Idea re process, rather than content

[uberundunter]

Are their any teams of male and female co-authors who regularly contribute stories to Literotica?

I ask, because I am working on what will be my first submission and, between that experience and having been reading other authors' erotic stories over the years, I have made some observations. Among these are:

1) Most stories are written to appeal to men and are written from a male perspective (even if the primary character is a female and the story is presented from that character's point of view). That may be inevitable, but I would be great to include stories to which female readers could more fully relate and/or be turned-on by;

2) Although I or another male author may have had many sexual experiences, with a variety of women, we know what we have seen, felt and been told, but, in the end, we have to do a bit of guessing when describing what a woman feels, physically and emotionally, and how she views the experience, men, and herself. I am sure we men get it wrong much of the time. I suppose the same is true when a female writes about a male character thinks and experiences, but I'll leave to female authoris to comment on whether they ever struggle with that;

3) I'm sure that it can help for a male author to use a female editor, but it might be even better if the author could have a woman's feedback throughout the writing process. I think it would be advantageous for that woman to be someone is not in a sexual relationship or in the same social circle as the author, to avoid much of the filtering that would go on if the writing partners were heavily invested in each other, beyond writing projects. For example, my wife happens to be a gifted writer and has editing experience, but asking her to participate in writing of an erotic story, or even to read and comment upon one, would result in a nuclear disaster in our household;

4) Long distance teaming with an author of the opposite gender could be a LOT of fun! You would soon get to know each other pretty well, wouldn't need to be concerned about looks, age, weight, physical disabilities, etc., and each partner might open up or learn about a few things that they've never delved into in their own relationships...or about which they aren't sure they received honest answers; and

5) Though such a writing team could create any type of story, they could truly excel in the "His story/Her story" format.

So, are there existing teams, whose stories I've overlooked?

Either way, are there any female authors or would-be authors willing to try teaming with me or other aspiring or established male authors?

 

[soflabbwlvr]

To answer your first question, yes, there are some MF teams who write stories on Lit. I'm sorry that I can't think of any by name, but they do post on some of the forums. If you look through the last few weeks of threads on this forum and the story feedback forum, you might find them.

For the last three years I have worked with either a female editor or a female beta reader. In both cases, I send my initial draft of a story and ask for any comments regarding which parts of the story work and which don't work, whether the characters are believable, whether the dialogue feels natural, and whether the female characters' responses are genuine.

I realize that one woman cannot speak for all women, but getting a female perspective at the midpoint of my writing process does help to make my stories more appealing to some women.

 

[sexymom]

Interesting Idea

Thats an interesting idea, but I have doubts as to how it would work in the real world. In general, there is a distinct difference in he way men and women approach erotica. Men tend to be mostly about tools, procedures and techniques; and women are more into people, relationships, and emotions.

I remember ending a story one time (not on Literotica; I don't do stories here) with the statement, "He didn't make me look him in the eyes - when I turned my head aside he kissed me behind the ear, and then on the back of my neck. My pants didn't stay on long after that."

The women who read the story loved it mostly. The men all wanted a graphic, play by play description of what happened after the pants came off.

 

[sunandshadow]

When I've tried to co-write with a man, I've generally found that we can't agree on what we want the story to be about and where we want it to go. Writers of both genders often want to have the main character be their own gender while all the other characters are a 'harem' of the opposite gender. It's difficult to even start writing a story if two of you can't agree on whether the love interest should be male or female, for example.

 

[uberundunter]

Wow, I already have benefited from the feedback of two female authors! Actually, all the replies have been helpful.

The voice in the story I am working on is in the first person, so focus indeed is on the the male character, and descriptions of body parts and their use are presented in detail, but I also try to convey internal struggles with self doubt, disappointment, and self-awareness that becoming a skilled mechanic isn't what making love is all about. However, the above posts have brought me to the realization that I haven't adequately developed primary female character...I describe her personality, but it doesn't unfold in a compelling way. A reader might understand why the male character cares about her, but the reader won't.

The example that was offered about the man not forcing the woman to look at him, and instead kissing her neck, etc. reminded me of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, "And then they embraced," in that, if the author has conveyed the passion and sense of connection leading up to that point, allowing the reader to imagine what happens immediately thereafter can be more powerful...and erotic, than the author supplying details. A case where less really can be more.

All this have given me another idea for a story, or maybe the same story, in a different form. I'll summarize.

