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What mix do you desire?
Testing The Waters.
I'm a mainstream fantasy reader, so I trend toward higher degrees of story and world-building when it comes to reading things like that. Otherwise, it depends upon the day, whether I'm reading or writing. I may dash off a quick fantasy story without much setup like "Little Fuckers" or I may be working on a 50-60k story with minimal and sometimes even weirdly dispassionate sex about a prostitute setting out to start her own brothel and running into dangerous competition from the local whore in "One Whore's Town".
I like to have interesting characters, but it doesn't take 5k words to set that up. Someone can be interesting in a couple of sentences. The situation leading to the sex can be the same. While I prefer to write extremely detailed sex scenes ( also one of my calling cards ) I don't necessarily need them in what I read.
Really impossible for me to answer either writing or reading. I'm all over the map.
I like to have interesting characters, but it doesn't take 5k words to set that up. Someone can be interesting in a couple of sentences. The situation leading to the sex can be the same. While I prefer to write extremely detailed sex scenes ( also one of my calling cards ) I don't necessarily need them in what I read.
Really impossible for me to answer either writing or reading. I'm all over the map.
Good Will ---|--- You Serious?
Quote by kistinspencil
And further, does it vary by category?
Hi, Kirstin. I'm responding to your post mainly as a reader (not a Lush author).
Recently I read all the entries to the "Foolish" comp and am using what I took away from that experience to answer your question.
What I remember about those stories is not the blow-by-blow details of the sexual finale, rather the manner by which the author led the reader to the denouement. It is the characters and the world they existed in that stays with me. I want stories as windows that open out onto improbable lives.
I like to have sex scenes sneak up on me, surprise me. I love it when the erotic turns up out of the blue in the contemporary Literary and Strange Fiction I habitually read.
I recently read a collection of short stories by the contemporary author Carmen Maria Machado (See link below and use the "Look Inside" facility if you feel inclined to check out her style. That first story, The Husband Switch, is the one I'm referring to.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074V66JFQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o08?ie=UTF8&psc=1
In the first story she describes making love aged seventeen to her future husband outside the house, pantyhose tugged down. Afterward, dressing again, the soil beneath stocking and her needing to pull her hose down and wipe her knees.
I just did not see it coming, found it exquisitely erotic (I have a fetish). Machado is a superb writer. Have you read her, Kirstin? I imagine her as someone a savvy girl such as yourself might have already encountered.
I'm posting my response mainly as a reader (not a Lush author).
Recently I read all the entries to the "Foolish" comp and am using this experience to answer Kirtson't question.
Looking back now on that experience, what I remember about those stories is not the blow-by-blow details of the sexual finale, rather the manner by which the author led the reader to the denouement. It is the characters and the world they existed in that stays with me. I want stories as windows that open out onto improbable lives.
I like to have sex scenes sneak up on me, surprise me. I love it when the erotic turns up out of the blue in the contemporary Literary and Strange Fiction I habitually read.
At sixty-six, my sex drive is no longer the monster it once was. These days I feel very little compulsion to seek smut merely to abate an itch — which is one reason I read so little here on Lush, sorry to say.
From a writing point of view: for me, it's all about creating for the reader the way characters are yanked from their lives by the prospect of sex, how the impact of a sexual other can alter them — the sheer otherness of their object of desire.
Well, that's the theory. Whether I succeed? Only you, dear readers, can answer that. (Sorry couldn't help popping on my author's hat).
Active Ink Slinger
This is a fascinating question, but I'm not convinced it's a zero-sum game. More sex should not necessarily imply less story (and vice versa) - any more than more action necessarily implies less dialogue, or more atmosphere implies less character, or more symbolism implies less realism, and so on.
Your own stories, Kistin, are so jam-packed with story, and sex, and action, and character, and imagery, and dialogue. All these aspects support, layer over, and enrich each other, so that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
I aspire - though in a different way - to do the same. Here's one chapter I am particularly pleased with: Alison Goes to London: chapter 9 - The Prettiest Whore That You Ever Did See, because it contains a lot of rather soul-searching dialogue and character development and a lot of filthy sex in juxtaposition/contrast to that...
