On characters' ages and settings

[the_lost_one]

Hey everyone, I know I'm not very active here but that's only because of the lack of time and because my laptop died a few months back. (R.I.P) >_< Anyway, I'm wondering about the setting and ages of characters I'm allowed to use. The FAQ didn't help much, it specified the 2257 or such statutes only apply to images and videos.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no pedo nor am I going to write about underage kids. However a particular story I'm working on has its setting in a senior high school. The characters involved directly in the story are 18 and over, but will the setting be a problem? I'm asking because you never know when some obscure law will jump out at you going "gotcha"! Any help would be much appreciated. ^_^

Happy new year to everybody here, and may the force be with you!

 

[LordMhoram]

You can find the 'prime' guidelines here.

Then you'll want to read the more complete section found here

 

[lovecraft68]

Hey everyone, I know I'm not very active here but that's only because of the lack of time and because my laptop died a few months back. (R.I.P) >_< Anyway, I'm wondering about the setting and ages of characters I'm allowed to use. The FAQ didn't help much, it specified the 2257 or such statutes only apply to images and videos.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no pedo nor am I going to write about underage kids. However a particular story I'm working on has its setting in a senior high school. The characters involved directly in the story are 18 and over, but will the setting be a problem? I'm asking because you never know when some obscure law will jump out at you going "gotcha"! Any help would be much appreciated. ^_^

Happy new year to everybody here, and may the force be with you!

High school can be tricky. It's a word that will usually be picked up on by the bots that scan the stories.

The easiest way around it is to announce in an authors note that all characters are 18 and over.

Then find a way to state the age as 18 very early in the story. Whatever character's pov you are using have them state there age "I looked down at the watch I'd gotten for my 18th b-day" establish it early then move on from there.

 

[PennLady]

Yep, lovecraft's right. I'd also suggest adding a note in the "note" box on the submission page, stating that all characters in sexual situations are over eighteen, in addition to an author's note at the top of the story.

 

[amofiga]

Lost One

Lovecraft has a good suggestion. I've skirted this issue in several stories by making sure that there is some indication that the character is 18 even if he has just graduated from high school or is/was perhaps 18 if/when there is any reference to overt sexual activity. I once had a case where adults were talking about things they did earlier in life and alluded to times "when you were younger" or things that you did "back when you were younger". The phrase "high school" is probably a trigger that will be picked up and perhaps looked at more closely. It's sort of like those slightly out of the ordinary and different "deductions" on someone's tax returns that trigger the computer to kick it out. It is possible to supply special notes and explanation if your story gets bounced. Nevertheless, any sexual activity that is associated with a specific age less than 18 will likely be bounced.

Once when referring to a teenage character's masturbation, I didn't actually use the word "masturbation", but referred to a mom suspecting it because of things she noticed about items in his laundry. She was discussing this with a friend and said something like, "I'll bet you did lot of that sort of thing when you were his age didn't you?" to which the friend answered, "I suppose I did my share. but don't worry about it. It's normal and natural." It was obvious what the topic of discussion was about, but I never actually used the word "masturbation" and never stated spicifically what it was about the laundry, and never stated a specific age for the woman's son. Perhaps he could have indeed been 18, but there were also prior implications in the story to him riding a school bus or about his mom driving him to school. I doubt that many people would assume he was that old if he was indeed still riding a school bus. Still, there were no specifics given and it could be "possible" that he was 18, and the things his mom was suspecting could have been him sneaking pizza into his room because of olive oil stains on his underware. It could be...... Advice: Be creative and don't give too many details. Let the reader figure out what hasn't been stated overtly. Good luck.

 

[Kitlekyana]

18's a Bitch

The whole 18 thing can really be a bitch. Personally I've decided not to bother wracking my head over how to make high schoolers fall in love, so I've abandoned them and the lowest age I write is college age. So much easier.

But I agree, make your work as ambiguous as possible or your story should have the 'they're over 18' mantra all over it

 

[the_lost_one]

Thanks guys! That certainly was what I was worrying about. The term high school does bring up "underage" to mind at once. But thanks for the many suggestions, that is precisely what I've been doing so far to have a re-workable script in case it was a point of concern. I'll see what I can do to have it published without losing the integrity of the story.

