How does one write an erotic story

[SmT3040]

I read a lot, mostly romance and horror. I enjoy smut and stuff like that, and I write myself and always wanted to try my hand at something erotic. I'll get up to the sex part of the story and then I get stuck, it's like I know how I want the scene to play out but writing it down is tough.

Any suggestions on how to get past this part?

 

[Boxlicker101]

I read a lot, mostly romance and horror. I enjoy smut and stuff like that, and I write myself and always wanted to try my hand at something erotic. I'll get up to the sex part of the story and then I get stuck, it's like I know how I want the scene to play out but writing it down is tough.

Any suggestions on how to get past this part?

It helps to have a dirty mind like I do. Other than that, there are a lot of essays, etc. on the subject.

 

[MrMax59]

My advice is to just write it out as best you can, then review and edit to get it to flow as you'd like it.

It may help to do the mechanics first (on knees, laid down, etc) so you have some structure that goes with what you want to happen, then start adding the descriptive sentences, phrases, and words that evoke the sensations you're looking to communicate to the reader.

As far as what words/phrases to use, it depends alot on what genre you're writing for. Non-consent can lend itself to crude and humiliating, while romance would tend toward soft and loving.

Good luck!

 

[SmT3040]

My advice is to just write it out as best you can, then review and edit to get it to flow as you'd like it.

It may help to do the mechanics first (on knees, laid down, etc) so you have some structure that goes with what you want to happen, then start adding the descriptive sentences, phrases, and words that evoke the sensations you're looking to communicate to the reader.

As far as what words/phrases to use, it depends alot on what genre you're writing for. Non-consent can lend itself to crude and humiliating, while romance would tend toward soft and loving.

Good luck!

Thanks! I will try this, maybe even post it for people to critique

 

[TxRad]

My advice is to just write it out as best you can, then review and edit to get it to flow as you'd like it.

It may help to do the mechanics first (on knees, laid down, etc) so you have some structure that goes with what you want to happen, then start adding the descriptive sentences, phrases, and words that evoke the sensations you're looking to communicate to the reader.

As far as what words/phrases to use, it depends alot on what genre you're writing for. Non-consent can lend itself to crude and humiliating, while romance would tend toward soft and loving.

Good luck!

The mechanics are the easy part. It's the thoughts, feelings and emotions that really make up the sex scene. Tab A in Slot B is very boring after a while without some rhyme or reason.

 

[SmT3040]

The mechanics are the easy part. It's the thoughts, feelings and emotions that really make up the sex scene. Tab A in Slot B is very boring after a while without some rhyme or reason.

Yeah, I may just have to reference the romantic novels i have on hand for ideas on how to make it less boring.

 

[Anjasa]

It's hard to say without knowing more. Is it the word choice you're struggling with? Setting the scene? Working the emotions and non-tangible parts of sex into the writing?

I found that listening to music really helped me get past things the first time, especially something fairly hard that got my heart thumping like Mindless Self Indulgence. I also found writing when I was really horny helped me get past it when I had writers block.

Reading other people's erotica and/or watching porn and/or looking at sexy photos might also help spark your creativity.

Best of luck with it

 

[SmT3040]

It's hard to say without knowing more. Is it the word choice you're struggling with? Setting the scene? Working the emotions and non-tangible parts of sex into the writing?

I found that listening to music really helped me get past things the first time, especially something fairly hard that got my heart thumping like Mindless Self Indulgence. I also found writing when I was really horny helped me get past it when I had writers block.

Reading other people's erotica and/or watching porn and/or looking at sexy photos might also help spark your creativity.

Best of luck with it

I'd have to say its the whole sex scene itself, I can write the scene before they get in to bed together, but the actual sex is what gets me. Word choice mostly, I don't want to use over done words like "she trailed her fingers along his chest while reaching to remove his shirt" i personally think that sentence seems a little dull. So spicing it up might make a difference.

 

[Anjasa]

Well that's what editing is for Write down the skeleton of the actions, then go back and add in feelings, scents, textures, etc.

At least then you have a start!

You sound like you're just being too hard on yourself.

 

[SmT3040]

Well that's what editing is for Write down the skeleton of the actions, then go back and add in feelings, scents, textures, etc.

