Authors, what are your goals in writing here?

Just curious, if you have goals with your writing on Lush, what are they? To hit a particular stat on stories or your profile? Earn a certain badge? Win a competition? Or something else? Or maybe nothing—you just love to write with no expectations or feedback needed.

My goals have evolved. When my late boyfriend brought me here, I just wanted to see if I could get published. Then I did, and I wanted to see if anyone would like my writing enough to leave a comment. They did. Then my bf passed, and I needed something to focus on so I decided to go for the Omnium badge. Got it.

And early on, I was drawn to competitions and still love the comradry felt with other authors in comps. A remaining goal is to continue to try to write a good story to the competition themes. A bigger goal is to write unique storylines and characters that I’ve not read before… and hope a few appreciate my efforts.

Please, share your goals. Sharing can maybe help you meet them! ❤️

My resolution this year was to take my writing a bit more seriously. I've been writing erotic shorts off and on since 2010, but often months or years would go by between stories. So I set a goal of writing 100,000 words this year, or about 8000 words per month. The plan was that would let me bundle several more collections of shorts to sell as ebooks.

I'm pleased with my progress, though I'm currently just a little behind: https://www.rubypinkromance.com/goals/

Since I was completing stories more often, I was publishing here on Lush more, and resolved to engage a bit more with the site. Previously, I never really responded to comments, read the forums, or participated in competitions. Now I check my notifications every day and try to respond to every comment. I've also joined two competitions, both of which resulted in stories I'm very happy with and probably wouldn't have written otherwise.

Now that I'm engaged a bit more, I'm kinda somewhat seriously pursuing an Omnium badge (I may never get there, but I'd be stoked to get the "80% of categories" badge, too).

And of course, aside from goals like number of words written and stuff, my goal has always been to write interesting women who don't feel like one-dimensional props in a male fantasy.

Love your goals, Pinky! Especially the last regarding how women are portrayed! Best wishes on earning the Prolific and Omnium badges! 😊

My goals have evolved since 2020 when I joined. Initially, I wanted to feel out how people would respond to the three or so stories I already completed and shared here. Before that, those were shared amongst peers, but I had a craving for a bigger, anonymous audience.

I then wanted to gain a RR. First comp story I did surprised me with that achievement. Then I wanted to pen a series, but make it something with a sense of peril. Did that with How Did We Even Get Here? Like I literally thought, "What would publishing a series that has a TV feel like something on Showtime get over?" Yep.

Then I desired making a comp top ten, but doubted my abilities. Early 2022 resolved that.

I then wanted to see if more RRs were possible to prove the first wasn't a fluke. My first top ten resolved that too. Then last year, I was shocked to earn another two.

Since then, I wanted to publish another series, which happened this year. I thought about how much my writing would need to improve to earn an EP. Thought it impossible, then the last comp happened 😳.

I still have a lingering goal of attaining a Prolific badge, but that is on the backburner. My current goal is to have 16 stories finished and ready so that I can publish twice weekly for a 2 month period. This is why I won't be publishing single stories for a while unless they're comp entries. I figured releasing in batches rather than a single every few months would be more beneficial to me in the long run.

I am curious to how much more my goals will evolve.

EDIT: Almost forgot, another I had and still have is writing unhinged female characters. I love them in regular fiction - quite liked Gillian Flynn's representation of them in her books I've read, so wanted a go at them too. My Valentine comp story from last year is probably my favourite outing on that front.

Carlton! Love that you plan on publishing more during those months! A writer named MasterJonathan used to publish every Monday and Friday like clockwork. Readers loved his regularity. 😊

Great question, Kimmi.

My goal has been, and probably will always be, to continuously evolve my writing to tell what I consider the best possible stories. I love taking tired tropes (gardener, billionaire, horny teen, ...) and seeing if I can give them a fresh angle, as well as finding pictures that not only serve as cover art but also give me inspiration to conjure the story behind the image.

