Arousing the Reader

[Sabledrake]

There have been times when I sat down to write with the deliberate intention of getting someone hot and bothered. Usually, that someone has been my husband, when I write him a story for his birthday.

The rest of the time, I don't usually have that purpose specifically in mind. It's nice to get the letters, though. If I can through my writing help someone improve their day with a little arousal, or even an orgasm or two, then good ... the world could use a little more of that.

Of course, there's this one guy who hates everything I do, and is often on my case and looks down on this entire field, readers and writers alike, because _he_ claims he can summon up all the mental material he needs and anyone who "has to read that crap" to get turned on is a loser.

I never know what to say to him, though the temptation to congratulate him on being such an accomplished jack-off is always near the forefront of my mind.

Sabledrake

 

[TheEarl]

Some stories make people laugh. Some make people cry.
I hope to make em cum so hard they almost die.

Lol couture. Although sex stories should arouse, IMHO, they should do something else as well. It's kinda like the argument between erotica and pornography. In my view erotica is slightly more high-brow pornography as it has other ambitions than just making the reader cum.

However this is just a MOO, so feel free to disregard mine.

The Earl

 

[Diane Marie]

but I enjoy letters that talk about writerly issues just as much, if not more so.

I could not agree more, I just love good input, or at times not so good.

 

[English Lady]

I definitely write to arouse,often I write stories based on peoples fantasies that they have told me about and so obviously when I am writing it I am thinking"will so and so get off on this"

As you said in an earlier post Dr it IS erotica..it is meant to sexually arouse people! I love getting feedback that says a reader really got off on my writing....that turns me on!


So I am with you Dr.....i write to arouse!

 

[NaughtyMike]

If I want to read a story with any literary merit, I don't come here to this site. I don't even bother to look for a good story. With this site being linked to the porno sites and not Better Homes and Garden, I suspect that there may be a reader or two who comes here strickly for that special whack piece.

 

[Gongonhama]

I don't know how it is for you, but I write for the fun of it. Atempting to find the right word, expression and rythm for a much vivid idea. Playing with my language.

But it is meant to be erotica. I do get aroused writing it - and sometimes laughing my head off to some crazy point of the story.

And naturally I love to think someone else gets aroused reading, as much as if they just had fun with it. Don't care much about the details, though: "Came 5 times", "Jacked off for 3 straight hours"? Man, those people are my stamina heroes!

But sometimes you get feedbacks where the reader just tells you he/she got hot, hard, wet... distubed is the best ever! That's one of the greatests praises to someone who writes erotica for fun. People, this is erotica! Get hot with my stories, please!

 

[Diane Marie]

If I want to read a story with any literary merit, I don't come here to this site. I don't even bother to look for a good story. With this site being linked to the porno sites and not Better Homes and Garden, I suspect that there may be a reader or two who comes here strickly for that special whack piece.

I find this very sad, NaughtyMike. The best erotic literature is always well written. To say that erotica has less merit then science or mystery or some type of fiction, I think misses the point. In my opinion good erotica stories are very literary.

 

[English Lady]

I agree with you Diane marie, a good story is a good story, be it science fiction, murder mystery, romance or Erotica.

A good piece of writing brings the story alive. the character, the situation and the action and I know there are some very well written pieces here on the pages of lit and they are very good because they do what an erotic story should and that is arouse the reader.

 

[jon.hayworth]

On the subject of quality I am 100% in agreement with Dianne Marie and English Lady. When I write a story I am striving to produce a piece of entertaining work that is better than the last one. Being human I do not always achieve that goal - never-the-less it has to be the goal otherwise I would get no satisfaction from writing.

If Naughty Mike takes a look around he will find some examples of erotic or pornographic writing - and other mediums that are of real quality (admittedly few - but then there are few crime or romance genre pieces that have true literary merit).

We are as good and we are as bad as authors of works in other genres. As in the case of all art, deciding what is good what is bad is very subjective. A 100 word Flash Story may have a great deal of merit whilst a 100000 word novel may be no more worthy than the felt tip scribblings you can find on toilet walls.

If we want to be acknowledged as "eroticists", "pornographers", "erotomites" etc. Let us at least strive to be good writers.

And one definition of good in this case is how many of our readers Jack/Jill off to the story.
jon

 

[Wicked-N-Erotic]

I write from my own arousal, so I guess I'm also writing to arouse others. I've gotten many emails telling me that my stories paint such a good picture with good details that the reader was draw in and gotten off. Hell, truth be told, I've masturbated to all of my stories as I wrote them. I am my female character as I write so if they are wet, I'm wet.
Wicked

My Stories

 

[Pookie]

I believe any author writes to stimulate themselves. Why do it if it is not stimulating? If I was writing sci-fi, I wouldn't expect my pussy to get wet writing or reading it. The target for the stimulation doesn't involve sex.

Authors of erotic/porn stories are dealing with a different arena is all. I get very aroused writing the sex scenes in my stories. I get aroused just thinking of plots. It's sex. However, that doesn't make it any different than any other genre or type of writing.

