Gimme your thoughts

[LaRascasse]

Just dropped in to get your input on this new idea pricking at me.

I wanted to explore the idea of an erotic story where the main character is a virgin and doesn't have sex throughout the story.

This story is about a guy, 18 years old, barely out of high school. He is a nice, kind guy with an innocuous, bordering on precocious, face. He is a virgin and has no intention of changing that soon. His family is entirely different. His father is the founder and CEO of a huge BDSM based social network (a fictional version of Fetlife). His mother is owns a large company which makes all sorts of erotic devices (from sex toys to BDSM implements) in addition to being the owner of a chain of bondage themed clubs all over New York. His elder sister is an acclaimed erotic author (think EL James but actually good). And then there is poor innocent him, the odd one out. Ditto for most of their family friends. Everyone in his life is brazenly open about sex and unabashedly kinky. The story is a light hearted take on how he exists in the middle of this cornucopia of forbidden pleasures and keeps his sanity and virginity intact.

I wanted to try a funny role reversal. Usually the kinky ones are the odd ones out and the black sheeps in the family. Here, the fact that he is not kinky is what separates him in his world.

 

[sr71plt]

Think it can be done. I've done similar things, sort of the Forest Gump approach. I have one e-book out that I really like where the central character is a bit dim, but in a lovable way, and remains essentially mentally pure to sex, while all those around him can't keep their hands off him. In that case the book is full of sex, but he's just taking it naturally like they are friends and they are just brushing their teeth together.

Someone walking through life as a virgin, oblivious to all of the sex going on around them would seem to be a good premise to work from.

 

[MatthewVett]

Just dropped in to get your input on this new idea pricking at me.

I wanted to explore the idea of an erotic story where the main character is a virgin and doesn't have sex throughout the story.

This story is about a guy, 18 years old, barely out of high school. He is a nice, kind guy with an innocuous, bordering on precocious, face. He is a virgin and has no intention of changing that soon. His family is entirely different. His father is the founder and CEO of a huge BDSM based social network (a fictional version of Fetlife). His mother is owns a large company which makes all sorts of erotic devices (from sex toys to BDSM implements) in addition to being the owner of a chain of bondage themed clubs all over New York. His elder sister is an acclaimed erotic author (think EL James but actually good). And then there is poor innocent him, the odd one out. Ditto for most of their family friends. Everyone in his life is brazenly open about sex and unabashedly kinky. The story is a light hearted take on how he exists in the middle of this cornucopia of forbidden pleasures and keeps his sanity and virginity intact.

I wanted to try a funny role reversal. Usually the kinky ones are the odd ones out and the black sheeps in the family. Here, the fact that he is not kinky is what separates him in his world.

I like it. Does he just passively avoid it, or does he need to actively dissuade others from trying to deflower him? Does he want to be a virgin, or is he just disinterested?

 

[Stella_Omega]

A bit like "Candide" perhaps

Remember there's a difference between being innocent and being a virgin.... Your guy sounds like he's an 'Ace'-- asexual. He would have to be aware of that, or become aware of it in the course of the story, if he wants to keep, as you say, his sanity intact...

But however you play it, I think it could be an excellent story.

 

[hoo_hoo_boo]

Just dropped in to get your input on this new idea pricking at me.

I wanted to explore the idea of an erotic story where the main character is a virgin and doesn't have sex throughout the story.

This story is about a guy, 18 years old, barely out of high school. He is a nice, kind guy with an innocuous, bordering on precocious, face. He is a virgin and has no intention of changing that soon. His family is entirely different. His father is the founder and CEO of a huge BDSM based social network (a fictional version of Fetlife). His mother is owns a large company which makes all sorts of erotic devices (from sex toys to BDSM implements) in addition to being the owner of a chain of bondage themed clubs all over New York. His elder sister is an acclaimed erotic author (think EL James but actually good). And then there is poor innocent him, the odd one out. Ditto for most of their family friends. Everyone in his life is brazenly open about sex and unabashedly kinky. The story is a light hearted take on how he exists in the middle of this cornucopia of forbidden pleasures and keeps his sanity and virginity intact.

