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Ridiculous sexual language in romance novels?

Kantarii said:
I would suggest using the words for the audience you are trying to target to read your stories. That makes perfect sense to me. I steer clear of certain words in my stories ( ie. Cunt being one of the main words.) I use it sparingly and only when I when to shine a negative light on an antagonist for particular reasons. Again, keep your target audience in mind when choosing the words that are considered trigger words🌹Kant👠👠👠
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I would be lying if I said I didn't take this into account, but I think the best way to choose what words you use is to use what's true to your characters. Lady Chatterley's Lover would sound absurd if one substituted "pussy" for "cunt." It wouldn't be true to the character.
 
MelissaBaby said:
Do you think there are some readers for whom particular words are triggers, that they would not be satisfied if they aren't used?
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I think you are right, at least in some sub-genres of erotica that have a more specialized vocabulary.

However, at least in the romance category, I feel that there is a danger in trying to get too clever. I recently ran into a phrase that triggered a strong revulsion. Something along the lines of "parted her cunt meat," which I found completely unsexy, much less romantic.

So, yeah, I agree that it is in the eye of the beholder.
 
MelissaBaby said:
Do you think there are some readers for whom particular words are triggers, that they would not be satisfied if they aren't used?
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I think this clearly is true. Many readers come to this site looking for stories to get off to. They have very particular ideas about what makes them get off, and they're looking for them. They won't be satisfied if the right elements aren't there.
 
If you want sex in Romance read Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre by Charlotte and Emily Bronte. These are books ostensibly gothic romances but written by two sexually repressed vicar's daughters of a clergyman in Victorian England. Their sexual fantasies are evident on almost every page.

Mrs Gaskell an inferior writer to either of them wrote an entirely ficticious biography to sanitise Charlotte's reputation within months of her death.
 
ishtat said:
If you want sex in Romance read Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre by Charlotte and Emily Bronte. These are books ostensibly gothic romances but written by two sexually repressed vicar's daughters of a clergyman in Victorian England. Their sexual fantasies are evident on almost every page.

Mrs Gaskell an inferior writer to either of them wrote an entirely ficticious biography to sanitise Charlotte's reputation within months of her death.
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Well, there's sex in the sense that the stories are a projection of sexual fantasy and frustration, but there's no sex per se. There was no need to come up with synonyms for vaginas and penises because they weren't present in the story.
 
MelissaBaby said:
Do you think there are some readers for whom particular words are triggers, that they would not be satisfied if they aren't used?
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Used in the right context, "love" is the most powerful trigger word I know of. Without it, whole genre cease to exist.
 
TarnishedPenny said:
Of course, but define 'love'...
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That's impossible. It means different things to different people and in different settings. But it's probably still the most important "trigger word" there is when it's used to it's full effect. That's even true in real life.

"Love" is even relevant in some stroker porn.
 
NotWise said:
Used in the right context, "love" is the most powerful trigger word I know of. Without it, whole genre cease to exist.
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Totally agree with you on that.

On a side note, I was just thinking as far as the US government is concerned, the following three words have become trigger words in recent times. Nuclear( in relation to nuclear option or otherwise), Nazi, and fake news. However, politics doesn’t count as a genre.

🌹Kant
 
Kantarii said:
Totally agree with you on that.

On a side note, I was just thinking as far as the US government is concerned, the following three words have become trigger words in recent times. Nuclear( in relation to nuclear option or otherwise), Nazi, and fake news. However, politics doesn’t count as a genre.
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Orwell's 1984 was fiction when it was first published, it's more like a documentary now. Still a genre though. Just ask Kubrick, with Doctor Strangelove - that's a pretty good documentary (according to post Cold War analysts).

Wait, that was meant to be fiction, too...
 
NotWise said:
Was 50 Shades of Grey a Romance novel? .
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The 50 Shades trilogy is a very average romance novel (boy meets girl - boy loses girl - boy gets girl back - they have children - live happily ever after) written by a very clever woman. She added bdsm scenes, which are nowhere near as good as those written by many authors on this site, and has subsequently made millions from ladies purchasing her books.

The daughter of a friend of mine bought all three when the last one came out and, after she declared them rubbish, her father and I couldn’t wait to read them to see why they had become so popular. I would imagine that the majority of them ended up in the bin, or in charity shops.

I am, of course, 100% envious of this woman and her millions because she is smarter than myself.
 
JaneRamsey said:
The writing itself in 50 shades of grey was absolute adolescent level garbage. Fans responded way more to the Twilight esq romance than the actual writing. My advice would be to avoid writing anything that 'sounds' like that book. :p
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Unless you want to become a multi-millionaire who will never have to worry about money ever again.
 
BuckyDuckman said:
It's a matter of catering to your audience. .
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It is all about catering for your audience. Innuendo is no use in Loving Wives and I shouldn’t imagine “cunt” goes down well with Romance readers.
 
MelissaBaby said:
I decide which terms to use based on the point of view of the characters and their appropriateness to the situation. In that, it is no different than writing any other kind of scene.

Imagine the characters go out to eat. If they go to McDonalds. I might say "They ate Big Macs and slurped down Cokes." If they were having an elegant dinner in a five star restaurant, they would "dine on beef wellington and sip a fine red wine".
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This.

There’s also regionalism. Some slang terms can help convey a sense of place. Americans seldom use “cunt” in any context at all, so an American character might be more shocked by it than, say, a Brit.
 
MelissaBaby said:
I decide which terms to use based on the point of view of the characters and their appropriateness to the situation. In that, it is no different than writing any other kind of scene.

Imagine the characters go out to eat. If they go to McDonalds. I might say "They ate Big Macs and slurped down Cokes." If they were having an elegant dinner in a five star restaurant, they would "dine on beef wellington and sip a fine red wine".
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Basically.
 
I agree with those that have said that the language used for the sexual parts need to fit in with the genre. If we're writing historical romance then we're not going to use 'pussy' or 'cock', if we're writing full-on erotica then 'womanhood' or 'stiff member' just ain't gonna cut it.

My short answer is yes. There are some ridiculous terms used for sex organs. But to each their own, I suppose...

:rose:Liv
 
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