I hope my stories do arouse someone to the point of taking matters in hand. It is a big compliment to me if it happens. I also hope the reader will tell me that the story was entertaining along with the sex scenes they got off to.

There are some very good authors of erotica out there. Some of them are right here too. Many of the best authors do not post here because of the age restrictions. But there are some very good erotic stories here and at other places. Asstr.org has many many excellent authors. It's just alittle difficult to find the really good stories here as the ratings just don't accurately point them out to the readers.

 

[sirhugs]

I, for one, would never have visited Lit if it wasn't for arousal. Not all of us have convenient access to high quality video porn, or maybe I just prefer to use some element of my imagination.

Despite my interest in hormonal realignment, I enjoy most those stories which are well written. Poor grammar, hokey plots etc are too distracting . a story should have some arousing aspect, although certainly amusing stories are nice too. Not every story should, for me, be a 'stroke story'. Variety is the spice of life. Sad to say, at times Lit seems to be my life. And even 'stroke stories' must be well written to arouse.

Unlike an NaughtyMike, I find Lit stories have a better average quality than most other sites, where neither plot nor character is prevalent.

As a novice writer, contributiing because I think I should "give back", I hope my stories are erotic. That means some readers should find them arousing. Of course, not all stories arouse all readers. so I write for my purposes- whether to meet a dare, experiment with style or language or genre, or as cheap therapy. Hopefully, as I do that, I come up with something someone will find erotic. Although, my recent submission, Twisted Snow ( not yet posted), I suspect will be more amusing than erotic, if its any good at all.

 

[PaulX35]

A few wet thoughts on this

There's erotica and there's pornography. Both wouldn't be named this if there wouldn't be some sort of explicit intention to erotically or sexually please the reader. Erotica is maybe a bit more pretentious than pornography, as erotica seeks to create slightly more sophisticated ways to narrate. With a story line, character development and good, pleasant to read writing that would discriminate it from the line-1-multiple-orgasm style of pornography.

But even with more literature-ambition, erotica is still about inducing sexual excitement from what you read. I'm with all those who admit finding the writer's own arousal a not unimportant aspect. It works for me this way, anyway.
As to pleasing others, I'd say my main aim is to try and properly communicate to my readers what I find thrilling in a certain story. The extend to which that causes arousal with the reader is hard to predict, but I'd be disappointed if it wouldn't cause any of this

Paul

 

[Neco Apreal]

ok, I admit that I do sometimes like the thought that people can *koff* enjoy my work in a... sexual manner whatever that may be.

but I mostly enjoy those who appreciate my writing style and want to know more about those involved and just... those that like seeing how the relationship develops and how the people work together in the story and such.

Now some of my work is part of a greater scheme of work. They are mere scenes from the novel or novella that will come out of it. They are ongoing characters in which I use daily in sometimes thought and sometimes roleplaying scenarios. but everything that happens between them is purposeful even if it can't always be seen in the short version of the fic itself. Most times it is summed up in that way.

 

[Pure]

I don't see the intent to arouse as discreditable. The author of the porn classic "Story of O" says she wrote it for her lover, to get him off. Sade says he wrote to get folks off and corrupt their morals.

That said, the degree of "class" one shows, the quality of writing and the freshness make a big difference. It's certainly NOT the case, as perhaps suggested by WSO (I'm not sure), that the arousal intent will somehow necessarily debase the result. It takes a little finesse, just as in the horror genre: One can't horrify by saying "On a dark and windy night, the big drooling bully grabbed the poor little girl and chopped off her head, 'chop' 'chop' 'chop,' and her blood was gushing and gushing."


The bad or mediocre porn (95%) is boring and predictable. In that sense, except for the 'great unwashed' group, it fails in its purpose. Indeed where it succeeds once, even the undiscriminating reader won't go through again, he'll want new material.


This is to say that 'arousal' or, if you will, 'reaching the reader' is a valid standard, which good porn and erotica meet.

 

[wildsweetone]

hmm

hmm, You know, there are many reasons for writing. Simply because one is writing erotica does not always mean they are writing with the SOLE PURPOSE of expecting the reader to get off from it - in my case though, that often happens as a side effect (according to feedback i've received).

I have so much more that I want to do with my writing than worry overly about whether a guy or girl gets horney to the point of needing to orgasm OR ELSE.

No matter how much we write to fulfill others there will always be some our writing just doesn't gel for. I purposely have not set out to cause erections/juices running for the mass majority. I don't write like that.

And I gave up writing with 'boundaries' or 'specific requests' when An Ideal World hit the splatter pan.

I would suggest that writing erotica could be likened to a craft, any other craft you can think of. It's a skill that can be learned, used and enjoyed. One does not have to WRITE WITH THE INTENTION OF AROUSING THE READER in order to write good erotica.

sometimes we don't all fit into the little boxes people would like us to...

