Too much money?

[Rob_Royale]

I would say, that I use this trope occasionally. Usually to create a power imbalance. The wealthy homeowner and the new housekeeper. The Cougar and the cub. The store owner and the young employee.

The rest of my stories feature working class folks like myself. Extreme lower class like in Trailer Park Trixie or the top of the upper class in The Ravishment of Melody.

 

[KeithD]

Eh. I’ve seen plenty of stories where the author mentions an inheritance, trust fund, a high paying job, etc. It’s just a mechanism to justify how a guy can focus on sex and/or sexual non-sex.

There's nothing wrong with that--as I noted. Not sure what you're "ehing" about. Surprise. There are rich people in the world.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I tend to write pretty average people, income-wise. Some like Adrian in Smoking Hot are well-off (and in particular in comparison to the younger guy he gets together with, and his friends with children), partly age but also because his wife died so his mortgage got paid off.
Others like my characters doing PhDs are pretty broke, or my youth workers. Not having money can propel characters into various actions and being stuck in various places with various people, and elicit more emotions IMO than having it. E.g. student Laura has no home to go to so ends up staying in a crowded bedsit for one Christmas that's still her most enjoyable ever. Or getting more imaginative, a researcher persuades her fling to fly over to England for a conference by paying for his flight, but he can be her gigolo for the duration so he doesn't feel beholden to her: I say Ass, you say Arse.

When writers decide they're going to write about wealthy UK aristocracy and upper classes, they so often get so much wrong that it's unreadable. I dont know if the American equivalents are done better or if I just don't notice glaring errors.

 

[KeithD]

Of course they don't. Absolutely correct. In many stories economic means are completely irrelevant and often aren't even mentioned if they don't need to be, which is good. But wealth for lazy plot is a thing. I wouldn't say rampant at all, but yeah, it's out there kinda common and it's a thing.

It's not lazy. The rich are a cut of the population. My world is more of the rich than the homeless. I write about both. So what?

 

[KeithD]

Sorry, but this is a silly thread. Why should stories be limited to one class of people or social environment? Why isn't wealth as good a story setup as poverty or even average income? Erotica is about the sex, not the economic conditions.

 

[Yarglenurp]

There's nothing wrong with that--as I noted. Not sure what you're "ehing" about. Surprise. There are rich people in the world.

That was actually a mistake on my part. I meant to quote the post above yours, but by the time I realized, I already posted.

Ironically, I mentally said “eh” after discovering my mistake.

 

[VallesMarineris]

Thoughts?

As I scanned the stories I've published here I realized that this is an interesting question for me. Of the story series that involve money and wealth, mine fall into two categories:

-- I have two series (Telekinesis and The Secret App) in which my protagonist uses their power (both are Mind Control stories) to work their way up the ladder of wealth and power, while also working their way up a progression of more intense and sophisticated sexual adventures. The two progressions are parallel and complementary.

-- In other series the protagonists are successful financially and professionally. In these series the plot seems based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs: my MCs are prospering and have reached the penultimate Maslow level of esteem by their community. The plot tension in these cases revolves around their efforts to achieve self-actualization through sex. In one case, for example, my FMC strives for more intimate devotion to her lover (The GFBJ); in another (Genius) a couple together work towards a joint intimacy through the nerdy skills that got them up the hierarchy.

Interesting.

 

[Devinter]

it’s all focused on the guy just grinding it to get the annual regional performance metrics processed for the Finance VP’s desk by Monday. 1 page of hot sex, 5 pages of double checking if the difference between pre-sales analyst projections matches with the A/R tally are within threshold on both a district and regional level.

What if that's my fetish? The sweet release of finished tasks!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

It's not lazy. The rich are a cut of the population. My world is more of the rich than the homeless. I write about both. So what?

That's not what I said.

Sorry, but this is a silly thread. Why should stories be limited to one class of people or social environment? Why isn't wealth as good a story setup as poverty or even average income? Erotica is about the sex, not the economic conditions.

