Option 4: Depends on my mood. Sometimes I just want to get off, sometimes I want a story with that. In general, as a reader, I like a bit of a story to go with my sex, which is why I also tend to write that way. So I would actually eliminate "Jump right into sex". For a quick payoff, a fast buildup, for something more stimulating on other levels and a longer pay off, a slow build up.
I never read stories that jump right into sex. I don't consider them erotic.
On the other hand, I do want the story to be leading somewhere sexy. I want to be invested in the characters and whatever predicament eventually leads them to come together (pun intended). A good story should carry a sense of momentum that makes the coupling seem inevitable (rather than arbitrary). Unfortunately, a lot of story writers get bogged down into too much backstory and character development, or explaining the history of the Irish ship building industry in the early 1900s, or whatever, and their stories stall out in excessive details that don't really move the plot along - and then all of a sudden, without warning, you end up with James Joyce going all dominant over Sam Beckett in a big gay sex scene, and you're wondering what the fuck does any of this have to do with ship building, and why did I have to read all that other bullshit if we're just going to take a random left-turn into a sex scene?
Writing a well-paced erotic story takes talent. It's all about developing the craft.
I personally prefer a build up. I want to know the characters, their thoughts and emotions. I'm not really into a full on fuck feast from the first paragraph.
I suspect I am one of the few exceptions here. I get bored by backstory and character motivation and long, linear build-ups. Don't necessarily jump into the sex, but jump into something, whether it's action or dialogue or plot (or sex). Jump into them moment and let the reader figure it out.
I don't really care that before fucking, they had dinner in a nice restaurant and then romantically walked the streets of Paris at sunset.
Quote by Verbal I suspect I am one of the few exceptions here. I get bored by backstory and character motivation and long, linear build-ups. Don't necessarily jump into the sex, but jump into something, whether it's action or dialogue or plot (or sex). Jump into them moment and let the reader figure it out.
I don't really care that before fucking, they had dinner in a nice restaurant and then romantically walked the streets of Paris at sunset.
*nods* i don't need the sex to grab me and pull me in, but i need something to. wading through too much backstory or descriptions or whatever loses interest after a while - an interesting character or scene, tho, sexless or not, will work for me.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
*nods* i don't need the sex to grab me and pull me in, but i need something to. wading through too much backstory or descriptions or whatever loses interest after a while - an interesting character or scene, tho, sexless or not, will work for me.
Coming from you and Verbal, I will take this under advisement. I would love to have both of you as followers of my work. Maybe even help to advise me along the way. You both are exceptional writers and I could use all the help I can get. Thank to both of you for you comments.
Thanks to everyone that posted on here about with opinions about this. I will hopefully continue to grow and have more people enjoying my work.
Remember to check out a few of my stories. You can find them here.
I like a story with at least some backstory. I don't always start with the backstory (sometimes there's a flash preview of the sex to come or what has already happened) but my characters don't have sex in a vacuum.
Coming from you and Verbal, I will take this under advisement. I would love to have both of you as followers of my work. Maybe even help to advise me along the way. You both are exceptional writers and I could use all the help I can get. Thank to both of you for you comments.
Thanks to everyone that posted on here about with opinions about this. I will hopefully continue to grow and have more people enjoying my work.
a story should grab you by the first paragraph. first sentence, really. if you waste your shot by describing the girl, or something like that (she is blonde, blue eyed, has 38DD tits, and is 26) then you're off to a bad start. not meant to be a shameless plug, but go read my blondie stories. the idea is to hook the reader in right at the beginning. no preface, just bam. novels are different, but short erotica pieces need to pull you in hard. ever read a story and sort of skim through the first bit until the sex catches your eyes? you shouldn't be feeling that way - you should WANT to read the pre-sex stuff. you shouldn't care when the sex comes in. back story is great if it grabs you, but if it just drones on like a history paper, it's getting in the way.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
What Verbal and Sprite have been saying. Try looking at the Flash Erotica if you want an idea of how to grab a reader and keep them transfixed. My own "Double Oxer" might be a good read (hello, shameless plug!).
Want to spend some time wallowing in a Recommended Read? Pick one! Or two! Or seven!
An erotic story with a slow build up. Like a stripper taking it all off at the rate of one piece of clothing per song. It's not just a gal thing. Hubbie likesit that way too.
Quote by NOLAHotGal An erotic story with a slow build up. Like a stripper taking it all off at the rate of one piece of clothing per song. It's not just a gal thing. Hubbie like it that was too.
I went with slow build up, but I'll happily read good examples of the other approaches too. I think it comes down to what our own RumpleForeskin said on another thread recently...
