When reading erotica...

[NightDrive]

When you read an erotic story strictly for pleasure, do you find yourself becoming less aroused when the grammar/spelling is atrocious or is it purely based on the content that the author is writing about?

I remember this one time I was reading this story with an awesome premise, but I couldn't find myself getting into it because of all the run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, and what not...

Am I a crazy weirdo or do other people suffer from similiar things? I need to know!

Also, yay, first post!

 

[FatDino]

When you read an erotic story strictly for pleasure, do you find yourself becoming less aroused when the grammar/spelling is atrocious or is it purely based on the content that the author is writing about?

I remember this one time I was reading this story with an awesome premise, but I couldn't find myself getting into it because of all the run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, and what not...

Am I a crazy weirdo or do other people suffer from similiar things? I need to know!

Also, yay, first post!

First, welcome to the AH.

Second, to answer your question, yes, I do get less aroused when I come across stories with poor grammar/spelling. That's not the case with everyone though, but for those who are looking for more than just a stroke, good grammar/spelling is particularly important. This is not to say that there's anything wrong with pure "stroke-y" stories, just that wen u keep seeing to many typos, or peopel misusing their/they're/there n wen punctuations are not where them should be it can be a huge turn off.

Damn, that took a lot of effort to write.

 

[NightDrive]

First, welcome to the AH.

Second, to answer your question, yes, I do get less aroused when I come across stories with poor grammar/spelling. That's not the case with everyone though, but for those who are looking for more than just a stroke, good grammar/spelling is particularly important. This is not to say that there's anything wrong with pure "stroke-y" stories, just that wen u keep seeing to many typos, or peopel misusing their/they're/there n wen punctuations are not where them should be it can be a huge turn off.

Damn, that took a lot of effort to write.

Thank you, glad to be here.

I don't know if it's just because of all the school I've taken for English courses or if it's just some sort of weird OCD episode that I get when I should be focusing on the task at hand, but I just want to pull up my pants and start editing!

It makes me think that the author themselves were, as you said, doing the 'stroke-y' when they should've been doing the 'write-y'.

I'm hoping that the italicized part was the difficult part to write. Heh.

 

[FatDino]

Thank you, glad to be here.

I don't know if it's just because of all the school I've taken for English courses or if it's just some sort of weird OCD episode that I get when I should be focusing on the task at hand, but I just want to pull up my pants and start editing!

It makes me think that the author themselves were, as you said, doing the 'stroke-y' when they should've been doing the 'write-y'.

I'm hoping that the italicized part was the difficult part to write. Heh.

What I'm doing in university has nothing to do with literature and yet I still get irritated when I come across a poorly written story. I think it's more of the OCD, and just the way some of us are.

Yes, it was the italicized part.

 

[Verdad]

I tend to be a very demanding reader in all sorts of ways, but I will say, when it comes to arousal, something entirely naïve can sometimes work. Worse than a poorly crafted story full of enthusiasm is a laborious effort that conveys nothing at all.

 

[shewantsmore]

If the grammer is so bad you loose track of the story then its not good but most stories are well written

 

[relaxitsonlyme]

When you read an erotic story strictly for pleasure, do you find yourself becoming less aroused when the grammar/spelling is atrocious or is it purely based on the content that the author is writing about?

I remember this one time I was reading this story with an awesome premise, but I couldn't find myself getting into it because of all the run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, and what not...

Am I a crazy weirdo or do other people suffer from similiar things? I need to know!

Also, yay, first post!

Depends how absorbing the story is, if it's really well written, apart from the spelling, I find the sheer arousal just takes over!

 

[bb_peaks]

When you read an erotic story strictly for pleasure, do you find yourself becoming less aroused when the grammar/spelling is atrocious or is it purely based on the content that the author is writing about?

If it's pretty bad then yes I will click away and go to something else. I will find myself trying to correct the grammar if I don't. If there are just a couple minor things in it, I will read on.

Welcome to the AH

 

[Austin8]

If it's pretty bad then yes I will click away and go to something else. I will find myself trying to correct the grammar if I don't. If there are just a couple minor things in it, I will read on.

Welcome to the AH

I think sometimes I pick my writing apart looking for the little syntax bastards, They turn me off when I'm getting heated up reading a story. Welcome to AH!

 

[jomar]

Yeah, even in a stroke piece bad spelling/grammar yanks me out of the story and I want to get my red sharpie. Good spelling/grammar is invisible.

 

[xssve]

Narrative arts rely on a psychological phenomena known as "suspension of disbelief", obvious perhaps, but ideally the writer tries to involve their reader to the point that they forget it's a story - anytime you find yourself losing involvement, whether it's grammar and spelling in literature, bad acting, plot holes, or turgid dialogue in a movie, etc., it means the creator has failed to engage and hold your attention.

Different people have different things they notice, I notice spelling, typo's kick me out of the zone every time, while with movies, it's usually holes in the plot, particularly when a simple resolution appears, and the characters ignore it to drag the movie out for another hour of car chases.

If you're going to write drama like that, make sure the characters have no other options. If the story is really good, usually you can get right back in the zone, in spite of minor flaws that disrupt the flow of the narrative.

