Writing Erotica With Emotional Depth - Do Readers Want It?

[WaxPhilosophic]

I may or may not be speaking from experience when I say that a marker like [ sex scene here ] can be invaluable sometimes.

I tend to use [Hot Monkey Love], but yeah, totally agree!

 

[MiaBabe23]

For me personally, I invariably welcome emotional depth, but I would wanna read the story you describe (OP) when I’m in the mood for something substantial to read, not when I wanna read erotica
It sounds like your story has great depth, the erotic scenes would no doubt have an impact as part of the journey with the characters
But personally, I wouldn’t wanna read about very distressing backstories when I’m feeling at all aroused
Either way - it sounds like it has great potential; write it as you wanna write it, and worry about audience and where you place it afterward

 

[StillStunned]

There's also the question of how much story you want to devote to the emotional background to achieve the effect you want. For instance:

I recognised her as soon as she walked into my treatment room. Tammy Allen, visiting the spa where I worked and coming to me for a massage. All through the last two years of school she'd lived in my dreams and made my life a nightmare. She was the one who gave me the nickname Lezzica. From Jessica.

And from that one time I kissed her, and she kissed me back, and we giggled, and then did it some more, and it felt right and thrilling and it confirmed to me that this was what I wanted. And then the next day she told everyone I'd assaulted her and that wonderful moment became all twisted up in the horror of teenage bullying and teenage shame and years of loneliness and anxiety and... Well, all of it.
- from: Tammy, Jessica, Yuliya

The whole story is 4.7k words, but by using "tell" instead of "show" at the start I take a shortcut to the emotional bit. I think sometimes writers go overboard with the self-indulgent exploration of emotions, and drag the reader along a path that could easily be summarised before you get to the actual story.

 

[Statius]

I’ve been working on a story that’s definitely erotic, but I also found myself diving deep into the characters' emotional baggage. Grief, longing, unspoken desire - the kind of stuff that makes the sex feel earned, if that makes sense. But now I’m wondering... does that slow things down too much? Or are there readers out there who want their erotica layered with real emotional weight? Would love to hear your thoughts.

I like characters, I like writing characters. Sometimes I use emotional depth, sometimes I just do fun stories. When I read I want well written characters, for me it's the characters that draw me in. I've read highly successful writers who seem to use the erotica simply to explore the character. Like the character is the point and the erotica is just the icing. And I would add, write for yourself, pandering to what you think the audience wants is usually misplaced.

 

[TheLobster]

The whole story is 4.7k words, but by using "tell" instead of "show" at the start I take a shortcut to the emotional bit.

I know it's a spectrum, but this is plenty of showing. You concisely describe the incident that precipitates the "nightmare" part, rather than contracting it to just "she betrayed and bullied me when we were teenagers". And you magnify the emotion impact through contrasts (dream — nightmare in particular).

For a short story, this is more than enough background. For a longer one, it lays enough groundwork to let you drip-feed further details as the narrative goes along.

 

[StillStunned]

I know it's a spectrum, but this is plenty of showing. You concisely describe the incident that precipitates the "nightmare" part, rather than contracting it to just "she betrayed and bullied me when we were teenagers". And you magnify the emotion impact through contrasts (dream — nightmare in particular).

Yes it's a spectrum, but I think my snippet is probably as close as you can get to pure "telling" while still making it engaging for the reader. Even with "tell", you still have to make the words count.

But I'm quite proud of this story opening, precisely because of the emotional punch it packs despite "telling" instead of "showing".

 

[Britva415]

by using "tell" instead of "show" at the start I take a shortcut to the emotional bit. I think sometimes writers go overboard with the self-indulgent exploration of emotions, and drag the reader along a path that could easily be summarised before you get to the actual story.

I completely agree. I have seen this and if it were written as an emotional plot or sub-plot instead of just an indulgent exploration of emotions, it wouldn't be such a *cough* drag.

Your model absolutely is an example of "tell and show." I'm the one who's always saying that you can't show and not tell, you have to tell something in order to show something else. In your case, you tell what you have to tell in order to show that there are emotional stakes in the actual story.