 

[lovecraft68]

Thanks guys! That certainly was what I was worrying about. The term high school does bring up "underage" to mind at once. But thanks for the many suggestions, that is precisely what I've been doing so far to have a re-workable script in case it was a point of concern. I'll see what I can do to have it published without losing the integrity of the story.

If you want an example, go to my page and read the first few paragraphs of Siblings with Benefits the beginning. It starts with the character sitting in class in high school. I did not give an 18+ disclosure or a note in the box and it still flew fine. I suggest you still do the disclaimers I just always forgot because most of that series the characters were in their 30's so I never worried about it.

 

[lance gt]

Stating that they're seniors, or Sophmores, enjoying their last year at high school, sets the right setting for ages. Bday parties and other celebrations can establish a more exact age if needed.
Ambiguity of a person's age will bring about a red flag, so make sure it's well established what age they are.

 

[PennLady]

The whole 18 thing can really be a bitch. Personally I've decided not to bother wracking my head over how to make high schoolers fall in love, so I've abandoned them and the lowest age I write is college age. So much easier.

But I agree, make your work as ambiguous as possible or your story should have the 'they're over 18' mantra all over it

I'm with you, and for similar reasons. I know some people fall in love and marry/commit that young but most don't. What I find annoying/frustrating in stories with 18yo protagonists is that they are 18 but usually act older. A lot of times if I start reading and the characters are that young, I click off. No offense, authors -- it's totally me and not you.

 

[lovecraft68]

Stating that they're seniors, or Sophmores, enjoying their last year at high school, sets the right setting for ages. Bday parties and other celebrations can establish a more exact age if needed.
Ambiguity of a person's age will bring about a red flag, so make sure it's well established what age they are.

"Senior" alone should be enough and sometimes is. But to newbies I try to instill as much paranoia as possible to match the sites pretty much pathological paranoia of under age references. Saying a car is 13 years old can sometimes get a story booted because the bot sees 13.

Too bad they didn't worry half as much about some of the real crimes their stories promote.

 

[the_lost_one]

Grazie!

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I have made it a point to state that the characters are over 18 and the story does take place in the final year of senior high. So I guess that's solved.

 

[PennLady]

"Senior" alone should be enough and sometimes is. But to newbies I try to instill as much paranoia as possible to match the sites pretty much pathological paranoia of under age references. Saying a car is 13 years old can sometimes get a story booted because the bot sees 13.

See, I was 16/17 as a high school senior. I know most people aren't, they're 18 or even 19, but that was how it worked out for me. So I can see where senior by itself isn't always enough.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Hey everyone, I know I'm not very active here but that's only because of the lack of time and because my laptop died a few months back. (R.I.P) >_< Anyway, I'm wondering about the setting and ages of characters I'm allowed to use. The FAQ didn't help much, it specified the 2257 or such statutes only apply to images and videos.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no pedo nor am I going to write about underage kids. However a particular story I'm working on has its setting in a senior high school. The characters involved directly in the story are 18 and over, but will the setting be a problem? I'm asking because you never know when some obscure law will jump out at you going "gotcha"! Any help would be much appreciated. ^_^

Happy new year to everybody here, and may the force be with you!

Yeah, I agree with the suggestions, because my first submission of "Angie's An Adult" got smacked down, even the though the title clearly stated that she was of age! So, yeah, actually write that he or she is at least 18.

 

[the_lost_one]

*sigh*

I've come to the realization that this is a pointless task. I have been going over and over the story for months now and I still feel it is pathetic. I overhauled the setting and a few details of the characters, I tried a few different ideas and then came back to the original plot. Yet this troubling doubt remains.

I'm a decent enough writer- I cannot pretend I'm not. The problem is in the topic I've chosen. One cannot write about what one has no experience of I suppose..

I've made my submission with much hesitation. No doubt it stands a good chance of being rejected for the mention of the setting although I have made it clear that all characters are of legal age. I don't even know if it was worth the trouble but still, there it is.

