Writers' Opinion Wanted

[MissVirgin]

Dear writers:

What inspires you to write? I'm curious. I've read some fine writing on literotica. Do you see/think a situation and then run to the computer and tap out the story?

Would it be easy for a straight woman to write a fantasy about a gay woman? Does a writer have to enjoy what s/he is writing about so that the reader enjoys it?

Could a straight white man write a fantasy where the main character is a black, gay man?

Just food for thought. I'm just a curious reader.

MissVirgin

 

[Sabledrake]

Hi, MissV. I'll take a shot at your questions, glad to!

1. I write because I must write, can't imagine a life in which I didn't. Inspiration comes from a variety of sources.

2. Sometimes I'll witness something, see it in real life or on television even, and think to myself, "that would be interesting to write about." The last thing to strike me that way was a documentary about 19th-century grave robbers, but that's hardly the right sort of story for Literotica

3. I don't know if it would be _easy_ for a straight person to write from the POV of a gay one, but I know it's possible. One recent challenge of mine, being a straight female human, was a naughty story from the POV of a gay male gargoyle, talk about having nothing in common! But it can be done. And it's worthwhile to make the effort.

4. I certainly don't think that the writer has to be personally into something in order to write about it well and enjoyably. Plenty of authors enjoy writing about things they would never want to do in real life. Not just in terms of sex, either. It's fiction, it's imagination. Though a dismaying number of people think that whatever someone writes about, that person must really be doing.

5. I'd think so; see my bit about the gargoyle above. Though there is a difference in writing about a made-up fantasy race and an actual group of our own humanity, and careful steps would need to be taken to see that it was believably done. I have written stories that include characters of various ethnicities and am always worried that I don't know enough about it to write such characters effectively.

Just my thoughts on the matter,
Sabledrake

 

[Brandy Chase]

Writer's opinion wanted.

I must say, I am not inspired to write. I am required to write. I can't imagine my life without writing. I believe going without oxygen might be a bit easier.

I sit down with pencil and paper in hand and a movie starts running in my head. I just write down what's transpiring in the movie. Finally, usually around four or five AM, the movie stops, a commercial starts, and I go to bed.

Later, I pick up what I have written, read the last paragraph and wait to see if the movie resumes. If it doesn't, I pick up one of the other sixteen or so unfinished stories I have working and perform the same test. If nothing happens by the fifth or sixth story, I start editing. Apparently that wasn't going to be a very creative night for me anyway.

As to having to be what you write, I absolutely disagree with anyone who thinks you have to be gay in order write gay. I am one hundred percent straight and ninety percent of what I write for Literotica is about lesbians. I think there is a very special kind of love between to beautiful ladies of that persuasion. I have never and will never experience it, but I do find it a delight to write about. Apparently, I do a fair job of writing about that which I know nothing from personal experience for I have received numerous, very nice e-mails about my stories in that particular genre.

As long as you are somewhat familiar with the jargon, you can write about almost anything and make it seem as if you are very experienced in that particular area. That goes for age, race, sex, orientation, or anything else.

Nothing I write about is from my personal experiences. I feel my personal life belongs to me and my mate, my writing life belongs to those who wish to read and hopefully enjoy it.

These are just my own opinions, of course, and I am certain there are many who will disagree with me, and why not, that is what makes us individuals.

 

[R M Roxinger]

For fear of getting AIDS or some other disease or of fathering a child, I don't dare have sex with anyone in real life. But I like to escape every now & then from the limited real world into my unlimited imagination. In the summer of 2000, I started writing erotic stories, including the series whose main character I name myself after here at Lit. R.M. embodies my fantasy of having sex with women of all races & ethnicities.

As for a straight person writing from a gay perspective (or vice versa), or a man writing from a woman's perspective (or vice versa), or some other sort of combination, it can be (& has been) done. I doubt it would be easy, but one can rise to the challenge if s/he wants to. In real life, if I were married, I would never have sex with my mother-in-law (or any woman except my wife, for that matter), yet some such stories have turned me on, & a couple of them even inspired me to write one of my own, "Seductive Cindy." As others have said above, just because one expresses a fantasy through a story doesn't mean one would ever engage in such behavior in real life. Most fantasies stay fantasies.

To do things you can't (or shouldn't) do in the limited real world--that's what the unlimited imagination is for.

 

[TheWriter]

First of all, I don't need to write, and I don't have a compulsion to write. I just think all the time, my mind never stops. But I want to be a writer, so I got into writing erotic fiction just to get myself enjoying the actual act if writing - plus I have quite a few sexual fantasies. And I publish on this site for feedback. I'm trying to get a connection with the audience, with people. Even if it is in a totally faceless, anonymous medium such as the Internet.

As for POV differences, it can be done. Being a straight male I tend to avoid gay male stuff, but if I put my mind to it, I could do it. I just don't want to. And with enjoyment, well I wrote a story the was supposed to cast a negative image on rape stories, but it ended up being a little arousing. So anything is possible.

But if you want to know what it's like to be a writer - START WRITING!!

 

[KillerMuffin]

I write because I must. It's the only way I have to adequately express myself. My ideas come from the idea graveyard in my brain.

