The best sex story ever told?

[CharleyH]

Just to spice stuff up here a bit.

As writers, I'm sure we are all readers (okay, many of us) and as such we have an idea of what makes an erotic story, well, mmm sexy (no not mmmmmmmmmmmm sexy).

Without promoting your own story (if it's mmm sexy, others will promote it for you ) what makes an erotic story hot and arousing? For example, is it the actual narrative line, the descriptions of sex, your relation to character, grammar or maybe the gonzo to the orgasmic point?

Alternately, and playing the role of critic a bit, what ruins an erotic and arousing story for you?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Omigod, I can't believe no one has started a thread like this one before! Like just in the past week, it seems to me...

What makes a story arousing?

Well, it's the story line, for one thing. A seriously graphic description of the sex works for me. If the character is someone I can relate to, or desire, I'm in. Bad grammar- unless it's a stylistic and deliberate type of bad grammar-- no cream. And I do love a gonzo, bombastic, over-the-top orgasm!


What ruins an erotic and arousing story for me?

Dunno, really, Once I'm aroused, I find I can tolerate much more literary pain than I would otherwise.

 

[CharleyH]

Omigod, I can't believe no one has started a thread like this one before! Like just in the past week, it seems to me...

What makes a story arousing?

Well, it's the story line, for one thing. A seriously graphic description of the sex works for me. If the character is someone I can relate to, or desire, I'm in. Bad grammar- unless it's a stylistic and deliberate type of bad grammar-- no cream. And I do love a gonzo, bombastic, over-the-top orgasm!


What ruins an erotic and arousing story for me?

Dunno, really, Once I'm aroused, I find I can tolerate much more literary pain than I would otherwise.

Well fuck, Omega , I never said I was particularly original (never saw the other thread) but oh, originality does do me well.

An alternative question:

What sets written porn apart from visual porn (ie. videos or photos)?

 

[Boota]

I think what makes a story arousing is the same thing that makes any non-erotic story good - character. A good sex story isn't just about sex. It's about the people having the sex. It's the things you know about them besides how they like to fuck. It can be minimal, but it has to be there. Something more than mere genital friction. The whys are always more interesting than the hows.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Well fuck, Omega , I never said I was particularly original (never saw the other thread) but oh, originality does do me well.

An alternative question:

What sets written porn apart from visual porn (ie. videos or photos)?

Oh, I like this one!

I prefer writing most of the time, because;

1] I have a rather different standards for hotness than most visual porn offers.

2] Emotion and motivation are an inseparable part of sex to me. Any actor capable of conveying such isn't going to be fucking onscreen. More's the pity!

I get good visual porn from many comicbook artists, though... And there have been random photos that twist my knobs, almost all of them from indie publications and/or photogs.

 

[Quint]

I think what makes a story arousing is the same thing that makes any non-erotic story good - character. A good sex story isn't just about sex. It's about the people having the sex. It's the things you know about them besides how they like to fuck. It can be minimal, but it has to be there. Something more than mere genital friction. The whys are always more interesting than the hows.

Ditto this, except for one caveat. I think the "how" is in fact very important in the leading up to sex. How did they get from the start to the sex. I understand that Boota probably meant the mechanics of intercourse, and to that I agree (although of course that can be absolutely ruined as well).

What ruins it for me? Inane openings with physical stats. Poor dialogue. Tense/POV changes. And midgets.

 

[Liar]

Aside from general storytelling qualitites (connectability, assimilation, comprehensive dramaturgy et al) and good writing (correct language, the right style for the story and a healthuy dose of a good author's wit), what's important to remember about good erotic story is that it isn't about fucking. Good erotica is stories about sexuality, (usually) featuring a lot of fucking. And I don't agree that good erotica can be stories containing a lot of sex, but with a main plot focusing on other things like murder mysteries or whatnot, even if they are well written, character driven and overall swell stories in other aspects.

 

[damppanties]

What sets written porn apart from visual porn (ie. videos or photos)?

Written porn doesn't get me hot most of the time. It has to be really, really good and/ or twisted for me to get turned on by it. Or cater to my kinks... *cough* I'm too much involved on how the words are working to get turned on by them, if you know what I mean.
Visual porn, though... I find what I need, and

1] I have a rather different standards for hotness than most visual porn offers.