At least then you have a start!

You sound like you're just being too hard on yourself.

That could also be it, we are our worst critics, also I added you to my watch list on Deviant art.

 

[TxRad]

I'd have to say its the whole sex scene itself, I can write the scene before they get in to bed together, but the actual sex is what gets me. Word choice mostly, I don't want to use over done words like "she trailed her fingers along his chest while reaching to remove his shirt" i personally think that sentence seems a little dull. So spicing it up might make a difference.

One sentence does not a sex scene make.

That is her action. What are her thoughts as she does it. What is his reaction, his thoughts. Are they new lover, old lovers, married, friends. So much more is needed.

 

[SmT3040]

One sentence does not a sex scene make.

That is her action. What are her thoughts as she does it. What is his reaction, his thoughts. Are they new lover, old lovers, married, friends. So much more is needed.

I know I was giving an example. I understand more needs to be added.

 

[TxRad]

I know I was giving an example. I understand more needs to be added.

Sorry. After I posted that I thought about what I said and how it may have sounded.

You draw so how would you explain an erotic piece to someone who does not draw?

You have to have a picture in your mind to draw the lines in the right spot. You have to have a movie in your head to put the words in the right spot.

Play the movie and write down what is going on.

Practices, practice, practice. It gets easier and smoother over time.

 

[SmT3040]

Sorry. After I posted that I thought about what I said and how it may have sounded.

You draw so how would you explain an erotic piece to someone who does not draw?

You have to have a picture in your mind to draw the lines in the right spot. You have to have a movie in your head to put the words in the right spot.

Play the movie and write down what is going on.

Practices, practice, practice. It gets easier and smoother over time.

It's all good, I have to take harsh criticism at some point in my life!

 

[BONNIEBREA]

To be honest, SmT, it's like writing any other story. It's just that the erotic/sexual interactions between the characters are spelled out in detail rather than glossed over as they would be in other types of prose. Also, perhaps those interactions are more central to the development of the characters and the plot.

 

[jomar]

Stop wanking while you write. Or at least if you do don't finish the job.

 

[SamScribble]

Play the movie and write what you see is pretty good advice. If you can't see the scene in your mind, it's always going to be hard to write it.

And once you have it captured on the page, polish it, polish it, polish it. Find a voice. Find a rhythm. Make it as simple as you can.

Good luck.

 

[SmT3040]

Thanks!

I appreciate all of the feedback and support I've gotten from you guys. When I get something finished I'll post for you all to read!

 

[Weird Harold]

I read a lot, mostly romance and horror. I enjoy smut and stuff like that, and I write myself and always wanted to try my hand at something erotic. I'll get up to the sex part of the story and then I get stuck, it's like I know how I want the scene to play out but writing it down is tough.

Any suggestions on how to get past this part?

To be honest, SmT, it's like writing any other story. It's just that the erotic/sexual interactions between the characters are spelled out in detail rather than glossed over as they would be in other types of prose. Also, perhaps those interactions are more central to the development of the characters and the plot.

What Bonnie said: writing erotica is the same as writing anything else.

I would add that perhaps you have trouble writing explicit sex scenes because you're trying too hard to include explicit sex scenes. If a story doesn't need a sex scene where you're trying to put one, it will be harder to write because the scene just doesn't want to be there.

Try writing a few standalone sex scenes -- scenes without any build-up or context -- and see if they are any easier to write.

 

[JustaSCOUNDREL]

"she trailed her fingers along his chest while reaching to remove his shirt"

I think I would have written it as:

"He thrilled as her nails trailed (gently, smoothly, harshly) across his chest as her other hand unbuttoned his shirt. She loved the feeling of his nipples hardening under her fingers."

I think it is very important for both or all to react in some manor, whether it is to moan with pleasure or scream with pain. All depending what you are writing. Erotica or porn is not a one denominational experience. Write it as something that is happening to both (or more) people.

I will add it is surprisingly difficult to write and write well, at least in my very limited experience.

Mike

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Too many writers are clueless about the process of writing. Once they learn the process writing becomes routine and simple, but no less toil. Like driving to grandma's house.

