Writing erotica has impacted my reading of it

[Rob_Royale]

This a problem for anyone else?
I'll be reading a story and then suddenly my brain kicks into drive, and now I'm thinking about a story I'm writing/ planning/ considering that is in some way similar and then I can't concentrate on the story any more. I'm totally distracted by thoughts of my story ideas.
I just found a really good writer and now I can't enjoy it.
https://www.literotica.com/authors/R410a/works/stories

 

[ElectricBlue]

Nope. If the writing is good, I'm up for it on its own terms, not in comparison to anything else, and not in comparison to myself.

I've never read much here anyway, but writing my own stuff doesn't change how I regard others. Good writing is always worth reading, I reckon.

 

[Trionyx]

I recently checked out an erotic ebook featuring a favorite theme. After reading maybe a third of it, I realized that this site has many works and writers who far exceed the quality of that book. Writing and participating on this site have certainly increased the bar for what I find interesting and good.

 

[TheLobster]

Nope. If anything it's the opposite: I can now appreciate the aspects of the craft that went into the story rather than just the content. This also includes noticing how a work is bad, if it is bad, much sooner and thus saving time

 

[BBlaketbv]

I started writing my own stories because I had read some stories and was thinking "this is rubbish, even I could do this better".
It isn't easy. It's quite difficult and takes a serious amount of time.

But after writing my own fantasies, I've read so much fewer stories. My favourites list doesn't really grow much anymore.

 

[THBGato]

Not in the slightest.

 

[THBGato]

I started writing my own stories because I had read some stories and was thinking "this is rubbish, even I could do this better".

I was kind of the opposite - I read some amazing stories and they inspired me to write myself.

 

[StillStunned]

Being an editor has made it more difficult for me to enjoy any kind of reading. That makes it even more special when I find something that I can enjoy without wanting to improve* the language.

* In my personal opinion.

 

[lovecraft68]

Not an issue for me, at least not during. Sometimes afterward I'd have a brief thought of what I would have done with the idea, but its a passing one.

 

[Ssbbw4u1974]

For me, I stopped reading others stories in general once I started writing my own..
Mine arouse me just fine

 

[SimonDoom]

I still read other people's stories, but not as often as I did before I started writing. I also read much more critically than I used to. The up side of that is I'm more likely to enjoy a story that I think is well done.

 

[KeithD]

I don't read much erotica, but I do read a lot. Having gone through formal editorial training, yes, I now look at the technicals more than before that and do tend to enjoy the reading less. Similarly, after I'd done stints for a couple of foreign English-language newspapers as a drama critic, I no longer can just sit back and let the unfolding of a stage play flow over me. I'm analyzing every facet of the performance from the quality of the spoken lines to the acting to how the costumes work to the set design--and even to the poster on the wall upon entering the theater. And that does detract from simply enjoying a stage show.

 

[Bamagan]

Becoming a writer has impacted my reading, but rather asymmetrically, and it's hard to decide how much impact related factors contribute.

My consumption has varied over time, but it's definitely down compared to the ~25 year average. Partly, it's just because my tastes have changed over time. There are some categories that I used to read much more frequently, but my level of interest has waned after a couple of decades of 'sameness' in many of the stories. I used to read ROM and SFF a lot more, for instance, but too much of the stuff there feels boilerplate to me at this point.

From the 'being a writer' aspect, though, I'm less 'tolerant' of works that contain numerous and/or serious technical or compositional flaws. I can still sometimes enjoy a story that hits a bullseye on one or more of my kinks despite being considerably less polished than the minimum standard I try to hold myself to as a writer, but it's much more likely than it used to be that I'll give up, or just skim it looking for any diamonds that might be hidden there.

On the other hand (and what I mean by saying 'asymmetrically'), when I find a story that makes me think along the lines of, "This is something I would have written if I'd thought of it first," I enjoy it even more than I used to. Those are few and far between, granted, because one of my reasons for writing is to scratch certain itches in certain niches that are somewhat hard to find, or at least, hard to find at a high enough level of technical competency.

 

[yowser]

Becoming a writer has impacted my reading, but rather asymmetrically, and it's hard to decide how much impact related factors contribute.


On the other hand (and what I mean by saying 'asymmetrically'), when I find a story that makes me think along the lines of, "This is something I would have written if I'd thought of it first," I enjoy it even more than I used to. Those are few and far between, granted, because one of my reasons for writing is to scratch certain itches in certain niches that are somewhat hard to find, or at least, hard to find at a high enough level of technical competency.

An interesting observation, and I agree.

