How do you like your characters & situations?

[MsQuote]

This isn't so much about a story I want to write, but a blog piece on the question over what readers look for in characters and situations in erotica.

Do you like to read about characters you can imagine being or being with?

Do you like stories that push boundaries way beyond you would go or situations you could see yourself being in?

I don't want to limit the discussion to these specific questions; they're just a starting point.

 

[MatthewVett]

I think I generally write characters I can imagine being, but in situations that are unlikely to happen. (Or unlikely to happen again, at any rate...) I mean, it's fantasy, right? Why fantasize about your own life.

A while ago I was actually going through my stories and I realized how few of them I would actually be able to reenact if I tried.

The female leads tend to be a bit more out there, though, for the same reasons as the situations. If I'm going to write my fantasy, why not make them fantastic? I can put all my kinks into one girl, even if it's not probable.

 

[MsQuote]

I think I generally write characters I can imagine being, but in situations that are unlikely to happen. (Or unlikely to happen again, at any rate...) I mean, it's fantasy, right? Why fantasize about your own life.

A while ago I was actually going through my stories and I realized how few of them I would actually be able to reenact if I tried.

The female leads tend to be a bit more out there, though, for the same reasons as the situations. If I'm going to write my fantasy, why not make them fantastic? I can put all my kinks into one girl, even if it's not probable.

I like your feedback, although I'm sure it's one of many.

In general, I like writing about characters that readers can find emotionally and mentally believable and leave physical details vague. A lot of this comes from the reader side of me. I really don't want to read about model-perfect 20-somethings, especially like Christian Gray in Fifty Shades of Gray. Really, how probable is it for a 27-year-old man to be a self-made industrialist billionaire who spends 24/7 with or stalking his submissive ... and talks like a highly-educated middle-aged Brit?

There have been a few times that I've (and others have) gotten feedback on stories that aren't realistic ... especially in D/s stories where characters are put in "don't try this in real life" situations. Some people like to call out things like, "How could you not have your characters use safe words?" Personally, I don't get too wigged out about them in stories I read especially when the outcomes don't result in malice or harm.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

This is a good topic for discussion. Personally, I like my stories to be plausible. Not plausible as in "in the world I created, this could have actually happened without defying the rules I established." Rather, I like my stories to involve realistic people in realistic situations.

For the most part, the female characters I create contain attributes that I find attractive. I rarely write about perky cheerleader types with porn star bodies. My taste runs toward grown women with real bodies, women whose sexuality is a product of their attitudes and desires more than their physical attributes. I write about sexually aggressive women--women who know what they want and aren't afraid to get it. I write that way because that is the type of woman that turns me on.

I try to write about situations that are plausible. Sometimes my imagination gets carried away, but for the most part my stories are grounded in reality. By that I mean they are often derived from situations I have actually experienced, or by making a few different choices at critical points could have experienced--or still may experience. They could have happened that way, and in some cases, they did.

I tend to look for those kinds of stories when I am reading, also. If I start reading about a 22 year old blonde with a perfect body who ends up fucking the boss and all of the male employees, and is forced to wear a bikini to work every day, well, I am going to click away pretty quickly. It is never going to happen. But if the story involves a 30 or 40ish single mom whose overbearing boss compels her to service him after hours in order to avoid becoming another victim of company downsizing, and for reasons clearly expressed in the story she has no other alternative, then I can stay until the end if it is well-written.

 

[nakdsub]

I believe you should write for yourself and stop...

Worrying what others like. I also believe in the old adage, "write what you know." Almost all my stories have some elements from my own real life experiences woven into them.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

Worrying what others like. I also believe in the old adage, "write what you know." Almost all my stories have some elements from my own real life experiences woven into them.

Most of my novels are set in the future in a mediaeval-style absolute monarchy, and concern the events in the life of the Emir.

Difficult to be autobiographical in those circumstances?

