for publication, so I'm not casting aspersions on those you name, I just think you are being outrageous to claim there aren't good writers still contributing stories here. I see that you've turned off the voting on your stories, so you don't seem to be risking any judgment of your writing.)

PPS. Just as an example to fold back on those you're identified as good writers the likes of which no longer write here (since you seem to have read everything being posted here and feel justified to insult the writers here), here's a comment Dr. Mabeuse put on one of my stories, written to a earlier account ("Descent into Chaos" by sr71plt):

"Great Story
"Double bitch slap of reality here on the true love front. A great little journey into the heart of darkness, beautifully told."

I'm still writing here. I guess I should go read the comments on your stories that you've frozen voting on.

 

[ChloeTzang]

.... If I search the different story hubs these days for the latest submissions, all I find is one-pagers, stroke shit, never-ending serials of soapy “hardcore” romance, and leftovers that the submitter didn’t know where else to place—and not a single pearl cast before swine.

So, what gives?

Sincerely
–AJ

As always, you need to sort thru the 99% to find the 1%. Writers move on, their tastes change, the thrill fades, real life demands take precedence and sometimes it’s just age.

You want a change, I’ll step up and throw a few of mine out there. Links below, but as always, I write to suit my own interests and if others like them, that’s great. Lest see. My recommendations for my own stories.....

Welcome to Nockatunga Station
Tales from Old Shanghai
Fingerprints on my Heart
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
The Temptation of Sammi Woo
Chinese Eyes
A Troll is Haunting Tex’s

Ahhh, all of them......

 

[Bramblethorn]

Where are the heirs of those authors, where are their stories today?

Show them to me.

People have been doing this "when I was younger art was great but now it's all crap" bit for pretty much the entire history of the human race.

Recently I re-watched what used to be one of my favourite TV shows. Back when it first aired, I found it side-splittingly funny; now, the best I can say is that it has some great moments, in among a lot of tired cheap gags. Did the Suck Fairy go in and edit the DVD to replace the good jokes with bad ones? Well, no, it's the same show as ever. What's changed is me.

Kids are easily amused. You can keep a four-year-old entertained indefinitely with fart noises, and an eighteen-year-old with nudes. But as we age, we get fussier and harder to please, and we mistake that shift in our own tastes for a decline in the entire rest of the world.

 

[Pocketshaver]

seasonal shift in writers.

you have to look at time of year. its common all over.

when fall and winter hits, people have time to write. spring and summer come, no time at all.

Combine with normal life things, the output gets thin. Combine with writers block it gets worse.

Combine with lots of highschoolers with there brand new random word generator and scripts for pokemon, you get endless rivers of shit flowing.

best summed up as.

the orgy is over, someones gotta pick up the knee deep pile of used rubbers.

 

[Hypoxia]

I know and acknowledge Sturgeon’s law (“90% of everything is crap”)...

That's 95% and applies to forum posts, too. But we somehow survive. Hint: If you don't like other people's stories and stuff, stick to reading your own. Mental masturbation is always such fun.

 

[Jada59]

Not sure what you are looking for but one of my stories got my highest rating ever!

 

[Voboy]

OP, I’d suggest reading my stories, in addition to the other excellent respondents here. But judging from the trollish tone of your first post (sixth paragraph, specifically), you’ll probably be happier with my other suggestion:

Find another site.

 

[AwkwardMD]

I'll be your huckleberry.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've been reading stories here for over 15 years, and I don't see a decline in quality. At least 90% of it I don't care for, but that's just my own subjective view.

I think Bramblethorn has it right. There's a natural tendency to remember the past fondly, and also to judge something more favorably when it's new. I'm sure I judge stories much more critically now than I did went I first started erotic stories online 20 years ago. That's a reflection on me, not on the quality of stories then v. now.

I've noticed this tendency on other social media sites as well. "Boy, this place used to be great, and it just sucks now." It's human nature.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Well, you can always try my stuff. I don't write strokers or one pagers, at least.

 

[Emirus]

Not sure what you are looking for but one of my stories got my highest rating ever!

Ah, but that was only because not only has the standard of writer’s deteriorated but also the standard of the reader has also declined so they can’t accurately judge the quality of a story. Or something like that lol.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I've noticed this tendency on other social media sites as well. "Boy, this place used to be great, and it just sucks now." It's human nature.

Yeah - nostalgia just ain't what it used to be.

 

[Emirus]

I think your premise sucks eggs unless you read all of the stories being posted, which I'm pretty sure you haven't. And the premise being rotten, there's no particular reason to read on in your post. I call bullshit and go sit in the corner, facing the corner.

I just think you are being outrageous to claim there aren't good writers still contributing stories here. I see that you've turned off the voting on your stories, so you don't seem to be risking any judgment of your writing.)

Something that doesn’t happen very often. I agree with you completely.

 

[Hypoxia]

Yeah - nostalgia just ain't what it used to be.

The Good Old Days -- They Were Terrible!

 

[Polyacrylate]

I don't like to jump on hate-trains, but you've had one submission in the past five-plus years.

