Death in Erotica

[Professor_Chaos]

I just finished the outline of a prequel to a story I wrote, Newfound Lake. While it's not necessary to read it to answer my question, the opinion of someone who has may help. In the original story, a character proposes to another after being a widower for a few years.
What I'm working now on has a love story between the man and his first wife. A quick but well put together middle, if I do say so myself, describes the events after his wife's death. The ending consists of the man meeting another much younger girl and beginning the relationship from my other story.
If readers know someone is going to die, will they hate me for making them fall in love with the character? Does a second love story cover the death with a mental band-aid? It's realistic and personal to me; falling in love, losing it because life, falling in love again.

 

[RetroFan]

If you post your story in the Romance category, it should be okay.

I wrote a very sad story in this category earlier this year which seems to have some similar themes to yours, where it is revealed that the main male character's much younger platonic female friend is not really that, in fact she isn't there at all. She was his childhood sweetheart and fiancée, and died tragically just before their wedding 16 years earlier, leaving him so heartbroken that he imagines her through his subconscious, before working through his issues and moving on with a new love.

I wasn't sure how readers would react to such a sad story, especially as the 'dead all along' character was written to be very likable, but they loved it, except for one who said that ghosts have no place in Romance stories.

 

[Professor_Chaos]

Romance it is

I probably psyched myself out. Knowing she would die made her character difficult to write. I couldn't see her face, her body, and I had no idea what her personality would be like. It took me a few weeks of writing another story and forgetting about her death before I could come back and make her real and the man fall in love with her.
I was considering splitting it into two stories as it's already pretty long but the description of your story being in romance makes me think readers can handle it, maybe I couldn't. I've never lost a wife, but I've grieved similar to how the man does.
And btw, what about the movie Ghost? Not ashamed to admit that's been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. Your story sounds like one that would interest me. I have a ghost one I'm saving for next Halloween, though that's definitely horror, not romance.

 

[Nezhul]

if the readers KNOW someone is going to die right from the start - it's much trickier to make them feel and relate with the character. Do they need to know though?

That said, tricky doesn't mean bad. It just takes some skill, and you end up with an emotional rollercoaster.
As for erotica - sure, go for it. For me, Erotic Fiction is the same as normal fiction but with some sex involved. It could be drama, comedy, mystery or horror. It could be tragedy.

It depends on what your aim really is. If you want to write some masturbation material - then it's best to avoid all mood-ruining things and erection killers as much as possible. This means aviding tragedy, drama, death, ilness and so on.
If your aim is to make a great story and erotic is just a spice added to it - go for it.

 

[Professor_Chaos]

Readers would only know if they read the other story first. Even though this is a prequel I tried to make it not matter what order they were read in. It begins with the man meeting his wife, up to them getting married, then 10ish years later there's a scene with cops coming to inform the man that she passed.

I'm going for a great story with the Newfound series. Yeah, there's a lot of sex but the feedback I already received told me that there was a variety of emotions and it was very realistic.

You made me realize I was already a bit tricky with this. While the wife that dies is likable, his future fiance is younger, full of life, and bubbly. She's easily more likable and familiar from the other story. The whole point of her character is to help the man heal and move on from the death of his wife, essentially helping the reader move on too.

 

[nighteyes66]

I don't like that story-line. Maybe I'm triggered because as an older woman I frequently get the message that ALL men want much younger *girls*.

And you make the wife die to make room for a new, young love. That's not even trying to be subliminal.

Of course I'm probably not the target audience. But to me there is nothing erotic or romantic in your whole scenario. If I read it, I'd hate it, especially if I knew the poor woman was going to die anyway.

But hey, makes room for an upgrade!

 

[Professor_Chaos]

All I can say is I'm purposefully leaving details out of this discussion because it's a long story. His wife dies because it's already been written, and the younger girl is proposed to in the other story. I decided to do a prequel because feedback told me people wanted to read more about them.
The younger girl has had a crush on the man since she was little. She looked up to his wife more than anyone else. The two women are far more connected in the story and the man purposely turns the younger girl down many times because of the age difference and their small town surroundings.
The wife's death affects many different characters and her character essentially makes everything about the world I've created possible.
No one's being killed off to make room for anyone. Personally, I'm 30 and wouldn't date anyone under 25 for my own reasons. The younger girl I wrote was meant to be an exception to those reasons and the man's.

