Making a case for the use of the term "pure erotica."

[KeithD]

Excellent description of what I'm talking about. And I bet your attempted to make it something beyond "tab A into slot B."

How you get there--or at least how I try to get there--is to include showing the emotions in response to the scene by one or more of the characters.

 

[AG31]

Wo!! A new word!!! Thanks!

dysphemisms

 

[AG31]

I've always thought, "That's the highly desirable point of erotica" - arousal, followed by orgasm.

Sure, with shorter stories, that's not going to happen. 750 words, for example, unless you've got the shortest trigger time on the planet, it might be erotic, maybe a little arousing, but it's not going to get a result.

But you get above a Lit page or two, and in my mind, that's where the timing and cadence of the writing becomes important. If you are writing to get someone off, you've got to give them time, time to get aroused, time to enjoy that arousal, then you ramp it up to get them away.

This is where I think all of the advice to edit stories shorter, write lean and concisely, cut things back, misses the point. Erotica/stroke/porn, call it what you will, isn't the same as your "traditional" short story, where brevity is usually deemed a virtue.

In contrast, I say: turn me on, then turn me on some more, keep arousing me till I come. Do your job properly; it's erotica, not a Sunday picnic! And if you write it artfully, beautifully, that's the literary bonus, for those that want that.

People have said of my stories, you give us the slow burn with your slow patience, but you'll then give us a sometimes pornographic finish. Best of both worlds, I reckon. Poetic porn, it's a thing!

Arousal, definitely. Orgasm... well... We probably have a little bit of gender difference going on here.

 

[AG31]

I’m glad you have your fans.

Not very many, mind you. But there are like minded people out there.

My sex scenes come when I’m at peace with the characters and ready to give them some action after resolving plot events. And if they’re not hot enough to make me want to touch myself, they need work.

I'd probably read your stories the way I read a good mainstream fiction short story. What do you recommend as your best one?

 

[AG31]

Now that I've thought about it; pure erotica is a bit much. Stroke stories are the purest form of erotica?

What about "simple erotica?" I think I'm going to go with that. Thanks to @FeralSmile's thoughtful post.

 

[AG31]

Stop asking other people to give you respect, to use a polite term they're only going to turn into an insult later.

Ah. I should have put more nuance into my OP. Have to think about this more, but...

I'm not expecting to change the minds of people who have a strong belief that character and plot are required for good writing. I actually don't care what they think. I'm certainly not looking for respect. I'm looking for clarity in terminology.

I am, I think, suggesting to people who do write that kind of story well that they/we should start using a different term, to shine a light on the existence of good writing that is "simple erotica." (I've changed my mind from "pure" to "simple."

People will keep using "stroke story." Some of those people know perfectly well that it might be high quality writing, and don't care. But I wouldn't use it... to burdened with connotation.

 

[AG31]

Having read or scanned some of the stories listed in AG31's original post (it helps to look at the data), I have a better understanding of what AG31 is getting at. I think he is very clear what he means, even if many others aren't.

He's talking about stories that plunge immediately into a sexual encounter or experience without buildup. There's little plot or character development, unless it can be woven into the narrative of the encounter. The stories tend to be short. Most of those he cited are less than one Lit page (<3750 words).

I'm not sure if "pure erotica" is the right term for it, but I understand better now what he means. I might call it "sex-only erotica." That term is purely descriptive, and doesn't imply any value judgments or speculations about the intent of the author, as the terms "pure" and "stroke" do.

Obviously, there's a readership for these stories, but one notices right away that while some of these stories do well, they're not at the tops of either most-read lists or highest-scoring lists.

The only stories of mine that sort of fit into this category are my 750-word stories, like California Dogging or Wandering Hands. The word constraints make it impossible to have much buildup. But even in those stories I try to provide some background, some character motivation, and some setting description. So, they're not really my cup of tea, but that's fine. It's purely a matter of taste, not value judgment.

THANK YOU!!! (btw, I'm switching to "simple erotica.")

 

[AG31]

impossible physicality

Thank you for a useful term! Not particularly relevant to this thread, but one of the things I definitely spend time and energy trying to avoid.

*Reading online is it's own beast, in terms of length and graphic layout.

If a story is more than two or two and a half pages long, I copy it into Word and send it to my Kindle.

 

[Victoria14xs]

How you get there--or at least how I try to get there--is to include showing the emotions in response to the scene by one or more of the characters.

This precisely describes what I personally try to do, whether my stories fall into the stroker category or not. Since I use first person, the emotions involved are mine. The need to express them are the only reason I’m here.

Well, that and lately I’ve come to enjoy some of these threads in AH.
You all are an interesting group of people.