 

[callmeismael]

To me, all that really matters for the characters is that they feel real. That they feel complex, that they have their flaws or insecurities or weaknesses, as well as their strengths. Any well-written character is easy to empathize with. I like characters who are working through a situation that is a little taboo for them - what drives you to do something that you feel is wrong on some level? Inner conflict, self awareness (or self-denial, even). I think those things make erotica extra juicy for me.

That said, I'm not as hung-up on realistic scenarios. Realistic characters in unrealistic scenarios are more interesting that unrealistic characters in realistic scenarios. But if a story is going that direction, the scenario should be unrealistic enough that it's obvious the writer isn't going for realism. Even a totally ridiculous sci-fi or fantasy concept, for example, can still be really good if the characters are complex and real.

 

[sunandshadow]

I mainly like reading fantasy or science fiction erotica, so one of the things I look for is a pleasant and interesting setting, which is usually entwined with the story's starting situation. For example, a common setting and starting situation is that some non-human race, whether aliens or a fantasy race, has a shortage of females. So they come up with a plan to acquire a batch of earth females and distribute them among their males by some system, and also they have a reason to believe the two races will have no problem interbreeding. Whether all this is plausible or nonsensical is determined mainly by the setting - how it has been developed logically by the author, and how it is communicated to the reader in the first part of the story (while avoiding the hazard of infodumping).

Now, characters are involved too - the main male character and any rivals will presumably be of this non-human race, so their personalities will be partly determined by the race's instincts, biology, and culture. Their personalities are a big part of whether they are attractive to me, and whether it will be hot to read about them. The women's treatment as they are acquired, distributed, and courted/seduced/etc. are also determined by the race's culture and the personalities of the individual characters. If the main female character is treated in a repellant way that I don't want to imagine being treated, I won't be aroused or entertained and I won't read the story. The choice of the female character's personality is also relevant - she functions as my stand-in within the story, so if she's a kind of woman I wouldn't even want to be friends with and can't sympathize with, I'm not going to want to go along for the ride inside her head.

 

[HeyAll]

To me it's about contrast.

For instance, if the main character is an office worker (ie lawyer), then it's arousing to know how dirty she can get to relieve stress.

If it's a milf type soccer mom, then it's fun to read about her struggling with her dirty fantasies before eventually giving in.

And it's also important that it be believable to an extent. Just my opinion... Best of luck with your blog.

 

[Bramblethorn]

This isn't so much about a story I want to write, but a blog piece on the question over what readers look for in characters and situations in erotica.

Do you like to read about characters you can imagine being or being with?

Do you like stories that push boundaries way beyond you would go or situations you could see yourself being in?

I don't want to limit the discussion to these specific questions; they're just a starting point.

I like to read about characters I can relate to. That doesn't mean they have to be carbon-copies of me, or that the setting has to be present-day realistic, just that I need to be able to get into their heads. I want to understand WHY they're attracted to one another by the time they act on it.

 

[sirhugs]

sauteed with a bit of butter and garlic...

 

[TinyBeth]

To me, all that really matters for the characters is that they feel real. That they feel complex, that they have their flaws or insecurities or weaknesses, as well as their strengths. Any well-written character is easy to empathize with. I like characters who are working through a situation that is a little taboo for them - what drives you to do something that you feel is wrong on some level? Inner conflict, self awareness (or self-denial, even). I think those things make erotica extra juicy for me.

That said, I'm not as hung-up on realistic scenarios. Realistic characters in unrealistic scenarios are more interesting that unrealistic characters in realistic scenarios. But if a story is going that direction, the scenario should be unrealistic enough that it's obvious the writer isn't going for realism. Even a totally ridiculous sci-fi or fantasy concept, for example, can still be really good if the characters are complex and real.

I largely agree. To my mind realistic characters can make an unrealistic scenario plausible while a realistic situation will not save characters that are poorly developed or don't ring true. I also like to see the internal struggle of a character coming to terms with what they want- a major theme in both of my posted stories and very much so in the story I am currently writing.

