Foreplay

[ElectricBlue]

I've noticed in my recent writing that, when I have a major sex scene planned, it often takes a while to get it going. It's as if my characters are saying, hey, give us some foreplay, we need more time, something's not quite right here, slow down.

When I read it back, the stalling actually works well nearly every time. These sequences (which can be several hundred words long) very often result in character reveals (and occasionally plot turns) I didn't know about.

I don't plot heavily ahead of writing, and am often surprised by the things my characters reveal as I go along, so it a fascinating process.

I know some writers here are far more deliberate than I am in terms of their story construction - who else finds this kind of thing happening?

 

[SimonDoom]

I've noticed in my recent writing that, when I have a major sex scene planned, it often takes a while to get it going. It's as if my characters are saying, hey, give us some foreplay, we need more time, something's not quite right here, slow down.

When I read it back, the stalling actually works well nearly every time. These sequences (which can be several hundred words long) very often result in character reveals (and occasionally plot turns) I didn't know about.

I don't plot heavily ahead of writing, and am often surprised by the things my characters reveal as I go along, so it a fascinating process.

I know some writers here are far more deliberate than I am in terms of their story construction - who else finds this kind of thing happening?

I make a plot outline for every story I write before I start writing, and I especially plot the ending, so I know where I'm going when I start writing. But I often deviate from the outline as I go, and I take a more make it up as I go attitude with sex scenes.

Something I've noticed from reader comments is that they don't like it if a good sex scene is too short. I suspect that's because they don't want the scene to finish before, ahem, they do.

 

[holliday1960]

.....

 

[ElectricBlue]

I make a plot outline for every story I write before I start writing, and I especially plot the ending, so I know where I'm going when I start writing. But I often deviate from the outline as I go, and I take a more make it up as I go attitude with sex scenes.

I've written a few where the only thing I knew ahead of time was the ending. Writing the story was the only way of getting there.

The most convoluted was my 23 part In the Library yarn - I had my final sentence as soon as soon as I finished chapter one. Problem was, a major plot twist and some brand new characters muscled in at chapter 10 or 11, which made the whole thing go around in one massive loop. At one point I had no idea at all how I was going to wrap it all up. The only solution was to keep writing until it sorted itself out.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I've noticed in my recent writing that, when I have a major sex scene planned, it often takes a while to get it going. It's as if my characters are saying, hey, give us some foreplay, we need more time, something's not quite right here, slow down.

When I read it back, the stalling actually works well nearly every time. These sequences (which can be several hundred words long) very often result in character reveals (and occasionally plot turns) I didn't know about.

I don't plot heavily ahead of writing, and am often surprised by the things my characters reveal as I go along, so it a fascinating process.

I know some writers here are far more deliberate than I am in terms of their story construction - who else finds this kind of thing happening?

I usually have some sort of a vague outline in my head and that's about it. I write the start, I write the end and I let everything in between kind of work its way into place as I go, which is why I always end up with these looooong short stories, coz lots of things just sort of emerge as I wander along. Surprises me sometimes. Surprises my characters even more, let me tell you.

For longer stories, I do jot down outlines, but at best it's a few lines. For a contrast, I'm working on a novel right now, and for that I am getting a lot more detailed, largely because I don't want to waste time rewriting. My outline for the first 12k words was 2.5 k words. It's the first time I've done this and it seems to be working well, coz there's barely any rework, which is kind of unusual.

 

[MoonlightandRoses]

Electric Blue, in some of my writings, I’ve found that with dialog.

Moonlight and Roses,

 

[LeandraNyx]

Deleted

 

[SusanJillParker]

I've noticed in my recent writing that, when I have a major sex scene planned, it often takes a while to get it going. It's as if my characters are saying, hey, give us some foreplay, we need more time, something's not quite right here, slow down.

When I read it back, the stalling actually works well nearly every time. These sequences (which can be several hundred words long) very often result in character reveals (and occasionally plot turns) I didn't know about.

I don't plot heavily ahead of writing, and am often surprised by the things my characters reveal as I go along, so it a fascinating process.

I know some writers here are far more deliberate than I am in terms of their story construction - who else finds this kind of thing happening?

I write erotica. I don't write porn. Consequently, all of my stories are slow burns. Character development is very important to me because that's how I allow my characters to tell their story.

Too many writers who write here don't even name their characters never mind describe them. Too many writers don't offer any imagery so that the reader can better see she scene and/or the character.

Too many writers mix narrative with dialogue by putting dialogue within long passages of narrative.

Just as life isn't all about sex, most of my stories aren't all about sex but about people. Most people don't have sex all day, every day.

Interior monologue is an important tool that I use and that few other writers use.

Sure, I can reveal my character through dialogue but sometimes what he or she says isn't what he or she is really thinking.

I try to write real people in real scenes in stories that could be true.

Good luck with your stories.

 

[sr71plt]

Too many writers who write here don't even name their characters never mind describe them. Too many writers don't offer any imagery so that the reader can better see she scene and/or the character.

Too many writers mix narrative with dialogue by putting dialogue within long passages of narrative.

Too many writers here spend too much of their time with their noses up other writers' butts.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Too many writers who write here don't even name their characters never mind describe them. Too many writers don't offer any imagery so that the reader can better see she scene and/or the character.

