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What do you find harder?

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Unknown User
I am working on my first ever multipart story (probably be more of a novella than a novel in length but we shall see) and have been struggling with the second chapter (I won't be publishing any until I feel confident with the first 3 or 4 parts). The sex scene that comes later in the chapter is coming along fine but the rest of the chapter, the build-up and story, is proving difficult. Which led me to think this might be an interesting topic. What do you find harder to write, story or sex? For me, it tends to be the former. Once I get into the naughty bits, it seems to flow fairly well even if I then spend a lot of time tinkering to make sure the right body parts are in the right places at the right times. But story? Trying to fathom what people are doing and why and get that down on the page without resorting to long expository passages? Yeah, that's work.

What do you think?

EDIT: And, I seem to have forgotten how to create polls on Lush. The method I remember is from my other board.D1ec503SVsOIyWT8
Burquette
Bug
Story is so much harder for me. So is character, for that matter (Wait! This is supposed to be an exhibitionism story. My main character is an ex-nun. Bad choice! It'll take too many words to get her there....).

The truth is that I put in far more thought, energy, and effort into plot than I do the sex scenes. They just don't require it. Hopefully, I've already set up the motivation and the emotional consequences. Now all I need is a good action sequence.
Jen
Charming as fuck
I find the story so much harder. Usually, the idea I have starts with the actual sex scene and then I build the story around it. Trouble is, I often get bored with the rest of the story, so don't finish it. I should just submit more flash stories, lol.

The other thing that hampers me is that I edit as I go. I should really just have a brainstorming writing session, but I stop to fix typos and grammar and it just interrupts my flow. I just can't unseen them when I see them.
clum
Clumeleon
I find it much harder to write original, realistic, hot sex, than to write an interesting story. Sometimes I write a lengthy bit of story before thinking, "Oh shit, I should probably throw some sex in here if it's going on Lush."
Unknown User
Quote by clum
I find it much harder to write original, realistic, hot sex, than to write an interesting story. Sometimes I write a lengthy bit of story before thinking, "Oh shit, I should probably throw some sex in here if it's going on Lush."


I've done that, too, actually. I actually consulted a mod on this multiparter because I'm fairly sure there will be some plotty bits without much sex.
Unknown User
Quote by VirgoGo
I struggle with the spicy bits....I'm actually making a concerted effort to include more "conventional sexual activity" in my pieces. I sometimes write about kink, and the eroticism of kink may not read as erotic if you're not wired for BDSM....As a consequence, my most recent pieces - 'Taking One For The Team' and the whole 'Plane Whore' series actually include vanilla sex acts. -You're probably thinking that's a pretty gutsy decision for a site about sex stories! Yup...that's just the kind of girl I am.


Nothing wrong with that. I don't write much kink, really. Not into anything really kinky in real life so don't tend to write it. And I like the challenge of making the variety come through the story and characters. I think that you can get into an escalation treadmill with kink where you keep trying to top the kinkiness of your last story.
Beffer
Rainbow Warrior
Creating a storyline is the easiest part for me. I love plotting and story-telling. I find it easy to be creative with the context, but getting sex scenes that aren't trite and predictable is difficult. It's been described so many times that it's easy to get it monotonous. You really have to be creative to come up with a really interesting sex scene which hasn't been done before.
principessa
Sophisticate
For me it is equal. I think that you should be telling a story that captures the imagination of the reader, one that happens to lead to sex within the story. Sex scenes strung together with haphazard narrative do not make an interesting story. Your characters should have some depth and be believable. If they are, the story will unfold and the sex that happens will read as a natural development in the story.
Smoocher
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by BethanyFrasier
Creating a storyline is the easiest part for me. I love plotting and story-telling. I find it easy to be creative with the context, but getting sex scenes that aren't trite and predictable is difficult. It's been described so many times that it's easy to get it monotonous. You really have to be creative to come up with a really interesting sex scene which hasn't been done before.


You do a FINE job with your sex scenes ok
ChuckEPoo
Chuckanator
Quote by seeker4
I am working on my first ever multipart story (probably be more of a novella than a novel in length but we shall see) and have been struggling with the second chapter (I won't be publishing any until I feel confident with the first 3 or 4 parts). The sex scene that comes later in the chapter is coming along fine but the rest of the chapter, the build-up and story, is proving difficult. Which led me to think this might be an interesting topic. What do you find harder to write, story or sex? For me, it tends to be the former. Once I get into the naughty bits, it seems to flow fairly well even if I then spend a lot of time tinkering to make sure the right body parts are in the right places at the right times. But story? Trying to fathom what people are doing and why and get that down on the page without resorting to long expository passages? Yeah, that's work.