Start with a PREMISE: Whats the point of your sex tale? Most sex stories are how-to manuals for getting laid. DO IT MY WAY AND YOULL GET SOME ACTION. But your premise can be any point you wanna make, and people read your tale like its a roadmap to the Promised Land.

More to come...

OK! you got a premise like, THIS IS HOW YOU SCORE WITH LASSIE! (or Carol Brady or Chaz Bono...whatever) And your premise determines the storys category.

Next you need that roadmap to Lassie's or Chaz' bed, a PLOT. Simple stories have simple plots, great literature has complex plots, and most LIT fare has no plot a'tall. Simple plots take this form: Start with a CONFLICT (Chaz likes girls but your hero is a guy in a coma out in the wilds of the Amazon). Then pile-on the poor man! Make him a German Nazi hiding from execution. When his lust drives him outta the jungle to Chaz make THE MINNOW, Gilligan, the Perfesser, Maryann et al the only means to reach civilization. That is, maroon the poor bastard on a sandbar, on the dark side of the Moon, with Gilligan and Mrs. Howell and create your CRISIS.

Now you need a RESOLUTION. So do something like elect Newt President, have Congress make the Moon a state, and let Newt invite Chaz Bono to cut the ribbon at the Moon Space Port. Chaz meets your guy and they fall in love cuz your guy is a dead-ringer for Cher.

So how do you depict the sex that follows?

More to come....

Hemingway suggested you build tension in the reader and focus on actions that naturally increase reader tension. He explained that a bait nibble is lots more exciting than baiting the hook or reeling your fish to the boat. That is, cull your story of mundane toil and replace it with significant brief events that ratchet-up the tension. Like...you take Lisa to the show, and somewhere along the way your hand ends up on her leg and she doesnt move it or give you a warning cough or say STOPPIT, TODD! YOUR HAND IS COLD! Maybe she moves her sweater to her lap and opens her thighs just enough for a finger hold in the door.

And remember! A skirt is for your benefit, and hot pants are for all the other guys.

 

[Feotakahari]

I'll note here that while some of the emotion of my first porn story was borrowed from Philip Pullman's The White Mercedes, a lot of it was a mimicry of religious rapture as portrayed in fiction. It worked because I was writing a story about selfless devotion. If, say, you're writing from the perspective of a serial womanizer who views every act of sex as a conquest, you might instead mimic the emotions of a hunter upon killing a magnificent stag.

 

[TxRad]

I'll note here that while some of the emotion of my first porn story was borrowed from Philip Pullman's The White Mercedes, a lot of it was a mimicry of religious rapture as portrayed in fiction. It worked because I was writing a story about selfless devotion. If, say, you're writing from the perspective of a serial womanizer who views every act of sex as a conquest, you might instead mimic the emotions of a hunter upon killing a magnificent stag.

Try that from a female point of view. I did and I think it scared a lot of readers. A Way of Life is about a lady who likes it rough and on her own terms. Readers either loved it or hated it. Any reaction is a good reaction

 

[Ironiclaconic]

The mechanics of sex are hundreds of millions of years old. Writing sex scenes became a lot easier when I realized that the mechanics were never going to be original. There are only so many ways in the English language to describe a man kissing a woman's breasts, without descending into purple prose ("his hungry wet snake of love tasted the Hershey's Kiss on top of her mammalian cupcakes".)

As others have indicated, the originality is in the emotions and thoughts. That in itself becomes a lot easier if a good story leads you to the sex scene in the first place. Story is woefully underappreciated in erotica - conflict, character development, overcoming obstacles, dramatic resolution, etc. Write a good story that naturally leads to a sex scene and the sex scene mostly writes itself.

 

[lovecraft68]

Like the old Nike ad says

Just do it. Everything else being said here is true, but worry about it later.

For right now begin at the beginning, just get something down and go from there. Whether it be a quick dirty sex scene, or a conversation between two characters just break the ice and get it out there.

I started two years ago when for the hell of it, I sat down and wrote out a scene I wanted to use for one of my wife and I's weekly role plays.

It didn't come out bad and I started adding more and more to it every time I looked at it. Within a month it became "Allison Scores First" which eventually became my second lit submission.

Once you get started there are plenty of people here who can and will help you with the next steps, but you have to take the first one.