Why do you write?

[Dennis_St_John]

Plot or sex driven

Here is a question for the group that has had been puzzling me. As writers of Erotica, we naturally assume that our stories will be full of sex, to one degree or another. In non-erotica stories, the writer would simply say something like ...the lovers kissed, their arms enfolding each other as their bodies came together at last… End of chapter, story and fade to black, as they say. With erotic writers, that's the point where the story starts to get really interesting.

But, here's the thing. As writers of erotica, among other things, do we just fill page after page with one sex scene after another and call it a story, or… Do we craft a good, interesting, well written story in its own right, and include heavy sex scenes as the story develops?

Most porno movies seem to fall into the first catagory, and just string sex scenes together with no thought to a plot whatsoever. Boring! Once in a while, a movie like 'The Story of O' comes along and is a lot more… fun to watch. There are a few other movies that are plot driven, but you get the point. So, the question is, should we write a good erotic story that's plot driven, or sex driven? Please don't just say both, that's too easy an answer, and doesn't give the question serious thought.

Thanks. DSJ

 

[Acktion]

… Do we craft a good, interesting, well written story in its own right, and include heavy sex scenes as the story develops?

Well, Dennis, I can't tell you what I manage to do, but you can read over my accepted works and be able to tell pretty darn quick. What I can tell you is what I TRY to do.

I do try to write a good, interesting, believable story with interesting multi-dimensional characters, sound dialogue, and something resembling a plot. Or, to put it in sexual terms, I want to give good foreplay.

In fact, on a couple of my accepted pieces, I purposefully trimmed the explicit acts to a bare minimum and hedged myself around by using phrasing that would allude rather than depict.

However, I have always been bothered by that black screen followed by an actor and actress under an L-shaped sheet. What REALLY happens that we can't see? As I said in my earlier posting in this same thread, I may have a more than normal emphasis on the sexual components of a relationship, but I truly believe that that IS the defining moment of a romantic (or not so romantic) relationship.

Whether I manage it or not, you are more than welcome to tell me as I keep trying to get better at it.

 

[Handley_Page]

Here is a question for the group that has had been puzzling me. As writers of Erotica, we naturally assume that our stories will be full of sex, to one degree or another. In non-erotica stories, the writer would simply say something . . .

But, here's the thing. As writers of erotica, among other things, do we just fill page after page with one sex scene after another and call it a story, or… Do we craft a good, interesting, well written story in its own right, and include heavy sex scenes as the story develops?

So, the question is, should we write a good erotic story that's plot driven, or sex driven? Please don't just say both, that's too easy an answer, and doesn't give the question serious thought.

Thanks. DSJ

I'm still learning to write (I have real problems with the story), but it seems to me that a story should be judged upon whether the story stands up if the sex is taken out.

 

[oggbashan]

Here is a question for the group that has had been puzzling me. As writers of Erotica, we naturally assume that our stories will be full of sex, to one degree or another. In non-erotica stories, the writer would simply say something like ...the lovers kissed, their arms enfolding each other as their bodies came together at last… End of chapter, story and fade to black, as they say. With erotic writers, that's the point where the story starts to get really interesting.

But, here's the thing. As writers of erotica, among other things, do we just fill page after page with one sex scene after another and call it a story, or… Do we craft a good, interesting, well written story in its own right, and include heavy sex scenes as the story develops?

... So, the question is, should we write a good erotic story that's plot driven, or sex driven? Please don't just say both, that's too easy an answer, and doesn't give the question serious thought.

Thanks. DSJ

Rules are made to be broken but my take on this is:

1. If the story works without the sex, the sex is an add-on, optional, and it isn't erotica. Can I delete the sex? If the story still makes sense then I have failed to write erotica.

2. If the sex works without the story, then it isn't a story, it's a sex scene.

3. The sex has to be an integral part of the plot and must contribute something to the story.

4. Neither the sex, nor the story, should detract from the other. They should work together.

However, looking at my posted stories, in some of them I have broken all four rules above. My best stories follow the rules.

 

[Harry Leg]

Rules are made to be broken but my take on this is:

1. If the story works without the sex, the sex is an add-on, optional, and it isn't erotica. Can I delete the sex? If the story still makes sense then I have failed to write erotica.

2. If the sex works without the story, then it isn't a story, it's a sex scene.

3. The sex has to be an integral part of the plot and must contribute something to the story.

4. Neither the sex, nor the story, should detract from the other. They should work together.

However, looking at my posted stories, in some of them I have broken all four rules above. My best stories follow the rules.

That's brilliant Ogg. Really, those rules should be posted on a sticky somewhere.
I've broken all four of them in some of my stories too.

 

[sr71plt]

I think anyone else can approach the writing anyway they like.

For me, I write both mainstream and erotica. It always starts out as a story and only slips over into erotica--and sometimes into porn--when I reach a coupling scene and don't want to be limited on how graphic it is. That said, some stories come to me that are couched in the sexual, so there's no question that they are going to be erotica.

So, I don't really agree with Ogg's first point. For years I wrote mainstream works that were restricted in where/how far they could go with sexual situations (I still write those as a matter of fact). They stood alone as mainstream stories. When I permitted myself to just keep the sex scenes going into the graphic depiction, that didn't suddenly stop them from being a story that worked or from being erotica because the story would have worked without the graphic sex.

