Plot-to-porn ratio

[ungenderless]

Hello! I'm pretty new to this whole *writing erotica* thing. My spouse approached me one day about writing some yuri cos our friends requested it (she writes youi, or yowi or however it's spelled). So I did, and it started off intended to be just a short story, but it's grown into several chapters with no end in sight.

The thing is that, wheras before I had tons of ideas for sexual situations, now I'm working on fleshing out the characters and storyline. So I'm wondering what people consider to be a good *plot-to-porn* ratio. Will people lose interest in the story if there's less sex and more character development?

 

[NoJo]

Hello! I'm pretty new to this whole *writing erotica* thing. My spouse approached me one day about writing some yuri cos our friends requested it (she writes youi, or yowi or however it's spelled). So I did, and it started off intended to be just a short story, but it's grown into several chapters with no end in sight.

The thing is that, wheras before I had tons of ideas for sexual situations, now I'm working on fleshing out the characters and storyline. So I'm wondering what people consider to be a good *plot-to-porn* ratio. Will people lose interest in the story if there's less sex and more character development?

Depends what audience you're after. Either way, you'll lose some people's interest. If you submit here, everything should be a set-up for the sex if you want the story to be popular.

Check the top lists to see what readers here are into.

 

[Pure]

while some preliminaries are allowed, setting the stage, introducing the characters, etc. I'd say most popular stories (outside of True Romance and 'older' erotica), after the introductory bumpf, have plot to porn ratio of 1:10 or more. Indeed "plot" is too generous a word, since the vast majority of porn stories follow one of a handful of formulas--formulaic sequences--in their story line.

 

[Athena_e19]

The key with stringing people along in erotica seems to be bringing up sex, not necessarily engaging in it, throughout the plot.

A woman has sex with her partner. She gets up, goes to class, her professor is hot. Thinks about sex with professor. Goes home. Has sex again. The interim sequence doesn't need to be very graphic. Just enough details to keep the arousal high.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

It depends on the category. Incest seems to have more plot than Nonhuman. Erotic Horror has quite a bit of plot too.

It depends on the story you are writing. A party that turns into a thirty person gangbang that goes all night could have very little plot, while a party with a slow seduction of two characters that has a romantic sex scene at the end will have more.

It depends on the mood you are in.

It depends on the mood the story is in (I have started a story wanting minimal plot and ended up with tons because the characters demanded I give them more "character").

 

[Boxlicker101]

Most of my stories have very little plot. Some would say they have none, and I wouldn't argue but I do set up the situation and let the characters do their thing.

As Athena said, if you want to hold the readers' interest, keep promising them sex as you are developing the characters and setting up the story. Some of this can be done wit flashbacks and some by describing what a character is thinking.

 

[ungenderless]

Well, I suppose since the purpose has changed, the mood had changed with it. There have been times when I thought that what I wrote was very hot, only to have others say that the scene was a tease. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm still trying to gauge my audience. How do you find out who your audience is?

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I have no idea what you are even talking about. Look, write a good story and let the characters act like real people. If you set the scene up right the characters will eventually be screwing each other.

There isn't any set proportion of sex to plot. That's silly. Is there a set proportion of sex in YOUR life. Like, "Oh sorry. I have to get off the phone now and have sex."

I never plan any sex in my stories. Some of them have NONE. A few are non-erotic, some have no sex and are still erotic stories. The key here is STORIES, not sex. Think plot 100%. If your character want to have sex, let them but that's not as important as telling the story. A story without sex is still a story. Sex without a plot in boring. It's a continuim. Plot<----->Sex. The farther towards sex you get the more boring the story and the fewer reads. The closer you get to Plot, the more interesting the story and the more reads.

 

[ungenderless]

Well thank you for the feedback, Jenny, I appreciate it. And honestly, that was kind of my mindset. But some here have already said the exact opposite of what you said; that the key here is SEX, not stories. But that's ok - different perspectives are good. I'd like to hear what everyone has to say.

 

[Athena_e19]

It is a bit naive to write something erotic without sex. There does not necessarily need to be the physical act of sex or anything close to it, but ultimately there needs to be something sexual. As long as the work you are posting is falling outside of the non-erotic category there should be some type of erotica to it.

Descriptions of the female body, flashes of skin, backward glances, memories, subtle brushes, etc, carry a sense of eroticism. The question of audience is the important one. Does your reader want the quick fuck on the stairwell with all the juicy details. Or do they want the build up with a slow dance in a club, a missed connection, or relationship development.

It is almost impossible to figure out who you are writing for with a medium, like the internet, that reaches so many people. Writing for yourself or your wife or those who enjoy your fantasies is the easiest way to keep a true purpose and direction.

 

[rgraham666]

With me it's between a 'story' and a 'quick piece of smut'.

A story I write isn't going to have a lot of sex in it. I'm going to concentrate more on characters and plot. If I have sex in them it's for character and plot development.

If it's a short piece of smut, I don't worry much about the plot. I still worry about the characters though. I think having reasonably well developed characters helps even short pieces of smut. Readers find it easier to identify.

And I have a few pieces that fall somewhere in between.

Ultimately, I write for myself. I never worry about whether a reader is going to like it or not. No matter what I write, someone's going to be unhappy with it. If I worry about what readers like I'll be too busy making them happy to worry about writing a good story.

So write for yourself. Overall, I think readers appreciate that.

 

[Athena_e19]

The fun thing about writing erotica is a realization that you are not alone in your fantasies. I am always fascinated by how many people appreciate my personal input on a variation of something we are aroused by. What a good writer brings to the table, is the ability to pull other people into something that is inherently theirs.

