How mandatory is a decent plot to you when writing erotica?...

[HeyAll]

To me, there just needs to be enough of a plot to set up a sex scene. I don't get turned on at all when people just have sex for no reason in erotic literature.

Especially with incest stories, there needs to be a good set up so it makes sense.

 

[Seurat]

In his Poetics Aristotle said a good plot should combine inevitability with surprise. In other words, the events should follow each other plausibly, but when you start reading, you should not know how things are going to end.

Whether I'm writing a vignette or a twenty page chapter, I try to have enough plot to set the poor regular shmoe in the story so that he doesn't know what's about to happen, or at least realizes the futility of the situation. That line is a perfect definition.

As for the sex: tons of detail or leave the reader hanging. Both are plausible as long as there is erotica.

 

[MatthewVett]

I always try to give my stories a plot. As time goes by, I think the plots get longer and more involved. The stories certainly get longer, anyway...

 

[Imo]

I prefer using at least some sort of plot in both my smut and erotica. It does not have to be complicated but a story needs a backbone to keep characters moving. Even if the action is mainly about a nymphomaniac fluttering from conquest to conquest, there is a mild plot present.

I do write snippets that contain nothing but sex but those are mainly exercises regarding a certain kink, such as shibaru, breast/nipple torture or other. I suppose they would classify as erotica, but not as an erotic story.

 

[nerk]

I think of erotica as being a lot like sex. In that, when I write it, my goal is to get off and get my reader off and share something with them.

I think great sex requires intimacy and passion, and so does great erotica. A good plot creates passion between the reader and the writer. Good characters create believable intimacy. A good story seduces me and fascinates me before it grabs my mighty sequoia, and will not only turn me on and get me off, but leave me smiling and thinking back on it fondly.


A dirty story without a plot is like getting a quickie from a hooker. Yes, it is sex, and it can even be good sex, but it's without intimacy or passion.

 

[Anwar80]

I think of erotica as being a lot like sex. In that, when I write it, my goal is to get off and get my reader off and share something with them.

I think great sex requires intimacy and passion, and so does great erotica. A good plot creates passion between the reader and the writer. Good characters create believable intimacy. A good story seduces me and fascinates me before it grabs my mighty sequoia, and will not only turn me on and get me off, but leave me smiling and thinking back on it fondly.


A dirty story without a plot is like getting a quickie from a hooker. Yes, it is sex, and it can even be good sex, but it's without intimacy or passion.

Well said,
I like a story that take its time to build up the characters & the story. A story where people don't jump to bed & have sex for no good reason other than just to have sex. A sweet long buildup is far better IMHO than a story that has nothing but sex scenes

 

[dr_mabeuse]

It might be good at this point to review the working definitions we've developed for porn vs erotica. Kind of helps clarify things.

Pornography is writing whose only intended purpose is to sexually arouse, titillate, and/or excite.

Erotica is sexual literature. It stands in the same relationship to sex as ordinary literature does to life. It aims to entertain, explain, enlighten, and explore.

Because porn seeks only sexual stimulation, things like plot and character aren't really that important. They may be there, but they're not that important. Porn tends to be external, graphic, and visually descriptive. A description of two people fucking is perfectly good porn.

Erotica tends to be more internal and explanatory. Plot and context are involved, and erotica usually has meaning that goes beyond the merely sexually titillating.

There's no hard and fast cut-off where one starts and the other begins. It's rather a continuum. A lot of writers who start off doing simple porn often find their stories drifting into the realm of erotica as they add shading and nuance and meaning. But which you prefer to write and read is simply an individual preference.

These aren't dictionary definitions, but I think they're useful when we try to analyze or discuss the kinds of things we write here at Lit.

 

[Jake Marlow]

I think porn v erotica is really just degrees of subtlty. Porn is considered nastier and more blunt, but I think a lot of what people consider "erotica" is damned boring. A lot of "erotica" writers, not all, bend over backwards to avoid using certain language and sometimes it becomes so much about plot that the sex scenes aren't that hot.

Personally, I like plot because I like the characters and their actions to be plausible in some way, even if it's just within the writer's construct, but the writer needs to make an effort. But I like the sex to be vividly described and using dirty words too. If I see "manhood" a lot and not "cock" or "prick" it actually makes me laugh. Same with "erotica" writers who strenuously avoid using the word "pussy." But sometimes coarse writers are silly too. Reading "muscular fuckstick" in a story has always stuck with me because I found it so funny.

Unfortunately, sometimes "erotica" writers come off a little snotty when talking about their "porn" writer brethren. I like to think my writing straddles the line. A lot of plot and characterization, but a lot of vivid sex too. There's a place for both and neither is more valid than the other. They will both be found by their fans.