I shouldn't even reply to this because I know that you're just trying to be contradictory for the sake of it like you often do. You're a smart guy Keith. Stop being a fucking bitch about it. So I don't really care what you have to say on this any longer but just for everyone else in the thread, read it again.

Of course they don't. Absolutely correct. In many stories economic means are completely irrelevant and often aren't even mentioned if they don't need to be, which is good. But wealth for lazy plot is a thing. I wouldn't say rampant at all, but yeah, it's out there kinda common and it's a thing.

I never once said, rich people shouldn't be written about, ever. I said that often there are writers out there who take the easy way out by throwing money into the mix to move their plot along instead of coming up with something more imaginative. When they do this, it's lazy. When you read a 17k romance story between two single parents raising teens set over several months and money is never a problem yet we never hear about their means, it's fishy. If it was set only over a few weeks and was only 10k, then it probably would be fine. When we read about two people who are educated professionals just for the sake of making them obviously respectable for one another, it's boring. When we read six different stories where the guy is in a suit and tie, drives an expensive car and lays the girl in satin sheets and she's all impressed by this, even though his job has nothing to do with the narrative, we know that it's just because the writers couldn't have been bothered to come up with a more imaginative way to make him attractive/sexy.

Now if the story is about a sugar daddy, then obviously the daddy's going to need to be affluent. Same with the above mentioned harem. If you have four wives, you'll need four master bedrooms, four fridges, a nursery for the in house daycare etc. Like in middle eastern culture, you can have one wife for every floor of your house and all that. These situations are different, because here the money matters.

There are stories where money and wealth are central to the plot and money is necessary, and then there are stories where money is otherwise irrelevant except for an extremely convenient (lazy) plot device, and it's quite easy to spot the difference.

 

[KeithD]

I shouldn't even reply to this because I know that you're just trying to be contradictory for the sake of it like you often do.

I don't post to be contradictory (and this certainly is a pot/kettle remark from you). I post to voice my opinion. If it contradicts anything, so be it. It's my opinion on the issue and I wasn't posting just to be contradictory. I don't keep track of the agendas of many of the other posters.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I don't post to be contradictory (and this certainly is a pot/kettle remark from you). I post to voice my opinion. If it contradicts anything, so be it. It's my opinion on the issue and I wasn't posting just to be contradictory. I don't keep track of the agendas of many of the other posters.

I know. That's why you flip flop a lot from thread to thread.

 

[KeithD]

Go pick a fight with someone else. I'm not the least bit interested.

 

[OnlyHappyEndings]

I've written about wealthy characters and about working-class characters. If I bring up their economic circumstances it has something to do with the story... how they act, how they talk, how they found themselves where they are.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

People tend to paint with a rather broad brush.
There are plenty of stories with characters from all kinds of socioeconomic backgrounds.
Sure, the ratio of rich to poor doesn't mirror real life, but the ratio of pretty to ugly doesn't either.
If my character is clean shaven I don't need to include a bit about him shaving. Similarly if my MC pays for dinner I don't need to explain how he or she earned the money.
I've had rich characters, poor characters, and characters where it never comes up because it's irrelevant to the story.

You can find plenty of articles explaining how the various TV characters couldn't have afforded their house or apartment based on their purported profession. The reality is the audience doesn't care.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I agree that wealth is a time-saver. Looking at, for instance, the more recent Thomas Crown Affair, could somebody working as a mechanic or a bricklayer (both honest, productive trades!) have dropped everything and taken his latest fling gliding or to a Caribbean resort on whim? Of course not. His having been wealthy gave him the ability to expand her horizons.

I've had a couple with one character having great wealth (sugar-baby/sugar-daddy), with the less wealthy character pondering the implications of the 'offer'. I'm just about to submit one involving a king and a princess, but both of them find their ranks a hindrance in some ways and have to struggle to just be 'people'.