"There is only one unbreakable rule for writing viable commercial fiction: Don't bore the reader."
True for not-so-commercial fiction too. As sprite and Verbal point out - you've got to grab the reader. On Lush, you have a few lines to convince a potential reader that they should click and a few more paragraphs before they make a decision about whether to read on or click on something else. Don't bore them... and that includes with a pretty standard sex scene. I often skim-read sex scenes on here - IMHO, the build-up can be more interesting than the actual act (at least in writing...)
I personally lean towards more 'fill' or back story then most others on here. It is however a fine balance and I think on the most part it depends on personal preference. I think some good examples that have struck that perfect chord for me would be, Parisian nights (Liz), Moonlit Maize (daleHwest) Frank Chase private dick skittles (sprite) the blue room (dancing_doll) to name a few. I think these though may lean to a little bit much story though for some, especially moonlit maize. Would be interested in others opinions though to see.
On a side note, strangely most of my favorite pieces lean on the hardcore side of things, though thats not at all my style. I think this is more so indicative of the quality of writing over genre. Rach and Ashleigh, WHEN are you going to give me something thats sweet and gentle and a little less heavy in the bedroom
Quote by GrayGhost Story with a build up-you must put down a foundation and use above a sixth grade vocab
Thank you for your comment.
I was a little curious about my stories readability so I ran some tests on them. They passed your sixth grade vocab test. LOL. I was impressed with one site in particular and how it broke them down.
Learn to master the rules and formulas of writing first. Once you have earned serious recognition for quality, several awards here, change it up. Then go for it.
Please don't start out stories giving the statistics of characters. You can create a great sexy character without really giving a physical description of them anyhow and that would work better in a story than listing their height, weight, age, hair color, bra-size, etc. Please get away from that! Let the reader use their imagination or slowly let the descriptive details come to the surface as you build the story and action.
Once you've built a lot of success and acclaim here, then experiment. Formulas can get boring or predictable but great grammar never does. That doesn't mean your character's dialogue (though the dialogue sentence must be punctuated correctly). Make the dialogue realistic but your prose should be grammatically correct, as well as interesting, and entertaining.
I once got very experimental and began a story in the middle of a sweaty sex scene. Then I went into the story, added background once the story had begun, then proceeded to go back to the sex scene – a very long sex scene that may have been nearly 80% of the wordage. The story is 10,000 words long. It received an Editor's Pick and stands at almost 67,000 views right now. That was one fun story to write. No formula.
Quote by violetcrumble I personally lean towards more 'fill' or back story then most others on here. It is however a fine balance and I think on the most part it depends on personal preference. I think some good examples that have struck that perfect chord for me would be, Parisian nights (Liz), Moonlit Maize (daleHwest) Frank Chase private dick skittles (sprite) the blue room (dancing_doll) to name a few. I think these though may lean to a little bit much story though for some, especially moonlit maize. Would be interested in others opinions though to see.
On a side note, strangely most of my favorite pieces lean on the hardcore side of things, though thats not at all my style. I think this is more so indicative of the quality of writing over genre. Rach and Ashleigh, WHEN are you going to give me something thats sweet and gentle and a little less heavy in the bedroom
err... have you read The Exchange? i think that's about the only thing i've done that fits sweet and gentle. and thanks for the shout out.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
My stories build up to the big sex scene with little sprinkles of sex thrown in during the story. Seems to be working for me
Unknown User
Quote by Buz You can create a great sexy character without really giving a physical description of them anyhow and that would work better in a story than listing their height, weight, age, hair color, bra-size, etc.
I think of it this way, when I look at a person, do I start estimating their height, weight, etc.? Not generally. I might notice in a general way if they are tall or heavy or large-busted or something, and I certainly might notice hair and eye colour, but I don't go, "Oh, she's about 5'9", 124 lbs, and is a 34C." When you introduce a character, maybe throw out a key feature or two that quickly sets an image and then, as Buz says, add more detail as the story develops.
So maybe, "She walked into the room, a tall busty blonde who couldn't help but catch men's eyes," is your intro to the character. That's enough to form an image. Maybe add another sentence about what she's wearing if it's important to the scene. But then more detail can come out when she starts interacting with another character. Perhaps they notice something about her like her eye colour that wasn't in that first intro (eye colour generally requires you to be close up to see accurately) or are fascinated by the shape or size of her boobs so you can flesh those out (pun very intended).
In my new story (see "The Celebration" in my sig), I was trying to keep things short and focussed on the sex so I only drop the details that are needed as they are needed. Or at least that's what I was shooting for.
