Bored with Erotica....

[raphy]

It's a weird thing, writing erotica, ain't it? A few weeks ago, I sketched out chapter outlines for my cross-category lit story, Assigned Risk. It has a fairly complex plot that stretches across 20 or so chapters, each chapter slotting into a different lit category.

Chapter 1 is Erotic Couplings.
Chapter 2 is Anal
Chapter 3 is Gay Male
Chapter 4 is Celebrities.
etc etc

I'm halfway through Chapter 4 right now. In fact, I'm halfway through the sex scene in Chapter 4, and I find myself unbelievably bored by it.

Not by the story, the characters or the plot - But by the sex. I love my plot. I love the way the characters interact to move the story along. I'm just getting sick of writing "Insert tab A into slot B. Repeat until satisfied."

I want to write all of the build up, the reasons *why* the people are having sex and then say "And then they fucked." Why? Because what happens during the sex act has ZERO relevance to my plot. I worked very hard to make the sex itself have relevance. In a lot of the 20-odd chapters, the characters have sex for a reason that actually advances the plot, but what they actually DO during the sex is in no way plot related.

So I get bored writing it.

I've put a lot of work into Assigned Risk, coming up with a plot that fulfills all my criteria - It is interesting, has varied and complex characters, manages to cross every lit category without seeming contrived.

I want to write the story. It's a good story. But goddamn, I wish I didn't have to write the sex scenes, they're just getting in the way of me advancing my plot.

Aaargh

 

[Boota]

It sounds like you may be compelled to add sex for the sake of the sex. This might not be the right tack to take on this particular story. I would say write it without the details of the sex scenes, or no more detail than necessary, and see how it turns out. You never know, the sex we don't witness might be more compelling than that which we do. To me, the psychology of sex is far more fascinating than the physiology.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I think everyone who writes erotica reaches a point where writing the sex act gets old. When you are writing a story that is a story and not just backgound for a fuck scene, the actual nuts and bolts of the sex act become a pain to write simply because you want to get one with the story behind the sex.

I think that too is cyclical, there are times I adore writing the actual act and times I wish I could just write "and then they had mind blowing sex" and get on with the plot. Probably depends on how much thought I have put into the characters and ongoing plot and also a lot to do with my mood.

If it's really dragging you down why not just put a note to yourself in brackets to add sex scene and go on with the story, then go back at a later date when you are in the mood and add the sex scenes?

-Colly

 

[McKenna]

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[raphy]

It sounds like you may be compelled to add sex for the sake of the sex. This might not be the right tack to take on this particular story. I would say write it without the details of the sex scenes, or no more detail than necessary, and see how it turns out. You never know, the sex we don't witness might be more compelling than that which we do. To me, the psychology of sex is far more fascinating than the physiology.

Oh, I totally agree, Boota - But in the end, isn't that what the sex in *all* lit stories are? Sex for the sake of the sex? I don't know of any lit stories where the plot would be changed by replacing the sex scene with "and now they had mindblowing sex"

Hell, at least I've tried to find *reasons* for people fucking like rabbits in Assigned Risk. In one chapter, a woman sleeps with someone to get him to sign a business deal. In another, a non-consent/reluctance chapter, a man takes advantage of a woman to find out corporate secrets. In a third, a daughter seduces her father in order to find the code for his office safe.

The reasons are there.

But for every sex scene, I could replace it with the line "And then they had mindblowing sex" and the plot wouldn't change. How many other people, reading this, would say the same, if you were being honest with yourselves about your writing?

 

[KarenAM]

What Colly said. I've done that myself. And Boota is right about the psychology of sex being more important than the bump and grind. And McKenna has a good point; writing non-erotic stuff is good practice and will benefit you when you come back to erotica.

And yes, this is probably the most unoriginal post I've ever made.

Best of luck!

 

[shereads]

I want to write all of the build up, the reasons *why* the people are having sex and then say "And then they fucked." Why? Because what happens during the sex act has ZERO relevance to my plot. I worked very hard to make the sex itself have relevance. In a lot of the 20-odd chapters, the characters have sex for a reason that actually advances the plot, but what they actually DO during the sex is in no way plot related.

R, it sounds like you've given yourself an assignment, instead of writing for yourself and your readers. No wonder you're bored.

In a sense, you're faking an orgasm. Per chapter. Not all of your readers will be able to tell, but the ones who appreciate your best work will feel cheated.

