Literotica 101: Get a Red Hot Score

Curious people ask questions. Why is the sky blue? Who killed Cock Robin? Things like that.

I think an open question makes a good Short Description subhead for a piece. In fact, it's my trademark, intended to provoke interest and get readers thinking about how the question might be answered by the story.

To the question posed for this one: did I learn anything from my first hundred stories on Literotica?

Definitely! Call this piece Literotica 101, frank comments from writing experiences. I hope you'll find some of them useful, though you may not agree with the whole lot. Read on if you like a tell-all author memoir mixed with opinion and suggestion.

First off, your stories will be a simple read on a phone if you forget about some style and structure rules from the classroom. The cell screen is small, not a full book page. And some of your readers might use large print, so help them out.

Short paragraphs and punchy sentences are a must. Split blocks of words into smaller chunks and vary sentence length. No verb sometimes. Like I just did there. Do anything you can to make it easier to read.

An added bonus is that it will help focus your reader's attention. After all, there won't be a test on this material. They can skip out of your story at any time because there are thousands of others to choose from every day.

Think of it this way: your masterpiece will be in a dog-eat-dog scramble for 'market share'. This may sound daunting, even a bit scary. But writing for this website can bring unexpected moments of enjoyment too, especially when readers contact you.

Ann wrote to say how much one of my tales reminded her of the night she and her husband visited a swing club. In the sex-laden series of emails which followed, I got the inside scoop on a world that I could only imagine. It led to a couple more good stories.

Sometimes letters are funny. One person wrote to correct a mistake in my description of a wild sex scene. A lady on all fours atop a desk was being nailed by a guy standing on the floor behind her. My reader surmised it must have been a basketball player, because only a seven-footer could manage such a feat. He'd measured it!

Then there was the sincere email from Bruce praising a particularly raunchy piece I wrote. He admitted how difficult sex could be for him. Apparently things had changed. He claimed that my story had cured his erectile problem. The lurid descriptions turned him on enough to eliminate dysfunction, at least that day.

Should I send him a bill?

I might not solve such problems, but I can help you score HOT ratings. I've spent three years on Literotica writing a hundred stories with well over a half million words. I probably should have found some better way to fill time after retirement, right? Like a golf membership, lawn bowling, or a book club.

To my mind, a HOT listing is the author Holy Grail on Literotica. But in some categories, like Loving Wives, it can be just as hard to find. More about that shortly.

It's not an easy thing to achieve that bold red-boxed letter H in any category. Ten or more readers must give your story a 90% average before it qualifies. That was an A+ when I was in school!

Suppose you have a 4.50 out of 5 rating based on ten reviews. Your work of art has earned that distinctive red square. You can feel proud because it says "this is good". And that's going to draw more readers.

But things can change quickly. What if Reader Eleven hates it and delivers a dreaded 1? Your new score is 4.18. Another one and it's down to 3.92. Another one... well, you get the idea. It drops fast! Worst of all, it will take a long string of 4's and 5's to gain traction upward again.

I've had this happen more than a few times. While about two-thirds of my tales eventually earned their 4.50, others 'died' along the way. Why? I have some answers: things I should have done, and others I should have avoided.

Experience- good and bad- can be the best teacher. Some practical advice might make a HOT rating more achievable for you, especially if you are new to this.

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[Dividing your work into sections, like book chapters, can make it easier to follow. Do it when there's a major shift in topic, person, time or place. It can hold your reader- or let them go for a toilet break. Now is a good time.]

****

Your first published work is scheduled to appear on the website. It went in three days ago, the average turn-around time. You poured heart and soul into it. You made it as racy as could be, knowing that this is an erotic story site.

You're nervous about the score and comments you'll receive from thousands of readers worldwide. It's a bit unnerving. So, you're up first thing in the morning and onto Literotica right away.

Heart pumping, you click on your category and scroll down to your story. And then... is it a fist pump or a gut punch?

