Not really anything intellectual (though who actually expects anything intellectual from me), more of a layman's observation of things and some users, particularly two that's going to be unnamed. Let's call them Bob and Aerith for now. From what I've seen since 3 months ago, a newcomer by the name of Bob had posted a few stories, and while I believe it's good to have active newcomers around, it seems like they don't post anything but the same kind of kink over and over again. Since the first time I've seen them create their own stories, and contribute to others', they seem attracted to white bread and cartoon character's from the 70s, mixing them together. And the other is Aerith. Aerith seems to be much more active with their fetish stories as well as submissions. Just like Bob, they seem to only post the same kink repeatedly, over and over again, using the same media as Bob, but being expansive around it too, going for movies, books, and games rather than simply using cartoon characters. From what I've seen though, Bob and Aerith don't have much of a following for their stories. And while I understand that likes and followers are not trustworthy indicators of the quality of their works, their works are still rather low in upvotes. From 1 to 7, to simply 33 at best, and seemingly not adding up. Aerith even seemingly deleted some stories, while Bob is becoming more inactive. I've rambled on for quite a while now and I have a feeling that what I've written is almost incoherent. But as a question: do you folks believe that posting the same thing over and over again, with a new face and/or franchise is bad for business as a writer? Or is Aerith and Bob just unlucky that nobody reads their stories? I'm sure that there's no definitive answer, so I'm asking for opinions I guess.
I'd say if they're looking to grow as a for-hire or published writer it would benefit them to make sure their work has an audience. If they aren't, then it's entirely up to them. From the outside looking in, we can look at whatever low numbers they're bringing in or what may seem like stagnant storylines and it may appear to be a waste of time. For them, however, they could either be deriving great personal satisfaction from the writing or could even be sharing them with an offsite community that doesn't register here or interact in terms of likes, etc. Point being, what looks to us like a fruitless endeavor may not be so for them. It's another problem with tying everything in our head to likes.
If I read that correctly... and I may not have as there are two or more leaf blowers going on outside my bedroom before 7 in the morning. They're basically focusing on the same fetish over and over, but swapping franchises (assuming they're known franchises)? I mean it's probably not going to help them grow as an author. Maybe they can't just get out of their comfort zone? Maybe it's even masturbatory for them. Perhaps they've not been writing long. (I'm going to kill my neighbors... if glares and empty teacups could kill.) If we're talking about actually bad for business? Not necessarily, if you're writing for a market that's not oversaturated. I'm thinking of numerous Amazon self-publishing authors who definitely recycle the same material and scenarios but seem to have a strong following.
I need some clarifications. Are those completely made-up examples or only the names are made-up? Because I don't see cartoons being particularly niche. They are everywhere. By white bread you mean what, exactly? Isn't this expression used to refer to something common and conventional, hence by definition catering to a vast public? I'm not sure I understand. Anyway, Bob and Aerith could be just bad at writing in many different ways. No offense meant. I think that the fact they keep posting the same kind of stuff is mostly unrelated to their lack of success though. Lots of successful artists do the same things over and over with just slight variations. They do that because it is what they feel compelled to do, not because of a calculation. If Bob and Aerith were smarter, or better if they cared about likes and recognition that much, they would probably try to change their (unappealing?) formula. Maybe they just don't care or, as I said above, they simply wouldn't feel satisfied writing something different. From my own limited experience, every time I take a long break and then come back, I found myself writing more and less about the same things. That's my step one erotic writing, like being erased and starting from zero. Also, I don't think any of my chapters has ever gone past 33 likes (not sure honestly) and I'm currently writing something that barely rises any interest whatsoever. It's probably because it's a very niche franchise, still, it is disappointing to be ignored. I put time and care into it nonetheless. I do hope at some point the interest will grow but for now, I am just content to write it. I'm not sure, should I step out and leave the site because I can't compare to the big shots that do 100+ likes per chapter? I'm not sure this is why chyoa was born in the first place. When my motivations drop, I take a break. When I feel like it, I come back. It's not my job. Probably it's not Bob's and Aerith's either...
