My Detailed Writing Process

Greetings writers and future writers! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Amy Ocean, an erotica author here on Literotica. I've been an author since March 2020, and I've had over a hundred chapters published.

I've been fortunate enough to gain a pretty good following in a couple niche segments on Literotica. Becoming an author has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and it all started when I decided to be brave and submit my very first story. Who knew that years later, my life would have changed so much? I hope this message not only helps those who are seeking tips but also inspires those who have been too self-conscious to start or post their first story.

After having a few people contact me, inquiring about my writing process, I decided to take a serious deep dive into how I write my stories. I actually wrote one of these about two years ago, but I wanted to take some time to write an updated version, since my process has evolved quite a bit over the years.

Coming up with a story

For starters, before we can write a story, we obviously need an idea in our heads first. For me, if I'm actually taking the time to write out a story, it's probably been running through my mind for months or even years! I like to play out the scenes in my head like a movie. This helps me to decide if I like it enough to actually go through the journey of writing it.

I draw inspiration from all sorts of places. Don't ever feel like an idea isn't original enough. We all enjoy tinkering with stories and making them end the way we wish they could have turned out. Sometimes I even get inspiration from porn! You never know what can inspire you to create a whole storyline in your head!

Plots and outlines

Normally, I have a majority of the story played out in my head before I start writing it. Sometimes I know from the very beginning how I want a story to end, but there are definitely times I start stories, not knowing which direction it's going to go. I try not to let this intimidate me. Those can be very fun as well! It's almost like you're on the journey with the readers!

Before I actually start on the story, I like to do a more detailed outline of the first chapter. That way, I can use it as a reference while I'm working on the chapter. It also helps me to not forget key points. I don't always follow the plot, however. There are times when the story itself can lead you in another direction. In those cases, I tend to follow my heart and let the story take control of my writing. There are even some stories where I skip out on the outline all-together!

Writing the actual story

This is where things are going to get a little detailed for me, since my writing process is quite specific. For me, I do most of my actual writing in my email account. I usually have an email to myself opened up and saved as a draft.

I rely heavily on dictation (voice-to-text). This way, I can just hit a button and speak into my phone while it captures what I'm saying. For this, I use Gboard. That's the keyboard associated with Google. I had to download it separately. I found it much better than the dictation app that came with the Samsung keyboard. That's right; I'm an Android user. I'm not sure how the dictation works with the iPhone keyboard but for me, I use Gboard.

The reason I use voice-to-text is because it helps me get into the story. I like speaking as the characters and showing the emotion they would feel. It may make me look silly, but it helps me get into the rhythm of the story. It also helps me when I want to put together a few lines, but I can't sit down and type it all out. I do type sometimes as well, but I'd say I do the majority of my writing through dictation. And quite frankly... even though I'm a fast typer... dictation is much faster for me.

I tend to take a lot of breaks when I write. If I continue to work on the same thing, non-stop, I'll end up getting writer's block. This is also why I work on multiple stories at a time. It's nice to be able to switch between things to keep my mind fresh. If you're working on a single story, I'd highly suggest taking plenty of breaks. However, when it's necessary, I've been able to sit down and hash out longer pieces when I was making a final push to finish a story. Trust me; if you rush a story, your readers WILL notice! Take your time and make sure the story turns out the way you want it to.

Editing

With as much dictation as I use, there are obviously a lot of errors in my first drafts. Many words that get mixed up because the app doesn't always understand what I'm saying. Sometimes it misses words all together. Dictation also isn't the best with quotation marks, but it does capture my other punctuations pretty well. I use HTML tags as well, which I can only type out.

For this part, I normally just like to sit down in front of a computer and read through my dictations, line by line, correcting all the mistakes and reviewing the story in the same process. Sometimes when I'm not at my computer, I'll pull my phone out and make these quick corrections through the draft I have on my email. Once I'm done with that, I copy and paste the whole thing to a document on my computer. This is what I consider my first edit.

Editing is actually the most time-consuming part for me. Even after reading back over it once, there are still massive mistakes! I like to read over it again, either out loud, or allowing my computer to read it out loud for me. If I just reread my own work, over and over, my brain tends to miss mistakes because it corrects the mistakes without me realizing they are there.

Some people tend to rely on an editor to take care of everything from there. I currently have a volunteer editor, and I've had editors in the past. I think it's great to have an extra set of eyes to look over your work and catch the mistakes you might have missed, as well as giving you their opinions. One issue that I have is repeating the same words in consecutive sentences. Sometimes it takes a fresh set of eyes to notice that instead of monotonously reading over my own work.

Like I said, I don't fully rely on my editor. Once I get it back, I read over it once again to make sure I have the story exactly the way I want it. From there, I do my final edit with an editing program. These programs aren't 100% accurate, but I think they are good to use for your final look-throughs.