I daren't go back and read some of my early stuff here from 2015, but my first story earned an RR so it must have been okay. And I've been steadily adding to them, with over a hundred RRs and EPs so far in 120-odd stories. I must be doing something right!

From here, I want to keep finding ways to tell scorching hot stories that haven't been told. Like you, injecting something a bit different but still grounded in reality. Something that whisks readers into the situations I create so they lose themselves for the duration of the piece.

I adore story comments. If readers enjoy what I do and leave a comment, I'll always endeavour to write back, and usually give away tidbits of the writing process I went through, for the vaguely interested.

A fringe goal I decided earlier this year is to reach the Prolific badge and shoot for Omnium, though I know a couple of categories are going to be a real struggle. This year so far I've ticked off 6 more categories, and I have 4 more already written in 4 different cats, awaiting final edits, so I'm getting there. Doubt I'll get there this year but, as my profile says, I'm determined.

MasterWordsmith, anyone with eyeballs can tell the amount of work you’ve put into perfecting your craft. And diving into these other categories will help you with your goal to tell stories not told before. I’m happy to have shared an EP with you and an RR or two. 😉

My only goal when I started here was to publish some stories and not embarrass myself. I've come pretty close, I think, though some might disagree. I do not consider myself a writer, just someone who writes now and again on a narrow sheet of paper. I can't invent the sorts of stories that garner badges and comps are not for me. I did bet Miss Pixel a new pair of walking shoes against a case of kitty treats that I could write 100 micros in a year. That was a while ago now and as close to a challenge goal as I'm likely to set for myself.

My goals? Not intentionally different just to stand out, but I suspect they may not be the same as those of many others here!

1. To keep the parts of my brain that still function after the latest surgery on it active.

2. To work hard to achieve something and do so reaching the required standard.

3, To demonstrate and celebrate that my imagination is unaffected by events in the way other skills have been.

4. To improve and to feel happy when help, encouragement and positive comment is offered.

5. To enjoy what I do and do it to the best of my ability.

6. To bring a smile to the face of someone reading my stories.

....Well, you DID ask!

Kis, not many can write 100 in a year! Many hope you publish more!

I’m celebrating your imagination with you, JustForYou!

That's a lovely comment and summarises what I try to do perfectly, Thank you,

I had some thoughts in my head and they needed somewhere to go so they weren't all constantly cluttering up my brain.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

"A fringe goal I decided earlier this year is to reach the Prolific badge and shoot for Omnium, though I know a couple of categories are going to be a real struggle. "

As I labour through my watersports story, trying to hide my disdain but.only 4 genres from omnium, I can relate to this sentence completely!

I don't really have goals as such. But I can imagine that if the day comes when I have an EP, a competition win and omnium badge, maybe millionaires club too, I might feel I've, so to speak, 'completed the game' and taken Lush as far as I can, if that makes sense? But since I don't have any of them, you're stuck with me for a while I guess 😅

Quote by MC1982

As I labour through my watersports story, trying to hide my disdain but.only 4 genres from omnium, I can relate to this sentence completely!

I don't really have goals as such. But I can imagine that if the day comes when I have an EP, a competition win and omnium badge, maybe millionaires club too, I might feel I've, so to speak, 'completed the game' and taken Lush as far as I can, if that makes sense? But since I don't have any of them, you're stuck with me for a while I guess 😅

I sympathize with Water sports. Honestly, mine was barely there… girl peeing in shower, prompted by her mate. 😅😂🤣

An intriguing question, Kimi. Simply put, my LS goals have evolved, perhaps more than most.

Background: For years I was a story reader. Then, I helped with ideas or read-throughs of other authors. Then COVID and my wife challenged me to write some stories. I wrote 5 books (way short of LS English standards). But I wanted people to read them, and I remembered the ebook button here. Then I discovered it doesn't work and you need to publish a chapter at a time. Re-wites, where I learned about punctuation and grammar, and with plenty of help, became a better writer.

Now: Four books down and with the fifth to appear shortly (chapter by chapter), I have turned to completing the Ominium badge and trying to improve my writing further. I also like taking part in the competitions too. As for writing, my stories are nearly all character-based, and a little humour often creeps into them. No issues writing in any of the genres, even WS.

