The Mabeuse Scale

[dr_mabeuse]

Level I story: How I fucked Brittany [sic] Spears

Level II story: How I’ll make love to You (second person narrative)

Level III story: Average story. Flat, transparent and predictable characters who often tell us how good looking they are. Exclamation points abound. Lots of subjective description: “the most beautiful tits I’d ever seen in my life”; “he thought he’d died and gone to heaven”; “it felt really great when he did that”. No emotion besides horniness. Bra cup and penis size often quantified. Sex scenes often unimaginative and only adequately described.

Level IV story: Good, competent story, but with typical Literotica characters: gorgeous, horny woman/horny man with flat personalities and no internal life. Noticeable telling and unnecessary explanation of things to readers which intrude on story action. Pornographic content limited to graphic descriptions of sexual acts. Little emotion aside from sex.

Level V story: complex characters with interesting internal lives. Settings and situations are intrinsically erotic, not just the sex itself. Mood and millieu are developed and subtleties of relationships explored. Contains original or insightful observations about human sexual behavior or leaves us with feelings other than arousal.

Just my opinion

---dr.M.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

It's a good subjective scale, but what about the quality of the writing? Surely a level V story told with thrid grade grammar and spelling errors is knocked down a bit?

Why not giveus a one to five on quality of writing, then judge each story on both scales? Cross subjective and quanitative measures, with some fudge factor to give a total score?

Just a thought.

-Colly

 

[Guest]

Just my opinion

Very good opinion, Mab., and I deem mine and my fave authors a nice pointy V. Thanks.

sans humility, Perdita

 

[gauchecritic]

Don't personally give a fig for objective (quality) writing. If the people are real and the story involving I don't even give a damn about knowing that she was neglected as a child and he's a secret serial cross-dresser.

But I will become interested if some random action is given a hint of historical motive and becomes crucial later on.

I will not notice if one scene is linked to another by the expedient of repeating a small sequence as contrast in situational development, but I will be drawn further.

I will enjoy appropriate alliteration used sparingly.

I'll positively thrill at onomatopeia without inventing words.

And I'll smile at invented words that perfectly fit the situation.

Non of these are either quantative or qualitative, they are what I consider to be a few of the marks of the good story teller.

No need of $10 dollar words or the angle of the participle thus dangled.
Sketchy characters and light, airy context can be a positive boon.

Smoke and mirrors are what's required.

Gauche

 

[Guest]

And I'll smile at invented words that perfectly fit the situation.

You've obviously read Shakespeare, Gauche; for more smiles try Joyce.

Perdita

 

[Icingsugar]

Level I story: How I fucked Brittany [sic] Spears

Level II story: How I’ll make love to You (second person narrative)

Level III story: Average story. Flat, transparent and predictable characters who often tell us how good looking they are. Exclamation points abound. Lots of subjective description: “the most beautiful tits I’d ever seen in my life”; “he thought he’d died and gone to heaven”; “it felt really great when he did that”. No emotion besides horniness. Bra cup and penis size often quantified. Sex scenes often unimaginative and only adequately described.

Level IV story: Good, competent story, but with typical Literotica characters: gorgeous, horny woman/horny man with flat personalities and no internal life. Noticeable telling and unnecessary explanation of things to readers which intrude on story action. Pornographic content limited to graphic descriptions of sexual acts. Little emotion aside from sex.

Level V story: complex characters with interesting internal lives. Settings and situations are intrinsically erotic, not just the sex itself. Mood and millieu are developed and subtleties of relationships explored. Contains original or insightful observations about human sexual behavior or leaves us with feelings other than arousal.

Just noting that your firtst two levels are about theme and content, and the other three are more about the quality of the storytelling. Personally, I'll take a well written "How I speared Spears" (yes, I suck at puns) over any other badly written story.

But hey, it's your scale.

/Ice

 

[wildsweetone]

Interesting scale dr.

...or leaves us with feelings other than arousal.

I guess that part could cover those unexpected delicious endings or twirling twists within, and the kind of stories that drag the reader into the fiction situation, though it doesn't appear to do them justice.

Perdita, I agree yours are a V (though if there were a VI, I'm certain they'd fit that better).

 

[English Lady]

I can see this "Mabeuse Scale" being taught in Schools in the near future

 

[Guest]

Ooh, Lady, a new wonderful AV. Always yummy.

WSO, thank you so much for the generous comment.

Perdita

 

[mtnman2003]

Higher the score, greater the literature

This approach may lead us to more literature, higher the score, greater the chances of real erotic literature.

Do you think the normal reading participants here will give a rats ass........ As authors, we can care, and desire to raise the bar.

If it has the high stroke content, descriptions give graphic detail, the score or ratings will sky, whether or not we achieve great literary content....

Difference in readers' levels of understanding of the written content will stratify our attempts at more thoughtful, well written material.

Lay you odds that readers look for category, look to author if they know them, see if an "H" has been received. If not rated, they will review the story, page down quickly to find the stroke material, and see if it works for them.

Long paragraphs, little dialogue, little descriptions of organs will cause the stroke reader to another story, with or without spending the time to read the remainder of the story. And no votes. Purpose may be stroking, not voting.

