Trying to create the happy balance in a story.

[vagabond_michael]

So I'm in the middle of writing the third chapter of "Exploits of Alex Drake" and I keep reminding myself to have a nice balance of actual story and the sexual encounters. I don't want these stories to be "Wham, bam, done" stories where every single one ends with sex.

So, my question to everyone here is what do you do to create that balance? Or do you actually just roll with it and have a major sexual encounter in just about every chapter that you write?

 

[PennLady]

So I'm in the middle of writing the third chapter of "Exploits of Alex Drake" and I keep reminding myself to have a nice balance of actual story and the sexual encounters. I don't want these stories to be "Wham, bam, done" stories where every single one ends with sex.

So, my question to everyone here is what do you do to create that balance? Or do you actually just roll with it and have a major sexual encounter in just about every chapter that you write?

I'm sure everyone will have a different answer for this one.

I rarely start out to write just a sex story; if you look at my story list, I think you'll see that. If there's no character or plot, then it's mostly not interesting. Although occasionally I'll get the idea that, hey, what if this type of person and that type of person got together and...

I do not have a major sexual encounter in every chapter (although I did have an encounter in each chapter of Nothing Gets Through, now that I think about it). In my current hockey story, no sex until Ch 5. I can't help it. It took that long to set things up.

Many people here either feel they should have sex in every chapter, or they just want to. That's just not how I write. So I'd say -- write the story you want to tell. If/when the sex comes in, great.

 

[lovecraft68]

So I'm in the middle of writing the third chapter of "Exploits of Alex Drake" and I keep reminding myself to have a nice balance of actual story and the sexual encounters. I don't want these stories to be "Wham, bam, done" stories where every single one ends with sex.

So, my question to everyone here is what do you do to create that balance? Or do you actually just roll with it and have a major sexual encounter in just about every chapter that you write?

My ideas start with a sex scene in mind, an image of a particular act. I then decide who they are to each other (in my case usually related)

I then start the "well how did they get there" and it goes from there.

 

[BONNIEBREA]

So I'm in the middle of writing the third chapter of "Exploits of Alex Drake" and I keep reminding myself to have a nice balance of actual story and the sexual encounters. I don't want these stories to be "Wham, bam, done" stories where every single one ends with sex.

So, my question to everyone here is what do you do to create that balance? Or do you actually just roll with it and have a major sexual encounter in just about every chapter that you write?

PennLady is entirely right: you'll get a different answer from every writer.

The inspiration for my stories is never 'I want to write about (insert sexual practice or fetish here).' My stories are always about some character issue. My first story (Ellen's Bet) was 'about' a somewhat stodgy woman who takes an absurd but exciting and titilating risk for reasons she can't really understand - and how the resulting events effect her self-image and how they reverberate in her personal life (although I don't really explore the second part until a later story).

My most recent story is 'about' a woman who has non-sexual experiences in her adolescence that awaken in her a powerful attraction to the concepts of dominance and submission, and how she begins to sort those feelings out as a young adult.

While most of my chapters have some sort of sexual encounter or event, many don't - it's simply a matter of the portion of the story that needs telling in that chapter.

I get complaints occasionally that my stories start out 'too slow.' That's perfectly all right. I don't have an agenda to write narrowly focused stories about some particular fetish. I just write real stories and they start out (and procede) either 'fast' or 'slow' depending on the story itself.

I find that readers who favor my stories or me as a writer tend to be somewhat more mature - people who are looking for a story to read rather than just quick wank material.

Just figure out the story you want to tell and tell it, and everything else will fall into place.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I aim for a situation. Since sex is a part of life there will be some (or occasionally plenty) of it. However, clothing will get mentioned as will food. It's all about an active, healthy life . . . with a fantasy overload to keep the author happy!

 

[Themoodyone]

Let's remember, if you're writing erotica, the point is for the sex to drive the story. Otherwise, you are writing fiction with erotic elements. You need to make that decision. Also, most people won't read an entire book in one sitting, so it's important that there be some sexual momentum in each chapter. Otherwise your reader might be tempted to scan for the "good parts" if you know what I mean.

If your book is an erotic romance, then you have another layer of concerns. Keeping the focus on the development of the primary relationship, for one.

Each chapter doesn't need a major sex act, but some titillating momentum at least, along with a sexually charged context.

Just my humble opinion.

 

[sr71plt]

You don't have to have every chapter end in sex; I often have the chapters begin in sex. Perfect balance.

 

[russellvilleman]

My ideas start with a sex scene in mind, an image of a particular act. I then decide who they are to each other (in my case usually related)

I then start the "well how did they get there" and it goes from there.

^This.

 

[sr71plt]

Not that you should be starting from scratch on ideas for a chapter of a serial, but my inspirations are usually taken from everything but the sex scene. The sex scene gets fit into what part of the storyline the chapter is going to cover.

One of the first things I was told about writing erotica--especially erotica that was going to be posted as a serial--is that there does need to be sex in every separate chapter. If you continually follow a pattern where everything in the chapter leads up to a concluding sex scene, though, you're going to be getting monotonous very quickly. Thus, although my previous post was tongue in cheek, it's also what I do. The chapter is written to contain a logical chunk of the whole work, with the ending usually being something entice the read to go on to the next chapter. The sex in the chapter is put in where it fits the storyline best.

 

[Kurokami]

I generally don't think about sex scenes at all until I'm actually writing them, unless the scene itself is supposed to reveal something about a character.

I think about plot and character, first and foremost. I think about what the story is, or what the characters are going through, and build the story around that. My current story is about how the characters have bent, or broken, around the traumas in their separate pasts. That's the primary concern I have in writing it; the sex scenes are a product of the fact that every character there is a huge pervert.

