Are two chapters of sexless prologue too much?

[CaryJanJunior]

So, I am planning a story set in a 17-18th century (not specifically on Earth, but with similar technological and cultural situations).

The sexual part of the plot will kick off once the protagonists sail across a physical barrier into a sex filled world filled with hentai logic, where even fighting is replaced by sex.

However, I wanted to have a chapter dedicated to the characters crossing this boundary in the first place, as it is supposed to be dangerous (near impossible, in fact, and they are trying to do it less as an attempt to survive and more out of spite - to not let their pursuers capture them alive).

They survive due to the crew's mildly supernatural talents (always knows north, etc.), but I feel that I should set these supernatural skills up first before I use them.

To do this, however, I would need another chapter before the crossing. This leaves me with two options:

Option one is to have my story start with a two chapter prologue with 0 sex.

Option two would be to lean into them expecting death and spending that time before dying however they can, but I intended to have the boundary be a sharp difference between normal and hentai logic, so that the characters have to adapt to the suddenly much leader world around them, and I feel having them spend the chapter before the crossing fucking as well would undermine that separation.

So I have three total options, as I see it:

1. Try and introduce the abilities in the chapter where the crossing is, either before they try to cross the boundary or during it and hope it won't feel like a cop out or deus ex machina. This could be alleviated by it being the first chapter of the story.

2. Put a two chapter sexless prologue at the start of the story, and risk pushing the audience away.

3. Put sex in the prologue, and risk diminishing the intended sharp distinction between the worlds separated by the boundary.


Does anyone have any advice? Options I missed, reasons why one of the options presented is the best, or suggestions as to how to mitigate the issues with each of them?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Does anyone have any advice? Options I missed, reasons why one of the options presented is the best, or suggestions as to how to mitigate the issues with each of them?

I have a novel length story with a prologue to set the scene, no sex, but I had a volcanic eruption and a tsunami to make up for it. Also, I had a fifteen year old girl, so I had to wait five years and the next chapter, anyway.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Many of my stories have multiple chapters before there is even the implication of sex. In some, it never happens.

Don't write a story to please the sex, write the sex to please the story.

 

[notexactlymelville]

Build to release is the essence of erotica

 

[TheWritingGroup]

You don't have to write the story in a linear manner. You could start with a gigantic orgy, showing how your characters interact and revealing their personalities, then flash back to the beginning of the plot in Chapter 2, then have Chapter 3 take place after the orgy, then Chapter 4 is the other background chapter ....

Not that I started my most recent WIP with a scene from the middle or anything.

--Annie

 

[big_cane_sugar]

I agree with TheWritingGroup. Just a bit of a snippet of some kind of bizarre sexual thing that can only happen in your world as a hook, then the world building as a flashback.

 

[iwatchus]

Certainly some readers want sex all the time. But plenty of others want a story that also has sex. Or maybe no sex at all.

Write what feels right for your story. There will be readers for it.

If you are worried about the reaction to it, try to make it clear how long they have to wait for what. Give them hints to what is coming and how soon. If I was a better writer, I could always do this subtly, but I often just resort to an author's note saying this.

My one well written story had its first nudity 7.5K words in. The first full sex was another 10K later. I didn't need an author's note, but you knew it was coming. That is my most viewed story and won a blue W. My novel from last month was not as well written and I felt I needed an author's note to say something. Ratings wise that is doing fine and is in N&N, so no one reads them anyway.

Write your story. Don;t worry about it.

 

[CaryJanJunior]

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions.

 

[Britva415]

Just don't make them sexless. That is to say, don't write them in a way which implies that sex is off the table for the whole story, not just that it isn't happening right now.

 

[ruddygore]

Many of my stories have multiple chapters before there is even the implication of sex. In some, it never happens.

Don't write a story to please the sex, write the sex to please the story.

This. Right now, one I'm following didn't have any sex until chapter four. But you could feel the tension building for the first three chapters.

Another one, up to chapter 56, it's obvious from the interactions that the people have been having sex, but I don't remember any explicit scenes.

The sex should fit the story plot for a good story. This is for longer series. For shorter one ofs, get into it right away.

 

[ChuckWolf]

I don't know if you necessarily have to go into a lot of detail about their quasi-mystical abilities; they all sound pretty low-key, so that you could just leave it vague and uncertain whether the skill they have is derived mystically or just experience/intuition.

In any case, the premise sounds interesting.

 

[Jorunn]

You don’t need sex in the early chapters, but you can introduce the characters in an erotic way. Make them alluring in their descriptions. Kiss before crossing the divide (or tenderly hold hands at least). Remove a piece of clothing to reveal muscles or breasts (etc). Perhaps hint at desire, but offer a reason it remains unfulfilled.

 

[stickygirl]

Jane Austen seldom introduces sex until several chapters into her novels, but would suffer story rejection for the under age sex in Pride & Prejudice or the huge age gap in Sense and Sensibility.