How much sex is too much... for one story

[dawei]

How much sex is too much... for one story? LOL. Seriously, should each sex scene generally be a new chapter?

For example, I've broken up my next story-to-be into two Lit chapters, with each one having two more chapters internally (within). So actually, I could partition it into four chapters since, well-- there's enough sex to make each sex-scene stand on it's own. In other words, each sex-scene is over the minimum count of 750 words so I could put them each in separate Lit chapters if I wanted. But, by doing that and by having too many Lit chapters about one phase of a story, might that make it appear like the story isn’t advancing and cluttering the series with too many (external) Lit chapters?

In my case, its more a theoretical question because I don’t have many reader/followers, but still I’m curious to hear from the brain-trust here.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

i just go with instinct. getting too bogged down with formulas - sex scene/ new chapter - doesn't work for me. in fact, i've just, literally, finished a chapter mid-point between foreplay and the penetrative sex. the next chapter will pick up from that point.

whatever feels comfortable is good i suppose.

 

[lovecraft68]

Depends on the readers and what you can do between the sex. also depends on story length itself.

I have a story called Samhain that is 9 lit pages and has about 8 different encounters. Including a description of an orgy and ending with a fff/M on an altar.

seemed to go over okay

 

[PennLady]

There's no real answer to this, as every writer is different and every story is different. Some people put at last one sex scene in every chapter they post. Others have little to no sex.

It depends a great deal on category. You can go several installments (as I often do) in romance or nonhuman with no sex, but if you were to post in Erotic Couplings with no sex, or little sex, you'd probably get low votes.

To me, it all comes down to writing whatever story you want to write. If you want it to have a lot of sex, then fine. If you don't, or want there to be one sex scene, fine. There's no rule.

 

[dawei]

i just go with instinct. getting too bogged down with formulas - sex scene/ new chapter - doesn't work for me. in fact, i've just, literally, finished a chapter mid-point between foreplay and the penetrative sex. the next chapter will pick up from that point.

whatever feels comfortable is good i suppose.

I like your freestyle approach. I tried to make really short stories in the past, each with good cliffhangers, but I get the feeling readers don’t really want to be teased like that. My first couple of stories were much that way.

I have a story called Samhain that is 9 lit pages and has about 8 different encounters. Including a description of an orgy and ending with a fff/M on an altar.

Wow, doesn't that get hard to sort out. That's a lot of tail action in a short time.

To me, it all comes down to writing whatever story you want to write. If you want it to have a lot of sex, then fine. If you don't, or want there to be one sex scene, fine. There's no rule.

In my case, I'm not altering what I want to say in my stories. I was just looking at ways it could or should be divided.

 

[dawei]

Thanks all,

Sometimes describing a sex scene can feel like a story all by itself and a natural place to put a break point. But I guess if grouping multiple encounters together is logically fitting, then I suppose that is okay too.

 

[LaChica]

I think you gotta put yourself in the shoes of the character. Are you writing a story based on a guy who is constantly asking for it (which means a lot of sex would portray his character well) or it has a lot of storyline with mild adult content. That way I am sure you'll find a good balance to the amount of storyline as well as adult content.

Besides, everyone's opinion to how much sex they wanna read is purely subjective

 

[MIKEYLICKEY]

I've had some success by writing out the entire story first. Once it is out there, it's easier to tell where to divide it than if you plan your chapters in advance.

Good Luck!

 

[JackLuis]

I think it's too much. if the cum starts dripping out of your monitor!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The rule of thumb here is shoehorn as much as possible, and make plenty of it gay sex or make all the characters wish it had been gay sex. Most important! Leave out any hint of a story, and NO DIALOG!

 

[PennLady]

I think it's too much. if the cum starts dripping out of your monitor!

That sounds more like a video problem to me.

 

[GWBosh]

Couple of my rules which may be nonsense.

I never repeat. I.e. never have a repeat of his oral on her with the same partner, never have a repeat of her oral on him. That's why so many longer stories will progress through seduction, kissing, touching, oral, virginal, anal, threesome, girls discover they're bi and whatever paddles your canoe after that.

Whatever you're describing it's got to be the first time between the two. A saga where you describe the 1,000th spectacular bonk between a happily married couple won't stir the embers as will a description of their first time.
A bit the same as sex in real life, in my experience.

Chapters?

I've only done 2 series and each have conformed to the pattern: for every 100 readers of chap1, there'll be 50 for chap 2 and 25 for chap 3. There's a lot of debate about the ideal chapter length. Some readers will scroll to the bottom of the page, see the number of pages and bail-out if it's over their maximum. Generally my longer stories have been less read, but one or two have done fine - by my modest standards.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

No matter how much sex you put into the story, it will not exceed the 200 page sex scene in Peter Nadas' new novel, Parallel Stories. I haven't read it, but here is a description and review. Click

 

[SailorJerry]

Interesting discussion so far, thanks !

