What are the basic elements that make up a really good story?

[KillerMuffin]

Ignoring your own. Do not ask for feedback, please.


What are the basic elements that a story needs to be a really good one? Outstanding even?

What separates the men from the boys, so to speak?

Why do you think these things are necessary?

 

[Couture]

It's got to be interesting. That's the main thing.

Some stories don't have much plot going, but have interesting characters. Others have the plot, but not the characters. The really good ones have both.

 

[peachykeen]

What Couture said. Plausible dialogue is a big one for me, too.

 

[wildsweetone]

(did you check your email yet? )

What are the basic elements that a story needs to be a really good one? Outstanding even?

What separates the men from the boys, so to speak?

Why do you think these things are necessary?

in my humble opinion

basic elements: interest, dialogue, action, movement, excitement, intrigue.

men/boy separater: subtext - without it stories are completely boring. with subtext, stories are so much more enhanced.

why are they necessary?: to keep the reader interested enough to flick through the entire story and then to be hacked off because they've finished the story. then to ensure that they HUNT out the rest of the stories written by that author who held them by the shirt collar until they'd finished.

*now going to write all this down so i don't forget if for my next pen and paper play time* lol

 

[the_bragis]

Interesting...

mmm... That's an interesting question.

Well for me, I look for what I like to call the the three 'E's .

Easy to read. I don't like to get bogged down in a whole lot of flowery tripe. "Eyes sparkling like bubbles champagne and lips like pouting polished rubies' just doesn't do it for me.

Some authors can paint beautiful pictures with elaborate metaphors, but like painting, it's an art most people just don't have.

I consider myself a reasonably articulate person, and I appreciate vivid desciptions, but I don't want to be running for my dictionary at every second line either. Every so often when I am reading a story in here, I think, the author must have sat there flicking through his or her thesaurus for hours. It just slows down an otherwise good read. Of course I have learnt a few new words here too, words that are not in any dictionary.

Entertaining. I love stories that take me 'away' for the time I am reading them. Stories that make me smile, not laugh, just smile.

It's got to have a plot too, not just sex. Not that I'm knocking that at all, and that brings me to my third point.

Erotic. I come here to read about sex. Ok? People saying it and having it, everywhere and every way. Yes I'm a sick little bunny I know, but if I want to read anything else, I have an excellent library near by.

Of course others may differ. These, however, are the 'elements' I consider make a good story.

Have a great day,

Alex(fem)

 

[ronde]

To hold my interest a story needs:

1. A plausible and interesting plot. It doesn't have to be complex or even unique, but it must be some event that could happen. I know it probably happens every day, but it's still difficult for me to believe that two strangers meet by accident and end up in bed five minutes later. I need them to have a reason to be together.

2. Good visuals. I need a story to paint a picture in my head as I read. I agree with bragis about the over-use of ten-dollar words. Recreational reading shouldn't be all that challenging or readers, including myself, will just go on to something else. Commonly used words usually carry a heavier load of connotations for most people, and do a much better job of conveying meaning.

3. Believable dialogue. Characters need to talk to me in the language that would be normal for the character, and not in the language of the writer's fantasy. "Good" girls do not suddenly become fountains of pornographic speech simply because they have a cock between their thighs. Slutty girls might, but even then, please keep the verbage to that which she could think up as she's gasping for breath and the shivers are racking her body. The same applies to male characters. Most of us aren't especially eloquent at that time because our brains are busy elsewhere.

4. An ending that makes sense. This is like the plausible plot in that the ending of a story should be something that could happen, and also that will leave me wondering what happened next. The author needs to stop the story by some means other than just stopping. An ending could be as simple as "I waited 'til he fell asleep, and then dressed and quietly slipped out the door. He would never see me again.", but it must both end the current scene and make me want to know more.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

An important ingredient in a story is, to me, believable charcters and a belieavable dialogue. I've said it on every thread on this site, so you all know it by now. Come on, kiddies, let's all say it together:

REALISM!!!

 

[TheWriter]

I've got a real thing about realism too. Not so real that it's almost too real, but realistic, and most importantly believable.

Good dialogue is also essential. Even if there is very little in the way of actual dialogue, but conversational narration works well too.