 

[SamScribble]

I like characters who behave consistently within the world of the story. They might be weird, they might be extreme, they might be unpredictable, but they should be believably weird, extreme, or unpredictable in the created context of the story. As one of my old profs used to say: In fiction there are true facts and there are fictitious facts; the author’s challenge is to make the reader find both equally believable.

 

[sr71plt]

Anyone who would want all of their characters and situations one, two, or three ways is pretty shallow, wouldn't you think?

 

[bashfullyshameless]

Do you like to read about characters you can imagine being or being with?

Do you like stories that push boundaries way beyond you would go or situations you could see yourself being in?

I don't want to limit the discussion to these specific questions; they're just a starting point.

My responses differ somewhat as a writer and as a reader.

As a writer, I tend toward sci-fi/fantasy because I feel it immediately establishes stronger suspension of disbelief. The sex in erotica/porn always seems a bit unrealistic (everyone's sexy! everyone's always up for it and ready to go! everyone performs magnificently! All! Night! Long!)--and to be honest, I LIKE it that way. But again, I want it established up front that such unrealism is part and parcel of the story. I like my characters to be emotionally and behaviorally consistent; they can be angels and demons and aliens and whatnot, but they still have to be "people" on some emotional level.

As both a reader and a writer, I want at least one character to whom I can relate. I also want it to be a character I LIKE as a person. I do not enjoy seeing horrible people getting laid. It turns me off. No matter how sexy Lara Croft is in the Tomb Raider films, I don't want to see her succeed--I want to see her fall off the cliff, because she's a horrible, self-centered, insufferably arrogant snot. My feelings in erotica run much the same way. (I'm a guy, too, so that goes doubly for the male asshole characters.)

With the writing, I stress a LOT about the whole Mary Sue thing. I worry that my lead characters are too cool, or not flawed enough, and I'm sensitive to that. I'm irritated that the "Mary Sue" label means different things to different people, too, because once it's applied it tends to stick no matter how the original labeler meant it. So I want my erotica characters to be sexy, alluring and likable, but I stress about making sure they're also appropriately flawed.

As a reader, though... my biggest thing in erotica is that I don't want to read about someone's downfall. I'm let down when someone's sexual adventures end with heartbreak, particularly on some moral bent -- i.e., lesbian girl shouldn't have let lesbian girlfriend try sleeping with a guy, 'cause now has lost her girl to the glory of cock (yes, I've read that), and I certainly don't want to read "I left my loving husband because arrogant jackasses are better in bed." I'm turned on by GOOD feelings, not fear and shame.

As for situations: yes to both. I want to read situations that I could reasonably be in. I also want to read the ones I wouldn't be in. To me, the threesome/moresome fantasy is plenty hot, but in reality I would be so particular about the details and the situation (because I don't want anyone to walk away hurt or betrayed) that I would probably never go for it. But stories like that are often great fun to read.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I like to place decent, sane characters inside insane worlds. The kicker is, 99% of the insanity comes from real life experiences I've witnessed or know about. I call them IRL Horror.

In my tale, ASSCLOWNS, an attractive social worker visits the carnival to question a mother who abandoned her kids to runoff with a carny. At the carnival the social worker is abducted by several carnies and hidden inside their dorm trailer, where she's watched and sexually assaulted by all over a period of days, then thrown from a high bridge they pass across.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Do you like to read about characters you can imagine being or being with?

Great question. As I think about it, I prefer to read about the adventures characters take. I'll insert myself as needed, but I think I'm more curious to read about a character who makes different choices than me and then enjoy the vicarious thrill of witnessing their reaction to what just happened.

For example, I am NOT a fan of incest stories. I can barely read them, but I forced myself to glance through a few so I could write a couple for the survivor contest. I'm still NOT a fan. I could NEVER imagine myself in similar situations. In fact, I had to do all I could to reject thoughts of my own family to get anywhere with the subject matter. However, once I released my own prejudices, there was definitely some fun to be had there.