Is this purely a hypothetical, has Murrlogic1 joined CHYOA, or does deforestation constitute its own kink?
Yes, purely hypothetical and was simply just a reference to him. As far as I know. Yes, Aerith and Bob are names that I made up, they're users but I used these names to hide their identities. As previously stated, it's more of a reference to someone on the internet, rather obsessed with white women buying whitebread that it ruined his life in a way... but that's hearsay from me. Meant to say that these are the total upvotes of stories in general, and the highest one of them has yet received, not the highest amount of likes in their individual chapters. 33 likes, I'd say, is a good deal for a chapter in my opinion, but that's unrelated.
I'm not going to tell the whole story about Suffenus again (it actually fits better here), it's 1 AM (almost 2), I can't sleep, and I exhausted myself physically yesterday. Suffenus aside, I might need more information to make a clear opinion. Based on what you gave me, I think that it is bad that the writers you named are not focusing on one story, not that they're posting the same thing over and over again. In my opinion, focusing on one fetish is okay, I doubt that's the reason that these writers are not getting popular though. As a non sequitur I actually just deleted my old story since I didn't really like where it was going and decided to rewrite it because I can, so I don't think deleting stories is an issue. If I don't like it, I toss it into the firepit and start over. Now, I need some sleep.
It all depends on why they write. I just love to write, but I didn't have an outlet for my writing. I'd never written erotica before so when I found CHYOA it served a purpose for me, a new venture into erotica stories but mainly the practice at writing for an audience. For me, the fetishes I write (Incest and/or BDSM) were not the reason I was here, it was to improve my writing and get feedback. I remember getting to 100 likes and feeling so excited, it was awesome. But ultimately I write for me, because it's fun and because I found I get off on the actual process of writing. The likes were secondary, a silver lining. Right now I'm trying to finish off my first story and bring it to a close. I get maybe 3 to 5 likes per chapter, it's not very popular compared to others I've written that got an average of 30 to 50 per chapter. Despite the lack of likes, updating this story and trying to bring it to a close is the most fun I've had writing for a long time. My advice to Bob and Aerith is to not worry about what they write, and to a certain extent not worry too much about who they write for (although I think an author should always have one eye on the audience they are writing for). They should simply write for themselves, if they can love the process of writing then it really doesn't matter what they write about or how many likes they get.
But isn't that a normal thing?As in writing about the same topic. I feel like people who try a bit of this a bit of that are a rare breed. Especially if they are amateurs, you would write about what you like.
Everybody's got something that draws them into writing. For some folks, that might be a specific fandom, a specific kink, or some combination of the above. It isn't strange to find a writer that just really likes futanari stories writing a bunch of futanari stories, or really likes X-Men erotica and starts a bunch of X-Men stories. If the audience isn't there for those stories, and they're the only ones adding to them, they tend to peter out...and then maybe a new story is started. I feel like in many cases it's hard for folks like that to find their audience, and harder for them to find a community - which can be really important in a setting like CHYOA, where community involvement is much more the rule than, say, Literotica, Fanfiction.net, Archive Of Our Own, or Hentai Foundry. Ever since SuperStories shut down, there hasn't really been a one-stop-shop for collaborative erotic superhero fiction. Mostly here and the BE Archive. Superhero fiction is a bit weird in particular because while the movies and streaming series are very popular right now, the actual comic books have generations to the fandom - there are people who grew up with Susan Storm during the 90s when she had that revealing costume, for example, and get really fixed on that image of her, or are particularly drawn to the idea of Wonder Woman gaining weight or getting pregnant. Nothing wrong with that, but as the communities age up and out, folks that can get fixed on some of those ideas and look for those kinds of stories - or are drawn to write those kinds of stories - may find that they have a harder time connecting with an audience that didn't grow up during that period, or don't have that specific of a kink for that character.
