Writer thread:

[Stella_Omega]

Do you even need the metaphor? I see Bram Stoker's Dracula as an Erotic story with no sex at all. Maybe I see erotica more as a Psycho-emotional thing rather than as a sex thing.

Anyone?

Not really erotic, no. I sensed the erotic potential...
I am more masculine than a lot of women, I guess. I don't correlate emotional with sexual.

And, you know, it used to be that Serious writers only dealt in innuendo and psycho-emotional stuff- because they would be censored if they got graphic, and all... so if you wanted to read good work, you made do with metaphore.
I am most greatful that it's now possible to find really well-written work with sexual themes.

But if you are asking if the sexual content needs to be explicit, no, not neccessarily

Your point of view reminds me of a potographer I know, that produced a nude of himself for an erotica self-portrait show. The erotic content was too rarified for the jury committee- there is lost of bare skin, but, they said, where's the sex?

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Your point of view reminds me of a potographer I know, that produced a nude of himself for an erotica self-portrait show. The erotic content was too rarified for the jury committee- there is lost of bare skin, but, they said, where's the sex?

Then maybe that is a point to explore - gender outlook on erotica.

 

[CharleyH]

A good story is always the same, in my opinion.

It starts somewhere, goes through one or more events, involves one or more characters, and then it comes to an end.

The events should ideally be quite emotional. A story without emotion is very dull.

Err. That's it.

I don't bother with the 'erotic' part. I don't differentiate between the 'subsets'.

How then, RG? Are you stories, as an example, stories and not sex? Dont bother asking us to read for ourselves - tell us what your stories are, not just your fave one. - explain your stories if they are not just sex. Give me a treatment.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Then maybe that is a point to explore - gender outlook on erotica.

yes, always worth doing! But my experience tends to tell me that it's more a matter of person-to-person differences, even within gender parameters.

(I am female, by the way, despite the merkin my av is wearing)
Jenny, when you say "Dracula" is erotic to you- are you saying it arouses you sexually? Do descriptions of physical acts arouse you? Turn you off? Or, is it a matter of delicacy and phrasing- as it certainly can be for me...

 

[rgraham666]

How then, RG? Are you stories, as an example, stories and not sex? Dont bother asking us to read for ourselves - tell us what your stories are, not just your fave one. - explain your stories if they are not just sex. Give me a treatment.

My stories, even my short strokers (of which I've written more than a few ) are about emotion. How the characters feel about each other and how they act based on these emotions.

I spend a lot of time, and words, describing the sensations the characters experience. The feel of their lover's skin, the taste of their sweat, lubrication or ejaculate, the sight of their eyes shining with lust or blank with ecstasy, the sound of them grunting, screaming or moaning, the smell of their exertion and excitement.

In my longer pieces, I spend a lot of time on conflict and attraction. How they interact, what they like about each other, what defines them, where they are in their lives (or unlives), how they got there.

With characters and emotion, you get a good story. Even if people just whack off to it.

 

[CharleyH]

My stories, even my short strokers (of which I've written more than a few ) are about emotion. How the characters feel about each other and how they act based on these emotions.

I spend a lot of time, and words, describing the sensations the characters experience. The feel of their lover's skin, the taste of their sweat, lubrication or ejaculate, the sight of their eyes shining with lust or blank with ecstasy, the sound of them grunting, screaming or moaning, the smell of their exertion and excitement.

In my longer pieces, I spend a lot of time on conflict and attraction. How they interact, what they like about each other, what defines them, where they are in their lives (or unlives), how they got there.

With characters and emotion, you get a good story. Even if people just whack off to it.

So we all say. But what makes it a story as opposed to masturbation fodder? Not picking on you, as I thank you for being brave enough to even comment.

 

[rgraham666]

So we all say. But what makes it a story as opposed to masturbation fodder? Not picking on you, as I thank you for being brave enough to even comment.

First, quality of the writing itself. I work hard to try and make the language good. I try to avoid using the same words too many times. I make sure my grammar is reasonably proper and that the sentences and paragraphs have a decent rhythm.

I make sure that there is actual action. The characters don't just get undressed and fuck. They play, they tease, they inflame each other. They take their time and make sure their partner has at least as much fun as they do.

By building the story this way, even a stroker's going to be a good read.

 

[Stella_Omega]

My stories, even my short strokers (of which I've written more than a few ) are about emotion. How the characters feel about each other and how they act based on these emotions.

I spend a lot of time, and words, describing the sensations the characters experience. The feel of their lover's skin, the taste of their sweat, lubrication or ejaculate, the sight of their eyes shining with lust or blank with ecstasy, the sound of them grunting, screaming or moaning, the smell of their exertion and excitement.