 

[StillStunned]

I completely agree. I have seen this and if it were written as an emotional plot or sub-plot instead of just an indulgent exploration of emotions, it wouldn't be such a *cough* drag.

This absolutely is an example of "tell and show." I'm the one who's always saying that you can't show and not tell, you have to tell something in order to show something else. In your case, you tell what you have to tell in order to show that there are emotional stakes in the actual story.

Orson Scott Card, who might be a bigot but one who knows about writing, says to leave out anything before the actual story starts. He specifically mentions novels that ramble on for a hundred pages and then say, "And that was the day his life changed." Cut those hundred pages, start on the day the character's life changes.

And imagine your story is a Star Wars movie. Everything before the inciting event has to be crammed into the opening crawl. How much can you describe without the audience losing interest before the first planet pans into view? The Phantom Menace already got it wrong, with all the talk about taxation, trade routes and endless debates.

 

[Britva415]

Orson Scott Card, who might be a bigot but one who knows about writing, says to leave out anything before the actual story starts. He specifically mentions novels that ramble on for a hundred pages and then say, "And that was the day his life changed." Cut those hundred pages, start on the day the character's life changes.

And imagine your story is a Star Wars movie. Everything before the inciting event has to be crammed into the opening crawl. How much can you describe without the audience losing interest before the first planet pans into view? The Phantom Menace already got it wrong, with all the talk about taxation, trade routes and endless debates.

This is the complaint which I and others have about stories which start with seven paragraphs of past-pluperfect.

Instead of all those "hads," why not just tell the story if all that past-pluperfect stuff is part of it.

He got her text on the third Wednesday of March. But before Wednesday, or even before March, or even before our MC, Jason, had been married and divorced at all, he had had an ex. Another ex: Madysinn. She had been having herself a taco the day she had dumped him. That had been at the taco place which had been at Twelfth and Cabrones St. before Jason's ex-wife's municipal urban planning office had redlined the district, as there had been a major earthquake which had undermined the structural integrity of El Taco Room and the apartment around the corner which Jason and Madysinn had shared before Jason had come to know Axxxlynn, his wife-to-be.

And on and on and on, in the past-pluperfect tense, sometimes even mixing different past-pluperfect time periods, for paragraphs and paragraphs before returning to simple-past tense to tell us anything about that Wednesday in March where our story ostensibly begins, or who in the world was texting him.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Simple answer. yes, they do. Write from your heart and they'll appreciate it. naturally, some steamy sex doesn't hurt.

I've published non-fiction essays here, mostly mini-memoirs that may or may not have any erotic content. I have one completely Non-erotic story here too. Yet most of this has been well-received by the readers anyway. One of the first essays was about the first movie I saw in a theater (in 1963!) and what I thought of the film when I saw it on-line as an adult. Yeah, when you get to my age you can talk about 1963 even if many of the readers weren't born yet.

 

[lovecraft68]

 

[StillStunned]

This is the complaint which I and others have about stories which start with seven paragraphs of past-pluperfect.

Instead of all those "hads," why not just tell the story if all that past-pluperfect stuff is part of it.


And on and on and on, in the past-pluperfect tense, sometimes even mixing different past-pluperfect time periods, for paragraphs and paragraphs before returning to simple-past tense to tell us anything about that Wednesday in March where our story ostensibly begins, or who in the world was texting him.

Exactly, and very well illustrated!

 

[TheLobster]

And on and on and on, in the past-pluperfect tense, sometimes even mixing different past-pluperfect time periods, for paragraphs and paragraphs before returning to simple-past tense to tell us anything about that Wednesday in March where our story ostensibly begins, or who in the world was texting him.

I know this is tangential, but is this actually how you refer to past events when your narrative is in past tense already? I was generally under the impression that you only need past perfect to establish the transition point -- from what's present in the story to the past -- and then you can continue using regular narrative past tense once it's clear you're no longer talking about the present.

