I’ve published three stories on Lush. (Technically seven, but five are part of a series.) I am working on finalizing my next two stories and I realized something.

It dawned on me last weekend that several things in my stories feel redundant, at least to me. If you redacted my characters’ names across the stories, they could easily be the same people. While the backstories are unique, the banter often feels too similar. And the sex scenes… They feel very ‘rinse and repeat’, right down to me using the same words again and again, only in different ways.

With one of the stories, I am taking several steps back and trying to change my voice and my writing style. Here is the thing; it doesn’t feel natural. I am playing with new words, different phrasings, even different punctuation. Considering that I am a new author with no formal training, the fact that this is difficult should not be a surprise. It has been very challenging. And humbling. But even then, when I get to the sex - Déjà vu.

I am curious if other authors here started in a similar place. How did you move beyond feeling like a one trick pony?

Or am I overthinking this?

I’ve got a story I’ve been sitting on for over a year. Different category than most of my other stuff, much more complex story.

I was struggling to give it the ending it deserved. Last weekend, I had an idea and it worked! The perfect ending!

The one thing that was weighing on me was the length of the story. It was sitting at almost 35,000 words! After releasing my first story (Open Secrets - 25,000+ words) over five installments, I was hesitant to roll out another series. So I’ve been trying to knock the story down to under 10,000 words without losing the story or diminishing the characters. It’s been challenging, but I am close. I hope to get this out in wild shortly into the new year!

Quote by LYFBUZ

I've read all the Comp entries and there are some great stories including a whole bunch by Rumps regulars. Gonna be a tough one to judge I think.

How are comps judged? Purely subjective, based on a small group of mods? Are likes/favorites/comments taken into account? Just curious.

And yes, there are some amazing entries. Regardless of how the winners are picked, I am excited to see who wins!

Quick fly by this morning...

Merry Christmas Eve to all you here at Rumps! And for those that do not celebrate Christmas, I hope you and your loved ones are having a safe and joyous holiday season!

I wanted to say thank you to everyone here. You’ve all been super welcoming since I barged through the front door a few weeks ago, a half-used bag of coffee in hand, and threw an obscure alt-country song on the jukebox. Don’t get me wrong. The beans were high-end. And the song was pretty freakin’ awesome. 😎

The is an amazing place filled with special people. When I finally built up the confidence to start sharing some stories that had been percolating on my Mac, and I decided that Lush was the site I wanted to do that, I had no idea I would stumble across such an amazing group of people. So, again, thank you so much! ❤️

On top of that, you are all amazing writers. My view of what “erotica” can be has expanded so much over the past two months. And in a large part, that is due to several of you.

Gotta run. I will take a hot cup of those Trung Nguyen special "mountain beans” for the road. Need a little something for the final commute into the office for 2025.

Quote by techgoddess

Having a shitty day. I'd like a very large glass of Moscato.

I just spent time reporting that an author named Elaine Phillips stole and published Hot Wife Hotel and The Office Whore in October and November of 2020 on Amazon. I am so angry.

I am so sorry, Kat. That is horrible.

I never ever thought about people coming to sites like this, taking content, and then re-publishing it elsewhere.

I hope you are able to get it taken down.

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Merry Christmas Eve Eve.

My plans are changing. Son was in hospital with Flu A. He’s recovering at his dad’s house.

Hope your son feels better soon, Kimmi! And good luck with your dad. Lots going on. Hugs.

Quote by fuzzy1954

Kansas City Chiefs are moving across the state border into Kansas City Kansas. The new stadium (with dome) is projected to top 4 billion $$ yes that's with a CAPITAL B, schedule to open in 2031 season.

Bummed everyone is going with domes. I grew up going to games at Lambaeu Field and there is something about football outside in the snow and the rain.

Quote by techgoddess

The family fun was wonderful on the cruise. Our son’s family opted for staying two nights with us before they go home. (one down, one to go). But the littles are a lot. Waiting for it to warm up a bit so we can go down and have a beach day. Hard to get into trouble with sand toys. My heart is full. (but so are my hands. Haha).

Welcome back, Kat!

I know the breakfast time has come and gone, but a hot mug of English Breakfast tea sounds wonderful right now!

All of this talk about religion and PTO and cruises… So much I’d love to add. But alas, I do not have time today. With most of my co-workers already done for the year, you would think it’d be quiet in the office today. Unfortunately, no.

I just have to get through today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Then I am done working for the year. The holidays are going to be quiet for us this year, and I am looking forward to it!

