Writing from another gender's pov

[SweetMerry]

hi, I'm working on my very first erotic short story. About half way through I realized that my story would probably flow more easily if told from the male's pov. I'm female. So, I guess I wanted to ask about success/failure rates on writing from another gender's view. Can it work? Or will the guys read the story and think, "Yep, a girl wrote this puppy for sure."

(and is this the appropriate forum...or should I take this question to the author's hangout?)

 

[emap]

I suppose this one works, though if not it will be moved shortly. Now as for writing from the opposite sex point of view, it can be done, there are men around here somewhere that write female view stories. Probably help if you happened to have a guy around to ask, though I suppose not really. All the male stories I have read are all about how they shove it in and are pumping away and how good her hot cunt feels wrapped around the cock.

Men are pretty simple.

 

[snooper]

That is the beauty of third person - you just write about what you understand (or believe) happens. I can write about female orgasm without being a female by using flights of fancy such as "She felt the pleasure rising and rising until her mind flew off into the dream world of total ecstasy". Analysed, it doesn't mean much, but any woman who has ever had a really good orgasm has her memory of it invoked by the sentence, which is all we are trying to do: make the reader feel what the author intends them to feel.

Writing about male pleasure is difficult for a female, but remember that the male experiences a much shorter climax than the female, and feels a real let-down immediately afterwards.

 

[emap]

Let down really? I always thought they were just lazy, did their duty so they could get some sleep type thing.

 

[curl4ever]

I suppose all my stories are told in third person narrative, but unlike my earlier stories, my latest submission had a focus on the point of view of the woman. No major difference in voting ratings, no negative feedback about POV.
http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=321325
For my first stories, I did have some women writers read them and make suggestions before I finished editing.

 

[curl4ever]

Men are pretty simple.

Well, I'd have to agree with you there!!!

All the male stories I have read are all about how they shove it in and are pumping away and how good her hot cunt feels wrapped around the cock.

There are some great male writers out there that do much better than that! (Find some editor's choice stories, try oggbashan or AsylumSeeker.)

 

[CorsetLvr]

I've tried it in the past and to be honest I was disappointed with how it turned out. I'm even getting tired of writing in the first person for most stories and will probably write more 3rd person in the future. It also allows for a lot more flexibility in the writing process.

 

[SweetMerry]

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. And thanks for the example, curl. It was all very helpful. For now, I think I'm going to put that story on hold and write about something a little more close to home. I'll come back to it once I've got a little more writing experience under my belt, though, because I really do think it would make a nice one.

but remember that the male experiences a much shorter climax than the female, and feels a real let-down immediately afterwards.

Ya, if I remember correctly, there is an actual physiological change in the man's body after climax that makes him immediately tired. I believe the French call it "une petite morte." The little death. (It's amazing what you pick up in highschool French when you have a teacher that doesn't have that "oops, it's time to shut up now" signal in his head.)

 

[sr71plt]

hi, I'm working on my very first erotic short story. About half way through I realized that my story would probably flow more easily if told from the male's pov. I'm female. So, I guess I wanted to ask about success/failure rates on writing from another gender's view. Can it work? Or will the guys read the story and think, "Yep, a girl wrote this puppy for sure."

(and is this the appropriate forum...or should I take this question to the author's hangout?)

I think it's quite possible to write from the "other" gender perspective. (Several here, including me, have gotten "E"s and "H"s and favorable perspective comments when writing not only outside our gender but also outside our preferences.) It would be hard to do if the author didn't give any time/attention to how the other gender reacted to various "things" and stimuli, I'd think. Where many of those who don't succeed fail is in trying to put in too much detail (which is a good thing to avoid any erotica story, I think--the reader wants to personalize the experience of one or more of the characters. She/he can't do so if all of the characters are minutely defined down to their bra size and penis length).

 

[fieryjen]

"Sadie" was the first story of mine where I ever really tried that. I'm still not sure whether I succeeded or not. It's still 3rd person, but definitely still a male PoV.

 

[SweetMerry]

"Sadie" was the first story of mine where I ever really tried that. I'm still not sure whether I succeeded or not. It's still 3rd person, but definitely still a male PoV.

Wow, what a beautiful story. Heart breaking and hopeful all at once. The erotic moments were wonderfully done, and really helped reinforce the emotional punch.

Other than my pure emotional reaction to it, I see that just because something is written from a man's view, doesn't mean it's written specifically for a male audience. Even though I saw this interaction through his eyes, I still connected emotionally with him as a person. Thanks for bringing this story to my attention.

 

[O2]

I've written two from a third person female perspective.....and have gotten fairly good reviews. Like all good things don't rush it.....

 

[fieryjen]

Wow, what a beautiful story. Heart breaking and hopeful all at once. The erotic moments were wonderfully done, and really helped reinforce the emotional punch.

Other than my pure emotional reaction to it, I see that just because something is written from a man's view, doesn't mean it's written specifically for a male audience. Even though I saw this interaction through his eyes, I still connected emotionally with him as a person. Thanks for bringing this story to my attention.

