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I can tell you, as an author on the site, it's what "sells." My het work gets FAR less attention than my slash, and given that I don't write in anime-based fandoms, Twilight, or Harry Potter (eg, 90% of the readership base), it's very evident. I'm not at all offended, but I can also say that statistically, in the romance ebook genre, it's slash that sells, be it M/M or F/F. And it's largely the influence of anime and manga based fandoms, with the emphasis on yaoi and yuri, that has made that trend take off. Add to that the preponderance of female writers on the site, and there you have it. We like to fantasize about two men having at it, just like many men find two women making love arousing. Think of it as a perfect storm. As far as the advertisers, if you know of any straight publishers willing to buy some banners here, bring 'em on! We LOVE advertisers.

Nope. But even the best writer in the world needs someone objective to pick up the things they miss. As an author, I know what I want to happen. I know what's going on in the heads of all my characters. But am I slipping something in that throws off the story's chronology? Did I have a dread point of view wobble, and let the reader look into the wrong head for a moment? The very hardest part for me was POV wobbles. To my dismay, if I'm writing from A's point of view, I can't refer to A as the blond. Why? Because it's A's point of view and he's not seeing himself. He doesn't think of himself as the blond. He doesn't notice his own eye color, or build, or height. So if I want to describe A, I need to wait to do it through someone else's point of view, which means a break. And you can't change point of view every two paragraphs, because you make the reader carsick that way. You yank them out of the world you're trying to build for them. It's not easy to see this in your own writing at all, and now I find I'm actually looking for it. And that will make me a better writer in the long run, because my goal is to make my editor work hard to find my mistakes. (Hint: adverbs. I still like them too much.)

I'm not sure that I would say a writer has to enjoy his/her own story at all times--sometimes the best you can hope for is satisfaction. Does this fit the theme I want? Is the character's reaction emotionally sound so as to draw my reader deeper? How well did I hit that dark note that should make a reader unwilling to look away? As a reader, how would I respond to this? To be perfectly honest, as long as I am satisfied with how it all turns out, the readers seem quite happy, too. And the ones that aren't tend to be the ones who wouldn't buy a second copy of a novel when the first wore out. Fair-weather-fans of anything aren't supportive when life has puppies in your lap and you really need help, so, and I realize this is blunt: don't write to please your readers. If they enjoy it, great, but if you can't at least be satisfied with it, then it's not worth doing. (Generic "you".... Not trying to be offensive or pushy; I drifted into 2nd person.... Strange, really, since I usually drift between first and third, with nothing in between....) As a reader, I find myself a sucker for stories with darkness, humor, realistic emotions, and characters/world(s) that are fleshed out just enough but not too much. Info dumps are a major turn off for me because I just don't retain all the details that way. Don't get me wrong, I love details, but I like them better when they're spaced out somewhat and not all in one place. Take a paragraph or two to describe something/someone, physically. Emotions and mental state are harder to get right--I went to my dad's college classes with him when I was little and I absorbed more than anyone expected me to, so I can be kind of critical of getting the emotions right. The thing about writing emotions, though--at least to me--is this: emotions that fit the situations will draw a reader in. I'd be the same. I'd be pissed/sad/angry, too. You want the reader to empathize with your characters, because it inspires a deeper connection, yes? So I'm of the opinion that using the correct emotional response (for the character in question; not everyone reacts the same way!) is a key element to writing well. It's not the only element, but it is one of them, and societal differences will weigh in on that equation, too. And, yes, editing is big, too, but--as others have noted--you certainly seem to do well with it already. Plotting a story ahead of time.... I won't say it's a waste of time, but you don't need to plan every little thing. List situations, events, maybe even conversations that you want to include, figure out if they need to be in any certain order, and then it's kind of like a Fill In The Blank game. Just try to get your characters from one point to the next. Sometimes they'll try to off track you, and sometimes it may work better for your story if you let them, but if the end result of the off tracking doesn't feel right to you, scrap it and try again. I don't know that there is any certain number of crises that ought to be included, but DG has a point--trouble comes in threes, right? Three big problems, plus however many little disasters crop up along the way. If you get stuck at one scene, skip ahead to another so you keep writing. Let the part where you got stuck simmer in the back of your mind as you write ahead, and sometimes you'll have it all figured out by the time you get back to it. Tenses, now, past vs. present: Past is often easier to stick to in writing, but sometimes the action seems slow or just doesn't flow right. Present is difficult to stick to--which can be a turn off if the writing switches back and forth from 'is' to 'was'--and can cause a writer problems when deciding what phrasing to use, because, of course, it is the present and no one knows what's going to happen next except the author, who shouldn't be talking about the future in the present! (Sorry, it's a bit of a pet peeve....) Still, I feel it's a challenge every writer should try their hand at once, if not more than once. It gives them an appreciation for writing nuance that, I feel, many fan fiction authors lack. I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I hope this helps!

