Structure: Conflict

[Never]

Most porn on Lit follows the structure of "typical" sexual arousal and satisfaction. A desirable object is found, stimulation occurs, stimulation increases, orgasm, and end. At times the author has literary fore- and after- play but I have read many, many stories where the characters orgasm, collapse in a sweaty mess, and the story just ends.

In porn, conflict is slim or non-existent. Three clicks on the story spinner should illustrate my point:

Dinner Tonight
In Dinner Tonight there's one line where the protagonist says she's worried that she's doing the wrong thing, in the next the woman she's with tells her not to leave, and in the next they're kissing, after which they proceed to get it on.

Kissing Cousins
In Kissing Cousins the main character is laying in bed sick, his cousin comes in, starts rubbing ointment on his chest, straddles his erection and they get it on.

Cybersex?
In Cybersex? the first paragraph has a line in which the woman states she is uncomfortable with talking about sex online but decides to talk about it anyway, is whisked away to some odd fantasy cyber realm where there's a man and they proceed to get it on.

Imagine what that would be like in other types of stories.

[START CREDITS]

[Secret Villain Lair]

[James Bond casually walks in]

BOND: Give up Doctor No.
NO: No.
BOND: Do it now or I'll be forced to hurt you.
NO: Okay.

[Dr. No sticks hands in air. Bond cuffs him and leads him out]

[END CREDITS]

Would you pay nine dollars for that? Would you consider it a good story? Is it even a story or is it a series of events? I would call it the latter.
*I* define plot as series of events related by cause and effect. A story that goes, "The King died. The Queen died." has no plot. A story that goes, "The Kind died. Then the Queen died of grief." does. Likewise, I define a 'story' as a protagonist going against an antagonistic force in order to realize a goal.

"Boy meets girl, wants to get it with her, and they get it on." Is boring.

"Boy meets girl, wants to get it with her but their families are mortal enemies, so they run off together and get it on." Is classic literature. Pedophilic classic literature.

TBC

 

[Never]

All conflict stems from a character's desire and the short and long-term goals meant to satisfy that desire. The obstacle a character must overcome to satisfy that desire determines the type of conflict. The way in which the character responds to and tries to overcome the conflict determines their personality. In the real world it's the other way around.

While this is simple, many authors neglect to provide the reader with the character's desires and goals. How fortuitous that at Lit the majority of characters have the same desires and goals.

Types of Conflict:

There are three, general, categories for conflict. They are circumstantial, interpersonal, and psychological. If Bob wants to get together with Rob but can't because Bob's car just broke down on the way to Rob's place, that's circumstantial. If Jack and Jill both want to date Jane and they start debating politics to show her who's the smartest, that's interpersonal. If Japanese schoolgirl Kykio is having her pussy fondled by the Evil Multi-tentacled Thing (TM) and it feels oh so good but she knows she can't come because if she does it will give the EMT the power to take over the world, that's psychological.

The conflicts a writer should focus ones are those dealing with the main goal. If an EMT is nabbing unsuspecting classmates and it's up to Kykio to stop it, highlighting her struggle to memorize her math formulas for the big test on Friday isn't that great an idea. However, highlighting her inner struggle as she realizes that she's going to have to forgo studying, fail the test, and disappoint her family because she has a responsibility to save all the young school girls in Japan from the EMT, is.

Conflict provides tension. The harder it is for the protagonist to reach their goal the more the reader wants them to succeed and the better the reader feels when they do.

 

[Wantonica]

Never,

You bring up an excellent point. In all the other writing I do, there is conflict. On Lit, however, my characters just 'get it on'. Except in the story I am preparing to post, which is my favorite thus far. Therefore, conflict expands the story and the process in a positive manner... yep, yep (copying the slang of my kids).

Smiles,
Wantonica

 

[Pure]

I think the point can be put more simply. Most porn pieces are not really stories, but a predictable sequence of scenes.

They're also not stories because of having no real characters, but that's another story. (There are maybe half a dozen cardboard types, with some variations in age.)

J.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Never,

That was, IMHO, a first-rate, thumbnail sketch of conflict with a nice Lit orientaion. Thanks.

RF

 

[TheEarl]

Kissing Cousins
In Kissing Cousins the main character is laying in bed sick, his cousin comes in, starts rubbing ointment on his chest, straddles his erection and they get it on.

Sorry to go off-topic, but Kissing Cousins is the name of the fictional novel written by Ivan Connor in Colin Bateman's book Chapter and Verse.

Am I alone in knowing this?

The Earl

 

[Wantonica]

I think the point can be put more simply. Most porn pieces are not really stories, but a predictable sequence of scenes.

They're also not stories because of having no real characters, but that's another story. (There are maybe half a dozen cardboard types, with some variations in age.)

J.

story -- a: an account of incidents or events b : a statement regarding the facts pertinent to a situation in question

Uh-huh, yes it is, yep, yep, porn is a story.

Smiles,
Wantonica

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Structure: Conflict

Am I alone in knowing this?

Of course you are, hon. You may return to your deliciously arrogant ways now.

Pear

 

[Never]

Wantonica,
At about 1 a.m. last night (this morning?) I began writing a porn story that, I decided, would have conflict. I ended at page four at the beginning of my third act. That was around 4 a.m. It is, to be certain, an absolute load of crap.

So, an amendment: Better to write good porn with no conflict than bad porn with bad conflict.

Pure:
"I think the point can be put more simply."
But what's the fun in that?

Rumple Foreskin:
" Never,

That was, IMHO, a first-rate, thumbnail sketch of conflict with a nice Lit orientation. Thanks."

Why, thank you kind sir.