Thing is, with spellcheck and so forth, technical flaws like this are the easiest thing to avoid.

 

[Saucy_Sage]

Anything that you notice - typos, poor grammar, a firetruck going by your house, your kid crying - can take you out of the 'zone' that the writer wants you in, whether it's a stroke zone (self-coitus interruptus?) or just a reading zone. If it's the typos and the grammar, then it's the writer's fault. His/her story will "work" only for those who don't notice those sorts of things when they read.

 

[slyc_willie]

I've had a few of my stories picked apart for the grammar and word usage, which is always a little annoying (mainly because I didn't catch the mistakes even after editing). But I've never had anyone complain that such mistakes compromised the story. I'm happy for that.

Still, there are few things more embarrassing than having a reader point out when you used "dessert" instead of "desert," for instance. It's almost enough to want to pull the story for editing.

 

[Saucy_Sage]

Am I a crazy weirdo or do other people suffer from similiar things? I need to know!

Also, yay, first post!

Oh, and just so we're clear, I'm taking no position on your first question ... other than to note that the two aren't necessarily exclusive.

And welcome to the AH!

 

[xssve]

Anything that you notice - typos, poor grammar, a firetruck going by your house, your kid crying - can take you out of the 'zone' that the writer wants you in, whether it's a stroke zone (self-coitus interruptus?) or just a reading zone. If it's the typos and the grammar, then it's the writer's fault. His/her story will "work" only for those who don't notice those sorts of things when they read.

One can't do anything about kids, cell phone conversations or loud audience commentary during a movie, I'm talking about things the writer has control over under hypothetical ideal reading conditions.

 

[Burcham]

When you read an erotic story strictly for pleasure, do you find yourself becoming less aroused when the grammar/spelling is atrocious or is it purely based on the content that the author is writing about?

I remember this one time I was reading this story with an awesome premise, but I couldn't find myself getting into it because of all the run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, and what not...

Am I a crazy weirdo or do other people suffer from similiar things? I need to know!

Also, yay, first post!

Absolutely. Poor grammar or sentence structure is a turn-off.

 

[NightDrive]

Oh, and just so we're clear, I'm taking no position on your first question ... other than to note that the two aren't necessarily exclusive.

And welcome to the AH!

Oh, you're bad. Haha.

Thanks for the responses and welcomes people, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who lets grammar get in the way of pleasure.

 

[gauchecritic]

If a few typoes or misapplied commas throws you out of a story then you're just not concentrating hard enough.

How do you pick up the book you were reading the night before and carry straight on with the story? How do you manage to immerse yourself in the second part of the season finale of your fave programme?

Concentrate people. It's not the writers fault if your attention span is faulty.

(You may gather from that, that I believe if the content is good then the mechanics don't matter)

 

[sr71plt]

(You may gather from that, that I believe if the content is good then the mechanics don't matter)

Or are relative, I think. (I think mechanics do matter.) There's no such thing as perfect copy. (There isn't even full agreement on what perfect copy would be.) If you run across three or four typos in a 3,000-word story, you're just being anal to let that bother you (and most probably are tossing bricks through your own glass windows).

 

[_Lynn_]

When you read an erotic story strictly for pleasure, do you find yourself becoming less aroused when the grammar/spelling is atrocious or is it purely based on the content that the author is writing about?

I remember this one time I was reading this story with an awesome premise, but I couldn't find myself getting into it because of all the run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, and what not...

Am I a crazy weirdo or do other people suffer from similiar things? I need to know!

Also, yay, first post!

I don't read erotic stories for pleasure, since they do nothing for me.
It's the same as with watching movies of any sort -- I get bored.

 

[Handley_Page]

To my mind, that art of a good (erotic) story is to ask: "if the sex was removed, would it be a good story?" I've recently read a couple by one author for whom the answer is Yes and he's damned good!
Writing simple porn is different.

 

[Lady_Guenivere]

I find that I tend to edit everything as I am reading. If the story requires a lot of mental editing, I find it hard to become aroused. If it requires no editing, I can get into it and enjoy the journey it takes me on.

If a story has poor spelling or grammar...or if it is full of slang I won't read it no matter how much the subject matter intrigues me.

 

[NightDrive]

If a few typoes or misapplied commas throws you out of a story then you're just not concentrating hard enough.

How do you pick up the book you were reading the night before and carry straight on with the story? How do you manage to immerse yourself in the second part of the season finale of your fave programme?

Concentrate people. It's not the writers fault if your attention span is faulty.

(You may gather from that, that I believe if the content is good then the mechanics don't matter)

I don't think having a break from reading and sputtering through waves of poor grammar are related at all. Generally speaking, if you're reading a stroke piece, you are probably not bookmarking it for the next night.

I'd argue that an odd typo is not a big deal, but when the author is constantly spelling the same word wrong, it can get a little frustrating, no?

 

[gauchecritic]

I'd argue that an odd typo is not a big deal, but when the author is constantly spelling the same word wrong, it can get a little frustrating, no?

So if you're english you can't read an american's story due to all the misspellings?