Quote by Seeker4

I don't think it has been formally announced, has it? Just sprite's post here?

I was wondering about that. Outside of the forums, it would be nice is there was an ‘authors portal’ where they posted various announcements.

Granted, working with digital product developers as part of my day job, I could go down a rabbit hole when it comes to site “enhancements”. And that applies to every single website I stumble across. lol

Good morning/afternoon, everyone!

Lots of early risers in this group. As much as I want to be a “morning person”, if it hasn’t happed yet, I think that ship has sailed.

Another cold morning here in flyover country, so I will take a hot cup of Joe. It looks like we may get some unseasonably warmer weather later this week, so who knows… I may celebrate Christmas with some hot chocolate and a Kimmi inspired phallic shaped pile of marshmallows.

Quote by Seeker4

Took an editing pass at my new gay story (see the what are you working on thread) and wow, why did I shuffle that one off to my Under Review folder instead of jumping back on it after submitting my comp entry. It's actually pretty good and needing only small edits. Coming soon to a Lush near you.

I am looking forward to your new story, Seeker. Hopefully you can get it submitted and approved before the Mod break.

I strayed up way too late working on my next story. I am diving into the Group Sex category. Seven guys, three women. And a lot to keep track of! I was hoping to get it out this year, but convinced myself to slow down.

I am new enough that my ego is still chasing likes, favorites, and followers. Oh, and the top 25 on the Top Authors page. I need to take a deep breath and remind myself that quality is more important than quantity.

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

Today we're using Black Mountain coffee from Port City Java.

A steaming hot mug of the Black Mountain coffee from Port City Java sounds perfect for a frigid morning on the frozen tundra!

Big sports day today! Arsenal fight to stay on top of the table this afternoon. And the Packers are fighting for their playoff lives this evening.

Since the jukebox looks open, allow me to add to today’s already fantastic mix. Here’s a song that feels appropriate for this fine establishment!

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

.

Highly caffeinated and hot, eh? Hmm…

Will she do?? 😀

Yes. Please. And thank you!

I had been writing for a little over a year before I joined Lush. I had around four stories with of material, all longer stories (20,000 to 40,000 words), and all focusing on two sets of characters. Needless-to-say, I was very invested in those characters.

My first story on Lush - spread across five chapters - was focused on some of those characters. After that, I was curious how much readers cared about the characters. Most of the comments I’ve received suggest that people are vested in them. That got me thinking... Do I keep building on what I started? Or do I take what I’ve written, change the names, and turn them into stand-alone stories? I keep going back and forth.

When you create characters that you really like, and you keep their stories going, how much of that is for you vs. for potential readers?

Lots of questions. I am obviously still trying to figure all of this out. 😊

Quote by Seeker4

Or we just accept that our characters live in an alternate universe where extra body parts and odd adjustments to the basic human body plan are the norm. 😁

The Lushiverse, coming to your Internet is 2026...

It worked from Marilyn Monroe, allegedly. lol

Quote by wxt55uk

Thank you for the heads up, sprite. 😊 Another here who appreciates what the moderators do. Enjoy the break, and of course, the holidays. 😀

I’d like to echo that, sprite. I appreciate everything the mods do! I can’t imagine how much time and energy everyone puts in behind the scenes. I hope everyone enjoys the well deserved break!

Quote by Chet_Morton

She's cute, but I'm wondering how she uses that eleventh finger. 😉 I sometimes have to crop my images very carefully to hide an extra appendage.

Yeah, I noticed that after I shared my last post. 🙄 I was able to fix it and get the updated cover in before a mod grabbed my story.

So, I tried something. I stated in Nightcafe, got something I liked, and then pulled it into ChatGPT for some final editing and rework. Turned out pretty good.

Quote by Seeker4

Bruce Willis kicking ass is an odd plot for a Christmas movie but, hey, it takes place at Christmas, right?🎅🌲🌟

Apparently, you are forgetting an even more bizarre Christmas movie - Gremlins!

Hey Bear! It’s f’ing freezing here this morning. My fancy home computer thingy said it felt like -18 when I rolled out of bed earlier. I stayed up too late watching football last night, so I am tired and cold. So give me something highly caffeinated and hot, please.

