Is it necessary to include sexual intercourse?

[Whanmore]

I prefer to end with a sexy scene of some sorts to help give a sense of Satisfaction. Alot of women I talk to say they like a chapter to end with sex but it's not absolutely necessary. I think the story is most important. My story has a alot of characters so its easier to spend time developing a character while also keeping sex scenes because I can always cut away to somebody getting down and dirty.

 

[Zootonius]

My two cents, a story should end on a denouement. Something should wrap the story up. Most likely that's not a sex scene but an outcome of one.

 

[Britva415]

Personally, I don't particularly care if there's any sex in an erotic story because I'm much more interested in the lead-up to it, like, the characters and the tension. I got a negative comment on my first story because it didn't include sex. Since then, even though I'm writing these stories just for fun, I usually throw a half-hearted sex scene at the end because I'm afraid people will be annoyed otherwise. I find it boring to write sex, so right now I have ten or eleven unfinished, unposted stories that basically end in [insert sex here].

I'm curious if people think it's important that an erotic story include sex, or are there others like me who are mostly interested in the sexual tension and can do without long descriptions of sex? I almost feel like I should start my stories with a warning or something so I'm not wasting people's times lol. Thanks in advance! (my first time posting here )

There are people who appreciate this type of story.

However: "No sex" really shouldn't mean, there's no sex events. It can mean you fade-to-black, but if there's no sex at all, then it absolutely belongs in the NonErotic category.

My story series includes a Chapter 00 backstory which has a pursuit but only an extremely brief recounting of the consummation near the end, because the story is a set-up for the series which follows. In the "Short Description" of this story, I made a point of saying that it's a backstory with "almost no sex" so people would know what to expect. Don't blueballs people by not spelling this out.

There's a "no sex" tag too, though unfortunately people can't normally see this until they get to the end of the story. I wish Lit would put the tags block at the top of the first page. I put the tags right into the story for this reason, along with an embellishment of the "Short Description," which really is limited to quite a short... description.

You asked "Is it important to end with a sex scene." No, an epilogue, denouement or outro is fine. Or a brief lead-in to a follow-up chaptery. In my opinion the sex should be near the end but right at it? Nah, doesn't have to be. 95% of readers will lose interest once the deed is complete, though, so, the shorter the sex-free ending, the better.

 

[Britva415]

an obvious addition to the question that may help define it better is 'what is sex?'

Like the judge in the 1964 Jacobellis obscenity case said, "I know it when I see it."

My wife and I talked about this just the other day. She said cuddling was sex because someone told her back in sex-ed class that it was, or that it could be. I'm still not sure exactly what she was told. I said it could be sex but it's not automatically sex.

Arousal and excitement seem to me to be the main distinction between "it's sex" versus "it's not sex."

If the writer makes it sexy, anything at all could count as sex in a story.

Reminds me of a dinner in East Village with my partner and two other women one time. One of the other women was a good Catholic girl of 22 who hadn't ever had a long term relationship yet. I'm not sure whether she was still a virgin, she might have been. Anyway, she deliberately talked about cunnilingus, using tropical fruit as a euphemism, and she got me hard. Partly because of how she did it, and partly because she was trying to get a rise out of me. And doing it right under the nose of our table mates.

 

[nice90sguy]

My two cents, a story should end on a denouement.

John Barth waxed lyrical about denouements, (literally "untangling"), which are like the post-coital moments in sex. He advocated a narrative structure that mirrored the sexual act, from foreplay to the final untangling of limbs. How '60s he seems now.

 

[Limnophile]

It seems my stories that score best are ones that end with a joke or silly scene. If people laugh or at least smile as they read the last bit, they tend to vote generously.

 

[DarkSollat]

Like the judge in the 1964 Jacobellis obscenity case said, "I know it when I see it."

First Polish encycklopedia had this definition of a horse: "you know a horse when you see it".

As for the topic. I know people have various definitiona of erotica, but for the most the genre requires sex. I think when someones goes to lit, they want to read sex scenes even if many don't enjoy it without a buildup.

Anyway, if the OP wants to write romance only it would be better for them to find a place more suited for that kind of stories.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

I try to end every day with a sex scene.

 

[nice90sguy]

When it comes to writing sex scenes, that's when I feel like I'm faking it writing erotica. They always feel kind of bolted onto the story.

 

[MelissaBaby]

First Polish encycklopedia had this definition of a horse: "you know a horse when you see it".

As for the topic. I know people have various definitiona of erotica, but for the most the genre requires sex. I think when someones goes to lit, they want to read sex scenes even if many don't enjoy it without a buildup.

Anyway, if the OP wants to write romance only it would be better for them to find a place more suited for that kind of stories.

Or maybe Romance could be a category!

 

[KeithD]

First Polish encycklopedia had this definition of a horse: "you know a horse when you see it".

As for the topic. I know people have various definitiona of erotica, but for the most the genre requires sex. I think when someones goes to lit, they want to read sex scenes even if many don't enjoy it without a buildup.

Anyway, if the OP wants to write romance only it would be better for them to find a place more suited for that kind of stories.

I think porn requires copulation and erotic only requires arousal. I consider both sex, though.

 

[nice90sguy]

porn requires copulation and erotic only requires arousal

That criterion most certainly does not apply on any of the porn video sites I frequent. And let's face it, ever since Inanna, the Goddess of "love", Ἔρως is just a euphemism for φύλο.

 

[Britva415]

porn requires copulation and erotic only requires arousal

Ἔρως is just a euphemism for φύλο

translation: "Eros" is a euphemism for "sex"

That's why it's erotIC, and not just plain eros.