My humble opinion........

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

So go vote on my stories.

 

[CharleyH]

Ah, well we all like variety, 'tis the beauty of writing and reading- BIG exclamation point. Being a big 'Alice in Wonderland' fan, we hopefully change at every moment. We want to get off, or we want to get mentally off. So today, my take? Which will be different tommorrow:

Level 1: Sometimes, I'm fucking you.

Level 2: Shut up and fuck me.

Level 3: I concede to submission.

Level 4: Shit, I'm horney, you're a model. I'm gonna refuse? Let's fuck you, and tell everyone about it.

Level 5: Relationship

Sorry, I couldn't resist my take at this moment.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

It's a good subjective scale, but what about the quality of the writing? Surely a level V story told with thrid grade grammar and spelling errors is knocked down a bit?

Truth is, I just didn't even think about the style. I just was bored and should have been doing non-Lit work and so of course I came over here to waste time, and I wanted to talk about stories for a while.

And Icing's right: the first 2 seem tobe about theme, but what I was trying to capture in Level I was the kind of verbatim locker-room quality single-guy fuck fantasy you occasionally see as first efforts, and in Level II the kind of breathless, look-into-my-eyes second-person self-advertisement story.

I'm hoping more people will post their own scales.

---dr.M.

 

[Linbido]

The Lin Scale:

1.- What's this? Help! It hurts my brain. Is it even English?

2.- Oh, look. Comprehensible text. Comprehensible plot, dialouge or eroticism? Pfft.

3.- Ok, I can read this, understand it from start to end, and it has enough good elements in it to not bore me. It probably follows the common cliché idea of erotica in it's category.

4.- Gives me a boner. Oh, wait, I'm a girl. Makes me want to give someone a boner. A good, well written and well structured story that manages to convey enough sexual / dramatic / comic / whateverthegoalwas tension to engage me as a reader, to care about the characters and wanting to know how the story ends. Definitely reccomended wanking material.

5.- Anthing ranging from Really Damn Good up to Total Brain Blower. RDG is a 4, but with a good dash of originality in the plot and setup plus something extra in the style, like particulary snappy dialouge, or vivid descriptions. TBB is those rare stories that you don't read but experiance. Those that arouse your intellect as well as your, you know, mammal side.

 

[champagne1982]

I'm hoping more people will post their own scales.

---dr.M.

• Level I - Very poor spelling, grammar and word choice.
• Level II - Long unpunctuated sentences, homophonic knight mares and personally distasteful subject matter. edited to add: presented poorly. I can live with incest and S & M as long as I'm not assaulted with it.
• Level III - Excellent content with minor spelling and grammar flaws.
• Level IV - Excellent spelling, adequate grammar and good subject matter presented with clever metaphores and excellent imagery.
• Level V - Did you orgasm? Oh my God! I did! Really! Just from the pure beauty of the prose never mind that I could feel the author's tongue tickling my clit!

 

[shereads]

Dr. Mabeuse, suppose you're reading a solid V, a story with all the elements. You're in love with these characters. You've laughed with them, maybe even cried with them. The sex is great. The plot has contained a twist or two that you never saw coming. The final paragraph finds the couple asleep in each other's arms - and despite the fact that you're a pretty tough guy, you find yourself feeling deeply relieved for these two lovers. You've been rooting for them, but at times you doubted that Ricardo and Elaine could have a happy ending despite their sexual chemistry. Yet here they are, together.

Then he kisses her on the forehead and says, "Wake up, sleepyhead."

Does it drop down by one full category?

What if Ricardo makes things worse by adding, "It's morning."

 

[shereads]

A reader's story scale:

0. Too bad about that first sentence. Buh-bye.

1. Your teaser seemed promising, but your first two paragraphs didn't grab me. Definitely a better collection of sentences than a Category 0. Unfortunately for you, I might actually score your story; there's slightly less scrolling required than there would have been with a Cat. 0, plus I'm slightly more involved.

Life is too short and your story is too long. I don't hate your writing yet, and if there's a disaster with the server and all of the other stories disappear, this one is definitely worth finishing. No score this time; I respect the effort too much to score it without finishing it.

You wicked man/woman! You ought to be ashamed of yourself for entertaining such naughty thoughts, much less writing them for all the world to see. I blush every time I think about that part where he did that thing to her, with that object. I'm bookmarking your author page. And if I ever overcome my sexually repressed upbringing and learn to mast -- to masturb -- to touch myself (down there!), I bet I'll think about this story when I do it. Thank you.

I wish this story had been longer. I hope there's a sequel. I love the way you write, and I can't believe you do this for free. You made me smile, not necessarily because anything was funny, but because I felt lucky to have found this story. I'll read your work as often as you'll write it. Hell, I might even learn to mas -- to mast -- I have to go now. I can't be disturbed for a while, but I might write you a note later. Thank you.

 

[Guest]

On the Mab. scale I’ll go along with 1-4 as voting guidelines. I don’t vote unless it’s a 4 or 5, I’ll give a 2 to something execrable in form or content. (I do wish I could take back some 4s, it’s taken me a while to know how to judge Lit. work.)

