Advice for beginners?

[CloudStriker]

We all start from the beginning when it comes to writing (and life I guess?) and gradually, the theory is if we continue to hone our craft, we might get better.

So my question is, what would you advise a writer just starting out to write erotic stories?

 

[LizardGod]

Write.

It really is that simple, read and write are the only two real tricks you need to start with.

Also, expect to write shit for quite some time. It takes a while to really get to grips with writing.

More generally here are some tips. Less is usually more when it comes to describing action. You don't need to describe every single action that a person takes or every detail of how they look the first time you see them. To put it another way, unless it actually matters to the story I don't need to know what type of coat a character is wearing.

Also installing a tool like Grammarly can be useful but don't be beholden to it. It is a good guide but just because it says something is wrong doesn't mean you need to change it if that change damages the flow of a sentence.

 

[gene.sis]

Like already said, practice writing will be a good start.

Additionally, I'd recommend adding chapters to other people's stories because

- it is more likely that you get feedback (don't take feedback to heart)
- you have an established setting and story concept which helps to avoid mistakes you could do with starting a story from scratch
- you inherit the reader base of the story which gives you more exposure.
- the story owner/editor might edit your work which could show you errors (make a copy of your work off site)
- you could find a story owner/editor who is willing to mentor you​

You can also try yourself as an editor for other authors. This can improve your language as you see different sentence structures and in contrast to just reading a story, you would be more concentrated on it. It might also improve the editing of your own work.

You can also participate in related forum topics about writing and feedback. That way you can get a feeling what works and what doesn't.

If you're going to start your first story, you could visit the story ideas section of the forum about concepts or to use one of the offered ideas.

See the pet peeves thread to see what you could avoid (that's personal opinions so pick what you think will work best for you)

Also installing a tool like Grammarly can be useful but don't be beholden to it.

this (I think it sometimes shows false negatives)

Less is usually more when it comes to describing action.

If you say "less" here, authors will describe the whole action with "he fucked her hard and came inside her"

 

[Hvast]

My advice: Do not start your own story. Add chapters to existing ones. There are nothing more sad than those new brother-sister incest story No. 100500 or non-con story No 100501 that become abandoned after few chapters.

 

[grimbous]

My main advice would simply be to HAVE FUN. Find a scenario or character or kink or whatever it is that really gets YOU going and dive into it. Turn off your internal filter and just let yourself go with it. Honing and fine tuning will come in time. I believe the first and most important step is stoking that fire to write.

The Chyoa readership is generally pretty great. You may get some discouraging comments but try to take them in stride. No matter what you write someone won't like it, that is just a fact.

Good luck!

 

[LizardGod]

If you say "less" here, authors will describe the whole action with "he fucked her hard and came inside her"

True but they can't be helped.

Another thing I thought of is that it is worthwhile writing your stuff using either something like Open Office, Microsoft Office or Google Drive Docs to do your writing. The built-in tools for writing on Chyoa are fine but if you really want to do some heavy duty writing I would recommend doing it offsite and then copy-pasting it over after spell and grammar checking.

 

[Loeman]

Write the genre and scenes you like.

If you're into mainstream stuff, by all means do that. But if you're into some niche stuff, don't worry that it's too out there (as long as you can make it site-legal). If you're writing - you do you, your thing, what you want to see... whether thats a part of someone else's story, or your own.

Oh, and try to make your characters have a little dimension beyond boobs, dicks, and butts. Even if its small, and brief, at least write in some internal thoughts, or quirks, or revealing dialogues, or clothing/style choices (whatever fits into your style)... but *something* or some things that gives them a sense of personality. A reason why the reader should care that X is being ploughed by Y, something that makes them have some substance.

Or, if youre doing celeb fic or fan fic instead, with established characters, consider ways to retain some piece of their character - whatever attracts you to them, and makes them worth writing about, is a nice start.

 

[RejectTed]

My advice: Do not start your own story. Add chapters to existing ones. There are nothing more sad than those new brother-sister incest story No. 100500 or non-con story No 100501 that become abandoned after few chapters.

Additionally, I'd recommend adding chapters to other people's stories because

- it is more likely that you get feedback (don't take feedback to heart)
- you have an established setting and story concept which helps to avoid mistakes you could do with starting a story from scratch
- you inherit the reader base of the story which gives you more exposure.
- the story owner/editor might edit your work which could show you errors (make a copy of your work off site)
- you could find a story owner/editor who is willing to mentor you​

I agree adding one or two chapters to someone else's story can show you what you are good and can achieve before you start writing that story about being able to mind control any celebrity you want.

