Forum: Author Hangout

Minimal Sex: Story with a plot where sex is mentioned, and maybe discussed, but not described in details.

That means that one of my entries to FS is considered "Minimal Sex". The majority of my SOL stories would be considered "Some Sex" while I've been labeling them as "Minimal Sex".

Maybe the writer could just call out numbers like 24, 14, 82, and the reader could just read that paragraph. It would all be the same anyway.

It reminds me of those old books from the '80s where you "created your own stories". You'd read a page, something happens, and then you choose what action to take, taking you to the next chapter in the tale.

That's one way of offloading the burdensome sex! (rolls eyes)

Apart from the hate voters, the main reasons for a large number of low votes are:

1. You didn't code everything and had something in they didn't like;

2. Very badly written.

I never said, or meant, option 2 applied to this author, what I was saying is those two reasons cover over 95% of the causes of low votes once you step away from the hate votes. That applies to every author and story. If the story is reasonably well written, then I'd be looking to see if there are other codes that should be on the story and use the Story Management options to add them.

On that note - and a minor bit of drift: There have been a number of codes added to the list in recent years and recently I found it a good idea to revisit and review the codes listed for my stories. One big reason for that is it will get more hits by readers searching by categories if you have that category listed, another is people won't get upset you missed a code.

I ran into that dilemma too.

I once asked people in my Yahoo group about "much sex" vs "some sex." I think the story was "Matilda and the Assassin." The majority said the story should be "some sex."

But there's a lot of sex in that story. A lot. In every chapter. So I ultimately changed it from "some" to "much." In my most recent story, I also classified it as "much" even though there are complete chapters with no sex. In fact, I don't believe the sex starts until Chapter 3 or 4 (that's why I coded it "slow").

In my opinion, many readers believe "much sex" is what SOL defines as "stroke." They don't understand what plot means. And I'm sure that triggers low scores. So it's another reason for the author not to put any credence in the score.

Repeat after me, everybody, scores are for readers. Downloads are what matters. If you are happy with the story, it is a good story. Written the best you know how. At least spell checked.

That's what I look for in the reviews: "At least spell checked".

Under Technical I often report interesting spelling errors or homonym choices I wouldn't make.

Eh ...

If it's a straightforward score, that's not a bad tactic, but in a review, I wouldn't list typos (I'm sure you don't). Instead, I'd do like everyone else and send the author the more obvious. If they respond, then you send more (many authors don't respond to corrections). Typos aren't a part of the story, and the author may clean up the story when they get a new editor.

I realize that jealousy is unheard of in porn, but conflict is a famous literary device. Introducing a girl the main character likes, but everyone else hates can make things interesting (and then you can have her prove herself by doing something heroic, like diving on a live dildo). When you develop your plot, also create a list of characters and give each a list of conflicts they have with the other characters. Then, whenever things slow down, the intercharacter conflicts will carry much of the story.

Oh, he's definitely a Pom. No question.

Aussie Ernest Bywater doesn't define in his stories

I'm a Heinz variety person. My father was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England (4 y/o when he came to Australia) but the main family is descended from Welsh centuries early, while others in his family are of Scots and Irish ancestry. On my mother's side we again have Scots, Welsh, Irish, English, and some French way back, with a suggestion of Italian in there as well. One ancestor is Henry 'Hal' Kable/Cable (spelling often varied in those days) who came out on the first fleet. Some of my ancestors have lived all over the colony of New South Wales since it was founded. We've not looked to confirm or deny it, but there is circumstantial evidence one or more ancestors on my mother's side may have had local native wives. Also, many of mother side relatives have always gotten on well with the native population. The area of Sydney I grew up in was mostly Caucasian but I played sport in the next district over and it had a much more cosmopolitan mix, as did the the schools I went to. I grew up playing with people of all shades of skin, religious upbringings, cultural backgrounds, and ethnic backgrounds. My mother was born with sight and went blind due to a rare disease, 90% blind before I could walk. She always treated everyone the same, so I did as well, and still do - with the exception of self-made arse-holes.

About the only group of people I've not spent time with in sport, school, or work are the Inuit people.