A small but significant percentage of the stories on Literotica and asstr purport to alternate between narratives of the male and female characters, as if the reader were going back and forth between their two diaries, or as if the characters each is confiding in his or her own trusted friend.

The problem for the reader, or at least for me, is that both (or all) the narrations seem to have been written for male readers (and by a male author?). The female character's story may purport to describe parts and mechanics from her perspective and what she was thinking and feeling, but, now that I've read the above posts, it is all the more obvious that these narrations retain a male style/flavor (no pun). I know that should have been obvious to me before, but I hadn't given the subject enough fault.

So, what about a story that use the form of alternating narrations, but with the female character retelling her experience in a way that actually focuses on what would she might have found most romantic or exciting, and told in a way she might be share with her most trusted girlfriend and/or in a way that would be most appealing to a woman reader. In other words, less of the male character describing how it felt to fill and the female character describing how it felt to be filled, and more of the same story, but retold by Mars and by Venus.

The male and female co-authors each could focus on the character of his or own gender, in his or her own preferred style, and aimed at readers of his or her own gender. The approach would significantly reduce the issues requiring agreement, and the narrations wouldn't have to fully coincide...the two characters inevitably would experience and remember the encounter differently, e.g. he says, "It drove her wild," and she says, "It was nice, and he seemed to revel in doing it." That sort of thing. Lots of potential for entertainment, arousal, humor, and even a bit of educational value. Great reading material for couples.

Does this sound like a road worth traveling?

 

[Euphony]

You newest idea is fine. Id call it a more complex version of he said/she said.

Where you can trip yourself up is if you arent equally good at both.

Think about it. If you write a male centric story, it should show and readers will either love it, accept it, or move on if not their thing. They have a solid understanding of whats in front of them and will go in the direction that suits them.

Yours is trying to please all of the people all of the time and I think it takes massive skill.

Youd have to quickly show that theres something for the female centric and male centric crowds. Get whichever one comes second to have their crowd patiently wait out the other side.

And your transitions better be stellar or you are in for a world of pain.

Its admirable to want to explore the more feminine side here (though I hate that moniker because women are far too diverse (men too) to write for as a whole.

It can seem odd but don't think about the readers so much as the characters. If your guy is emotional, a nurturer, or some other supposed anti masculine type, thats who he is and you write him that way. If your girl is a cutthroat, write her that way too.

I don't think you just sit down as say "You know, today I'm going to write the feminine side story I've been meaning to."

Its a process. You learn to add in more depth, more feeling, or whatever in each and every story you write. See what shows as genuine and what comes off as "playing to the crowd."

I used to have a bit of a hero complex where I wanted to rescue the under served female masses with what I thought they were missing. It worked, sort of, but more in the appreciation of the effort (that so few attempt) than really effectively doing what I set out to do.

My personal epiphany was when I reframed my thoughts about a female STORY vs. a story with females IN IT. Nuanced, maybe but if you write your women as real women, its more genuine and the overall tone sets itself. Will I ever write so well as to be confused as female? Likely not (it isn't my reality after all) But I do think each time I get a little more truer in telling who the women in my stories really are. Strange as it sounds, disappointing them scares me more than any audience.

 

[sunandshadow]

There exist several romance novels told in alternating segments from the female and male points of view. I've also seen a few fantasy and science fiction novels done this way. It's complicated to plot, because each character has to be the protagonist of their own segments and that means the two of them are at the center of two parallel and somewhat overlapping plots, not one unified plot. For example one might be concerned with interactions with a best friend or sibling, while the other doesn't interact with that character and instead might be concerned with the inner workings of something related to their profession, whether that is an assignment they are supposed to do or a puzzle they want to unravel or a problem they need to come up with a complex strategy to solve.

Anyway my point was that there are example novels that do the alternating male and female thing, if you wanted to analyze some examples to help you figure out how to do it. But alternating main characters alone won't necessarily mean your content will be interesting to both genders of reader; there are many works of female entertainment with a cast of all male characters, and many works of male entertainment with a cast of all female characters.

 

[uberundunter]

I agree that, for me to switch back and forth between the male and female characters, would probably result is a story that sounded the same guy, but in drag part of the time (not really, but you get the idea).

What would be a considerable challenge, but incredibly interesting, would be to work with a female author, taking the male and female character, respectively.

I realize it sounds like I'm shooting for "something for everybody," but it is less about that than it is about both male and female readers a chance to see the same interactions through from both a male and genuinely female perspective, understand how the might feel differently, etc.