Who do you write about

[FantasyXY]

Recent posts, and I am sure many posts in the past, have asked about character development and how descriptive an author should be in describing a character.

Of course these posts made me think about how I develop characters in my stories. In turn, that made me think about who the characters are that I developing. Then I wondered who other Lit author's are writing about. I figured I could just read the stories on Lit and find out. So I read several stories with the idea of trying to get a better picture of who the Lit authors' characters are.

In reading the stories I quickly became bored with every woman being a tall thin blond/brunette/redhead with a large firm chest, shapely legs and a nice ass. I tired even more quickly of the men being chiseled and having large cocks. It seems that almost no one in an erotic story is ever overweight, short, homely, past their prime, awkward, or unsure of themselves. It's like everyone wants to write a story about having sex with a physically perfect person. And why not? Genetics drive each of us to seek out the best possible mate to procreate with, right?

That brings me to my point. For years now I have been avoiding writing stories about beautiful people. My stories are full of people that are overweight, past their prime, and not necessarily the best looking peach in the basket. My characters come from every day life, yet I try to make them all have some trait that makes them sexy or desirable. They are people I see in the store, at the airport, or are people I know. I try desperately to develop these characters the way I see them, not as a hyper-sexual god or goddess. I also find that the more I write, the more my stories characters deviate from perfect. They are often awkward and unsure of themselves, and in general are physically very normal.

So who makes it into your stories? Are they normal, or are they mostly perfect? How do you get inspired to create a new character? Would you write about an overweight housewife or a bald man with an average sized penis?

Who do you write about?

 

[sr71plt]

My erotica story characters are mainly (but not all) sexy in some way, although they range from 18 to 70 in age. It's an erotica story site, and although I want the stories to be about something more than arousal, I want the arousal to be there in most of the stories. I'll write about other types if they fit in a story--and I don't spend a lot of time worrying about the character criteria of other writers.

 

[callmeismael]

Start from the inside out. Figure out the emotional, moral, intellectual side of the characters that you need for your plot and themes. That's the interesting and fun part of character development. By the time you figure out all of that, the physical appearances should be almost self-evident.

 

[SikFuk]

I'm with you FantasyXY. Although many of my stories revolve around the longing for a hot character, the underlying theme is imperfection and futility, and the "hot" aspect may be contrary to accepted norms. There are a lot of geeky guys in my stories, and women who don't make it to a "ten" rating.

I've never had a significantly overweight main character (although I've had a few in real life. Ha ha.) Perhaps that will be my next challenge. What holds me back with overweight characters is the horrible health consequences. Diabetes, heart disease, these are not exactly turn ons. The fact that they're preventable only makes the weight issue harder for me to address. I do refuse to write overweight male characters, unless they're purpose is to be unlikeable. Do women actually get turned on by a beer belly?

I think at LIT there are two schools of thought: write erotic fantasy with the goal of bringing the reader to orgasm (and perhaps the writer too) or write stories that fulfill the author's need for self expression. I'm a big fan of the latter, and avoid the former.

 

[sr71plt]

I think at LIT there are two schools of thought: write erotic fantasy with the goal of bringing the reader to orgasm (and perhaps the writer too) or write stories that fulfill the author's need for self expression. I'm a big fan of the latter, and avoid the former.

There's at least one more school of thought here--striving to do both of those (plus more than jus to fulfill the author's own need for expression--like having a strong-element story that would hold it's own in the mainstream even with the graphic sex there).

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I write about all different body types, backgrounds, ages, and situations. I initially wrote only about women who were middle-aged, overweight, or otherwise did not conform to typical expectations of characters in an erotic story. The men were ordinary guys you would see in the office, at a ballgame, or at a stoplight. The first time I broke out of that paradigm the female character was young and beautiful, but flat as a sheet of plywood. The principle guiding my writing was that erotica wasn't just for the young and beautiful--everyone can be sexy, and everyone should be able to see him or herself in a story.

I still write stories featuring men and women who are not physically perfect, but now I let the story determine the characters. "Trophy Wife" involved an extreme physical challenge, so the main character was athletically built. "Deep Undercover" required the main character to wear a bikini at an all day yacht party, so she was young and beautiful. But other stories have different requirements, and the characters are cast to fit their role in those stories. Some are old, some are young, some have tight bodies, some are a hundred pounds overweight, some have luxurious heads of hair, some are balding, some drink too much, some come to quickly, some don't come at all.

Most of the dicks in my stories are average sized, although a few large ones have made it in, and a very short one, as well. I think large cocks are a crutch, and I try not to use them too often. Usually, if there is a large cock in my story there is an average sized one as well. I don't like to make the story centered on a really big dick.

There are readers whose fantasies border on the fantastic, and others who like to keep it real. You should write the characters you enjoy writing about.

 

[Aynmair]

...I think at LIT there are two schools of thought: write erotic fantasy with the goal of bringing the reader to orgasm (and perhaps the writer too) or write stories that fulfill the author's need for self expression. I'm a big fan of the latter, and avoid the former.

I tend towards the 2nd of SikFuk's categories as well, though I have posted very few stories so far. Thirst-Quenching Brew (link in my signature) is about a middle-aged woman's frustrations and loneliness, and what she does about it.