Cheap smut is a generalized experience that lacks the personalization of a good story. Many of us here can write a good smutty story. It takes more to put a personal stamp on it that makes it yours.

 

[oggbashan]

I try to include some sex in my stories because this is Literotica.

Unfortunately, for some of them, it looks as if I included the sex as an afterthought and the sex isn't necessary for the story.

Some readers want explicit, in-your-face sex on every page. They don't get it from me.

Some like plot with some sex.

Some like plot with implied sex.

Some are happy to invent their own sexual episode to fit the story. Their invention can be more erotic to them than anything I could write...

My ratio for sex to plot? 1:100

Og

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

I begin all my stories with a forward that contains the things you would read inside the dust jacket of a hardcover novel. If there is more than one lit page before any sex appears, I disclose this, and tell the reader "the first sex scene begins halfway down page two" or whatever. Lets face it: Some readers just want to get fucked (stroked). Why jerk them around (figuratively speaking)? I live to serve the porn-reading public.

My plot to sex ratio? 20/80 to 40/60 (my sex scenes are lengthy and very explicit.) I figure any ratio is OK so long as the reader knows what to expect. Provide full disclosure up front, and you're golden.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I begin all my stories with a forward that contains the things you would read inside the dust jacket of a hardcover novel. If there is more than one lit page before any sex appears, I disclose this, and tell the reader "the first sex scene begins halfway down page two" or whatever. Lets face it: Some readers just want to get fucked (stroked). Why jerk them around (figuratively speaking)? I live to serve the porn-reading public.

My plot to sex ratio? 20/80 to 40/60 (my sex scenes are lengthy and very explicit.) I figure any ratio is OK so long as the reader knows what to expect. Provide full disclosure up front, and you're golden.

The problem I have, Roxanne, is that a lot of stuff I write is humor. Frankly, NOT getting laid is more humerous than actually getting a "hole in one", so to speak. Some of it is very erotic, but absolutly no sex at all.

Maybe we should design a "Peter Meter" like Larry Flint uses

 

[ungenderless]

Roxanne, you know I never thought about doing that. Probably cos the readers that I have personal contact with say that they don't want spoilers. I can't even discuss possible future scenarios with them. But if what you say is true, then some people do prefer to know what's going to happen ahead of time.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Roxanne, you know I never thought about doing that. Probably cos the readers that I have personal contact with say that they don't want spoilers. I can't even discuss possible future scenarios with them. But if what you say is true, then some people do prefer to know what's going to happen ahead of time.

Well, you have to be cautious to not post a spoiler, just like with inside-dust cover notes. But really, how can it be considered a spoiler to disclose that sex takes place at a certain point of a story posted on a porn site! I have only had one comment to the effect that the reader found this a "spoiler."

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

The problem I have, Roxanne, is that a lot of stuff I write is humor. Frankly, NOT getting laid is more humerous than actually getting a "hole in one", so to speak. Some of it is very erotic, but absolutly no sex at all.

I don't see why that's a problem, Jenny. I don't see any problem with telling readers, "This is a humorous and very erotic story that contains little actual sex." I can see a problem if you don't tell them that, though, and they're disappointed.

Indeed, I can see where it could be an opportunity to attract the kind of audience who appreciates that kind of story.

 

[SesameStreet]

I am heavy on the plot with some explicit sex scenes. But there has to be a lot of character development and a fairly in depth story if you ever want to be published either by an E-Book Publisher or in trade paperback. Read a Emma Holly trade paperback and you will see how important plot is to a successful writer of erotica who has been published.

 

[ungenderless]

But really, how can it be considered a spoiler to disclose that sex takes place at a certain point of a story posted on a porn site!

Well that makes it sound redundant. Why even have a summary then? It's on a porn site, it has sex. It's in so-and-so-category, therefore it has so-and-so kind of sex. What purpose does your pre-description have?

And I was talking about story/character developments.

 

[Guest]

 

[Weird Harold]

The thing is that, wheras before I had tons of ideas for sexual situations, now I'm working on fleshing out the characters and storyline. So I'm wondering what people consider to be a good *plot-to-porn* ratio. Will people lose interest in the story if there's less sex and more character development?

It sounds to me like you started out witht he intent to write Porn but are writing erotica.

To me the differnece betwen the two is Porn is about sex and erotica is about people in sexual situations. But there is no set ratio of plot to Sex because every story is different -- write as much plot as your story demands and don't worry about your audience; where you lose some readers because of too much plot, you'll gain some readers who like to know who the characters are and why they're having sex.

 

[ungenderless]

Ah, so you mean to specify whether this is a straight-to-the-point story or a slow build-up that requires more investment. Yeah, I can see how that would be beneficial.

Actually, I didn't realize that we could put things unrelated to the story in our submissions. Do you know if we can put links? Cos I have original music that goes along with my story and I'd like to make my readers aware of where they can listen to it.

 

[Guest]

 

[AchtungNight]

I always put a lot of plot and character development in my stories prior to the sex scenes. This was necessitated IMO because I wrote fanfiction and used less-known celebrities and TV shows for whom the story became an advertisement. I wanted to incorporate fun trivia about my characters and flesh out their histories, too. It somewhat calmed the little voice in my head that nagged me about "objectifying people and writing porn." Yes, I ended up with long stories, but I like to think they were all fun and interesting beginning to end. And the same will be true again if RL ever gives me the time and inspiration to do more. I always kept the sex hot too- never had a reader complain about that.