How would anyone know for certain the color, gender or ethnicity of any author unless the author stated the fact?

Sorry, been away for most of the day and missed the discussion.

Excuse me, substitute "story about black characters" for "black writer". I would assume that most newbie writers would write about something they're familiar with. I've seen a couple, but it's WAY below their national/international average.

Chase, thank's for that link. I'll have to look it up. I appreciate differences in viewpoint, and like seeing new, unexpected takes on subject matter.

I'll also clarify, many foreign authors feel obliged to write about Americans simply because they underestimate the audience here. Ernest doesn't fit in that category, because he chose to write about American subject matter after he'd been writing awhile. But I'd guess, if we have any Indian writers, that they're writing about the U.S. rather than life in India.

Lostlady, I know that Laz classifies the sexual categories based on plot, but I don't think readers or authors do. In most cases, we all classify stories (some sex, much sex, stroke) based on how much actual sex there is, rather than if there's plot attached or not.

USTourist, I brought the point (about author's ethnicity) up, to emphasize a central problem with the scoring system. I have no problem with how Laz handles scoring, or with the scores I get, but I dislike how uniform the stories are as a result of it. Virtually any minority at all (except lesbians of course, because every straight male writes about lesbians frolicking in the bedroom) are under represented.

Richard, from what I understand, Rache's stories are being posted by her brother.

It is a shame if an author feels they need to locate their story in the USofA just to get a following.

The 'trying to sound American' seems to be more common on SOL. ASSTR offers several stories in foreign languages, and often reference other races in other less well-known countries.

Most literary publications frequently feature authors from a variety of sites around the globe. But, by and large, the vast majority of stories on SOL are 'white guys' writing about how unfair life is for them (Sorry, but that's my perception).

When I say that, there seems to be a core group of English speaking countries, so they can be American, English or Australian. But, when I look at ALL the nationalities which view my stories in a given week, and compare it to the characters in any given story during the same week, the odds are off.

True, most visits are from America (about 90%) with about 4 to 5% from England and Australia. But the others are scattered across the glove, from India to China to Saudi Arabia to Africa and South America.

As a result, I worry about SOL being a bit of an echo chamber, where most stories repeat the same values and experiences, told in a variety of styles, instead of exposing authors to a variety of experiences. I like reading about different worlds, and I'd rather they're NOT all sci-fi, fantasy and incest! I'd like to read about different cultures, different expectations, different challenges and experiences.

But then, I expect a LOT, and reality doesn't always operate according to my dictates.

I am sure some of our authors get quite a few complaints on word usage and spelling that is not American English even when the author is not American.

We've had a lot or comments on it here, on the SOL forum, which hasn't been up for very long. But I'm not sure that's the major discouragement, since you see more foreign stories (in foreign languages) on ASSTR. I suspect foreign authors notice the heavy U.S. influence and simply assume that stories won't be well-received unless they're about Americans. Then again, there are also a LOT more stories about black, Hispanic and gay characters on ASSTR than there is on SOL.

Who knows, maybe it's the login/membership requirement?

Grant, that was my point all along. I'd personally prefer if writers set their fantasy stories into their own cultural contexts, as it gives them a different feel and uniqueness, than trying to write the same story everyone else is.

On the complex category search form I removed all of the racial codes and the result was 32524 stories with no racial coding at all. Are you sure that aren't more stories involve minority characters than you think?

Stories coded as racial refer to interracial kinks, not the ethnicity of the characters or the author. There are also a few (very few) authors writing in foreign languages on ASSTR (I've only counted two, but there may be more). I've also read a few black, Hispanic and Asian authors (judging by content and perspective, not by names, though there are a few photos on some stories). Again, not many, but the site just seems more receptive to 'outsiders' (probably because there's no scoring on the site to dissuade newbies). They also publish more 'squick' (unpopular) stories.

But the main reason why they'd receive more alternate stories, is that the submissions aren't vetted or edited. A story written by a Pakistani might only be read by the author's friends, so he'd feel freer to post it.