May I help you find your kinks sometime?

I get good visual porn from many comicbook artists, though... And there have been random photos that twist my knobs, almost all of them from indie publications and/or photogs.

*perk* Show?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Written porn doesn't get me hot most of the time. It has to be really, really good and/ or twisted for me to get turned on by it. Or cater to my kinks... *cough* I'm too much involved on how the words are working to get turned on by them, if you know what I mean.
Visual porn, though... I find what I need, and


May I help you find your kinks sometime?


*perk* Show?

I'll wrap them in waterproofing, and tow them behind me whilst I swim to India to by your side!

Failing that, I'll have to scan stuff. And it's all in a box outside of my home-- since I have teenagers living here...

 

[damppanties]

I'll wrap them in waterproofing, and tow them behind me whilst I swim to India to by your side!

Failing that, I'll have to scan stuff. And it's all in a box outside of my home-- since I have teenagers living here...

I vote for the swimming idea.

 

[xssve]

Dirty words. Depravity. Tales of shame and degradation.

 

[slyc_willie]

I know some of my stories are pretty contrived, and follow some typical 'porn' stereotypes. But I like to think I put some character, and some plot, into them.

If I click on a Lit story, and by the third paragraph someone's doing somebody, I'm out of there. I want at least a fairly believable reason as to why Betty Sue wants to fuck Jimmy.

I like to see a lot of dialogue. I like to hear the characters talk in my head. It's like I'm a voyeur, watching two people getting turned on and anticipating the moment when zippers and skirts drop. Description and detail work fine -- and I know I put an awful lot of that in my own tales -- but honestly, if there's no talking, I'm not reading.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I vote for the swimming idea.

You would.

 

[Quint]

Dirty words. Depravity. Tales of shame and degradation.

Absolutely this too.

 

[damppanties]

You would.

I'm loose that way.

 

[rydia57]

I like that I can identify with the character and yes, very vivid descriptions!

 

[amicus]

Just to spice stuff up here a bit.

As writers, I'm sure we are all readers (okay, many of us) and as such we have an idea of what makes an erotic story, well, mmm sexy (no not mmmmmmmmmmmm sexy).

Without promoting your own story (if it's mmm sexy, others will promote it for you ) what makes an erotic story hot and arousing? For example, is it the actual narrative line, the descriptions of sex, your relation to character, grammar or maybe the gonzo to the orgasmic point?