Unless you are one of the best (or worst) writers on the site, you've probably experienced both. Call it the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Your chance of success may depend on where you place the story. Choosing the right Literotica category to begin with will affect the rating readers deliver. Make the wrong choice and you may be disappointed by the results.

Let me get this critical part out of the way before we go any farther. Think twice about Loving Wives if you seek a high score. It's a very risky place for writers.

Now read that again.

This isn't tainted by sour grapes. I've received several HOTs there, though they don't come easily. Any LW score over 4.00 is a real achievement. For every listing of twenty-five new stories, very few will have reached that. Not so in most other categories.

Furthermore, the little red box is a rarity. In fact, many days there are precisely... none! Check today's list. Or scroll down the Loving Wives 'Recently Popular' top stories for the past seven days. How many reached 4.50 all week?

So what's the problem? Is the audience that tough or the stories that bad? Is it a bit of both?

I think that it's a certain reader mindset. The works themselves seem no different from other categories, but wife stories are obviously a very sensitive topic. Many LW readers will deal a low score if they think that she is slutty or cheating. Strange, because this is part of the category focus. I quote from the website:

"Loving Wives. Married extra-marital fun: swinging, sharing and more."

This is a fantasy about wives having sex with other people. Wives- not friends, dates, girlfriends, or family, She could be swinging or sharing, but she can be doing more too. Wifey might be getting some sex on the side. That's how I interpret it.

Read the story comments and you'll see my point. If the wife sleeps around, expect a ton of remarks about the 'skank', the 'whore', the 'town bicycle', and so on.

She'll be verbally drawn and quartered- and so will your score. While many LW readers really do enjoy tales about oversexed wives, you may get several off-setting 1's and 2's too. Your overall score probably won't reach 4.00, let alone an elusive HOT.

Beware writer- it can get worse.

If there is any hint that hubby might be aware of the wife's indiscretions, watch for the 'cuck' label. Nothing is more reviled here. Your story is certain to get a whole slew of 1's and an average rating of 3.00 or less.

You need careful wording and a thick skin to post in this category. Want evidence? Just four of my first hundred stories scored below 4.00. Three came in LW, even though only a tenth of them were posted there.

But, what if you like the gut-wrenching fantasy tease of a wayward spouse? Can you still write this stuff for Loving Wives and get that red HOT square? Yes, but only with the greatest of care.

First, you must give her a certain aura of innocence and naivety. She's easily led astray, even though she loves her man.

Then tiptoe through this. She can't be too brazen. Instead, she's a wife who slowly drifts into questionable sexual situations while exploring her own sensuality. Most of it is with women. She can tease and tempt, but never actually screw other men. You might earn a mix of scathing comments and good scores this way.

Alternately, you could do well in LW if you mimic popular authors there. They write great stories featuring strong male protagonists: tough cowboys, streetwise detectives, and canny military vets. These characters always make it with the dames. Try creating your own take on this genre.

But please, don't crank out another George Anderson, "February Sucks" clone! At this writing, there are 112 and counting! For some reason they're popular.

Predictably, the wronged husband goes ballistic on his wife, her friends, and Marc, the cocky football hero. Hubby goes on a revenge rampage to get even with everyone and dumps the wife. 'Burn the bitch' is so popular with Loving Wives readers that it's simply known as BTB.

Writers, never forget a cardinal rule in Loving Wives: the guy who has been cheated must win. Always! There will be an even better woman waiting in the wings. She might be a co-worker, his lawyer, the counselor, or the therapist, but she's there to hold his hand.

Like they say on LW, "revenge is a dish best served cold."

If you want good ratings, just move your loose wife character into another category. She'll score well in Exhibitionist and Voyeur as the gal next door swimming nude in the backyard pool. Check the latest scores there- much better odds of success.

Another idea: readers will commiserate if the unfortunate wife is lured or dragged into sex against her will in the Non-Consent/ Reluctance group. This is more easily accepted by some readers. After all, it's really not her fault, right?

Or, she might unwittingly succumb to rampant sex under hypnotism and other devious techniques in Mind Control. Now she's a helpless victim. There are plenty of generous scores and HOT ratings for 'fallen' wives in this one. I've been there.