As for writing from the POV of something other than myself? Been there done that. I've got a story in every category but non-english. Halfish is in the male POV, halfish in the female. I've done gay, lesbian, and different fetishes that I don't have. People are all the same inside emotionally. It's not that hard to put myself into how the character might feel so I can write about it.

I find my stories sexually uninteresting. My readers have told me that they have the opposite opinion.

 

[Debbie]

What inspires you to write?

Everything. Life. Sleeping. Driving in the car, there I am scribbling or tapping away like a madwoman. The words are almost always there. I love to write, I am driven to do so. Writing for me is a passion, a joy, inspiration and a great way to express myself.

Do you see/think a situation and then run to the computer and tap out the story?

Sometimes. Other times I brainstorm. Often it flows, occassionally a story comes in dribs or drabs.

Writing from anther person's point of view can be challenging, interesting and I enjoy doing it. As KM says put yourself into how that character might feel.

Does a writer have to enjoy what s/he is writing about so that the reader enjoys it?

When you say enjoy I am assuming you mean erotically? I enjoy what I write on an imaginative level but as in the erotic sense?
No. I do enjoy reading other people's stories.

 

[jewelbox]

WHY DO I WRITE..

Contrary to popular opinion I write because it is what I am.

 

[OT]

Good question.

Sometimes I want to write but can't.
Sometimes I must write, but it's crap.
Sometimes I write and it's good (at least I am satisfied with it).

Usually, when I try to write, it doesn't work. I have to wait for the ellusive Muse to visit. When she does, I *have* to get to my keyboard and type. Once the pressure is released, I feel better. It's not uncommon to hit the delete key or file what has been wriiten in a directory far far away -- never to see the light of day.




Here are some of the things I write. that I have been bold enough to share. The unshared items would fill a mere mortal's hard drive.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=86419

 

[MysteryWriter]

I have been avoiding this

I have been avoiding this thread because I knew I wouldn't give the pat answers. You see, we all try to make ourselves sound better. We all want to think, we have the highest of motives for what we do.

The people who say, "I write because I must write," are telling the truth. They just don't go a little deeper into why they must write. I have no idea of their reasoning, but I do know mine. Everyone gave you a surface answer, no one gave you the hidden movtives behind I must write. I expect that is because they aren't all that pretty.

In my case, and my case only, it has to do with trying to justify my existance. Sounds heady. well honey lamb it ain't. It is the child coming home and saying hey mom look what I can do. It is the fact that I am never going to be rich. I am never going to be famous. But I can do something most of them can't. (Okay I am not nearly as unique as I like to think.)

I can tell a story and get people to listen. People write me letter and tell me I am wonderful. I like that. Before I posted here, I wrote for my own amusement. Why I wrote then I don't know. I do know I post stories here, so it wasn't satisfying enough. If just the writing were enough no one would post them here. There has to be a little, "look what I can do in all of us."

In some it might even be more than, "I can do what most of my readers cant." It might also be, "I can do it better than any other writer here can do it."

Even if that were true, what difference would it make. In the grand scheme of it all Lit is a small pond. I know I am the worst offender in all this, but I know in my heart what I am doing. So that is why I write, because it is something I can do that makes me a little different from my friend the lawyer.

Oh yeah I also write cause I heard you can get women if you write. I am still waiting for that one to happen.

 

[Brandy Chase]

I have been avoiding this.

Amen, Mysterywriter, you really bring home the point.
We post our stories here because our friends and family are damn sick and tired of hearing and reading them; we need new readers. The Look-what-I-can-do syndrome is a very real thing to many writers. We thrive on it. It damn sure ain't the money, because I've seen damn little of that, and I continue to burn up the pencils and paper, not to mention the slow destruction of several good computers over the last few years.

 

[OT]

RE: Mystery Writer- ... avoiding this

I completely agree with you if the question was "why do we post?".

It's difficult to admit that what we (I) really want is recognition and for someone to say -"wow, that was good".

As an aside, I am also a juggler. I'm fascinated with the many patterns and variations. I learn new tricks for the pure joy of juggling. That said, I also love to juggle in the park and hear the "oohs" and "ahs". Showing off is fun. Posting a story is akin to showing off a new trick.

I derive pleasure from the accomplishment.

I also derive pleasure from showing off to others.

The showing off part is part of the motivating factor -- not all.

 

[Fairytat]

Dear Miss Virgin ---

I can honestly say, I don't remember a time when I didn't write. I was once asked what sense would I mourn the most; my answer was "sight." To be deprieved of seeing words flowing from my fingertips to the page/monitor would probably be one of the cruelest things imaginable for me. Literature of any sort is the highest and noblest pursuit of mankind! *blush* As you can see I feel very strongly about this subject.

As for straight woman writing about experiences she has no knowledge of -- that's what pornos or books or art or total imagination is for. You must dig within and write about what speaks to you. I can't believe the same couldn't be applied of the straight while male in your third question. There is little out there that the human imagination hasn't dreamnt up. This extends beyond literature into science, art, music, etc.

Ok, hope that answers your question

 

[truthpurveyor]

Simple: I write because in the jumble of words and emotions that end up on my screen (and yours) I hope one day to find out who I am. Til then I'm enjoying the journey!

 

[Fairytat]

that's true too

Simple: I write because in the jumble of words and emotions that end up on my screen (and yours) I hope one day to find out who I am. Til then I'm enjoying the journey!

Very sexy jumble indeed