But really it just has to get my attention quickly and maintain my interest throughout.

 

[horny_giraffe]

about plausability

A lot of times, the sort of inherent implausability of the story doesn't make it less true. If one states the story in such a way that it is clearly a fantasy--there is truth in that. After all, who would contridict me if I say that I want something--no matter how unrealistic that desire might be? Who is going to tell me that I not feeling what I'm feeling?

I have an acquaintance who delights in telling outrageous stories as if they are true--but there is a certain ingenuous quality to his stories. It's as if--while he is telling me these stories--he believes, deep down, that although he knows that I know he is making up the stories, somehow they are sort of true. A few times I have actually laughed, saying something like "That's outrageous!" or "That story is a little over-the-top, don't you think?" Sometimes he will actually change his story. His stories can really be a hoot. On the personal level, the stories really are about him, in that they reflect what he might wish was true about himself and his past--and it's not really lying if everybody knows you're lying.

The cliche introduction of the woman with 36DDD breasts, shoulder-length platinum hair, and a 28-inch waist can pretty much telling me that a story is intended to be a fantasy--and that can be good. The cliches can actually reinforce the sense that it's just a beer buddy telling me a tall tale at the story local bar.

Perhaps that just my way of turning a "bad" story into a "good" story. In that case, I guess this is just my manner of appreciation.

 

[the_bragis]

44DDD tits and 30cm cocks...

Mmm... now did that get you're attention?

I'm not entirely sure I agree it must be 'believable' to be enjoyable.

I read some amazing stories in here. Some shock me, some excite me, some are so damned morally corrupt they couldn't possibly occur unless all hell froze over, but they are still a very good read.

Sure the 44DDD tits and the 30cm cocks are a little over the top. But really, don't you sometime in your deepest and darkest thoughts fantasize about something so totally outrageous it just couldn't possibly happen? And doesn't it excite you just a little? I'll be honest and put my hand up, I do and it does. That is the reason they are call 'fantasies'.

Hey, check it out, this is my (our - B and mine's) century posting!

Well have a great day,
Alex (fem)

 

[Svenskaflicka]

If I read a story about a Barbie doll and a bull getting it on, my mind stops concentrating ont he story and the erotica of it, and instead starts to imagine the characters tripping around, her trying not to fall forward, him doing his best not to trip over his dick as he walks...

 

[the_bragis]

Please remove your foot.

If I read a story about a Barbie doll and a bull getting it on, my mind stops concentrating ont he story and the erotica of it, and instead starts to imagine the characters tripping around, her trying not to fall forward, him doing his best not to trip over his dick as he walks

Svenskaflicka,

You seem like an interesting, well informed, and reasonably broadminded lady. So, isn't it a pity you feel the need to make a mockery of those who don't happen to share your opinions?

Have a good day.

Alex.

 

[Flashlight7.5]

The 3 most important things

I'm stunned that no one has mentioned the three most important things to any story:

Beginning, middle, end.

Three-act structure. There are few things worse in literature than stories that go nowhere.

I'm in complete agreement about realistic dialogue. The vocabulary of the characters must be true to their backgrounds.

Also, don't linger too long in scenes. The best writing advice I've heard so far is, "Come into a scene late and get out early."

 

[gauchecritic]

Realism or fantasy

A minor point worth mentioning, how do you get realism into a sci-fi sex story?

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes about what sort of writing turns them on or off but at a guess I'd say that what you 'fantasize' about as you wank, pleasure yourself, masturbate, relax or whatever (I know lots and lots of girlies who won't admit to that) is likely to be what you would find to be a good story to read.

For me, like many of the posters here that would include realism.

Length, I mean wordage, often puts me off if I have to trawl through lots of descriptive or historical passages which 'set the scene'. This is where good writing (in my opinion) comes to the fore. A good story will set up the characters, place and time within the first two paragraphs, without giving a list of character attributes, location description or other paraphernalia. Alternatively a good story can set up the character, place and time during the course of the action without hindering the plot or flow.

How a story ends should be at the denouement (I love that word) that is to say it should end at the place to which it has been leading. Additional flourishes or promises of more to come, make new beginnings not endings.