At any rate, if it happens to get approved I would greatly appreciate it if one of the more experienced writers took the time to let me know what it is lacking. I can't put my finger on it but it's nagging me like an old nanny. (There's an image I did not need..)

Well, I'm going back to writing stuff that is not focused on sexual situations unless it is that essential to the plot. I will try again, however. I'm not one to quit easily.

 

[sr71plt]

I've come to the realization that this is a pointless task. I have been going over and over the story for months now and I still feel it is pathetic. I overhauled the setting and a few details of the characters, I tried a few different ideas and then came back to the original plot. Yet this troubling doubt remains.

I'm a decent enough writer- I cannot pretend I'm not. The problem is in the topic I've chosen. One cannot write about what one has no experience of I suppose..

I've made my submission with much hesitation. No doubt it stands a good chance of being rejected for the mention of the setting although I have made it clear that all characters are of legal age. I don't even know if it was worth the trouble but still, there it is.

At any rate, if it happens to get approved I would greatly appreciate it if one of the more experienced writers took the time to let me know what it is lacking. I can't put my finger on it but it's nagging me like an old nanny. (There's an image I did not need..)

Well, I'm going back to writing stuff that is not focused on sexual situations unless it is that essential to the plot. I will try again, however. I'm not one to quit easily.

When it goes up, come back here and leave a link to it so it can easily be found.

 

[BONNIEBREA]

I'm not sure if you're worried about legalities, but if you are then I think your worries are groundless, especially as you make a point that any sexual activity in your stories is between people of at least 18 years (and I'm a big proponent of that concept).

What a site like Literotica will allow is an entirely different matter, and I think they could be clearer as to specific situations.

I had a story recently up here (since removed in favor of e-publishing) in which the narrative started with the protagonist as a 14-year-old in eighth grade (although the story was written in her first-person voice and she was relating the story as a 24-year-old woman). She had some experiences in her adolescence that were non-sexual in nature that stirred feelings and wonderings about the concepts of dominance and submission. Any actual sexual contact was only between characters of at least 18 years, and I made a point in the narrative of leaving no doubt on that point.

So, I know people here seem to obsess about this issue, but perhaps to too great a degree. The idea that you can wite stories without ever mentioning the existence of human beings under the age of 18, or one in which nothing ever happens in a setting where human beings under age 18 might happen to be or congregate, is more than a little wacky.

 

[Darkniciad]

Uhm... where did you get that impression?

Yes, mentioning an age under 18 can be a red flag that causes a knee-jerk rejection, but there's never been a prohibition against characters under 18 in stories -- only characters under 18 engaging in any sexual activity ( beyond the casual, sterile mention of things that happened in the past )

Think you may be mistaking the warnings about what can cause an incorrect rejection for descriptions of allowed content.

 

[the_lost_one]

I'm not sure if you're worried about legalities, but if you are then I think your worries are groundless, especially as you make a point that any sexual activity in your stories is between people of at least 18 years (and I'm a big proponent of that concept).

What a site like Literotica will allow is an entirely different matter, and I think they could be clearer as to specific situations.

I had a story recently up here (since removed in favor of e-publishing) in which the narrative started with the protagonist as a 14-year-old in eighth grade (although the story was written in her first-person voice and she was relating the story as a 24-year-old woman). She had some experiences in her adolescence that were non-sexual in nature that stirred feelings and wonderings about the concepts of dominance and submission. Any actual sexual contact was only between characters of at least 18 years, and I made a point in the narrative of leaving no doubt on that point.

So, I know people here seem to obsess about this issue, but perhaps to too great a degree. The idea that you can wite stories without ever mentioning the existence of human beings under the age of 18, or one in which nothing ever happens in a setting where human beings under age 18 might happen to be or congregate, is more than a little wacky.

No no, I'm not worried about the legalities of the story. I've taken care of that little bit and I am not interested in having underage characters appear in this particular story anyway. It would serve no purpose.

