Story/Sex

[TheEarl]

I've just added my 2p worth on destinie21's thread on backstory and was wondering about people's opinions on the matter of storyline. I don't actually read enough erotica at the moment to know if I am normal in terms of the importance I put on story.

Do you prize storyline above sex? Is sex instrumental to all of your stories or would they survive without the sex? Do you space sex out among the story, or do you just have it all at the end.

For me, the story is a means to get to the sex. This means that 90% of my stories follow a similar pattern: long story bit, followed by one or two long sex scenes near the end. I need the long story bit to explain why the sex is happening; that bit's very important to me.

Any thoughts?

The Earl

 

[Guest]

Do you prize storyline above sex?
Yes, but not necessarily in real life.

Is sex instrumental to all of your stories or would they survive without the sex?
I would love to revise them sometime and cut down on the sex, simply because I think the details do not matter (I only do the graphic bits for Lit.)

Do you space sex out among the story, or do you just have it all at the end.
No method, sometimes it's spaced about, sometimes not; depends on mood or evocation required.

For me, the story is a means to get to the sex.
Other way round for me. The sex is meaningless without my characters and their environment, bits of history, atmosphere, language structure, wit, humour, poetics even.

Interesting questions, E.

Pear

 

[TheEarl]

For me, the story is a means to get to the sex.
Other way round for me. The sex is meaningless without my characters and their environment, bits of history, atmosphere, language structure, wit, humour, poetics even.

I just feel that I need to explain why my characters are doing it before actually showing them doing it. Even the one story which I am ashamed of is admired by one member of Lit because she likes the fact that it's non-consent, but she knows why he's doing it.

The Earl

 

[Quint]

Depends on my audience. When writing for T or myself, I already know the characters. I'll set them up with dialogue but I feel no shame about a page of exposition and then off with the clothes. Unless for some particular reason I feel like drawing the tension out, which really doesn't seem to mean the same thing as "story" to me--it's more like really extended foreplay.

I have higher standards of story for Lit, which may actually be counterproductive. As many yummy quickies as I've written, I don't put it on Lit until it has an understandable and somewhat-original plot and characters who are developed in their own right, not merely as aspects of my own personality. Normally I like to scatter my sex throughout the story, letting each consecutive session be more explicit and wild than the ones before.

I hold my PWPs to the same standard of description and realism that I do for my longer, story-oriented works, but I do admit that since I'm putting less of my creativity into them, I think slightly less of them. They serve a damned good purpose but they aren't the best that I can create.

 

[MlledeLaPlumeBleu]

My personal preference depends on definition: if something is defined as "erotic literature" then it needs to be able to stand on its own merits well enough that if you removed the sex, the remainder of the story would still be compelling.

If you're talking about a "dirty story" ideally there should still be some exposition, but not nearly as much is required. The idea of quick and dirty gratification is already implicit, and this is fine.

I like both genre and literary sex writing- I've been known to read both, depending on mood. I write the latter. However both can be equally well presented and recieved. Good, solid writing and punctu-fucking-ation are the ultimate equalizers of the written word, and can bridge the gap between "erudite" and "expedite" smut.

For myself, I tend to agree with the Earl- a fairly decent lead up and hot, protracted sex.

mlle

 

[oggbashan]

Do you prize storyline above sex? Is sex instrumental to all of your stories or would they survive without the sex? Do you space sex out among the story, or do you just have it all at the end.
The Earl

The balance between story and sex is a constant battle for me. The story has to be plausible as a story. The sex has to be relevant (I seem to hear old Hollywood cries of "The nudity is artistically necessary, otherwise we wouldn't do it") and since I am writing for Literotica, the sex must be present and worth wading through the story for.

Some of my drafts turn into sex scenes with no story; some turn into stories with no sex. Both get scrapped or filed for future recasting.

I think my stories are weak on the sexual content and lack believable eroticism. I hope that all of them have a plot, a beginning, a middle and a satisfying end.

At present the storyline is winning so I will be writing more non sexual stories which will not be posted here. Maybe the balance will swing back in a week or two and sex will raise its head again.

Og

 

[KillerMuffin]

More often than not, I end up with a story that is not sexually explicit enough to submit to Lit.

 

[gauchecritic]

Can't say yes can't say no. I don't recall having written a pure sex story (I stand to be corrected by more knowledgeable persons) and only two things I've written without sex were for a) an exercise thread and b) a Snippettsville piece.

I was concentrating on humour for the second and ran out of space (600 words) before I could get to the sex, it took a leap of faith to leave that one alone.

Gauche

S.Martin

 

[MathGirl]

Do you prize storyline above sex? Is sex instrumental to all of your stories or would they survive without the sex?