There's at least one foreign language site hosted by ASSTR (Histories_Fr) (French stories). And I think there are also Spanish, German, and Dutch stories, that I've noticed.

Thanks for the update. I believe we should encourage story creation, whether in English or any other language.

I agree, but to really do that you need to attract readers that can read those other languages.

Well, being Canadian, maybe Lazeez should consider a French Language corner to woo the people in Quebec and France and other French language countries. French is the official language of 29 countries and also the main or second language of a bunch more without being the official language. Best estimates are at over half a billion people who speak French as their native or first language, that's a hell of a potential client pool.

Best estimates are at over half a billion people who speak French as their native or first language, that's a hell of a potential client pool.

The problem is, without volunteer authors, it's all for naught. ASSTR got lucky. They didn't seek foreign authors, someone just started posting in other languages. Their setup, where someone can post whatever they want in html, allowed it. The same could happen here, but with a smaller base, it's less likely to.

I know of a couple of English as a Second Language authors who post at SOL have French as their first language and a few English speakers who have French as their second language. Lazeez has a clear statement he wants English only at this point. I suspect that's due to legal ramifications if he can't moderate the stories. But it may be worth his time to consider adding a French Corner, get a French speaking moderator, and changing the warning to only English and French for the stories. There could be other issue in having to duplicate the site in French so they can understand the site pages, or just leave them in English and include a warning about that. His call as to how much work he wants to put into it.

Thanks for the information. I knew it had to be a technical problem, but not wasn't sure what or how big. I hope you can sort it out without too much trouble and pick up another million or so paying subscribers.

Even if all you end up with is the site in multiple languages but the stories are left in the language the author submits them in, with a notation as to the language, would be a huge advance. I also think that would be the best way to go - over the years I've seen automated translation systems make some major goofs.

It can be quite amusing to drop something on a translation engine like Babble-fish or Google translate and then translate it several times back and forth between two languages.

No, that's just evil.

But at some point, other languages will become very possible.

Lazeez, be aware, if you don't understand the language you won't know what the author is saying. For example, the story could violate your age restriction and you wouldn't even know it if the age is spelled out.

I don't like to do a half assed job usually.

Ha-ha! You save those for special occasions!

But seriously, I think it makes sense. Even if there's not a large French market, it helps establish that the site is open to anyone, and that it's accessible by ALL authors & readers.

I would also echo Ernest's sentiment, that you should NOT attempt to translate foreign language stories. Many authors are now struggling to do just that, themselves. But if you can add the foreign languages, I'd let them stand--possible with a warning that they haven't been vetted and asking for readers to report rule violations.

When it's ready, I'll just open the site for submissions in other languages.

Given the few number of foreign language stories on ASSTR, I wouldn't expect a lot of stories, but I like the idea of opening the site up to a world-side market. I know, based on Google Analytics, that we get readers from all over the globe. I've love to see those readers start to utilize and use the site more.

It is a shame if an author feels they need to locate their story in the USofA just to get a following.

Some of my stories are located in the USA simply because the culture there makes it easier for me to do some of the things I want done in the story. It also helps in that it makes it easier for the bulk of the readers to relate to. However, I've noticed that the popularity of my US based stories is the same as my Australia based stories - so I don't think the location of the story makes much difference. Also, in many stories it's not clear where it's based, and that was deliberate to avoid having a specific cultural bias from the start.

I imagine him to be from Anglo Saxon stock,

I was making a joke. I admit, it wasn't a very good one. It's a good thing I'm here and he's there, because I have it on good authority that calling an Aussie a Pom is fighting words.

In general, I agree with you. The story is either strong, or it isn't, and strength doesn't depend on the author's background or ethnicity.

bb

Female residents/citizens of the Philippines are a Filipina. The males are Filipino.

I could be wrong here, but I thought to be a Filipina or Filipino you had to born there and descended from the original natives to some extent. It was also my understanding that rache was born in the USA and moved there. Thus she'd be a resident and not Filipina.

I think its wonderful she is still writing

Sadly, rache has passed on, but left a wealth of material and a posting schedule with her brother who's posting her work as per her instructions.