That's what I've been doing at least and haven't heard any complaints, but then again, my retrospectives usually do not exceed a paragraph or two.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Readers preferences vary with category...
Several of the categories top lists are laden with stories full of lush rich characters emotion, and interesting plots. Lesbian, and Romance a couple of examples.
Other categories are similar. Readers do love a proper story rather than just masturbatory material. At least that is my opinion.
As a reader, they are the stories I also choose, and it is obvious by reading the comments. That is also the preference of most readers.
Fear not, for we are not the minority.

Cagivagurl

 

[Britva415]

I know this is tangential, but is this actually how you refer to past events when your narrative is in past tense already?

Me? No. Only when spoofing stuff other people publish here daily.

But me, I probably wouldn’t even do what you’re talking about. I like the concept of not writing stuff from before the story started. Especially right at the beginning of the story. In fact, I like it at least as much as I like the concept of not spamming “had”s.

What even is that. I call it something like an “infodump via notaflashback.”

 

[Andreas_Kreuz]

I see it the other way around. I want to write with emotional depth. Whether I succeed is another matter. Intercourse itself gets repetitive very soon. But how two people come together, cross emotional bridges, overcome fears, free themselves from convictions, and go for it is a greater challenge and more fun to write about. I think it is why Incest/Taboo or LW are popular. Because sex happens in a setting when it shouldn't, but still does.

 

[PeeterSteele]

I see it the other way around. I want to write with emotional depth. Whether I succeed is another matter. Intercourse itself gets repetitive very soon. But how two people come together, cross emotional bridges, overcome fears, free themselves from convictions, and go for it is a greater challenge and more fun to write about. I think it is why Incest/Taboo or LW are popular. Because sex happens in a setting when it shouldn't, but still does.

Yeah, that's how I felt about it. I've got one story published now, and another pending. And the emotional depth was really important to me on the first story because it included elements from my depression/anxiety, it has true feelings that I experienced with this other person, and sets the foundations for the entire second half of the story. Everything that happens to the two leads is meaningless to me without that, and I really hope my writing is able to convey that to the reader. My second story (pending atm) is pure fantasy, an experiment with adding more dialogue, and is a lot more about having fun (not that there isn't fun in the first story.), but hopefully the emotions are still there in regards to it "being fun."

In regards to incest stories, I totally agree, without deep emotional context for me, the stories don't work at all. I do enjoy the incest aspect in mainstream stories and find them romantic. I was totally into Jaime and Cersei Lannister, and I think it's the first episode of the UK detective series "Midsomer Murders" that includes an incestuious brother and sister as the killers, and the only reason they're killers is to hide their love. But the story was really compelling and I empathised with them, even though they're being portrayed as being very evil.

 

[Djmac1031]

There's a big difference between a steak dinner with several well prepared side courses and a cheeseburger.

That said, both can be equally satisfying depending on one's mood and appetite.

 

[Britva415]

There's a big difference between a steak dinner with

several well prepared side courses and a cheeseburger

Difference between all that, versus what?

Oh, the cheeseburger’s not part of the first meal… Now I get it

What?

I like a cheeseburger for dessert, sometimes.

 

[mijayoo]

It is an absolute yes for me.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

There's a big difference between a steak dinner with several well prepared side courses and a cheeseburger.

That said, both can be equally satisfying depending on one's mood and appetite.

And plenty for everyone on the menu here ... unless you're vegan. Then gtfo! : P

 

[TheLobster]

And plenty for everyone on the menu here ... unless you're vegan. Then gtfo! : P

Just make sure to tell everyone first, like a true vegan would.

 

[Djmac1031]

Just make sure to tell everyone first, like a true vegan would.

Im sure there's gotta be a "First time masturbating with a cucumber " story here somewhere for the vegan community...

 

[NuclearFairy]

Im sure there's gotta be a "First time masturbating with a cucumber " story here somewhere for the vegan community...

I've read a handful of plant monster stories, would those count?

 

[Djmac1031]

I've read a handful of plant monster stories, would those count?

only if theyre organically sourced.