My stuff is written in a Part 1, Part 2, etc. fashion. There's actually a story line, but it only comes across if the previous parts have been read.

Each part, then, isn't much of a story. Mainly just sex. The overall thread and continuity is of a love story, but it's only apparent if the parts are read together as a whole. Each story, individually, is mostly just a sex scene.

This makes it difficult for a new reader who stumbles onto one of my pieces. I do, though, have a umm... hard core of regular readers who have gotten caught up in my overall story. Since I haven't written anything lately, I'm getting daily EMails from readers wondering when the next part is going to be posted. It's gratifying, but I haven't even started on the next part.

I hope what I just wrote is somewhat on the subject of this thread. I'm not even sure what I originally intended to say. It's to hot to think.
MG
Ps. Would the individual story survive without the sex? No way!

 

[Quasimodem]

I just feel that I need to explain why my characters are doing it before actually showing them doing it. . .
The Earl

You can have both, Earl.

Start with a sex scene, then drop back into flashback to explain how they got there, then conclude with a continuation of the original sex scene.

This way, you get two sex scenes from the same set up.

My problem is different. I can't write a straight sex scene that I don't want to laugh at.

I wouldn't mind laughing about it, just not at it.

Wrong, reflex, you know!

 

[MathGirl]

Can't say yes can't say no.

Dear Gauchie,
Never any gray areas with you, huh?
MG

 

[gauchecritic]

It's not that I can't make up my mind. I have a speech impediment so I cant say the words yes or no.

Gauche

 

[Guest]

it all depends on the story

Earle-

Some of my stories start with a sex scene and the associated emotions and then I have to write the story around them.

Others are STORIES first and erotica second.

Guess which ones score better?

b

 

[destinie21]

Okay I'm not sure how to word this but here goes. I don't really like "fuck" stories. Where the characters are fucking without rhyme or reason I enjoy backstory some stories can even be erotic without full on sex. As a matter of fact I get little tired of reading stories with no plot story backstory or any of the above.

 

[Guest]

... I don't recall having written a pure sex story (I stand to be corrected by more knowledgeable persons) and only two things I've written without sex were for a) an exercise thread and b) a Snippettsville piece.

I was concentrating on humour for the second and ran out of space (600 words) before I could get to the sex, it took a leap of faith to leave that one alone.

Sure some like it hot, but on the back burner is good if there's literary hilarity, which abounds concisely in Gauche's piece on the Snipp. thread. I've read it a few times and it still makes me laugh aloud. The wit's in the language, aside from its seamless form and content. The overt sexual over and undertones make up for the lack of actual fucks. Hopefully there will be further episodes and even a hilarious hump, or two.

Perdita

Billy Wilder

 

[Rainbow Skin]

My stories are here because they contain sex, and usually rather more graphically than I'm yet prepared to put my name to; but essentially the story without the sex is most of it, and it could easily be rewritten to exclude it, retaining the most important aspects of the story -- language, character, atmosphere, plot.

Probably not true for all of mine; but it is for those I'd want to keep.

In writing a story I think of various things that happen, and various interactions between the people, that make good scenes or enable me to use certain effects of lighting or timing. In a Literotica story, one of the things that happens is sexual, so that gets factored in with the rest.

I'm planning one that opens with the sex just being finished. Now, to carry this on and make it palatable for readers here it will need more later on, but I haven't worked out how to do that without its being a conventional sex ending.

 

[Sabledrake]

I definitely prefer stories that introduce the characters and build up to the sex, with reasons and emotions and all. Instead of having the story leap straight into the action. I want to know these people and care about them or at least be interested in them a little before they start going at it.

Sabledrake

 

[Chicklet]

Do you prize storyline above sex? Is sex instrumental to all of your stories or would they survive without the sex? Do you space sex out among the story, or do you just have it all at the end.

When I'm reading, I always want more story than sex. I want the whole thing, the background, the plot, the character to change...all that. When I'm writing, sometimes it's a different story.

Every once in a while I'll write a full, rounded story. Mostly I write shorter stories with lots of sex. Why? Because that's what I enjoy writing. However, the stories I'm most proud of are the one's with less sex, the one's where my characters have an actual life outside the bedroom.

So, the answer to your question is that I prize story over sex. It just doesn't always show.

-Chicklet

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

I'm trying to respond to all three questions without quoting,
since quoting messes up my space (using Lynx).
1) Is the story important? Yes, to me. Once upon a time
in ASSD, we distinguished between SEX stories and sex STORIES.
2) Is the story only a way of getting to the sex?
Not usually. I try (usually) to write a story which
involves sex. So omitting the sex would be a copout. (But there
are some exceptions. Write 90 stories and there are some
exceptions to every rule. "Pharmacy" has only implied sex.)
3) Do I put the sex at the end? Sometimes. Sometimes
I start with the couple already engaged in intercourse.
Sometimes, it is sprinkled throughout. And "Igrayne" was
mostly one long sex scene with a bit of plot at the beginning and
a bit more at the end. (And most of that plot was stolen
from Mallory.)