Welllll....from what my published friends tell me, the act of publishing can be eviscerating, as you go through the copy edits and many other things BEFORE your book is ready to be published.

Honestly, fan fiction is a good way to get a feel for your voice as a writer. You have a cast of canon characters to play with, you have a world ready for you, and you even have, if not a plot line, certainly a good jumping off point for a story. Have you seen these little packets in the stores? They have premeasured spices, a recipe, and an ingredient list. If you've never made chicken tikka masala, or apple and sage pork chops, these might be a good way to learn how to make the dish. After a few times, you'll find yourself improvising with the spices or proportions. Before you know it, you've made the recipe your own, and it's led you to create another recipe. One that doesn't rely on premeasured spices and a recipe card. I still write a bit of fan fiction, but it led me to writing original work. It also taught me to sustain novel length writing. Don't knock fan fiction, because it's what gave me the courage to write.

Well, then. There's really no refuting that. I think I'll have that response cast in marble and passed to my descendants. And you threw in the formula - three crises, I haven't found it ever so eloquently and simply outlined. And I was TRAWLING the other day (when I can't write I read and by golly I READ) for a simple breakdown of 'chapter goals' to help me outline and I stalled. All I could find was the 'first chapter goal' - hook the reader, introduce your characters, ground them in the setting, give them a puzzle to solve. Then I could find a damn thing. I got so hopeless lost in trying to make goals I implored my writers group for help and recieved a scathing response to the concept of plotting. Their philosophy was an adamant 'just write, like travelling across country by only what you can see in your headlights'. I was so intimidated by the staunch opinion being expressed (in the area of "plotting is for sissies") I didn't even begin to point out that I am currently in the middle of an extensive road-trip and I rely on three electronic devices, a map and a compass just to get from one town to the next. Flexibility I can get on board with but no plotting leaves me cold with terror. Mind you, the Nanowrimo approach scares me too. If I were to drive the way I write it would be with my maps in front of me and my eyes on the rear-view mirrior. Come to think of it, now I understand why my every attempt at writing dies at the end of the driveway... How is it a person can be entirely self-aware, have an arsenal of information and STILL be so utterly clueless until the obvious is pointed out?!?!? This is why I'm not spy!!

Oohh, interesting points. I disagree- in the sense that it's possible to write about very serious topics in a not very serious manner. That's why I made the distinction between a rape scene and a rape fantasy; the latter is very obviously not something that would happen in real life (you know, the whole "but actually it feels good and deep down you start to like it and your rapist is kinda hot, too"). To me, the difference in my reaction stems from the degree of realism in the story. Also, people have different kinks- some fantasize about being forced to submit, about pain, about being the receiving end of knife play. I, personally, am deeply disturbed by overly violent porn; screaming and pleading and crying literally nauseates me. But if someone enjoys it because they fantasize about being the one pleading and crying, does that mean they lack empathy? And with regards to the other side: (found on psychforums.com) This person may have issues, but empathy doesn't seem to be one of them. This, on the other hand, I agree with. Actual violence kinks aside, authors joyfully inflict all sorts of suffering on their characters as some quick-fix way of adding drama to their story, and more often than not I feel like if they had been exposed to any of it, even second- or third hand exposed, they might not be as flippant about it. I read (well, started) a story once where the main character had been sexually abused as a child, whored out, made into an alcoholic by age six, had a violent father, a mother in a mental hospital, had to drop out of school early to work full-time and ended up with a stalkerish boyfriend, and that was just the one character. It was completely ridiculous. You could write a whole novel about each of those issues. I've spent the last year attending to a survivor, and yes, it has definitely made me more... more easily offended, if you will. I'm more likely to find stories downright ignorant now. My definition of what passes as a rape fantasy has narrowed quite a bit.

I think there's various reasons as to why someone choses to write about violence, as Attackegg says it's sometimes necessary for the narrative: the experience of a soldier in the First World War, a prisoner in Auschwtiz, a child witness of genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo. All of these characters are living in violent times and the description of the violence is part of the story. That said, there's a big difference between telling the story of these characters as serious narrative and writing pornography about the same characters. Frankly, I think you need to lack empathy for other people to write a fantasy story which is aiming to produce arousal from non-consensual violence, or, consume pornography in which non-consensual violence is an integral part. I think the reason that non-consensual pornographic writing it's so common here is largely down to a lack of experience, theoretical or actual, of human suffering and also due to the widespread misogyny that infects heterosexual pornography. If all you have only every experienced pornography through media which displays contempt of human beings, this will seem like normal sexual behaviour.

Therapy. Yep. I said it. It can be downright cathartic to write really fucked up stuff sometimes. That being said, my writing has always been about processing emotions for me, regardless of the subject.