Also, your telling a tale not filing a patent application. You can use technical writing if you really want to but I think it's much more fun to keep things conversational; skip over non-important details; use one word sentences if you want; make up your own words, and use poetic devices. Grammar and spelling is important, but beyond that, write what feels natural.

 

[Loeman]

I agree adding one or two chapters to someone else's story can show you what you are good and can achieve before you start writing that story about being able to mind control any celebrity you want.

Also, your telling a tale not filing a patent application. You can use technical writing if you really want to but I think it's much more fun to keep things conversational; skip over non-important details; use one word sentences if you want; make up your own words, and use poetic devices. Grammar and spelling is important, but beyond that, write what feels natural.

Truth.

Good erotica is its own artform - treat it as a craft, an art, and your own work as yours, if you want to be your best.

I suppose that goes for anything you can create, where you care about the result and you have more freedom to work with than an assigned recipe and rote ingredient list and source.

(^
You won't run into that problem in erotica)

 

[Xenolan]

If you do want to start your own story, here's some things to keep in mind:

(1) The Introduction should set up the story and lead to a very general sort of choice which can take the story in several different but equally-valid directions. There is no point in having the first choice be one in which there's one obvious answer and any others don't go anywhere.

(2) Don't make it ALL about sex. That gets boring surprisingly quickly. The best stories are the ones which would still be good if all the sex happened "behind the scenes." The buildup to sex is just as important, if not more so, than the sex itself.

(3) Don't make it too broad. A seemingly popular notion for a story is, "You have mind-control powers and can fuck whoever you want!" Once again, that gets boring very fast, and there's nothing to differentiate your story from dozens of others like it which all end up going nowhere.

(4) Don't try to write a story where the first part is about customizing the appearance of a given character (Choose your gender... now choose your hair color... now choose your breast/penis size... etc.) That seems like a good idea up front, but it really doesn't work.

(5) If you want contributors, contribute to the stories of others!

 

[wicker]

We all start from the beginning when it comes to writing (and life I guess?) and gradually, the theory is if we continue to hone our craft, we might get better.

So my question is, what would you advise a writer just starting out to write erotic stories?

don't get too discouraged if people don't jump into and contribute to your story.
Write what you like.
Don't write too short of a chapter or too long.
Start your story with enough info for other writers to know where to go with the the story

 

[Zekar]

General Advice for Chyoa specifically:

• Add to other people’s stories, it’ll show goodwill to other writers and they might do the same for you.
• On your story put a disclaimer in your story listing your demands for continuing your story. Or rather “please like chapters and add comments as they will tell me what people like and I’ll focus on those parts of the story. “
• Passable grammar is good, most of the time people won’t complain, but if they do make the fix. People appreciate their voice being heard.
• When you post your story make sure you add tags relevant to the story, sure you could just add a million tags and screw up the search results of someone looking for BDSM only for them to find your Blowjob story but that won’t help people who are looking for your story.
• Your story should be at least 12 chapters deep. Don’t end up being that person who wrote one story worth only one branch that goes for 12 chapters and then is abandoned. The point of choose your own adventure is the multiple options.
• Foreplay is your rising action. Sex is the climax. Have a falling action and conclusions.
• Chapters can be dragged out, but a lot of Stories with one branch that goes to 60 chapters while others are at 3 feel underutilized. Diversify your story and spread out chapters. You are the writer of giving choices, if you want to write an epic story go to literotica.
• Have an ending in mind. Similarly don’t just have a story where person gets magic powers and fucks a chick. Yeah it might be a great jerk, but you’ll find your self at a roadblock, ask yourself what would happen afterwards. Continue writing from there. A lot of porn just has setup, sex, and a fade to black but you don’t have to do that.
• Update your story throughout the day not all at once. Chyoa mainpage is updated with most recent updated stories. New stories will be on the front page for about a week. This allows for potential reads to see your story on the front page. So why post 10 chapters at once and only be on the front page for 30 minutes when you could space those updates out.

My last suggestion is a writing preference. Don’t overload the reader with a lot of character names. Most readers are looking for something light to jerk off to, not a novel. Yeah be creative, but realize that a lot of people

 

[gene.sis]

if you want to write an epic story go to literotica.

Yeah, write a year at your story, then publish it and realize that it's just crap or that there's a huge logical flaw after 2k words.