Quote by Seeker4

I went back to that well (Nightcafe) for the cover image for my comp entry. First try had mixed results as mentioned above. Went back and tried again after I had the story basically ready to go and it nailed it on the first try. Not sure if it was because I used a different model (one nice thing with Nightcafe is that they have multiple including some trained by their users) or wrote my prompt better. The only issue, and I decided not to fight with it at this point, is the woman isn't as curvy as I describe her in the story. She should be more of an hourglass figure.

I’ve struggled getting AI to make characters curvier or thinner. Granted, I’ve been using ChatGPT. It’s funny. I am usually pretty good at writing prompts and getting solid results. When it comes to anything creative, meh.

I am looking forward to playing with Nightcafe for some future cover art.

Quote by LYFBUZ

Oops forgot the pic, this is the first one. The girl is almost dead on, so is the room but I was trying to get a more ancient looking doorway. I think AI interprets "ancient" as Roman or Greek.

Wow. Impressive!

Quote by LYFBUZ

Great. Now I'm distracted by the butt plug. 1495 words and I even put together an AI cover image. It still fucking sucks....but I realized this is my first completed story since Dec 2024 so I'm just gonna get it in.

Does this happen to you folks? I have over 100 stories almost done but I always start a new one instead of finishing the almost complete stories.

Butt plugs ARE distracting. lol

I am the opposite. I have around a dozen stories that I keep writing and re-writing. Several have the same characters, so when I make a major change, there is a trickle down effect and I NEED to then re-re-write everything. At some point, I just need to step away from those characters and start writing some stand-alone stuff that I can release into the wild and never look back.

Quote by LYFBUZ

Maybe it just needs a butt plug.

Yes! When in doubt, add a butt plug. I think that saved my comp entry. 😂

And Bear, I will take a cup of the Lumberjack with a splash of cream.

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Drinks are on me tonight!!

Had a fruitful visit to the home office. :)

Thanks, Kimmi.

Hey Bear, make mine a Midwinter Night's Dram, neat, please.

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Hey you, your screenname is kinda a mouthful… which can be good , but is there something shorter we can call you by in here?

Let’s go with Cog. Short and sweet. 😊

Quote by JamesLlewellyn
Welcome, Paddling! Just out of curiosity, who is Cognito, and how do you paddle in them?

I realized last night where you were going with that Bear….

In my case, paddling is not, um, a spanking thing. Not much a BDSM guy here. Light bondage, blindfolds, sure… But I digress. Paddling is a water sports thing - mind out of the gutter; eyes up here! - like kayaking, paddling boarding, and surfing.

Incognito… Well, there are some scary folks out there and I tend to be a private person.

Perhaps I should have considered the crowd here when I came up with a username on Lush. lol

Anyways, it’s good to be here! I am not a “tea in the morning” guy. I will take a cup of the President's Choice Maple Coffee, with a dash of cream, please!

Sorry about the comp rejection. Fortunately, you’ve got a week to make some changes. I am looking forward to reading your story!

Quote by Seeker4

Do other male Lushies get profile likes from seemingly random women? I assume they are scammers or "pick me girls" of some kind so I usually just glance at their profile (which is usually minimal) and forget about them. But I see some other men do respond so I wonder what the game really is.

Yes. I get several likes and a handful of random messages. Most simply say “hi” or “hey”.

When I first joined, I sometimes responded. Most were looking for coin. When I told them I didn’t have any, they would usually ask me to buy some. Yeah, not happening. And sketchy AF.

The funny thing is that some of the women were members. And some had even published several stories.

Quote by Seeker4

So I'm working on cover art for my advent story. And I give what I think is a fairly detailed prompt. And I got something different but that might still work. It's a topless woman kneeling on a beach. Except I asked for a woman in a bikini standing on a beach next to a kneeling man. Way to go AI. I tried some AI editing to add the man in and he looked like something out of a Picasso painting. And not a good one. I only went back to AI for this one because I was having trouble finding stock that fit.

I am looking forward to seeing it!

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

Welcome, Paddling! Just out of curiosity, who is Cognito, and how do you paddle in them?

Perhaps bring them on by as well? 🤣

My name is James, but everyone calls me Bear, owing to me being a Canadian Polar Bear and all.

Thanks, Bear!

Considering it was -15 degrees when I woke up, I am tempted to skip the coffee and go directly to that bottle of Jameson. But unfortunately, I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, so will take what Kimmi is having.

Quote by techgoddess

Just so you know…diehard Lions fan here. 😉

Well, FUCK. Now I will never get another story published on Lush. lol

I guess being a Lions fan is better than being a Vikings or Bears fan. 😊