 

[cahab]

When I am reading Lit I very rarely get interested by the actual prose: mostly what interests me is seeing what turns people on. So unless it is very well written (as in the stories of some of the regulars here) I tend to pass backstory by.

IMHO Lit writers put in too much backstory. I agree that it is confusing and dissapointing if there is none at all, but it should both be kept down to a minimum and trigger in the reader a pantasy and anticipation of what is to follow. That is, at least, what I try to do.

The trouble is that there is an exception to that. There are stories that are not particularly written as erotic, but do have sex in them, and in these the sex is subsidiary. Perhaps those who feel an ever increasing need for backstory should try writing in other genres.

The bottom line is if you cut out the sex description, and just say 'and then they had sex', and your story makes sense, it isn't erotica as practised and understood by Lit. It doesn't necessarily make it bad, just different. Clive Barker in 'Cabal' has a wonderful, steamy sex scene and a vivid masturbation description. It aint erotica, though, just as 'Star Wars' isn't a comedy because it has a couple of jokes in it.

PS. Just reread this posting and noticed I had written 'Pantasy'. Freudian slit?

 

[Guest]

PS. Just reread this posting and noticed I had written 'Pantasy'. Freudian slit?

Cahab, before I got to your p.s. I thought it was a Yorkshire thing. You people are so complex.

cordially, Perdita

 

[Rainbow Skin]

Erotica

I wonder why every erotic story is supposed to have a sex scene. They aren't necessarily related. Many of the nastier sex stories have no erotic content, unless you're turned on by the nastiness, and a good erotic story can be erotic and turn you on a great deal, without including actual sex.

The erotic relates to love, passion: not the milk-and-water companionship that'd be relegated to Romance, but lustful love. That can be shown with skin, with kissing, with eyes. No need to involve sex.

Yet the stories here are almost invariably sex stories, rather than erotic stories, and for me that makes them rather harder to do.

P.S. Now pantasy is erotic.

 

[BardsLady]

Hi TE.

I like my storylines. I MUCH prefer to have a storyline to build up to the sex rather than have meaningless sex strewn halfhazardly throughout a story. I want my readers to see the characters AS characters, not as sex toys that do nothing but screw like bunnies for a few pages.

When I can swing it, I try to build up the suspense, the tension, before I write in the sex. However, sometimes even I have to toss in a little masturbation scene to take the edge off of things somewhere int he middle of the story.

And to make it more realistic, I take the time to do a bit of research on whatever area I'm working on. And sometimes I even get to pick my Mom and my Brother's brain for info. hehehe

BardsLady

 

[Svenskaflicka]

For me, the story is a means to get to the sex. This means that 90% of my stories follow a similar pattern: long story bit, followed by one or two long sex scenes near the end. I need the long story bit to explain why the sex is happening; that bit's very important to me.

Me, I only need one reason for my characters to have sex: they get horny!

Do you prize storyline above sex?
Yes. I like to write good stories. Sometimes, the sex scene is only in the story to make it fit on Literotica.

Is sex instrumental to all of your stories or would they survive without the sex?
Most of my stories here on Lit are strictly sex stories, ie they wouldn't make much sense if they didn't lead up to sex. Those stories that don't need sex to exist, are not on this site.

Do you space sex out among the story, or do you just have it all at the end?
Usually, my stories lead up to the Big Sex Scene in the end, and usually, they stop right after the Orgasm.

 

[cahab]

Re: Erotica

I wonder why every erotic story is supposed to have a sex scene. They aren't necessarily related. Many of the nastier sex stories have no erotic content, unless you're turned on by the nastiness, and a good erotic story can be erotic and turn you on a great deal, without including actual sex.

The erotic relates to love, passion: not the milk-and-water companionship that'd be relegated to Romance, but lustful love. That can be shown with skin, with kissing, with eyes. No need to involve sex.

Yet the stories here are almost invariably sex stories, rather than erotic stories, and for me that makes them rather harder to do.

P.S. Now pantasy is erotic.

I agree totally. No, that doesn't mean I'm arguing with myself. Although I do. Often. Which gets monotonous because half the time I already know what i'm going to say. Excuse me a moment [slaps self].

Ahem. What I mean to say is that I was going to say all of the above as well, except I couldn't think at the time of the right way to put it. So thanks, RS, for saving me the trouble. Say, you wouldn't like to write a couple of stories for me as well, would you? I'm having trouble keeping up with all the people who are me.