 

[oggbashan]

I think anyone else can approach the writing anyway they like.
...

So, I don't really agree with Ogg's first point. For years I wrote mainstream works that were restricted in where/how far they could go with sexual situations (I still write those as a matter of fact). They stood alone as mainstream stories. When I permitted myself to just keep the sex scenes going into the graphic depiction, that didn't suddenly stop them from being a story that worked or from being erotica because the story would have worked without the graphic sex.

I agree with your first sentence. I also agree that you can include graphic sex into stories that work.

My 'rules' are intended for stories posted on Literotica. If there is sex, it shouldn't be 'I included some sex here because I'm writing for Literotica'. The sex should be relevant to the story.

But - whatever works for you. I'm not the best writer of erotica. I may have 3 Ws but none of them are for stories.

 

[RjThoughts]

I write because I have a story to tell.

I write for myself and those that want to read that story.

 

[Dennis_St_John]

Thanks people. Great replies to my question. For me, I find it great fun, and a challenge to write an interesting story in itself, and not be restricted as to the degree of graphic sex I include. I might modify slightly, with a little less graphic detail for the so-called 'main stream', but overall I don't like being restricted on the sexual content.

This might diminish my audience, but what the hey. I guess I am writing more for my own pleasure, entertainment, and enjoyment than other people in the first place. If you don't like reading 'adult' stories, then stick with children's or juvenile books. Barbara Castle made a fortune writing hot, sticky sex stories. I think they call them 'bra rippers'. Thanks again.

 

[Dennis_St_John]

Rules are made to be broken but my take on this is:

1. If the story works without the sex, the sex is an add-on, optional, and it isn't erotica. Can I delete the sex? If the story still makes sense then I have failed to write erotica.

2. If the sex works without the story, then it isn't a story, it's a sex scene.

3. The sex has to be an integral part of the plot and must contribute something to the story.

4. Neither the sex, nor the story, should detract from the other. They should work together.

However, looking at my posted stories, in some of them I have broken all four rules above. My best stories follow the rules.

.

Oggs reply to my question is valid. But a suddenly thought struck me. It might be a silly question at this point in time, but what exactly makes a story Erotic? I've read many stories that have great sex scenes in them, but they are not considered 'erotic' by the main stream publishers. So where, or what is the line (so to speak) that you cross that turns a story into 'Erotica'?

 

[Acktion]

.

Oggs reply to my question is valid. But a suddenly thought struck me. It might be a silly question at this point in time, but what exactly makes a story Erotic? I've read many stories that have great sex scenes in them, but they are not considered 'erotic' by the main stream publishers. So where, or what is the line (so to speak) that you cross that turns a story into 'Erotica'?

Are we talking about Laurell K. Hamilton, as an example? Both of her series should be sold in asbestos wrappers in my opinion.

But, yeah. I know what you mean. What IS the difference between "sexy", "erotic", and "pornographic"?

I've read a lot about writing over the past <<mumble>> decades and I have a certain understanding of what I've read that wiser heads may disagree with.

It all devolves to word choice, I think. And how literal the depiction of the action is.

For example a series called "Longarm" circa about seventies (I think), might talk about him getting "french kissed". In usage, this was actually a blowjob as you read the surrounding paragraphs and put the context clues together.

By comparison, Laurell K. Hamilton in "Micah" is much, Much, MUCH more explicit about what exactly it is that Anita is doing to Micah. Talking about how she loves the texture in her mouth and in her throat, but she can only take him this deeply while he is soft.

Flip through stories here, and you will see an even more graphic depiction using "harsher" language. "He moaned as he felt her warm, moist mouth gently drawing his throbbing, heated cock inside." As I understand it, this phrase is just the word "cock" away from being mainstream, but it's inclusion instead of "length" moves it to "erotica".

Yet another example might read something like this; "His throbbing cock twitched as he felt her lips suck at him. He reached past her shoulders to grasp her full tits in his hands, squeezing gently." As I understand it, this begins to slip past erotica and start towards pornographic. Changing "cock" to "member" or something similar wouldn't be enough to back it off alone. We'd also have to lose "suck" to something softer and the phrase "grasp her full tits" to something such as "cupped her breasts".

This is all, of course, just my limited understanding of what books and articles about writing erotica have said. I'm still struggling towards WRITING it, though my first eight attempts seem to be going reasonably well. In the end, to my mind it becomes this;

If I can reach through the screen to lovingly caress the reader of my words and make them feel loved and desired and, above all, horny as hell, then I have succesfully written erotica.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Rules are made to be broken but my take on this is:

1. If the story works without the sex, the sex is an add-on, optional, and it isn't erotica. Can I delete the sex? If the story still makes sense then I have failed to write erotica.

2. If the sex works without the story, then it isn't a story, it's a sex scene.

3. The sex has to be an integral part of the plot and must contribute something to the story.

4. Neither the sex, nor the story, should detract from the other. They should work together.

However, looking at my posted stories, in some of them I have broken all four rules above. My best stories follow the rules.

George V. Higgins used graphic sex in two of his novels, and he published many books. The sex is graphic and well-written, and has a place in the story. In one book a hired gun comes to town and manages to blow the job, in a motel with a pissed off black hooker. The other includes several sexual encounters tween a prominent lawyer and his clients nympho wife. Her insatiable lust creates chaos for everyone.