Quote by WannabeWordsmith
As for Grammarly being classed as AI, that's an intriguing classification given it's likely crowdsourced data that's used to make its largely piss-poor suggestions.

WW, I agree with you about taking all of Grammarly's suggestions. I use it mainly for comma use which I just can't seem to get 100%. I did get a notice from Grammarly that they were including some kind of AI component in their tool. Not interested in using it, I haven't looked for it and it might very well require an upgraded subscription.

Quote by LuceDevlin
on a site like this with the tags on the bottom, I don't know how many people scroll down to look at the tags before they dive in the story or not, but like yeah.

I know I look at them. You don't really have to scroll to see them as they're quite visible in listing of many stories on a page. Some may not know you can click on the tags and see other stories that have that kind of content within them though they may not be in that genre. There are many stories tagged with 'spanking' but are not in the genre, so I can find other stories about my favorite subject that aren't the spanking genre. I agree with you that they're helpful to allow a reader to avoid a story that has a distasteful element to them ... incest for example.

So, as you've pointed out, it depends a lot on the story whether to reveal elements you'd prefer to be a surprise or let the reader know some of the twists and turns the story takes to entice and/or warn them.

I didn't have an entry in this comp, so this isn't sour grapes, but it seems like going 300 words over the limit should disqualify an entry, and certainly shouldn't be the first place winner. I'm sure there were many who edited their story heavily in order to stay within the 10k limit.

You've just written a story with an interesting and winding plotline that takes the story beyond what the genre usually calls for, or touches on several other genres. You want the plot/scene/characters to surprise your readers with unexpected twists and turns hoping the surprise itself will entertain.

Are you then spoiling those surprises by an exhaustive listing of tags? I know they provide a search capability that allows readers with the interests you've tagged to find your story, but is it worth it? Do they entice an otherwise reluctant reader? ... or give away the story before they've even read it?

One can guess what genre I typically write in from my screen name. That said, I do try to introduce new situations that allow for the description of both the setting and the sexy bits to be both new and entertaining. I think we all know the formulaic writers often being referred to here are either lazy or just interested in the votes (surprising as it may seem that they get so many!)

That said, I have recently started writing stories with a focus on particular kink often used in my stories, but now the focus of the story and I'm finding that rewarding ... a change of view/perspective. I don't think that will keep me from returning to genre that got me started though.

Quote by Gordon_Brail
For a book I wrote, their names are Clayton and Chelsea since they become romantically entangled (not TOO similar, I don’t think).

It's not a problem with male/female names as the action often makes it clearer.

I'm feeling a little trapped by my screen/author name and am thinking of changing it to something less genre-specific. Any thoughts?

I can see every point of view presented here. Important in some instances and not in others. Relatable or suggestive of character is tough because as seen above 'Edna' is not an old prude for everyone.

A personal peeve of mine is when someone uses several names that all begin with the same letter, or even sounding the same, making it difficult to keep the characters straight in the story.

Quote by MC1982
Honestly, I write because I enjoy it and if people enjoy my stories, that's a bonus. I don't understand why someone would go to the trouble of submitting stories they didn't write.

I agree with you MC, but you know there are writers who just crank out the same old story over and over which I'm guessing is a bid for recognition. Is plagiarizing yourself a thing? If so, there are plenty here who do it. No, they're not stealing someone else's work, but they're not creating something original either.

As far as AI writing is concerned it will get better and recognizing it will get harder. I've read that schools add requirements to the assignment to make it almost impossible to use - like asking for 5 cited references - but they'll find a way to get past that. I tried it once just to see how it would do, asking it to write an essay on the beauty of a Rickenbacker 360 guitar (I have two and many other guitars). I was amazed at what it produced in 10 seconds, and not just a generic piece on guitars in general. It specifically mentioned things that are unique both to Rickenbacker and the model 360.

I'm afraid we're at the mercy of honesty here, although for the time being AI might be recognizable similar to Chinese instructions interpreted to English.

Music in the form of 500 LP's, 1200 CD's, 14,000 MP3's and 33 guitars.

Chris Duarte, Texas guitar slinger at a small local venue where I could actually hear his solos instead of dumbass whistlers and screamers who think a solo is some kind of idiotic sports feat!

I write to live vicariously through my stories, what I can't have in real life. The reasons for that are not something I want to go into here, but it motivated me to start, many years ago, writing a series of stories that specific people and/or scenarios inspired. My "You Need a Spanking" series began many years ago with https://www.lushstories.com/stories/spanking/you-need-a-spanking-rosa-pt-1-2, and I built on that for a long time. I have many more chapters already written which I release as I get time to review them.

I joined Lush just to read stories over a year ago, but late last year, some inner turmoil moved me to start submitting my story, which had grown to the length of a couple of novels. In the meantime, several other stories have come to mind through similar real-life sparks, and I continue to write about a life I'd love to lead.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Sure. Try Fate Into Doubt Won't Go which is nearly there.

I think I get it. You're making the narration sound as though the character was giving it. As though its in his voice even though its not dialog.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

This is true for me too.

I've written a few (both published and as yet unpublished) stories where the character's voice carries on in dialogue.

Can you give me an example of this?

Quote by wolfin_noclothing

To me, there needs to be some kind of emotional hook. I want to identify with a character, and I want to be in the mind of someone that I can relate to at least a little and kind of.. use my empathy to put myself in the place of a character. There is also a level of proficiency with language and structure that I kinda feel I need. I don't mind new writers or people who have never written smut, but give me a little variety in sentence structure.

This is a big one for me. A writer who repeats the same phrase, or character description over and over, not only in the same story but across many stories, stops me in my tracks. There are authors I just don't even skim anymore because not only the phrases are reused endlessly, but the plot doesn't vary much either from story to story.

Spanishmum69, I am willing to proofread your stories. Yes, I AM willing to do this, but it may take a few days for a response as I'm writing quite a bit myself. If interested send me a PM. 😎

I agree with all that's been said with one thing to add. My stories tend to be long with lots of descriptive background so when a commenter said he felt like he was there and described it as "theatre for the mind", I felt like I'd accomplished what I set out to do.

I have been there and its impressive ... pretty impressive set of stairs to climb to get to it as well. Its a shame about all the damage in PR. It really should be supported better by the US than it is!