Other categories will net high scores with wife stories too. Romance, Erotic Couplings, Mature, even BDSM come to mind, as long as it's mostly about the couple, and... well, you get the idea.

To sum up, before you start to write your masterpiece, check the typical scores in several potentially relevant categories. The right choice can make a huge difference in your chances for a HOT.

If you're still not sure, take the time to scan pieces with high scores. The Hall of Fame stories for every category offer great reads, and will show you what readers enjoy.

****

Back in school, I had a tough English teacher three years running. Sometimes I dreamed about her being run down by a bus.

It never happened. Instead, she was there day-in and day-out, harping away about grammar and syntax, spelling and style. Miss S. was a bear- very sarcastic and a hard marker. We either learned to write or gave up trying.

I view my old teacher differently now, though she wouldn't be too pleased to see my stuff on an erotic website. In fact, she'd probably roll over in her grave! Rest in peace... and thank you.

Good writing is important in every Literotica category.

Stories riddled with spelling and grammatical errors- apart from a few 'small screen' stylistic methods- won't succeed. Don't be too proud to get yourself a reliable volunteer editor if need be. Or a literate spouse who enjoys helping with a juicy story. It could fire up your love life.

Many Literotica pieces are linear narratives that proceed from past to present. The author tells the story either as observer or participant. Often the piece reflects a real or imagined experience. Start with that.

What experience will you focus upon? Is it the college girls you saw suntanning topless on their roof when you looked down from the office? Or were you one of them, and you knew he was up there watching? Either way, there's a good story here. All the better if it's true.

(I should write this one. It really happened to me when I went to an office for a private meeting. We shared his binoculars.)

So, where do you begin? First, jot down a simple outline. What happened? And then? How did it end? This is absolutely necessary for the thing to "have legs"- for it go forward. Of course, none of it has to actually be true. It's just a story.

The most common approach I see on Literotica proceeds from start to finish. Often the story starts slowly as the author plods through a long background. Too many details crowd in, like how he graduated and years later finally got the corner office with a view.

Or, how she chose her college and met new friends, with whom she went bikini shopping and got a yellow one with little black polka dots.

Enough! Just get on with it!

All those details might be important, but you need to start with impact. Work in the rest along the way. Your story doesn't need to tack straight from A to Z. Just grab your reader right away and hold on tight.

Readers will be hooked by an early description of succulent breasts and perky nipples exposed on a summer afternoon. Hearing about how wet she felt while flaunting herself to watching eyes will have your audience drooling. Admit it. That's what we all like to read on Literotica, right?

Don't get me wrong. You can't jump all over the place in developing the plot. But you don't need to slog through it in sequence with too much trivial detail. Don't waste words describing the inside of his office or the price of the swimwear. Give readers a taste of the best part first- the nubile half-naked girls!

Adjectives and adverbs are definitely not wasted words on Literotica. Let the reader see and feel everything. Make the story experience erotic, so they can hear it, even smell and taste it. Sex is a hugely sensory delight which your piece must share.

Be hedonistic when you write. Make it sizzle. Let it throb.

Use lots of sexy adjectives and plenty of amplified action. 'S' words like Silky, Slinky, Skimpy, Sultry and Sensuous have just the right sound for anything dirty.

Favour colourful action words. Abrupt terms like Thrusting and Heaving, Panting and Moaning, or Banging and Blasting will provoke powerful images for your reader.

Sex scenes are often found at the plot climax in erotic writing. Slow time down and draw them out. Waaay out. Avoid the 'slam-bam-thank you-ma'am' approach. Instead, make the reader feel like he or she is right in bed beside the rutting pair or group. You might cure somebody's erectile dysfunction.

Sometimes an extended metaphor for growing arousal can be effective. Lovers climbing a high mountain or a staircase of lust paints a vivid picture. Use plenty of sexy adjectives all the way up, before the lovers reach the top, then fall into the depths of orgasmic bliss on the far side.

