Getting The Balance Right

[tristantrotsky]

My new fiction contribution to the 'Literotica' SF & Fantasy section:
https://www.literotica.com/s/pussy-licker-coming-of-the-darkula
features Grace who has consensual group sex with four guys, then consensual group sex with four more.
What I'm concerned with is, does this seem gratuitous to you?
Do the sex scenes detract from the SF narrative, or does the straight story content detract from the eroticism? I'm attempting to get the balance right, to write strong fiction which is also erotic.
I'd much appreciate your input as to whether I've succeeded here… or not. Thanks...

 

[MayorReynolds]

Readers of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy and NonHuman categories on Lit tend to pay attention to the plot and characters a lot more. All that means is they enjoy a good yarn and generally don't complain about the sex taking too long to happen.

However - there are people here who read stories, yes, but they also want sex. Otherwise they wouldn't be browsing Literotica.

Bottom line, however, is that it's your story, your universe, your canvas. You are the artist, and the balance between plot and fuck is your call, and only your call, to make. If Grace having sex with a total of eight partners in groups of four ties in with your narrative, ignore all doubt and do not hold back.

I'm going to read your story and provide some real feedback. Hope this helps in the meantime.

 

[Hypoxia]

Do not worry about gratuitous sex. Most people read LIT stories precisely because they WANT a huge steaming pile of gratuitous sex. Readers insert themselves into our crafted fantasies, identifying with some lucky fucker / fuckee, wishing they were there. Many readers also want drama, character development, fascinating plotlines, insightful commentary -- but this is LIT so don't skimp on the sex.

Don't skimp -- unless it works. My currently highest-scoring tale is an historical romance with minimal explicit sex, merely one measly blowjob. My next highest-scoring is a series of fuckfests with a strong plot and tragedy. In fact, I find tragedy is great for grabbing sympathy votes. Whatever works, hey?

 

[PervOtaku]

What I tend to do with short stories like this is supply just enough context to get to the sex scene. Why is this fuck happening, why does it matter to these people.

One nice thing about your "Darkula" story is that you go into the facet of the post-apocalypse that isn't shown on things like The Walking Dead or Falling Skies, the fact that a very large number of women lacking useful survival skills will be reduced to whores or owned sex slaves just for survival.

The flip side of that is, the sex isn't inherently critical to the story, the fucking could be removed with only minor rewrites and it wouldn't leave any gaps in the flow of the narrative. As it is, your sex scenes are relatively short. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those, I'm just making observations. This strikes me as the kind of story that could easily be reformed into a much longer work. The trek to the survivor/resistance compound could be expanded, and then chop the ending off and keep going from there.

In a story of this length, I don't know that you even need to worry about balance between plot and sex, since the slightest bit of one is plenty to offset the other.