Is dialogue a requirement for you when you read erotica?

[onehitwanda]

She told him to tongue her clit.

vs
"Babe," she groaned, "Oh my God, oh my God, that's... that's so good... just... just a little bit up, tongue my clit, yes, right there, right there, oh God..."

https://i.imgur.com/kpUpPxt.png

Yeah, I know which one's going to interest me more.

 

[nice90sguy]

“'What is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations? '”

She told him to tongue her clit.

vs
"Babe," she groaned, "Oh my God, oh my God, that's... that's so good... just... just a little bit up, tongue my clit, yes, right there, right there, oh God..."

Actually, to me, the first one has more punch

 

[onehitwanda]

Actually, to me, the first one has more punch

It's dialogue. She's talking to herself, but it's still a conversation.

Edit: I'm a numpty and need more coffee. I misunderstood. I guess the old adage of To each their own is appropriate!

 

[SimonDoom]

She told him to tongue her clit.

vs
"Babe," she groaned, "Oh my God, oh my God, that's... that's so good... just... just a little bit up, tongue my clit, yes, right there, right there, oh God..."

https://i.imgur.com/kpUpPxt.png

Yeah, I know which one's going to interest me more.

I think you tipped the scales a bit with that one.

 

[onehitwanda]

I think you tipped the scales a bit with that one.

That was all the cake with icing, I'm afraid...

 

[Djmac1031]

That was all the cake with icing, I'm afraid...

I've literally eaten a container of cake icing with a spoon.

 

[onehitwanda]

I've literally eaten a container of cake icing with a spoon.

Too sweet for me, but vanilla sponge cake mix is my kryptonite. I realised I had a problem when I'd make a batch of cake mix simply so I could eat it.

 

[yowser]

Dialogue, when done skillfully, can do a huge amount of work and can convey details otherwise awkwardly narrated, as others have pointed out. But it is not a requirement.

No dialogue probably works best with an intensely introverted first person narrator, who is perceptive and interesting.

My second most viewed story has no dialogue (and with almost 400 votes, comes in third in my corpus.)

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Without dialogue, the story would feel like reading a report. It is an essential form of interaction in most erotica.

 

[TadOverdon]

In a way it's a variation of the (oversold) "Show, don't tell" dictum. Don't tell me that she asked him to tongue her clit. Show her asking him to tongue her clit.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Thanks for the insight. I'm about 1,200 words into my story and realized I had no dialogue. It was more her inner thoughts and recollection of past and present events pertaining to her intended paramour. All of my commissions are in 2nd POV so I find that it can be a bit of a challenge switching back to 1st. I'm trying to figure out how to tweak it to include dialogue.

Inner thoughts can be done as "inner dialogue" which can help with the lack of outside dialogue. I do that myself sometimes.

I think Dialogue can be a very powerful tool, and a way to break up the monotony of the narration. But sometimes, you have to have a few paragraphs of narration without any character interaction. I find a little bit of inner dialogue can help break that up to avoid it starting to feel stale. Huh, I hope they understand what I am talking about he thought to himself. Did I explain it right?

Can you write a good story without dialogue? Absolutely. Are there people out there that are not going to enjoy it? Absolutely. Dialogue brings your characters to life. People rarely go through life without speaking. And with the topic that we write about here...well, people rarely have sex without making noise. And I for one find talking during sex quite enjoyable.

So is it required? No. Is it preferable? I think so.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Hey all!

As the title states, I was wondering is dialogue a requirement for you to enjoy erotica or could you enjoy a story/get off to the MC's recollection of events alone?

“Is dialogue required?” he asked. EmilyMcPlugger pondered the question. It was one she’d not considered before. She thought about all the sex she’d had and then led back, opening the buttons on her dress.
“Sure, you can work off visual cues, but nothing says “come here and fuck me” like me saying that,” she replied.

Nah, skip it.

 

[TadOverdon]

In my limited experience, people express themselves verbally during sex.

 

[jehoram]

She told him to tongue her clit.

vs
"Babe," she groaned, "Oh my God, oh my God, that's... that's so good... just... just a little bit up, tongue my clit, yes, right there, right there, oh God..."

That's sort of what I was going to post. Sex is communication, and the more real communications between the partners there is, the more realistic it is to me. (I feel the same way about visual porn, too. Most of it is way too choreographed for my taste. A little giggle now and then is welcome.)

That said, bad dialog can take me out of the story real fast. It has to be real communication... "Do you like this?"..."Do that more"... "That hurts a little" "Babe, I think I gotta cum"...

And "GodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOh..." Well, a very little bit of that can go a very long way.

 

[SamScribble]

Characters reveal themselves by what they say and do. One line of dialogue can often tell the reader more than a whole page of narration and explanation.

 

[Euphony]

Too sweet for me, but vanilla sponge cake mix is my kryptonite. I realised I had a problem when I'd make a batch of cake mix simply so I could eat it.

I had never conceptualized this could be done.

Feels like I have seen the manner of my own death.

 

[KeithD]

Characters reveal themselves by what they say and do. One line of dialogue can often tell the reader more than a whole page of narration and explanation.

So can one twitch of their eyebrow.

 

[KeithD]

The word in the discussion that puts me off is "requirement." That denies the amazing flexibility of fiction that works.

 

[nice90sguy]

In my limited experience, people express themselves verbally during sex.

That only happens to me when the gag slips.

 

[Djmac1031]

That only happens to me when the gag slips.

Or when they wake from the coma...

 

[onehitwanda]

Or when they wake from the coma...

https://i.giphy.com/media/aTjmAp0qPAGcw/giphy.gif

 

[Bramblethorn]

I need to have a feel for the characters and how they feel about one another. I expect it's possible to achieve that without dialogue, but I'm having difficulty recalling a story here that managed it.

 

[GrantBricksly]

I think the least amount of dialogue I have during a sex scene, is when I am describing cunnilingus. Because in that situation, if it's being done properly, only one of the two people involved is even able to talk. And honestly, if the person doing the licking is good enough, then she shouldn't really be able to do much coherent dialogue either...lol At least, that's been my experience. I certainly don't do much talking when I do that with my wife...and about the most she ever manages to say is an occasional "Fuck" or "Yes" but even those are hard to decipher between the gibberish and moans..

in all other sex scenes though...yea, I have some form of dialogue.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Hey all!

As the title states, I was wondering is dialogue a requirement for you to enjoy erotica or could you enjoy a story/get off to the MC's recollection of events alone?

No, but it'd have to be really well-written narrative.

For me, it's usually a mix of dialogue and narrative - I've read some authors who i think overdo dialog - when its page after page of dialog it gets boring. Dialog is the spice for narrative, or vice versa depending on what you're trying to do with your story.

 

[Whanmore]

For me dialogue is the only thing that intrigues me. It creates the character's image in my head. I hate when a story goes on and on with no one speaking. I hate it when The story has the charaters meet, get to know each other, fall for each other and have sex with the first bit of dialoige some thing like "Yeah, baby you feel so good." Turns me off cuz I'd have no context on if this is normal or wild. Snooze