Your own stories, Kistin, are so jam-packed with story, and sex, and action, and character, and imagery, and dialogue. All these aspects support, layer over, and enrich each other, so that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
I aspire - though in a different way - to do the same. Here's one chapter I am particularly pleased with: Alison Goes to London: chapter 9 - The Prettiest Whore That You Ever Did See, because it contains a lot of rather soul-searching dialogue and character development and a lot of filthy sex in juxtaposition/contrast to that...
GrushaVashnadze's best stories:
Alison Goes to London (RR) - "love this... fun, and funny, and sexy" (sprite)
The Cursed Cunt (RR) - "holyyyyy sheeeiiit.... Your writing is fucking fantastic" (CarltonStJames)
A Worthless Filthy Fucking Smoking Trash Cunt Whore (RR) - "Brilliantly done. Of course." (naughtyannie)
Snow White and the Seven Dildos (RR) - "Fuck. It's perfect.... honestly genius and so fucking well executed." (VioletVixen)
Metamorphoses (RR) - "so imaginative and entertaining" (saucymh)
And There Came Two Angels to Sodom - "What a deliciously worded story! So juicy, so raunchy" (el_henke)
Fuck-Talk (with VioletVixen) - "Jeez. I feel rendered wordless by how much clever fucking fun this is" (Jaymal)
Writius Eroticus
It varies by category to some degree, but for me as a reader I like to know why people are doing what they do rather than just being a series of dismembered body parts jigging and gushing. And as a writer I like to build a little intrigue.
While the ratio of sex-to-story (as in actual sex acts vs character development/backstory/setup/payoff) might be low in some of mine, I do like to knit both aspects with sexual tension. So there's this undercurrent of desire that runs through the piece as it builds (e.g. in "The Edge Of Control" or "Fate Into Doubt Won't Go"). After all, this is an erotic story site so if there wasn't any compelling reason to read through a few thousand words of sexless setup for 10-25% actual bonking, people would go elsewhere.
Flash is different. There's so little to play with that there's no time to build. That need has to be present from the first paragraph ("Scrabble") or even first line ("Former Good Girl") and all the story has to fit around it.
tl;dr I prefer a larger chunk of story to actual sex. Too much of tab-P-goes-in-slot-V becomes fatiguing. But in those story segments, I expect a lot of sexiness to keep me reading.
While the ratio of sex-to-story (as in actual sex acts vs character development/backstory/setup/payoff) might be low in some of mine, I do like to knit both aspects with sexual tension. So there's this undercurrent of desire that runs through the piece as it builds (e.g. in "The Edge Of Control" or "Fate Into Doubt Won't Go"). After all, this is an erotic story site so if there wasn't any compelling reason to read through a few thousand words of sexless setup for 10-25% actual bonking, people would go elsewhere.
Flash is different. There's so little to play with that there's no time to build. That need has to be present from the first paragraph ("Scrabble") or even first line ("Former Good Girl") and all the story has to fit around it.
tl;dr I prefer a larger chunk of story to actual sex. Too much of tab-P-goes-in-slot-V becomes fatiguing. But in those story segments, I expect a lot of sexiness to keep me reading.
Please browse my digital bookshelf. In this collection, you can find 116 full stories, 10 micro-stories, and 2 poems with the following features:
* 29 Editor's Picks, 75 Recommended Reads.
* 15 competition podium places, 11 other times in the top ten.
* 21 collaborations.
* A whole heap of often filthy, tense, hot sex.
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by WannabeWordsmith
Too much of tab-P-goes-in-slot-V becomes fatiguing.
Agree. However, another way of alleviating that fatigue - apart from the sexy build-up you describe, and which you are so good at - is to layer, juxtapose, cross-reference, and cut back and forth: sex which is intercut and layered over with dialogue, action, description etc. allows the story and characters to develop without letting up on the filth factor. (I like filth, but it's always best in context...
)Either way, not a zero-sum game. The sex enriches the story, the story enriches the sex.