So, for a 5 I like some of Mab.’s points and most of Gauche’s. It simply has to be what I’d judge finished, or near perfect merely in the writing. It’s a given that the piece has to be erotic, at least in my opinion, which is purely subjective so I won’t go into the requirements.

Complexity of characters or subtlety of relationships is not necessary if they, the story, and the language are merely interesting—again a subjective decision. I’m not looking for romance, love, ordinary sentiment or everyday type characters and settings; I find those utterly boring (like TV or most Hollywood movies).

Real and unique humor are big with me. I appreciate new insight into human nature and relations, but don’t expect it on Lit. I very much appreciate personal style, e.g., a unique voice or a distinctive attitude or ambience. I love effortless reading within all these frameworks (humor, wit, perspective, style, mood, mastery of English).

As for the arousal of emotions in me as the reader, the most common feeling, aside from sexual arousal, is the good way something funny can make me feel. Being made to laugh is a big plus. I rarely am made to feel sad or anxious, even when it’s apparent the author meant to do so, but that’s not a negative, I can still appreciate the intent.

Like Gauche I also like new words or ways of saying old or ordinary things (he does that well). Alliteration or onomatopoeia doesn’t impress me unless overdone; same with metaphors, similes, etc. (unless abused in the name of wit or humor).

BIG, big plus for irony!

That’s it for now,

Perdita

 

[English Lady]

I think my scale is very similar to linbido's...

1, eh? (total lack of spelling,grammar,storyline or anything!)

2, predictible, penis A fits into slit b and multiple organism's ensue. (terrible spelling mistakes like that which would have been caught with some editing...once or twice i can forgive...just*L*)No plotline, no real description of characters but a biging a middle and an end.


3. As Simon Cowell would say "distinctly average" A story,characters and lots of cliches. they met,they shagged,they fell in love. the end. bra size,length of penis ,height and weight stats will normally mean your story will end up in this category.

4. Not at all bad. Arousing,interesting characters and/or good plot line. Let down by being too short(not descriptive enough) or by a weak link somewhere in the tale(a character or a strange plot line which doesn't quite work) Oh and it has to be pretty sound spelling and grammar wise.

5. It gets me hot and it makes me think. I find the story arousing intellectually,physically and spiritually. A 5 story is totally fulfilling. Good charachters, interesting plotline, inventive use of language and it's pretty well edited (to me as long as it's mostly spelled right and the grammar is understandable i am happy)

 

[MathGirl]

Thank you.

Dear Shere:
I have no thoughts on the thread subject, but I'd like to know what the person in your AV is doing? Mowing the lawn? Rewiring a mine detector? Trying to pull a burro out of a ditch?
MG

 

[shereads]

..."distinctly average"... they met,they shagged,they fell in love. the end.

Heehee.

 

[shereads]

I'd like to know what the person in your AV is doing? Mowing the lawn? Rewiring a mine detector? Trying to pull a burro out of a ditch?
MG

You amaze me. Nobody has guessed until now. That it took you three tries is probably just because you're tired, as you said earlier.

If a burro is a miniature donkey, God help me the day I have to pull a full-sized ass out of a ditch. These animals are as heavy as they are stubborn...A bigger one would just have to climb out on its own.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

1. It has to be bad. Badly written, badly thought out, spelling or grammar errors that are so overwhelming I have to really concnentrate to even make out what is going on. Considering my own spelling and grammar errors they mistakes have to be legion before I will say anything.

2. Usually reserved for the I/You type stories that read like last night's wet dream being transfered to the page. Also can be applied to a good story with simply atrocious spelling and grammer errors hurting a decent idea.

3. A generally good story. Decent idea, decently rendered with at least some memorable character or event.

4. Really good. Deeper plot line, more charicterization, memorable scenes or charcters and the usual typos. Strong dialogue r descriptions and an overall ease of reading.

5. The best. Life like characters, strong dialogue and descriptions, memorable scenes, few or no errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation. Evokes an emotional response of some kind, either liking or dislikeing a character or leaves me wondering what some variation mentioned would be like.

I rarely give ones. My experience has been that those I would generally throw a one on are writen by non native english speakers and the confused writing is more a product of their translation programs than thier ability.

I also rarely give 2 votes. I usually wil back click before I get far enough in to feel it warranted a vote.

I give three's sometimes, but not often. I read very little for pleasure on lit and ma usually reading something by someonehere at the Ah.

I give a lot of fours. Most of what I read is well above average and deserves more than an average vote, but dosen't quite make it to exceptional.

I give a lot of fives as well. A lot of what I read moves me in some way and that is what good writing should do. Move the reader.

My scale is a little skewed. I prefer to give good votes to bad and will often neglect to give a lower vote, especially if it is beneath the story's current average. I always try to give feedback, even when I don't vote.

-Colly

 

[shereads]

My scale is a little skewed. I prefer to give good votes to bad and will often neglect to give a lower vote, especially if it is beneath the story's current average.

Colly, I thought you might propose a representative system, rather than a direct vote.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Colly, I thought you might propose a representative system, rather than a direct vote.

Ouch.

Methinks someone is hitting below the belt today

-Colly