In my longer pieces, I spend a lot of time on conflict and attraction. How they interact, what they like about each other, what defines them, where they are in their lives (or unlives), how they got there.

With characters and emotion, you get a good story. Even if people just whack off to it.

And what turns the plot- in more than most of your stories- is the sexuality of the characters, or the sex that they have.
And that's what makes a good story- a good erotic story

 

[rgraham666]

And what turns the plot- in more than most of your stories- is the sexuality of the characters, or the sex that they have.
And that's what makes a good story- a good erotic story

Thanks Stella.

I try.

 

[CharleyH]

And what turns the plot- in more than most of your stories- is the sexuality of the characters, or the sex that they have.
And that's what makes a good story- a good erotic story

Thank you, Stella, you say much of what I mean! This is not a beat up RG thread, or an assessment of his stories ... should we ask ourselvese this:

What is a STORY, really to erotic writers? A story is never character, not even in an erotic one.

 

[Stella_Omega]

 

[rgraham666]

I've explained myself as best I could.

Not going to play anymore.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Thank you, Stella, you say much of what I mean! This is not a beat up RG thread, or an assessment of his stories ... should we ask ourselvese this:

What is a STORY, really to erotic writers? A story is never character, not even in an erotic one.

I'll give this a second try. IMHO, erotica is a genre/marketing term. Story is a writing term. I'm pretty much on-board with what RG and Ogg had to say on this issue.

That said, I'm not clear on what you mean by, "A story is never character...."

Rumple Foreskin

 

[mismused]

delete

 

[Samandiriel]

a story is a story it the elements that make it erotic or non erotic. I don't think of writing in terms of erotic or not, its just writing to me because it takes on a life of its own. sometimes there is an erotic quality, sometimes not. It may also depend on what one sees or feels as being erotic.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

a story is a story it the elements that make it erotic or non erotic. I don't think of writing in terms of erotic or not, its just writing to me because it takes on a life of its own. sometimes there is an erotic quality, sometimes not. It may also depend on what one sees or feels as being erotic.

I buy into that. I've never written an erotic story. I've never really written a story. I simply make up characters and carry them around in my head for some length of time until they "become". Then I give the characters a setting and an outline and sit back with my bottle of Jamesons and simply let them do what they would do in real life. I do have to nudge them in one direction or another from time to time. But in my head it's more like a play than a story. Later I go back an clean it up. But the point is characters that seem real to me do what seems real. And when they do that withing the frame work I've given them sometimes the story is erotic (in terms of sensuality or even sex), sometimes not.

So, I have a whole different take on what's a STORY and what's EROTIC.

 

[Samandiriel]

But in my head it's more like a play than a story. Later I go back an clean it up. But the point is characters that seem real to me do what seems real. And when they do that withing the frame work I've given them sometimes the story is erotic (in terms of sensuality or even sex), sometimes not.

So, I have a whole different take on what's a STORY and what's EROTIC.

Exactly. My characters find me and then the play begins and I write the script so to speak.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Exactly. My characters find me and then the play begins and I write the script so to speak.

You know, Samandiriel,

I get two kinds of feed back on all my stories:
A) Your spelling and grammer sucks - Yeah. Talk to my editor
B) Is the "YOU"? Did this really happen? It seems so real.

The stories, of course are total fiction, but the characters are real to me.

JJ

 

[Liar]

What is a STORY, really to erotic writers? A story is never character, not even in an erotic one.

What do you mean? Why do you separate eroitic writers from other writers?

A story is a story is a story.

An erotic story is a story with erotic (sexually arousing) content and/or intent.

My friend, you are being kinda obtuse in your questioning. I can't even figure out what that last sentence means. What is it that you want to know?

What is a story? What is narrative meaning? Definitions

A narrative or story in its broadest sense is anything told or recounted; more narrowly, something told or recounted in the form of a causally-linked set of events; account; tale,: the telling of a happening or connected series of happenings, whether true or fictitious.
Narrative meaning is created by establishing that something is a part of a whole and usually that something is the cause of something else. It is usually combined with human actions or events that affect human beings. The meaning of each event is produced by the part it plays in the whole episode.
To say what something means is to say how it is related or connected to something else. To ask the meaning of an event is to ask how it contributed to the story in which it occurs. It is the connections or relations between events.
Meaning is a social phenomenon. Meaning is produced not only by individuals but by groups, communities, societies and cultures which maintain - through language and agreed understandings - knowledge of the connections between signifying sounds and singifying events.
Groups, communities, societies and cultures also preserve collections of typical narrative meanings in their myths, fairy tales, legends, histories and stories. To participate in a group, community, society or culture requires a general knowledge of these accumulated narrative meanings. The cultural stock of meanings are dynamic and are added to by new contributions from members and deleted by lack of use.
Narrative meaning is about connections. It links individual human actions and events into inter-related aspects of an understandable composite. Narrative displays the significance that events have for one another. (The anti-story makes explicit that events do not have causal connections between each other.)
Stories fill our lives in the way that water fills the lives of fish. Stories are so all-pervasive that we practically cease to be aware of them.

