Bridging porn and erotica

[sera]

Hi,

I've recently started writing again. I haven't focused 100% on quality, thinking that just finishing some works would give me momentum to get the ball rolling again. As I write more and more, I start the quest in wanting to produce higher quality erotica.

As I read through tips and articles here and elsewhere, I see the need to learn to add some character development to my detailed sex-scenes. It doesn't feel natural, to me, to add a lot of dialogue when the dialogue didn't actually happen. (I tend to write mostly from real life experiences, adding fictional elements when desirable.)

I'd like to be able to blend a good stroke-story with enough elements that would lend itself well to being enjoyed more than once.

Help? Tips?

Thanks,

Sera

 

[JUDO]

Character

S -

First of all, welcome to Literotica. If you use this place well, you will become a better writer! Now, back to your question...

Adding dialogue isn't adding character.

If you want better character development, then you have to really know your characters before you start to write your story.

The easiest way to do this is to write free-form prose essay (Just let it flow!) where you write down everything you know about your character: Where were they born?, middle class-poor-rich?, Did they have brothers/sisters?, what school did they go to? Did they do well in school? What did they like in school/subjects/recess? friends? lovers? Did they go to college? finish high school? When they were 13->15, what was that one event which really influenced their life? Are their parents alive? Did they like their Mom? their Dad? Grandparents? What foods do they like? What's their favorite color? How do they dress? What kind of job do they have? Do they like their job? ...and on and on.

After that at the bottom of the essay, answer a few specific questions about your character (now that you know them better): What is their POV-view of the world? (does life come easy/hard? does the world hold them down, or does the world owe them something?) Who is their mentor? (who did they learn the really important things from?) What do they want? (...in your story.) What is their attitude? Are they an "up" person? Or are they negative? Angry inside or angry outside? Confrontational? Avoids confrontation? What are their professional relationships like? Can they get along with their co-workers? supervisors? management?

After you write all of this out (probably a couple pages of Word), then you will know a lot more about the character you are trying to portray and they will speak to you and tell you what they would do (and say) in your story.

Sometimes an additional help would be to try a meditation where you get to meet your character. Picture them and you in a comfortable setting together and watch what happens.

Once you have done all of this, be sure to use some of their habits, experiences, traits in the story. More than likely, you won't even have to think about it, it'll just come across.

Best of luck.


- Judo

 

[ccb2]

porn/erotica

Let's not make this to complicated.....we're all writing about sex, most of it pretty "raw" sex. Your writing to turn men and women on, ie for the men get a hard on and masturbate and for the women get wet and masturbate.....it's not rocket science thank goodness. Let's not take ourselves too seriously.

 

[sera]

JUDO -

Thanks for taking the time to write that out. That gives me a lot to think about and practice.

CCB2 -

I think that's been my objective for the first four stories that I've written and posted here. And judging from the feedback I've received, I've been at least moderately successful at doing that. But, I don't think that's the goal I *always* want. I want to be able to get into someone's imagination and create and image or images that lasts... that may make the reader steamy and aroused but captivate them and take them to a place beyond just sitting at their computer masturbating. (Hopefully that makes sense?) Maybe this isn't the best place for that, but I think it could blend somehow.

I think I want to write (or read) a slut version of some Jane Green book. Heh.

 

[Natalie Nessus]

 

[cyndiesweet]

If you notice the most popular authors here are the ones that draw you into their stories not just a slam bam. OK, maybe some are. Check out the stories that are in the top list catogory.Take what you like and combine it with your own style.

 

[Guest]

Here-Here cyndiesweet.......

Not taking anything away from what Judo said....I "do" think about my characters, how do I want them to act...who "they" are. So yes...."sometime" needs to go into creating a character.

I often think of someone I know...(knew) what I liked or dislike about them...(what I would maybe change about them if I could) and then throw them into a story as though it was really happening.

I "think" I've had some pretty good luck with that.......
Mrs. Steel....and now Secret Desires. I've had some nice feedback on my Character's in these two stories...and they "are"
based on people (personality's/attitudes) that I have known.

But like Cyndiesweet said:

"Take what you like and combine it with your own style."

And that my friend.......is the key.

To sleep.......perchance to dream - William Shakspear

I remain.........

 

[Debbie]

porn/erotica

I don't write erotic stories just to get men/women off. I write because i enjoy doing so, not for my sexual pleasure but because it is my no one hobby. I love the feedback I get about my stories being believable, the characters realistic etc.
I write the way I like. Each to their own. Develop your own style. Who decides what is porn/ what is erotic?
I try to get to 'know' my characters, they are what keeps my story ticking over. Seeing them in my mind as the story unfolds, how they might react in each scenario. What are they feeling?
What does their body language say about them? Like a new freind, get tio know them, imagine yourself as that person and write what you feel, see, smell to further develop the character.
There are some fantastic stories on this site and the people on the BB are very helpful.
I say follow your instincts when you write, let the words flow and then read and reread it to see what you think.
I mean what do you want your story to say? What is is about? Does it excite or make you visualise?
A lot of people here would be willing to help you if you asked.
Goodluck!!!

if I can be of help let me know. Im not an expert but I love to help people!