 

[Blackpearlz]

Common thread here is "realism." I agree. One person mentioned that whatever fantasy a woman can think up while she's getting off would probably make a good story. So I'll give you some traits of my best wet dreams:

Mystery--leave something to the imagination. I don't necessarily need to know hair color, dick size, what he's wearing, her measurements, etc. A few details are nice, but some stories I read go entirely too far. I think if the plot is strong, little things like that don't matter as much. And if you paint the picture masterfully enough, you kinda get the idea that the guy's a stallion without knowing how many inches/centimeters he's packin.

Variety--step away from the stereotype! in some of my dreams, i play the male role, though I'm a straight female. sometimes I'm white in my fantasies, though I'm not in reality. one day I'd like to write from the perspective of a white male and see how I'd play that role.

Passion--i like seeing characters who have a strong passion for something, anything (not just his/her lover). i love having the chance to really love/hate the person as a result of their passions/flaws/whatever, and then insert conflict to see what the do with it.

this is my first post in a very loooong time so forgive if it doesn't make much sense.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Re: Please remove your foot.

If I read a story about a Barbie doll and a bull getting it on, my mind stops concentrating ont he story and the erotica of it, and instead starts to imagine the characters tripping around, her trying not to fall forward, him doing his best not to trip over his dick as he walks

Svenskaflicka,

You seem like an interesting, well informed, and reasonably broadminded lady. So, isn't it a pity you feel the need to make a mockery of those who don't happen to share your opinions?

Have a good day.

Alex.

OK, boys and girls, home work for tomorrow will be to look up the word "joke" in your dictionaries, and write an essay about what it means!

 

[karmadog]

Realism

Realism is nice, but believability is better.

I like a story that has something to say. Not that it has to end in a moral like Aesop might do, but there should be some point to the story beyond masturbation. Mental or otherwise.

However, really good writing makes up for a lot.

 

[Graymouse]

I prefer realism to fantasy, but that's just me. Even within the freedom of fantasy, however, I think you establish certain rules for this alter-reality and it's important that you uphold them. And though it's been said before, believable dialogue is absolutely key. My pet peeve--when people insist on inserting character names every time someone speaks.

"Bob, you're the sexiest man I know."

"You think so? I bet you'd like to blow me, right Susie?"

"Yes, you know I would, Bob."

"Excellent, Susie. Captain Winkie's been waiting for this all day."

"Really, Bob? Well, I'm going to make him very happy."

How often do people actually talk like this?

Another critical element to good storytelling, in my opinion, is conflict. It's just no fun to read about happy, perfect people having happy, perfect sex all the time. Happy, perfect sex is great, but build up to it a little, you know? It's all about the anticipation.

 

[gauchecritic]

I concur

Spot on mouse. Anticipation.

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

Some stories don't have much plot going, but have interesting characters. Others have the plot, but not the characters. The really good ones have both.

|
To those two, I'd add "location."
Now, you have all three in almost all stories. But an
interesting and realistically drawn location, characters I
care about, doing things which matter to them, that is the
beginning of a good story.
After that, you have to describe it well. OTOH, it is hard
as hell to describe well a space you haven't decided upon
or characters who aren't real to you.

 

[janet_tenaj]

Re: Realism or fantasy

A minor point worth mentioning, how do you get realism into a sci-fi sex story?

In the best science fiction, the story usually involves breaking only one accepted law of physics, or one wildly speculative interpretation of technology. The rest of it is quite realistic. Especially the characters and their relationships, which is ultimately what all stories are about (even when there is only one character and the relationship is with him-/her- self).

Consider "Starship Troopers". The novel, by Robert Heinlein. Not that horrible movie. It's a story about war, and coming of age, and politics, and of the age-old father-son relationship.

The novel also spends a bit of time philosophizing, and taking digs at the real-world politics at the time it was written. While this is speculative it is not necessarily unrealistic, and it can be done in any genre. "Starship Troopers" could have been a WWII story and still touched on issues like women in combat and the idea of citizens earning the right to vote only through military service.

It's all set against a backdrop where the war is against an alien race and the Good Guys fight while riding in something resembling giant powered robots.

