When is it hard?

[desertslave]

No, not that! (Hopefully, that would be obvious.)

I'm working on a story I had mothballed for a while, got past the part that had me stuck last time, and stumbled right into another problem. I'm working on it, but it got me wondering how it is for other writers. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. (And a good distraction is handy right now.)

So what part(s) of an erotic story do you find the most difficult to write? Is it the beginning, the ending, the dialog or character descriptions? Is it getting your character(s) into or out of bed together (at least figuratively)? Scene setting or action, or the actual down & dirty bits?

Just wondering where your usual stumbling blocks are, and maybe even what you do to get over them.

 

[glynndah]

For me it's often the transitions. I can write scene after scene, but trying to get them to mesh is a sticking point for me.

 

[damppanties]

For me it's often the transitions. I can write scene after scene, but trying to get them to mesh is a sticking point for me.

Use those little scene separators (* * *).

To the OP: I had a point where I couldn't write good sex to save my life. Whatever I wrote felt wooden and horrible. I had numerous beginnings that were abandoned when I came to the sexy bits... and then that hard drive crashed, wiping all my work away. *wipes away tear*

 

[Darkniciad]

It's typically the lead-up to the ending that gets me. Those critical events have to be just right, or the story will sit.

The ending itself has normally been "written" in my head since the beginning, but I tend to let my characters lead me from A->B, and sometimes they walk down blind alleys

 

[TE999]

In many of my stories, sex is the pivot around which the plot revolves; ie: the interaction of the lead characters (who are having sex) to the situations I place them in. Gratuitous sex scenes not integral to a storyline or character delineation/development stand out in a story like warts on a frog and actually detract from the piece.

I, as many other authors, have a sheaf of unfinished stories that probably will remain so. When you lose interest in what you're writing, the reader will as well and it's time to quit.

It's easy to conceive a beginning and an ending to a story; it's coming up with the stuff in between that's hard.

 

[slyc_willie]

For me it's often the transitions. I can write scene after scene, but trying to get them to mesh is a sticking point for me.

This, and . . .

It's typically the lead-up to the ending that gets me. Those critical events have to be just right, or the story will sit.

The ending itself has normally been "written" in my head since the beginning, but I tend to let my characters lead me from A->B, and sometimes they walk down blind alleys

. . . this. My current story is basically finished, I just have to write the actual ending. At over 50k words, I'm feeling the pressure of a truly dramatic, memorable ending. Parts of it are there; I know how the two bad guys are going to die, but getting to those scenes in a way that is satisfying to both me and (hopefully) the reader is proving a little more difficult than I had anticipated.

 

[slyc_willie]

It's easy to conceive a beginning and an ending to a story; it's coming up with the stuff in between that's hard.

Yeah, that whole "story" part can be a pain in the ass.

 

[Darkniciad]

Every so often I'll have a scene transition that gives me fits, but for some reason, I'm able to skip over that and come back to it later with a great deal more ease than that lead-in to the ending.

About half the time, when I have a transition issue, it's because the scene is dragging out too long. When I backtrack and cut some extraneous interaction, I usually find that breaking point.

 

[slyc_willie]

Every so often I'll have a scene transition that gives me fits, but for some reason, I'm able to skip over that and come back to it later with a great deal more ease than that lead-in to the ending.

About half the time, when I have a transition issue, it's because the scene is dragging out too long. When I backtrack and cut some extraneous interaction, I usually find that breaking point.

I sometimes make the entire story too long for the sake of trying to emphasize a point. Unfortunately, I can't always see when a simple hammer works better than a two-handed maul. On a recent story, after getting back to it following a few days, I realized a full six pages of text -- and the scene it described -- were completely extraneous, so I cut it out. That was frustrating.

 

[vgrey]

Blocks usually come from having too many options competing in my head at once. That's why I just have to write through it. I might write several pages that I just throw away but once I get through that things usually fall into place.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

Use those little scene separators (* * *).

To the OP: I had a point where I couldn't write good sex to save my life. Whatever I wrote felt wooden and horrible. I had numerous beginnings that were abandoned when I came to the sexy bits... and then that hard drive crashed, wiping all my work away. *wipes away tear*

Don't feel bad Dampie. I hate writing sex scenes. It seems too repetitive. That's why I write more in the LW cause I can get away with minimal sex.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

COFFEE, TEA, OR ME?

While I don't care for Dorothy Hughes' 'female-centric' writing she was a genius at writing scene transitions. Very slick. Very plausible. And larded with hidden agendas. When things look the most certain she throws a wrench in the machinery, and its not complicated stuff. Dot had a whole set of Craftsman tools.

Example: Reggie is a macho guy fulla himself. He tells his girlfriend, I'LL PICK YOU UP AT 8, AND DONT BE LATE. So she isn't home when he arrives. She doesn't answer her phone. She's out with another guy. And Reggie is crushed. But his best friends wife shows up at his door, and about the time youre expecting things to get interesting the girlfriend phones him, WHO'S THE BITCH YOURE WITH! Reggie gets the girlfriend off the phone with lies and bullshit and gets back to Sylvia, and then the girlfriend is pounding on Reggie's door. So the girls touch gloves and spar until Sylvia's husband shows up and drags her home. The girlfriend now has Reggie to herself. And after he learns that the date was a notorious fag with a great job offer, Reggie and the girlfriend kiss, makeup, and screw all night.

Looks like the best transitions feature unexpected turns in the plot. A lil goose.

 

[Catchalot]

For me its always the ending.

My stories just start in my head while I'm watering, or sitting around. By the time I start typing, all the conflict and resolution is thought out, but its so easy for me to keep a story going, sometimes I just can't walk away from my characters. I feel like I'm killing them if I end the story.

For the last couple months I've been writing the endings first, and then working my way towards them. I have no idea if its working though

 

[NaokoSmith]

My only trouble is finding the time to write. What with the housework, the part time job, the Piglet, my four blogs and flirting in here, the days just seem to fly by. I have to snatch odd half hours on the train or in the early hours or stay up late to write. Sometimes I think this helps as I never have stumbling blocks in the writing, I just have to get on with it so I do.

Oh, there is one exception. If I have to put a character through an abusive scene for plot reasons, I get miserable about it. I have to write it badly first and go back over it several times.

One of my colleagues used to say: Don't get it right, get it written. I do find that if something is slow to come, just writing it out badly and then going back over it helps.

 

[Dyslexicea]

My only trouble is finding the time to write. What with the housework, the part time job, the Piglet, my four blogs and flirting in here, the days just seem to fly by. I have to snatch odd half hours on the train or in the early hours or stay up late to write. Sometimes I think this helps as I never have stumbling blocks in the writing, I just have to get on with it so I do.

Oh, there is one exception. If I have to put a character through an abusive scene for plot reasons, I get miserable about it. I have to write it badly first and go back over it several times.

One of my colleagues used to say: Don't get it right, get it written. I do find that if something is slow to come, just writing it out badly and then going back over it helps.

Very good advice Naoko, it's worked for me in the past, and it applies to both fiction and not fiction.

 

[MrPezman]

When is it NOT hard?

The stories, I mean, not... well, anyway, for me, more often than not, I end up rewriting descriptions of characters in my stories because I start out with a person in my head, and I usually end up revising it at some point. Besides that, I tend to tell more story than sex, which can be a turnoff for readers looking for a quick sex story. I really enjoy the journey, I think, and sometimes the sex can't be easily gotten. Perhaps I should work on that...