I've written a fair number with characters who are 'comfortable' enough to live as they wish - not super wealthy, but not having to worry about next month's rent, either. That's an easy situation and I find it allows me to concentrate more on details more important than running to catch the cross-town bus.

I've also written some who have to struggle on a daily basis. That can be fun too, but it inevitably takes the tale in a different direction.

 

[CatPerson]

I tend to write mostly about upper-middle-class characters. This setting has all the literary benefits of untying the story from the burdens of financial reality but feels more grounded than writing about some uber-rich person, at least to me.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

There's nothing wrong with writing affluent characters but when I can easily tell that the writer used money as convenience just to avoid writing plot it's very disappointing.

I read a story that was somewhat related, as it has to do with means and money but it just didn't add up. It was about this guy who 'accidentally' won a bet in a bar so that this girl had to sleep with him. So she had to show up at his hotel room. He was from out of town, a drifter following work, and it had been established that he was not well off. The work was not specified (construction? welding? road crew? Iunno) but it was definitely insinuated to be manual blue collar labor of some sort. So she shows up at his hotel room. He has a nice room all to himself. Now business travel in nice rooms is for white collar people. This was a loner, a drifter (in the writer's own words) doing manual labor who needed the money - rather badly. He'd be in a cheap hotel, possibly even bunking with a work mate to save money, but no, we can't have our actual sex in a cheap-ass motel. It has to happen in a 'nice' place with perfect privacy. So either magically somehow he had obtained a cheap place for himself that was swank enough, or this guy likes to work manual sweaty jobs (from town to town no less) just to piss away the paychecks on swank hotel rooms. It doesn't add up at all.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

There's nothing wrong with writing affluent characters but when I can easily tell that the writer used money as convenience just to avoid writing plot it's very disappointing.

I read a story that was somewhat related, as it has to do with means and money but it just didn't add up. It was about this guy who 'accidentally' won a bet in a bar so that this girl had to sleep with him. So she had to show up at his hotel room. He was from out of town, a drifter following work, and it had been established that he was not well off. The work was not specified (construction? welding? road crew? Iunno) but it was definitely insinuated to be manual blue collar labor of some sort. So she shows up at his hotel room. He has a nice room all to himself. Now business travel in nice rooms is for white collar people. This was a loner, a drifter (in the writer's own words) doing manual labor who needed the money - rather badly. He'd be in a cheap hotel, possibly even bunking with a work mate to save money, but no, we can't have our actual sex in a cheap-ass motel. It has to happen in a 'nice' place with perfect privacy. So either magically somehow he had obtained a cheap place for himself that was swank enough, or this guy likes to work manual sweaty jobs (from town to town no less) just to piss away the paychecks on swank hotel rooms. It doesn't add up at all.

Some of those "manual sweaty jobs" you mentioned pay quite well.
Welders for example make good money, particularly the traveling pipeline welders.

 

[lovecraft68]

If someone has to work and live a real life… that’s not a fun thing to read or write.

I think this view says a lot about you on personal level.

Otherwise, real life builds character and creates obstacles and situations where things have to be overcome. It builds character within the character

 

[lovecraft68]

There's nothing wrong with writing affluent characters but when I can easily tell that the writer used money as convenience just to avoid writing plot it's very disappointing.

I read a story that was somewhat related, as it has to do with means and money but it just didn't add up. It was about this guy who 'accidentally' won a bet in a bar so that this girl had to sleep with him. So she had to show up at his hotel room. He was from out of town, a drifter following work, and it had been established that he was not well off. The work was not specified (construction? welding? road crew? Iunno) but it was definitely insinuated to be manual blue collar labor of some sort. So she shows up at his hotel room. He has a nice room all to himself. Now business travel in nice rooms is for white collar people. This was a loner, a drifter (in the writer's own words) doing manual labor who needed the money - rather badly. He'd be in a cheap hotel, possibly even bunking with a work mate to save money, but no, we can't have our actual sex in a cheap-ass motel. It has to happen in a 'nice' place with perfect privacy. So either magically somehow he had obtained a cheap place for himself that was swank enough, or this guy likes to work manual sweaty jobs (from town to town no less) just to piss away the paychecks on swank hotel rooms. It doesn't add up at all.

