Hello and a question for other writers

[thecornflake]

Hi,

Quick intro - I'm from Kent, UK. 28 years old, male. I've been writing fiction here and there for a couple of years - mainly SF and horror short stories.
I'd like to get into writing erotic stuff, mainly involving bdsm (It's what I know and love ) but I found that I just dive straight in to the hardcore stuff without having an lead-up, backround story etc. Basically I start off and it just runs off super fast and next thing I've lost steam with what to do next.
I'd like to know how others manage to get ideas for what happens around the actual sexual stuff, how to make the story more engaging and keep it going. I guess character development is pretty important, and some background plot, but I seem to be pretty bad at holding back on the naughty bits and can't seem to get anything else on the page! Any suggestions/advice more than welcome.

Anyway, I'm glad I found this site - it looks good, I'll have to have a better look round when I've got more time.

 

[kendo1]

The best way is to read.
Look at the stories in the section that appeals to you and try to figure out why.
See how they are written. What grabs your attention?

Welcome.

 

[thecornflake]

Thanks. I know the best way to improve your writing is to read and write a lot (in the words of Stephen King).

I'll have a look around.

 

[kendo1]

The Lord and Master.

You can't go far wrong with that book.
Required reading around here.

 

[Nirvanadragones]

Welcome to the AH

You may check out anytime you want, but you may never leave

 

[rgraham666]

What works for me is to write about people, not sex.

Even my short pieces of smut have, at least in my mind, strongly delineated characters. What they want, why, and how they go about it is all set before I start typing.

Then the sex comes pretty easy.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Our friend Kbate gave this response a newbie asking if the regulars had "any tips":

Yes. I have tips.

Stop now.
Delete your cookies,
Delete username,
delete your favourites and clear your cache.

Forget you ever saw the forum at literotica.

It is for your own good.

Good advice.

Welcome.

 

[thecornflake]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome.

I've looked at a couple of stories, and I'l read some more when I have more time. I'm going to try and write a new one soon, I'll post it and see what the feedback is like.

Knowing me, the difference between my real like sex and writing is I sometimes go a bit further and darker in my writing, almost like exploring what I like, how far I can go and maybe also the horror side of my writing merging in with it. So focusing on the characters is important for me.

 

[oggbashan]

Top Lists

Go to the stories and chose Top Lists.

Select the Top List of BDSM and read a few of the highly rated stories that have a large number of votes. They will vary in their approaches but give you an idea of what works here.

At the top of this forum is a sticky post "Welcome Authors Please Read". Read it.

Go to the stories again and look at the "How To" category. You will find masses of good advice (and some bad).

Welcome!

Get reading.

Og

 

[TheeGoatPig]

At the top of this forum is a sticky post "Welcome Authors Please Read". Read it.

I don't think I ever read that (maybe I should shut up before I influence someone into being lazy like I am )

 

[Grushenka]

I've been writing fiction here and there for a couple of years - mainly SF and horror short stories.

Hello. I'm still new, and not as present as most here, but your post caught my attention. You ask about how not to just "dive straight in to the hardcore stuff", but you say you've been writing other fiction for a couple years, so think of the hardcore stuff as just one aspect of your story (plot-wise, metaphor, aside, detour, etc.), then think on what else you want to 'say'. In your SF or horror stories, do you dive straight into the wormhole or massacre? (Didn't think so. )

Good luck.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

You people write stories with SEX is them??

Just write the story, if the STORY needs sex put it in, but the STORY is the point, not all the sticky shit, moaning and all that stuff I know nothing about.

And by the way, Welcum.

 

[Weird Harold]

...I've been writing fiction here and there for a couple of years - mainly SF and horror short stories.
I'd like to get into writing erotic stuff, mainly involving bdsm (It's what I know and love ) but I found that I just dive straight in to the hardcore stuff without having an lead-up, backround story etc.

Forget about writing "erotic stuff" and just write what you usually do -- without hedging about the sexual situations. Where you would "fade to black" for some other venue, leve the lights on and let your readers in on what "really" happened instead of making them guess.

Erotica isn't really a separate Genre, it's just the explicit version of other Genres.

 

[TxRad]

Welcome to the rubber room.... keep all extentable menbers inside at all time... ya never know when this place might fall over.....

BDSM..... I write there from time to time.... and we have a great group of BDSM readers..... but they do like their stories to have story and sex.... a balance in that and a balance in perspective on the lifestyle will get you a long ways....

Write the story, the sex will come as it may and as it is needed, there won't be any reason to force it.....

before you take me seriously... read the first line in my sig and all will be explained....

 

[slyc_willie]

What works for me is to write about people, not sex.

Even my short pieces of smut have, at least in my mind, strongly delineated characters. What they want, why, and how they go about it is all set before I start typing.

Then the sex comes pretty easy.

Ditto on that. When you have a feel for what your characters want, and why they do what they do, then the sex becomes more believable.

 

[cloudy]

Yes. I have tips.

Stop now.
Delete your cookies,
Delete username,
delete your favourites and clear your cache.

Forget you ever saw the forum at literotica.

It is for your own good.

Our friend Kbate gave this response a newbie asking if the regulars had "any tips":

Good advice.

Welcome.

NOW you tell me, sheesh.






Welcome to the AH, cornflake.

 

[Nirvanadragones]

NOW you tell me, sheesh.

I have something to tell you and it goes something like this:

WUH!!

 

[cloudy]

I have something to tell you and it goes something like this:

WUH!!

I love you, sassie.

Oooh! What does this but-ton do?