Alternately, and playing the role of critic a bit, what ruins an erotic and arousing story for you?

~~~

Hello Charley...been a while...but since it's you and I'm in a mood...permit me to ramble and muse a bit...

This is a writer's community of sorts...and as such, perhaps the temptation to immerse oneself in the 'writer's world', distances one from real life, from time to time.

When it all comes down to the basics, we can only speak for ourselves and from my experience in life, and it has not been secluded or cloistered, I conclude that most people I have ever known, lead very boring lives.

There are exceptions of course, but, objectively, they have been rare.

I also conclude, without documentation, that most people never experience, 'love', in their lives, but they wish to, want to, dream of being swept away in the emotions that writers describe.

I wish to expand this beyond your original question about, 'erotic' and 'sexy' and arousing and apply it, if I might, to fiction writing in general.

As you might suspect, I have a low opinion of, 'intellectuals' in general and their sexual proclivities and their writing styles, as most are far removed from the majority of everyday readers.

They tend to concentrate on perversions and 'pushing the envelope' of accepted sexual and erotic behavior. They also tend to reject common morality and community standards, explicable or not, that guide the 99 out a hundred, 'normal' people who read.

I suggest that the short, fat, not attractive middle aged housewife or working woman that buys 70 percent of all 'romantica' literature, watches the 'soap operas' every day without fail, and buys all the 'celebrity' mags at the supermarket checkout counter, are the audience you write for,(if you want to sell), is the focus of what you are talking about.

Warned you I was in a mood to ramble...sighs...the devil made me do it.

I don't personally like to be categorized as a 'believer' of anything, but I do recognize the validity of a 'Freudian' understanding of the human libido, in that we seek comfort and sexual gratification from the earliest age.

The first word that popped into my mind when I read your post was, 'anticipation', but that doesn't quite describe the full range of writing that titillates arousal and expectation.

I wouldn't even attempt to write a piece that dealt only with the mechanics of a sexual encounter, what would the purpose be except stroke?

You wrote a piece, I think it was you, about a couple in a darkened theatre, which was one of the most erotic things I have ever read, just from your description and the anticipation and discovery expressed.

If the intent was, as you stated, just to spice things up a bit...sorry for intruding, but then...I am good at such things...


Amicus...

 

[Oblimo]

I'm with Boota and Quint. A sex scene can be competently written and sexy, but for me it's the character and plot leading to the scene that makes it really erotically charged, and what happens to the characters afterward that makes the scene memorable. Similarly, a lack of resolution can ruin a hot story for me.

I doubt it needs to be said, but I like to see myself type, so I'm going to say it anway: A story need not contain actual sex to be sexy. The primary goal of erotica is arousing the reader, so I think while it can be sufficient for erotica to be about two (or less, or more) characters having sex, it's not necessary. I think it all depends on the intended audience of the story.

I also have two, personal, broadly defined kinks: women who know what they want and how to get it, and "too much of a good thing." If a story has both, my libido can be very forgiving.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

OMG, Charley. Where have you been? You've been missed.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Dirty words. Depravity. Tales of shame and degradation.

yeah-- in that case, my hand is down my pants-- who gives a fuck about plot or character?

Hello Charley...been a while...but since it's you and I'm in a mood...permit me to ramble and muse a bit...

You sure did ramble! You sure didn't say anything, ami!

 

[cantdog]

There's no one good way, either. Take a look at yui's Sex and Chocolate. Really extremely hot writing. But there are other stories written utterly differently with equal punch.

 

[gauchecritic]

There's no one like me, so you all must be the same as each other...

...and dull as fuck. (but that's by the by)

Zoot once said that a sex scene holds every classic element of story telling. Tension, conflict, adventure, mystery, resolution and &c. I fully concur. On the other hand I've never read a sex scene that holds even one of these (intentionally). But I do submit that it's possible to have an entire Lit. story (two maybe three pages) that is only a sex scene.

On the other hand I've read some stories that have all the elements of sex without any actual sex involved.

It's like a stripper. Strippers to my mind are not hot and arousing. Women I know or like wearing or taking off clothing which reveals slightly more than is usual is extremely arousing. This is probably because I know about the person, but I know little about their body.

In other words it's not what they are doing, it's who they are which is arousing.

What ruins it, is not caring who they are.

Visual porn is visual. Written porn is imaginative. Like Bart says "What Hollywood studio can match the imagination of a 10 year old?"

There's a site called crazy 3D world or something like that (pay site so I've only seen the promos on TGPs) but unlike the other 3D cartoons that you can find everywhere these stories have masses of dialogue in each frame (the rendering is far superior to the others too) but the pictures are just a visual bonus driven by the dialogue between the characters (most of the women are fat and/or mothers, most of the protags are young boys with large appendages)
So these stories give (as far as possible) the best of both worlds and are the finest 3D/comic book reps on the interwebs. (AFAIK)

 

[Stella_Omega]

...and dull as fuck. (but that's by the by)

Zoot once said that a sex scene holds every classic element of story telling. Tension, conflict, adventure, mystery, resolution and &c. I fully concur. On the other hand I've never read a sex scene that holds even one of these (intentionally).

Really? Then you can't have read any of my work.

 

[gauchecritic]

Really? Then you can't have read any of my work.

Yes really. Not my categorical interest Stell.

Which is probably why. Incest doesn't have the best rep for literary exuberance eh? ('cept mine of course )

 

[Stella_Omega]

Yes really. Not my categorical interest Stell.

Which is probably why. Incest doesn't have the best rep for literary exuberance eh? ('cept mine of course )

Tell you what-- I have no interest in the incest cat. But good writing transcends everything for me.

But why don't we each read one of the other's stories? I will comment via pm or public, if you do the same...

Recommend me something!

Probably the most comprehensively endowed of my PWPs is
"Jessamine"

If that's too much BDSM for you and you want hetero, try "A Dinner Party" (I suck at titles, don't i? )