I wanted to try a funny role reversal. Usually the kinky ones are the odd ones out and the black sheeps in the family. Here, the fact that he is not kinky is what separates him in his world.

I think the family aspect of it detracts from the story and provides the story with a competing idea. I've known situations like this in work places. To me it's a lot more plausible and, I think, more effective if you focus on the one idea. I suspect it would be more easily written if there were only two others. Too many and the story will bog its self in explanation and will take too long to get into the point of the story.
Perhaps you have ideas that are well removed from my imaginings. Hope you do it well.

 

[LaRascasse]

A bit like "Candide" perhaps

Remember there's a difference between being innocent and being a virgin.... Your guy sounds like he's an 'Ace'-- asexual. He would have to be aware of that, or become aware of it in the course of the story, if he wants to keep, as you say, his sanity intact...

But however you play it, I think it could be an excellent story.

You're right in that this guy is a very informed virgin, but a virgin nevertheless. He is the odd one out in a crowd of kinky. Everyone in his world loves him - friends, family etc. There are also those who want him sexually, but all kinky. Maybe there could be a part where any "normal" friends of his are scared away.

 

[PennLady]

I think my first question is: does he want to have sex?

I'm unsure about the premise, but I think it's always worth trying new ideas, and this does sound like it has potential. But I do think you'd have to answer the question of does he want to have sex. Is it yes, but on his own terms and not feeling like he's being pressured by his family? Is it no out of spite? Is it no, because he's asexual, as Stella suggested?

 

[Handley_Page]

I think my first question is: does he want to have sex?

I'm unsure about the premise, but I think it's always worth trying new ideas, and this does sound like it has potential. But I do think you'd have to answer the question of does he want to have sex.
Is it yes, but on his own terms and not feeling like he's being pressured by his family? Is it no out of spite? Is it no, because he's asexual, as Stella suggested?

The opportunity for some serious humour is vast.
Please go for it. You could have the world in hysterical laughter.

 

[sr71plt]

I think my first question is: does he want to have sex?

I'm unsure about the premise, but I think it's always worth trying new ideas, and this does sound like it has potential. But I do think you'd have to answer the question of does he want to have sex. Is it yes, but on his own terms and not feeling like he's being pressured by his family? Is it no out of spite? Is it no, because he's asexual, as Stella suggested?

I don't see why it would matter whether he wanted sex or not. I could see both an amusing and erotic story written of him as a foil, wandering through a hotbed of sex going on all around him, and not, physically being touched by it. Again, the "was there/everywhere yet not there" feel of Forest Gump.

 

[PennLady]

I don't see why it would matter whether he wanted sex or not. I could see both an amusing and erotic story written of him as a foil, wandering through a hotbed of sex going on all around him, and not, physically being touched by it. Again, the "was there/everywhere yet not there" feel of Forest Gump.

I'm not sure it matters, it was just one of the first, if not the first, question that came to mind for me. LaRascasse asked for thoughts on the story. That was mine.

 

[Tyro999]

Go for it, LaRascasse, and be sure to post a link here when it has appeared. Great story concept.

 

[NekoParks]

Sounds like a fish out of water story...and those can be hysterically witty stories. One of my favorite TV shows was Northern Exposure. The main character, Joel, was a foil character for all of the wacky people surrounding him.

I think Stella has made an excellent point about Candide and the concept of innocence vs. ignorance. The poet William Blake believed that ignorance was not synonymous with innocence. Innocence was a state that had to be achieved with the full awareness of the darkness in human nature.

Your story idea reminds of me of bawdy English novels like Tom Jones, which examined social hypocrisy and sexual excesses.

