January 2024 Update

Happy New Year's, everyone!

I recently received a comment stating that I'm a smart guy who's clearly trying to do something specific, but that the reader had no idea what my point was. 

It bummed me out a little. Because, yes, my stories (hopefully!) have a point. But if readers aren't getting it--if my cleverness is getting in the way of my communication--then my point is pretty much moot. My goal is to connect with readers, to give them the same feeling that I get from some of my favorite stories--the feeling of understanding, of sharing. And if that's not getting across, then I clearly need to work on my writing. 

For the record, my goals as a writer are two-fold. First, I want to write stories that break the mold. When I'm reading Literotica (or anything, really!), a part of my brain tends to wonder why we accept some things as given, or why we believe that a story always has to go a certain way. I want to shake things up--both for me and for my readers--and generally play with some of the accepted wisdom here, and in the world in general. 

Second, I want to create characters--both female and male--who feel real. We may not agree with their motivations or we may question their morals, but at the end of the day, I don't want any Martian Slut Rays causing unexplained actions.

Well, except for in my Martian Slut Ray story!

Bottom line, I want my characters' actions and decisions to feel authentic--and, on some level, understandable. 

Beyond that, I want to write stories that are fun to read (REALLY need to work on that!), ideally have some funny spots, and are generally as well-written as I can make them. 

So there's my goal for 2024: I want to stop alienating my audience, I want to bring readers along into my world, and I want to keep shaking things up. Wish me luck!

On to a few specifics: 

2023 was interesting in terms of plumbing the lower levels of the rating scale. My Victorian horror story, which took WAY too long to write and freaking exhausted me, managed to alienate the vast majority of readers and landed me in the dreaded two range for ratings. Coming on top of a couple of stories that hit in the threes, it was a pretty clear indication that I was not connecting with readers. In 2024, I'm going to work on that--after all, what's the point of writing a story if nobody reads it?

Here are some specific things I'm working on:

Nicotine (working title): A bit of sci-fi world building, a bit of snark... (Plotted, not written)

February Sucks for Walter Mitty: Because EVERYBODY has to write one of these... (Plotted, not written)

The Astronaut's Wife: a bit of alternative history with a strong female character. (Plotted, not written)

The Wolf and the Fox: What kind of woman rises from desperate poverty to become the wife of the most powerful man in the world? (Loosely plotted)

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