The writing format of CHYOA has different merits which aren't limited to only CYOA style stories.

 

[57]

Have fun, principally. All the previous comments give you valuable tips, but at the very end, the best tip is to write whatever you want as you want. Don't look for aprobation of the other, except you want that. In my case, I had a lot flaws as a writer (I don't follow all the tips that other writers tell you previously) but I get fun writing at my own way. That's why I spent the last 5 years on this site posting stuff. So have fun and read other stories to get ideas. This is the best advice I can give you

 

[Nemo of Utopia]

So my question is, what would you advise a writer just starting out to write erotic stories?

Don't.

Run, do not walk, away from this and every other erotica site and never look back.

Once you start down the erotic path, it will dominate your career forever after.

...

Let us assume its already too late for you to heed that advice, you have an account here after all.

Write what you know.
If you're a huge DC comics nerd, write DC comics fanfic, if you've had a pleasurable and consenting BDSM experience, make sure no one is identifiable as themselves and write about that.

Don't force yourself to write.
If you are not enjoying writing, what you write will reflect that and the readers won't enjoy it either.

Find other authors you click with.
This is one of the great parts of CHYOA, I would not be anywhere near where I am today if I hadn't found people here I could relate to and work with. (Huge shout outs to @Rubicon and @GenericEditor168.)

Don't trust your inner critic.
If you think you're ready to do your first solo story, 95% chance you're wrong. If you think you're NOT ready but are unsure, only 50% chance you're right. Don't let those percentages stop you.

 

[porneia]

Don't. Run, do not walk, away from this and every other erotica site and never look back. Once you start down the erotic path, it will dominate your career forever after.

I am so curious why you wrote this.

Are you suggesting writing erotica will lead to porn-addiction? Or that it will hurt your career if you are a writer? This is not a complaint in anyway, but your sentence intrigues me to no end, but I don't understand it.

 

[Nemo of Utopia]

Or that it will hurt your career if you are a writer?

You have arrived at the answer yourself.

 

[porneia]

You have arrived at the answer yourself.

Got it, thank you!

 

[Rubicon]

Or that it will hurt your career if you are a writer?

You have arrived at the answer yourself.

And that's my cue!

Hi! I'm Rubicon, and have been for a while. Rubicon Cross in other places. Those places? Let me write dirty fanfic.

And that name let me do it without involving my professional name.

Hi! I'm Kimberly Dale. I peddle smut. I had to stop for a while because of unrelated reasons. During that time, Rubicon showed up here and there. Now that I'm back, I made the scary decision to out my fan and pro sides and start the long process of healing.

And... and this can't be a surprise to anyone... if you looked at my driver's license, it won't quite match either of those names.

Only... don't look at my driver's license. That's rude, and the picture's terrible.

Why? Because there's another name out there on other books and things, and that name isn't connected to a smut peddler. And even though I honestly enjoy being a smut peddler more? That name will have issues if they become unified with Kimberly Dale and Rubicon Cross.

(Is that name on my driver's license? Why would you possibly care?)

And just in case this isn't confusing enough? There's at least one other name out there connected to different genres. Why? Because that way I don't have to deal with the stigma of Genre A while writing Genre B, and neither have to deal with Kimberly Dale's smut, and... you see where all this is going.

My point's this -- the people in the thread giving you advice? Are called things like Nemo of Utopia, LizardGod, and porneia. And Rubicon. And that's fine. It's cool and fun, and we all know that's the game. And we also know that if you want to have a broader career than simply erotica... you really want to keep those separate.

tl;dr? Don't put your real name on your smut, at least until you know that's what you want to be known for, forever and ever. That's not lying and that's not cheating. That's basic, common sense.

(Hand in hand with that? Don't ask other writers on the site to out their driver's license name. It literally doesn't matter -- you're not asking them to drive you anywhere. )

 

[Nemo of Utopia]

My point's this -- the people in the thread giving you advice? Are called things like Nemo of Utopia, LizardGod, and porneia. And Rubicon. And that's fine. It's cool and fun, and we all know that's the game. And we also know that if you want to have a broader career than simply erotica... you really want to keep those separate.

tl;dr? Don't put your real name on your smut, at least until you know that's what you want to be known for, forever and ever. That's not lying and that's not cheating. That's basic, common sense.

Rubicon, you had the money to afford something like Tunnlebear, if you were published elsewhere after the smut writing, thank that program.

Which brings me to a new point: get a VPN if you can.

I could not, and it ruined me in the end.