Or maybe that 'manual labor job" paid very well, or perhaps seeing he was treating himself to a nice room.

Honestly, you're coming across as a snob in this discussion.

I spent quite a few years cruising around on forklifts and running warehouses until I finally took a promotion they'd been pushing at me the last few years.

I still go out and help when things are busy, so I wear ripped jeans, scuffed work boots and my hands are calloused. Best stay away from me, I might be all sweaty and smelly.

I'll leave you to your Fifty Shades of Gray and Harlequins.

 

[Yarglenurp]

I think this view says a lot about you on personal level.

Otherwise, real life builds character and creates obstacles and situations where things have to be overcome. It builds character within the character

lol, we’re talking in the context of reading erotica to jerk off to. Frankly, I don’t really want to read about dudes doing spreadsheets and customer canvassing when I have my dick in my hand. But hey, if that’s you’re kink, power to you!

 

[Bramblethorn]

It’s that, but also just a convenience thing. If someone has to work and live a real life… that’s not a fun thing to read or write. Imagine reading about your hot cuckold erotica, but it’s all focused on the guy just grinding it to get the annual regional performance metrics processed for the Finance VP’s desk by Monday. 1 page of hot sex, 5 pages of double checking if the difference between pre-sales analyst projections matches with the A/R tally are within threshold on both a district and regional level.

The only award I've ever won on this site was for a story chapter where an intimate scene gets derailed because the protag has to go in to work on a Saturday night and fix their new software system that's just fallen over.

Yes, you can get a long way here by appealing to escapism, but it's not the only game in town. IME you can get just as far by appealing to "this feels real" and "I can relate to this protagonist".

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Or maybe that 'manual labor job" paid very well, or perhaps seeing he was treating himself to a nice room.

Honestly, you're coming across as a snob in this discussion.

I spent quite a few years cruising around on forklifts and running warehouses until I finally took a promotion they'd been pushing at me the last few years.

I still go out and help when things are busy, so I wear ripped jeans, scuffed work boots and my hands are calloused. Best stay away from me, I might be all sweaty and smelly.

I'll leave you to your Fifty Shades of Gray and Harlequins.

Dude, you're totally overstepping here and assuming waaay too much. I was talking about the specific character that was in that specific story who was worried about whether he was able to pay his bar tab in the opening scene, so I wasn't judging him as poor, he was written as hand-to-mouth poor.

It was not a generalization of working class. Just so you know, I am totally working class. I was the clerk who prepped your work orders, pick tickets and shipping bills and made them magically appear in the baskets so that you could get on that forklift, pick the pallets, pack the boxes, weigh and dim stuff and load the trucks with no hassles. I was the clerk who got interrupted fifty times a day with phone calls and emails from impatient demanding asshole customers that the boys on the floor never had to know existed let alone had to talk to. I even sent payroll reports to the temp agencies so that those guys got paid on time. I was even a temp myself for much of that making fuck all for wage, and I was the one who did the billing reports so that the money would magically appear and EVERYONE could get paid.

And I'm not sure where 50 shades and harlequins come from. I've never read 50 shades (barely even know what it's about) and I'm on record here countless times saying that Harlequin romances suck ass. I don't think that there's anyone in this AH with more disdain for template romance than me.

Just letting you know.

 

[Yarglenurp]

Imma bet that most people are working class. And there’s really nothing to be gained from dividing between the clerks, the forklift operators, or the guys doing white collar middle manager shit.

There isn’t an Elon Musk type here. He’s off breeding his fifth concubine on his private island or something. Let’s all just relax and stop trying to find reasons to hate each other.