Amazon delivered "Characters and POV" by Card today

[Alex756]

Well I managed to skim through it, unfortuantly in the breif pauses to skim I ended up having to clean BBQ sauce off the walls and crayon off the coffee table, but there was an interesting bit about sexual tension.

I don't know how much this applies to erotica, but in main stream, "the tension leaves once the characters end up together."

Do y'all think since we go into such more detail and things can go wrong after the characters get together that its true? Or does erotica lose some of the tension once the characters get together. I know its going to be good advice for my NaNo creation, since it won't be evry erotic, but I thought I'd throw this out there and see what people think.

BTW the book seems to be really good and helpful for dealing with characters, plot structure, and POV.

~Alex

 

[LadyJeanne]

If you set the story up where the characters are challenged in some in getting together, then I'd agree that the tension dissipates as soon as they do.

But if that's not the major plot line, then I don't agree at all. If the story isn't driven by the "will they or won't they" question, the sex adds texture and depth and color to the relationship and the story, but it's not a point of dramatic tension.

 

[cantdog]

The actuality of anything you desire, be it pony, bicycle, cake, ice cream-- anything at all-- is always less than the ideal constructed by the mind and emotions in the act of building a desire.

Which is why one-night sex encounters stay that way. Why a fuck with a hooker doesn't lead to a lifelong commitment. But there are other factors besides sexual tension. Otherwise none of us would stay together long enough to form new families.

 

[Penelope Street]

Characters in erotic stories are still characters, and a character without a problem is a boring character. If the characters overcome said problem in order to get together, then the tension is over and so is the story. However, if the characters getting together creates the problem, then that can only increase the tension.

 

[cantdog]

Not strictly "sexual tension," of course. Something more interesting.