Want to do the prancable unicorn with me?

*dances off *

 

[chris 44]

It's all good advice Cornflake,, offered by people who've been around a while and there's nothing said so far I'd argue with.

Stephen King - 'Get Writing'. Read it, and then read it again. Almost certainly it doesn't work for everyone (what does?), but it's worked for an awful lot of writers I've met, both here and in my day to day life. It set me free to write what the hell I wanted.

There's no single way to write well, and if you're going to write, who wants to do it badly? Every single one of us does it different just as every single reader wants something slightly different Some of them will love the 'Wham Bam' approach. If you're writing a short 'short', there's little else you can give them anyway. But personally I believe sexual pleasure to be dish best taken long and slow and hot. A shared voyage of discovery whose destination is shared ecstasy. Writing about it is just the same. If you don't enjoy writing it, the reader won't enjoy reading it.

The intensity of writing a good story can surprise you at times. When you feel yourself harden in your pants even as your fingers trip across the keyboard, you'll know you're getting there. But that's only the start.

Write and rewrite. Then do it again... Then ask someone on here to look at it and tell you honestly where it sucks. Hmmm, not sure that's quite the right word, but Hey... Listen to them and act on their advice, at least to start with. Believe me you'll get better the longer (and harder) you work at it.

And when you nervously download your first precious story, be prepared for the disappointments. HERE THERE BE TROLLS !!!

Maybe they won't catch onto you right away, but there'll come a day when you find out that you're nothing but a piece of s**t, quite possibly the worst writer in the world and will undoubtedly rot in hell, a fate you thoroughly deserve. That's when you start to doubt yourself. It's also the day you come back here to the Authors Hangout, and say 'Help....'

And you know what, they will. Help you that is. The same people who welcomed you here today will still be around, because we've all been there, and we've survived. And when you get through it and submitted your next story, everyone will know you are a writer.

KBate was right, you should run away and delete everything, but then you'd miss out on so much. The friendships you'll make here, the support you'll be given, the laughter and the sadness. All human life is here on this forum my friend. I say give it a try.

Best wishes,
Chris

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Am I weird that my ideas start in my head with the sex, and then I figure out how it got there, and then I start writing? It doesn't always lead back tot he same sex that I planned in the beginning, but it does (usually) get back to the sex (I had one conversation between husband and wife talk them out of having an orgy, when my initial intention was to get them into an orgy).

 

[cloudy]

Am I weird that my ideas start in my head with the sex, and then I figure out how it got there, and then I start writing? It doesn't always lead back tot he same sex that I planned in the beginning, but it does (usually) get back to the sex (I had one conversation between husband and wife talk them out of having an orgy, when my initial intention was to get them into an orgy).

that's backwards for me. But then, I've gotten to the point where I dread writing the sex scenes, and most times, would just as soon leave them out.

 

[chris 44]

Am I weird that my ideas start in my head with the sex, and then I figure out how it got there, and then I start writing? It doesn't always lead back tot he same sex that I planned in the beginning, but it does (usually) get back to the sex (I had one conversation between husband and wife talk them out of having an orgy, when my initial intention was to get them into an orgy).

Not weird Pig, the stories that write themselves are often the best ones.

Chris

 

[CharleyH]

A story is about characters and a character is a sum of motivations, which basically comes down to actions. You can have an amazing story about characters you never know anything about, but rarely (although I have seen it done well) can you have a story with strong characters and no motivating actions. For example, a one-night stand does not require a detailed historical background of the characters (YAWN) to make it engaging.

So how do you come up with ideas? I would not suggest reading (as some have) as much as I would suggest looking around your own life for ideas, since in one way or another we write about ourselves when we write about sex or anything else for that matter.

For example: I decide to get out of bed in the morning. It’s a seemingly mundane thing, and one that we don’t really think about or give enough credit to, yet the very decision and then the act of getting out of bed (or not) is wrought with conflict and follows the proverbial beginning, middle, climax and end of a narrative. To further this example with simplicity, I get out of bed because it’s empty and humping a pillow is not as satisfying as meeting Jane Doe in the hallway when I go to pick up my morning paper (another series of motivating actions and in itself a complete story) or I stay in bed because I have a pillow fetish and really REALLY want to hump that pillow.

Just as in real life, sex cannot occur if there is no motivating action. Something (however mundane it may seem on the surface) must happen in order for two or more people to come together and the motivation is the action, which can come from those things as seemingly simple as getting out of bed. A narrative without motivating action is merely looking at a writer masturbating, and few readers will get off on it.

The best thing to do as a writer looking for ideas is to take one decision (edit to add: or one scenario in) in the course of a day, and then ask “What if? …”

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

Hi, Cornflake.

Yes, this is a good place to hone your porn writing skills. You'll soon sort out where you fit in terms of a target audience, because there are so many readers here that no matter what your style, there will be people here who are into it, and will give you encouraging feedback.

Also some of the authors here are nice. Have fun finding out which ones.

 

[tanyachrs]

I'm in the minority, but my stories always start with a specific thing that I find hot and want to explore more. It may be a person, an act, or even a gesture or a single moment. Then I build around that, adding in the details that make it hottest to me and leaving out details I don't find relevant. Basically, I write the porn I want to read.

To some extent, I'd advise against reading other author's works. Find your own voice and try to avoid the "kitchen sink" mentality where there's a laundry list of acts that must be included in every story. I find it way sexier to pick a single moment or action and concentrate on it than to insert every kinky thing I can think of, one after another, in the proscribed order of kinkiness.