"Erotic" means "sexy", not "sex."

 

[nice90sguy]

Yes, I was making a different point, that they're not really any different - porn was originally simply pictures of hookers' services you could point to if you were shy, but now means pretty much the same thing as erotica, but with low-grade connotations.

On my favourite porn sites, I watch videos that have zero sex in them, and often no nudity. But if I started calling them erotic videos I'd be rightly accused of being mealy-mouthed.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

First Polish encycklopedia had this definition of a horse: "you know a horse when you see it".

As for the topic. I know people have various definitiona of erotica, but for the most the genre requires sex. I think when someones goes to lit, they want to read sex scenes even if many don't enjoy it without a buildup.

Anyway, if the OP wants to write romance only it would be better for them to find a place more suited for that kind of stories.

My highest rated and most favored stories on Literotica contain little to no sex. While sexual activities between characters might be implied, it would require someone's perverse imagination to achieve arousal let alone get off on them.

I think when someones goes to lit, they want to read sex scenes even if many don't enjoy it without a buildup.

For you to imply that there isn't an audience here for anything other than sex scenes is so incorrect that I'm surprised to see it posted in a comment. In virtually every category that this site has, you will find hundreds of stories where the focus is on something other than sex. Non-erotic storytelling isn't limited to Romance or any other genre here.

 

[Britva415]

Yes, I was making a different point, that they're not really any different - porn was originally simply pictures of hookers' services you could point to if you were shy, but now means pretty much the same thing as erotica, but with low-grade connotations.

On my favourite porn sites, I watch videos that have zero sex in them, and often no nudity. But if I started calling them erotic videos I'd be rightly accused of being mealy-mouthed.

Most people expect sex in porn though, not just "sexyness."

 

[Djmac1031]

As others have pointed out, there's room for, and an audience for, all kinds of stories here.

If you, the writer, do not feel YOUR story NEEDS a big sex scene, don't write it out of obligation.

That said, a disclaimer at the beginning may help avoid negative feedback. Let readers looking for explicit sex know they won't find it in your story, give them the option to simply move on to something that will get them off.

It's better than having them read it an down vote you and leave negative feedback because they were looking for a stroke story and didn't get one.

 

[nice90sguy]

Most people expect sex in porn though, not just "sexyness."

Which confirms what I've always suspected, that I'm not most people.

 

[KeithD]

That criterion most certainly does not apply on any of the porn video sites I frequent. And let's face it, ever since Inanna, the Goddess of "love", Ἔρως is just a euphemism for φύλο.

You're watching what you thought was porn that doesn't include copulation? Seriously?

 

[nice90sguy]

For various reasons, I won't illustrate my point with a ton of links, but I'm tempted.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

For various reasons, I won't illustrate my point with a ton of links, but I'm tempted.

No, please don't. we have a perfectly good GB for that.

 

[Carible]

My wife and I talked about this just the other day. She said cuddling was sex because someone told her back in sex-ed class that it was, or that it could be. I'm still not sure exactly what she was told. I said it could be sex but it's not automatically sex.

Do I just have no idea what sex is? Am I an idiot or something? Sure, cuddling can be sexual, and cuddling can be an element of sex, but in what world is cuddling ever sex? I'm glad at least that it's not automatically sex, otherwise a lot of people would just be finding out they've had sex with their moms and their dogs.

Arousal and excitement seem to me to be the main distinction between "it's sex" versus "it's not sex."

If the writer makes it sexy, anything at all could count as sex in a story.

Alright, sometimes when people say "sex" they just mean, like, the idea of sex, like in the phrase "Sex sells," but we're talking about actual sexual acts here, right? Surely not all things involving arousal are sex. Sometimes people are aroused while not having sex or while doing non-sexual things. I find that kind of excitement more interesting to write about than the excitement people feel during sexual intercourse. That's why I asked the question at the top of the thread. Honestly, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around some people's definitions of sex.

If I knew that anything sexy is sex, then of course I wouldn't have asked my question.

 

[nice90sguy]

This is a discussion about word usage, which is less interesting than sex (whatever that is).

Fact: Porn sites show images and videos of fully-dressed people not engaged in sex acts, and these images/videos are a turn-on for many people.

The answer therefore to your (revised) question is, to me, No.

 

[Britva415]

If the writer makes it sexy, anything at all could count as sex in a story.

If I knew that anything sexy is sex, then of course I wouldn't have asked my question.

I didn't say "anything sexy is sex," I said it could be.

Sometimes people are aroused while not having sex or while doing non-sexual things. I find that kind of excitement more interesting to write about than the excitement people feel during sexual intercourse.

Sounds like you do already know that non-sex things can be sexy.

Anyway just so we're clear, no, reading sexy stories is not having sex

 

[GrantBricksly]

Here's my take on it:

The mechanics of sex are fairly universal. For the most part Vaginal sex is done the same from one couple to the next. Oral sex is done the same from one couple to the next (with the obvious differences when the anatomy is different.) But for the most part, there is a finite number of ways you can describe sex. There just is. So While I enjoy writing about sex, and describing it. I've found myself wanting to work more on developing my characters and the lead-ups to the sex than the actual sex. I still try to have 1 or 2 good scenes in there. But Once I've described the act once....I try not to repeat myself. And I don't want to try to do ridiculous things with my characters just to make the sex different enough to allow for a new description.

So Does it NEED sex? Probably...but does it need to have a lot of sex? No. Does it need to focus entirely on that sex scene, also no. Give me good characters and dialogue and story.