Similarly, I've found myself remarkably aroused by some BDSM porn I've seen. Again, not a direction that holds much interest for me, but the raw shock value of it did get to me in ways that had me deep in thought for days afterward.

Do you like stories that push boundaries way beyond you would go or situations you could see yourself being in?

In a word, yes. I want to expand my mind by witnessing the alternatives to the choices I would have made and then the writer in me will consider if the author was accurate enough with their motivations. Would a "real" person do that?

I don't want to limit the discussion to these specific questions; they're just a starting point.

When I write, I want my stories to be believable. I enjoy the cascading effect of the cartoon snowball rolling down the mountain, how one little choice leads to another event that builds on the one before it. There have been times when I've gotten to the end of a story and thought, "Wow, did that really just happen?" I'll work back through it and feel comfortable that A did lead to B and B did indeed lead to C and smirk.

 

[MsQuote]

My responses differ somewhat as a writer and as a reader.

As a writer, I tend toward sci-fi/fantasy because I feel it immediately establishes stronger suspension of disbelief. The sex in erotica/porn always seems a bit unrealistic (everyone's sexy! everyone's always up for it and ready to go! everyone performs magnificently! All! Night! Long!)--and to be honest, I LIKE it that way. But again, I want it established up front that such unrealism is part and parcel of the story. I like my characters to be emotionally and behaviorally consistent; they can be angels and demons and aliens and whatnot, but they still have to be "people" on some emotional level.

As both a reader and a writer, I want at least one character to whom I can relate. I also want it to be a character I LIKE as a person. I do not enjoy seeing horrible people getting laid. It turns me off. No matter how sexy Lara Croft is in the Tomb Raider films, I don't want to see her succeed--I want to see her fall off the cliff, because she's a horrible, self-centered, insufferably arrogant snot. My feelings in erotica run much the same way. (I'm a guy, too, so that goes doubly for the male asshole characters.)

With the writing, I stress a LOT about the whole Mary Sue thing. I worry that my lead characters are too cool, or not flawed enough, and I'm sensitive to that. I'm irritated that the "Mary Sue" label means different things to different people, too, because once it's applied it tends to stick no matter how the original labeler meant it. So I want my erotica characters to be sexy, alluring and likable, but I stress about making sure they're also appropriately flawed.

As a reader, though... my biggest thing in erotica is that I don't want to read about someone's downfall. I'm let down when someone's sexual adventures end with heartbreak, particularly on some moral bent -- i.e., lesbian girl shouldn't have let lesbian girlfriend try sleeping with a guy, 'cause now has lost her girl to the glory of cock (yes, I've read that), and I certainly don't want to read "I left my loving husband because arrogant jackasses are better in bed." I'm turned on by GOOD feelings, not fear and shame.

As for situations: yes to both. I want to read situations that I could reasonably be in. I also want to read the ones I wouldn't be in. To me, the threesome/moresome fantasy is plenty hot, but in reality I would be so particular about the details and the situation (because I don't want anyone to walk away hurt or betrayed) that I would probably never go for it. But stories like that are often great fun to read.

You bring up an interesting point about three/moresomes ... I feel pretty much the same way. Being in a multiple partner situation always sound very exciting and intriguing, but in a real situation, I don't think I could handle watching my lover getting turned on by and enjoying another woman. I've even had fantasies of my own of being with another woman, but how would that affect the dynamics and relationship that I have with my lover, and where does that leave the other woman? It's not my style to say, "Hey, it's been fun, but this isn't going to happen again."

I suppose in the world of creating a story creates a safe place to express or take in situations that really aren't viable.

