Why is LW category so hard to please?

[CherieSin]

To start off, I don’t think of myself as a great author, and my most recent story kind of proves that. I posted the first chapter of a new miniseries on LW and it got nuked almost immediately. It never really recovered. Other stories posted around the same time did much better, except for a couple that also got hit. I guess that’s just something that happens in this category.

I think part of the problem is that the plot doesn’t perfectly match what LW readers usually look for. The story is about a husband who wants to see his wife with another man, a total stranger. After an argument, he convinces her to go through with it, and he gets to choose the guy. The first chapter is short and really just sets things up. There’s a public handjob without a climax, then later she has sex with her husband that same night. After he falls asleep, she gets a text from the stranger and they start making plans to finish what they started the next day.

It’s written from the wife’s POV, which might also explain why it didn’t land. What frustrates me is that a couple years ago I wrote a similar story in LW category. That one was about a wife getting blackmailed by her neighbor. I barely put any effort into it, just threw the draft up to see what would happen, and it actually did pretty well. This time I spent a good amount of time polishing the story, and it ended up performing worse.

I’m not here to whine about it though. I’m still going to finish the series, because I know there are readers out there who will enjoy it. It just made me realize how random posting on LW can be. Unless you’re posting some over-the-top misogynistic stuff, which always seems to find an audience, it really feels like a coin flip.

That being said, I’d really like to get better at this. Does anyone have advice on how to actually write a proper LW story or series that connects with readers?

 

[pink_silk_glove]

And while you're at it, what is the meaning of life?

 

[lovecraft68]

The site's tag for the category used to be tales of adventurous wives and revolved around extra marital sex. Some of it with the couple as swingers, some of it cuck hot wife dynamic, etc...

Somewhere along the timeline the category became infested with this "where's the loving wife" because this weird group of 1950's moralists think any time a wife has sex with another man, even if the husband is on board with it, is wrong and they lose their minds as if this were real life and not a fictional story.

They seem to want a husband and a wife and....that's it. That story can be in romance or EC, there is ono niche or hook to it.

So they bully and attack any type of extra marital sex and in addition to the "Wah, its cheating crowd" LW has grown increasingly volatile as the Incel movement has risen and began spewing hate across the internet.

The author versions of these shmucks write revenge stories where the cheating wife is subjected to all manner of torment including rule breaking content that somehow is always okay over there to further feed the anti woman hatred.

Mixed in there's some good authors telling good stories and sane readers who appreciate them, but in general? Its like that sketchy part of town that no matter how tired you are, you keep driving past it because you don't want to stay there.

 

[EmilyMiller]

The LW readers are comprised of three parts (yeah this is me pulling stuff out of my ass - which I guess is different to normally… anyway moving on): regular people (or as regular as they get around here - me included). Divorced guys who are bitter and struggling, who want to punish the women who did this to them. Divorced guys, who are bitter and struggling, but desperately want to reconcile with their exes.

The first cohort want a sexy story, they are cool with hot wifing and even cuck, they just like the idea of married women still having wide sexual appetites.

The second cohort want evil women to pay for their misdeeds. To be left without the person they left the reader for, ideally peniless and homeless, and - for the more extreme - brutalized or even dead.

The third wants a happy ever after almost regardless of what the wife has done to them. Indeed they feel more of a martyr of the wife has been a total bitch, but they still take them back.

Pretty hard to write something they all like.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

And while you're at it, what is the meaning of life?

Ask Brian.

 

[dirk2024]

The LW readers are comprised of three parts (yeah this is me pulling stuff out of my ass - which I guess is different to normally…

But shouldn't that be in the Anal Category as opposed to LW?

 

[iwatchus]

I think Emily was suggesting you could put it in there.

 

[Britva415]

I’d really like to get better at this. Does anyone have advice on how to actually write a proper LW story or series that connects with readers?

Well, whatever you do, it won't connect with most of those readers if it adheres to the canonical category description:

"Married extra-marital fun: Sharing, swinging & more."

 

[EmilyMiller]

But shouldn't that be in the Anal Category as opposed to LW?

Well you got my attempt at levity at least

 

[EmilyMiller]

I think Emily was suggesting you could put it in there.

Define ‘you’ in that sentence.

 

[iwatchus]

Define ‘you’ in that sentence.

I almost rewrote that to clarify the appropriate personnel. I'm not sure any of whom frequent this forum.

 

[DanDraper]

At some point the incel crowd found it's way there to vent their frustrations about women. But don't let them bother you; if you have a story to share that fits the category just go for it. There are plenty of us who still enjoy that category regardless of who's being a dumbass in the comments.

 

[dirk2024]

OOh! A LW story where an Incel is the obvious loser. That would go over well.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm not sure any of whom frequent this forum.

Damn straight

 

[Cagivagurl]

LW's is a tough category to post in...
There is a very noisy group of readers that need bloodshed... Anger, vitriolic hatred for women... They aren't the majority, they are just the noisiest faction that read the category....
They are vengeful and persistent. Most readers As @EmilyMiller said... are normal people. They can decide if they didn't like the story, they can back out and read something else. They don't feel the need to berate the writer, or leave *1 bombs... Because they are normal people...
The BTB crowd can't do it... If your story didn't get them off, then you get the associated *1 bomb, and probably a nasty comment, and even email feedback full of personal attacks...
Most stories gain traction and end up balancing out. I have posted a couple of stories there and my experience is....
It's a good category to post in. Lot's of readers, more comments than other categories, and lots of favourites....
If you can handle the negative comments from the Misogynistic BTB crowd. then there are rewards.
Having a thick skin is a required prerequisite...