Start from the inside out. Figure out the emotional, moral, intellectual side of the characters that you need for your plot and themes. That's the interesting and fun part of character development. By the time you figure out all of that, the physical appearances should be almost self-evident.

I agree with this approach, and try to write accordingly. Whether I succeed is another matter... but there is one other aspect - I tend not to provide a heck of a lot of physical description of the characters (unless absolutely critical, and I don't think penis or boob size count as absolutely critical, at least not in my stories), which lets the reader fill them in to a large extent. It's what happens to the characters that I'm most concerned with, and their mental/emotional development. My Summer Loving Contest entry will be very much like that.

 

[lovecraft68]

There's at least one more school of thought here--striving to do both of those (plus more than jus to fulfill the author's own need for expression--like having a strong-element story that would hold it's own in the mainstream even with the graphic sex there).

Yeah, its a challenge to hit both sides. Sometimes I hit the mark, sometimes I miss, but I keep going for it.

 

[hopefulerotic]

Great thread. Im always trying to learn other peoples style of writing.

 

[SamScribble]

I try to write characters who could be real, characters who you just might run into.

 

[Serafina1210]

I usually start with people I've known, or at least people I've seen and talked to. I like it when someone I haven't paid a lot of attention to suddenly strikes me as beautiful--maybe I've responded strongly to some brief interaction, or just to some offhand remark, or maybe I've noticed a detail I never noticed before--the curve of a lip, a hand with long fingers, just something. I steal some aspects of the person's personality, and I start to imagine being that person--or being loved by that person.

But sometimes a character I really like comes out of nowhere, or somewhere I can't explain. She (usually a she) might start as a minor character, but by chance say or do something that makes her come alive for me, and then I want to write more about her so I can get to know her better, and pretend to be her or interact with her.

 

[hopefulerotic]

I usually start with people I've known, or at least people I've seen and talked to. I like it when someone I haven't paid a lot of attention to suddenly strikes me as beautiful--maybe I've responded strongly to some brief interaction, or just to some offhand remark, or maybe I've noticed a detail I never noticed before--the curve of a lip, a hand with long fingers, just something. I steal some aspects of the person's personality, and I start to imagine being that person--or being loved by that person.

But sometimes a character I really like comes out of nowhere, or somewhere I can't explain. She (usually a she) might start as a minor character, but by chance say or do something that makes her come alive for me, and then I want to write more about her so I can get to know her better, and pretend to be her or interact with her.

I love how you describe the aspects of a finger, lips, ect. I was in a store tonight, and the woman in front of me caught me with her perfume, then I noticed her neck and toes, next thing I know she is in my mind and I am mentally using her in a story Im working on

 

[Serafina1210]

I love how you describe the aspects of a finger, lips, ect. I was in a store tonight, and the woman in front of me caught me with her perfume, then I noticed her neck and toes, next thing I know she is in my mind and I am mentally using her in a story Im working on

That's it! It's so often a detail that lights a little fire in you.

 

[Hypoxia]

Most of my characters are more-or-less based on acquaintances, sometimes indirect (from uncle Ron's notes), sometimes very very personal. I keep in mind that this is an EROTICA site, so most of my characters are 'fit' (if not gorgeous / hunky). Heights range from short to tall, mostly tall (as am I). Colors / ethnicities / educations vary.

I don't consciously try to 'develop' characters in story. They act, and evolve. My basic authorial process is 1) define an environment, 2) specify a few plot points, 3) define the players, and 4) set them loose. As they interact, they change. That's development, or education.

Metaphor: Drop a lead ball from a certain height. Note how and where it lands. Now do that again. Note that it goes elsewhere when it lands this time. When dropped, it dents and deforms. It has 'learned' -- its subsequent behavior has changed, evolved. (Evolution: the survival of change over time.)

Now, apply that metaphor to character development. If a character changes their behavior after multiple interactions / impacts, they have learned and evolved and developed. And that's their story, of how and why they changed.

 

[hopefulerotic]

Most of my characters are more-or-less based on acquaintances, sometimes indirect (from uncle Ron's notes), sometimes very very personal. I keep in mind that this is an EROTICA site, so most of my characters are 'fit' (if not gorgeous / hunky). Heights range from short to tall, mostly tall (as am I). Colors / ethnicities / educations vary.

I don't consciously try to 'develop' characters in story. They act, and evolve. My basic authorial process is 1) define an environment, 2) specify a few plot points, 3) define the players, and 4) set them loose. As they interact, they change. That's development, or education.

Metaphor: Drop a lead ball from a certain height. Note how and where it lands. Now do that again. Note that it goes elsewhere when it lands this time. When dropped, it dents and deforms. It has 'learned' -- its subsequent behavior has changed, evolved. (Evolution: the survival of change over time.)

Now, apply that metaphor to character development. If a character changes their behavior after multiple interactions / impacts, they have learned and evolved and developed. And that's their story, of how and why they changed.

Excellent explanation.

 

[MrBates2]

What don't I write about? When I put it down on paper, I am not shy. My question is, how do you get from writing the beginning, to those much more difficult words – The End?

