Softcore erotica suggestions

I'm looking for works that have softcore erotica as its theme. I'm writing a piece that's stuck in the mud and could use some inspiration for a change. Most people here prefer using coarse, blatant descriptions...which isn't what I'm looking for.

Here's the deal:

This is another thread supporting shameless plugs, supported by yours truly. Post your stories or your favorites which have softcore erotica as its theme. It can be from any heterosexual category. If you're feeling brave, homosexual categories are not off the table. It has to be good. That's the only bar I'll set here.

Stories can be on Literotica or Amazon, I don't care as long as it's enjoyable. Also, to make it easy for the mod, message me the links that redirects outside Literotica.


Cheers
Bard


P.S. If I read it, I'll rate it. For me it's either 1*, 3* or 5*. If you post any suggestion that doesn't even remotely match the theme of what I've requested, I'll give ya the mighty finger and a * for wasting time.

Here's one of mine which is a bit unusual:

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-gift-turning-pages

electricblue66 said:

Here's one of mine which is a bit unusual:

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-gift-turning-pages

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Dude, that's the opposite of softcore.

https://www.literotica.com/s/what-are-friends-for-30

Not heterosexual, but very indirect when it comes to the sexy bits

Sammael Bard said:

I'm looking for works that have softcore erotica as its theme. I'm writing a piece that's stuck in the mud and could use some inspiration for a change. Most people here prefer using coarse, blatant descriptions...which isn't what I'm looking for.

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The Third Ring (linked in my sig) is in Sci-Fi. The story is nearly non-erotic, but it does have a wedding night and a couple sexy passages that are soft core.

Some of mine, or jeanne_d_artois' might be appropriate. These are a start:

https://www.literotica.com/s/a-year-and-a-day

https://www.literotica.com/s/ancient-liberties

https://www.literotica.com/s/christmas-journey-1

https://www.literotica.com/s/hedgehog-feud

Sammael Bard said:

If you post any suggestion that doesn't even remotely match the theme of what I've requested, I'll give ya the mighty finger and a * for wasting time.

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Don't suppose it might help to start out with an illustrative example? I don't really expect I'll have anything for you myself, but at any rate it might be tricky to usefully define "softcore" literature in an era where mainstream and romance novels contain sex scenes that would be certain to flout the Mull of Kintyre test. Beyond avoiding the ch*t word, which I'll take as obvious, what else do you have in mind?

CyranoJ said:

Don't suppose it might help to start out with an illustrative example? I don't really expect I'll have anything for you myself, but at any rate it might be tricky to usefully define "softcore" literature in an era where mainstream and romance novels contain sex scenes that would be certain to flout the Mull of Kintyre test. Beyond avoiding the ch*t word, which I'll take as obvious, what else do you have in mind?

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Well, on a scale of explicitness from 0-10, I think somewhere between 2 to 4 will do.

Actions are rich and suggestive but mellow in explicit description as compared to hardcore erotica -- that sort of thing. The kind that provokes reader to use their own imagination rather than feeding the scene to them. Sounds impossible but I think that's it. You'd be able to publish that in mainstream novel without anyone fussing about it as certified porno.

The PostScript was a warning to prevent a diarrhoea of non-softcore stories, as everyone is always eager for a chance at self-promotion. I won't rate a 1* or do anything like that. In the end, I'll have to rely on my brain and judge if it's THE thing I'm looking for.

Until then, keep the suggestions coming in. I won't down vote it.

Sammael Bard said:

Dude, that's the opposite of softcore.

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Whaddaya mean? She's only looking at a book with pictures!

Edit: and now I see the criteria 2-4 of a scale of 10.... But Mum, it was only pictures!

electricblue66 said:

Whaddaya mean? She's only looking at a book with pictures!

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I believe including words like "cunt" and "fuck" disqualify it. Good story, though.

Try this story. It actually has no sex and only some mild nudity.

Three Minutes and Twenty Seconds

It is also my highest scoring work to date... Go figure.

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LeandraNyx said:

I feel like it's much, much easier to do softcore porn than softcore erotica. People will totally watch two fully clothed women with a little cleavage kissing. But softcore erotica? I feel like nobody would read a story that's exclusively about two fully clothed women kissing, even if you did mention a little cleavage. Sorry I don't have any suggestions for you, but I wish you good luck in your search.

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In porn, the difference between hardcore and softcore is not in the acts that are depicted, but in the way they are depicted. I suspect that the Bard is looking for examples in which erotic acts are depicted without the details of exactly which tab fit in which slot, and how.

I remember Jean Auel being a master of what Bard describes. Or maybe she just looked like one to someone unfamiliar with erotica, I haven't read her again in years. But it was a tiny fraction of her books. That's the trouble with finding significant concentrations of really "softcore" erotica in literature, it mostly does appear in mainstream fiction and it's designed to be a garnish, not the main course.

Romance books would be a pretty good source, I would think. They get quite explicit about the act, really, or sometimes do, but they paint within the lines of a specific non-porn vocabulary while doing it.

I'd set stuff like Story of O. or the Beauty books high in the rich, suggestive but classy sweepstakes, particularly the latter. There are copies online, the first and best (IMO) of the Beauty books is here. That might be of some interest.

CyranoJ said:

I'd set stuff like Story of O. or the Beauty books high in the rich, suggestive but classy sweepstakes, particularly the latter. There are copies online, the first and best (IMO) of the Beauty books is here. That might be of some interest.

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I'm trying to work out what the censored letters are in your URL and I can't get past "bookfucker".

Bramblethorn said:

I'm trying to work out what the censored letters are in your URL and I can't get past "bookfucker".