Quote by Buz Learn to master the rules and formulas of writing first. Once you have earned serious recognition for quality, several awards here, change it up. Then go for it.
Please don't start out stories giving the statistics of characters. You can create a great sexy character without really giving a physical description of them anyhow and that would work better in a story than listing their height, weight, age, hair color, bra-size, etc. Please get away from that! Let the reader use their imagination or slowly let the descriptive details come to the surface as you build the story and action.
Once you've built a lot of success and acclaim here, then experiment. Formulas can get boring or predictable but great grammar never does. That doesn't mean your character's dialogue (though the dialogue sentence must be punctuated correctly). Make the dialogue realistic but your prose should be grammatically correct, as well as interesting, and entertaining.
I once got very experimental and began a story in the middle of a sweaty sex scene. Then I went into the story, added background once the story had begun, then proceeded to go back to the sex scene – a very long sex scene that may have been nearly 80% of the wordage. The story is 10,000 words long. It received an Editor's Pick and stands at almost 67,000 views right now. That was one fun story to write. No formula.
Sorry Buz. I am guilty of all of this. I will try to adjust my style. I was always told to describe what I see, but maybe using the imagination approach may be the better way to go.
Remember to check out a few of my stories. You can find them here.
I think the key phrase here is "build up". Fast or slow, the story needs to be moving forward. And more importantly, the tension needs to be rising.
I detest the brakes being slammed on for a police report of the suspects with bra and cock sizes tacked on by typically male writers, or the endless boutique catalog descriptions of clothing from mostly female authors. I could also do without the in-depth write ups of the food being eaten on the way to poundtown from both genders, like they're keeping an allergy diary for their doctor. The only place I want to see that is in the Gourmet forum, specifically what Buz had for lunch and dinner on any given day. That guy eats like a motherfuckin' king!
The build up is what makes the story. At the end of the day, it's all Tab A into Slot B, or variations thereof. Getting to that point is where the excitement is born. For that reason, I don't usually like the stories that are straight into it or open with a taste before cutting back to the plot like they're a big-budget action movie. There are the exceptions of course, like Sprite who can actually grip you with the sex alone - I'm fresh off one of her Seattle Mix Tape pieces.
My latest story is a racy little piece about what happens when someone cute from work invites you over to watch Netflix and Chill.
I think of it this way, when I look at a person, do I start estimating their height, weight, etc.? Not generally. I might notice in a general way if they are tall or heavy or large-busted or something, and I certainly might notice hair and eye colour, but I don't go, "Oh, she's about 5'9", 124 lbs, and is a 34C." When you introduce a character, maybe throw out a key feature or two that quickly sets an image and then, as Buz says, add more detail as the story develops.
I think what Buz meant was the stories on here and I have seen a lot of stories that have been published. Use the full on description of the character from the get go even during the first paragraph. It turns me off the story when I read something like "Lizzy was starting her first year at college, she was super hot. Brown eyes, black hair, huge tits with a big ass. She was looking for some fun and she met Neil who is 6'2, tan with a six pack and a huge 11" cock."
Need to explain better I find interesting when there is a plot or something which is not thrown in my face about the characters. Build up that momentum so I can picture the characters.
Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know I never read stories that jump right into sex. I don't consider them erotic.
On the other hand, I do want the story to be leading somewhere sexy. I want to be invested in the characters and whatever predicament eventually leads them to come together (pun intended). A good story should carry a sense of momentum that makes the coupling seem inevitable (rather than arbitrary). Unfortunately, a lot of story writers get bogged down into too much backstory and character development, or explaining the history of the Irish ship building industry in the early 1900s, or whatever, and their stories stall out in excessive details that don't really move the plot along - and then all of a sudden, without warning, you end up with James Joyce going all dominant over Sam Beckett in a big gay sex scene, and you're wondering what the fuck does any of this have to do with ship building, and why did I have to read all that other bullshit if we're just going to take a random left-turn into a sex scene?
Writing a well-paced erotic story takes talent. It's all about developing the craft.s
I dunno.. please write that Joyce/Beckett gay sex scene.. though be hard to imagine either of them shutting up long enough to actually get down to it ?
It is as you say all about the balance.. I can't emphasise without some back story.. but those chapter stories where there is no action until chapter 3 so drive me mad
2 competition winning stories, 1 Famous story, a smattering of Editor's Picks, a handful of Recommended Reads and one Clitorides award are scattered amongst my stories.
One of a handful of writers to get the Omnium badge for writing in every category
For a book club with a difference... try this lesbian romp