how long is too long for a sex scene?

[pink_silk_glove]

My lowest scoring story is also the one with the lowest smut-to-story ratio.

That is the one story I got feedback saying there was not enough sex and by word count it was a little under 10%.

While there is no right answer what works for me is a 15-20% smut by word count and that tends to get split between a "tease" and the "main event."

So where are all the people who have shit on me for saying the exact same thing?

 

[nice90sguy]

I guess different people have different ideas of what counts as a "sex scene". I don't write sex scenes, and often skip past them when I read, but to some people a story without explicit sex is like going to a restaurant and not actually eating any food.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

I read Sarah Hawke's Amazon's Pledge series, and the sex, while titillating, became more of a hinderance to the rest of the story as the plot became more convoluted.

I was speed-skipping through the naughty bits to find out more about her world-building and setting.

I have done that on a few occasions as well. If the plot is really interesting and the sex is just getting in the way. Also if the sex isn't adding anything. I try to sprinkle bits of character interaction through out my sex scenes, or bits of character reveal or development.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

People are mixing the length of a single sex scene, which is what the OP asked, and the amount of sexual content in the story. The scene can be too long just as well as it can be too short. Create a build up, some sexual tension and then write the sex accordingly. If the build up was long, the reader will expect a longer sex scene and vice-versa.

The amount of total sexual content in a story varies a lot depending on category, type of story, length, etc.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

When is a sex scene not a sex scene? I'd guess a general build-up of erotic tension doesn't count. When they get to a location where sex will occur? Or have agreed it's going to happen? Or have actually embarked on kissing or footsie or other activities generally reserved for sexual partners? Or some might want it to be when clothes come off.

And when does it end? If two naked people have been playing with each other and then have a conversation about something else for 5000 words before getting back to the sex, does that make it two sex scenes or one? Some people will probably say it ends with a man coming,

I suspect it's one of those things you know when you see it - is the reader still thinking about sex?

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I had this thread in mind as I just did the word count of the sex scene I just finished writing - 3778 words. That's gotta be one of my longer ones!

 

[Naughtylit81]

I had this thread in mind as I just did the word count of the sex scene I just finished writing - 3778 words. That's gotta be one of my longer ones!

We shall have to monitor this story when it publishes to see if size mattered.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

We shall have to monitor this story when it publishes to see if size mattered.

I see what you did there

 

[NaughteeDragon]

The story that prompted this question posted last night. Motivation my first 2 votes were a 1 and a 2. It’s picking up though, 4.15 with 15 votes. No comments, so still wondering.

 

[Belegon]

My goal is always the same thing. Keep them reading. I totally feel Caviagurl's comment How many times can you read "A goes into B." Before it gets boring???

Not that many times. So what I need to get into is not the physics of it so much as how what's happening affects my characters. If there is an emotional consequence, good or bad, I feel like I can use that to keep the reader engaged. And the emotion doesn't have to be, "Oh, I'm so in love!" Certainly that can be a primary reaction and plays directly into a lot of what I write. Erotica is certainly a large part of my writing journey, but so is romance. I feel like my best stories are not about sex, but about the characters having the sex. And the emotion can be the realization this is the person I want to spend my life with, but it can also be I don't feel the same way about this as I would if So-and-so was doing it with me. Or even humor, surprise, or dismay.

I suspect that most of us who write here place a higher value on our sexual experiences than many others do. But to how many of us is the actual physical act the important part, and to how many of us is the important part how we feel about it? As to how long, to me the length is how long I continue feeling it. I can't give a word number or a page length, because it really doesn't fit those strictures. If I'm still feeling it, it can go on quite a while. I will say that some of it can rely on what the act is. A Christmas day quickie for a young couple who are in transition from his parents in the morning to her parents house for the afternoon and Christmas dinner isn't going to be 5 pages when the act itself lasted 5 minutes.

 

[TiberiusPrime]

I once wrote a story where the entire thing was nothing but a long sex scene. Even I got bored with it and shelved it. I need to actually TELL a story to get to the sex.

 

[APilgrimSquare]

My sex scenes are usually fairly short. A few hundred words. I’m usually more interested in the dynamics between the participants, the stuff that leads to sex, the stuff that happens as a result of sex. The whole story is about sex, usually: it’s just not a faithful description of the moment-to-moment specifics.

I’ve just submitted a fetish story focused on an unorthodox D/S relationship based on cockwarming, and the scenes where the man’s cock is in the woman’s mouth are fairly long and descriptive, so we’ll see how that does with readers. But there’s literally no p-in-v sex, so I worry that people won’t respond well.

 

[Naughtylit81]

My sex scenes are usually fairly short. A few hundred words. I’m usually more interested in the dynamics between the participants, the stuff that leads to sex, the stuff that happens as a result of sex. The whole story is about sex, usually: it’s just not a faithful description of the moment-to-moment specifics.

I’ve just submitted a fetish story focused on an unorthodox D/S relationship based on cockwarming, and the scenes where the man’s cock is in the woman’s mouth are fairly long and descriptive, so we’ll see how that does with readers. But there’s literally no p-in-v sex, so I worry that people won’t respond well.

I have multiple stories that are oral only and they have done well. I am sure you will do well.