Too many writers mix narrative with dialogue by putting dialogue within long passages of narrative. ......Interior monologue is an important tool that I use and that few other writers use.

A lot of that though, Susan, is that learning curve, and that really depends on whether you want to get better as a writer or not. Some work on it, some don't. I know when I started writing here I made all those mistakes and more. There's always more to learn and ways to improve yourself and that's part of the joy of writing here. Learning. Experimenting. Trying things out on readers. I'm always trying for hot and to just get inescapably into my readers head and the biggest reward is when someone comments that they couldn't stop reading until they'd finished. Love it.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

I've noticed in my recent writing that, when I have a major sex scene planned, it often takes a while to get it going. It's as if my characters are saying, hey, give us some foreplay, we need more time, something's not quite right here, slow down.

When I read it back, the stalling actually works well nearly every time. These sequences (which can be several hundred words long) very often result in character reveals (and occasionally plot turns) I didn't know about.

I don't plot heavily ahead of writing, and am often surprised by the things my characters reveal as I go along, so it a fascinating process.

I know some writers here are far more deliberate than I am in terms of their story construction - who else finds this kind of thing happening?

When I first started writing this didn't happen at all. But as I got more experience this slowly started to become the norm. By now, my characters are real people living in my head and they have a will of their own (a pretty strong one in certain cases...).

I just plan out the general direction of the story before I begin to write, usually just in my head. Just where the story will start, what it will be about and how it will end. Sometimes I also have some vague ideas of scenes planned and in which order they should happen, but that's it. I just start at the beginning and I'll see where the characters want to go. I can try to nudge them into a certain direction, but in the end I often end up writing dialogue or actions that I had never expected.

To me that's the beauty of writing, and a sign you're doing it right: if your story appears to write itself, and you're merely observing and writing it down as it plays out.

 

[8letters]

I know some writers here are far more deliberate than I am in terms of their story construction - who else finds this kind of thing happening?

Generally when I get the story idea, I have the entire story. My stories generally run from longish short story to novella length. As I write, I'm constantly putting in details that are used later. I have troubles making sure that every detail is presented in the right order. My main characters generally change very little from concept to publication. For really complex stories, I make a timeline.

Once the first draft is done, I sometimes do major re-writes, mainly in response to feedback from beta-readers. If a section of a story isn't working, out it goes and in comes something else.

Sex scenes - blah. My least favorite party of writing stories for LitE. Sometimes, the sex scene is driven by the plot. Otherwise, I typically find a porn video with a sex scene similar to what I'm vaguely thinking about and I essentially write it up. I'm currently watching porn for inspiration for the concluding sex scene of the story I'm close to finishing.

 

[ChloeTzang]

....Sex scenes - blah. My least favorite party of writing stories for LitE. Sometimes, the sex scene is driven by the plot. Otherwise, I typically find a porn video with a sex scene similar to what I'm vaguely thinking about and I essentially write it up. I'm currently watching porn for inspiration for the concluding sex scene of the story I'm close to finishing.

Oh no, those are the parts I really enjoy writing. I love getting readers so inside my heroines head that it's like they're her. Every emotion, every thought, everything that they sense as it happens. When you can write a single sex scene that goes for 10 LIT pages and holds readers riveted all the way thru until the last gasp, THAT's a sex scene. I love writing those. My aspiration is a 120k word sex scene that causes unconsciousness in the male reader thru loss of blood to the brain.

 

[AwkwardMD]

The more I grow as an author, the more I've come to rely on outlining and abstracting my plots in advance. It helps me keep track of all the whiz-bang plot stuff that I would otherwise forget.

That said, I once pantsed an entire story (~37k words?) as an exercise in forcing myself to write quickly and with minimal editing, and I'm proud of the result. For a long time, I thought that would end up as the best thing I ever wrote because it's so uncluttered and lean. It still holds a fond place in my catalog, warts and all.

In both cases, there was significant emotional and/or physical build-up before the sex. For me, foreplay is whatever comes before sex that is actively and directly adding to the intensity. If my characters fight and have a good cry before fucking, I treat it all as foreplay and write it as such.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My aspiration is a 120k word sex scene that causes unconsciousness in the male reader thru loss of blood to the brain.

Bring it on, Tzang, don't just talk about it. I'm up for it (us old hearts can still pump blood, you know!).

 

[ElectricBlue]

For a long time, I thought that would end up as the best thing I ever wrote because it's so uncluttered and lean. It still holds a fond place in my catalog, warts and all.

Yes. My best material is nearly always my stream of consciousness writing, which works because it is kept raw, warts and all.

I'm firmly of the view that you can't polish a turd - if it ain't shining in the first place, it ain't ever going to shine.

 

[sr71plt]

A lot of that though, Susan, is that learning curve, and that really depends on whether you want to get better as a writer or not. Some work on it, some don't. I know when I started writing here I made all those mistakes and more. There's always more to learn and ways to improve yourself and that's part of the joy of writing here. Learning. Experimenting. Trying things out on readers. I'm always trying for hot and to just get inescapably into my readers head and the biggest reward is when someone comments that they couldn't stop reading until they'd finished. Love it.

I sometimes don't name my characters. Hemingway sometimes didn't name his characters. What is amateurish is to have such rules of writing as Freddie did/does. Readers who demand such things aren't too sophisticated either. I ignore them.

 

[LeandraNyx]

Deleted