How do you, as an author, describe breasts?

[Actingup]

Thanks very much for this thread. Back when I was a naive young author (ok, last year), I put in a snarky comment about breast descriptions in my first story. This was before I knew that there was such a thing as an author's forum.

"Her head was partly hidden by a floppy hat and sunglasses, but I could see that she was a brunette with tanned skin and a long ponytail. Not that this particularly mattered to me at the time -- her hair could have been green and she could have been an 80 year old man for all I cared right then, but I know some readers will want to know. I draw the line at estimating her bra size at this point in the story though, because frankly that's a bit creepy and any guy who claims to be able to do that at first glance is not somebody you want to be around."

(for completeness, later in the story I said "Her gorgeous, teardrop shaped breasts tumbled out, with compact, brown aurorae and small nipples that seemed to stiffen and stand out slightly under my appreciative gaze.")

Anyway, much to my surprise, people picked up on it in the comments:

I was a instant fan of yours from “I draw the line at estimating her bra size at this point in the story though, because frankly that's a bit creepy and any guy who claims to be able to do that at first glance is not somebody you want to be around.” I knew I was going to like the rest of the story, and I was not wrong

I really became a fan when reading your statement about the bra size. I wish more authors had the same insight. Most women don’t even have their own ones correct. And I frequently read stories here depicting ladies who look like Bulgarian pole vaulters from the 1970’s judging by the bra sizes

I might add that like others I was enchanted by your masterly takedown of the bra size brigade.

Right, so the lesson was validated there, but I'd never really thought about the positive things to do with breasts (so to speak). In avoiding discussion of bra sizes, I just haven't talked about them as much as I could have. As I should have. I'm going to try harder. Thank you for the prompt.

 

[Trionyx]

This:

Looking back over the last few stories, it appears my approach is highly dependent on the narrator, or the point of view that the narration occupies.

 

[HobokenSweat]

I try to write in a kind of South Philly street thing. So, tits when it's more street... breasts when I'm trying to tone it down.

 

[Trionyx]

I was berated once when I had an older FMC with two children look in a mirror as she was getting dressed for a date with a new guy and think happily to herself that her breasts didn’t ‘sag’ very much.

“Sweet story. Lose the word "sag". It is rude and insulting.”

I guess I should have written that they ‘still defied gravity to a large extent’ or ‘weren’t very pendulous.’

 

[SimonDoom]

I was berated once when I had an older FMC with two children look in a mirror as she was getting dressed for a date with a new guy and think happily to herself that her breasts didn’t ‘sag’ very much.

“Sweet story. Lose the word "sag". It is rude and insulting.”

I guess I should have written that they ‘still defied gravity to a large extent’ or ‘weren’t very pendulous.’

That's the kind of comment I pay no attention to. The fact is, it's realistic for a character like the one you described to think "sag" when she's appraising her body. It doesn't matter whether it's "insulting" (insulting to whom?). The character in the position you describe would be much more likely to think "sag" than the other phrases you suggested as possible replacements.

Some words just turn people off, but there's not much you can do about that. I had a reader berate me for using the word "greasy" in a sex scene. I shrugged, because the word fit the scene.

 

[Nightscream89]

I think I use specific cupsizes more than most writers if I'm reading this.

I often throw in things like.
"She pressed her perky B-cups against his naked back."
or
"Her generous D-cups were swinging freely underneath her."

For me it feels like an easy reference to the size of the character's breasts without it being static like "Oh she has D-cup chest size."
It sort of replaces the word for breasts used, for me it sounds natural (I hope for my readers as well), and is just a nod to their size to remind the reader of this physical trait, most of the times I add another word as an extra description though, like I did here with 'perky' and 'generous'.

 

[TheLobster]

For me it feels like an easy reference to the size of the character's breasts

That's exactly what it is.

The "problem" with cup sizes isn't that they are trope; it's that they are a very explicit trope. It is one that blares a loud siren whenever it is used, signaling to everyone within eight blocks that YES, THIS IS PORN, MOTHERFUCKER!

And this is precisely the reason why so many people hate it. If it didn't have all this baggage attached, it would be a very useful shorthand indeed.

A cup? It means very small, practically flat.
B cup? Small to average.
C cup? Average, maybe going on large.
D cup? Definitely large.

But you simply can't use cups this way without triggering hordes of faux-sophisticated connoisseurs that immediately start to scoff about your grave offense against basic female anatomy, and your total misunderstanding of how bra sizes AcTuAlLy WorK, and your evident inexperience in handling actual real female breasts, and how character introductions in erotica invariably include those stupid measurements, and how you should learn to write properly rather copy-paste from lingerie labels.

Well, at least those very sophisticated critics can pat themselves on the back for how genre-savvy they are and how deftly they can spot all those amateurs writers. It likely doesn't occur to them that authors could be using the trope cups deliberately, as the coded language that they are, evoking whatever exact mental image each reader has associated with A/B/C/D/etc.-cup in the same way his brain responds to words like "big" or "perky".

 

[SPARTAN047]

Tits and titties.

 

[jehoram]

I try to write in a kind of South Philly street thing. So, tits when it's more street... breasts when I'm trying to tone it down.

I was told that when women discuss breasts with each other, they generally use "tits" or "boobs" (or, more recently, "girls") instead of "breasts." And I notice that women authors generally use those terms when writing dialog for their female characters.

