Where do you think is the balance of eroticism? In the act or in the circumstances?

[John_Vandermeer]

Though to some extent the answer must be in both, to me it seems it is often circumstances that takes it to a whole other level. I can think of a D/s scene, or a prostitution scene, or some other risque sexual encounter and find it hot. But if I get to explore that the Dom(me) is the MCs kin, the prostitute the (passively watching) MCs spouse, etc, it really amps it up. That matters because I tend to find one thing that distinguishes short stories vs novels/novellas is how much of the circumstances you get to explore. And hence why I find it hard to write a short story with as much punch as a novella. What is your view?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Some can make a story hot in 750 words using the circumstances and acts portrayed together to weave something above and beyond what you'd think possible in such a short tale. It is possible in something between 10 and 14 thousand words to be all about the circumstance and the event, not delving into histories, but one long seduction, foreplay, and act of sex and hit the ball out of the park. (Totaly intention baseball reference). I write some things (as Millie Dynamite) longer than that, but most of my writing is five to fifteen thousand words to publish, and I try to include plot and motivation in those. But that's how I go with the flow!

 

[AG31]

Though to some extent the answer must be in both, to me it seems it is often circumstances that takes it to a whole other level. I can think of a D/s scene, or a prostitution scene, or some other risque sexual encounter and find it hot. But if I get to explore that the Dom(me) is the MCs kin, the prostitute the (passively watching) MCs spouse, etc, it really amps it up. That matters because I tend to find one thing that distinguishes short stories vs novels/novellas is how much of the circumstances you get to explore. And hence why I find it hard to write a short story with as much punch as a novella. What is your view?

Circumstances. But for me that doesn't translate into lots of plot or character. It means very particular circumstances.

 

[Senor_Smut]

For me -- and this is just my own preference -- both are necessary. Circumstances are vital because I love a long, detailed build-up with plenty of obstacles and taboos, watching the sexual tension build and feeling it getting harder and harder for the characters to keep their hands off each other. But, and this is a big but, that buildup needs to be followed by a damned good detailed and hot sex scene. The buildup without the good sex is anticlimactic as hell, while sex without the buildup is just dull mechanics.

 

[Writer61]

In my own head the circumstances are what matters most: who are these people? how did they get here? why are they doing what they about to do? But, even with a compelling scenario, "and then they had sex" is not enough.

 

[Britva415]

Where do you think is the balance of eroticism? In the act or in the circumstances?

It's in the balance, yes.

 

[StillStunned]

I won't say this is *the* answer, or even necessarily the answer I want to give, but...

Non-erotica is full of stories that have all the build-up, the circumstances, the characters. And then a blouse is unbuttoned, fingers run over bare skin, a soft moan escapes and... That's it.

What sets erotica apart is that it continues where those other stories let off. They need the build-up and all the other stuff just as much as non-erotic stories do, but the bit where we have our hands down our trousers is the bit that comes after.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Though to some extent the answer must be in both, to me it seems it is often circumstances that takes it to a whole other level. I can think of a D/s scene, or a prostitution scene, or some other risque sexual encounter and find it hot. But if I get to explore that the Dom(me) is the MCs kin, the prostitute the (passively watching) MCs spouse, etc, it really amps it up. That matters because I tend to find one thing that distinguishes short stories vs novels/novellas is how much of the circumstances you get to explore. And hence why I find it hard to write a short story with as much punch as a novella. What is your view?

I have zero interest in short stories for that very reason. I also don't believe that there are more than a few authors here who are able to pull off a short story and still make it erotic, hot, and interesting to any reader who has an ounce of intellectual need when reading a smut story. I don't doubt that there are readers who get off on a trivial application of their particular kink - on a simple insertion of A into B that fulfills their kink, but they don't really fall into this category of readers. It might seem harsh but that's my opinion.