 

[driphoney]

I think porn v erotica is really just degrees of subtlty. Porn is considered nastier and more blunt, but I think a lot of what people consider "erotica" is damned boring. A lot of "erotica" writers, not all, bend over backwards to avoid using certain language and sometimes it becomes so much about plot that the sex scenes aren't that hot.

Personally, I like plot because I like the characters and their actions to be plausible in some way, even if it's just within the writer's construct, but the writer needs to make an effort. But I like the sex to be vividly described and using dirty words too. If I see "manhood" a lot and not "cock" or "prick" it actually makes me laugh. Same with "erotica" writers who strenuously avoid using the word "pussy." But sometimes coarse writers are silly too. Reading "muscular fuckstick" in a story has always stuck with me because I found it so funny.

Unfortunately, sometimes "erotica" writers come off a little snotty when talking about their "porn" writer brethren. I like to think my writing straddles the line. A lot of plot and characterization, but a lot of vivid sex too. There's a place for both and neither is more valid than the other. They will both be found by their fans.

I've read some really great, really nasty erotica. Some of it from the poster just above you. You start getting too mealy-mouthed about it all and it might get the dub of "romance", no?

 

[Five_Eight]

Personally, I like plot because I like the characters and their actions to be plausible in some way, even if it's just within the writer's construct, but the writer needs to make an effort. But I like the sex to be vividly described and using dirty words too. If I see "manhood" a lot and not "cock" or "prick" it actually makes me laugh. Same with "erotica" writers who strenuously avoid using the word "pussy." But sometimes coarse writers are silly too. Reading "muscular fuckstick" in a story has always stuck with me because I found it so funny.

Non-modern nomenclature for genitalia cracks me up too, Jake, and we may not be the minority. Manhood, womanhood and that old chestnut his/her sex (as in 'when she touched her sex she felt herself spending') are guaranteed to evoke at least a snicker in anyone old enough to have a driver's license.

For amusement purposes only, I'll elaborate for the forum. Fuckstick is a comedic term for dick; not unlike the baby batter spewing out its purple helmeted tip with the velocity of a space shuttle booster rocket, or at least a fire hose on full blast. The same goes for honeypot, cherry potter, cockpit or any other absurd metaphor for pussy. No euphemisms in the English language surpass the effective if inelegant impact a simple dick and pussy imbue the written word, two necessary and poignant staples in any modern erotic vocabulary.

And just a little plot can make a reader hot. I'm on board with plot, or the emotional stimulation of the sex on the page runs the risk of withering into ennui. The resultant dry panties and limp schlongs are the worst reader testaments any serious writer of belly-bumping and horndoggery can get.

Cheers, Five

 

[Litbridge]

I'm new to Lit and this genre of writing so my thoughts must be taken in that context. Both my pieces accepted so far have tried to tell a story. I am as sensuous a person as the next but cannot, as a writer, reader or viewer, get my head into that space that says there is any real value in smut vignettes. That's my prejudice, however. I have a non-North American background and was introduced in my younger life to a much more subtle and seducing variety of porn which, back in the 60's focused more on characters and plot. You were patient with this because it built the credibility of the story which, you knew, would end in ribald sex. Sorry, but when we immigrated here my first introductions to porn always left me feeling it was sooo "in your face". No introductions, no character development, no story line other than here we go again, another casting couch scene. Drop the pants/panties and huff and puff away. If you're male and are lucky, there might be a money shot. Woohooo. At the end you think to yourself: Who cares? Not for a moment do I believe the actors are enjoying any of this so how can I get all hot and bothered watching them. Sorry, folks. My submissions will be stories first, with a healthy dose of erotica introduced at a time when it should mean something to the reader. If that continues to get me low votes and scores, so be it. At some point I will then outgrow this site and move on.

 

[driphoney]

There are several top Lit writers who put an emphasis on plot.

 

[_Lynn_]

I'm new to Lit and this genre of writing so my thoughts must be taken in that context. Both my pieces accepted so far have tried to tell a story. I am as sensuous a person as the next but cannot, as a writer, reader or viewer, get my head into that space that says there is any real value in smut vignettes. That's my prejudice, however. I have a non-North American background and was introduced in my younger life to a much more subtle and seducing variety of porn which, back in the 60's focused more on characters and plot. You were patient with this because it built the credibility of the story which, you knew, would end in ribald sex. Sorry, but when we immigrated here my first introductions to porn always left me feeling it was sooo "in your face". No introductions, no character development, no story line other than here we go again, another casting couch scene. Drop the pants/panties and huff and puff away. If you're male and are lucky, there might be a money shot. Woohooo. At the end you think to yourself: Who cares? Not for a moment do I believe the actors are enjoying any of this so how can I get all hot and bothered watching them. Sorry, folks. My submissions will be stories first, with a healthy dose of erotica introduced at a time when it should mean something to the reader. If that continues to get me low votes and scores, so be it. At some point I will then outgrow this site and move on.

And how can you know when the right time is for the readers? You can "read" their minds?

