Some helpful hints please

[Ravin the Poet]

Writing has always been my life, and I have yet to touch into the erotic side of things. I'm only 19, have never had sex, so to me thta area seems a little fuzzy. So what I am asking is, for someone like me, what are key elements to focus on during a story? What makes a good erotic story worth reading and enjoying? It's a open question, just for someone with little experience, it makes it difficult to get started.

Thanks for any advice people can offer.


Ravin

 

[oggbashan]

You have asked a very wide question.

Most of us could write thousands of words and not cover all the possibilities.

I have three suggestions:

1. Read the 'How To' category of stories.

2. Read the 'Top List' of each category that appeals to you and see how others write good stories.

3. Have some sex with a willing partner. Experience teaches much more than words can do. That is not to say that you cannot write good erotic stories without experience. The imagination is a wonderful thing but it does need something to work on. Many of us write stories about sexual encounters that we have never tried and are never likely to: but by extrapolation from what we have done we can produce acceptable results. If you have done nothing, the extrapolation will be harder.

Og

 

[Goldie Munro]

Everything that Ogg said - but I'll add - use your imagination and your fantasies!!

 

[Guest]

Welcome, Ravin -

I'll echo what has been said thus far and stress the part about using your own fantasies for story ideas.

Quite often if the subject matter of the story turns the writer on, it is more erotic for the reader.

Good luck!

 

[dr_mabeuse]

At the lowest level, an erotic story is a graphic description of sex. These are pretty easy to write: all you really need to do is describe a sexual encounter in language vivid enough to bring the scene to life in the reader’s imagination. Pay attention to descriptions and concrete sensual detail, and make it visual. Let us see the people involved and not just their gonads.

The next level up has some story and characterization. We get emotionally involved in the characters and their situation. There’s some dramatic tension, and we don’t just witness the sex, we experience it too, as well as the emotional impact. The sex occurs in in a broader context and means more than just grunting and groaning.

The highest level, for me, is the story that gives us some real insight into human sexuality and the emotions that surround it. It has all the elements of a real story, but with a sexual theme. These are pretty rare here.

That’s a strat. Good luck with it.

---dr.M.

 

[Weird Harold]

Writing has always been my life, and I have yet to touch into the erotic side of things. I'm only 19, have never had sex, so to me thta area seems a little fuzzy. So what I am asking is, for someone like me, what are key elements to focus on during a story?

One of my pet peeves is authors who respond to feedback/criticism with "It's just porn." Porn/erotica is just another genre and the botom line is that good writing is good writing, no matter the genre.

Some of the most erotic stories I've read didn't contain a great deal of graphic sex -- they contained a LOT of sexual tension between believable characters but very little beyond the bare minimum description of the sex itself.

Oggs suggestion of reading the top lists to see what people like is good, but I'd suggest you read with an eye to what YOU like; the descriptions that resonate with YOU are the ones that will be easiest for you to duplicate.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

One other thing I'd add is that just because you've never had sex doesn't mean you can't write about it.

Just imagine what it's like, and I guarantee that the real thing is more fantastic than what you can imagine.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

One other thing I'd add is that just because you've never had sex doesn't mean you can't write about it.

Just imagine what it's like, and I guarantee that the real thing is more fantastic than what you can imagine.

---dr.M.

What a lovely comment, dr.M.

 

[Ravin the Poet]

Yeah, as much as people will say, find a willing partner and explore, thats not who I am as a human being, and not how I have brought myself up. I have extremely high morals set for myself, and call em a helpless romantic, but I want my first time to be something special, and something that means as much to me, as the person I am with. I know it will be hard with no expierence to write, but I do have a good imagination, so I will see what happens.

Thank you all for your helpful hints. I'll keep you informed of how my stories go.


Ravin

 

[dr_mabeuse]

What a lovely comment, dr.M.

I meant it. Sex has been the one thing in life that lived up to its advance publicity. It was even better in reality than I'd imagined, and I did a lot of imagining.

I can't say that about too many things.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

I meant it. Sex has been the one thing in life that lived up to its advance publicity. It was even better in reality than I'd imagined, and I did a lot of imagining.

I can't say that about too many things.

---dr.M.

 

[JRaven]

Yeah, as much as people will say, find a willing partner and explore, thats not who I am as a human being, and not how I have brought myself up. I have extremely high morals set for myself, and call em a helpless romantic, but I want my first time to be something special, and something that means as much to me, as the person I am with. I know it will be hard with no expierence to write, but I do have a good imagination, so I will see what happens.

Thank you all for your helpful hints. I'll keep you informed of how my stories go.


Ravin

Contrary to Ogg's suggestion #3, I say wait. I waited until I was married. And I'm glad I did.

Do you have a boyfriend? Been on a date? Had a crush on someone? Concentrate on the romance in your stories. Pour your energies into some of the reasons people have sex. You don't have to go into the details of sex.

Consider this, two of the top three stories in the Winter Holiday Contest were in the Non-Erotic category.

Jenny

 

[nushu2]

Literotica is a fairly unusual porn site and the contributors to this forum, in particular, are dedicated to their art. This is a good thing.

I say this because I stumbled across a 'real' porn site the other day that had a few sample stories. I read a them out of curiousity and they were horrible. They all had the sex start within 6 paragraphs and finish by the tenth. This left only a bland reference to the circumstances with no clue about the character's feelings and personality. I wish I could say they weren't effective.

The point I'm trying to make is that you have to choose, for yourself, what is worthy to write. If you're uncomfortable with your lack of experience, that will show through, but there's no reason to let that stop you. I've yet to write about anything I know anything about, personally. Good luck.

 

[gauchecritic]

Echoing other's thoughts here.

My first stories at Lit were graphic and largely sex oriented.

My last stories at Lit contained virtually no sex at all (my favourite has no sex whatsoever)

The stories in between those were about sex that I'd never experienced.

Maybe that's why I haven't written anything for a while.

 

[oggbashan]

One piece of basic advice often given to new writers is 'Write about what you know'. That was the reason for my point 3. I was not necessarily encouraging you to seek sex just so you can write. Sex should be part of a relationship. Along with Dr M., I can recommend it as being far better than the imagination of it (with the right person).

JRaven's post above is worth reading. Writing about the romance, the yearning, the thrill of encounter - without the sex - is a good way to begin.

There does not have to be in-your-face sex for a story to be erotic.

Og