If done right, sex can be a character moment, and those are the scenes I plan ahead for. But I don't think that every sex scene needs to be that way; occasionally it can just be guilt free fun. And if you're writing a longer series, it's nice to vary the sex scenes; I'll generally have at least one in each chapter, but they might be short, relatively tame interludes, or full blown fuckfests. They might be at the beginning, middle or end of the chapter; it's really just down to what feels natural.

 

[avidreader_01]

I generally don't think about sex scenes at all until I'm actually writing them, unless the scene itself is supposed to reveal something about a character.

I think about plot and character, first and foremost. I think about what the story is, or what the characters are going through, and build the story around that. My current story is about how the characters have bent, or broken, around the traumas in their separate pasts. That's the primary concern I have in writing it; the sex scenes are a product of the fact that every character there is a huge pervert.

If done right, sex can be a character moment, and those are the scenes I plan ahead for. But I don't think that every sex scene needs to be that way; occasionally it can just be guilt free fun. And if you're writing a longer series, it's nice to vary the sex scenes; I'll generally have at least one in each chapter, but they might be short, relatively tame interludes, or full blown fuckfests. They might be at the beginning, middle or end of the chapter; it's really just down to what feels natural.

exactly

 

[PayDay]

This thread...

So, my question to everyone here is what do you do to create that balance? Or do you actually just roll with it and have a major sexual encounter in just about every chapter that you write?

I'm sure everyone will have a different answer for this one.

vouch on opinions

This thread is perfect. The responses so far are great. Erotica is not always about the sex.

a, Of, relating to, or tending to arouse sexual desire or excitement.

I try to write brain stimulation as often as possible, to make the mind react in any way possible. Family, laughter, worry, hope, tingles, etc.

I have to agree with the "start with a situation" and go from there, picturing what my character would do and how they got there. (not a bunch published here yet, 'please be patient' for those who enjoyed)

If you tell the reader it's a hurried situation, for instance, they will try to imagine it. This way, the better written the character, the more details we (the readers) have for the third person sex. If this was not the case, the readers of this kind of thing would probably be watching TV or something similar. Personally, I try and write the characters actions to mimick the theme of the specific situation they are in. One or more chapters of backstory full of imagery helps the sexual imagery explode, previous chapters being foreplay. sr71plt is on it, what that person said was dead on, the brain needs foreplay too... sometimes.

You don't just plow into your partner, whom you have never met, with out at least a tweak? Do you? Right?

You are story telling when you write for (us) readers and authors, it's like phone sex with a long distance other starting with "hello" and ending with "goodbye". Our mind is having it with your mind when you write erotica. Brain sex.

Just remember almost every author and every reader is different. It's your choice for whom you wish to appeal to. (see what I did there?)

 

[sr71plt]

I don't write the same story every time. Different scales of balance go into different stories. Sometimes I feel like just writing a steamy sex scene and sometimes I just want to write a story making a life point absent sex. So that's what I do in each case. Happily, readers' interests come in all forms too.

 

[Stella_Omega]

My favorite authors use the first chapter to lead up to sex. The second chapter begins with the promised sex scene, and then leads up to the next one. After that, the sex scenes themselves can be less frequent, which seems counter-intuitive but actually makes them more effective. Say, one avery two chapters. Or even one at the end of the next FIVE chapters, but what a hot one!

It also works best when each sex scene also furthers the story in some way. That's where balance comes in-- if I get engrossed in the plot itself, I will skim or even skip needless sex scenes- because I want to find out Who Done It more than I want to fap.

 

[PayDay]

It also works best when each sex scene also furthers the story in some way. That's where balance comes in-- if I get engrossed in the plot itself, I will skim or even skip needless sex scenes- because I want to find out Who Done It more than I want to fap.

This. Well thought out story ideas, that happened to include sexy sex type sex, make the reading. If the characters don't matter, then why would anyone read about them fucking in the style of the category? Isn't that what most porn videos are for?

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Great replies!

Great thread with great replies!

I just finished co-authoring a story with another writer (something I do VERY seldom) - he's working through it now, so I'll need to keep plotting issues to myself. But it's a story about sex, plain and simple... No, wait, it's a story about a man and a woman and they have a lot of sex... No, wait, the sex stuff drives the story because things are revealed because of the sex or what happens during the sex scene becomes fodder for later character motivation...

Crap.



It's erotica. It deals with very adult topics with grown-up words describing grown-up activities. But there are going to be a LOT of people who read it because it has some really steamy sex scenes in it. I believe others will re-read the sex scenes because as they read the story, they get to know the characters - the want to "see" Alfred getting it on with Frieda. And/or, because they know the deal with Alfred and Frieda, they get the undertones of what's going on DURING the sex.

So... back to YOUR question... balancing sex - that's a HUGE deal to me. Towards the end of the story, my co-writer thought we could pull back on some of the sex, but not me. Sex is what drew the reader into the story. Reading up to the next sex scene is what the reader is doing. And, if we did our job as authors, reading THROUGH the sex scene, because it will add to the story. I didn't put the sex into the story to gratuitous, I put the sex in the story because it TELLS the story.

Here's the other thing I did, too. Some of the drier parts, where describing every insertion wasn't crucial didn't get described. It went right to: "and they had sex." (Okay, I wrote it better than that.)

Here's the other, other thing I did. Feeling as if we needed a sex scene soon - I created one. Not a gratuitous one, but I fucked around with things, re-writing, until I got to the sex and used the sex to make my point. Why? Because I'm writing a damn sex story! LOL!

Sex stories NEED sex in it, IMHO. So, if you're feeling like you're going too long between sex scenes, maybe you're not really writing a sex story?