Aw, thanks for your very kind comment.

 

[SweetMerry]

I think it's quite possible to write from the "other" gender perspective. (Several here, including me, have gotten "E"s and "H"s and favorable perspective comments when writing not only outside our gender but also outside our preferences.) It would be hard to do if the author didn't give any time/attention to how the other gender reacted to various "things" and stimuli, I'd think. Where many of those who don't succeed fail is in trying to put in too much detail (which is a good thing to avoid any erotica story, I think--the reader wants to personalize the experience of one or more of the characters. She/he can't do so if all of the characters are minutely defined down to their bra size and penis length).

Thanks for the heads up on the too much detail. I'll keep that in mind.

Um..what are E's and H's?

Aw, thanks for your very kind comment.

You're welcome

Like all good things don't rush it.....

Thanks, ya, I think this one needs to sit on the back burner for a while.

 

[snooper]

... Um..what are E's and H's? ...

In the FAQs it says:

What do the colored icons beside stories mean?

The red H's denote stories which have received 10 or more votes from readers, and maintain an average vote of 4.5 out of 5 or better.

The yellow E's denote "Editor's Choice" stories. These are pieces that we really like - just our opinion.

The green W's are next to stories that have been chosen by readers as winners in our Monthly, Yearly, or Special contests.

In the future, we may add other icons. As we do, we'll add them to the FAQ.

 

[SweetMerry]

Thanks, snooper, I guess my eyeballs just skimmed right over that when i read the FAQ's.

 

[lokeman]

hi, I'm working on my very first erotic short story. About half way through I realized that my story would probably flow more easily if told from the male's pov. I'm female. So, I guess I wanted to ask about success/failure rates on writing from another gender's view. Can it work? Or will the guys read the story and think, "Yep, a girl wrote this puppy for sure."

(and is this the appropriate forum...or should I take this question to the author's hangout?)

I am a male and I just wrote a novel that has been accepted by an epub. the main character was a female. It really isn't that hard to write for a female from a male POV or vice versa. Simply try to put your mind in the male's head. Try to imagine how a man reacts to a situation instead of how a woman would react to the same situation.

 

[Oblimo]

I remember a survey asking men and women to describe the sensation of orgasm, and there was very little differentiation in the words and similies used by both sexes. Both sexes have the same aparatus, after all, albeit in strikingly different configuration. When you get down to brass tacks, the difference between the male and female sexual experience is a constructed category rather than an empirical observation.

That's why I try to let character and situation drive reaction/sensation, rather than generalization. Two drunken horny friends going at it on the kitchen floor while their spouses chat on oblivious in the dining room probably wouldn't have orgasms of peotical grandeur and ecstacy, regardless of their gender. Unless of course its the climactic coupling of the story, the realization of a long-denied love, that sort of crap. In which case guy-characters are transported into flight as much as gal-characters.

 

[Mr_Neb]

Writing from in the first person from the other gender's perspective? Sure. Go for it. I do it all the time. Third person works for may stories but like you said to open the thread, sometimes the flow of the story works better in the first person and they just happen not to be the same gender as you.

I find it works best if at least in part, the story centers on how the main character feels about the situation. Writing in the third person, you have a sort of obligation to give equal time to all the characters. In the first, the main character can't always know what is going on with the other characters and that can add to the power of the story.

Like I said, I do it in many of my stories. Now whether or not I am successful in that endevour, I cannot say. I would be pleased if anyone would care to offer an opinion.

"Veronica's Story" is one that may illustrate the point best.
http://www.literotica.com:81/stories/showstory.php?id=1357

Mr. Neb

 

[oggbashan]

I have written as oggbashan from male and female perspectives.

I have also written as Jeanne D'Artois, a female alt.

You can see both by clicking on the links in my signature.

Some were successful, others weren't, but I use Literotica as a place to experiment. Does it matter if one or two stories are failures? I learn from the responses whether a story has worked or not. The votes and rating aren't so informative as PCs and feedback.

Og

 

[wanderwonder]

Orgasms aside, one thing to remember is that men and women approach everyday situations differently. Men tend to think in terms of problems that need solving, women are more relationship-oriented. If you think about any arguments you may have had with a man, you might notice that he gets frustrated when you don't go for the simple solution, while you might be concerned about how the people involved will react. This doesn't mean that men aren't concerned about relationships or feelings, or that women don't find quick, logical solutions, simply that how their motivations are likely different. Parallel, perhaps, but different nonetheless.

As a final note, alpha males dither much less than the rest. If your male character is an alpha-type, his relational/emotional development will likely be an important factor. Think John Wayne in Angel and the Bad Man.

hi, I'm working on my very first erotic short story. About half way through I realized that my story would probably flow more easily if told from the male's pov. I'm female. So, I guess I wanted to ask about success/failure rates on writing from another gender's view. Can it work? Or will the guys read the story and think, "Yep, a girl wrote this puppy for sure."

(and is this the appropriate forum...or should I take this question to the author's hangout?)