The beauty of a site such as Literotica is how so many readers can find something enjoyable to them. I would say a vast majority prefer that "drop the panties and huff and puff away" kind of story. They come to the site looking to get off, not to read a lengthy story. Granted, there are readers who look for a good story before -- or even without -- finding the sex.

But do not dismiss the value of "smut vignettes" to Lit readers.

 

[Litbridge]

But do not dismiss the value of "smut vignettes" to Lit readers -- Point taken, MistressLynn. I do not disqualify such writings, simply state that as a writer my preference is to write stories first. And, of course, since the story is my creation, it also is my prerogative to decide when and where to introduce erotica. I'm not reading the readers mind. I'm trying to get him or her to read mine!

 

[ace_high]

Personally, I like literotica that starts out "at the beginning" as it were. Such as a couple meets in a bar, they talk and then the sex happens. I feel like that way it is more 'real' and you know where the sexual aspect is coming from rather than 'hey, horny? Let's have sex."

 

[YANKEE DAN]

I typically make the story as silly as possible. I figure that way at least people can get a laugh out of it while skimming straight for the sex.

 

[favoritesgoddess]

I masturbate to porn, but I read erotica.

For a story to leave the realm of porn and enter into the erotic, it must have a plot. I need a good scenario, a good story, and characters that I want to read more about. The sex has to be believable, no matter how improbable.

It's challenges like these that make erotic such a fun genre to write.

 

[PenIsMightier1]

I like to write erotica, I think the story itself should be what gets me excited, I often find that when I get to bits where they get too much into the sex itself I tend to skim, its the lead up and interaction that gets me hot. I can imagine and have sex without someone telling me whats happening

I also hate it when people rattle off exact measurement, it is such a turn. It feels like they're trying to explain to a robot what makes someone attractive, so when you tell me that someone is a 36D and 5'6", 1) How the hell do you know that by looking at them? 2) That doesn't really tell me they're attractive now does it, I like people, not statistics 3) It feels to me like they're just saying, oh yeah she was like halle berry, but so hawt, she had like massive tits yeah

 

[duskyalpha]

...or is direct, to-the-point, arousingly constructed detail more important to you much of the time?

Personally when I search for erotica, I'm looking for something to get myself off to (surprise surprise), and often when I find myself in this mood, any boring pre-erotic plot annoys me - I want to get straight to the juicy bits; not necessarily hard sex, but simply sexually arousing situations that you know may lead on to something more.

I suppose I'm curious as to how many others are like this? Sorry it's a slightly vague question.



x

Well I think if you could mathmatically express the rating vs. plot as a graph I think you find that as the plot get more depth the rating increases linearly while a rating vs. sex ratio you tend to reach a plateau in rating value.

 

[sr71plt]

I think those who "must" have anything (other than readability) are cutting themselves off from variety and opportunity. It's not like you're only going to read one erotica story in your life and have to choose which one it is.

 

[Eutopia]

I find PWP shockingly hard to right.
Even if it's just a small one-shot of porn, i feel I have to give it a little bit of an introduction. I don't think I've ever just thrown to characters together and wrote about them fucking.
I find that too detached.
While yes, in the short run it would get me off, but it would certainly not be one I go back to for a repeat performance.
But then I just watch porn if I want to get off instantly. xD
I mostly read Erotica for the excellent stories. (Like reading Playboy for the articles. ._.')
I find I get more aroused if I spend time reading a full, multi-chapter story that waits a while for the sex.
I also find it easier to get aroused for a quick "one-two" if I go back to the chapter that just has the sex in it.
I don't have to waist my time reading the story again because I already know it, so I can just get "stuck in."
I know the characters, the situation and everything, that just turns me on quicker. xD

 

[thatpixie]

You don't have to go over-the-top with backstories, histories, whatever. A little plot would be nice, just to give us the basic who, what, when, where and why. I've actually even seen some that were just about a "he" and a "she" that worked out steamily enough.

Like someone else said, just don't make it a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am deal.

Something I encountered recently:

ROFL! OMG I hate those! It's kinda like, thanks for the attempt at detail, but that's just so not smooth, man.

 

[davidharley8]

When I search for erotica, I am looking for something to get me out, and often when I am in the mood, the plot boring pre-erotic bored - I want to go straight to the juicy bits, not necessarily hard sex but only sexually arousing situations that you know, can lead to something more. I write erotica, and I start my thoughts with nature, try to find an interesting situation for them to have conflicts, so I let them decide what happens when and how.

 

[LizzyDark]

I have to have a readable story for it to be enjoyable at all. Good writing is a must; glaring errors, typos, misspellings, and bad grammar are huge killers for me. If I'm not interested in the characters and why they're doing what they're doing, I can't stay focused.

 

[RetMarut]

Yes. Plot and exposition enhance the erotic component. Otherwise it's just porn.