Marriage, Morality and Erotica

[LuvsAShow]

Hey All,

I have a little mystery that I hope you can shed some light on. First some quick background.

As those of you know who regularly read these scribblings, I dabble in (so-called) erotic (barely) stories. To be honest I write them as catharsis, just to get fantasies out of my head. Mostly I post them to pay back all the other folks who have shared their writings with me and everyone everyone else over the years. I know it is a poor trade for the previous writers, but c'est la vie.

The first two stories I posted, Veronica and the Bookstore ( http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=155955 ), Shannon Goes Down (http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=155956 ) did pretty well, I thought for a newbie. Got lots of views and average ratings of 4.5, and some very kind emails and comments. Also, my latest story, "Horsing around at the Fair (http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=157313) just was released and it has gotten ratings in the 4.5 range.

So I posted "Two Birds" ( http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=156964) (part 2: http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=156965) and the ratings dropped way off, and I figured, "eh it was long and boring, no biggy." But then I got a few emails that essentially were very concerned about the "marriedness" of the characters. One person referred to the male character as a "shallow cheater" and another in a completely opposite way, worried about the affair's affect on the male character's "apparently healthy marriage." Apparently no one cared that that Cathy was having wild anal sex in the bed she normally shares with her husband, and when she was done went to pick up her kids -- maybe the double standard has switched sides??

Unfortunately, these were anonymous comments, so I could not engage the people in a discussion, so I thought I would throw it out here. Does the marital status of the characters make a difference in short erotic fiction?

At the risk of influencing the results, I was somewhat amazed by that reaction, as my first two stories featured very casual sex. Shannon specifically mentions a boyfriend, and services an older man with no mention of reciprocation. Veronica and her lover are both middle aged, so odds are one or both of them are actually married, although it is never stated in the story one way or the other. But not one person mentioned any moral problems or dangers of casual, unprotected sex taking away from their enjoyment of the story. It surprises me that people would be concerned about one (marital status), but not the other. What do you think?

Any and all feedback would be most appreciated!

 

[MaxSebastian]

Well, I have to say I liked your "Two Birds" chapters better than the other ones - which were pretty good two, but I thought the Two Birds pieces were more interesting and as a result more erotic. Mainly because there was a little hint of the forbidden in there, I think, and the dilemma gave it a little more complexity and sensuality. The other stories were a little more simplistic, and so I didn't enjoy them quite so much.

I think what your dissenters reacted to was the fact that the lead character appeared to show no real reason to cheat on his wife. Obviously Cathy was attractive and so on, but I think in Literotica world that's not enough for readers to sympathise with a cheating husband. And readers do like to sympathise with the lead character.

Sure, they didn't complain about Cathy, but she wasn't the lead character. Essentially, she was the siren, the temptress. And, you gave her a reason to cheat on her husband! Poor old Kevin couldn't get it up! So of course she was off the hook. But Bill didn't have any reason to cheat - his wife appeared to be nice, dedicated to her job, really not deserving of a cheating husband.

There are so many people out there who prefer romance, who want a lead character that is tempted but does not sway.

You just didn't give Bill enough motivation to cheat on his apparently loving wife in my opinion. Hence the complaints. One way I can think of how you might have handled it would be to have Bill burst in on his wife screwing some male teacher (i.e. the wife cheats first, thereby giving him at once the sympathy of the readership and a big fat reason to cheat).

Perhaps that would have been the obvious way, so perhaps there would be another way. By the end of chapter 2, it seemed that the direction you might be taking would be to have the two women going for Bill - I assume that's what the title of the piece would suggest - so perhaps a good way might have been to have Bill's wife (can't remember her name, sorry) having a fling with Cathy. Controversial! But the point is, the wife cheats first, Bill gets sympathy. Bill cheats first, without sufficient reason, Bill loses readers' sympathies.

That's how I see it. But anyway, keep going, it's pretty good really, you're certainly more readable than most. Just push yourself in the characterisation would be my plea. We're not just interested in who they are, we're interested in why they take the decisions they do.

Max.

 

[vargas111]

You get all kinds.

In my "Principles" a lighthearted, I though romantic story, I includ one episode in which the wife narrator "slips up" (and getting pregnant) one night with the husband's little brother. The set up was that the husband was away and she had not has sex in too long.

I got Hell! Lots of negativev comment about her cheating.

You just have to live with it!