Romance and sexual attraction

[Guest]

Can anyone recommend a story on this site that holds your interest without the characters having sex immediately? I have 15 pages of a romance story written without any sexual involvement, although they are attracted to each other. I'm attempting to build sexual tension but maybe I'm not succeeding. If you can give me something good to compare it with I hope I can see how close I am or how far I have to go.

If I post it in multiple parts will anyone read it after the first post if there is no sex?

I'm trying to use the characters thoughts and situations to make it erotic without being explicit. Is that doable?

 

[Hecate]

same problem here ....

I am working on a "novel" but I found that although there is erotic things happening ot erotic thinking, in some chapters specially on the beginning , there is no sex while the characters are introduced (sort of)

Although I "boiled it down" to then have one sensual thing happening in each chapter it is not necessarrily full-on sex. I too am hesitating to send it because it would have to be split in "slices" and so some would have no sex when read all by themselves.

Thus - I may not be of help - but if you want to just know if your writing so far is capturing the reader (without any editing of spelling, grammar and punctuation) feel free to mail me and I'll be happy to read through it and tell you what I think. (on the other hand - I may not be the "average" reader either, having this "thing" with lengthy descriptions and build-ups myself).

 

[KillerMuffin]

I've read on one of the threads around here, I think the one on length actually, that she gets mail from people who whine about there being multipart stories with some parts not having sex in them. I believe she responded that she didn't care because she loved the stories. Personally, I like these stories better because most of the time the character development makes them more interesting.

I am of the belief that erotica is the story of the relationships of people where sex happens to be involved. The sex is titillating, wonderful, and a joy to read, but its not what makes the story good. The interaction of the characters is what makes a story good.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I, for one, will go back and read good, well written stories.

 

[Guest]

Re: same problem here ....

Originally posted by Hecate

Although I "boiled it down" to then have one sensual thing happening in each chapter it is not necessarrily full-on sex. I too am hesitating to send it because it would have to be split in "slices" and so some would have no sex when read all by themselves.

To have one sensual thing in each chapter sounds like a good way to maintain interest over multiple posts. It might keep people wanting more.

...but if you want to just know if your writing so far is capturing the reader (without any editing of spelling, grammar and punctuation) feel free to mail me and I'll be happy to read through it and tell you what I think.

Thanks Hecate I will send you only 2 chapters. I'd like to know if it has possibilities.

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by KillerMuffin

I've read on one of the threads around here, I think the one on length actually, that she gets mail from people who whine about there being multipart stories with some parts not having sex in them.

The interaction of the characters is what makes a story good.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I, for one, will go back and read good, well written stories.

Thanks KM I'll look up that thread to see what was said. I agree with you on what makes a story good. The tough part is writing it that way. Damn! There's always a catch.

 

[Guest]

Hello there, Cap'n Peaks. How you doing?

I read in a book about erotic writing once that many erotic novels are structured so that every odd-numbered chapter (the 1st, 3rd, 5th etcetera) has a fairly explicit sex scene, leaving the even-numbered chapters to concentrate on developing the plot, characters and dramatic tension.

In other books it was structured the other way around, so that the first explicit sex scene didn't take place until chapter two. The first was used to draw the reader into the story and get them interested in the characters.

Of course, these "exposition chapters" can still have a lot of teasing erotic content but there's no need for a full-blown sexual encounter.

If you were to follow this kind of structure, you could maybe submit your chapters in twos, so there is always a sex scene there.

I don't think it's a bad thing not having a sex scene in each chapter - especially if that's going to get in the way of the plot - but it might be good to keep putting in little teasing sensual bits to remind readers that it's an erotic story they're reading.

Hope this helps in some way.

 

[Guest]

Hello there, Cap'n Peaks. How you doing?

Hope this helps in some way.

Hi Rog, I'm hanging in. How are you?

Thanks for the tips. I may have to do some editing to add interest or I may just see how this flies and try doing the every other chapter thing in the next one. This one may be too far-gone.

 

[Mr_Neb]

Try "Veronica's Story". It isn't exactly a novel but it doesn't begin with the characters immediately in the sack either.

Neb

 

[Guest]

Thanks

Try "Veronica's Story". It isn't exactly a novel but it doesn't begin with the characters immediately in the sack either.

