Have certain recent events changed your writing?

[holliday1960]

I don't post on the boards often anymore, but I'm curious about something. In light of certain relatively recent events, specifically the #MeToo movement, although there have been others, has your writing changed in some way, and if so how?

For male authors, do you consider how female readers will perceive your stories? Are you more conscious of female readers opinions? Has it changed your style of storytelling? Do reader comments reflect a change of opinion for your chosen subject-matter? Is there a difference in comments of male and female readers in this respect? Do you find yourself questioning the content of stories and if they meet some standard of social acceptance these days? What trends (if any) do you predict or are you seeing will follow the #MeToo movement?

 

[jaF0]

NNNope.

I is what I is.

 

[MelissaBaby]

At the height of the first wave of Covid fear, I 86ed a chapter about the death of a major character, and instead just made references to it within another storyline.

I couldn't feel it in myself to write about death at that point, and I thought readers would be in a similar state of mind.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I don't post on the boards often anymore, but I'm curious about something. In light of certain relatively recent events, specifically the #MeToo movement, although there have been others, has your writing changed in some way, and if so how?

For male authors, do you consider how female readers will perceive your stories? Are you more conscious of female readers opinions? Has it changed your style of storytelling? Do reader comments reflect a change of opinion for your chosen subject-matter? Is there a difference in comments of male and female readers in this respect? Do you find yourself questioning the content of stories and if they meet some standard of social acceptance these days? What trends (if any) do you predict or are you seeing will follow the #MeToo movement?

I thought you were referring to the pandemic. With that, plus racial tensions, a probable economic depression (possibly even a collapse), and so forth, the #MeToo movement seems to have been eclipsed for the moment. People are more concerned with merely having a job, not so much about what happens there. (I'm retired now, so I will defer to others about what is now actually happening in those situations.)

I don't try to placate my female readers. On this site and two others, many of my stories are set in the 1970s and 1980s, periods far different from now in terms of gender relations. But I have a few set in the present. I give my female characters a "fair shake" in that they are usually witty and assertive, but not in an overwhelming way. I don't do that to be politically correct; I just like women like that.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Not interested in views of female authors?

FWIW I started posting on Lit to be a bit different from the large number of stories that have implausible women in, who never consider personal safety etc before running off to be tied up by some Domly guy sending out loads of dangerous arsehole signals. Mostly you wouldn't notice anything more than having articulate female characters in my stories, though the first two pages of my story Gas Station Guy pretty much explain the need for #MeToo (and the rest is a contrast with a decent bloke). My 750-word challenge story brought the incels out of the woodwork, though if I'd spent more than a couple hours on it, I'd have used a title that wasn't a trigger for them.

My recent series has a guy who's a fire safety engineer, partly because I was working overlooking the shell of Grenfell Tower at the time and I know a couple of the firefighters and an investigator involved. So it's a bit of a nod to a profession that doesn't appear in fiction much.

My characters are people I find interesting, which tends to boil down to intelligent, often bisexual, and have at least considered BDSM even if it's not for them. Some people seem to like the efforts I've put in to make them plausible, which is nice.

 

[BrokenSpokes]

Holy crap has my writing changed

Yes, yes, yes. Anyone who peruses my catalog will note the entirety of my genre is shiny-happy-lesbian love stories with a big happily-ever-after.

The only thing I'm working on right now is for the Halloween contest, and oh boy, is this story NONE of that. I've been influenced by the general mood of the pandemic, and abundant Black Lives Matter protests in my city that I have witnessed and taken part in.

It's dark. It's none of what I usually write.

When this thing goes up, my regulars are going to be pretty shocked I'm guessing.

 

[holliday1960]

I thought you were referring to the pandemic. With that, plus racial tensions, a probable economic depression (possibly even a collapse), and so forth, the #MeToo movement seems to have been eclipsed for the moment. People are more concerned with merely having a job, not so much about what happens there. (I'm retired now, so I will defer to others about what is now actually happening in those situations.)

