Writing out of your comfort zone...

[Lady_Guenivere]

I just finshed a story for the BDSM category and it got me thinking...

Can a writer tackle subject matter that is typically out of their comfort zone, regardless of their interest in it...and do it well?

For example, could a straight male author write a gay love scene well enough to please/excite the reader?

Can a man truly write a story from a woman's perspective? and vice versa?

I admit, BDSM facinates me...definitely something I am personally intrigued by, but I have not yet fully experienced. I challenged myself to write this story, mainly because the subject matter excites me...but who is to say if I truly captured the beauty, intensity, excitement of the scenerio enough to please the BDSM community of readers?

Thoughts?
Do you ever challenge yourself to write out of your comfort zone?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I do it all the time.

But I'm a talented actor. I've done some stage stuff, playing the role of a exasperating mother-fucker, and the other players are actually pissed at me when the acting is over.

So, when I write I simply get into the character.

 

[sr71plt]

IFor example, could a straight male author write a gay love scene well enough to please/excite the reader?

Can a man truly write a story from a woman's perspective? and vice versa?

I don't see why not--since it has been done for centuries.

 

[KarennaC]

Last year, I joined the Survivor contest, which necessitated my writing outside my comfort zone because I wanted as many points as I could get, which meant filling as many categories as I could. Some stories came out better than others. In some cases I surprised myself by writing really good stories in categories I thought I couldn't handle.

I'm in the contest again this year, because it's become fun for me to challenge myself. Last year I took an immunity in the Transsexual/Crossdressers category; this year I decided to try it. The resultant story's got a pretty little red H beside it, so I must have done something right even though I didn't think I could possibly write a story in that category.

 

[tickledkitty]

We've had this discussion here in the past, and I think the answer was yes.

I have written lesbian scenes and a story from a male POV. No negative comments on any of them in regards to being convincing. I haven't tried BDSM yet, but...

 

[sadangel]

Do you ever challenge yourself to write out of your comfort zone?

I'm trying with a Sci-fi type story. It's in the early stages, but I am attempting it.

I hope to attempt to write some BDSM stories....but don't know how it will go. It's an interest of course to me, but do I know enough to write it convincingly? That is the question.

I think it is possilbe to write outside of your comfort zone. There are still some subjects I will not tackle....such as the Incest/taboo subject..I have no comfort level with that and so won't do it. (I know, never say never, but I'm saying it's highly doubtful I ever will)

 

[sr71plt]

We've had this discussion here in the past, and I think the answer was yes.

I have written lesbian scenes and a story from a male POV. No negative comments on any of them in regards to being convincing. I haven't tried BDSM yet, but...

Right. Although I'm sure there are a lot of folks better at it than I am, I get very nice comments about "understanding the characters" when I write outside my normal zone on Lit. Stories--and I have those nice little green E's on stories of all perspectives--straight female, gay male, lesbian, straight male. My current eXcessica book, out only for a week, is outside any zone I have sex in in real life, and it's currently at #5 on the eXcessica best-seller list at Fictionwise (out of a collection of 151 books).

A good many of the women's Romance books in the second half of the twentieth century were written by men (Sydney Sheldon was one, wasn't he)? Most of the writers of GM erotica are women.

So, I don't see any impediment.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Florence King wrote something like 50-60 fuck books while waiting for a newspaper job.

 

[sr71plt]

Florence King wrote something like 50-60 fuck books while waiting for a newspaper job.

Were they out of her comfort zone? Florence didn't like to fuck?

 

[AchtungNight]

My answer is that you can write out of your comfort zone if you're prepared for the discomfort it will bring you. There are things I've dared to write about in the past that still disturb me even now.

 

[sr71plt]

Talk about outside your comfort zone (and discomfort), I have a book out there (and doing very nicely) called Dark Angel Sounding. It's about sounding. Ouch. (Look that up, if you dare and be prepared to scrunch up your toes.)

 

[bb_peaks]

Yep. Got two incest stories posted. Not my cup of tea but I told a friend I'd write a story. And I did. As a survivor entrant this year, I'll be tackling a whole lot more categories that aren't in my comfort zone.