Characters and action

[Ray Dario]

I am reading a collection of essay's on how to write SF & F. One of the essay's written by Issac Asimov was about Charactercentric and Actioncentric stories. He says that most SF&F stories fall into one or the other of these two categories.

Charactercentric stories are stories that have the character(s) and their growth as the main theme of the story. The action that takes place in these stories support this character growth and provide a backdrop for the character.

Actioncentric stories, which Asimov claims he writes, are the other way around. The action serves as the main emphasis of the story. The character(s) and their growth serve to support and help develop the action.

He continues that all stories MUST have both character and action to be interesting.

I found this essay to be very interesting because many of the threads here on Lit deal with character development and, rightly so, how important it is to the story. So I thought I would post this and see how you guys feel. Does this apply to Erotica? Is it strickly a SF&F thing?

Ray

 

[Couture]

Sci-fi can be one of the more action oriented genres. But it is not alone. Westerns, wars, mysteries . . . I can keep going on, but you get the point. Most of the stories that are posted on Lit are also action oriented.

 

[Weird Harold]

He continues that all stories MUST have both character and action to be interesting.

I found this essay to be very interesting because many of the threads here on Lit deal with character development and, rightly so, how important it is to the story. So I thought I would post this and see how you guys feel. Does this apply to Erotica? Is it strickly a SF&F thing?

The "tricks" of telling a story apply to any genre. Good writing is good writing -- sex is just another kind of action that involves characters.

I get very irked at people who say, "who cares about good writing, it's just porn." It's a STORY, people! What works to make a good science fiction story will work to make a good erotic story or a good mystery.

 

[KillerMuffin]

"Characterocentric" = character driven.
"Actionocentric" = plot driven.

It's universal. It's not mystical. It's not difficult. Asimov just philosophized it.

Character driven means that the plot movement is based on a character's reaction to events.

Plot driven means that the plot movement is based on the events that characters participate in.

Most of the so-called "good" writers here at Lit write character driven stories because the stories explore the characters' reactions to the sex they are having. These tend to be more known as "erotica" or "good" because the ultimate voyeurism is to be inside someone else's head.

Most of the so-called "pornographic" stories here at Lit are action driven. It's about the sex.

Neither of these is better than the other, merely different. I've seen these "types" of stories classified this way in my own personal email, on the feedback, discussion, and this board.

 

[Ray Dario]

[B
Most of the so-called "good" writers here at Lit write character driven stories because the stories explore the characters' reactions to the sex they are having. These tend to be more known as "erotica" or "good" because the ultimate voyeurism is to be inside someone else's head.

Most of the so-called "pornographic" stories here at Lit are action driven. It's about the sex.

[/B]

Hmm, KM you know I respect your opinion, but I wonder why a "Plot Driven" erotic story would have to be pornographic. What if the main plot action were not the sex? What if the sex in the story were secondary to the main plot? Would that move it into the realm of "erotica" or would it move it out of the genre entirely and become sort of a "dirty mystery" or a "dirty horror" story or whatever?

Hmm, just the musing of a mad redneck.

Ray

 

[KillerMuffin]

Those are all highly subjective terms, but the short answer is:

A plot driven story doesn't have to pornographic. A pornographic story is plot driven.

Pronography: A story about the sex, as opposed to the characters. This is to differentiate it pornography and erotica, which really has the nasties fuzzy line for differentiation.