 

[RetroFan]

I probably psyched myself out. Knowing she would die made her character difficult to write. I couldn't see her face, her body, and I had no idea what her personality would be like. It took me a few weeks of writing another story and forgetting about her death before I could come back and make her real and the man fall in love with her.
I was considering splitting it into two stories as it's already pretty long but the description of your story being in romance makes me think readers can handle it, maybe I couldn't. I've never lost a wife, but I've grieved similar to how the man does.
And btw, what about the movie Ghost? Not ashamed to admit that's been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. Your story sounds like one that would interest me. I have a ghost one I'm saving for next Halloween, though that's definitely horror, not romance.

If you were interested in reading my story, it's called 'Learning to Love Louise'. I'm not sure how to post links to stories in this message board, but if you looked up tags such as 'Sad', 'Tragedy' or 'Australia' in the Romance section, you would find it.

 

[Professor_Chaos]

I will check it out for sure.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Well my upcoming winter Holiday comp story is centered around death. And erotic sex. And death. Mostly love and death and it’s been interesting to write.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Well my upcoming winter Holiday comp story is centered around death. And erotic sex. And death. Mostly love and death and it’s been interesting to write.

?? I thought you were going to write about Frosty the Snowman, elves, Mrs Claus, and a candy cane .

 

[Hypoxia]

Dead ideas:

* Tell in 1st-person present-tense of sex as the plane crashes.
* Kill off a beloved character for tears and sympathy votes.
* Incestuous ghosts drive the haunted siblings to fuck-o-rama.
* The Sweet Young Thing fucks to death her rich elderly hubbies.
* He can only satisfy ghosts (any gender), not living humans.
* Missing and presumed dead for a decade, she returns to restart.
* Embalmed with a massive erection, he attracts ribald attention.
* Her sex life passes before her eyes as she plummets from the tower.

 

[ChloeTzang]

?? I thought you were going to write about Frosty the Snowman, elves, Mrs Claus, and a candy cane .

Not this time.....started writing and it ran away with me.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Dead ideas:
* The Sweet Young Thing fucks to death her rich elderly hubbies..

Lusts of the Borgias by Marcus van Heller.
Wherein the delectable young Lucretia Borgia seduces the Pope and fucks him to a heart attack and death so her father can manipulate himself into becoming the next Pope.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If you were interested in reading my story, it's called 'Learning to Love Louise'. I'm not sure how to post links to stories in this message board, but if you looked up tags such as 'Sad', 'Tragedy' or 'Australia' in the Romance section, you would find it.

Go to the Lit front page, scroll down to Search Members, enter name, click to Stories/Poems...

And voila:

https://www.literotica.com/s/learning-to-love-louise

 

[MelissaBaby]

In my Romance series Mary and Alvin, I established from the start that Alvin was a widower. I described the death of his wife and his response (and their children's responses) to her death, in a backstory chapter. It was very kindly received by my readers. It currently has a 4.81 rating.

I've killed a couple other, more minor characters as well, and if someone doesn't stop me, I may kill again!

 

[Hypoxia]

Lusts of the Borgias by Marcus van Heller.
Wherein the delectable young Lucretia Borgia seduces the Pope and fucks him to a heart attack and death so her father can manipulate himself into becoming the next Pope.

That will be in the sequel to How I Became an Evil Queen if I ever get around to writing it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I've killed a couple other, more minor characters as well, and if someone doesn't stop me, I may kill again!

Do NOT give this woman an axe.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Do NOT give this woman an axe.

"All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you." -Ernest Hemingway

 

[Professor_Chaos]

In my Romance series Mary and Alvin, I established from the start that Alvin was a widower. I described the death of his wife and his response (and their children's responses) to her death, in a backstory chapter. It was very kindly received by my readers. It currently has a 4.81 rating.

I've killed a couple other, more minor characters as well, and if someone doesn't stop me, I may kill again!

I really did LOL at that.
I intend to write some horror erotica in the future so I'm no stranger to death. Really I was trying to figure out if it was worth writing about the wife because of my own struggle writing it with romantic intent. From the responses I've received, I'm going ahead full steam and not changing what I have planned for it.
The juice is worth the squeeze.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I really did LOL at that.
I intend to write some horror erotica in the future so I'm no stranger to death. Really I was trying to figure out if it was worth writing about the wife because of my own struggle writing it with romantic intent. From the responses I've received, I'm going ahead full steam and not changing what I have planned for it.
The juice is worth the squeeze.

I have been very successful writing a long series very similar to what you've described. I hope you have success as well.