Authenticity. Is it a thing for you? Do you have it in your stories? Do you recognize it?

[M_K_Babalon]

Because character *isn't* the most important part of a sex story, at least not necessarily. Sometimes the sex is, sometimes the idea or the situation is.

By analogy, there are plenty of great movies that rely on story, setting or action rather than character. The Magnificent Seven. Star Wars (the original one) was all about presentation and some stellar acting. Any suspense movie, or detective.

Sex stories are no different. This idea that some writers keep championing that character and plot are the be-all and end-all of erotic fiction is pretty blinkered and, if I may say so, quite self-indulgent. And not borne out by the success and popularity of strokers.

There's character the person and character the personality. He might be talking about the latter.

 

[WendyTrilby]

This is an exciting topic for me. While most of what we write on LE is fiction, usually based on fantasies we have conjured up, authenticity is still important to me. When I look at porn online, I find myself drawn to legitimate amateur work where I can see real people having real sex. They may be in love or just knocking one out; either way, they are doing it just as you or I might. When I read erotica, I look for sex that reads like the sex I've experienced. And that makes it accessible to me as a reader or a viewer. Real sex is clumsy. Leg cramps, wet spots, stains, smells, blemishes, hair where you don't want it, no hair where you want it. We've all been there, and it's not only fine, it's plausible. When something is plausible, we become invested in that story because we can see ourselves in that story.

While my stories tend to have cinematic twists and turns, the sex is always raw. My characters grunt and sometimes fart. Sometimes, they have not bathed or were unprepared to have sex and have not shaved. Their underwear might not be clean or match. But one thing is certain: It reads real, and it reads highly erotic.

- Wendy Trilby

 

[EmilyMiller]

Authenticity. Is it a thing for you? Do you have it in your stories? Do you recognize it?​

I’m maybe splitting hairs, but what I aspire to is self-consistency. For example, I have an FMC who is addicted to semen and will only fuck bareback. She has an OF site and uses it to arrange bareback gang bangs with subscribers. This is to feed her addiction. She also has an impregnation fetish and isn’t on any form of birth control. So, this is clearly ludicrous, verging on satire. But… I at least try to make her behavior consistent with her character.

I suppose I made what little name I have for myself round here writing tentacle porn in space. I could have just written it, of course. But I came up with a quasi-scientific reason for why the tentacle monster (actually a cute giant octopus) existed, was telepathic, and could shift shape. I even had a back story for why he went after [not so] helpless humanoid females, and an alien society rationale for interspecies sex.

None of this is really authentic. But it’s consistent with the rules I have set up for both stories.

@Djmac1031 and I have had a lot of fun figuring out the realms and inhabitants of our Angels & Demons stories. The world building is a blast.

Emily

 

[Djmac1031]

I think my version of "authenticity" is that I can't write about a subject that doesn't interest me, or fake a kink.

I can make up all kinds of bullshit, don't get me wrong. But if my heart and head aren't into it, it's gonna show in my writing, right?

 

[STrent]

Authenticity to me, for my writing, is that I’m drawing from real life. So most of my stories are semi biographical and I exaggerate elements to make it more of a story.

But the setup, the location, the characters (bar names) and the dialogue have to be authentic to the memory I have of them.

The few stories I have written that are entirely made up read more awkwardly. Strangely enough, one of the four I have published so far on here falls into that category, and is the lowest rated of my stories thus far. So maybe there’s something in that.

 

[NormalMarriedWhiteGuy]

Authenticity to me, for my writing, is that I’m drawing from real life. So most of my stories are semi biographical and I exaggerate elements to make it more of a story.

But the setup, the location, the characters (bar names) and the dialogue have to be authentic to the memory I have of them.

The few stories I have written that are entirely made up read more awkwardly. Strangely enough, one of the four I have published so far on here falls into that category, and is the lowest rated of my stories thus far. So maybe there’s something in that.

I am a relatively new author (only 6 published so far) so I draw on real life experience. Though embellished in parts, the basic plot of each story was very real actually did happen to me. I want to branch out and do pure fantasy but I am not there yet.