GrushaVashnadze's best stories:
Alison Goes to London (RR) - "love this... fun, and funny, and sexy" (sprite)
The Cursed Cunt (RR) - "holyyyyy sheeeiiit.... Your writing is fucking fantastic" (CarltonStJames)
A Worthless Filthy Fucking Smoking Trash Cunt Whore (RR) - "Brilliantly done. Of course." (naughtyannie)
Snow White and the Seven Dildos (RR) - "Fuck. It's perfect.... honestly genius and so fucking well executed." (VioletVixen)
Metamorphoses (RR) - "so imaginative and entertaining" (saucymh)
And There Came Two Angels to Sodom - "What a deliciously worded story! So juicy, so raunchy" (el_henke)
Fuck-Talk (with VioletVixen) - "Jeez. I feel rendered wordless by how much clever fucking fun this is" (Jaymal)
I don't think there's a fixed ratio. I personally prefer a good mix and lean into story a lot, so 50/50 or lower on your options. But a well-written sex-heavy piece, maybe in the 75/25 group, can get my interest, too, depending on theme and the type of sex. I am not really into a lot of the more extreme forms of kink, for instance, so a story heavy on kinky sex won't necessarily get my interest but some good, hot loving with a bit of context could definitely hold my interest as the dominant element of a story. My mood is a factor, too. If I am horny and looking to get some stimulation, a "stroke" story could definitely be on the menu.
So, can't answer your poll, really, because it is rather variable with my mood, the story, the category, and such.
So, can't answer your poll, really, because it is rather variable with my mood, the story, the category, and such.
Active Ink Slinger
It depends on my mood. Sometimes I just want the sex, other times the sex is nothing without a great amount of story. I suppose it does vary based on the genre but it's difficult to quantify each individual one as it still ultimately depends on the mood.
I can’t think of a good tagline so this will have to do. Suggest a better one for me?
Wouldn't you rather have a nice cup of tea?
For me, there's a delicate balance. Sex without adequate context isn't really all that interesting. I find that the building of sexual tension is far more of a turn on than the release in an erotic story, so I would tend towards more story. But as a reader, I also need to know that the story is going somewhere (i.e. to sex) to keep me interested. Story-oriented authors often get mired in too much character development and other inessential details or are otherwise far too in love with their own narrative voice that I get bored long before any kind of sexual action is even hinted at. And then there are stories who combine the worst of both worlds - spending too much time wandering in story and then abruptly tossing the characters into bed at random. I'm a tough critic (and it's probably a good thing I don't moderate stories), but I do believe that there are a lot of people who write sex stories for this site, but very few who really know how to manage that balance of sex and story well.
Don't believe everything that you read.
Sexy Seductive Siren
Sexual content can be explicit, implied, or simply hinted at. In reality, I think the best erotic stories are those that allow the reader to visualize the "action" without being necessarily explicit. Like real life, the best sex is that in which there is gradual build-up, not necessarily physical.
Meagan
Trust people to be themselves...
Action movies that are just explosions and firefights without the backstory are going to be a bore, no matter how cool the action is. Wrestling matches without the awesome promos and character work leading up to it are going to be a bore to watch as well.
So yes, I prefer a heavier story to sexual content ratio. That way, the sex involved has more meaning.
So yes, I prefer a heavier story to sexual content ratio. That way, the sex involved has more meaning.
My last published story: Ho For The Holidays
Rookie Scribe
Quote by RejectReality
I'm a mainstream fantasy reader, so I trend toward higher degrees of story and world-building when it comes to reading things like that. Otherwise, it depends upon the day, whether I'm reading or writing. I may dash off a quick fantasy story without much setup like "Little Fuckers" or I may be working on a 50-60k story with minimal and sometimes even weirdly dispassionate sex about a prostitute setting out to start her own brothel and running into dangerous competition from the local whore in "One Whore's Town".
I like to have interesting characters, but it doesn't take 5k words to set that up. Someone can be interesting in a couple of sentences. The situation leading to the sex can be the same. While I prefer to write extremely detailed sex scenes ( also one of my calling cards ) I don't necessarily need them in what I read.
Really impossible for me to answer either writing or reading. I'm all over the map.
Can I recommend one of my stories, relatively new, but have touch of fantasy and world building, but there is also the erotic aspect that we all enjoy, so I recommend to give it a read and share your thoughts and ideas on how to move it forward, I would really like some pointers on how to flesh out this new world I’ve created
Simple Scribbler
I’m definitely more story now and less sex. I guess I’ve written and read so many stories, I’m bored with the sex. I know that probably sounds weird for an erotic writer. I’m hoping it’s just a phase I’m going through. I cringe reading certain words and phrases now: honey, nectar, puckered star to name a few. Loved those descriptions the first dozen times I read them, but no more.