I don't try to placate my female readers. On this site and two others, many of my stories are set in the 1970s and 1980s, periods far different from now in terms of gender relations. But I have a few set in the present. I give my female characters a "fair shake" in that they are usually witty and assertive, but not in an overwhelming way. I don't do that to be politically correct; I just like women like that.

Yes, you're right in that there are other more pressing issues (survival) at the moment, but those generally don't relate directly to erotica and porn.

I'd recently read where Ron Jeramy was charged with an additional 20 counts of rape. Of course, Bill Cosby remains in prison to date for encounters that took place some 35 to 40 years ago. There are still lawsuits cropping up almost daily and criminal charges still pending against some very notable individuals.

Certainly racial issues in America could impact how interracial stories are written, but those appear to be more localized than the global impact of male vs female views on sexual issues. I was just curious because it seems to me, the tone of television as a whole has changed, and I wondered how fiction writers are coping with changing views. Since this is a writing forum I was interested in the climate as it pertains to that.

At the beginning of the controversy, men on Lit seemed rather quiet about the topic. I thought now that we've witnessed a few outcomes, they might share how or IF it's impacted their thoughts in writing. A lot of young men have stated to me that in RL, they aren't as impulsive in dating these days. That could indicate that casual sex is a thing of the past. Is it? Or are young people simply fooling themselves? Do today's readers find stories about casual encounters more fantasy than reality? It was just a curiosity... carry on.

 

[holliday1960]

Of course KQ... it's just the women of Lit seldom have to be coaxed into commenting on any subject. LOL

 

[vanmyers86]

I'm a woman, and a feminist. Nothing in my writing has changed from the standpoint of MeToo.

I am working on a story now with an interracial couple, and I am researching the hell out of race relations, specifically related to Black men - even though I have dated several Black men in my time and count others as friends and colleagues. BLM is unlikely to come up in this particular story, but I want to be absolutely sure there's a foundation of respect there.

 

[HeyYoureThatGuy]

I started writing on Lit because my other writing was serious, political, radical, depressing, and not fun. I haven't been on here long enough for my writing here to change in response to things that were underway before I started, BUUUUUUT I've specifically avoided getting into even really basic political stuff because I need a break from it. I'm burned out.

If that makes any sense. I haven't slept right since COVID started, and the coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

 

[HeyYoureThatGuy]

I guess if you're asking if any of my writing has a political aspect, part of the first story I wrote was inspired by a conversation on romance writer twitter about how you couldn't write sexy fully consent focused stories.

 

[Jamie_and_Lisa]

"Once I used to join in
Every boy and girl was my friend
Now there's revolution, but they don't know
What they're fighting

"Let us close our eyes
Outside their lives go on much faster
Oh, we won't give in
We'll keep living in the past"

- Ian Anderson (1969)

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

- King Solomon (ca.935 BC)

 

[SolarRay]

I don't know that I go out of my way to either address or avoid any social issues, or try to project explicit sensitivity to them in my stories. That said, I do find the messages of respect, diversity, inclusivity, justice, etc. intended by #MeToo and other movements to be empowering and attractive, so my stories hopefully reflect that naturally. I DO want my stories to be enjoyed by both men and women, mainly because I tend to be interested in and aroused by human sexuality in general and not just within the context of my personal tastes. I enjoy working with characters that encompass a broad spectrum of identities and experience, and give them opportunities to overcome hurtles, because why not? We have enough rubbish to deal with in the real world.

 

[KeithD]

The MeToo movement has given me some plotlines for stories but not changed how or what I would write. So far, other than for the pandemic contest here, I haven't let Covid-19 intrude in my stories. For most I create an alternate world anyway, but I also see my stories as escapes (grounded a bit in reality of relationships), not as a reflection of today's horrors. Current political correctness isn't much of a factor in any of my stories.

 

[HeyAll]

My writing has changed over the years (for the better, I hope) but I'd like to think that it has more to do with experience than any one thing. Having said that, I have referenced MeToo in a few of my office stories. I always try to infuse current events with erotica.

As for gender, I always try to appeal to all genders.

I recently wrote an office gangbang story involving a group of women and men (Job Interview, Office Gangbang) and someone commented that he/she appreciated the women were smart and in control.

I'm glad the person thought that.