Now, I'm in no position to judge someone on a lack of prolificacy. But if you're not satisfied with the recent content on this site, there are better actions to take than decrying the recent submissions on a message board whose community mostly post on the site regularly. You could find somewhere else, or you could try to do something to shake it up. Trolling the community is generally not an appropriate way to shake things up.

Trying to write and lead by example would be far more constructive approach to your concerns than trashing everyone else.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hmmm... OP, I know I'm not the greatest there is and I would bet you aren't either, but I wouldn't know as you only write in German under both your IDs.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I am not going to get into any poop flinging contest here, I'm just checking the thread to see if I was mentioned as either an example or a counter example.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I am not going to get into any poop flinging contest here, I'm just checking the thread to see if I was mentioned as either an example or a counter example.

It's all shameless self-promotion, I'm afraid, Melissa.

By the way, OP - she's good. But we're all second rate, even if we're in your ten per cent, so what would we know.

 

[Auden James]

The Joke’s on you

PPS. Just as an example to fold back on those you're identified as good writers the likes of which no longer write here [...], here's a comment Dr. Mabeuse put on one of my stories, written to a earlier account ("Descent into Chaos" by sr71plt):

Now that’s real funny, since I’m the one who some seven years ago translated said story of yours (“Descent into Chaos”) into German (”Abstieg ins Chaos”). And when was that story originally published? In 2008—that’s well before the phenomenon I call to attention here went into full swing.

(As an aside: What does my setting of the site’s voting apparatus have to do with the topic of this thread? Zilch, that’s the answer. Or do you genuinely believe that anyone has abstained from or pursued submitting anything to this site in recent years just because of my setting of the site’s voting apparatus?)

Finally, I didn’t made this thread to discuss whether or not there has been any such decline as I’ve made the topic of this thread—because that’s a given, a virtually self-evident observation to anyone who has been on board here long enough with his five senses still together and faculty of judgment (what the English used to prefer to call “taste”) intact, I’d submit. What I wanted to gather from this thread were reflections, anecdotes, hypotheses, or maybe even explanations as to why the standard of both the general writing as well as the appearances of heavyweight erotica have fallen to today’s all-time low. Hence, your denial of the premise doesn’t matter at all.

And, for the sake of completeness, I’ve nowhere made, at least not in the strict sense you expressed it in, the “outrageous claim” that there aren’t any good writers still contributing stories around here; I’ve, on the contrary, rather implied than claimed that they must be so far in between as to be virtually non-existent. But if I’m, as you seem to be convinced, so utterly wrong on that last point, why not simply call evidence in rebuttal of it? Why don’t you simply name those “good writers still contributing stories here” who really are still contributing stories of the same caliber as those in the times of yore?

I’m waiting.

Sincerely
–AJ

 

[oggbashan]

...

And, for the sake of completeness, I’ve nowhere made, at least not in the strict sense you expressed it in, the “outrageous claim” that there aren’t any good writers still contributing stories around here; I’ve, on the contrary, rather implied than claimed that they must be so far in between as to be virtually non-existent. But if I’m, as you seem to be convinced, so utterly wrong on that last point, why not simply call evidence in rebuttal of it? Why don’t you simply name those “good writers still contributing stories here” who really are still contributing stories of the same caliber as those in the times of yore?

I’m waiting.

Sincerely
–AJ

Quality is subjective and individual. You apparently have made up your mind, so we will not convince you to change.

My evidence is the themed contests run by Literotica. The quantity of the entries, and in my opinion, the quality is far better than even a few years ago.

But that is irrelevant to your opinion which is as personal as mine.

 

[KeithD]

Now that’s real funny, since I’m the one who some seven years ago translated said story of yours (“Descent into Chaos”) into German (”Abstieg ins Chaos”). And when was that story originally published? In 2008—that’s well before the phenomenon I call to attention here went into full swing.

I'm still here, writing--regularly. And you, making sweeping statements about a file you couldn't possibly have read, have been insulting to the writers here. You got the response you deserve.

The joke isn't on me. The outrageous joke is you. You can also jolly well do your own research for stories you would like. We aren't your servants and you certainly haven't given us any reason to cater to you.

 

[Voboy]

I didn’t made this thread to discuss whether or not there has been any such decline as I’ve made the topic of this thread—because that’s a given, a virtually self-evident observation to anyone who has been on board here long enough with his five senses still together and faculty of judgment (what the English used to prefer to call “taste”) intact, I’d submit.

You’d submit.

Good. Thank you for your submission.

I’d submit that I heartily disagree with you, as do several other respondents.

Now then. I can’t imagine you’ve got the unmitigated arrogance to suggest that the decline you think you see exists SOLELY because you think it does, and thus nobody else’s opinion on your premise could possibly be correct.

Or, perhaps, you are that arrogant. At which point my original advice applies: you should seek another site. Or, at the VERY least, exercise your right to stop clicking on the submissions here. Because, you see, they’re plainly not worth your time. But if you’re looking for “reasons” why they’re not, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Because I, for one, am not prepared to give you those reasons.

Because, again, your premise sucks.