The point I was trying to get at in my original question as to situations where is it or isn't not OK to place a character in an incredibly dangerous situation ... like a female sub in bondage with a partner she doesn't know or as never seen? I had someone make a comment about placing a female sub in a first-time bondage scene without a safe word even though the element of trust-building was pretty apparent, or so I thought.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

The point I was trying to get at in my original question as to situations where is it or isn't not OK to place a character in an incredibly dangerous situation ... like a female sub in bondage with a partner she doesn't know or as never seen? I had someone make a comment about placing a female sub in a first-time bondage scene without a safe word even though the element of trust-building was pretty apparent, or so I thought.

To me, that question enters into the realm of asking if we, as authors, have an obligation to educate while we write. I have a lot of unsafe sex that happens in my stories. For example: I can't think of a single story I've written where a condom is used. I don't think that's any different than pulling a 1st time sub into a bondage situation without an identifiable safe word. Besides, as authors, we get to pick and choose the details were share. It's well within our rights (as storytellers) to choose not to describe every detail.

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

sauteed with a bit of butter and garlic...

I prefer a realistic liver from a realistic person in a realistic setting, preferably with fava beans and a nice chianti.

*f-f-f-f-f-f*

 

[FallingToFly]

I like characters that are realistic. They can be fantasic, but they have to be believably fantastic.

 

[MsQuote]

This is a good topic for discussion. Personally, I like my stories to be plausible. Not plausible as in "in the world I created, this could have actually happened without defying the rules I established." Rather, I like my stories to involve realistic people in realistic situations.

For the most part, the female characters I create contain attributes that I find attractive. I rarely write about perky cheerleader types with porn star bodies. My taste runs toward grown women with real bodies, women whose sexuality is a product of their attitudes and desires more than their physical attributes. I write about sexually aggressive women--women who know what they want and aren't afraid to get it. I write that way because that is the type of woman that turns me on.

I try to write about situations that are plausible. Sometimes my imagination gets carried away, but for the most part my stories are grounded in reality. By that I mean they are often derived from situations I have actually experienced, or by making a few different choices at critical points could have experienced--or still may experience. They could have happened that way, and in some cases, they did.

I tend to look for those kinds of stories when I am reading, also. If I start reading about a 22 year old blonde with a perfect body who ends up fucking the boss and all of the male employees, and is forced to wear a bikini to work every day, well, I am going to click away pretty quickly. It is never going to happen. But if the story involves a 30 or 40ish single mom whose overbearing boss compels her to service him after hours in order to avoid becoming another victim of company downsizing, and for reasons clearly expressed in the story she has no other alternative, then I can stay until the end if it is well-written.

The more I've opened myself to reading what's out there and not just the types of stories I choose to read, I think I may have opened up some answers that are neither wrong nor right, but the opinions and approaches are interesting. It's neat to see how other writers' minds work.

For me, I think you gave me the perspective I was looking for in one word: plausible. Maybe it's because I'm in my late 40's and I really don't care to read about people in their 20's with extraordinary bodies and lead extraordinary lives. Reading is such a mental activity and I'd rather know what's going on inside people's minds and what they're feeling, hearing, sensing and seeing.

 

[MsQuote]

I prefer a realistic liver from a realistic person in a realistic setting, preferably with fava beans and a nice chianti.

*f-f-f-f-f-f*

Yikes! Channel Hannibal Lecter much?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

To me, that question enters into the realm of asking if we, as authors, have an obligation to educate while we write. I have a lot of unsafe sex that happens in my stories. For example: I can't think of a single story I've written where a condom is used. I don't think that's any different than pulling a 1st time sub into a bondage situation without an identifiable safe word. Besides, as authors, we get to pick and choose the details were share. It's well within our rights (as storytellers) to choose not to describe every detail.

Safe sex is something the reader already knows about, and ignores. Readers dont come for lectures, we arent Michelle Obamas.

Readers want fantasy material, and wanna know how to make the fantasy happen IRL. Our job is to make the instructions interesting and plausible.

 

[JamieJ424]

I like to create characters that are like me except for one or two purposefully selected characteristics. So that at a critical moment, they can make a choice that I would never make, that 90% of people would never make, but that makes the story dynamic and engaging.