 

[RetroFan]

I tend to go the other way and write stories that are politically incorrect.

For example in my recent story 'My Nephew Got Into My Knickers' I ruthlessly mock left wing, woke social justice warriors and how absurd they are.

 

[KeithD]

What recent current events have NOT done for my writing is to cause me to include political partisan "stuff" and push my political views off on others in erotica stories. You immediately divide your potential audience into about half and they remember that the next time your name pops up on a story.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I don't post on the boards often anymore, but I'm curious about something. In light of certain relatively recent events, specifically the #MeToo movement, although there have been others, has your writing changed in some way, and if so how?

Not much, but then I was fairly mindful of consent issues before #MeToo hit the spotlight. One way or another, most of my stories - I think all of them, except for my three horror pieces - involve consent themes. "Yes" is a sexy word and there are so many different ways to say it.

I do have a couple of drafts, a long way from completion, that probably are influenced by recent events - not so much about sexual content in particular but about power, and what people will do to hang on to it, and how people become cogs in cruel systems.

 

[vanmyers86]

"Yes" is a sexy word and there are so many different ways to say it.

This.

 

[Bramblethorn]

What recent current events have NOT done for my writing is to cause me to include political partisan "stuff" and push my political views off on others in erotica stories. You immediately divide your potential audience into about half and they remember that the next time your name pops up on a story.

I don't go out of my way to alienate readers. But I mostly write female/female stories, working from the position that queer people and queer relationships are valid, and as much as I'd wish otherwise that's still very much a "political view".

My first story here was a romance between two women who, at the time of writing, would not have been allowed to marry. That inevitably colours the relationship between them, and if acknowledging that in the story alienates some potential readers... so be it. Similar things have come up in most of my other contemporary stories. Trying to appease everybody is a recipe for pablum, and kind of pointless on a site where we're not even being paid.

 

[stickygirl]

I am a lapsed writer, but I can't see why #MeToo should have curtailed inspiration, quite the reverse in fact. If writers weren't already writing balanced pieces then seeing the world (and sex) through the #MeToo lens ought to be an uplifting change for them. Life is all about change and makes it interesting

 

[KeithD]

I don't go out of my way to alienate readers. But I mostly write female/female stories, working from the position that queer people and queer relationships are valid, and as much as I'd wish otherwise that's still very much a "political view".

In all of my GM stories I am writing in a world where nearly everyone is openly gay, active, and seeking--and no fuss is made about or by any character who isn't. I simply don't include any preparation for making the relationships valid. The world just exists without creating room in the story for this being a political view at all.

 

[SamScribble]

I think that I was sort of lucky. As a very young writer, I hung out with a bunch of other writers, all a bit older than I was. Several of the women were active feminists (of the Germaine Greer ilk); and my two favourites from among the men were both black. Perhaps as a result, I think I have always tended to write empathetic characters. I’ve never seen taking advantage of someone else as something to be condoned. And certainly not sexy.

 

[Bramblethorn]

In all of my GM stories I am writing in a world where nearly everyone is openly gay, active, and seeking--and no fuss is made about or by any character who isn't. I simply don't include any preparation for making the relationships valid. The world just exists without creating room in the story for this being a political view at all.

IMHO, that kind of utopian setting is still inherently a political statement, because there's a significant element in politics which abhors the idea that such a world could or should exist and puts a lot of effort into kicking against it.

I don't think either of us wants "gay people get to have fun without shame" to be a political statement. But try putting it in a school library - even without any explicit sex - and see what happens.

A little while ago I read a story in an alt-history Wild West-ish setting, where one of the characters was openly bisexual (male) and another was non-binary. Like yours, nobody in the story made much of a fuss about it... and some readers couldn't deal with that AT ALL. They had no problem with the alt-history part of the story where the USA was overrun with man-eating hippos, but the idea of queer/NB people getting to be happy was just too out-there for them to accept.

 

[KeithD]

I don't try to write one kind of character--or even all sympathetic ones. What results is probably something else altogether. But my first response to criticism that my characters aren't sympathetic is to suggest the reader go read some other kind of story than the ones I write. It's OK with me if they do.