Cagivagurl

 

[SimonDoom]

The premise of the question is incorrect. Loving Wives readers are not hard to please. Instead, they comprise two or more groups of completely incompatible readers, some of whom hate, and are determined to downvote and criticize, stories that don't fit what they want, no matter how well written they are. Those same readers are no more critical than readers of other categories when it comes to the kinds of stories they like, although many of these critical readers like to think they are more discerning.

One group of LW readers enjoys the types of stories for which the category originally was created: stories about wives who have sex outside marriage, either with the explicit approval or support of their husbands, or married to husbands who enjoy being cuckolded, or whose cuckoldry is intended to please the reader.

The other group doesn't like these stories, but instead prefers stories where cheating wives get their just desserts by being punished in some way.

If you write the first type of story, there's a high probability of being criticized and downgraded by readers of the second type. That's just the way it is. There's no advice to give you. A few stories of this type manage to get good scores, but they seem to be a minority. It's risky, IF you care a lot about your score and don't like criticism.

So, if you want to write the first type of stories -- stories where wives have sex outside of marriage and everybody has a good time-- you have to be prepared for some heat, but know also that your story is likely to have a lot of readers of the first type, too. There's an upside as well as a downside.

If you don't like the heat and want to get out of the kitchen, then try adding another theme to the story and publish it in another category, like Exhibitionism, or Fetish, or something else.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I'll bet your story IS connecting with readers. The problem is that only one reader in a thousand, that likes your story votes on it. One in ten thousand comments on it.

But, the crowd that DOESN'T like your story are much more passionate about making their feelings heard.

 

[Statius]

Ask Brian.

Fucking brilliant

 

[TiberiusPrime]

Why is LW category so hard to please?

Well, first you need to find the G-spot....

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Loving Wives readers are not hard to please.

On the whole, yes they are.

 

[SimonDoom]

On the whole, yes they are.

I think "hard to please" suggests "more discerning" or "applying higher standards." I don't think that's the case at all. I think there's just a subcategory of readers of that category that is more vocal about opposing stories of a certain KIND, rather than of a QUALITY, that they don't like. I've read many different Loving Wives stories of every type, I've read the comments, and I've read the comments to my own few Loving Wives stories. They absolutely are NOT more discerning than comments in other categories. Quite the contrary. The comments have nothing to do with quality. The nastiest, most vicious, and unhinged comments come from readers of that category. We may be quibbling over the definition of "hard to please," but I don't call that "hard to please." I call it intolerant.

 

[Jmanchu]

Hey OP. Not that I'm a LW writer or even a reader, but I have a theory for that readerbase. The main readerbase likely split between a cuck fetish or a revenge "burn the wicked bitch" fetish. Two opposite things. My theory is that a decent number of the "BTB" peoples there are probably either angry, been burnt by a cheating wife/girlfriend, or are just angry overall for whatever reason(rejection, life sucks, etc), and that spills into their sex fantasies and sexual psychology. And they get mad if you don't write what they want, especially the BTB fellas.

And I mean the LW readers, not the writers per se, LW writers are just fun, kinky folks with dirty imaginations looking to get some rocks off(which we all are, even us non "LWers", otherwise why write erotica, amirite). And some possibly push a few buttons because they like to stir the hornet's nest, just to set the world on fire... at least a little bit from what I gather in these forums. Not casting judgment, everyone's got their own ideas of fun, and whatever floats their boat. It's all good.

Now, have you ever tried to please an angry person? Or an angry group of people? You're walking into a volatile dumpster fire from what I gather about LW community. I will NEVER touch that category. I'm not brave enough. Good luck.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I've added both your series to my reading list.

 

[lc69hunter]

To start off, I don’t think of myself as a great author, and my most recent story kind of proves that. I posted the first chapter of a new miniseries on LW and it got nuked almost immediately. It never really recovered. Other stories posted around the same time did much better, except for a couple that also got hit. I guess that’s just something that happens in this category.

I think part of the problem is that the plot doesn’t perfectly match what LW readers usually look for. The story is about a husband who wants to see his wife with another man, a total stranger. After an argument, he convinces her to go through with it, and he gets to choose the guy. The first chapter is short and really just sets things up. There’s a public handjob without a climax, then later she has sex with her husband that same night. After he falls asleep, she gets a text from the stranger and they start making plans to finish what they started the next day.

It’s written from the wife’s POV, which might also explain why it didn’t land. What frustrates me is that a couple years ago I wrote a similar story in LW category. That one was about a wife getting blackmailed by her neighbor. I barely put any effort into it, just threw the draft up to see what would happen, and it actually did pretty well. This time I spent a good amount of time polishing the story, and it ended up performing worse.

I’m not here to whine about it though. I’m still going to finish the series, because I know there are readers out there who will enjoy it. It just made me realize how random posting on LW can be. Unless you’re posting some over-the-top misogynistic stuff, which always seems to find an audience, it really feels like a coin flip.

That being said, I’d really like to get better at this. Does anyone have advice on how to actually write a proper LW story or series that connects with readers?

There is a strong contingent (Johnny come lately types, as they didn't used to be here) who believe that infidelity or non monogamy, despite all the other sick shit and kinks on Lit, to be the only mortal sin.

 

[dirk2024]

Well, first you need to find the G-spot....

And everyone knows that's a myth.