As for the future, my goal is to have fun here and try to improve. 😊 Not expecting to win anything, but I do hope that there are new badges added to the existing ones to give authors new exciting challenges.

I have absolutely no goals. Before I wrote my first story, I think I was fed up at work, and decided that I'd be a writer. Then I wrote my first story and realised it was decidedly mediocre, but I had fun doing it. I mostly write when I have a certain story wanting to get out. The story I end up with rarely matches my expectations for what I hoped it would be, so I'll stick to the day job, lol.

I came to lush for the chat as some site i had been on had just been pulled.. endd up trying my hand at writing.. my first story was rejected and never saw the light of day.. i never considered myself a writer and just wrote the sort of stories that turned me on.. somehow along the way, i achieved all the goals MC1982 mentioned so perhaps my race is over and I've completed the game 🤷‍♀️

I am interested in writing erotica and getting feedback on what people think. I am a professional writer but not famous (except in certain circles) and have a fiction book (a non-erotic thriller) scheduled to be published later this year (2024) under a different name.

I am here at Lush Stories because I want to explore this side of myself. I am married and not looking for anything else. But, from this fictional standpoint, it is very exciting to write about my own fantasies and to read about others' imagined worlds.

I don't have any volume goals here. Getting books published takes a lot of time, especially the marketing phase. But I really appreciate having this forum to be among like-minded, highly sexual people.

@noahprester… just read this story and freakin’ LOVED IT!

More, please…

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/oral-sex/a-well-formed-vocabulary

Kimmi, such another wonderful question, truly, you are my curiosity.

If there is a little about me, I adore erotic fiction, and I have since I was a teenager; my heroine is Anais Nin. A few years ago, we had a lot of time to kill, and boredom was killing us. I have my muse... my husband. He is English and used to write here. Unfortunately, he always doubts himself a lot. One night, he deleted all his stories and his profile. I was very annoyed, I loved his stories, and he wrote one about me. I tried to convince him to start again. He said, "If you think it is so easy, you write them, and you will see."

So I started but did not publish them. My difficulty is I am French, but with an English grandfather, I grew up around English and studied it. My first story here was short, then a longer one, then a series. My God, it was such an accident, but the six parts are all RRs with two EPs.

I have had many failures and unfinished projects that haunt me. Yes, it is difficult, and I understand (and adore) my husband more. He is happier as my editor and mentor. I speak like a French woman, he is my translator.

A goal? To write, with emotion, to explain that there is never careless sex. If this is a woman's point of view... so be it.

I am very fortunate to have inspired people here to give me prizes, and I won a competition. For this, I am still overwhelmed. Now, I try not to pressure myself to write and to find interesting situations that are not the obvious ones to take. Someone, please advise me on this. Ideas are precious.

Badges are wonderful, and they invoke that addictive child in me. Recognition is precious, too. I adore comments and feedback, but I write for myself.

For me, the most special goal is the sense of community and to be a part of that and write good stories.

A very interesting summary of your motives for being here and writing. I think it's a good thing that people are inspired in different ways, because it means that even the same set of scenarios will produce a different story, depending on the motivation. Thank you for sharing what you said in the post, very illuminating.

Quote by AmuseBouche

Kimmi, such another wonderful question, truly, you are my curiosity.

If there is a little about me, I adore erotic fiction, and I have since I was a teenager; my heroine is Anais Nin. A few years ago, we had a lot of time to kill, and boredom was killing us. I have my muse... my husband. He is English and used to write here. Unfortunately, he always doubts himself a lot. One night, he deleted all his stories and his profile. I was very annoyed, I loved his stories, and he wrote one about me. I tried to convince him to start again. He said, "If you think it is so easy, you write them, and you will see."

So I started but did not publish them. My difficulty is I am French, but with an English grandfather, I grew up around English and studied it. My first story here was short, then a longer one, then a series. My God, it was such an accident, but the six parts are all RRs with two EPs.