The only "science fiction" in the story involves the alien race (which is hardly described at all and exists mainly to give the Good Guys something to fight) and travelling faster than light (which is also glossed over, because it's really a convenient way to get the Good Guys and the Bad Guys fighting more quickly). Other science-fictioney things in the story, like powered body armor, tactical nuclear weapons, space ships, etc. are all realistic extrapolations of what technology can or will be able to do.

You could take away the aliens and the space ships, set the story against World War III, and have something that wouldn't be sci-fi but could still very well be the same story.

I guess the point that I'm making is that realism abounds in sci-fi, if you ignore the small amount of license with respect to technology and laws of physics taken by the author. Good sci-fi is all about the story and never about the "science".

I would assume the same would apply to erotic sci-fi. Who would want to read a story about alien bugs fucking? If I, as a human, can relate in a meaningful way to the "aliens", then it must mean that the aliens aren't so alien after all -- and there's your basis for realism. If you take off Spocks ears, he's just a tall stoic human.

 

[gaigirl]

interest...

In my humble and virgin opinion, so take it for what it is worth, here is what I need to keep going in a story. I need stories to be proofread with accuracy.

I am surprised that in spite of decent plots, and believable, likeable characters, there is often poor quality of writing in terms of grammar, punctuation and spelling. With editorial assistance readily available, (although no one responded to my solicitation for help-- I tried three different people, but that is a subject for another thread--) My turn on and my enjoyment of a story gets a cold shower as soon as I am reading along and I get to someone's "taught asshole".

"Gee, what can you teach an asshole?", I think to myself... there went the turn on.

Those glitches stop a story line cold for me.

 

[gauchecritic]

heinlein

Yes I know, this isn't about erotica but I just had to get a dig in.

Robert Heinlein, IMHO is the single most, chauvanistic, Right Wing (include fascist and anarchist in there) mysogenistic sci-fi author I have ever read.

He does write pretty good stories, although the sci-fi is always a vehicle, and always throughout every book of his I have read, I cannot stop myself smiling, so much so that my face begins to hurt, smiling at the amount of effort spent in trying to hide all the above traits.

A much better, harder science-fictionist/story teller is Larry Niven.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: heinlein

Robert Heinlein, IMHO is the single most, chauvanistic, Right Wing (include fascist and anarchist in there) mysogenistic sci-fi author I have ever read.

RAH was NOT misogynistic! He probably wasn't Fascist either.

Right wing anarchist is pretty apt though.

RAH had more women protagonists and strong independent female characters than anyone before him -- he's pretty much the first to admit that women would even survive into the future as anything other than "BEM bait."

(I never have figured out why the BEMs would want our women in the first place.)

 

[horny_giraffe]

Re: Re: heinlein

RAH was NOT misogynistic! He probably wasn't Fascist either.
Right wing anarchist is pretty apt though.

RAH had more women protagonists and strong independent female characters than anyone before him -- he's pretty much the first to admit that women would even survive into the future as anything other than "BEM bait."

(I never have figured out why the BEMs would want our women in the first place.)

I agree.

I always figured that you have to judge a writer like Heinlein within his own historical context. His stories are full of strange anachronisms like heroes that speak in 50's language "Golly, I would never hit a girl. " and "Swell!" Can you imagine someone piloting an interstellar spacecraft with a slide rule, or a modern car costing less than two thousand dollars?

Yes, I think he was misogynistic and chauvanistic by 21st century standards; but within his own cultural context of the mid-20th century, he might have even been considered rather liberal.

I liked Starship Troopers, the movie--but you do need to seperate it from Heinlein's work. While I would guess that Heinlein's tone seems to suggest that he took his novel quite seriously, the goofy, mocking tone of the movie clearly implies satire. You still might dislike the movie. I "get" Oscar Wilde--but I never found him particularly funny. Everybody has different tastes.

An extreme example of the human side of science fiction is one of my all-time favorites: "Ender's Game." It takes extreme liberties with the scientific plausability--FTL travel, the "ansible," the buggers, etc--but the story isn't really about those things. I can happily ignore the scientific implausability, since the character story is written so well.

On the other hand, the epic "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson is the most plausable story of terraforming Mars that I've ever read. The human side of the story is a little "pop psychology," but since this story is chiefly an epic, he rarely focuses on a single character for more than a few chapters, anyway.