"The products of our narrative schemes are ubiquitous in our lives: they fill our cultural and social environment. We create narrative descriptions for ourselves and for others about our own past actions, and we develop storied accounts that give sense to the behavior of others. We also use the narrative scheme to inform our decisions by constructing imaginative "what if" scenarios. On the receiving end, we are constantly confronted with stories during our conversations and encounters with the written and visual media. We are told fairy tales as children, and read and discuss stories in school." (Polkinghorne)

"The narratives of the world are without number...the narrative is present at all times, in all places, in all societies; the history of narrative begins with the history of mankind; there does not exist, and never has existed, a people without narratives:" (Barthes).

 

[Oblimo]

A story is a story is a story.

A "narrative" and a "story" are two different things. (At least, they can be, if you want to use technical definitions. I love to get technical, but I know many people don't.) A story is a narrative, but not all narratives are stories. A narrative could also be a vignette, for example.

A "short story" is a form of narrative with formalistic, specific rules. In the broadest terms, a short story is a narrative in which the hero resolves a conflict with an antagonistic force. If a narrative does not have those four basic elements (hero, antagonism, conflict, resolution), it's not a short story, it's a vignette. Each element has requirements of its own (hook, identification, motive, exposition, plot, yadda yadda).

Of course, these formalities can be put aside, but they exist because the formula works (that is, it helps you to write narratives that people want to read), so a writer should know 'em, love to hate 'em, and chose when to ignore 'em rather than be ignorant of 'em.

I define an "erotic short story" as a short story meant to sexually arouse the reader. That is, an erotic short story is not about sex, it's about turning on the reader. Thanks to the unlimited capacity of the human imagination, an erotic story need not have any sex in it, although it helps.

 

[FallingToFly]

Most of what I write is not considered to be true erotic fiction. I very seldom write graphic sex, even less frequently do I write stroke. Yes, I can do both, but that isn't what intrigues me about a story about two people.

Erotica and stroke are, to my mind, two VERY seperate things. A stroke story has the EXACT SAME PREMISE in every one of them. -Two (or more) people get together, set the scene, get off in whatever way is best for them, and that's it. That's the end of it. Sometimes they repeat the theme over and over with variations before the end of the piece, but truthfully, there is no real plot. In fanfiction, it's actually a category all it's own- PWP (Plot? What Plot? or Porn Without Plot). It has it's uses, no doubt.

Erotica, on the other hand, tells a story, and the sex is only another detail in the embroidery. I prefer that format- although I suppose I can be considered an author of pseudo-erotica for my lack of detailed sex scenes. It's what works for me- I can write mind-numbingly hot sex when I have to, but truthfully- I hate having one of my stories numb the brain and engorge the genitals- I want people to think, and feel the emotions, not the physical.

So, what's a story? A story is a journey from one point in time to another, and what occurs on that journey. They can contain a single moment, with the influence of years behind it, or they can trickle through several months or even years. A good story makes you live that space of time right beside the characters; feel, taste, smell, hear, touch everythign that they do. At the end of a good story, you shouldn't want to let them go, you should want to linger.

Now, when I can write THAT... well, then maybe I'll be where I want to be.

 

[ChilledVodkaIV]

Erotica and stroke are, to my mind, two VERY seperate things. A stroke story has the EXACT SAME PREMISE in every one of them. -Two (or more) people get together, set the scene, get off in whatever way is best for them, and that's it. That's the end of it. Sometimes they repeat the theme over and over with variations before the end of the piece, but truthfully, there is no real plot. In fanfiction, it's actually a category all it's own- PWP (Plot? What Plot? or Porn Without Plot). It has it's uses, no doubt.

Ask Zoot. Sex has plot. It has narrative. It has conflict. It has resolution. It has climax.

You're just not doing it right.

 

[FallingToFly]

Ask Zoot. Sex has plot. It has narrative. It has conflict. It has resolution. It has climax.

You're just not doing it right.

Zoot and I aren't on such intimate terms... but thank you for the advice.

It's always nice to have someone point out the things I may be doing wrong. Would you care to perhaps apply your insights to one of my submissions here on Lit? Such authorative insight shouldn't go to waste.

 

[oggbashan]

I stand by my previous post on page 1, but I wasn't making a value judgement.

A story that is erotic and an erotic "story" are different things. Each can be a perfected work of art in its own right.

Og