For me, it's all about the build-up. The quirks of the characters, their flaws and idiosyncrasies, their fantasies and extremities, built up slowly over time into something believable... yeah, that's what I want to read. The plot that strains their ideas and beliefs, the slow erotic build-up of desire and need - the seduction most of all, that's what I want to read. Ideally, apart from seduction and teasing, I like it when the first real sex scene happens after at least 15 or 20k words. I don't doubt that this puts me in a stark minority of Lit's readership.

 

[Paul_Chance]

Circumstances.

 

[SimonDoom]

I would say "circumstances," but I'd redefine "circumstances" as the relationship between the principal character(s) and the sex. That's where the delicious eroticism lies.

You can write a story about somebody getting their foot washed with wonderful prose, but what makes it erotic is the character's attitude toward getting their foot washed, and the ability of the author to communicate that attitude to the reader so the reader shares the character's erotic experience.

 

[MrPixel]

Circumstances. The "eroticism" is in building on the anticipation. Execution is literally and figuratively the singularity of the climax. Think Ravel's Bolero as expression of that idea.

I just had a (respected, AH member) reader comment on a 750-word story from months ago that was all anticipation and one lone sentence of execution. They waxed eloquent about the build-up. Sometimes in these very short stories I will do nothing but anticipation-building, and the obvious climax comes only in the reader's mind once the stage has been set.

 

[AG31]

Circumstances. The "eroticism" is in building on the anticipation. Execution is literally and figuratively the singularity of the climax. Think Ravel's Bolero as expression of that idea.

I just had a (respected, AH member) reader comment on a 750-word story from months ago that was all anticipation and one lone sentence of execution. They waxed eloquent about the build-up. Sometimes in these very short stories I will do nothing but anticipation-building, and the obvious climax comes only in the reader's mind once the stage has been set.

Which story is this?

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's in the balance, yes.

I reckon it's like a see-saw. Sometimes you want the middle, finally balanced nuance and erotica. Other times, full gonzo porno (but with sentiment and intimacy).

The notion though, that you need time (length of story) to establish your circumstances is a bit of a nonsense. There are many very fine 750 word pieces that paint a perfect vignette. Equally, there are many longer pieces where one thinks, fuck, who cares about all this stuff? Get the fuck on with it and tell the story!!

 

[MrPixel]

Which story is this?

The eclipse story, A Sudden Darkness. Funny about the comments on the development - it's recounting IRL. We had fun.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Though to some extent the answer must be in both, to me it seems it is often circumstances that takes it to a whole other level. I can think of a D/s scene, or a prostitution scene, or some other risque sexual encounter and find it hot. But if I get to explore that the Dom(me) is the MCs kin, the prostitute the (passively watching) MCs spouse, etc, it really amps it up. That matters because I tend to find one thing that distinguishes short stories vs novels/novellas is how much of the circumstances you get to explore. And hence why I find it hard to write a short story with as much punch as a novella. What is your view?

I don't really understand your question. I'm guessing by the context which you provided that you mean a sex scene without any buildup or nuance leading into or linking with the actual sex provides some sort of satisfying balance in a story, or at least something that might set a story apart from the myriad of other tab A, slot B stories. But to ask if that balance is in one side or the other makes to sense. Obviously any balance would be found in a relation between those two elements in relatively equal measures, not in either or.

Or are you asking if a story could rely heavily on one or the other and still be erotic despite an imbalance? Are you asking about measuring the rate of balance between the two on any given story, regardless of how (im)balanced it may be?

 

[ronde]

Though to some extent the answer must be in both, to me it seems it is often circumstances that takes it to a whole other level. I can think of a D/s scene, or a prostitution scene, or some other risque sexual encounter and find it hot. But if I get to explore that the Dom(me) is the MCs kin, the prostitute the (passively watching) MCs spouse, etc, it really amps it up. That matters because I tend to find one thing that distinguishes short stories vs novels/novellas is how much of the circumstances you get to explore. And hence why I find it hard to write a short story with as much punch as a novella. What is your view?

For me, erotica is made erotic by the personalities of the characters and how they react in the situation. Once an author has set that stage, a lot of graphic description isn't needed.