An intelligent story with an unusual premise or plot feels like a jewel here, and I not only appreciate your sentiment (sure wish 'I had thought of that first' ...) but enjoy a story beyond my normal boundaries, if the writer's craft and perceptiveness can take me to a different place, mindset, state of arousal that I hadn't encountered before.

Love a good journey, described by someone with the capacity to notice details and nuance.

 

[jehoram]

I might read a story and find an element I want to incorporate in a story of my own, but I can't say that it detracts from my appreciation for that story.

 

[StillStunned]

I'll add this: I can't read erotica by members of the Hangout as erotica. I can enjoy the story, the writing, the characters, but I feel uncomfortable if the sex scenes get me hot and bothered.

Sorry, all you wonderful writers. If I comment that your story has hot sex, I probably got part way through and then had to skip past it.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I don't read much erotica, but I do read a lot. Having gone through formal editorial training, yes, I now look at the technicals more than before that and do tend to enjoy the reading less. Similarly, after I'd done stints for a couple of foreign English-language newspapers as a drama critic, I no longer can just sit back and let the unfolding of a stage play flow over me. I'm analyzing every facet of the performance from the quality of the spoken lines to the acting to how the costumes work to the set design--and even to the poster on the wall upon entering the theater. And that does detract from simply enjoying a stage show.

interesting. My first creative love is music. I write songs and I know my stuff and can be very technical about it. When I first hear a song and I like it, I'm not thinking of anything technical at all. I'm just enjoying it. Of course after three or five or eight listens I will delve into analyzing why I think that it's good. Why does this make me want to jump around? Why is this giving me frission? Is it the chords and melody? Is it unexpected changes? Is it the rhythm or a certain hook that grabs me? Is it the scale or mode? Is it a particularly clever line or am I noticing a nuanced metaphoric narrative in the lyrics? Is it simply the performance or the production? All of that stuff I'm into. Of course as your average pop song is 4 minutes long give or take, and you average play takes the commitment of an entire evening, I would guess that you would not have the luxury of seeing many plays three or five or eight times to allow yourself such digestion that I could do with a song in an hour, so with music I have an advantage there.

Now if the song is meh or outright bad, I can probably analyze and tell you why right away.

 

[TheLobster]

I'll add this: I can't read erotica by members of the Hangout as erotica. I can enjoy the story, the writing, the characters, but I feel uncomfortable if the sex scenes get me hot and bothered.

Sorry, all you wonderful writers. If I comment that your story has hot sex, I probably got part way through and then had to skip past it.

That's okay, we'll just assume you absolutely loved it. Because you do leave 5* and a favorite in those cases, right?

 

[StillStunned]

That's okay, we'll just assume you absolutely loved it. Because you do leave 5* and a favorite in those cases, right?

If it's hot enough to bother me, then absolutely.

 

[shecret]

I have been an avid reader for years. Since I went all in with my own series, I am caught in my own story's universe and don't read every day anymore. I miss it and force myself to read perhaps an hour a week. I miss it.

 

[nice90sguy]

I read a lot more now than I used to. The stories that get me hot are usually unsubtle and simple -- the exact opposite of my writing style.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I don't know that writing and editing stories here has made me any harder or easier to please when it comes to other people's stories. But I think it's made me better at articulating why I might like or dislike somebody else's work.

Especially on the editing/feedback side, I need to give something more than just "boring" - is it that I'm not interested in the characters? Or are there pacing issues? Or is the language too repetitive?

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'll add this: I can't read erotica by members of the Hangout as erotica. I can enjoy the story, the writing, the characters, but I feel uncomfortable if the sex scenes get me hot and bothered.

Sorry, all you wonderful writers. If I comment that your story has hot sex, I probably got part way through and then had to skip past it.

We'll still think you're hot, even as you squirm .

Wait, what am I saying!!

 

[SimonDoom]

I recently checked out an erotic ebook featuring a favorite theme. After reading maybe a third of it, I realized that this site has many works and writers who far exceed the quality of that book. Writing and participating on this site have certainly increased the bar for what I find interesting and good.

I would second this. I occasionally purchase erotica from the "published world" and my reaction is often, "Meh." I don't find the stories to be more erotic or better written than some of the stories I find here. The content of Literotica obviously is uneven, because there's only the slightest vetting process, but the good stuff IMO holds up to the good stuff I can find elsewhere.

 

[intim8]

Nope. If anything it's the opposite: I can now appreciate the aspects of the craft that went into the story rather than just the content. This also includes noticing how a work is bad, if it is bad, much sooner and thus saving time

This. I'm not one of those "it ruins the mystery" people. If something is awe inspiring, it gets more so when I see what makes it tick.

That said, I do find myself getting more jaded, but that's just because I'm overall more immersed in it than I was.