A sex story, or a story with sex?

[SimonDoom]

I want to clarify what I mean, because sometimes I think we talk past each other in these conversations.

I've never accepted that there's a clear distinction between stroke/non-stroke and porn/erotica. Much of that is in the eye of the beholder/reader. A story about a foot may be a porny-stroke story to some, and may leave others cold.

The distinction to me is whether the erotic encounter/experience is the focus of the story or not. For me, it almost always is, because that's what I seek at Literotica.

So, some people write stories that could fairly be described as romances, or detective stories, or horror stories, or science fiction, and they have sexual/erotic episodes in those stories, but the sexual/erotic episodes aren't necessarily central to the plot. There are many good such stories, but I don't write them and don't want to, at least not at Literotica.

I write stories that focus on an erotic encounter/experience, usually something that's kinky and edgy, but I also like to take some time, usually, to lead up to it. My stories are generally 6,000-12,000 words long--neither super-short strokers nor novellas. They're long by the standard of typical published short stories, but middle of the pack by Lit standards. It's enough words to provide some fun introduction and buildup and to have a well-developed sexual scene at the end.

It's what I like to read, and what I like to write.

 

[SimonDoom]

Do women experience "shrinkage" when it's cold, too?

Shrinkage can be embarrassing, but reassuringly equalizing as well. I recall belonging to a gym with a cold tank that the guys would dip into after time in the sauna. Nobody escaped that thing full-staff.

 

[onehitwanda]

Pfh, women... You lack a proper porn education. What about all those "Private" films with gorgeous girls and far less gorgeous guys doing it in the snow... And don't you dare say that the snow was fake!

Oh my sweet summer child.

https://media.tenor.com/b9X2MvbG1moAAAAd/deepika-padukone-bachna-ae-haseeno.gif

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Oh my sweet summer child.

https://media.tenor.com/b9X2MvbG1moAAAAd/deepika-padukone-bachna-ae-haseeno.gif

The funny thing is that where I live, it snows about once every 5-10 years

 

[onehitwanda]

The funny thing is that where I live, it snows about once every 5-10 years

Where I grew up, snow was something we read about or saw in movies.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Where I grew up, snow was something we read about or saw in movies.

I thought you were a Brit?

 

[onehitwanda]

I thought you were a Brit?

Naturalised as British, born elsewhere.

 

[mirafrida]

Like many people here, I enjoy writing non-sex scenes more than sex scenes. I get to liking my characters, and enjoy seeing how they react to things, and sometimes they surprise me. But as far as I can tell, I'm not creative enough to be a "writer." I don't have "important things to say," nor a ton of ingenuity to come up with non-sex scenarios that are original and intriguing. So sex is my motivator and crutch--I will always have some perverted fantasy to anchor the story, which provides me with a premise, and helps to structure the plot, and drive the action.

 

[alohadave]

But as far as I can tell, I'm not creative enough to be a "writer." I don't have "important things to say," nor a ton of ingenuity to come up with non-sex scenarios that are original and intriguing.

You don't need to have important things to say, you just need to say it in your voice.

 

[Zootonius]

penises always sound so very awkward to possess.

My wife say the same thing about women with large breasts.

A guess we all adapt to our handicaps.

 

[Duleigh]

Not sure if this is growth as a writer, or going soft. Or both.

It shows growth as a writer. Anyone can write porn, it's just Pornhub without the pictures.

Writing an actual story requires more than hormones, it requires cerebral horsepower you need 3 dimensional characters that are more complex than a series of measurements marked in inches, you need exposition, conflict, rising action, a climax that includes more than sperm and groaning, and falling action and resolution

 

[MediocreAuthor]

I'm often stuck in some kind of damnable middle ground.

I had planned for Eldritch Pact for be a sex story, but some people read it as a story with sex, and it doesn't hold up great to that level of scrutiny.

At the moment, I only have one dedicated story with sex and that's my ongoing "Rescuing the Fallen" Mind Control story. In that tale, all of the sex is terribly exploitive, because it's more about the struggles of the characters than the sex. (I got a PM from a fan saying that they were skimming through the sex to get back to the plot).

So I guess I write both, but I often don't have the time for great stories with sex, which seem to require quite a bit more input.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I've written stories here which would hold together without the sex scenes, and a couple where the sex is barely there to begin with.

But then I've also written stories like Red Scarf where the sex is an important element, not easily removable, without being the whole point of the story.

 

[lc69hunter]

I read a story today (can't find it now), where a guy figures out his wife lied about a conference and went off with her lover, verbally disrespecting him on the way out the door. I had to slog through eight pages of non stop revenge sex with eight different women (obviously some guy's fantasy), before I finally got to the last page where he busted them. It was a waste but I had already got a page in before the stupidity, so I had to finish it.

That is an example of one that was neither a good sex story nor a good story which had sex

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

The funny thing is that where I live, it snows about once every 5-10 years

I hear when it snows in LA, everyone snorts their driveways. You could drown to death here if you did that in Colorado. I mean your lungs are warm, right?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I hear when it snows in LA, everyone snorts their driveways.

You are sooo far off with LA

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I used to write sex stories, essentially written porn. Sex was the be all and end all. Then I did a few which were still essentially romps, but with more of a structure and occasionally an overarching theme or even (pretentious much) a message.

My current work in progress, which I think I am going to take my time over, is a story. It already has sex in it and will have more. But - if you cut to parrots instead of the sex scenes - it would still hang together (though be less fun).

Not sure if this is growth as a writer, or going soft. Or both.

Em

It’s very much both.

In ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, sex is the driver of the entire 70,000 words (ish) and largely takes place in an orgy overnight (although scenes span 8 years)

THE PROCESS will be a sexual horror story that will probably largely occur over a week or two.

Truth is once you start down the writing path, forever it will dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it consumed EmilyMiller’s alter ego…EmilyMcPlugger!

 

[RachelWalsh]

Maybe a story about sex robots who take over the 7- Eleven...

 

[LiverpoolMaster]

I see no 'mutual exclusivity' here. An erotic story can have both plenty of sex... and plenty of thought-provoking plot. In fact, I contend that the more interesting the story is, the more potent the sex can be (can I be permitted to event the term 'erotic force' here?) ... provided the two are linked in a meaningful way.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I try for a decent mix of both. And it's mostly to let the reader know the characters. To make them seem like real people and not just an actor in a twelve-minute porn scene.

 

[PandemicReader8]

I want to clarify what I mean, because sometimes I think we talk past each other in these conversations.

This

The distinction to me is whether the erotic encounter/experience is the focus of the story or not. For me, it almost always is, because that's what I seek at Literotica.

If I have a solid story that will stand alone without the sex, that's something I'm going to develop for the paying market.

I publish on Lit the things I can't risk associating with my public self.

 

[PandemicReader8]

I've always wondered about this myself. I'm working on part two of a series the underlying theme of which is BDSM. This current piece has a BDSM scene, but that scene is also a threesome. It has two vanilla encounters, one of which has a possible fetish angle. And then it ends with a clear threesome with heavy fetish themes.

No clue where to drop it.