A category question

[gunhilltrain]

Yes, one of those. So I have a story I'd call fan fiction - I tried it as a screenplay years ago. When I look at the Celebrity-Fan Fiction category, it seems that almost all of the the stories have explicit sex in them. Mine has virtually none.

It does have some romance in it, but if it's a series the majority of chapters will not have romance. Thus I suspect that is the wrong category for it; Romance readers would probably not have the patience for it.

So, Non-erotic then?

 

[rescatooor]

I'd put it in celeb & fan fiction anyway. I don't think sex is necessarily essential as long as the romance and longing is done well.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm with rescatoor. I think C &F is the right call.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yep. Wif da boyz on this one.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yep. Wif da boyz on this one.

It's going to take a while anyway. The parts of the screenplay that exist are kind of a mess. It probably would have been at least four hours long if someone had attempted to film it.

All right, here's the other question I have heard many times before: should I put - let's not call it a disclaimer - but some indication at the beginning of what readers should expect, i.e., no sex? (Well, it's talked about at times, but not very explicitly.)

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's going to take a while anyway. The parts of the screenplay that exist are kind of a mess. It probably would have been at least four hours long if someone had attempted to film it.

All right, here's the other question I have heard many times before: should I put - let's not call it a disclaimer - but some indication at the beginning of what readers should expect, i.e., no sex? (Well, it's talked about at times, but not very explicitly.)

I'm not a fan of disclaimers, what's the point of them? They either spoil a plot surprise, or pre-dispose a reader to disappointment. "Oh, all right, there's no sex in this story, but if I must read it, I will. Not happy, though."

 

[KeithD]

All right, here's the other question I have heard many times before: should I put - let's not call it a disclaimer - but some indication at the beginning of what readers should expect, i.e., no sex? (Well, it's talked about at times, but not very explicitly.)

If it winds up in the celebrity category and there's no sex in it, this might be one of the rare instances that I'd think of putting a "nonerotic" disclaimer up front--certainly at least in the keyword section.

 

[PennameWombat]

It's going to take a while anyway. The parts of the screenplay that exist are kind of a mess. It probably would have been at least four hours long if someone had attempted to film it.

All right, here's the other question I have heard many times before: should I put - let's not call it a disclaimer - but some indication at the beginning of what readers should expect, i.e., no sex? (Well, it's talked about at times, but not very explicitly.)

I did that in my Author’s Note at the front of my Winter Holidays 2020 entry. It was a relatively long story (30,000 words) but only a couple of sex scenes that would barely give it an ‘R’ rating were it a movie. But it wasn’t appropriate for Non-Erotic.

One note, this story does have plenty of erotic moments but a limited amount of actual sex - but not a zero amount. If you're looking for something truly down-n-dirty, this might not be the tale for you.

Only ~4600 views in SF&F, but 4.73 on 37 votes. YMMV. I’d say it’s kept my views down, but it’s actually not that far out of average for my SF&F stories.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'd put it in celeb & fan fiction anyway. I don't think sex is necessarily essential as long as the romance and longing is done well.

I wish more people would grasp that "erotic" is not synonymous with "sexually explicit".

A commenter said it very well, when another comment complained that the last chapter of Mary and Alvin didn't contain any sex scenes, (Alvin was in his eighties by then, Mary in her sixties), " If this final chapter does not feel in the most profound sense erotic to you, then it's possible you are blocking out the most profound and important part of the erotic experience."

 

[gunhilltrain]

If it winds up in the celebrity category and there's no sex in it, this might be one of the rare instances that I'd think of putting a "nonerotic" disclaimer up front--certainly at least in the keyword section.

You and electricblue66 have slightly different takes on this - although not really contradictory. A good option would be simply not to have any tags with erotic content - which would be true. If they don't see any such tags, than that should is should give a pretty good indication of what to expect without spelling it out for them.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I wish more people would grasp that "erotic" is not synonymous with "sexually explicit".

A commenter said it very well, when another comment complained that the last chapter of Mary and Alvin didn't contain any sex scenes, (Alvin was in his eighties by then, Mary in her sixties), " If this final chapter does not feel in the most profound sense erotic to you, then it's possible you are blocking out the most profound and important part of the erotic experience."

A good point; see my comment up above. There are some some stories on here that start off with explicit sex in the first paragraph. I suppose there is room for different ways to handle things on here.

 

[gordo12]

A good point; see my comment up above. There are some some stories on here that start off with explicit sex in the first paragraph. I suppose there is room for different ways to handle things on here.

My best-rated stories have no sex in them. Put it where you intended and you might be surprised by the reader's acceptance.