You Lit authors need your patron saint (ahem) to remind you to write for your own enjoyment, and not because there are slots that need filling with tabs. If you love your story and your characters, why not forget about the assignment - covering everything from shoe fetish to implied non-consent gay clown incest - and just write what excites you?

Well, okay, do the clown sex, but forget the rest of the assignment.

 

[raphy]

What Colly said. I've done that myself. And Boota is right about the psychology of sex being more important than the bump and grind.

Oh, I totally agree. I still find myself getting turned on when I write the build up to sex. The dialogue between the characters, the interaction. That's still all good stuff.

But.. Do you really think lit readers would allow me to write all that and then say "and then they had mind blowing sex" *grins*

 

[McKenna]

.

 

[shereads]

Oh, I totally agree. I still find myself getting turned on when I write the build up to sex. The dialogue between the characters, the interaction. That's still all good stuff.

But.. Do you really think lit readers would allow me to write all that and then say "and then they had mind blowing sex" *grins*

A suggestion, if you're committed to this "assignment." I don't write erotica but I do write for a living, and when I get to a part that just isn't working, I write a quick place-holder summary, leave it alone, and move on to another part of the piece.

If you're hitting a roadblock at each chapter's obligatory sex scene, then write, "Then they had mind-blowing sex." Come back later and consider that scene as if it's the climactic moment of your entire story. Take your time; write each chapter's sex scene(s) when you feel inspired to do so, and meanwhile finish the part of the story that you're enjoying.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I think the sex in many of my stories does advance the plot. But I tend to write stories where characters fall in love and a lot of that can be tied to what you see of a character while having sex.

A tough as nails, jaded character who takes someone to bed and shows a very tender loving side can do a lot to advance the plot in that it gives the character a reason to consider looking deeper and shows that the outside may not be all there is.

Other times I just write gratuitous sex for the fun of it

An interesting exercise for you Raphy might be in trying to find a way to MAKE your sex scene advance the plot. Setting that as a challenge for yourself you might find it fun to write the actual scene then.

-Colly

 

[raphy]

Re: Re: Bored with Erotica....

R, it sounds like you've given yourself an assignment, instead of writing for yourself and your readers. No wonder you're bored.

In a sense, you're faking an orgasm. Per chapter. Not all of your readers will be able to tell, but the ones who appreciate your best work will feel cheated.

You Lit authors need your patron saint (ahem) to remind you to write for your own enjoyment, and not because there are slots that need filling with tabs. If you love your story and your characters, why not forget about the assignment - covering everything from shoe fetish to implied non-consent gay clown incest - and just write what excites you?

Well, okay, do the clown sex, but forget the rest of the assignment.

That's a great post, sr

It *was* an assignment, sort of. I wanted to see just how creative I was. I wanted a story that spanned every lit category that had plot twists and complex characters, and at the same time didn't seem contrived.

Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Fitting in Mature and Celebrities were two of the toughest categories to do, without them being contrived. I had to make sure that the mature person and the celebrity person were in the story for a plot reason and that they got fucked (in their respective chapters) for a plot reason

But, I did it. And I nailed almost every one of the lit categories, and with a good, gripping plot too. Sibling rivaly, corporate takeovers, lying, cheating, murder, etc. It's a good story. I'm really proud of it, and even more proud of the fact that I managed to achieve what I set out to achieve, writing a cross-category non-contrived story.

Maybe I should just write the damn story and forget about the sex, except that the sole reason I designed the plot in this way was to post it to lit, because I've never seen another serialized story that changes lit category in each chapter.

 

[McKenna]

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[raphy]

I'm not sure I can say the same, Raphy. To me, the lead up to the sex is just as important as the sex -but I tend to write more about the psychological aspects of sex more so than the physiological. The plot surrounds them getting together; without the sex (in at least one story I can think of,) the lead up would be pointless and the story lost. It's all about "getting there," and how/when/why it happened. To leave it with a line like, "And then they had mind blowing sex," would be like promising someone a delicious, sumptuous dessert, then serving them liver instead.

Aah, when I say sex scene, I'm not including the lead up. I like writing the lead ups. But after you've done the why and the when, is it really necessary, plot-wise, to describe the 'insert penis into vagina, repeat until orgasm' part of it?

The answer, of course, is yes - Because that's why your readers are reading it. They want that sumptuous, delicious dessert.