Great build in this story Mr. Neb. Nicely done! This is just the feeling I want only drawing it out longer (if possible). The end justified the means.

 

[Mr_Neb]

Thanks Peaks. (May I call you Peaks?)

Actually, I like to write longer stories. I've actually had to shorten many of them since that is usually the preference. I like building the characters, their reason for the encounter, the tension, the preliminaries, etc.

Maybe I should dig a few of those longer ones up.

(Try "Her Turn". It has a shorter build up than "Veronica's Story" but has plenty of character and plot events in the begin.)

 

[Whispersecret]

In shorter stories, because this is a sex site, the action has to happen pretty quickly. In longer tales, I think the author has more leeway to do what he wants. Analyze what you, as the writer, want.

From reading your posts, it seems to me that you do not want the sex to be the center of the story, with the characters just incidental.

I write longer erotic fiction. It might have been me that Killer Muffin was talking about. I had a reader write me that he/she was disappointed that the middle of Hostile Takeover sagged because there was no sex going on. I'll admit that that worried me. I did wonder if I would lose readers at that point. The hero, Rockwell, wanted to see if Fiona could love him for something other than sex. It wouldn't have made sense for him to jump in the sack at that point.

Your characters can not do things just because you want them to. There have to be reasons behind everything they do, otherwise, they won't seem like real people.

So, I think you should add sex where it fits your story. Don't worry about the audience so much that you're writing only to please them. I write to please myself as much as I do to please the reader. Find a balance somewhere in between.

 

[Guest]

From reading your posts, it seems to me that you do not want the sex to be the center of the story, with the characters just incidental.
Don't worry about the audience so much that you're writing only to please them. I write to please myself as much as I do to please the reader.

Thanks whispersecret for the thoughtful reply. I agree that I should write to please myself as much as the reader, except what pleases me gets blurry during the process. What I like initially becomes mundane and trite when I read it over and over. I think what I need is an editor just to at least bounce ideas off just so I don't write a long story and it stinks. I am looking for an editor. I have asked a few and Hecate has been kind enough to read part of my unfinished story. It really helps to be able to ask questions on what works and what doesn't. The end result has to be enjoyable for the reader or I've wasted my time, well except for the experience maybe.

What I want in a story varies. For this site I want to make it erotic, with peaks and valleys that tease the reader with some kind of a finish that satisfies the mind if not the libido.

 

[Whispersecret]

High Peaks, I think you're looking for more of a critique partner than an editor. In the past four years that I've been seriously writing, I have found that having people to bounce ideas off of, to discuss plot lines, that can and will give you honest criticism is the most valuable part of my writing process. I have two people offline who help immensely. We meet every week to discuss our writing. Here online, I have numerous people, Skibum, Weird Harold, Gus, Angelique, Kat. I can't tell you how much I value their input. In my experience, help from others as you write can be more helpful than input after the manuscript is already finished.

Best of luck with your writing!

Are you HP WRiter?

[Edited by whispersecret on 09-18-2000 at 10:50 PM]

 

[Guest]

High Peaks, I think you're looking for more of a critique partner than an editor. In my experience, help from others as you write can be more helpful than input after the manuscript is already finished.

Are you HP WRiter?

That's exactly what I'm looking for! Especially since this story is longer than my others. I don't want to wait until it's done to rewrite it. lol

Nope, I'm not HP WRiter.

 

[DemonD]

Romance

My first story got posted not long ago. Printed out, it's 12 pages long and the sexual action doesn't start until page #4. It's LA HISTORIA ROMANTICA....

 

[Latina]

In my very first (two-part) story written 3 years ago,
I tell how we met on the phone, our early dates, etc.,
how he French-kissed me on our second date and I just kept
thinking about wanting his tongue on me, the sexual
tension builds. You are 3/4ths through the first of the two-part story before he goes down on me for the first time, and into the second part before I go down on him and we finally make love. Maybe this will help?

The story is at:

http://www.literotica.com/storyxs/stories/mratlli_ir_1001_e0.shtml

-- Latina

 

[goddess_euphoria]

Just a thought...

Something I've thought of, if you don't want to get into actual sex between characters, you could always have one of them fantasize about the other, so it's something juicy without them actually doing it... don't know if that defeats the pourpose though...