Niche vs. Broad Appeal

O

Ovipositivity

Virgin
I had a thought as I was writing.
Now, I came here looking to write a very specific kind of erotica. I chose to write this because it's what I'm personally into, and there was very, very little out there in my genre. It's a very niche interest and so naturally it generates less community engagement than something more traditional.

My thought was, for those authors whose kinks or fetishes are so specific, how do you feel you balance specificity and broad appeal? We all want to get some exposure, those likes and favorites, and I'm ok with the fact that I'm always gonna lag behind a little bit just due to the nature of what I write. I find that sometimes I am drawn towards writing in a few more conventional scenes just because I know they will get a good reaction. What is the optimum balance between the stuff that makes you tick and the stuff that makes everyone else tick? My number one reader is myself, so I'm always satisfied with the stuff I write, but I'd be a liar if I didn't admit to a little frustration at how I've put myself in a box.

Just something to discuss and consider. Happy writing, all!
 
It's hard to say when I'm writing to cater to myself or to others. I like to think I can write anything with some degree of acceptance but not because I'm pandering to a particular audience. Generally I assume people like what I like and if I do have a particularly specific kink, that I spread them out enough that they are not that glaring. Still, if you read enough of my stuff, I'm sure you'd be able to pick them out. There's nothing wrong with going all out into your personal fetish though, this is about making people happy including yourself. Indulging in your own desires should make you want to produce more anyways. If others don't share that same kink, they can still find work you've done enjoyable as long as you keep it diverse.
 
My general opinion is that you should (as a hobby writer) be as niche as you want to be. The reason mainstream stories are so broad is because they need to make money. I on the other hand just need to have fun. Of course if your interest lie with the broadly accepted/wanted stuff you can go ahead and write that all day, good for you.

Putting yourself in a box is a very good thing. I can write mediocre fantasy but the moment you ask me to write detective stories I will put down the figurative pen. Specialization is good, it always has been good and always will be good. As a writer one should always strive to broaden once horizon, yes, but having overreaching similarities between your stories is what makes you distinct from others.
 
I saw this recent addition about a fur fetish: https://chyoa.com/story/Queens-of-Fur.12203

Although it features Emma Watson, one of the more popular celebrities, and already has 17 chapters posted within the first week, it has only received two likes so far.

So while it might not be very popular, i'd still like to think and hope, that those, who do enjoy it, appreciate it even more, because the author appears to stick to the theme and doesn't just mention it incidentally in a single chapter.
 
Meh, you don´t get paid here, so you´ve nothing to lose writing super-niche stuff.
And considering two of the top-3 stories on the site involve sex as a variety of horrible monsters and being turned into a girl against ones will respectively, I´d say that "niche" as a concept has become a bit meaningless...
If you can fap to it, someone else probably can too
 
Do you write for yourself, do you write to get the maximum internet points from readers or do you write to please someone in particular? Any and all of those are correct answers but to answer the original question: There is nothing wrong with writing a story that will only be of interest of a specific niche fans.

And anyone who complains because YOUR story doesn't pander to his specific interests can go fuck himself. Also, he can do look for other stories or write one himself if he doesn't like the ones he has found so far.
 
I Can't seem to be able to write mundane, real world stories for shit. Years of reading both sf/Fantasy and metric tons of comics, Hentai and online erotica always push me towards situation that couldn't reasonably happen in the real world.

So I write about things that I find fun/sexy/interesting and the rain of Internet points is only a very welcome side effect. I have not yet written something I really didn't want to write just because it was popular. (but then you have to consider that my range of acceptable topics is quite broad)

So for me it's writing stuff while having fun and doing my best and when the points fall from the sky without having to compromise to get them, then they taste even sweeter.
 
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