But I still get bored, writing about it

 

[raphy]

An interesting exercise for you Raphy might be in trying to find a way to MAKE your sex scene advance the plot. Setting that as a challenge for yourself you might find it fun to write the actual scene then.

I did sit down and have a LONG think about this. It can be done, and it has been done. I recall a book I read once where a young boy seduced an older women and whilst he had her bent over the desk he spotted an important piece of paper on the desk.

I don't think there's many other ways to advance a plot whilst having sex. Whilst your characters are having sex, they don't have much opportunity to pick a lock, shoot a bad guy or chase down a car.

You can, of course, advance the plot via dialogue during sex. Of course, if you're going to do that, you have to make it the sort of dialogue that would only happen during sex - something spoken in the heat of passion, for instance - Otherwise, you might as well just put the dialogue in somewhere else.

 

[McKenna]

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[KarenAM]

One approach that's worked for me (at least I hope so!) is to make the work about the need for sex. Our society is pretty dysfunctional about this, with that whole "denial while you use sex to sell stuff" thing, as well as our fear of our own sexual fantasies and what they mean about us (the whole "does having rape fantasies mean I want to be raped?" question*). This presents the possibility for lots of psychological drama that has to include sex, or at least sexual thinking.

Remember that the most erotic organ in the body is the brain; weenies and boobies come later.




*The answer is overwhelmingly NO, of course.

 

[raphy]

Good point. Kind of reminds me of Dr. Mab's "repeating scenes" thread. After all, isn't the whole "insert penis into vagina, repeat until orgasm" the most repeated scene in erotica?



Poor thing, just take a break from the nuts and bolts. Write what you want to write, then fill in the rest later.

That's more than one person that's said that now. It does sound like exceptionally good advice.

Anyone want to write my sex scenes for me? I'm almost to the point of cutting and pasting and changing the names

 

[raphy]

One approach that's worked for me (at least I hope so!) is to make the work about the need for sex. Our society is pretty dysfunctional about this, with that whole "denial while you use sex to sell stuff" thing, as well as our fear of our own sexual fantasies and what they mean about us (the whole "does having rape fantasies mean I want to be raped?" question*). This presents the possibility for lots of psychological drama that has to include sex, or at least sexual thinking.

Remember that the most erotic organ in the body is the brain; weenies and boobies come later.




*The answer is overwhelmingly NO, of course.

Ah yes.. I have a couple of chapters that touch on this - They also touch on Colly's comment about showing personality traits during sex, or showing how a character can change. There's at least one character in this story who is profoundly affected by the events and is not the same man at the end of the story as he was at the beginning.

 

[seduced2cheat]

An idea

Raphy,

It's been a long time since I posted, but I was reading your post and had an idea.

I know what you are talking about, but I see it most in movies. There is the buildup and then they have an excuse to show the woman naked and (maybe) the bare ass of the lead actor. By the way, this is in mainstream films, not adult.

However, in some films, seeing the sex is neccessary, like in "Basic Instinct". Never have I seen a movie where you actually needed to see the sex. "Original Sin" was another one.

When I am writing, I try to include something of the plot in the sex scene. For example, in a reluctance story, I like to see the woman succumb to pleasure in the end. This makes the sex scene an integral part of the story. I think it is what some of the author's mean by 'psychological' aspects.

You may try to add something of the plot into the sex scene. Instead of writing the normal "Tab A into Slot b" stuff, try getting into your characters minds. In your earlier chapters, most of your reasoning behind the sex scenes is to weaken one person so the other can gain from them. Could you show this weakening during the actual sex scene? For example, the daughter who wants the code. Can she tease her father until he is so hot and bothered he gives her the code in order to have sex with her?

Of course, there is another answer. Write the story and leave out the sex! I know, I know. That defeats the whole purpose of writing the story in the first place. That doesn't mean it's still not a great story.

Sorry to wax on. Hope this helps.

S2C

 

[shereads]

That's more than one person that's said that now. It does sound like exceptionally good advice.

Anyone want to write my sex scenes for me? I'm almost to the point of cutting and pasting and changing the names

Raises hand - leaps up and down

Oh me, me, me! I'm about to get on a plane for the darkest reaches of the Bible Belt. Let me write sex scenes and send them to you, not online, but via the U.S. Mail! Oh, pu-leeeeeeease!! It will save my sanity while I'm staying with my mom.