 

[AchtungNight]

Not very many, mind you. But there are like minded people out there.

I'd probably read your stories the way I read a good mainstream fiction short story. What do you recommend as your best one?

My best one? Well, they’re all good in their own way.

I’m just going to go with Beijing Streakers given its crazy plot involving a historical fiction human rights protest at the 2008 Olympics carried out by athletes and legendary Chinese heroes followed by a foot chase and the most inclusive orgy I’ve ever done thus far. It’s got nine votes, needs 1 more for an H. A bit long, the orgy does take a while to fully set up, but I’ve never had any complaints about this work.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-beijing-streakers

 

[AG31]

My best one? Well, they’re all good in their own way.

I’m just going to go with Beijing Streakers given its crazy plot involving a historical fiction human rights protest at the 2008 Olympics carried out by athletes and legendary Chinese heroes followed by a foot chase and the most inclusive orgy I’ve ever done thus far. It’s got nine votes, needs 1 more for an H. A bit long, the orgy does take a while to fully set up, but I’ve never had any complaints about this work.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-beijing-streakers

Thanks. I've downloaded it to my Kindle and will read it when I finish my current Gytha Lodge mystery.

 

[djrip]

My best one? Well, they’re all good in their own way.

I’m just going to go with Beijing Streakers given its crazy plot involving a historical fiction human rights protest at the 2008 Olympics carried out by athletes and legendary Chinese heroes followed by a foot chase and the most inclusive orgy I’ve ever done thus far. It’s got nine votes, needs 1 more for an H. A bit long, the orgy does take a while to fully set up, but I’ve never had any complaints about this work.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-beijing-streakers

I was disappointed that my vote wasn't the one to push it over the line!

 

[AchtungNight]

I was disappointed that my vote wasn't the one to push it over the line!

Well, it helped push it towards the line. Definitely still appreciated. Thx friend.

You ever want to review anything else I’ve done, feel free. “Debrief”, “Inside Out”, and “Two Cats in Heat” are the most closely connected works to “Beijing Streakers” if you need ideas.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Well, I agree that in some ways it is a better label. What do you think about "simple erotica?"

@electricblue66

It's still a badge. You could call it Erotica Without Tuesdays and someone would try to parse it further. It's still the "porn versus erotica" debate, and neither of those terms are particularly well defined, not any more. I'm not sure we need a lexicon.

I write "erotica", and on occasion it gets "pornographic". Those terms are good enough for me.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

What about "simple erotica?" I think I'm going to go with that. Thanks to @FeralSmile's thoughtful post.

Now that sounds fine.

 

[GrushaVashnadze]

smut writers. Smutteteers. Smutsmiths.

I write smuterature.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I write smuterature.

Ah a person of unculture, greetings to you.

 

[alohadave]

Smut always feels to me like an Old English word that linguists resurrected.

 

[StillStunned]

Smut always feels to me like an Old English word that linguists resurrected.

Fragment from: The Song of Smut (Anon., Cott. Vit., c. 973)*

In halls of men the harpers sing
And tell us tales of tit and cunt
When horny folk will fuck and thrust
And suck and lick and slurp and swallow
To rouse and warm and wet the cunt
Harden men, waken wood
With words of beds and boning long
These tales of sex, these songs of smut


* Not really

 

[GrushaVashnadze]

Fragment from: The Song of Smut (Anon., Cott. Vit., c. 973)*

* Not really

from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (bar one word - can you spot it?):

þe lady luflych com laȝande swete
felle ouer his fayre face and fetly hym fucked
he welcumez hir worþily with a wale chere
he sey hir so glorious and gayly atyred
so fautles of hir fetures and of so fyne hewes
wiȝt wallande joye warmed his hert

 

[StillStunned]

from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (bar one word - can you spot it?):

It's been a while since I studied Sir Gawain (although I still know how to pronounce "Gawain", which is more than the makers of the movie a few years ago did), but your version would make the gift-exchange theme with Sir Bertilac... quite interesting.

 

[Lucy_Lastic]

There's just good writing and bad.

 

[intim8]

There's stroke erotica and what, for want of a better term, one thread calls non-stroke erotica, stories that pay significant attention to plot and/or character.

How about "LiteraryErotica". Someone could even create a site for it, using that name or something like it...

 

[AG31]

How about "LiteraryErotica". Someone could even create a site for it, using that name or something like it...

I'd thought about that, but, in itself it doesn't do it, because you can certainly write "literary erotica," that is loaded with plot and character. When this thread had been about for a few days, I settled on "simple erotica," for those reasons.

I posted my idea separately but I think I'll go edit the OP. Thanks for contributing.