 

[Oasis690]

write what you know...

Or fantasize about! But if you need to work on dialogue, read other people's stories and listen to how real people talk to each other. I had a writing professor tell me I should go so far as to tape record people talking to get their cadence down....without spying on them. To me, dialogue is important, because I can only take so much narration. Dialogue also helps you get a better feel for the characters, who they are, what they really want, how they feel. I am in college as a writing major, and I write erotic stories for experience and because they are fun, both for me and the reader. If I can help more, email me. Jamie

 

[Oasis690]

write what you know...

Or fantasize about! But if you need to work on dialogue, read other people's stories and listen to how real people talk to each other. I had a writing professor tell me I should go so far as to tape record people talking to get their cadence down....without spying on them. To me, dialogue is important, because I can only take so much narration. Dialogue also helps you get a better feel for the characters, who they are, what they really want, how they feel. I am in college as a writing major, and I write erotic stories for experience and because they are fun, both for me and the reader. If I can help more, email me. Jamie

 

[Natalie Nessus]

 

[abashed-dreamer]

An answer to "Sera"--
Of course, one person's erotica is another person's porn,
but there are marks of quality writing, and we can call that 'erotica' for present purposes. Read some of the
published anthologies, like Susie Bright's annual volumes, or
Sheiner, _Best Women's Erotica, 2001_. Visit
www.cleansheets.com. and other sites. Find the best writers, here.

Besides the other good tips, above: the common quality of good
writing is _freshness_ and this implies an element of surprise.
Of course there may be a 'formula' --strangers meet, have sex--
but the way it's handled can be fresh.
One thing good dialogue does is avoid 'over-writing,' the most common problem one sees. Dialogue _shows_ rather than describes.
"You bastard!" she said, is worth more than "her anger was red-hot." But dialogue is not necessary, as some prize winning stories show.
Good writing tends to avoid a profusion of adjectives and adverbs;
that is a simple test of 'freshness'; if every cock is 'rock hard' and every breast is 'rounded' and 'ample', every thigh is 'smooth' and 'silky', the writing seems stale. Bad writing, esp. in porn, tends to have one or two adjectives in front of almost every noun. Watch now the better writers, here and elsewhere, avoid this.

 

[Whispersecret]

As I write more and more, I start the quest in wanting to produce higher quality erotica.

Good for you. I applaud your goal.

As I read through tips and articles here and elsewhere, I see the need to learn to add some character development to my detailed sex-scenes.

If you're just writing a "sex-scene," there isn't much need for character development. One's character just doesn't evolve much during the course of a sexual encounter. However, if you're writing a story in which sex occurs (and may even be a critical occurence in the plot,) then character development will be more important, because the story will revolve around the characters and not around the sex act.

To me, the most satisfying stories feature characters who are affected by what happens to them in the story. They are changed, sometimes in little ways, sometimes in larger ways. Generally, the longer the story the more involved the change(s).

Judo has some good suggestions for developing a character. As a more--oh, I don't know--fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type writer, I find that my characters develop as I write. I start out with a general idea (like she's a virgin heiress and he's a power-hungry CEO) and little details about the characters will emerge. As I write her description, I find out she's got a voluptuous figure, that she rides horses. I find out much later on that he has a brother and a sister and is a history buff.

If you go this "discovery" route, just be careful that you don't lose track of what you've already established. Readers will become confused if you have a character acting, well, out of character. That's not to say a shy virgin character can't come on to someone, but if she does, you'd better explain why, so her actions make sense.

It doesn't feel natural, to me, to add a lot of dialogue when the dialogue didn't actually happen. (I tend to write mostly from real life experiences, adding fictional elements when desirable.)

If you don't want to add dialogue during the sex, then don't. But don't substitute, He told me that he liked the way I was touching his balls, and I said that he hadn't seen nothin' yet. for real dialogue.

A lot of people are silent during sex. That's fine. But sometimes what actually happens in real life doesn't make for very exciting reading. Personally, I speak little during sex, but my characters talk because I think it adds punch. It helps me communicate through their words how the sex is affecting them and what they want to happen. It's just one more way for the reader to experience the story.

However, I think it's a mistake not to have any dialogue in your story at all, unless your story is about mutes.

My general advice is to find the stories that you return to again and again and analyze them. Think hard about what elevates that story to higher level of enjoyment. Distance yourself as a reader who is reading for pleasure and force yourself to be a reader who is searching for techniques she can emulate.

I'd like to be able to blend a good stroke-story with enough elements that would lend itself well to being enjoyed more than once.

That is the trick, isn't it! While there are no pat answers for achieving that worthy goal, I hope that some of what I've said helps.