Other climax images can portray their straining bodies overwhelmed by a rogue wave, then tossed helplessly onto a sandy beach. Alternately, picture them out of control, writhing as they're consumed by a raging fire of desire. Vivid shots these.

Categories like Erotic Coupling and Romance are perfect for such metaphorical images. But you can use them almost anywhere in the right context.

When planning your story it is never too early to think about what comes last. Your ending must bring the whole thing together by tying up all the loose ends. The main action or climax is finished. In erotica, it might have been that intense orgasm you described so vividly with metaphor and adjectives.

But what happens after that? It has to be more than the characters just getting dressed and leaving the scene of the action. Is there any glitch or something left unresolved? For example, does a neighbour see the wife leave the motel with another guy? Will he tell the wronged husband?

Some sort of twist always makes for a great ending. I already know how I'll write that story about girls suntanning topless on the roof. They'll get dressed to leave... then wave at the guys watching through the office window. Hell! The chicks knew all along!

Now, let's look more closely at the people in your story.

After reading one of my early efforts, a caustic reader commented, "Your characters are like rocks. Make them do more than just fuck."

I hated it, but the comment was true. I'd put too much effort into building scenes, without creating a sense of who was in them. Sure, it's easy enough to describe what people look like and how they're dressed (or undressed). But what are they really like?

For me, characterization is the hardest part. A thumbnail sketch can only go so far in making a character believable. But gradually, I'm finding ways to develop better central figures.

What do they say? What do they think? That's where dialogue and reflection come in. These can make or break how well your piece is rated.

What people say and how they say it tells a lot about them. Imagine that the guy watching the girls suntanning topless decides to make his move. He opens a window and leans out to talk to them.

"Hey babes. Looking good! Nice tits! How 'bout I come 'round and join you? I'll show you all a good time."

This is a terrible pickup line! They'll quickly cover up and probably call him an idiot or worse. Through these words, the reader sees that the man in the office is hopelessly inept with women. In short, he has a serious character flaw.

Reflection works too, providing readers with a glimpse of a character's state of mind. It's a window into thought and feeling. For example, one of the suntanning girls is angry, thinking about what just happened out on the roof:

"Why did they have to ruin things by getting mad at him? I knew he was there all along, and it was so exciting to show my boobs like that! I've never done it before."

The reader sees what others don't. She's experimenting with her sexuality and might even be open to Office Guy's further advances. This could end up in her dorm room as the story unfolds.

Character development is still a personal work in progress. I'm learning that it isn't all description. Sure, readers will want to know about her fine breasts and golden hair. But you can also build anticipation, leaving them wondering if she'll succumb to her desire for riskier sexual experience. Readers need to see the characters' desires, personality, and attitude.

Something else to consider early on is the projected length of your story. Remember, Literotica has a veritable buffet of offerings, an opportunity to consume a few stories in one sitting. Readers often like to sample.

I think that two or three screen 'pages' is an ideal length, that is about 4 000 to 10 000 words. On average, this is roughly a ten to twenty minute read. I usually aim for 5 000 to 6 000 words when I plan out a piece. That's about the same length as most of the stories I usually read myself.

Some authors offer extended stories much longer than that. I've seen fifteen pagers and more; however, I've never read them. Not a single one, because it is too much of a commitment when there are so many other choices.

Does this remind you of that old phrase, "Too many fish in the sea"?

Think about popular films. Was there a single 25-hour "Star Wars" movie or many? Did the studio release the entire "Fast and Furious" story all in one shot?

You really shouldn't write one huge masterpiece, and here's why. In popular categories, a story might appear for an average of three days. Then it slips off the page and into the archive. Two of mine were gone in a day! Insects live longer.

Meanwhile, how many hours went into producing that story? A lot of effort was required to plan, draft, edit and rewrite, then proof-read the piece. A short posting for a long story isn't a very good bargain for the author.

The answer is to split your work into a series of stories, each of them two or three screen pages long. They can either be tightly connected pieces that flow to an end, or loosely linked vignettes which follow the adventures of your central characters. Identify each as a Chapter.