Title and description

If you haven't already done this, now is the time! The title and description are incredibly important. Sometimes I spend way too much time trying to come up with a cool title. Sometimes, instead, I try to focus on something that will draw more attention and clicks. It's also important that you try to get people's attention with a good description.

Another thing I get hung up on is finding names for my characters. Typically, if I'm not already in love with a name, I use a name generator or base the names off of characters I like in other stories. In an ideal world, I would find a name that perfectly encapsulates my female characters. Sometimes with male characters, I try to pick something basic because most of my audience are males, so I'd like for them to be able to put themselves into that character's perspective without much trouble. But that's just my theory.

Submitting your story

This part takes much longer than you would think. For me, I tend to have several formatting issues. The format of my stories easily gets messed up while being transferred between emails, documents, and editing softwares. I often copy and paste it onto a notepad (the same one that should come standard with every computer) to help fix the formatting issues. I then copy and paste it back onto my original document.

When you submit a story onto Literotica, you have two options. You can either upload your document on the story submission page, or you can copy and paste the text of your story directly into their text box. I strongly recommend you copy and paste the text from your notepad into the text box on the Literotica submission page. If you upload a document, the Literotica staff will have to copy and paste it from your document into their own text box. From there, they will try to add things like bold and italics fonts where you wanted it, but that doesn't mean it'll turn out the way you intended. They make mistakes too, and I would rather be in full control of my own story.

Another issue with uploading your document to them is that it will take much longer. Whenever I uploaded it to the Literotica submission page, it would end up taking between five and seven days before the story was published. God forbid you have some sort of mistake that they want you to correct. This could severely delay the process of publishing your story!

By copying and pasting your story from notepad to the Literotica submission page text box, you are cutting out a huge step that they would have to do for you. This makes the process much quicker. My stories usually get published two nights after I submit them. However, because you have copied and pasted it into their text box, you will need to add your own HTML tags in case you want to add bold or italics fonts.

I'll touch a bit more on categories in a later post, but allow me to give you a brief explanation for now. Many stories cross multiple categories, but you can only choose one. For example, a lot of my stories involve lesbians while also involving fetish or lezdom scenes. If I post the story in the Lesbian Romance category, I usually make a note at the beginning of the story that it has fetish or lezdom themes. I would do the same if it were the opposite way around. Readers like to be warned before they engage in a story because some of them have specific turnoffs.

At the bottom of the submission page, there is a text box for notes to Literotica. I usually write that I've already included HTML tags, and that all characters in the story have been described to be eighteen or older. And if the story is part of a series, I note that as well.

What I do after I submit a story

If you are submitting your first story, I would sit back, relax, and wait to see how the story is received once it is published. It's out of your hands now. You've made the leap, and all you can do from this point is to learn from the positives and negatives of the feedback.

Nowadays for me, since I've been posting for a while and have a following, I advertise that I've submitted a story and that it should be published within the next few days. I usually write about it in my Literotica profile, which notifies all my followers that I have updated my profile. Then, I get on social media and announce it there as well. I'll cover more of the advertising aspect of it in a future post.

What to do after the story has published

Hopefully, you get great reviews, and everyone will love you as an author! That's what I always hope for, but of course, not everything goes perfectly every single time. Comments can be brutal, especially when the readers have the option of posting anonymously. Receiving zero favorites or comments can be just as hurtful, or maybe even worse! Perhaps I'll write a post on how to deal with negative feedback in the future, but for now, let me just leave you with some quick advice.

If you receive negative feedback, it is not the end of the world. Sometimes a small number of haters have the largest voice. This might skew you into thinking that everyone hates your writing, while the silent majority actually enjoys it. You'll never know how everyone feels about your writing, but as long as you're happy with it, I think that's what matters most.

Some comments are just hateful, and some comments actually provide constructive criticism. It's up to you to decide what you want to do with each bit of feedback you receive. It can make you a better writer, but it can also bring you down. I hope I can encourage you to not give up on your aspirations due to deliberately hurtful comments.

Finally, I shall leave you with this. If you are unsatisfied with the reaction your story receives once it is published, try to remember why you started writing in the first place. Most likely, it was for your own satisfaction. Perhaps the story you wanted to read had not been written yet. If this is the case, mission complete! And you only get better from here! If it was to make others enjoy the story, then that's okay too. This now becomes a learning experience and an opportunity to grow as an author. Just don't give up, and keep writing, especially if you enjoy it! We all get better. And most authors won't mind giving you advice!

I hope you found this helpful! If you have any questions, please let me know. Writing has become such a big part of my life, and if I could help someone who is having self-doubts, I would love to be there to guide and support you.

Amy