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Oh, crap, Literotica probably censored that as Verboten Auslinken. Comes up on a Google search of "Sleeping Beauty A.N. Roquelaure" though.

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Literary erotica: I agree with the Anne Rice/A.N. Roquelaure recommendations, or The Story of O (personally I prefer the latter to the former). I also enjoyed Anais Nin's Delta of Venus.

Contemporary romance stuff: some Nicholas Sparks and Sarah Mayberry. Trouble is they're heavy on the romance, so trend gaggy (at least for me).

Of this type, by far and away I liked The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough, written before she got into the Roman histories. I read it first and found it extremely softcore erotic in parts (and it was taboo - the central story is the romance between the woman character and a priest), then watched the TV series with Richard Chamberlain - be still, my heart! (Damn, why did that man have to be gay? Oh well...)

LeandraNyx said:

Ah, that makes sense; in that case, I think Cyrano is right, in that you're more likely to find that stuff in mainstream media than in erotica being marketed as erotica.

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You might find softcore erotica in mainstream media. I'm not into movies these days, but I kinda doubt it.

"The Story of O" was softcore porn/erotica. "Emmanuel" was softcore porn/erotica. I've only watched bits of the "The Story of O" because I'm not into D/s, but I watched all of "Emmanuel" more than once.

In one scene (probably depending on which national release you're looking at) Emmanuel in her little white tennis skirt is pinned against a locker while her doubles partner fingers her to orgasm. The scene is filmed from above the waist and up. They're both clothed. It's really hot and really not explicit. It's softcore.

That probably won't fly in mainstream movies.

Another example. Envision a photo of a woman from behind and she kneels between a man's legs, bent over his lap. It's really, really easy to believe that she's sucking his dick, but you don't know. Picture the same situation photographed from the side. She could have his dick in her mouth, or she could be trying to fix a button on his trousers. The photo from behind is softcore because the viewer has to use their imagination, the view from the side is either not erotica at all, or it's hardcore.

In writing, the difference between hard and soft depends on how much imagination you need from your readers.

If you write out every last dripping detail so that the reader's need for imagination is minimized, then that's hardcore. If you set up a situation and it's results and it's outcome, then let you readers imagine the details of what happens, then that's softcore.

You see, by NotWise's definition, The Story of O as written is pretty definitely hardcore. It is not sparing of detail in the least. But it's linguistically refined enough that it doesn't get categorized that way, or it least worked its way up the erotica class ladder with the misting distance of time.

I just realized that I was forgetting Nin, and of course McCullogh. There's Nabokov, Duras, Miller, and all that. Bemers' The Girls of Radcliffe Hall.

I don't quite understand what you mean by softcore? No describing sex and penetration - only emotions and feelings?

I really can't imagine that with any measure of detail to the erotic scenes. If you find an example, let me know.

I don't know if it suits your taste, but here's one of my stories, maybe you find it to your liking. Maybe not.
https://www.literotica.com/s/private-wife

Edit:

You'd be able to publish that in mainstream novel without anyone fussing about it as certified porno.

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Nope. My story doesn't match that.

Read Twilight, or just find the sexy scenes from there. That's your softcore descriotion, I guess.

CyranoJ said:

You see, by NotWise's definition, The Story of O as written is pretty definitely hardcore. It is not sparing of detail in the least. But it's linguistically refined enough that it doesn't get categorized that way, or it least worked its way up the erotica class ladder with the misting distance of time.

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I haven't read "The Story of 'O', I've only seen parts of the movie that I can stand to watch--like I said, I'm not into D/s. People other than me classify the movie as softcore and from what I've seen, I agree.

For literature, being "linguistically refined" is important.

NotWise said:

I haven't read "The Story of 'O', I've only seen parts of the movie that I can stand to watch--like I said, I'm not into D/s. People other than me classify the movie as softcore and from what I've seen, I agree.

For literature, being "linguistically refined" is important.

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Yes, the movie is softcore; the book as I recall is pretty explicit and in its day, hard-core (1953 or 54, thereabouts, when it was first published).

Nezhul said:

I don't quite understand what you mean by softcore? No describing sex and penetration - only emotions and feelings?

I really can't imagine that with any measure of detail to the erotic scenes. If you find an example, let me know.

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Not quite no describing sex and penetration - only emotions and feelings?. In most soft core, the sex is glossed over, often quite lyrically. The settings and scenes are given but the act itself is merely touched on. You see it in a lot of romance novels, where the sex is purposely kept mild. There is of course large chunk of the romance market where it's as explicit as anything here on LIT but only as a part of the story.

Can't say I've ever paid any attention to searching for softcore on LIT. It's not why most readers come here after all and it's certainly the antithesis of what I like to write, so good luck with that one. Now if you want a few suggestions, I dived into my collection of books, coz I do collect softcore semi-erotic novels as an interest ...

The Goddaughter - Adrian Reid - rather a beautifully written book published back in 1980 by an English author. Well worth the read, it's about a 50 year old man and a summer holiday affair with his goddaughter.

"The Passion Flower Hotel" by "Rosalind Erskine". An english boarding school, girls wanting to lose their virginity. Definitely soft core and quite funny.

I'd also go back to those softcore Orrie Hitt novels that came out back a few decades ago, mostly from the Softcover Library as far as I can make out. I have quite a collection of them that I've picked up in used book stores (okay, I get some funny looks) but most of them I think would now be classified as softcore. Here's an article I found on Orrie Hitt - quite fascinating.

Orrie Hitt wrote tons of pulp porn, bone of it as good s Lawrence Block's repertoire. Block is the lone writer to make gay sex understandable to me. Elliot Silvestri is hit and miss, some of his tales are excellent, and most aren't.