 

[burgwad]

Breasts are something I like playing with. I have three main avenues for doing so. In writing, anyway.

1. I try to shoot from the hip as often as possible, because so much about the appeal of breasts is intuitive. Fun. Obvious. Too much effort or detail can feel masturbatory (ironically), when one well-worded glance will do. The key in these instances is fun-factor. Wit.

2. Other times, when they are present on-screen but not necessarily the erotic look-at-me focus, I try to make sure to include characterful little details. Quirks of how their owner’s posture might be affecting their shape or appearance; or if they’re clothed, then in what kind of top(s)/fabric, bra/braless, shapely/obscured; or if they’re close enough, then how they smell can be fun to know (real people’s breasts are not unscented/odorless). Did their top just come off? Okay, so then is there any sweatiness or redness? Underwire imprints or creases? Tan lines? Moles or markings? These kinds of details both pull from and lend to story, setting, and personality.

3. The third kind of observation is perspective-based. Who is seeing or feeling (or smelling) the boobs can vary the impression they make. A flat-chested daughter might be envious of her mother’s generous jugs. A serious student might be complexly curious about his favorite professor’s habit of accidentally revealing her cleavage. A dysmorphic woman might glower at her toplessness in the mirror. And these breasts might all belong to the same person! What these secondary observations tend to have in common is their focus less on physical description and more on the feelings or relational dynamics they evoke in their observers.

 

[Hypocrites]

I'm fairly new in the erotica region. I wrote some a few years ago for another site I've since left. A lot of my stories were "vignettes", derived from or inspired by my own true experiences.

As such, my descriptors were based on how I saw/perceived the breasts at the time. So the breasts are a matter of beauty, shape, sensitivity, etc. but always framed by the experience level in my life. That is to say, cup size may be referenced in chronologically later stories, but mostly the impressions are what's described.

Also, especially when looking back to my early days of being sexually active, I might compare it to a common object for size and to a lesser degree shape and appearance.

If/when my first story here get's published, I might rewrite some of those I deleted from "over there".

 

[yowser]

She was lovely from every angle. I enjoyed especially the various shapes her curving breasts would take, depending on her position. Round, smooth, white, they hung, they swung, their movements were soft, delectable. They were especially alluring when dangling down over me, or from the side, shifting as she moved.

 

[Breastobsessed84]

Big ole Honkers

 

[Ssbbw4u1974]

I like describing the bra size of the character I'm describing..

Something like,
"Jessica grabbed her size 44dd tits and massaged them over Jack's long stiff cock".

 

[SPARTAN047]

Tig ol' bitties.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Orange-sized, apple-sized, grapefruit beauties, a pair of honeydew melons, honkin' enormous watermelons, firm, pert, capped with .45-caliber bullets shooting the point straight to my prick, saggers that had seen better days. Or something like that.

 

[Norogaster]

My characters seem to estimate by how they fill the hand. Anything less than a handful is a B, more than a handful is a D, and my characters don't try to guess on multiple Es, they're just intimidated. Having listened to plenty of women talk about their boobs over the years, I use tits for sexual situations, and occasionally breast if it seems appropriate. I prefer to sketch in the scene, and let the reader fill in from the key details, so I may say something about her large, distinct areolae, or her nipples being seriously fat and wondering if the piercings had stretched them.

 

[subbyclarajane]

Bags of sand.

 

[Original_Blue]

Basic description through cup sizes. Also areola and nipple size. When a (mature) female character has bigger honkers I might add that they are a little sagging. I try to be realistic while also giving my readers a fair bit of space for their own imagination.

I got this story about a 43 yo woman with a rather chunky body and DD/E or DDD/F sized cups. When I described them I added that "through age and gravity her large areolas and nipples looked downwards a little which gave them a very natural appearance despite the huge size." because that's what I imagined when "building" her in my mind.

To be fair: It's not that easy for me to describe larger boobs which - of course!! - do sag a little because they're natural. I do wanna avoid words that might sound negative but I also want to be realistic.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I won't comment on using cup sizes as a descriptor.

Basic description through cup sizes. Also areola and nipple size. When a (mature) female character has bigger honkers I might add that they are a little sagging. I try to be realistic while also giving my readers a fair bit of space for their own imagination.

I got this story about a 43 yo woman with a rather chunky body and DD/E or DDD/F sized cups. When I described them I added that "through age and gravity her large areolas and nipples looked downwards a little which gave them a very natural appearance despite the huge size." because that's what I imagined when "building" her in my mind.

To be fair: It's not that easy for me to describe larger boobs which - of course!! - do sag a little because they're natural. I do wanna avoid words that might sound negative but I also want to be realistic.

 

[Original_Blue]

I won't comment on using cup sizes as a descriptor.

Alrighty then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Actingup]

I won't comment on using cup sizes as a descriptor.

I'll go there. I think that bra sizes are between a woman and any professional that she chooses to employ to assist her, and the rest of us can just shut up about measurements and use descriptive language about the ways that she looks wonderful.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I've talked this issues to death, but @Actingup sums up my views so totally I don't need to babble on...

Alrighty then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Original_Blue]

I've talked this issues to death, but @Actingup sums up my views so totally I don't need to babble on...

Okay, that's fine.

 

[AchtungNight]

I usually note size in vague terms, same for nipple size. Skin and nipple color is explicit, same for any specific clothing worn over the breast area. I think I’ve only mentioned cup size once clearly- readers can insert their own preferences of course.