I don't suppose you'll understand but the thing is that when I write something, I want it all to hang in there as if it were something that actually happened and I'm just recounting the incident- with a few artistic embellishments and what not. The story must hold up and to me, this one just feels wrong. Like there's something missing in all of it. Maybe it is rushed, or perhaps it's just my lack of experience and it reflects in my writing. But there it is, I am not satisfied and I'm asking for responses from experienced members.

I will link it once it is approved (provided it is approved). Thanks to everyone that responded.

 

[sr71plt]

There are two separate issues here: how to write it and where to submit it.

By all means write it just as you want it to be. And if the high school setting is necessary, then keep the setting. (But that also means that the youth of the characters is necessary to you--whether or not you define any characters in sexual situations as over 18. You are setting it in a primarily underage setting. If it has to be that way for your story, then you're really making the primarily underage setting necessary).

After you've written it, though, and it hasn't naturally set your sexual-situation characters as being old enough to meet the requirements of this website--and you don't feel, for artisitic reasons, you can pin that down within the Lit. rules, then submit it elsewhere.

It's really as simple as that. Two separate issues.

 

[LucyH]

I doubt that many people would assume he was that old if he was indeed still riding a school bus.

I wouldn't jump to conclusions one way or the other. I knew lots of 18 yr olds who rode the school bus. I would've been one of them if I hadn't skipped a grade and graduated early.

 

[PennLady]

I wouldn't jump to conclusions one way or the other. I knew lots of 18 yr olds who rode the school bus. I would've been one of them if I hadn't skipped a grade and graduated early.

Same here. Not every 18yo has or gets a car, or lives close enough to walk. I'm sure there were plenty of 18yos on my buses, and I would have been one of them had I not been like Lucy -- skipped a grade early on and graduated at 17.

 

[BONNIEBREA]

I don't suppose you'll understand but the thing is that when I write something, I want it all to hang in there as if it were something that actually happened and I'm just recounting the incident- with a few artistic embellishments and what not. The story must hold up and to me, this one just feels wrong. Like there's something missing in all of it. Maybe it is rushed, or perhaps it's just my lack of experience and it reflects in my writing. But there it is, I am not satisfied and I'm asking for responses from experienced members.

I think you're the best judge of what might be causing your story to not hang together as you'd like it to. Although, I can say that in general something is likely to be missing in a story or not quite feel right (to the author, the reader, or both) because the author has had to jump through literary and narrative hoops to try to avoid settings and/or characters that are natural to the narrative but which he/she has to work around.

I'm all for staying far away from descriptions of sexual acts involving minors that are just nakedly prurient, abusive, or criminal in nature (although a character's remembrance of 'when I was 12 I was sexually abused by my uncle', or 'I discovered masturbation when I was 13 and I couldn't believe the pleasure I discovered' is fine). But it really doesn't make sense for any erotica literature site or erotica publisher to be concerned with anything other than sexual encounters involving minors that are illegal or abusive in nature, or designed to titillate pedophiles. Setting stringent strictures beyond that does nothing but handcuff the author or force the sort of unnatural circumlocutions that you may be referring to or sensing in your story.

If one wants to run a literature site then that's fine and they should run a literature site. If they want to get into advocating for exploited or abused children, then that's a fine pursuit as well, but I don't see how the two mix, or how hobbling literary expression does anything for mis-used children.

 

[sr71plt]

But it really doesn't make sense for any erotica literature site or erotica publisher to be concerned with anything other than sexual encounters involving minors that are illegal or abusive in nature, or designed to titillate pedophiles. Setting stringent strictures beyond that does nothing but handcuff the author or force the sort of unnatural circumlocutions that you may be referring to or sensing in your story.

Since you'll find it very difficult to find an erotica literature site that permits underage stories, it sort of obviously does make sense somehow, doesn't it? You might open your own site and experiment and then maybe you'll see why it makes sense. (I suspect the key is in that "designed to titilate [and attract] pedophiles" clause.)

 

[BONNIEBREA]

Since you'll find it very difficult to find an erotica literature site that permits underage stories.

I'm sure there are few, if any, sites that feature or permit underage stories, and I think that's a very good thing. But, of course, my comments were clearly not in any way related to permitting stories involving sexual activities involving underage characters. More careful reading please.