Headbanging ape from cold North 🤘
As a writer, I'm kind of leaning to 100% story these days and focussing on material that will end up on SS (or maybe other markets). But for here, I'd say somewhere between the 50-50 option and the 25-75 option lies my sweet spot. Where a given story lands depends on the story.
As a reader, probably around the 50-50 mark. If I'm reading smut, I generally there for the sex, not just a story.
A woman goes shopping in the local mall. But what the heck is she shopping for in that outfit? My Festive Flash comp entry.
Wouldn't you rather have a nice cup of tea?
Quote by KimmiBeGood
I’m definitely more story now and less sex. I guess I’ve written and read so many stories, I’m bored with the sex. I know that probably sounds weird for an erotic writer....
Doesn't sound weird to me. I get that way as well where writing sex seems repetitive and almost mechanical - foreplay -> oral for him -> oral for her -> penetration in a handful of positions -> climax. The formula is pretty basic and there's really only so much you can do with it. Without a good amount of back story to charge up the tension and give it meaning, like Carlton mentioned above, it all gets a bit boring.
Don't believe everything that you read.
Trust people to be themselves...
Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know
Doesn't sound weird to me. I get that way as well where writing sex seems repetitive and almost mechanical - foreplay -> oral for him -> oral for her -> penetration in a handful of positions -> climax. The formula is pretty basic and there's really only so much you can do with it. Without a good amount of back story to charge up the tension and give it meaning, like Carlton mentioned above, it all gets a bit boring.
Most of the time, I find writing the non-sex parts more fascinating than the sex itself. When it comes time to write the sex, many times I take a break from writing the draft and only write the sex when I'm feeling randy. This could be days apart.
It's a great hobby, but sometimes it can leave you feeling a bit flat.
My last published story: Ho For The Holidays
Headbanging ape from cold North 🤘
Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know
Doesn't sound weird to me. I get that way as well where writing sex seems repetitive and almost mechanical - foreplay -> oral for him -> oral for her -> penetration in a handful of positions -> climax. The formula is pretty basic and there's really only so much you can do with it. Without a good amount of back story to charge up the tension and give it meaning, like Carlton mentioned above, it all gets a bit boring.
I think part of my problem as a writer is that it gets hard to get really imaginative on the physical part, especially with my generally vanilla experiences. I actually find it easier to deal with the setting, character, and plot elements than the sexual ones these days. And eventually I decide that I can't be bothered with the sex anymore. I have two characters in my current writing project who probably should be hopping into bed eventually (not this story, a future one) but I will probably keep it at SS levels and put the grisly details offscreen.
A woman goes shopping in the local mall. But what the heck is she shopping for in that outfit? My Festive Flash comp entry.
Attention Whore
For me as an author it is neither about the sex or the story it is about either the concept or the characterisation. Usually if I decide to write it is the concept that comes first. A micro series, a dialogue only series, a series about lock down and it's emotional and psychological impacts, a tongue in cheek series poking fun at all the erotica tropes, or a self-absorbed agony aunt series to name but a few. Usually I will want the reader to discover the character of the narrator as they journey through the story, sometimes this will be explicit and sometimes less so. Inevitably there will be some sexual content and occasionally this won't be awfully written but, to be honest, that's just the cherry I offer up in the hope that you might read the rest of my piffle xxx
Yes, you should have a hazard label on you, "warning CG will be your every fantasy"
Active Ink Slinger
Thinking about what the writer gets out of doing something being of primary importance does not, in my view, make anyone a 'bad' person who does it. Neither does creating something that you know will have its faults, but is an honest expression of your imagination, Not having to concern yourself with mass approval is very liberating, as is creating something that might not be written particularly 'well', but manages to make a stranger somewhere smile.
Large numbers of people saying they like what you've done is something to be proud of. So too is managing to make a story that is true to what was in your head when you decided to do so, with or without it being ' popular'
I remember a particular piece of fiction that I had to 'dissect' as part of a university degree course paper. By the end of the process. even though I did 'well', with the analysis, I resented the book. Three years later, I read the book as a cure for boredom and quite liked it.