I have had many failures and unfinished projects that haunt me. Yes, it is difficult, and I understand (and adore) my husband more. He is happier as my editor and mentor. I speak like a French woman, he is my translator.

A goal? To write, with emotion, to explain that there is never careless sex. If this is a woman's point of view... so be it.

I am very fortunate to have inspired people here to give me prizes, and I won a competition. For this, I am still overwhelmed. Now, I try not to pressure myself to write and to find interesting situations that are not the obvious ones to take. Someone, please advise me on this. Ideas are precious.

Badges are wonderful, and they invoke that addictive child in me. Recognition is precious, too. I adore comments and feedback, but I write for myself.

For me, the most special goal is the sense of community and to be a part of that and write good stories.

I remember your husband and loved his writing! He used to drop in Rump’s Bar and spoke of you with obvious love!

I've been writing for a few years off and on for my pleasure, but this last spring I decided to try my luck at submitting stories for others to read. My first story made the top three for the month. I was so excited I wanted to have another do the same or better. As it Is right now. I should be able to take 2nd this month.

I've also tried to enhance my writing and improve my spelling. I never took English class seriously and wish I would have now. I hope this helps me get better.

I also have a bit of a kink knowing that others are getting excited about my stories. It's even more of a turn-on when they read my true stories. Well, mostly true stories. The thought of my writing being good enough to get someone excited is just amazing to me.

Hmm... first off, great question. it started out with me writing an erotic story. well, not the first i'd written, but i'd slowly been evolving from writing fiction and poetry to smut (I love that work, smut - I use it a lot). so I wrote a kind of superhero comic book themed story involving Supergirl cosplay and sent it in. just to see what would happen. i'd just realized that I wanted someone else besides me to read it and what the hell and...

well, people did. not a lot of people - lush was VERY small 14 (yes, it really has been that long) years ago, but some did. so I wrote another. and another and then there was a comp and I figured, hell, why not, and I won... i mean, seriously. first place. and a LOT of people took notice and started reading my stories and it was kind of a nice feeling and a bit addictive so it inspired me to write more. and then, well... the luster wore off a little. i mean, I like the recognition, but I found that the real impetus to writing was I liked to create characters and weave stories and I started doing it just for me - I got weird too - like it didn't matter if it was popular, I just wanted to write stuff I enjoyed, so that's pretty much what I do now. i write stories for me and I share them and it's great if people like them, but mostly, I like writing them and getting lost in the worlds i create and that's what really matters.

btw, those of you who are chasing, or have achieved the Ominium badge? you're all insane. also, damn. I'm impressed.

I like to write. My goal is to write and get reactions, whether those are comments, likes, or making the top ten in a comp. Simple as that. Badges and such just happen. I barely ever look at them.

New author here, waiting for my first story to be published, already have three microfiction stories published. My goals are subjective, and initially for my pleasure, and hopefully others will enjoy it too. For me, when I'm reading Lush stories, I'm looking for what I call "good reads," and then creating some good reads myself.

When I was editing my first story, I'd get to parts where I'd reach for my cock, sometimes without even realizing it. I know I'm really hitting the story line when I start stroking. This is the same thing with other's stories. If I'm reaching for my dick, during their story, I know it's a good one; the more times I reach, the better their storyline. At least for me, If I'm not stroking during a story, it's not so good a story for me.

So that's the new Lush metric right there: Strokes Per Story 😂

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

So that's the new Lush metric right there: Strokes Per Story 😂

It certainly measures my success rate 😐

I've never been much for writing stories. It was early in the pandemic and I was bored so I started writing about an experience with a MILF I met. I enjoyed writing the first part and wound up writing a 3 part series. Then with the pandemic in full force, I wrote more just to pass the time. Eventually, I tapered off. Then I ran into a couple of very tough editors and I didn't want to deal with the BS issues they raised. And that led to me not writing anymore. Now I enjoy those exceptional writers who have continued to produce both well-written and erotic tales.