What do you think?

EDIT: And, I seem to have forgotten how to create polls on Lush. The method I remember is from my other board.kteT6HE5jeGGbLhm


Wow this could be my thread. I'm presently writing a novel also. I just submitted first chapter. Undercovers Detective.

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/love-stories/undercovers-detective.aspx

It too has no sex in first chapter as I'm laying the foundation for the entire story.
Meggsy
Active Ink Slinger
In my minds eye I have an idea.When I start writing the story begins to flow and come together. Basically my story develops as I write. There can be quite a bit of rewriting as an idea formed later in the plot sometimes does not fit with an earlier situation. The sex is introduced as the story progresses early in some and later in others.
The sex part is difficult as I try and vary the way the characters approach the meaty bits and then engage in a way that I wish to vary from a way I have used before. That is the hard part as sex is sex and I often draw on a personal experience to try and make it as interesting for the reader as it was for me at the time.
My longest story so far was my three part story of The School Boy and the Farmers wife. In this the lives of the characters and the sex had to progress from a schoolboy experience to that of a man with an experienced and married woman.
Verbal
Gravelly-Voiced Fucker
I find plot much harder than sex scenes. I think of sex scenes as writing "in the moment" and I think I am good at describing moment to moment action.

My HUGE weakness is plot. I've been avoiding it lately with fairly plotless flash stories and one long story that was pretty much all dialogue and sex. But there are writers here, VirgoGo and Burquette come to mind though there are many others, who handle it with seeming effortlessness.

So, personally, I am going to quit writing shards and write a real story next. Work on my weaknesses.
sprite
Her Royal Spriteness
story is easy. sex scenes are harder, not because they're hard, but because you need to make them interesting, and there's only so many ways to write sex.

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.
Burquette
Bug
Quote by Verbal
But there are writers here, VirgoGo and Burquette come to mind though there are many others, who handle it with seeming effortlessness.

So, personally, I am going to quit writing shards and write a real story next. Work on my weaknesses.



I won't speak for VirgoGo, but it's absolutely not effortless for me. Thank you so much for this.

I'm looking forward to your next one.
Just_A_Guy_You_Know
Wouldn't you rather have a nice cup of tea?
I'll be the first to admit that my sex-scenes are mostly pretty formulaic. Like Sprite said, there's only so many ways to write a sex scene. If you're fairly vanilla and straight in your sexual preferences (as I am), then it's even more limited. So I don't focus on the sex so much. I start with the assumption that the characters are going to end up fucking (on an erotic stories site? Surprise!), and then work backwards to figure out how they got there. My interest is in developing the story, building up the erotic tension and suspense that leads to the sex. I feel if I can do that well, it will carry readers through 'yet another kiss-and-fondle->blow job->eating pussy->penetrate-and-thust->change-of-position->orgasm (hers and his)' sequence. Sex scenes on their own (unless you're really skilled at doing them) are boring to me without the build-up of a story. Writing a good erotic story is more work, but it's also much more engaging to me as an author, and as a reader.

Don't believe everything that you read.
visioneer
Active Ink Slinger
I find story and character development to be easier to write than sex. Getting the physical sex to integrate into, or become another seamless facet, of the characters' emotions and motivations, and whatever conflict drives them to get naked, is difficult. It also doesn't help that I edit, obsessively and compulsively, as I write.

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Unknown User
Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know
I'll be the first to admit that my sex-scenes are mostly pretty formulaic. Like Sprite said, there's only so many ways to write a sex scene. If you're fairly vanilla and straight in your sexual preferences (as I am), then it's even more limited. So I don't focus on the sex so much. I start with the assumption that the characters are going to end up fucking (on an erotic stories site? Surprise!), and then work backwards to figure out how they got there. My interest is in developing the story, building up the erotic tension and suspense that leads to the sex. I feel if I can do that well, it will carry readers through 'yet another kiss-and-fondle->blow job->eating pussy->penetrate-and-thust->change-of-position->orgasm (hers and his)' sequence. Sex scenes on their own (unless you're really skilled at doing them) are boring to me without the build-up of a story. Writing a good erotic story is more work, but it's also much more engaging to me as an author, and as a reader.


