New “writer” here...

N

NotKirito

Virgin
So I haven’t written a story a day in my life. I have absolutely no experience and knowledge on the art. I have a lot of random ideas floating around in my head but I know I’m not creative enough to write a coherent story. Would it be okay for me to just start a story on chyoa as a beginner and just see how it goes?
 
It’s all up to you, though a thing about putting work out there, is you need to be mentally prepared for the reception to not always be what you want to hear. As long as you weigh carefully and use what people say as a learning tool, you should be fine.

Most people need to begin writing somewhere.
 
Auraicide said:
It’s all up to you, though a thing about putting work out there, is you need to be mentally prepared for the reception to not always be what you want to hear. As long as you weigh carefully and use what people say as a learning tool, you should be fine.

Most people need to begin writing somewhere.
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Oh yeah I’m definitely preparedfor the reception. I know I have no skill and experience in this field so I’ll gladly read every bit of advice and take any form of criticism (constructive or not) and simply shrug off any insults from rude people.
 
My answer is, yes. You can definitely start as a beginner on this site and just see how it goes. My first time writing creatively was on this site and I have no background in writing whatsoever as well. I think you just have to take the plunge and start putting your ideas in writing first before you judge yourself that you have no skill for it. If you like reading what you write, I already think that's the first step. Anything you'll need to improve because you're not familiar that that's something necessary or a better way of doing things, can be given to you as feedback. You seem to have the right mindset on feedback, based on your reply to Auraicide, so I think you'll be fine to just start writing and see how it goes.
 
NotKirito said:
So I haven’t written a story a day in my life. I have absolutely no experience and knowledge on the art. I have a lot of random ideas floating around in my head but I know I’m not creative enough to write a coherent story. Would it be okay for me to just start a story on chyoa as a beginner and just see how it goes?
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This is how the overwhelming majority of content on CHYOA is written in the first place. I just ran through the first few paragraphs of ten random stories, and I would call seven of them distinctly bad: writing that is not merely poor but genuinely difficult to interpret, or more robotic and formulaic than the heating instructions on a packet of instant noodles, or comically lacking in grammar, spelling and punctuation, or stylistically akin to the unfiltered mental stream of a teenager watching hentai, or otherwise unignorably unpleasant to read. And of those seven, two were very popular, and by strange coincidence, a third I had already favourited.

If you care enough about the quality of your writing to make a forum post about it, then you are already an above-average CHYOA writer by default. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.
 
look at what your favorite stories or authors do best as far as style, chapter length, etc. You don't have to write just like them. I'm talking more about HOW the story and chapters are written then what they are about.
 
You speak English on a predominantly English site, and you've at least read some stories you like, so I'd be kinder on yourself in saying that you have "no knowledge or experience of the art." That being said, writing is difficult and erotic writing moreso. When I started, I wrote a lot of short stuff and didn't release it, just to get my head around how I would say certain things or present certain situations. You can start with doing some writing prompts for practice, if that helps. Or you can just add a chapter to one of the many stories seeking authors - they already have a built-in audience.
 
NotKirito said:
Would it be okay for me to just start a story on chyoa as a beginner and just see how it goes?
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1) Yes. If you enjoy writing then it is enough.

2) Some people will enjoy it. I still get likes for chapters I wrote more than a decade ago... And those are barely in English. Every time one of my old stories gets a follow I cringe. Yet, I had a lot of fun writing those. I improved my writing. I improved my English. I don't regret that I chose to write while having no skill whatsoever. You, being a native English speaker, are in a way better position than I was. Hell, you may be in a better position than I am now because my English Grammar is still quite sketchy and my vocabulary is limited.

3) Be aware that chances are that you'll get a minimum amount of feedback and don't even hope that anyone will add to your story anytime soon.



4) Last but not least. Are you sure that you need to write your own story? Is your idea so unique that you can't attach it to an existing story? Why not go for an existing story? There are many public stories with no moderation. There are many more people who will be glad to see someone adding to their story. Don't be afraid of rejection. After all, people who have very high standards for Grammar\Style\Plot in their stories usually set their stories to private.
 
I feel like criticism will not be a problem, unless you actively search for opinions. I feel like as long as you take care of correcting any red misspelled words and have a neat page layout the worst you'll have are the thoughts in your head saying you're not good enough. My advice is to not take less engagement as proof that you lack skill.
 
Wattpad, CHYOA and Literotica are all filled with beginner works with absolutely no writing experience but a shit load of badly written smut. There are a few gems in the rough but most, and by extension a lot of the popular works are actually just some teenager-esque written fantasy that has no actual story substance but drive a lot of comments and interactions. Its fine as well. Writing actually good works of literature is extremely difficult, and most people might not even appreciate a very well written story vs a badly written one.

As a hobby writer that is still amateurish without a very good command of the English language, I often find myself sinning by writing my stuff hastily and rushed with repeated phrases, words and a lack of stirring the imagination, so to speak.

Ask yourself, what, or why are you writing? Do you have a canon in your mind that you want to materialize for yourself? Do you just want to see how others react to your ideas and see if it gets popular? Start writing anyway. Good writers don't just write well off the bat.
 
Long time private smut and game writer. Only recently began writing on here.

The best advice I've ever been given for producing content that requires someone to hallucinate. Stories, tabletops, w/e...

If you aren't having fun writing it, why would they have fun reading it?

Just go out, make some drafts! The rules are made up and the points don't matter.
 
My experience of the site has been that there is extemely little negativity. Most people don't give feedback, but those that do are generally constructive/positive.
So, I'd say go for it.
If your kinks are fairly niche then you might not get a lot of readers but no-one is likely to criticise you for doing it, and you are bound to find at least some audience who appreciates it.
 
NotKirito said:
Oh yeah I’m definitely preparedfor the reception. I know I have no skill and experience in this field so I’ll gladly read every bit of advice and take any form of criticism (constructive or not) and simply shrug off any insults from rude people.
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Also, and this is harder - prepare yourself for silence. It can take time for writing to find readers, and even seasoned writers can feel like they are just posting into the void. Don't take it personally. Have fun telling a story that is fun for you to tell. If others come along for the ride, that's great. But playing with words, because it's fun and you want to practice getting better on turning ideas into tales, should be what keeps you going.
 
Most of what I've written my whole life has been almost exclusively for me. Away from here, I've written two books, two short stories, three plays, about a hundred songs ... and almost none of it has ever been published. It's mostly to entertain myself, and to be a diversion from the rest of my life (which has nothing to do with writing).

Here on CHYOA, I don't get much feedback. I probably don't get many readers. Once in a while, that bugs me -- because I like what I'm doing, and I'd love to know that other people like it too. But the truth is, I'm doing it almost entirely for myself. *I* like my stories. *I* find them exciting and arousing. *I* enjoy living in the fantasies of my characters. But my emotions don't rise and fall with "success" on this site.
 
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