People who like to write for uncomplicated escapism are not the enemy of those who take it all seriously. Someone may enjoy a piece of fiction for exactly the reasons many others hate it. 'If only people could be more like computers.' Yes, that was something else I succeeded in dissecting. I did so by cynically telling the over-analysts exactly what I knew they wanted to hear.
The ' mechanics' of the subject area here probably do have a point at which most variables have been exhausted, The creativity around those mechanics? I think and hope not.
Feel free to disagree/ agree / not care about any of the above!
Simple Scribbler
Quote by JustForYou
Not having to concern yourself with mass approval is very liberating, as is creating something that might not be written particularly 'well', but manages to make a stranger somewhere smile.
Wholeheartedly agree! I’ve been writing a while now. My reasons for doing so change from time to time, but what remains the same is that I lose my joy in writing if I get too concerned with stats. Making one person smile is as fulfilling as making 100 smile. Otherwise, you devalue the one, in my opinion.
With my boredom writing sex, I’m venturing into different characters that I know won’t appeal to the masses, but the challenge is bringing me so much joy! I’m into darker themes of late. Imperfect endings. And the authors I’m drawn to now immerse me into their unique characters, setting, etc so that the sex is the accompaniment, not the main focus.
Active Ink Slinger
That's at least two of us then. We should form a defiant smile-makers' club!
Rookie Scribe
I’ve recently hit a roadblock with a series I’ve been working on (Kingdom Of Elyria) for sometime and I’m not sure where I can go with it, or if people are still interested in the story, I’d like some pointers if anyone can have read and possibly give me a direction or anywhere I can go with it, to possibly tie up the story
Dirty Stop-out
Quote by JustForYou
The ' mechanics' of the subject area here probably do have a point at which most variables have been exhausted, The creativity around those mechanics? I think and hope not.
I agree. I love the build up, the scene setting, the world description, the why the are doing it. Sometimes I wonder if I need the 'insert cock A into pussy B' and 'insert cock A into Mouth B' bits which read as rather mechanical.
Like Kimmi, I enjoy the darker side of the street with questionable morals as it provides more plot potential than the Miles & Boom type stories that I've never been very good at. Or maybe I just love the conflict and the drama.
My latest competition entry about a Christmas shopping trip
Active Ink Slinger
How dull would life be if we all liked the same thing? My experience in the real world limits what I feel I can include in my writing, It does so according to my 'rules' for me and is no criticism of anyone who does differently. Killing the beast of a bad experience was a part of my latest, beginner-level effort, which I have never experienced, but the act involved and the consequences of betrayal are, just not at the same time. I love to see the opinion and variety that is out there, but I'm comfortable with what I write and not looking to expand my horizons, I might seem boring, conventional and timid to some, which is fine, as I'm also happy!
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Seeker4
As a writer, I'm kind of leaning to 100% story these days and focussing on material that will end up on SS (or maybe other markets). But for here, I'd say somewhere between the 50-50 option and the 25-75 option lies my sweet spot. Where a given story lands depends on the story.
As a reader, probably around the 50-50 mark. If I'm reading smut, I generally there for the sex, not just a story.
That looks like a carbon copy of here, sans erotica.
Advanced Wordsmith
A few stupid guidlines, too...
Active Ink Slinger
Depends: Sam series can be very hot; new Tight Girl is about 90% heat. The Love Show is ~20% and no actual sex for first 7 chapters and I'm editing that for StoSpc to be allowable there
Headbanging ape from cold North 🤘
Quote by M_K_Babalon
That looks like a carbon copy of here, sans erotica.
It is the same ownership and software, basically Lush's sister site for publishing non-erotic, mostly SFW fiction.
A woman goes shopping in the local mall. But what the heck is she shopping for in that outfit? My Festive Flash comp entry.
Advanced Wordsmith
Quote by Seeker4
It is the same ownership and software, basically Lush's sister site for publishing non-erotic, mostly SFW fiction.
Oh! Kinda like how FFN has FictionPress. I just might make an account on there. I've been wanting a place that isn't Wattpad for my non-erotic work. FictionPress doesn't work with my phone or Firefox, SOL is annoying as shit, and Writingdotcom only gives you ten free slots, and Quotev doesn't seem to have a large active userbase.