You sure you're not me? Kind of sums up my approach. I try to mix up my sex scenes as much as I can but with no interest in anything extreme or kinky, there's only so much I can do with the sex itself. Therefore, the emotional and narrative context is what I tend to focus on. And maybe that's why I find that part harder. It is what sets my stories apart from one another moreso than variety in the sex. I recently abandoned a story (which would have been my entry in the latest comp) because I realized I was really just unconsciously rewriting a previous, similar story and that killed my interest in the new story.
NatashaTsarinaErotic
Active Ink Slinger
I love to watch people, and I don't mean as a voyeur. I can sit on a beach or in a bar and see someone that does something or says something that draws my attention. Then my mind starts working.."what if"...and the story begins to build. I don't write anything until I have 75% of the story in my head and then I type it out. The sex comes naturally, because well, the "if" part includes a lot of sex.

As Meggsy mentions above, the characters take on their own lives and tend to take care of the last 2% of the story.
Guest
Lurker
Perhaps the hardest part is moving the story into the sex. How does a wife who loves her husband jump into bed with the first offer. "Iv,e always wanted to see my lovely wife having sex with another guy" Boring!.
Poppet
Cheeky Chick
I always have a harder time with the actual story. In my mind, I tend to think of really awesome story plots, but by the time I sit and try to type them out, they vanish. I can't seem to concentrate hard enough, because my mind is so swirly whirly with my anxiety disorder, but when I'm able to focus on the sex, that is when I shine. I'm not sure why. I know a lot of people who have edited for me in the past say that I make less mistakes in the sex scenes than the rest of the story. So, yeah, I'm not sure why one is easier than the other.
Unknown User
Quote by Poppet
I always have a harder time with the actual story. In my mind, I tend to think of really awesome story plots, but by the time I sit and try to type them out, they vanish.


Sounds a bit like me at times. Though with me it's more plots sounding really fucking awesome in my head but really fucking lame when I start writing them.
Master_Jonathan
Active Ink Slinger
Oh writing the backstory is sooo much easier than writing the sex part for me! I always worry that I am being too repetitive or boring with the sex scenes. One of my fellow firefighters used to say "There's only so many ways you can turn it!" and that's true. With the story, I can be as creative as I want but during the sex I have to remember whose on top, what position they are in, what state of dress they're in, and a lot of other details. Plus I have to remember what the story is supposed to be about! I can't have two guys suddenly show up to a lesbian story! Or make the black man in an interracial story suddenly have red hair or something! LOL!
No if I could collab with someone who loved writing the sex scenes and leave me to do the storyline, that would be great!
Unknown User
Curious, does anyone else start writing a great story (not so much the sex, but the story) and then go "Shit, I've been here before." Not necessarily the specific but the general thrust of the situation. I have a story mostly finished and I haven't published it because I've realized it hits some of the same buttons as "April's Secret" - a passionate night followed by a revelation about the partner followed by a "I love you anyway" moment.
MadMartigan
Raised on Blackroot
Sex? Psh. Story? Psh.

The answer is simple.

Dialogue.

Dialogue's a bitch.

In fact, there are probably only a few on here that I think are truly masters of it.

*whispers* that damned disney princess
sprite
Her Royal Spriteness
Quote by MadMartigan
Sex? Psh. Story? Psh.

The answer is simple.

Dialogue.

Dialogue's a bitch.

In fact, there are probably only a few on here that I think are truly masters of it.

*whispers* that damned disney princess


my cat writes all my dialogue. i'm crap at it.

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.
MadMartigan
Raised on Blackroot
Quote by sprite


my cat writes all my dialogue. i'm crap at it.


Interesting. Does Kitteh do webinars? I don't trust my cat with shit.
WannabeWordsmith
Writius Eroticus
Quote by seeker4
with me it's more plots sounding really fucking awesome in my head but really fucking lame when I start writing them.


^^ Haha, this, for me. The number of half-finished (no, not even quarter-finished) pieces of work on my disk drives is unreal. Sometimes I'll even abandon a piece I've spent months tweaking in the mistaken belief it was good, because it doesn't 'click'. Painful, but necessary. Other times I'll salvage it or migrate worthy plot elements into other stories instead, but more often than not I'll just ditch it. Explains my sporadic output.

As already mentioned, the sex part is easy to write, but also easy to write badly. Or at least formulaicly (is that even a word?). Delivering - or hinting - at a character's backstory to make the piece seem larger than its word count, and getting dialogue sounding natural, is where the difficulty lies for me. Working on it though, as that's what drives me as a wannabe writer.

Please browse my digital bookshelf. In this collection, you can find 124 full stories, 10 micro-stories, and 3 poems with the following features:


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Unknown User
I find the sex far harder to write than the story. I quite often write the whole story with the words "inventive sex" inserted wherever it will eventually be needed. I find it incredibly hard to find new ways to describe the sex.
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