However lately, I have been putting down on paper, any fantasy that I have ever imagined in my mind, if I can remember them all. I have thought back through childhood and tried to remember what I thought about when I masturbated, or what created a moment of arousal.

What I have found is what aroused me then, the ones that I could remember, still has an effect on me. Therefore, the exercise was actually very therapeutic. I had a fair amount of homosexual fantasies, hmmmmm.

 

[Hypoxia]

What don't I write about? When I put it down on paper, I am not shy. My question is, how do you get from writing the beginning, to those much more difficult words – The End?

That's the tough one, eh? I find that a tale is most easily told if 1) it has no end, or 2) I know what the end is before I start.

My JOURNAL series (ALAN, DEXTER, RON) and the TASTE OF INCEST cycle (even the standalones) mostly just run on. BIG BANANA and JENNY BE FAIR and (RIGHT) UNDER HIS EYES had known endings (and low vote scores). But my BLACK & WHITE and BOOK OF RUTH series... I'm still trying to figure out how to finish them. I have a rough idea where the B&W and RUTH and LEFT BEHIND limited series are going, but getting there is a challenge. I'm still trying to decide among a few possible RUTH endings.

If I just let my characters run loose, they go off in many strange directions. They DO need to be leashed and aimed.

 

[robertreams]

Although i usually have one character with a very large cock, (it makes for better fantasies), I also tend to write them from the inside out. In my novel, the main character is a very short individual with a very small dick. He is very good looking, but doesn't know it until much later in life.

However, I am picking up the gauntlet and will start tonight to write a story in which every person is normal or sub-normal, yet the sex is tres incroyable.

 

[Serafina1210]

If I just let my characters run loose, they go off in many strange directions. They DO need to be leashed and aimed.

A number of my characters are leashed, anyway.

 

[MrBates2]

That's the tough one, eh? I find that a tale is most easily told if 1) it has no end, or 2) I know what the end is before I start.

My JOURNAL series (ALAN, DEXTER, RON) and the TASTE OF INCEST cycle (even the standalones) mostly just run on. BIG BANANA and JENNY BE FAIR and (RIGHT) UNDER HIS EYES had known endings (and low vote scores). But my BLACK & WHITE and BOOK OF RUTH series... I'm still trying to figure out how to finish them. I have a rough idea where the B&W and RUTH and LEFT BEHIND limited series are going, but getting there is a challenge. I'm still trying to decide among a few possible RUTH endings.

If I just let my characters run loose, they go off in many strange directions. They DO need to be leashed and aimed.

I use the same writing style as you. I'll have an idea, then just let it flow on the keyboard. Then I revisit the stories later, to firm it up a bit.

 

[Serafina1210]

I use the same writing style as you. I'll have an idea, then just let it flow on the keyboard. Then I revisit the stories later, to firm it up a bit.

So jealous of people for whom writing "flows." Whether I have an idea or not, writing is like eighteen hours of labor, screaming for an epidural and not getting it. Even if the characters seem alive in my head, getting them into words is like trying to beat a monster case of constipation.

Every paragraph is the Marne, and every story is World War I, fought out trench by fucking trench.

Today I wrote eight paragraphs, deleted them, and wrote two to replace them.

 

[glynndah]

Who?

Me.

Mostly.

 

[MrBates2]

So jealous of people for whom writing "flows." Whether I have an idea or not, writing is like eighteen hours of labor, screaming for an epidural and not getting it. Even if the characters seem alive in my head, getting them into words is like trying to beat a monster case of constipation.

Every paragraph is the Marne, and every story is World War I, fought out trench by fucking trench.

Today I wrote eight paragraphs, deleted them, and wrote two to replace them.

I've always had that ability. However, I have to be inspired and that comes and goes. Also, it's not like my writing is any good. The hard part starts after I have the body of the story written.

 

[Hypoxia]

So jealous of people for whom writing "flows."

Sometimes it do, sometimes it don't. The original three chapters of BRIDE OF KONG (not the fourth, with multiple endings) took about two days total. But that was after the story stewed in my head for a decade. Some of my JOURNAL stories just flowed right out, but I had notes to work from. BIG BANANA took about three hours, as did UNDER HIS EYES and RANDY RANDY. Even THAT'S MY GIRL only took a couple days. So sometimes I'm hot, and sometimes I'm not. It depends.

 

[Handley_Page]

So jealous of people for whom writing "flows." Whether I have an idea or not, writing is like eighteen hours of labor, screaming for an epidural and not getting it. Even if the characters seem alive in my head, getting them into words is like trying to beat a monster case of constipation.

Every paragraph is the Marne, and every story is World War I, fought out trench by fucking trench.

Today I wrote eight paragraphs, deleted them, and wrote two to replace them.

Dragons lay eggs but this dragon simply watched while his mate quietly lay four eggs in the 'nest', but I get your point.
I have no end of trouble getting a story out.
Cannot make my mind up as to the best way to steer the story.
Serious constipation is a very good simile.
[I had to look up the Marne]

Who?

Me.
Mostly.

But when it gets out, it's a delight to read.