I've only written a couple of stories so far, and they've all been sent back for major editing. My latest, yet to be published, suffered a similar fate. After I re-read it to fix it, it was just bad. It needed way more than some dialogue and punctuation edits, it needed to be scrapped. Anyone else ever have this problem?
That has happened to be me before with my first story, but I kept on editing and I really tried to see what was wrong with my story. Eventually, it got accepted.
Many people think that they can write a story without learning how to write a compelling erotic story. Writing is a craft and an art. The craft one can learn, for the art (talent) one has to dig deep within. Some say that great writing is 90% hard work and 10% or less talent. I work on my craft every day and I don't publish a lot of stories because I don't want to send out a badly written story or something that has been done to death.
This is one of the reasons why I write erotica: "Lifting sex above the purely physical and elevating it to the emotional and spiritual plane will be your job as writer. We don't fornicate: we make love. Discovering the subtle yet essential difference between the two will make you good at your work." (Valerie Kelly: How to write erotica.) We need to take erotica out the gutter and write great fiction.
"Literary erotica will often show sex as being an unpleasant experience or an experience with negative repercussions. Oftentimes, literary erotica will show sex as being boring or disappointing or dissatisfying on some other level..... Genre erotica tends to promote an ethos of social responsibility. Characters in genre erotica will rarely indulge in the use of recreational drugs and characters in erotica will practice safe sex whenever practicable and possible for the story. ♦ Genre erotica, particularly contemporary genre erotica, is usually more sex-positive than literary erotica. In genre erotica, characters enjoy the whole gamut of sexual experiences and go from one exciting liaison to another. Usually characters in genre erotica discover that each sexual adventure is more fulfilling than the previous one." (Lister, Ashley (2013-11-15). How To Write Erotic Fiction and Sex Scenes)
I've been fortunate enough to only ever have one story rejected, and to be quite honest, it was just...crap, written when I was in an emotional state and quite rightly rejected. It went straight into the recycle bin. I later turned the bones of that "story" into "Under Fire", which has run straight 5's (don't everybody rush to give it 1's, please) since it posted. Honestly, I have stupidly high standards for myself, and I would not hesitate to kill a story that fell below the 4.80 score mark.
As for the original question, have you considered asking someone to be your beta reader? Or to straight up edit your stories prior to submitting them? The difference is, generally, you don't give any kind of credit to your beta, and he/she doesn't make any edits, just gives feedback on the story itself and any errors he/she may have noticed, whereas, with an editor, you generally note that the story was edited by X, and the editor does make physical edits to your story (the best way to do this is to use Google Drive, share the document with your editor, allowing him/her to note edits made and suggest other edits). I have a beta, although I don't always use him, and his feedback is invaluable.
Also, consider what Steph said. The mods are generally very busy, but they're also very dedicated, and will give you good, solid feedback on exactly what needs to be fixed (and even how to fix it) if asked politely and with patience.
Want to spend some time wallowing in a Recommended Read? Pick one! Or two! Or seven!
I often end up writing crap. Usually, I realize that after two or three thousand words. A few of those get binned completely, but most end up simply getting re-written (some more than once) paragraph by paragraph and scene by scene until I'm satisfied. My belief is that this re-writing is the best way to improve writing skills and to find what works and what doesn't for oneself.
As writers, we need to multitask between storytelling and writing properly. A creative thought process doesn't want to care about commas and verb tenses all the time, and when you're already three paragraphs ahead in a fantasy you try to bring to paper, mistakes are bound to happen. Some parts are going to completely miss the target, but unless the whole point of the story turns out to fall flat, very little is beyond salvageable.
Thank you this helps a lot with the writing
In my experience, most story submissions are bounced for bad writing, not bad story-telling. As long as your technicals are in order and you follow the Lush editing format, your story will most likely be posted... but from there, your story is yours to own. You're free to fall flat on your face if your story-telling sucks. What the mods are great at here is improving your writing. Telling a good story is a skill you must find within yourself, or learn by reading the giants.
"Oh Was I Horny and Half Asleep When I Wrote This Or What?"
"Yes," the mistress replies, "You've been very naughty, Metilda, and must be punished for your transgressions."