My own personal philosophy is that I write primarily for my own enjoyment, so if the structure or 'amount' of something feels right to me then that's fine. My audience is the secondary beneficiary of my writing, but the feedback I get is that the stories seem to work because I write them honestly - if that makes any sense. If I try to structure and write for my audience, it seems forced.

The other thing is that everyone likes something different. Whichever way you decide to go, it's going to resonate with someone, but not with someone else. Again, you need to decide who you are writing for.

So yeah, I agree with geronimo - if it feels right, it must be good.

 

[PayDay]

LOL @ any form of writing rules in this place.

Though seriously, to the poster: If the separation in the plots between the sex scenes warrant a split, I'd do it. Say, if it forms better as four stories instead of one longer linked together story with crossovers.

But it's your story, do yourself a favor and fit what feels right for it, the way you want it. Have you ever heard someone complain about getting head twice in one night?

 

[dawei]

LOL @ any form of writing rules in this place.

...Have you ever heard someone complain about getting head twice in one night?

I haven't... and I wouldn't.

I've only done 2 series and each have conformed to the pattern: for every 100 readers of chap1, there'll be 50 for chap 2 and 25 for chap 3. There's a lot of debate about the ideal chapter length. Some readers will scroll to the bottom of the page, see the number of pages and bail-out if it's over their maximum. Generally my longer stories have been less read, but one or two have done fine - by my modest standards.

That surmises my concern. Of course, I could free-ball it and not care about how or when to make Lit chapter breaks. However, my one story series is currently at 11 chapters long and I need about another 7 more chapters before the story completes. So I’m just a little concern that the more Lit chapters a story has, the less it will be read. I’ve notice the pattern already, getting less and less hits as the series goes on. That is one reason I thought of grouping more chapters together, which would combine different but relating sex scenes into one Lit chapter/story (two or more internal chapters inside one Lit chapter).

But in addition to my situation, I thought it would make for an interesting discussion. I mean, guys might get tired after a good sex story, but women... they might read all night long!

 

[PayDay]

I haven't... and I wouldn't.

Me neither.

That surmises my concern. Of course, I could free-ball it and not care about how or when to make Lit chapter breaks

That's the spirit.

So I’m just a little concern that the more Lit chapters a story has, the less it will be read. I’ve notice the pattern already, getting less and less hits as the series goes on.

Quickies vs. Browsers vs. Readers vs. Fans If you had as many at the end, then when you started, you wrote one hell of a story.

That is one reason I thought of grouping more chapters together, which would combine different but relating sex scenes into one Lit chapter/story (two or more internal chapters inside one Lit chapter).

-----------^ This is a great idea ^ <----but it's not easy to do correctly.

I vote you do it.

Multiple(Story Lines + Chapters) + Sex = FTW

 

[amofiga]

I'm probably going to reiterate some of the things have already been said. I don't necessarily think each sex scene should have to be a new chapter unless it's a very long scene.

I also don't think that there should be too many pages between sex scenes. It's hard to judge because MS Word pages seem to work correspond to Literotica pages at a rate of about 4-5 MSW pages to one Lit page. I've tried to include a sex scene of perhaps 2 MSW pages to every 3-4 non-sex pages. I assume most readers of erotica wouldn't want too much story to evolve between sex scenes, even though I try to infuse the erotic into the non-sex pages. In a story I'm currently doing, I realized that I had about 8 pages of character definition and background in the first chapter before getting to a sex scene. I decided to incorporate a sex scene after about 4 pages in the form of a memory about a previous girlfriend of the main character's. I figure that way, a reader who is looking only for sex wouldn't get too board and click off.

I agree with another poster. You need to mix up the activity and include a lot of variety. I always think the same goes for real life. Seeing the same stuff is boring. I always figure some people might be put off by certain stuff say including some BDSM activity with incest related characters that are normally vanilla or including some fetish sorts of things like panty sniffing with a character that one might be surprised would like that, e.g. a minister who rummages through the clothes hamper while in the bathroom of a family of parishioners he is visiting for dinner. I makes it seem like you're getting to show a part of him that you wouldn't expect.

Overall, I think the most important thing in my point of view, is that it has to seem real and not so far out that a reader would cry bullshit.

 

[sr71plt]

I write whatever I want to write, letting the sex fall where it may naturally (for my concept of what I write)--if there is sex at all. If it turns out the story has a lot of sex, I post it to Literotica. If not, I submit or post it elsewhere. But the story was written without any out-of-the-gate limitations. Wherever I place it, it gets more readers than if I hadn't written it. Their responses are their responses and affect them more than me. What motivated me to write it was completed when I wrote it--letting it order itself without any preconceived notion about what the mythical "Lit. reader" wanted to read, in what order, and to what length.