 

[raphy]

Re: An idea

Raphy,

It's been a long time since I posted, but I was reading your post and had an idea.

I know what you are talking about, but I see it most in movies. There is the buildup and then they have an excuse to show the woman naked and (maybe) the bare ass of the lead actor. By the way, this is in mainstream films, not adult.

However, in some films, seeing the sex is neccessary, like in "Basic Instinct". Never have I seen a movie where you actually needed to see the sex. "Original Sin" was another one.

Absolutely!!! You *had* to see the sex in Basic Instinct, because you had to see the ice pick. That's a perfect example of how the sex scene is 100% integral to the plot and to the 'clue laying' and later discovery of the truth. (Can you tell I'm a big fan of spy/detective novels?)

When I am writing, I try to include something of the plot in the sex scene. For example, in a reluctance story, I like to see the woman succumb to pleasure in the end. This makes the sex scene an integral part of the story. I think it is what some of the author's mean by 'psychological' aspects.

I guess, in this case, it depends on what your 'plot' is. If your plot is to show a woman's eventual succumbing to pleasure, then yes the sex would be necessary.

You may try to add something of the plot into the sex scene. Instead of writing the normal "Tab A into Slot b" stuff, try getting into your characters minds. In your earlier chapters, most of your reasoning behind the sex scenes is to weaken one person so the other can gain from them. Could you show this weakening during the actual sex scene? For example, the daughter who wants the code. Can she tease her father until he is so hot and bothered he gives her the code in order to have sex with her?

That's exactly what I meant by 'words spoken in the heat of passion' .. It has to be dialogue that could not have happened without there being sexual contact. Sometimes it works, but you don't want to have to do it every time otherwise it ends up looking contrived, and people write it off as yet another authors' mechanic.

Of course, there is another answer. Write the story and leave out the sex! I know, I know. That defeats the whole purpose of writing the story in the first place. That doesn't mean it's still not a great story.

Sorry to wax on. Hope this helps.

S2C

It does help But I think I'm going to do what was suggested. Write the story, leave in placeholders for the sex, and then come back later and fill those in.

 

[Guest]

Raphy, hon, I know for a fact you can write whatever you turn your mind to. But, I think that's the point, if you can't get your mind switched on to writing the sex scenes, at a certain time, then just leave them and go back to them. I know many others have said this, and they are right.

I went through a similar kind of thing about a month back. I got "bored with erotica" and thought, right, I'm not writing erotica anymore, I'm sticking to horror.

I got five pages in, on a horror story, and the characters began shagging.

I couldn't *not* add sex into that story, it just happened. But, I also realised it can't be forced. Each story requires whatever it requires: no sex, loads of sex, blood and gore, whatever.

Just relax and go with it, honey.

Lou

 

[Boota]

Oh, I totally agree, Boota - But in the end, isn't that what the sex in *all* lit stories are? Sex for the sake of the sex? I don't know of any lit stories where the plot would be changed by replacing the sex scene with "and now they had mindblowing sex"

Hell, at least I've tried to find *reasons* for people fucking like rabbits in Assigned Risk. In one chapter, a woman sleeps with someone to get him to sign a business deal. In another, a non-consent/reluctance chapter, a man takes advantage of a woman to find out corporate secrets. In a third, a daughter seduces her father in order to find the code for his office safe.

The reasons are there.

But for every sex scene, I could replace it with the line "And then they had mindblowing sex" and the plot wouldn't change. How many other people, reading this, would say the same, if you were being honest with yourselves about your writing?

I see your problem more clearly now. For those situations you do need to portray the nature of the sex. It will be a challenge, but you can do it without too much description of the physical act. In fact I think those scenarios give you a lot of room to get inside a characters head and root around. It might not turn out to be the "super hot stroke story" of your writing career, but I think you can touch on other important aspects through it. Quite the predicament here. Good luck.

I don't write much erotica (one short story and a short novel in progress), so your "And then they had mindblowing sex" approach is more my style. There is sexual content in my novel that is out now, but the only real sex scene is between two dogs on a front lawn. The rest of the time I avoided describing ANY mechanics. Erotica absolutely calls for more than that.

 

[Lovepotion69]

Raphy,
I feel the same way lately. I get bored with writing sex scenes. That's probably why I haven't written anything on my stories in weeks now.