Think the movies of the late forties and early fifties. The guy and the girl meet, find out they fit together, kiss...and then the movie changes to waves breaking on a rocky shore. There's no question about what happened. The only thing needed to change such a movie into erotica is some general description of how each character feels, physically and mentally.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Bit o' both, but mostly circumstances. I'd far rather read a "fade to black" story with a sexy setup than a well-written sex scene without a context.

 

[AG31]

For me, erotica is made erotic by the personalities of the characters and how they react in the situation. Once an author has set that stage, a lot of graphic description isn't needed.

Think the movies of the late forties and early fifties. The guy and the girl meet, find out they fit together, kiss...and then the movie changes to waves breaking on a rocky shore. There's no question about what happened. The only thing needed to change such a movie into erotica is some general description of how each character feels, physically and mentally.

Why use Literotica as a platform? Why not just go with a general fiction place? Modern fiction supports a lot of explicit sex.

 

[Levorotatory]

I'd far rather read a "fade to black" story with a sexy setup than a well-written sex scene without a context.

Not me.

The buildup without the good sex is anticlimactic as hell, while sex without the buildup is just dull mechanics.

It is easy to hit the back button on dull mechanics with minimal time wasted, but a sexy setup that gets me invested in the characters and then fails to deliver a climax is a much more frustrating disappointment.

 

[John_Vandermeer]

Seems like, with a few exceptions, most think both are important, but it really is context that distinguishes good erotica from cheap porn. As an avowed kinkster and fetishist heavily into taboo it seems a natural conclusion to me. To use a Lit trope as an example, a backseat fuck is good, a backseat fuck with mom while dad drives is something else…

 

[pink_silk_glove]

To use a Lit trope as an example, a backseat fuck is good, a backseat fuck with mom while dad drives is something else…

Metaphorically yeah, maybe I see what you mean but literally no. Both of those premises sound like cheap porn to me. In fact the mom and dad one sounds even more like porn since it is so heavily based on kink, while the simple backseat premise at least leaves open room for nuance and genuine steam. Not that the incest idea can't have genuine steam but it would just be much more difficult to overcome the obvious tropes in the kinks to take any genuine steam seriously.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I think that it's the setting, characters and their situation that makes a story erotic.
I can write a sex act, with nothing extra and it's erotic but it's also kinda meh, right? But if I tell you about the attractive forty-five year old news anchor, who is recouping at home after a skiing accident. She's under the close personal care of a handsome/beautiful young physicians assistant. Now when their eyes meet as the PA's hand caresses up her thigh, you can feel your own heart rate increase. In my opinion, that's erotica.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Seems like, with a few exceptions, most think both are important, but it really is context that distinguishes good erotica from cheap porn. As an avowed kinkster and fetishist heavily into taboo it seems a natural conclusion to me. To use a Lit trope as an example, a backseat fuck is good, a backseat fuck with mom while dad drives is something else…

I think you chose a not so good example. Adding incest into the scene just changes/adds the kink but it doesn't necessarily add more depth. Whether it's mom and son in the back seat or two unrelated people, it's all that happened before that makes all the difference. Say that before that scene we got to know those two characters, and we saw the build-up of attraction and sexual tension between them, desire fighting against propriety, glances being stolen, legs brushing, scenting one's perfume, feeling one's hot breath on the skin, and so on. Then the backseat scene holds a lot more power because there is a great build-up of tension and desire, and both of them are developed rather than being person A and person B.

 

[lc69hunter]

I think both are important. For example, in the standard "cuckold" experience we see in LW, yes, the sex is hot, but, what about the back story. Is the husband totally onboard? Does he or can he reclaim her or does she become an asshole cunt and humiliate him and cut him off? These are important in the context of the story

 

[intim8]

Circumstances. I almost get bored once it gets to the actual sex. And a lot of good circumstance writers basically resort to "then he stuck it in and came hard" when it comes to the final act.

I'm guilty of this too, and I've been trying harder to make the sex more than just pump and dump. Though in fairness to myself, my stories do have several sex scenes that themselves further the plot and/or character and relationship development.