Considering Feedback

I don't have much going on today... just working on my regular projects.

Consequences Ch. 3 is out on Literotica.  Things are heating up, which I hope will make readers happy. It's another slow start story, but so far it's fun to tease.

Yesterday I submitted Chapter 5 of Sarah's Private Dick, the way I'd hoped to.  Chapters 4 and 5 were so much fun because Sarah and Derrick finally got to work off some sexual tension.  Well, a lot of sexual tension. It took them two chapters to get it all out.  I've started work on Chapter 6 today which is going to continue the plot along, although I'm rather hopeful that there will also be more sexy time. I really like these two.

It was kind of surprising to me how many people have let comments applauding the face that Derrick is a sensitive, generous, caring black character... apparently that's unusual on Literotica? That kind of makes me sad.  Granted, I'm always turned on by a dominating male presence, but I like to think that Derrick has that along with all the other attributes that make him a whole person instead of just a caricature. I grew up in a mostly African-American and Latino neighborhood and I've seen the stereotypes made real and I've also seen people who buck the stereotypes. Same with any other color. At heart, people are people.  But I'm glad that readers are enjoying the story and that I've done something different (apparently).

Something else that's been interesting about this story, I once received feedback from a reader who described himself as a black man who really liked one of my Interracial stories, but he had one small gripe with it.  According to him black men don't call their penises cocks, ever, they only call them dicks.  I'm not sure if he was truly qualified to speak for all black men in the country, much less the world, but it is something that I've kept in mind.  Mostly because, as I thought back to my high school years, I realized that all of my black friends did always talk about their dicks. Not their cocks. So for Sarah's Private Dick I only use the word 'cock' when writing from her point of view. 

One of the many ways in which reader feedback has effected my writing.

As a writer I'm a big fan of constructive criticism.  I was an English major with my focus in creative writing so I got very used to having people tear apart my work. And as long as they're saying something useful, with suggestions on how to fix the perceived flaws, I tend to thrive on that.

Despite the fact that there are plenty of people who write something useless like "this story sucks" without saying why, I always make it possible for people to leave comments. Partly because (of course) I like the comments with praise, and partly because I like to hear the constructive criticism and suggestions that people make. While it's not always possible for me to follow them, I usually end up branching off with other ideas because of what people have written.

Heck, I've even gotten ideas from having people write completely useless, mean criticism.  Anonymous Gets Hers is still one of my favorite stories that I've ever written. I found it incredibly satisfying on many levels!

I appreciate almost every comment that's left / feedback letter that I get.  One of the best things about Literotica is that people aren't afraid to say what appeals to them and what doesn't. I feel like writing, esp for a website like Lit, is a relationship between the writer and the readers.  And, like any relationship, it's important to have a dialogue rather than a monologue.  I write a story, I get feedback. And I love it when I get feedback from people who say they don't normally leave it. Because that's a new avenue of dialogue that's just opened up in the relationship. Any good relationship has a lot of dialogue. So thank you all for keeping this relationship so great =)