Erotic literary merit without the Happy Finish?

[LunarSolstice]

Erotica on many grounds doesnt get the respect it deserves. Have you tried coming up with a new Erotica concept without going waaaaaay fucking out there? It can hardly be done, he fucks she, she fucks she, he fucks he, he fucks a he who he thinks is a she, she fucks he he and he, she fucks small woodland creatures...and so on.

The thing is though, I enjoy writing erotica but I hate rehashing cliches (with the exception of my first submission, which was written for somebody else in the first place) so I always try to put a little spin on things...but can you write good erotica without peoples immediate reaction being a magnetic pull between their hands and their genatalia of choice?

 

[jfinn]

Sure you can. If not with a completely new plot than at least in the telling. I don't think in this respect that erotica is different from any other genre writing. Most of them have self imposed limitations brought on by the subject matter. The thing you have to find is that little twist you were talking about. Taking the cliche's and turning them on their sides so they look completely fresh and different. Those are, in fact, my favorite kinds of stories.

Jayne

 

[TheEarl]

LS: I think it's entirely possible. Look at my writing. Some of it is sex-based, but look at stuff like Seducing Dawn. That's got a plot of it's own and could actually be written with the sex glossed over and made into a non-erotic story.

I think erotica is what you make it. Plot can be put in if you want. Or not.

The Earl

 

[pop_54]

Hi

Life unfortunately is full of the things we writers try to avoid, they're called cliche's.

Boy meets girl and they have sex, is that a cliche? Girl meets girl and they have sex, is that? It all depends on how you write it in, but it's been done before so it's a cliche.

Incest stories are probably the worse for this, no matter how you try to make the family affair begin, it's been done before and it's a cliche, sad fact is no other way to start it.

A good plot worked in among the dirty bits will always make an erotic tale more readable and even maybe believable.

Better still a few nice unforeseen twists in the middle or preferably at the end.

It's all down to the author to disguise the cliche's, you can't do away with them.

pops.................

 

[MathGirl]

Always new

For me, each sexual experience is new, wonderful, and unique. The problem, though, is conveying that feeling to the reader. Most of my stories are autobiographical, so I describe things that were special. I write for myself, though, and I know singularly wonderful things happened during each experience I write about. People who read my stuff, though, probably get tired of reading the same thing all the time.
MG

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Sex IS a cliché. In, out, in, out, in, out, sploosh, sploosh, sploosh. But if people didn't like this cliché so much, we would never have made it pass primate stage.

 

[LunarSolstice]

Thanks!

Thank you for all your replies, and Im growing to like Literotica more everyday. It seems that 99% of the board always has something insightful to say, and its great conversing with a community of other writers.

 

[TheEarl]

To quote Weird Harold: Writing about sex is always going to be variations on Tab A into Slot B. What makes it interesting is the story around that.

Where is Weird Harold anyway?

The Earl

 

[Whispersecret]

I actually believe the opposite. You can take ANYTHING that's been done before and put an erotic twist on it. Think of how much is out there, from Shakespeare to Bradbury. Anne Rice took Sleeping Beauty, turned the story on its ass and spanked it.

 

[MathGirl]

Where is Weird Harold anyway?The Earl

Probably out looking for a new AV, but I like the one he has.
MG

 

[Svenskaflicka]

To quote Weird Harold: Writing about sex is always going to be variations on Tab A into Slot B. What makes it interesting is the story around that.

Where is Weird Harold anyway?

The Earl

Don't forget about slots C and D, Earl...

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B.

Fluid C into slot B.

Tab A out of slot B.



Ooooh, baby..!

 

[Lovepotion69]

Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B.

Fluid C into slot B.

Tab A out of slot B.



Ooooh, baby..!

LMAO

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Well, there's plot and then there's plot. I myself think plot is over rated. My stories tend to be more in the way of descriptions of events than they do nice neat little literary packages. For me, seduction and the sex acvt are plot enough.

But the focus of erotica isn't the sex. It's the people having the sex: the personalities, thoughts and emotions, tension and dynamics, and what the sex does to them. So there are as many erotic stories as there are people.

Okay, that oversimplifies, but it's a mistake to think that erotica is just about organs. Sex and the erotic permeate every aspect of our lives: social situations, people, places, clothes, weather, cars, machines, art, everything has an erotic dimension and can be used to create an erotic situation.

In most porn movies they invariably had a close-up shot of a cock going into a pussy. I don't know who likes theses shots. To me it's just a meat shot, with about as much appeal as a butcher's display case. The sexy stuff is the people interacting.

If your stuff is getting stale, try changing your characters' personalities or attitudes. Put them in a different setting. Change their status; Think of the infinity of different relationships that can exist between a man and a woman.

It's been said that there are only about two dozen different plots in all of literature; everything else is a variation on these 24. But people keep writing.

And that's just subject matter. Remember that you can fool around with style too, with the way you tell the story, your language, your point of view, your focus, You don't see much of that kind of experimentation here on Lit: the field is wide open.

---dr.M.

 

[English Lady]

"But the focus of erotica isn't the sex. It's the people having the sex: the personalities, thoughts and emotions, tension and dynamics, and what the sex does to them. So there are as many erotic stories as there are people. "


Dr M is so right! I agree completely, for me it is definitely in the characters and their interaction and not neccesarily the plot or the sex act itself. When you have to great characters(or more) who you are connected to you are connected to then its going to be a good read!

 

[TheEarl]

Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot B. Tab A out of slot B.
Tab A into slot C.

<Ow, no, not there!>

Fist D onto Face E

Tab A quickly out of slot C


The Earl

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Don't forget knee F into groin G, Earl!

 

[MathGirl]

[BDr M is so right! I agree completely, for me it is definitely in the characters and their interaction and not neccesarily the plot or the sex act itself. When you have to great characters(or more) who you are connected to you are connected to then its going to be a good read! [/B]

Personally, I prefer the fucking.
MG

 

[LunarSolstice]

Wait, Im confused...are we talking about sex or Ikea furniture assembly instructions?

In any case, I have to go put a splint on my Tab A from trying to fuck my unassembled entertainment center...

 

[TheEarl]

Depends on whether there's an exploded diagram to refer to.

The Earl

 

[English Lady]

Whatever floats your boat MG

 

[seduced2cheat]

I like cliches!

Lunar,

Glad you started this thread.

Two of my stories at Lit are cliches(wife is taken by boss, wife is taken by sister's husband). I loved these types of stories so I wrote my own. Incidentally, when you put impregnation into the subject line you get more hits, don't know why, although we've discussed it on the story ideas forum. Thinking of writing a story that has nothing to do with impregnation and put that in my subject line. Wonder what kind of rating I would get?

One thing to consider when writing a cliched storyline. Make it REALLY cliched. It adds humor. Make the boss really fat/evil/disgusting, make the wife really hot, make her cum all over herself because her boss/brother-in-law/young stud has a huge dick.

I am currently writing a story not based on a cliche and I think it will be a better story in the literature sense of the word than my others. Does that mean it will turn people on? Don't know.

I guess the thing is, I write what I want to read, without too much thought of literary value. I write what turns me on. Sometimes words just flow. By the end of the story I hope others will enjoy it and tell me what they think, because that is actually why I post to this site. I have done alright so far.

Thanks,

seduced2cheat

 

[MathGirl]

Ohwie!

Depends on whether there's an exploded diagram to refer to.

Or, perhaps, an imploded diaphragm.
MG