 

[NaughtyMike]

Re: hmm

hmm, You know, there are many reasons for writing. Simply because one is writing erotica does not always mean they are writing with the SOLE PURPOSE of expecting the reader to get off from it - in my case though, that often happens as a side effect (according to feedback i've received).

I have so much more that I want to do with my writing than worry overly about whether a guy or girl gets horney to the point of needing to orgasm OR ELSE.

No matter how much we write to fulfill others there will always be some our writing just doesn't gel for. I purposely have not set out to cause erections/juices running for the mass majority. I don't write like that.

And I gave up writing with 'boundaries' or 'specific requests' when An Ideal World hit the splatter pan.

I would suggest that writing erotica could be likened to a craft, any other craft you can think of. It's a skill that can be learned, used and enjoyed. One does not have to WRITE WITH THE INTENTION OF AROUSING THE READER in order to write good erotica.

sometimes we don't all fit into the little boxes people would like us to...

I was with you all the way down to this last remark...


One does not have to WRITE WITH THE INTENTION OF AROUSING THE READER in order to write good erotica.

Please. Erotic literature is something which arouses. If it didn't arouse it would not be erotica.

 

[wildsweetone]

did you not understand the word 'intention'?

 

[Diane Marie]

did you not understand the word 'intention'?

Your point is very well made wildsweetone. Speaking for myself I never write with the specify intention of arousing anyone. In some of my writing I do see the potential for that to happen, others are written knowing no one is going to get aroused.

Both type of stories are erotic, maybe one type is more pornographic then the other but surely both fit the definition of an erotic story.

 

[NaughtyMike]

did you not understand the word 'intention'?

Yes. It is a dodge to cover up a failed piece. It is like when PEE-WEE Herman falls off his bike, he proclaims, "I meant to do that." If you don't intend to arouse when writing erotica, your not writing erotica. Are you trying to say you write erotica by accident? Sounds a lot like Pee-Wee.

 

[Diane Marie]

Yes. It is a dodge to cover up a failed piece. It is like when PEE-WEE Herman falls off his bike, he proclaims, "I meant to do that." If you don't intend to arouse when writing erotica, your not writing erotica. Are you trying to say you write erotica by accident? Sounds a lot like Pee-Wee.

Maybe Mikey it's the difference between the sexes, men are so easily aroused that you see all erotic literature in that light only. I have to tell you most stories here do not arouse me. I’m much more likely to become aroused by a story that has plot, and deals with relationships then I am by a sex scene. Typically written by the women who write here.

Perhaps, my failure to be aroused by most of the stories written by men is a failure in the men who write them.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mikey!

 

[NaughtyMike]

Maybe Mikey it's the difference between the sexes, men are so easily aroused that you see all erotic literature in that light only. I have to tell you most stories here do not arouse me. I’m much more likely to become aroused by a story that has plot, and deals with relationships then I am by a sex scene. Typically written by the women who write here.

Perhaps, my failure to be aroused by most of the stories written by men is a failure in the men who write them.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mikey!

Now some people actual believe Pee-Wee intended to fall off his bike because he said so. I don't.

 

[Pookie]

Mike ... err ... Tammy ... umm ... whoever you are today ...

I believe what WSO means by “One does not have to WRITE WITH THE INTENTION OF AROUSING THE READER in order to write good erotica”, is that a writer doesn’t have to add specific sex scenes or sex scenarios for the sole intention to arouse the reader ... in order to arouse the reader. A well designed plot and characters can make even a very “bland” sex scene incredibly arousing.

There are some well-written sex scenes in stories posted here and elsewhere that have little or no plot. Those types of stories may arouse those that are only looking for a quick read to get off to, but they typically won’t arouse most readers as they tend to get rather dull or boring. If you build a good plot and characters with it, the sex scenes just become icing on the cake.

Pee Wee falling off the bike is funny (to some) because he has developed the character Pee Wee. If I didn’t know the character and just saw him appear on screen and fall off the bike ... the reaction I would have to it would be very different.

Now you best get back to giving all your male readers their blowjobs!

 

[Octavian]

In a nutshell

Pookie wrote

If you build a good plot and characters with it, the sex scenes just become icing on the cake.

That is the secret of good erotica in a nutshell.

__________________________________________________
I'm terrifically popular. If I had any friends you could ask them.

 

[Quasimodem]

To get back, for a moment, to those billowing curtains, some of it must be conditioned reflex, through years of association.

During the Hayes Commission, of those things that could not be shown in a Hollywood movie, most especially, was a couple in bed. To get around what could not be shown, the camera would slowly pan to a window with curtains billowing.

After years of conditioning, there is a generation or more who associate billowing curtains with naughty behaviour.

... I must admit, I've never been aroused by a telephone. The Earl.

Damn! I wish I could make that claim. I am aroused by a telephone practically every morning of my life. And it is NOT A BIT sexy!

To expand further upon WSO's comment, one can not always write with the SOLE PURPOSE of expecting the reader to get off. Nor can one assume that what one has written will NOT be found to get someone off ... accidentally.

Taken all together, we are a race of very weird monkeys!