Since sex is no longer mysterious to most young people (I think a recent statistic stated that 8 out 10 boys had porn apps on their phones), so creating a character that was looking for an emotional connection along with a physical one could be an interesting concept to explore.

There is an old Bob Welch song called “Sentimental Lady” that could express your theme: “'Cause we live in a time/ When paintings have no color, words don't rhyme.”

I think your main character may be a romantic living among unromantic people.

 

[LaRascasse]

I think my first question is: does he want to have sex?

I'm unsure about the premise, but I think it's always worth trying new ideas, and this does sound like it has potential. But I do think you'd have to answer the question of does he want to have sex. Is it yes, but on his own terms and not feeling like he's being pressured by his family? Is it no out of spite? Is it no, because he's asexual, as Stella suggested?

He's not biologically asexual, it is just that he, for some reason, is not as flagrant about sex like everyone around him. He wants to meet a nice girl, fall in love and start a relationship, maybe eventually leading to sex.

As for his family - his parents treat him like a kid, while his sister oscillates from believing he is far inside the closet and setting him up with her friends (mostly with funny results). The friends he attracts end up being all overtly sexual so he keeps to himself. At heart, he is mostly introverted.

Do I have to explicitly give a reason for his behaviour? Something like he was molested in the past, or can I leave it at - it is just the way he is?

 

[soflabbwlvr]

He's not biologically asexual, it is just that he, for some reason, is not as flagrant about sex like everyone around him. He wants to meet a nice girl, fall in love and start a relationship, maybe eventually leading to sex.

As for his family - his parents treat him like a kid, while his sister oscillates from believing he is far inside the closet and setting him up with her friends (mostly with funny results). The friends he attracts end up being all overtly sexual so he keeps to himself. At heart, he is mostly introverted.

Do I have to explicitly give a reason for his behaviour? Something like he was molested in the past, or can I leave it at - it is just the way he is?

You do need a reason, but it doesn't have to be dark. It could just be his values--that he equates love with sex and is not interested in one without the other.

I think for the story to work as erotica, however, there does need to be some sex going on around him. Not just him getting out of sexual situations, but some actual sex.

It's a clever premise, and one that lends itself particularly well to humor. Good luck pulling it off.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm thinking "just go ahead and write it" rather than discussing it to death--mushing it around this much with what other people think without knowing much about it is likely to result in mush.

 

[TE999]

Your character could be both innocent and idealistic. He believes in finding 'the One True Love', courtship, a slow build up in the relationship, that sort of thing. He's bemused by all the sex going on around him, but not unduly bothered by it. It's just not his way.

He's wandering innocently among all the sex and perversions going on around him and shrugs off all attempts to seduce him. Hilarity ensues.

 

[PennLady]

Do I have to explicitly give a reason for his behaviour? Something like he was molested in the past, or can I leave it at - it is just the way he is?

I think, like sofla says, a reason would be good but it certainly doesn't have to be a result of abuse or anything. Plenty of people shy away from things others in their family do and not because of dark reasons.

 

[Stella_Omega]

There is zero need for him to have been molested in the past. How he is is perfectly normal.

There doesn't need to be any particular reason, in fact-- simply watching the shenanigans going on around him might have made him decide to be this way. He doesn't see that anyone is any happier one way or the other, and this is what's comfortable for him.

 

[LaRascasse]

Progress report

Okay so I have written most of what I envisioned as part of chapter 1. There are two main scenes here, one is a breakfast where I introduce his dynamic with his parents and his sister and then there is a social event turned orgy in the evening where he has a near miss on walking in on his parents swinging with their friends.

The one thing which I wrote, but had not initially thought about, is how he feels. While writing it, I thought about putting a bit of resentment against his family's hedonism in him because of how he is treated because of it in school (the nice girls he wants to date stay far away from him because of his family name). There are a couple of instances in the dialogue where he is snarky with his parents.

As it stands, he is slightly bitter, but much more exasperated with his family's lifestyle. How's that?